Letter 22 - "The Best 2 Days of My Life!" - Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

well hello again

this week was interesting.  due to things like interviews with president and a day where we went with the hermanas in our district we actually had a lot less time then normal to work, however i can say that this weekend was absolutely amazing!!!! of course i am talking about general conference!! what an amazing opportunity we all had to hear ten hours of servants of the Lord instructing us.  as i listened the scripture in D&C 1 kept coming to mind which says: What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my^aword shall not pass away, but shall all be ^bfulfilled, whether by mine own ^cvoice or by the ^dvoice of my ^eservants, it is the ^fsame¨  in reality the Lord spoke for ten hours this weekend!!!!! as i listened to all of these inspired men and women be mouthpieces for the Lord i realized that there were more or less 3 themes of this comference: faith, repentance, and missionary work.  i am just going to throw up some of my favorite quotes from this weekend.  ¨faith is always pointed toward the future¨- Elder Dube, "doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith" - president Uchdorf, " Hope is never lost" - elder Holland, "you can do it now" - president Uchtdorf, ¨Heavenly Father has been so good to me¨- president Monson, ¨dont forget to look up¨- elder ochoa and ¨exclamation point!¨- Elder Nielson.  wow it was truly 2 of the best days of my life.  i dont know how i could possibly pick a favorite of all these wonderful messages but my favorites would include talks by Elder Holland, Elder Scott, Elder Dube, Elder Nielson, and Elder Ochoa.  as i have thought a lot about conference i have realized that while in the church it is a part of our life to know that every six months we will hear the prophet and apostles speak, to the rest of the world this message appears a little bit crazy but more than anything else it shows that as elder McConkie said ¨God speaks¨ i hope that we all took advantage of this last weekend because i know it can change our lives for the better.  fortunately the opportunity to learn and grow from this weekend is not over because as Elder Hales said ¨the greatest blessings of conference come after it is over¨ 

to go along with conference i would like to share a big miracle galvez and i have seen this week.  about a month ago we baptized maria and she is still going strong and is ususally one of the first people in church hahah. we have been working with her husband slowly but surely.  when we began to teach him (Jorge) and maria he would hide the bathroom during lessons and not leave until we were done then slowly he started listening to us and then began to ask questions.  we have had the feeling that if he would come to church with us just one time his heart would be touched and he would receive the desire to be baptized.  we knew with conference the opportunities that we had to bring him and HE CAME AND LOVED IT!!!! while we still have a fair amount of work to do with him it was quite a miracle to see him watch conference and learn with us. 

 

i cannot believe that it is snowing back there!! here the temperature doesnt really change all year long so to me i still feel like it is summer..... everytime i remember it is october i kinda freak out because it still feels like july to me haha.  that sucks about the fridge but i guess that is part of life.  is caden old enough to go to priesthood session??? if so HOLY CRAP!!!!  i do remember my first priesthood session with you and the andrews and i remember that i, like caden spit out a california roll, and that you dropped a piece of sushi in your soy sauce and it splashed over everything haha. i also remember conference from 6 months ago when we went and then went to the cheesecake factory afterwards.  as preisthood session was starting i was really sad because i was watching it completely alone. as i was watching it and as i sang by myself in the middle of the conference i knew that grandpa was there watching with me in that small hot room in Guatemala.  

you also in your email wrote about bearing with patience. This is something that i have tried very hard to work on here in the mish, just like you i am very impatient but i try to think about all the things that Christ went through and also Joseph Smith.  i also think about section 121 of d&c that says that if we endure our trials well we will be exalted on high and i know that that part of enduring trials well is doing it patiently.  i am also very glad that you are going to the temple every week, it is such a blessing that we live so close to a temple. i never realized how important and how big of a blessing it is until i got here and havent gone in 4 months (but word on the street is that we are going as a zone a week from tomorrow)

 

so that is all for the spiritual stuff. here is a quick explanation of the 2 fotos that are with this email.  first this ¨friend¨ we found in our bathroom one morning.  and second.  as i have said i was able to watch conference in english and now you might be asking who did you watch it with, well here is a picture of all the people i watched the priesthood session with.  if you add one sister missionary that is all that i watched the other sessions with hahaha.

well that is all for me for this week.  hope all is well back home

love

elder meyer

ps congrats to my bro sam for winning regionalls!!

 

 

 

Letter 21 - "I Am a Child of God" - Los Brilliantes

hola familia

well it was another week here in brillantes.  and holy crap it was rough!!! things just seemed to go wrong all over the place but i guess that is part of the mission.  while it was rather difficult this week there were a couple of cool things that happened.  first of all on saturday night we had a ward talent night and a bunch of the people did random mostly funny things in front of everyone.  Galvez and i sang a song and then the two of us with the sister missionaries in our ward and the ward mission leader and a couple other people did a tongan dance and it was pretty awesome!! attached are some fotos of this pretty sweet night.  on a more spiritual note sunday was wonderful.  it was the annual primary program for our ward.  for all of you who dont know what that is, once a year all the kids in the church (ages 4 to 11) have a program they share with all of the adults.  it is always quite entertaining and usually hilarious.  this time was no exception; however, it was quite spiritually uplifting.  as all of the kids were saying their little parts i thought about the scripture in Matthew that says: ¨suffer the little children to come unto me for such is the kingdom of heaven¨ as i thought about the meaning of this scripture i realized that the children are so pure, innocent, sincere, and full of faith and love.  this is how we must act to enter the kingdom of God.  as they sang every time i just had a huge smile on my face and felt the spirit so strong.  while the songs where in spanish i knew the words in english and i just loved it so much!!! it made me remember the scripture in D&C that says ¨for my soul delighteth in the song of the heart¨ the words like ¨i am a child of God¨ and ¨we are as the armies of Helaman ... we will be the Lords missionaries to bring the world His truth¨ were so touching to hear.  

well that is really all i got for today..  it was a rough week but we are hopoing a for a better week with more success and more baptisms coming up...

also this upcoming week in general conference.  first of all HOLY CRAP THAT MEANS IT IS ALREADY OCTOBER!!!!! but second of all that means we get to hear the Lords servants teach us.  i was reading back through the last conference issue and one thing that stood out to me were the testimonoies of the apostles about Christ. many of them used words as if they had seen Him, and i dont doubt that they have.  i invite all of you to make sure you take the time to hear these words that will help you improve your life.

well that is all i got for this week.  yes it is still hot yes i am still sweating.  and if it is october that means basketball is coming sooooooo GO HEELS!!!!!

hope all is well back home

love

elder meyer

 

Letter #20 - "Ups and Downs" - Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

HOLY CRAP THERE IS NO WAY ZAC IS OLD ENOUGH TO GO TO STAKE DANCES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(This came in response to a picture I sent Charlie of his younger brother Zac with David Jensen going to his first stake dance ever!!)

anyways now that i have gotten that off my chest here is an update on my week:

 

hola

well this week was one of the most up and down weeks i have ever had.  the week started just kinda rough. after the baptism of maria we were almost starting from nothing again because we had been working so hard and so much with her.  we started the week with very very high goals and knew that we could accomplish them with hard work and exact obedience.  after a rough tuesday and wednesday, we decided to try a little bit harder, have a little bit more faith, and to fast.  wow thursday and friday turned out wonderful!!!! we found a bunch of people and worked a lot more with people that we already had and things were just wonderful.  then saturday was absolutely terrible.  the fecha (baptismal date we had set with this girl) fell through because her grandma called her and told her she wasnt old enough to make the decision and that she would take her away from her mom if she got baptized.  sunday was an alright day and i had the opportunity to talk in church.  i talked about the role of the members in retaining converts.  i was really happy with how it went. 

mom - i get dear elders from you every week or two and i dont think i have told you how much i love them.  you always send me such wonderful talks that help me improve and want to be better so thanks (i think that last one i got was you are His hands and the one from the seventy in the ensign).  I also love my mission president - president ruiz is super cool and a very spiritual and optimistic guy that loves being around the missionaries and he speaks perfect english even though he is from panama.  i email him every week but i have only seen him like 4 times face to face but he is awesome!!

 

 

so that is my week as a whole.  crazy.  wonderful at times and  terrible at others but that is part of the mission.  while it has been very up and down i have learned some very important things.  first of all i have learned the power of fasting.  in alma 17 it talks about the sons of mosiah and how they were such powerful missionaries because they read the scriptures and fasted (i think it is verse 2 or 3 but im not sure) the day that we fasted the lessons were more powerful and the people really seemed more interested and impacted by the teachings.  number 2 i have learned this week how amazing Peter was.  in our companionship study this week we began reading acts.  in the first 3 chapters three times, peter calls the people to repentance.  as we pondered this we realized that peter loved preaching about repentance because he had truly experienced it in his life.  throught Christ's life peter had been so up and down at times declaring Jesus the Messiah, walking on the water, and trying to serve his Master, yet at other times he was denying Christ, doubting, or having Christ tell him, ¨get thee behind me satan¨.  Peter truly expereinced major ups and downs and i know that he realized the importance of repentance and for that reason he loved preaching it.  also we learned that in chapter 3 peter follows Christ's example perfectly.  peter fell while walking on the water, and Christ reached down and lifted him up.  in chapter 3 of acts peter reached down and lifted up the lame man.  third this week i learned how much God looks out for me and knows all.  one night in the week we went to the chapel for a meeting.  we got out late and there weren't any tuctucs to take us back home.  as we started the 20 minute walk home in the dark (dangerous) a tuctuc came out of nowhere for us.  later this week we were going to contact a reference and we saw this family waiting for a taxi.  we started to talk to them about the gospel and they seemed really interested.  we set an appointment for the them for the next day.  we came to their house close to 30 minutes late because we were in another lesson that went long but as we were going to knock on the door the husband (Ricardo) came up from behind as he had gotten off work late.  we went and had a very good lesson with them.  all three of these little miracles i have seen this week have made me realize that God is in control of everything and everything works out how He wants it.

well i think that is all for this week.  hope all is well back at home - thanks for your emails and your prayers.

love

elder meyer

Letter # 19 - "Little by Little" - Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

hello again

this week i dont have a lot to say.... but i will tell you all about our baptism.  a little over a month ago we met this lady named Maria, she has a daughter who served a mission for the church and while she had listened to many many missionaries she never had the desire to be baptized.  we began to teach her and little by little she grew to learn about the gospel.  little by little she progressed and came to understand and live the gospel.  on saturday she was baptized.  she is a wonderful lady that is already helping us find more people to teach.  her husband isnt a member either and little by little we are working with him.  as i look back on the progess that maria has made i realize how true it is that by ¨small and simple things are great things brought to pass¨ (Alma 37:6)  this gospel is one of progression and all we need to do is little by little, progress and grow.  i also remember a talk by President Uchtdorf where he said something like this; ¨isnt it great that the perfect place for us to improve and live the gospel better is right where we are?¨ i love knowing that little by little we have to improve, but we can start where we are right now.  this is what i have seen in maria - she has little by little improved where she was and now she is member of the church.  besides the baptism there wasnt anything else too big that happened but we are preparing for a big week that we are starting today so hopefully i will have some really good news next week.  

hope all continues to be well

love

elder meyer

Letter 18A - First "near death experience" as told to his mom

Charlie's reply when I (his mom) asked if he has had any scary experiences:


 i have had one near death experience but i dont know if i want to tell you because i dont want you to worry about me (that and i know it would make dad freak out (it has to do with a 4 foot long very deadly snake....))  yes i am being serious but dont worry hahaha.  and dont tell dad hahahahha.

with elder segard we were teaching a family that lives in the middle of a corn field. while segard was saying the closing prayer i looked down and between my feet was the head of a coral snake (very mean and kill people in 10 minutes) i followed the typical colorado advice they wont bother you if you dont bother them.  so i did nothing (remember at this time i dont know how bad this snake is). it started slithering toward the investigator but also got close to my foot so i slid my foot out of the way.  my investigator heard me sliding my foot, opened his eyes and freaked out!! segard closed the prayer.  and we all freaked out and got back..the noise scared the snake and it slithered into the side pouch of my backpack.  the investigator yelled at his son to get a stick.  the son runs into the house and comes back out with a 7 foot stick.  carlos (investigator) asks me if i have anything breakable in my backpack, i say no.  he smashes the snake with the stick.  the snake gets mad and bites my backpack.  carlos hits the thing probably 15 more times. then i am told how dangerous the snake is.  i left my backpack there so they could properly clean it with and get rid of the blood and venom. 

Letter #18 - "Did you feel that??" Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

well hello

i guess i will start with the big news: i didnt get changes and galvez didnt either so we will be together for almost 6 more weeks!! but yeah that was that..  it was another very hot week in brillantes for the two of us.  it was a very hard week.  we spent one day inside because galvez was very sick and the rest of the week we worked hard with very minimal success.  the only great news is that our investigador Maria is going to get baptized on saturday!! she is super cool and has a daughter who served a mission and she is so ready for this!! it is amazing to see her love for this gospel, she has already started to invite and bring friends to church!!!! we have heard from many members how shocked they are that she is taking this step in her life because she has been talking to missionaries on and off for years and her daughter too has tried so hard.  it just reminds me how everyone has their time to hear and accept the gospel.  

this week we had a very interesting thing happen on friday at about 6 pm.  we were out by the road waiting for a tuc-tuc (3wheeled thing that we use to get places), a bus (really just big vans that are always super super full and we hang out the side of them) or a jalon (hitchhike, yes we do that here) to go to the area of the hermanas to work with them. while we were waiting  i felt something weird.... it felt like a large semitruck had just passed very close to me making the ground shake, but there werent any semis..... it was an EARTHQUAKE!!!! galvez looked at me and said; do you feel that? and i said yes and we freaked out because we were right by this sign that was swaying.  we moved and i actually really enjoyed it and then it stopped and everything was ok.  as far as we know there has not been any damage or loss of life so that is way good!!  

other than that i dont really have anything else to say this week.  it was a good, hard week and we are planning on having a great week to come.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ZAC!!!!!!

hope all is well back home.

love

elder meyer

Letter # 17 - "Another HOT week!" Los Brilliantes, Guatemala

well hello again!!

so i am sorry but i do not yet know if i am going to have changes.  we will be told tonight if we have them.  then if i have them on wednesday i will leave in the morning to reu for a change meeting where i will learn where i will be going.  so stay turned for next weeks letter to see if i leave and if i leave where i go hahah. but yeah it has been another HOT week here in Brillantes.  i dont really know what to say abou this week, for the most part it has just been pretty ordinary with nothing too special that happened.  but ill tell you all about a couple things that were pretty cool.  on tuesday we had planned to work hard to find a lot of new people to teach because we have a very high goal as an area, district, zone, and mission for baptisms this month. we contacted an area for close to three hours with no success in the pouring rain.  we found one guy who seemed interested and i thought this was a miracle but then it turned out that he didnt have time to talk to us.  then we found a family that seemed at least a little bit interested and we taught them but then we found out they dont live there.  after this i was really frustrated because i knew that we were working hard to complete our goal with no success.  we returned to an area near our house at night and didnt know where to go.  i remembered a less active member that i had visited once with segard and so we went there.  the lady we wanted to visit didnt want to talk to us but we talked to her daughter who is an active member who gave us a refernce for this lady named Rosa who the missionaries have been working with for a long time, and she has the desire to get baptized!! we just have to work with her husband to get them married first.  after such a hard day i knew that this miracle was a blessing for our hard work during the day.  this week we kept teaching Maria who is going to get baptized on the 14th. she had questions about the temple because her daughter is a member who got married in the temple and she wanted to know why she couldnt see her daughters wedding.  we gave a super good lesson about the temples and it was so cool.  that is one thing i really miss while in the mission: not being able to go to the temple as much.  

one quick funny story before i go: we were teaching Rosa and her family (2 daughters and a nephew are members the rest arent) we asked the nephew, 12 years old, why he wasnt going to church and this was his answer; ¨porque soy malo¨ (it means because i am bad) hahahahahahahaha it was hilarious now everyone, including his family just calls him el malo hahaha

well i think that is all i have for this week.  still loving it and still sweating more than ever!! (i am kinda hoping that i get transfered to the mountains)

hope all is well back in the states!!

love 

elder meyer