Letter # 85 - "It has been a crazy week!!" - Palo Gordo, Guatemala

hey family it has been a crazy week -  so i guess ill let you know about it.  on monday we were on buses for like 5 hours to go to the mission home to have a meeting with president. we were there for most of the day monday, we stayed in a hotel that night and then were in meetings with him all day tuesday.  it was a long time but it was so amazing!! the best thing was that we were able to do was watch "Meet the Mormons".  we were the first missionaries in all of the mission that were able to see it.  it was SO COOL!!!!!! it was really weird seeing that guy in nepal knowing that i was watching my family was there.... crazy!!

as for what i learned this week i believe that the best thing i learned is found in 2 corithians 6:2

now is theaccepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation

i love that.  we have to do everything that we have to do and we have to do it NOW!!!! president is now always saying YA AHORA, which means like right now.  so that is what we need to do.  we have to do what we need to do and we have to do it NOW!!

as far a investigators go we are having some challenges.  we are still working with erlin and and try to help him get baptized NOW, but he wants to wait more....  we will see how it goes

 

 

answers to mom's questions:

i have no idea what the temp is but I am always cold.  no snow, sometimes during the night things frost over but that is about it. there are both pine trees and jungle.  best food of the week was the philicheese steak that we were given at the zone leader meeeting in reu.  the biggest challenge of the week is just being able to work.  my comp is getting better but the doc wants him to be in the house at six everyday which basically keeps us from doing good work, which just drives me crazy because i want to be a good example for my zone.   so that has makes me a little bit frustrated - hopefully he is well soon and we can get back to our good hard working schedule!  spending time with president was amazing - i learned so much and saw a lot of friends which was great. as far as a package -sweaters, sweats, and any food you want to send me.  i belive i just got chases last email and holy crap it almost made me cry.  i cannot belive that he is finishing - i remember so well when i went to alaska with him.  please tell him congrats for me.  

 

 

have a great week

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

Letter # 84 - "Happy 2015!!" - Palo Gordo, Guatemala

well hello again

after hearing about your crazy adventures in nepal i suddenly feel like being in guatemala isnt all that cool!  but any way, it was a fairly normal week. we worked hard and had some fun.  it is still a little bit hard to work because my comp is still a little bit sick so we have orders to be in our house at 6 so that is a little bit of a bummer but it was still a good week.  

the biggest news is that we are getting really close with this guy named erlin.  he is super cool. his wife has been a member for her whole life and he works in canada for like 7 months of the year and then is here with his family the rest of the year.  he came back a few weeks ago and has been coming to church.  we have been teaching him and he is super cool.  on friday i had an amazing lesson with him while i was with our branch president.  it was such a miralce, when we started the lesson i wasnt sure what i needed to say to him but the words and the scritpures came and it was one of the most powerful lessons of my mission.  the coolest thing was that near the end of our lessons he asked us to stay.  he said he felt such a peace while we were there that he didn't want us to go.  so yeah he is great and hopefully will be baptized soon.

i think that is about it on the update.  things are going well -it is so cold but i love it here.  the cold definitely beats sweating my brains out haha!!

i just wanted to share a way cool scripture that i found this week.  i was reading 1 chronicles and i loved davids last words to his son solomon and then to his kingdom.  here they are:

1 chronicles 28:20

Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the Lord God,even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.

1 chronicles 29:5

And who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto theLord?

so yeah that is it.  have a wonderful week

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

pics: a sweet guatemalan sunset and me making tamales, there was so much smoke i had to cover my face it was hurting my eyes so bad haha

 

 

Letter #83 - "We are always blessed for our best efforts..." - Palo Gordo, Guatemala

well this is kinda weird writing to you when i didnt get any emails from you except for a few funny pics of sam and zac dressed as shieks hahaha!!

well any way this last week was christmas and it was fun.  we had a little get together as a zone, ate some pizza, had a gift exchange, and played some basketball (i played in some sweet fake jordan shoes i bought for like 10 dollars hahaha). then we visited some members, ate a ton of tamales and then, of course at midnight lit off fireworks like all of the guatmalans do.  the funniest thing was that i was counting down til midnight and did so like this - 9 8 7 6 4 5 2 1! so yeah i blame it on the cold and that i was exhausted.  haha

besides that this was  a normal week - to be honest there isnt really that much to report especially because you wont be getting this email until next week - hahaha!  there is one thing i learned this week and that is that we are always blessed for our best effort and for our patience.  i love what it says in these 2 scriptures, im sure i have shared these before but i just love them so much:

D&C 103:36

 36 All victory and glory is brought to pass unto you through your diligence, faithfulness, and prayers of faith.

D&C 123:17

17 Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed.

well have a wonderful week

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

Letter #82 - Feliz Navidad! - Palo Gordo, Guatemala

well this is the week of christmas, but i feel like christmas already happened because i already talk to the family! to be honest all of the weeks kinda blur together ive been here so long that i feel like being a missionary is my life now.  this week was very normal but we had a sweet conference with president.  he talked about the need to be disciples.  he shared the story of the young rich man and then how after Jesus had told His disciples that it is hard to enter in the kingdom of God that peter resonded that he had left everything to follow Him and then i love the the promise Christ made (mark 10):

29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s,

 30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life

so yeah i know that is true because i have seen it in my life as i have left everything to be able teach the gospel.  also this week we had a sweet christmas activity with the branch - there were 15 investigatores there and it made me realize how easy it is truly to invite people to learn more about the church. it can start wtih something so small like a church activity and movie,  He is the Gift, or a family night.  they will feel the spirit and then it will be easier to invite them to other things.  well i hope you all have a wonderful week and a wonderful christmas.  remember that Christ is christmas and that He is the Gift!!

 

 

i want to share something really quick with you (i kinda already told mom) but i want all of you to read this.  about 3 years ago nick holmes clicked on a facebook ad that talked about going to figi.  after that he signed up for hefy.  he told me about the trip and i tried to sign up but it was all full.  we sent an email to the lady who was in charge and she put my name on a list.  a few weeks later we found out that they were opening up a fourth trip to belize, and i got on the trip. chase was in the third trip and then felt like he needed to change to the fourth.  i met him, he became my best friend,  all of my friends at byu were because of him and my friends when i come home from the mission will also be because of him.  MY LIFE HAS BEEN CHANGED BECAUSE NICK HOLMES CLICKED ON A FACEBOOK AD!

why am telling you this?? because giving service in belize changed my life and it is possible that this trip to nepal could change your lives.  i just want to invite you to do a few things on the trip:

1. take a lot of pics

2. write in a journal during everyday of the trip

3,  dont complain (DAD!!)

4. try to be friends with everyone

5. write down funny quotes of experiences

6. read the scriptures

um so i think that is it i hope your trip is amazing

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

Letter #81 - " looks like it will be a cold Christmas!‏" - Palo Gordo, Guatemala

so yeah as the subject line says it looks like it will be a cold christmas. what does that mean?? i had changes again!!  after almost 8 months in or near malacatan, i have changes and they sent me to a place called palo gordo.  that is in the mountains.  what does that mean?? after almost 20 months of constant sweating i have stoped sweating and now i am shivering. hahaha

so yeah it was unexpected that i would have changes but here i am.  i am with a missionary named elder wilkes, he has 16 months in the mission and he is from alpine utah.  this week has been really hard because my comp has been sick so it has been hard for me to leave the house to work, but i was able to learn a lot. i was reading in 1 kings and i loved the story of elias who challenged the priests of baal to see whose god was more powerful.  i thought about how much confidence elias had to have to challenge the 900 of them against just him. and then the confidence to mock them. and then the confidence to pour so much water over his sacrifice.  (its all in 1 kings 18)  this week i also thought a lot about this hymn ¨o come all ye faithful¨.  in spanish the title is ¨venid, adoremos¨, it means ¨come, let us worship¨. i realized that the title is a perfect example of missionary work.  we need to invite everyone to come, and worship God with us and invite them to obey Him and be baptized.  that is our job as members of the Church.

 

answers to moms questions:

 

 im not sure if franklin got baptized - i hope so but i havent been able to talk with fickes to makes sure he did.  the best thing i learned from elder fickes was how to see not who the people were but who they could become.  the ward mission leader never ended up helping us but the mission leader here is super cool.  i have no idea who the new hermana in malacatan is.  yes i got the other christmas package from you and the package from aunt michelle.  please tell here i said thanks.  best food for the week was the chinese food that we ate for lunch today. every time i sing christmas songs i like to sing "i heard the bells on christmas day" and it makes me think of grandpa.  the best things about being on a mission for christmas is not having to deal with all of the commercialism that comes a long with christmas and being able to focus on the true meaning of christmas.  the worst thing is not having family with me, not watching nacho libre, not having all of the fun that we always have for Christmas....i am asuming you will ask me about my new zone.  in our zone there are 12 of us.  me and my comp are the zls.  there are 2 districts in my zone.  there are 2 hermanas (keltner and castillo) and 10 elders (me, wilkes, mendez, herrera, morales, garboza, cavio, evans, morin, and puckett)

well i think that is it for the week i hope you have a wonderful week and we will talk sunday!!

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

 

 

Letter #80 - "Without a doubt my best week in Malacatan!" Malacatan, Guatemala

well hello again

so this was without a doubt my best week here in malacatan.  we were able to talk to a lot of people who are very cool.  we have also started using this new video from the church - i think in english it is called He is the Gift, but im not sure.  in spanish it is called El es la Dadiva.  but yeah it is a great video and people here are so excited about sharing it with other people. so yeah besides that one really cool thing that we were able to do this week was go to xetulul which  is that big amusment park which was way fun with half of the mission.  

the best news is that this upcoming week we are going to have a baptism of franklin. we have gone through so much to help him but finaly if all goes well on Thursday, he will be baptized!   i am trying to work hard and recognize all the miracles that God has blessed me with.  

 

answers to moms questions:

 

best thing about being a district leader is having a cell phone - it really makes work so much easier haha!   as far as my comp things are going great - we are working so hard and I have never been so tired!  we eat with members everyday for lunch.  for dinner we buy something in the street or make something at home (eggs or spaghetti)  yes i got the Christmas spirit box - thanks so much!!! i dont have much interaction with the kids from the ward but we would like to change that .... we walk a fair amount but i have no idea how much... my pedometer broke.... a mini mission is when someone who is almost missionary age spends a few days or a few week living and working with the missionaries.  we had a mini missionary live with us last week - it was awesome!  yes people put up lights and decorations just not as much as at home. as far my favorite guatemalan food i would have to say that it is chicken en mole, but to be honest i feel like that is cheating because mole is mexican but we eat it a lot and i really like it.....  

 

mom - i want to invite you to share "he is the gift" with everyone you can - it is a wonderful way to start talking to people about the church.

the cover essay and letter to the fam will be in a seperate email.

have a great week

love, elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

 

 

 

 

Letter #79 - "The Lord guided us to the right place in the right moment!"

well it was a good week here

so to start off the week we had a great zone conference with president where he spoke a lot of justice and mercy and it was really cool to learn about that. i love how we repent so that we can get better.  some time we think of repentance as a punishment but the only reason that God asks us to repent is so that we can get better.

anyways on to the week.  this was a very interesting week.  i think more that anything i would just like to share a miracle that we saw.  in my area it is very easy for us to get in the door and talk to people, but it is very hard for people to accept what we teach and get them to church, because the church is very far from the area and you have to go in bus and most people dont have money to go in the bus..... but anyway we were working on friday and we werent sure what to do and then we had the feeling that we needed to go visit a convert from 5 months ago.  we went there and there was a woman and her daughter there asking help from the convert. we started to talk to them and the mom and daugther were super positive.  we took their address and then went to visit them on saturday.  they wanted us to talk with their whole family not just with the 2 of them so we did.  they are great people and i am very glad to be able to work with them.  it was a very powerful experience for me because we would have never been able to find this family on our own.  the Lord had guided us to the right place in the right moment so that we can teach this family. so that was way cool!!

 

 

answers to mom's questions:

 

invvestigators update: franklin - needs to stop smoking and then we need to convince the bishop that he can get baptized.  he doesnt have any sort of papers and for that the bishop doesnt want him to get baptized.  carlota, nelson, jose, eduardo - the family that franklin lives with, they all want to get baptized, they just need to come to church a couple time first. helen, marlis - the mom and daughter that we found this week, they should be baptized in december.  pedro - a super old guy that we couldnt find all week long but came to church by himself.  wants to get baptized but has a surgury soon and wants to wait until after the surgury to get baptized....

the bishop loves the hermanas still but now the hermanas are helping us so we are a great team, hahaha! the weather is just getting hotter and it isnt raining any more.  the best visit we had this week was last night we had a very powerful lesson with franklin and his family about the atonement. it was one of the most powerful lessons of the mission. life as dl is good just kinda frustrating - we have had a lot of challenges this month and there are have been problems with quite a few missionaries, but right now things are going better.

so i think that is about it for this week

have a great week

love

elder meyer

GO HEELS GO AMERICA

PS a week ago i bought a unc basketball jersey in a guatemalan good will for $1

fotos: me in my unc jersy talking to my an area in my district with minimissionary that lived with us for a couple days this week

my area

me, my son, my grandson