Week One in the Field: We find new families every day and we see the Lords hand in everything we do.

Hey everyone, I hope you're all doing well and enjoying life! Heres what happened to me this week:

We had a Zone Conference this week with our President and it was great to talk to everyone and get pumped up by the president. Our Zone is centered in Teculutan which is about an hour or so away from Gualan where I am. When we travel long distances we take vans which are packed with people but it costs like a dollar to ride so its convenient. 

Its interesting to have a companion whose from Central America. Some times he asks weird questions and I feel bad answering them because I feel like I'm like a condescending white guy. When we were in the van he asked me if buses were different in my country and I was like "Well honestly no one would ever ride a bus because they have a car." Or one time I tried to explain what a dish washer was to him because he had never seen one. The way people live is just very different here. 

We had three baptisms on Saturday! We baptized a 50 year old woman named Irma, and two children: Erik who is 13 and Michelle who is 12 (Its funny that so many people here have American names.) They are all really smart and have strong testimonies. Erik and Michelle are hilarious and I love visiting them because I feel like they could just be my cousins or something. Except they don't speak English, haha.

Speaking of English, our district is going to start offering free English classes at our chapel every Saturday. Everyone here gets so excited when you say English Class. People here can some times make four times as much money if they speak english. Learning English can change their lives.

We find new families every day and we see the Lords hand in everything we do. My Spanish is getting pretty good and I teach about 20% of each lesson or so. I can teach pretty much all the main lessons, the hard part is telling stories with particular vocabulary words or responding to peoples stories because sometimes I cant quite understand everything they're saying, but Im getting there!

Ive attached a picture of my companion and I with the Arreaza Family, two of which we baptized last week, the other two are already members. From left to right: Elder Rivera, Michelle, the Grandma (unfortunately forgot her name), Erik, Diana, and Myself.

The next picture is of the other lady we baptized, Irma, and her family. Irma is the one in all white. You can also see her daughter Yoli, and her grandchildren Katherine and Carlos.

I love you all! The church is true!

So do you have a toilet that flushes?

Yes

Why do you put toilet paper in the garbage -because of the water pressure?

I just do what my companion tells me to do haha. I would imagine that the plumbing here is just bad and you don't want to clog the system.

Any certain food you miss?  (I will send you some!)

I dont miss anything but in Central America they dont have any jerky so i gave some to my companion and he loved it. They also dont have sour candy so its fun to give that to kids at church or in lessons. None of them can keep a warhead in their mouth for more than like 5 seconds.

Can you by some more things for your house - like more plates and utensils.  Just use your debit card or use some of your cash.  We will add more money to your account.

Okay thank you.

Can you heat up your shower bucket water in the microwave? :)

Maybe but we don't have a lot of time to shower.

How is the Rio Montagua?

It settled down. We live far from it so we don't have to worry about flooding.

How do you order food to be delivered?  Do you have a phone?

Yes we have a phone. Its like a nokia something. Calling and occasional texting. We use it to remind people to come to church or to ask members if they can come teach with us.

Is the weather as nice as Guatemala City?

Its a lot hotter here and more humid. Its prettier though.

How far will you travel for your regional meetings? 

Zone meetings are held in Teculutan, Guatemala which is an hour or so away. 

Are you walking a lot?

A reasonable amount but we take little taxis if we need to go somewhere far.

Thanks for the email! Love you!

My companion and I with the Arreaza Family, two of which we baptized last week, the other two are already members. From left to right: Elder Rivera, Michelle, the Grandma (unfortunately forgot her name), Erik, Diana, and Myself.

Irma, and her family. Irma is the one in all white. You can also see her daughter Yoli, and her grandchildren Katherine and Carlos.

Photos

              Couldn't snap a good pic but this is a tuc tuc. They look like something straight out of New Delhi.

Sink thing we have (Its called a pila and is basically a trough. Its interesting because when someone is smart here they are also called "bien pilas" or like "so trough")

View from the roof

Picture of me on our roof

An Office board game that we have. On P days I sometimes read the question cards because they have quotes from the show. My companion doesn't understand why I laugh so hard.

Week One in the Field: I was assigned to labor in Gualan, Guatemala.

Hi everyone! I dont have a lot of time to write so this might have to be fast. 

I left the MTC on Tuesday and went to a stake center only about 20 minutes away to go the the Transfer Meeting thing. I talked to the Stake President and I was assigned to labor in Gualán, Guatemala.

Gualán is about 4 hours from the city by bus. Its home to like 50,000 people. Everyone here is really poor. The one person Ive met who has a car is our Branch President and hes a lawyer. Many adults are unable to read and none of the houses really have doors you kind of just yell at a gate and somebody comes.

Everone is willing to hear our message, no one has ever turned us down.

The first guy I asked to be baptized said yes. His name is Cristino Garcia. He is 50 years old and lives in a hut in a papaya orchard. He only has one shirt and one pair of pants. He doesnt have a job but his twelve year old son does so his son provides for the two of them. Teaching him is very humbling. He says he wants to be baptized because he was very sick and pleaded for God to heal him. He was healed and had a new found sense of faith and purpose and thats when he met the missionaries. He wants to be baptized because he knows that priesthood authority is important and he knows we have it. In my first lesson with him it was really spiritual and when he said the closing prayer his chicken flew on my head. I stayed calm and my companion wacked the chicken off my head for me.

My companion is Elder Rivera. He is from Honduras and he is a convert to the church. Weve become bros and he helps me out a lot in lessons. Hes been in this area like 3 months so he knows the people. This is his last transfer. When he goes home he wants to study english to be an english teacher in his country. He already knows some english which is helpful. We try to speak only English in the house because hes preparing for an English fluency test.

I have attached a picture of me and Hermano Wales. He is a convert of 7 years and he loves to come with us to teach lessons, such a great guy.

We typically have breakfast at our house and lunch and dinner in the field. We eat at restaurants. Things here are so cheap. A restaurant meal with a drink is like 2.50. We take taxi things called tuc tucs to get around the city when we need to get somewhere far quickly. A tuc tuc is like 50 cents to take across town. So chill. Sometimes we get food delived too which is like 2 dollars.

Our branch is small, we have 80 members.

We usually dont have running water. I usually have to shower with a bucket and a bowl. When we do have water its freeezing cold. When you go poop you put the toilet paper in the trash can.

Bugs are everywhere and Dengue fever is a huge problem here.

We are right next to the Rio Montagua and its been flooding so a lot of people have been worried about their homes. 

Spanish is coming along, I gave a ten minute talk at church. 

Love you all, sorry I couldnt say more!

Hermano Wales

What are your living conditions, where do you eat, how do you wash your clothes?

Ill try to send you pictures of our house. Its small and empty and theres a lot of bugs but its pretty outside and the beds are comfortable and we have room to study and exercise and stuff. We typically have bread or oatmeal mixed with water and sugar for breakfast (we have a microwave so I could make real oatmeal but we dont have many plates or utensils). The relief society president washes our clothes every week.

How long has your companion been out, where is he from? 

Almost two years. I will be his last companion. He is a convert to the church from Honduras.

Where do you use the computer (I hope you get to use a computer!)

At a little place where you can pay to rent a computer. Its like a dollar an hour. Keyboards stink and the internet is slow and theres like ten computers but it gets the job done.

Where will you shop for things?

They have markets here and theres like a store every 100 feet that sells food and other basic stuff.

Do you feel safe?

Yes were outside the city and its safe.

Where do you go to church?

A tiny little branch. 10 minute walk from out place. 80 members.

Are the people receptive to missionaries there, are you enjoying speaking Spanish?

Every single person will let you into their house but a lot of times you cant even get them to pray. Yeah, Spanish is going well.

Can I send you the conference Ensign or will you be able to get one there? 

I think I can get one.

Do you need leg medicine?

No they sell ALeve at every corner store. 

Do you have an actual address there we can mail you things?  Or do we send everything to the mission home?

No one in this town has an address as far as I can tell. So send it to the mission home.

What can I send you and your companion for Christmas?  What does he need?

He will be home before Christmas. Dont think i need anything.

How long are you typically with a companion?

6 weeks or so. Sometimes 3 months.

What are you going to spend your Pday doing?

Soccer, shopping, preparing for ward activities.

Will Monday be your P-day?

Yes

Elder Rivera

Mission President Picture and Welcome letter

Sister and President Crapo

MISIÓN GUATEMALA CIUDAD ESTE

Edificio Galerías Reforma 8-60, Torre II

Nivel 5, Oficina 505, Zona 9

Teléfonos: (502) 2362-7887

Fax: (502) 2331-8548

Guatemala, Guatemala, C.A

Dear Dawson Family,

We are very happy to inform you that Elder Dawson has arrived safely in the Guatemala East Mission.  It is a great blessing to have him with us. We will have many opportunities to see each other in the course of our work in the mission and we look forward to many great moments together.

Each missionary is encouraged to write the mission president and his family each Monday. If possible, e-mail is the best way to communicate.  He should only use the authorized church e-mail account and not other web sites or services such as Facebook. It is also important for him to receive word from home.  It seems that the most happy and productive missionaries are those who receive active support from their family and priesthood leaders with regular and positive letters.

The mission experience is one of great challenges and blessings.  It is also a time of significant change and development in the lives of the missionaries.  It is our desire that each one that comes to the mission will be able to reach their full potential as a disciple and representative of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This will come through their faith, obedience, diligence and desire to bless the people they serve.  

We appreciate your love and prayers on behalf of your missionary, his companions, their investigators, and the marvelous work he is doing here.  We pray and have confidence that the Lord will bless you and your loved ones.

With Love and appreciation,

President and Sister Crapo

Transfer Day

Elder Flygare and Elder Dawson

Week 5 at the Guatemala CCM: Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. Proverbs 3:13

Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

Proverbs 3:13

What a great week here at the Guatemala MTC! Elder Flygare and I have been progressing each day and things get repetitive but that just makes us more excited for the field!

On Tuesday we got to go the the open air market, El Mercado Central De La Ciudad de Guatemala. It was really awesome to see all the natives here and get just a little taste of what Guatemala really is.

Before we went to the market we got to go to Wendy's. Everyone pigged out and got a ton of food. I got a triple cheeseburger, fries, a coke, and a frosty. Got to read a spanish newspaper in the restaurant and read just a little bit about what's going on in the world.

We went to a relief map of Guatemala as well which is basically just a scaled down version of the entire country roughly the size of a football field. You can see all the geography and the terrain and where all the cities are and it was really cool to hear the history of how they made the map because it's like 100 years old. Basically an early 20th century Google Earth.

At the market I bought a giant hacky sack (Which was later taken away by the presidents wife when she saw me playing with it during free time :( ), a Guatemalan soccer jersey, a shirt, a woven bag, and a tie. Flygare got a huge machete and some other stuff too. We were able to converse with the natives at the market and stuff which was awesome. Downstairs they have a food market and the leaders are like "It's so gross, this is why you can't eat at members homes because this is where they could be getting their food" but I thought it was awesome. Fruits I had never seen before, people standing on mountains of melons throwing 20 pound fruits to the bottom so they customers got what they wanted, crazy. Wish I could have brought my camera.

Placed my first Libro de Mormon at the Market. We haven't really gone over street approaches or placing copies of the Book of Mormon or anything and I was a little nervous but I just walked up to a guy and said, in Spanish of course, "Hey man, I have this book for you. Will you read it?" Lame approach, I know, but now I have experience and I'll do better next time!

Saw a guy peeing in the street and a woman breastfeeding in public so that's Guatemala for you.

Saw a Favela thing from a distance. I've seen pictures of places like that before but thinking that God's children live there is so sad and so real. Sisters and Senior missionaries can't even teach there. Very humbling.

We have roommate who used to be an atheist and then came back to the church. Flygare asked him if he used to go to Atheist Church. Haha!

Got a new afternoon teacher and we all miss our old teacher.

Running out of time, sorry.

Taught a lesson, quoted first vision, got my fake investigator to do a real cry because she felt the spirit so strongly

One day I saw more rain than I've ever seen in my life.

Conference was so great, I'm bummed I;m running out of time to talk about it. Go read Christoffersons talk from morning session, it was my favorite.

Happy birthday to my Mom!

Gave Flygare a priesthood blessing to give him some peace with learning Spanish. What a powerful experience. Words flowing from the Lord.

Love you all so much. The church is true, I know that now more than ever! 

Elder Dawson 

So how was conference for you?  How was the notebook that you made?

It was great! I took notes during every session and learned a lot. Conference is really powerful as a missionary especially because you're seeking to learn not only for yourself but also for your investigators. The notebook was sweet and I have a ton of information on all sorts of topics. I'm hoping that it will help when I need to give a talk because once I'm done filling it out I'll have some quotes and scriptures and stuff for like 150 topics from tattoos to faith to repentance to happiness.

What was your favorite talk?  

I really like Christofferson's talk on Saturday Morning. He started with the Shakespeare Story from King Henry the V and had a lot to say about the importance of agency and our role as God's children. I also loved the idea of Moral Relativism. It was a really dense talk, hopefully I can ready it again. Got to wait for the Ensign to come out.

Will you leave the CCM on Tuesday the 14th? Tell us what happens - do you stay at the mission home that night then go to your assigned area on Wednesday? Will you probably not be able to write that week?

Yes I will leave that morning. Not sure what happens after that but I'll keep you informed. Don't think I'll be able to write next week.

Did you get the letter Elder Konold's mom sent for us?

Yes I did. Thank you!

Tell us about the Market.  How did you get there? What did you get?  Did you get to go to Wendy's too or anywhere else?

I'll include that in my email.

When do you go to Walmart?  

We don't go to Walmart, I'm not sure what Aunt Jennifer was thinking. Maybe they used to do that? We got to go to the small market which is a stationary store, a convenience store with snacks and stuff, and a church oriented store called Nauvoo or something that sells church movies and posters but isn't a distribution center.

October is suppose to be the month with the most rainfall.  Have you noticed a change in the weather?

No it actually has been less than normal as far as frequency of rain goes but when it does rain I guess it rains a lot harder.

Which towel do you like better?  The normal one or the microfiber one? (Wondering for when we shop for Jayden)

Probably the normal one.

What other stuff do they have for you to buy at the CCM store on Pdays?

Hacky Sacks, scripture cases, wallets, soap, shampoo, aze, loofas, shoes, sandals, soccer jerseys, t shirts.

Anything they have strictly warned you about when you leave the CCM? (like...mosquitos, areas, superstitions, food, etc.)

Dengue Fever, Rabies, Mosquitos, superstitions about cold drinks. We had a health run down thing and they told us about animals and diseases that you can catch and stuff. Bats are kind of a problem. You can carry around a bottle of ammonia and water and spray dogs with it and that works for getting them away from you. Stuff like that.

Anything we can send you?

Don't think so, thanks!

District Photo

Myself, Elder Jarvie, Elder Konold, Elder Aubrey, Elder Gurksnis, Elder Flygare, Elder Duncan, Elder Chabries

                                                        (I have a hacky sack in my pocket)