hola familia ¿como esta? (How are you). I had an idea but i think its a bad one now. I was going to write totally in spanish and tell jason to traslate it and rewrite it for everybody, Just to see if i could do it. But that would just would be a hassle for everybody, and i couldnt write fast so it would be really short.
Last week I went on divisions with elder graham, it was fun. Kinda funny cause sometimes we contacted sombody and both of us didnt understand so we just nodded our heads and kept going. But after when I came back with my comp, everything was different. I dont know what happened, but we get along now. Dont ask me what happened but its been great. Its still really difficult and he has not changed his ways but we are getting along and thats a start to things changing.
The work is going really good right now. This lady lidia is going to be baptized, this month we hope. She said yes to be baptized but refused to make a date for it. But said she would in time. She is really like, like she doesnt have a strong testimony and wants to learn the whole thing before her baptism. We are trying to let her know that you dont have to know everything about the gospel before baptism and that she will learn.
Our investigator lidia has a friend who is mormon. We met her and talked to her. She and her family lived in boston, dallas and salt lake city before. She joined the church while in the united states, im gonna guess salt lake city, but i dont know for sure. Her husband took the lessions too but didnt join the church, because he is hard core cathlic. But this was like 15 years ago. Now they have lived here in guatemala for like 15 years, she went in active in the church because of a conflict with the lady across the street ( the primary president now). They have 3 boys, one 18, 16, 13. They are really cool kids. They all learned english from their dad who learned in the usa. So i can talk to them more than anybody else. They are totally fluent. But all of them claim to be cathlic now but they have really never gone that much, just durning christmas and easter and stuff. But the wife who is a member wants to come back to church and knows she should. But doesnt want to like split up their family by going and go without them. So she wants us to teach them so the whole family can come, which is great. We taught them last week just about the family proclamation to the world and the importance. It was kind of akward but through talking about it we found out they are divorced which she didn´t tell us. But oh well they just have to get married before baptism. But then the husband and wife came to church yesterday. I felt great, because i could talk to him in english and explain things and just talk to him. Sometimes he would ask me things that happened just becasue he didnt want others to understand, that was funny. He loved it though. Durning one meeting we were reading in moses, and he was confused, so we explained about the pearl of great price and d and c and the bom. He said where can i get one? so thats good. There kids didnt come to church, i dont know why. Today the husband herbert came and played basketball with all the missionarys. I think it was good, he could talk to all the greenies too in english and bond with everybody. And he lived in salt lake city like half of the people there and talked about that. He i think and hope will be baptized. He is really interested. But we have an appointment for this wednesday and friday nights to teach them. Two of the kids are interested, but the 18 year old is kind of in a rebel stage right now, and so his parents go to church so he does the opposite and if they tell him to do something he will do the opposite so, i think he will take some more time. But we hope to baptize the husband, and two kids, maybe the other by the end of this month.
There is catalina the grandma. She is great. Her daughter and their family is members. She knows the bible like the back of her hand so it is pretty easy to teach her. Because she believes every every thing the bible says. So if she has a question we flip out the bible and say read this please. Then oh okay yep it must be true it is right here in my bible. She really liked lession two about the after life. I think because that is because she is old and will die soon so it is scary to her where she is going and all of that. She had lots of questions about living with your family, because some of her sons she said are not good people and she worries about not being with them after this life. One of her granddaughters is taking the lessions too and is liking them. She is reading the bom and loving it, we didnt teach her lession 2 though. She is in college and has a job and is really busy, its a miracle she was their the first lession with her grandma.
Then their is jefferson and maria, they read and pray and have a testimony of jose smith and everything. But they have some issues right now with their aunt or sister, who is a member. So they wont go to church. They said they would yesterday. But we went and their neighbors said they left in the morning early somewhere. I think once they go to church and see what it is like and all of that they will be good.
So I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting last week. Everybody came up after and was like wow you speak spanish now, great good job and stuff like that. I realized what the problem is that i need to fix. People think i dont know anything in spanish because i never talk. But i realized it is not all because of spanish because i dont talk in english either. I can talk a lot now, I just simply dont talk a lot in any language.
Our investigator manuel is doing awesome, awesome, he is on the way to be the next prophet of the church, ha no. But he is doing great. He does everything on his own with nobody telling him anything. He goes to institute every week and to this other class thier is. He is friends with all the other people now his age. He is studying like crazy. He is reading the bom, bible, principles of the gospel, teaching of the prohets, and teh liahona. He knows tons. Last week he went on splits with my comp and helped teach like the first two lessions. He would be the best missioniar. But i dont think he can. Does anybody know the rules for that. My comp said he cant because he has a kid. But he does not live with him and he doenst have responsibility over him so he could leave for two years. I want to ask the bishop about it but i dont know. The way i understood it is that he can talk to the bishop and he has the decision yes or no, not matter what you have done in the past. He asked last week about it and how he could go, but my comp told him he cant because he has a kid, I just want to make sure he really can, because he asked about it and is thinking about it and wants to go. He also came today and played basketball with all teh missionarys. That was fun. He got a calling this week to the first concelor of the sunday school. So he gets to teach class now. Thats great, he is nervous but will do great.
But I need to go now. Oh joseph hope all is well with your back so you can go on your mission. Ill pray for you. And if you cant go for a while longer, take advantage of that time, Their is so many things i wished i had done before i left and things i wished i had studied like in the sciptures and stuff. I try to study a lot now. But one or two hours is not enough. The mission is just really busy and you dont have much time. It all flys by so fast. I really feel like that a month ago i was home. ANd two weeks ago I was in the mtc in provo, and last week, I was in the mtc here. But now the weeks are months, I have been on my mission for 4 months!!! wow. Love you all.
Adios cya, elder gardner!
(Nathan and jason, i read your letters you wrote in spanish today while in the mtc in provo. I finally understand every word of it. That was awesome. You should write more dear elder letters all in spanish so i can practice my spanish.) OH flip and no mom i didnt get the dear elders yet. Those take like a month, because i got one from sis j about conference 2 or 3 weeks ago, haha. Sometimes i get like 2 or 3 at a time from different weeks. but I like it because i can have the paper, and go back and read it, but i cant with emails always. but got to go cya elder gardner
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