Week 31 In The Field: Investigators are progressing well, we have a lot of member support and we´re working hard to get baptisms.

Not a lot of time to write this week, I apologize.

This week I had my second baptism interview. The first was like two weeks ago and it went really well. This time in the interview I had to say no because the guy wasn`t willing to pay tithing. He started to argue with us and it was really sad but it taught me a lot about obedience and it´s relation to covenants.

Investigators are progressing well, we have a lot of member support and we´re working hard to get baptisms.

Thanks everyone for all the emails and all the love. Love you guys a lot! Hope everyone has a great week.

Picture is of our study room in our apartment. Internet is slow, only have time for one!

Study room in our apartment.

Answers to questions:

How fun you got to work with Elder Rivera again! Wasn't he from Honduras? Why did he move to Guatemala?

Yes, he moved here to study English in a church program called Fumbal. He moves back in two weeks and he´s getting married.

What is your Companion's name?

Elder Uribe (OO-Ree-Beh)

How is his Spanish different than the Guatemala Spanish?

He has a very mild chilean accent. Talks quieter than people here, not sure if that´s a chilean thing though. He says ciao a lot instead of adios. Different things like that.

Do you still mostly walk everywhere, take tuk tuks or what?

Walking, unless we go to the stake center, then we talk a bus that costs like 12 cents. But its super packed and uncomfortable. US school bus with 100 or more people. Most people stand and hold on to rails while the driver goes crazy.

Do those American fast food places taste just like they do in the US?

Yeah, if anything they taste better because the workers are higher quality because working at one of those places is a great job. Menus aren´t exactly the same though, we get some specialty items in the US. Like the deep deep dish pizza from Little Caesars.

Now that you are in a nice area, is church attendance and activation improved?

Yeah we have 150 active members in our ward and two wards attend in our building. Retention and activation efforts are better due to the structure of the ward and member involvement.

Is the Priesthood more active in your ward  (or is it a branch?)

We are a ward and we have Ward Council every week and Priesthood executive committee as well. The leaders are great, most are return missionaries and have children on missions or children who have already served missions.

Also, wondering if people have to travel far to attend their meetings?

No, there´s another chapel about 5 miles away and most people have cars or motorcycles.

Will you go into the city more often now for meetings? 

Yes, every time there is a meeting in the city we will go. About once or twice every six weeks.

How long is your trip?

Depends on traffic. Heavy traffic 1.5 hours, light traffic 30 minutes.

Elder Uribe

Week 30 In The Field: I am now in Zone 11, Mixco, Guatemala.

Hi everyone!

I am now in Zone 11, Mixco, Guatemala. Basically a suburb of Guatemala City.

My area is really safe and relatively rich. We have a lot of gated communities and it is illegal for us to contact there. We also live in a gated community with armed guards at the entrance.

This area is radically different from Gualan but it´s great. We have a Walmart, Little Caesars, Taco Bell, and a bunch of other places.

The people are harder to contact and people aren´t as friendly but the percentage of new investigators who actually progress is much higher.

We met a couple this week and they`re really great. The man is Eliseo and the woman is Jennifer. Eliseo is a guard for our residential complex and he asked us if we offered bible studies. We told him we could pass by and teach him our message. We taught him about the restoration and he was really excited. He asked about 5 times if we were going to come back, always saying "I hope this isn´t the last lesson we have". 

He confessed to us that sometimes he is abusive to his wife and he wants to know how he can learn to love his wife and control his temper. We were able to testify of the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ to fix the problems that we have.

We have 5 baptism dates, 9 progressing investigators, and had 28 lessons in total this week.

Brayan Rivera, my first companion in the mission who finished his mission after my first change lives in my area! I was able to do a division with him and it was awesome. Just like old times!

I´d like to share this quote from President David O. McKay to end my letter this week:

There is no one great thing that we can do to obtain eternal life, and...the great lesson to be learned...is to apply in the little acts and duties of life the glorious principles of the Gospel.

I´d invite you to fill your life with the words of eternal life so that in every moment you can be doing the little things that lead you to the Celestial Kingdom.

I love you all, have a great week!

Did you get to say any final goodbyes to people in Gualan?

Yes, I was able to say goodbye to the 13 converts we had and also a couple families in the branch.

Did all your things fit in your suitcase?

Yes, it wasn´t a problem.

What happens at the change meeting?

Everyone who has a change comes and they bring their luggage. We have a farewell for the missionaries who are finishing the mission, we hear a message from President Crapo, and we get taxis to take us to our new areas with our lunch and stuff.

Where actually are you?

Zone 11 de Mixco. It´s kind of part of the capital but it´s also kind of like a suburb. We`re in a relatively rich area (by Guatemalan standards). Lots of gated communities with guards (not super nice houses but people pay more to be safe) and it`s against the rules for us to contact there or they´ll kick us out. We work a lot more with references and stuff.

Where is your companion from?

Chaitén, Chile, in the southern part of the country.

How long has he been out?

3 months

Do you feel safe?

Yes

What is your apartment like?

Pretty nice actually. A lot bigger. Two bathrooms, room for closets, bedroom, study room, kitchen, and an extra room where we have an ironing board. We live in a gated community with guards.

 How is your ward/branch?

150 or so active members. They help us a lot with the work.

Any good places around to eat?

We ate at Little Caesars today. Taco Bell, Mcdonalds, Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Dominos are all here also and they all deliver for free. Bunch of other local places too.

How is the work going in your area? 

We have five baptism dates and had four investigators in Sacrament meeting with us. harder to find new people but when you do they actually read and come to church.

Week 29 In The Field: I'm Leaving Gualan and heading for Guatemala City!

Well, I´m finally leaving Gualán and heading for Guatemala City! My companions Elder Perez and Elder Henrriquez will stay here and two additional missionaries will be coming to Gualán to help us with the work. I don´t know where exactly I´ll be or who my companion will be, I will find that out tomorrow at the change meeting.

It was great talking to my family this week through Skype. I love you guys and I feel so blessed.

This week we taught a total of 38 lessons and found 35 new investigators. We had three investigators at sacrament meeting and we have two baptism dates.

I love being able to answer people´s questions here. A lot of people have doubts about what will happen after this life or how we can communicate with God or what  baptism means, etc. But with the fulness of the gospel these questions are really easy to answer. What a great blessing it is to know so many answers. As members of the church we need not be confused about our eternal purposes.

I hope everyone has a great week. I´m nervous to leave to only place in Guatemala that I really know but at the same time I´m excited for the challenges that lie ahead. Love you all!

Elder Dawson

Mother's Day Skype 2015

We were able to Skype today for 2 hours! All the Rasmussen's and Grandma Rainy came over.

Week 28: 1/3 Of The Way Done

Hey guys, hope everyone is well.

This week we were really successful in finding new investigators and teaching lessons. 21 lessons taught to investigators with members present, 8 lessons taught to investigators without a member present, 8 lessons with recent converts and less active members, 38 new investigators, and 1 new baptism date.

We had a great experience with an investigator named Fransisco who has a baptism date for June 6. He told us about a dream he had entering in a church holding hands with his wife. He readily accepted a baptism date and he is reading a lot in the Book of Mormon and coming to church.

We are working hard out here and seeing blessings. We know that there are angels working alongside us preparing people to receive our message.

I´d invite all of you to think about the following question: if you were to pray tonight and ask our Father in Heaven to bless you according to your obedience would you recieve more blessings or fewer blessings?

Some of us recieve blessings but perhaps we are not fully obedient. Do we truly deserve the blessings that we are recieving? If not we should repent and strive to be worthy or the blessings we are receiving.

I say this not to chastise, but I myself have recognized that I receive so much from the Lord and I need to put in more of my part each and every day to thank Him.

I should be able to talk to my family through Skype at 3pm (Arizona Time) on Sunday.

Love you all, have a great week!

Elder Dawson