"If you labor all your days and bring one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy" D&C 18:15

Monday, March 31, 2014

It is so hot here!

Hola Familia!

All I have to say, is that when everyone told me that it gets hot in April and May here in Guatemala, I didn't believe them, but they were right! It is so hot here, if you aren't constantly drinking water, it is very easy to get dehydrated. The hottest time during the day starts at ten in the morning and the heat stays around until about six at night!!! Our glory hours are after 6 p.m., because we can walk faster!

This week has been a great and super fast week! I'm still getting to know the area and the members, but this ward is amazing! All the members are so willing to help and give references, that we haven't had to contact yet! The best part is that the references we get are friends and family, so having a member there to be a friend, and testify, really helps in the conversion process.

This week we set 2 more baptism dates with 2 young parents named Danelly and Fauny who have a 4 year old. It was such a powerful lesson as we taught the restoration. After the lesson, I felt prompted to ask them if they thought that this was the true church of Jesus Christ, and they said yes. Right away we asked them to be baptized and they took a minute to think about it, but the best part is that they talked about it with each other and in turn both said yes! They came to church Sunday, and now they just need to come one more time and they can be baptized!

I think that is is way cool how the Lord prepares people, and how many people that there are in each area who are prepared. Working with the members really helps us find those prepared people, because just like the missionaries, the members can receive revelation to who needs the gospel and to who is ready for the gospel!

We are also expecting a baptism this Thursday with Arasely, so please pray for her that she may be able to be baptized! I hope all of you guys enjoy the nice spring weather, I would so rather have the cold over the heat!!! Les Amo Mucho!

Tortilla Total 867

Elder Corbett and Elder Darrow with Arasely

Elder Corbett and Elder Darrow with Jenny, an investigator

Monday, March 24, 2014

My new area is awesome!

Hola Familia!

I just have to say that my new area is awesome! And of course, I didn't even move outside of Huehuetenango. It's fine though because In Las Rosas, I got to know half of huehue really well, and now in my new area I can get to know the rest of huehue really well. So, if you guys ever want a tour of huehue, I can now give you the complete tour!

My new area is called Zaculeu and the ruins are in it! We walk past the ruins almost everyday. Our house isn't too bad either, but the best part of all, is that the church is huge and it is literally right by our house! My new companion is awesome too! His name is Elder Darrow and he is from Alaska so that's pretty cool. He is from the same group as Elder Perry!

This area has a lot of potential and we even had a baptism on Saturday! We seriously asked him to be baptized on Tuesday when I got there, taught him everything Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday he had his interview, and Saturday we baptized him! We also have some baptism dates for April so that will be nice!

It's pretty funny, because the only thing that separates me from Las Rosas is a little hill, so whenever I miss Las Rosas I always think about how close I really am to it! Well that's all I have for this week.

Les amo mucho! Tortilla Total 835

Elder Corbett and Elder Darrow with Kevin on his baptism day

My new house!

A cool bird that probably knows more spanish than I do

The church

A lizard that we caught

Monday, March 17, 2014

Last week in Las Rosas

Hola Familia!

My last week in Las Rosas was amazing! Thanks to all of your prayers, we had baptisms last week! But it's definite, I will be leaving. Last night I got the call.

The baptisms were amazing. There were more investigators, than members that came. When the bishop saw that, he got a little excited! And of course, we took everyone in a truck, and the truck couldn't handle it, so most of the time we were pushing the truck to the baptism haha! But it turned out great! All of the members helped out with the food, and it was very spiritual and we made a great impression on the investigators that we brought!

Also this week, we made one last trip out to Aguacaton so Elder Perry would know how to get there. We actually had a member (Luis) who took us in his car. It was awesome. We found a lot of houses where inactive members lived, and we might have even made a pit stop at the rio San Juan haha!

That's about all the news I have for last week. We pretty much spent the whole week getting Jorge and Yohana ready for their baptisms! Next week, my email will be super long explaining my new area and companion! Well all I have left tonight is to say goodbye to my converts and members. It's so crazy how attached you can get to the people here, especially after living here for 7 months! Les Amo y Les Quiero!!!

Tortilla Total 803

Jorge and Yohana with their family on their baptism day

Bautismo

Elder Corbett with Luis at the rio San Juan

Elder Corbett and Elder Perry at the river

Monday, March 10, 2014

Eight Months

Hola Familia!

Wow, I cannot believe how fast the time goes by on a mission. Today I have completed 8 months, when it really still feels like I just got here! I have a feeling that this week might be the last week in my area, so there is a lot of things I need to get done this week and a lot of people I need to say goodbye to!

We have been working really hard with some families that we have met and trying to get them baptized before I leave! And, I think that I might leave with a bang! haha We are hoping to have the baptisms of a mom and her two children this Friday. Right now, the kids are a 100 percent chance, but the mom is a little nervous about baptism. We are planning on bringing a recent convert who had the some of the same feelings as she is experiencing, and also bringing some members to visit her this week! So, if everyone could pray for Hermana Riena that she could have the comfort to be baptized this Friday, that would be awesome!

Besides working super hard this week, we ended up getting in a war on the 4th of March which is called carnival. Everyone goes out on the street and throws eggs, and flour, and confetti and all sorts of things at each other! So Elder Perry and I, being 2 gringos, were the main target!!! This year was the first year that the mission president let the missionaries go out. Right when we stepped out the door, we got nailed with everything from the youth in our neighborhood, but we joined up with them for a little bit. Elder Perrry and I had appointments to go to and they didn't want us to leave, so they guarded our house!!! We told them we were fine with that and went on top of our roof and threw buckets of water down on them! It was super fun and crazy and dirty.

Well this week is going to be an amazing and super sad week for me. I have fallen in love with all of the people in my area, and it seriously feels like I have lived in Las Rosas forever! But it will be great to end with baptisms! Pray for Riena!!! Les Amo Mucho!

Tortilla Total 776

Cooking with Hermana Vicky

Carrying wood

Chopping wood with Elder Perry

Helping our investigators build a house

The building crew

Monday, March 3, 2014

Serving a mission is the best!

Hola Familia!!!

I don't know about you guys, but here in Guatemala it just gets hotter and hotter!!! They say that March and April are the hottest, so I'm definitely not looking forward to that! I've also been sad, because I am pretty sure that on the 18th I will finally have changes! It's going to be hard to leave my first area, Las Rosas.

All I have to say, is that we found the COOLEST investigator named Esgard. He played professional futbal here in Guatemala. The reason why he quit playing, is because he broke his leg. He told us that if we taught him the gospel, that he would teach us how to play futbol like a chapin!!! Every Thursday we play futbol for an activity with the elders quorum. So with him and a couple investigators that we have, we are going to play against the members! It's going to be a lot of fun!

Seriously, serving a mission is the best! Elder Perry and I have been having a lot of success in our area. We have literally changed a part of our area! There is this part of our area called Beuna Vista and it's a really difficult part. With my other companion, we would never go there because it was so hard. But Elder Perry and I have learned that through service and showing love, you can touch the hearts of anyone. We now have 5 different houses that we visit in this area. They love the church and we even brought them to a baptism this week! Everyday, another person comes up to us and wants to talk to us, because they have talked to our investigators. They want the happiness that they have too! As we are walking up the hill all the kids run up to us and yell our names, and beg us to play with them and visit their families.

One important thing that I have learned, is if we try to be more like Christ, and show love and service, we can touch the hearts of anyone. And in doing that, they will begin to come unto Christ and to receive all the blessings that are waiting for them. I hope all of you guys have a great week! les amo y les quiero!!!

Tortilla Total 747

Raquel's baptism

Going to church

Elder Corbett with Brandon, Jefferson and Kevin

Elder Perry and Elder Corbett with the children

Making adobe bricks with Suzan and Fransico

Elder Corbett and Elder Perry in their soccer jerseys