1 Month

Justin with his companion Elder Heywood

The Christmas packages have arrived.
(I am pretty amazed that they haven't opened the presents Ü)

Es bien loco que he sido en el campo por casi un mes. puedo recordar perfectamente mi tiempo en el mtc y ya casi he cumplido un cambio. todas las cosas aqui son muy buenas. todavia no hemos tenido algunos bautismos, pero estamos trabajando con 3 familias, y 3 otras personas, y creo qu con trabajo vamos a fijar fechas por ellos, talvez por la proxima mes. estoy aprendiendo mucho, y disfrutando cada dia aqui.

Well im going to write in english now because i have a lot to say and not enough time. but this last week was pretty awesome. wednesday i went to a meeting back in retalhelea (i still dont know how to spell that). it was about a 4 hour ride. it was awesome to talk to all my ccm friends. and we got a lot of really good counsel from the president, and other missionaries. it really helped me rededicate myself to work hard. on thursday my companion left for a meeting, so i worked with an elder that came in with me. i liked it because, even though he was a native spanish speaker, i kind of had to step up and teach a little more. spending that whole day with the latin elder really helped my spanish i think. friday i went on splits with one of the assistants. they came to help us invite people to the conference we had this sunday. an area 70 and our mission president spoke so they wanted to have alot of people there. we invited every person we talked to and a lot agreed to come. i don't know how many of the people we invited came, but they said over 600 from our stake came. so that was pretty awesome.

saturday might have been the highlight. in the afternoon we talked with both the families we had been teaching. it was mostly to invite them to the conference, but we taught a little too, and i can see that they are starting to love and trust us more each time. its tough because they arent really making time for themselves to read the book of mormon or go to church. but i think with time their hearts are going to change, and they will see the importance. saturday night we went to an appointment we had made tracting. the family invited us in and we all sat down. we got to know them a little then started teaching. it was amazing how ready they were to learn. usually its like we have to fight to keep the investigators attention, and help them learn, but they were interested and were understanding every thing we taught. at one point one of the sisters said i was reading the pamphlet you gave me and i didnt understand the difference between atonement and resurrection. i know it doesnt sound like much, but i almost fell off my chair. ha it was great to see a family so ready for the gospel. sunday was really good we got to listen to the conference, and then attend the christmas devotional. it was tough to understand all the talks, but the music was incredible, and really lifted my spirits. the only bad part was seeing the lights at temple square. it made me a little homesick. ha but another elder from utah said he started crying.

well crap i only have about 5 more minutes. but i have an assignment from my mission president. after the meeting wednesday, he brought me and 2 other elders into his office and told each of us to tell our mothers thank you. his eyes filled with tears as he told us about the gifts they had received and expressed his gratitude for what you had done. he said we can learn a lot from the love that our mothers have. so thanks mom, and everyone who worked so hard to make that possible, you are all so awesome. i also have learned, and have a lot to learn from you.

well thats it for this week. but were only 7 days away from the next e mail. i love you all thanks for everything. enjoy your christmas break and christmas season. keep praying for me. ill talk to you next week.

Translation

It's pretty crazy I've been in the field for nearly a month. I can remember well my time in the MTC and already I have almost completed a change. All things here are very good. we have not even had a few baptisms, but we are working with 3 families and 3 other people, and I qu to work we will set dates for them, perhaps by next month. I'm learning a lot, and enjoying every day here