Un bolo me pegó..... (A drunk hit me....).

Buenas a cada uno de ustedes!

For this week nothing too exciting has happened to us or nothing too out of the ordinary. However the biggest highlight of the week was that we had 3 investigators in church this Sunday which was way cool! One of them was Cony, the other Felipe (92 years old), and Marco. The hermana Cony is progressing so much in the gospel! It’s crazy! She knows that baptism is important and that she needs it but the only thing that is really holding her back is that she doesn't have a true definite desire to do it. She knows that the church is true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that we have a living prophet today. I think the main problem that is holding her back is that she has committed some sins that she thinks she can't be forgiven of, but she can be. She has come to church twice already and we have been motivating her all the time to get prepared for the 11th of April to be baptized. We have pretty much taught her everything and will have an interview with her this week to see her spiritual progress. She is way cool though and always excited to talk to us and learn more about the Gospel. I'm sure that once she comes to General Conference then she will feel more of the desire to be baptized.

The hermano Felipe finally came to church! Saturday we passed by his house to invite him to church but said that most likely that he was going to be busy. We told him that we would come by Sunday morning and see. So we passed by in the morning and turned out that he was not there, we felt a little down, but then his daughter said that he left not too long ago to go to church. We perked up and said thanks and left. We walked to the church building to attend church and what do you know, Felipe was standing outside the gate waiting for us to get there. He was excited and we were so glad to see him there! We invited a member to sit with him and to talk to him and that really helped a lot and they were talking like they were good old friends! That was a miracle itself! The only thing that is hard is that he has a lot of doubts about the way we do things in the church and says that some things are wrong and he pulls out his bible to show us. So we pull out our bibles too and help him understand these things. He is slowly learning but I am sure that if we just teach him about the church and about baptism with the right authority he will be baptized as well. He is looking forward to General Conference though and I am sure that it is going to help him.

One companionship in our district invited 8 of us to go sing to an investigator that they have to help place a date for her baptism. The girl was 12 years old and we all went and sang a few hymns to her and her abuela. It was a cool experience and the little girl said yes to baptism and she was pretty excited and so were we! Then all of a sudden her aunt comes over and tells us that she doesn't need that there and told us all to leave then she walked away. We all stood there and kept talking to the little girl. Then the lady told us again with a nasty tone almost yelling. Then she was saying things like we worship Joseph Smith (which we don't) how we dance and chant (which we don't) and other stupid things. Then she told the little girl to give her, her bible and was yelling to get her bible. But the girl who said yes to baptism looked at her and said no and refused. Atta girl! She said no to her aunt and the aunt kept yelling that we leave and saying how she worships God and and not a prophet. I swear she was possessed or something ;) haha. Its like hermana if you worship God why are you rejecting 8 representatives of Jesus Christ? Some of the elders tried to talk to her but she refused and then finally we had enough and left. The little girl and the grandma (the grandma is a member) both thanked us for the visit and the hymns and we went along our way happy as can be because we all knew that we did the right thing. It was pretty funny though and definitely something I will remember.

For our zone here we have made a plan that we are going to fast for our investigators every single week to help them out. It actually is not too bad fasting once a week but a lot of people think that it is so difficult and that they could never do anything like that. Little by little it is actually helping out our investigators, especially the people who have a date to be baptized. I have also felt my faith be increased through the fasts as well and hope that it will continue.

Here it has been raining a lot more because we are getting into the rainy season here. One day were left the house and the streets were just flooded with water. I love the rain here, ya we get soaked and sometimes it’s not fun and I am getting a cold but hey I like the rain!

Also this week are are working hard on inviting people to come to General Conference to hear Thomas S. Monson and the apostles as well. This will be a great opportunity for people to feel that this is the true church and feel that we have a living prophet today to lead and direct the church that Jesus Christ has established. We also established a goal with all the members. I got up in front of them all and said that we wanted to make a goal for each of them to invite and bring 2 people to Conference with them. I explained for like 10 minutes and shared a little example with them about how they can do it and how they will be blessed and they will be helping us a lot as well. They all said yes to do it and then we passed out invitations to them all to share with people to invite to the conference. Hopefully they will all be ward missionaries and help us out to find more people to teach through this medium. From what it sounds like, it seems like we might not get the chance to watch much of conference as we will be outside the building inviting every single person to come and listen to conference when it is going on. Hopefully if we do that, that a lot of people off the street will come in and listen. If someone off the street comes into the building and listens they are automatically an investigator, that is what our mission president said! haha.

Me and my companion are doing good though. I still really like him and we are getting along. He is a little on the slower side (as in that he does everything slow! Everything except eating haha! I try to get his enthusiasm high and get him pumped to go out and work and to work hard. He is getting a bit baggi (homesick) as he has little time left in his mission. I am trying to motivate him that we need to give it our all. But he is still way awesome and is pretty funny as well.

Today for P-day we all went to an indoor soccer turf field and played soccer! There was only our zone there and we had 2 teams and played. It was almost like the Latinos against the Gringos! Except my team (the American team) we kicked butt! We won like 15-5! And I had 6 of the goals so I was pretty happy and pumped about that! I have to say that my soccer skills are slowly improving though! Watch out Messi!

Everything here in Guatemala is good though. OH! I forgot to tell you all that I got whacked in the back by a drunk! We were walking down a trail and there was this drunk who tried to talk to my companion but we just kept walking and when I walked by the guy whacked by back with is arm. It wasn't too hard but I stopped and turned around and just looked at him and asked him if that was really necessary? He just looked at me and then just started to walk away though. It was weird and felt I was a little mad but then it was over. haha. Kinda funny though.

Love and miss you all there but doing great here in Guatemala and know that this is where I need to be during this time. I know that this is the true church and the only way to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father is through this church. I know that Christ lives and that He established His church and that He set an example for us to follow. Remember Christ everyday but especially this week and act upon the faith that you have. Faith without works is dead. Gracias a que él vive!

Love,

Elder Kahl

P.S. I will not be sending any pictures this week because I left my camera in the house. Stay tuned for next week with the pictures!

Puchika! 6 Meses!.... The Burning of the Tie!

Hola a cada uno de ustedes!

I cannot believe that I have already completed 1/4 of my mission and that I only have 18 months more to go! The past 6 months have gone by so fast and I can't imagine how fast the next 18 will go! For my 6 month mark I got the opportunity to burn one of my ties (at my 1 year mark I get to burn a shirt)! I chose the tie that I liked the least and one I wanted to get rid of. Haha! It was pretty fun... note to self... Ties burn fast.

This week we had a multi-zone conference here in Coatepeque with the president of the mission. We were in it for like 6-7 hours but it was a really powerful and spiritual experience! We talked a lot about faith, chastity, obedience, and repentance. FE ES PODER! It was really awesome and I felt so motivated to go out and to baptize the whole world! I love conferences like that because I always get a spiritual charge and get so motivated afterward!

We had a baptism this week of a girl named Perla, she is 22 years old and was way excited for her baptism. My companion got the opportunity to baptize her and this girl had a lot of support from the members as there was about 20 members who showed up to support her. She has a lot of support from her boyfriend as well as he is a returned missionary from California and he actually speaks pretty good English too so that’s a plus, haha. I am pretty sure that they are going to get married anyways!

We have been really working hard to get investigators to come to church with us and we had about 6 committed, but that morning we went by them all to take them to church and only 1 was actually at the house or said yes. The others were out selling and not at the house, the 92 year old said that things came up so he couldn't. The one who came to church was Cony. She is the 19 year old who has a lot of questions and is really positive and I have a good feeling that we are going to baptize her, just have to stay patient. There was a family that we found as well who we have visited a few times. There are like 9 of them but during the lessons we are finding out who really  has the desire to listen and is interested. Out of the 9, there are 2 who really pay attention and are committing to keep the commitments we give them. They are named Dulce and Jesus. I have a good feeling that if they come to church the next Sunday and if they pray about the things that we are teaching that they will be baptized in the future. They are awesome and I have a lot of faith in them. 

This part of the year we are having a lot of mangos and they are so good! There is a ton down here and I am always buying them sliced up in bags to get them easier to eat. The rainy season is coming slowly as it is getting more templado and drizzles here and there but the real rain starts to come in April. I am looking for a change from all the heat that we have been getting and I like the rain so we will see how that goes.

This week I have really taken notice how important it is for people to pray in order to receive answers to their prayers because if they don't then they will never be able to feel that the things that we are teaching them is the truth. But I don't get why but it is really hard for people to pray and to remember to ask Heavenly Father with a specific question. We emphasize it every time with each person but it is really hard for them. I think it is because Satan knows that if they pray and do it with a real intent then they will feel in their hearts that these things are true. That is why he works so hard on them to have them not pray. One of our investigators has prayed almost every time about the things that we have taught but is still waiting for an answer to her prayers. We told her that she needs to be patient and be persistent with it as well because if she does not then she will never get a response. Another important piece to praying is also listening as well because when we are praying it is a conversation with Heavenly Father. We can't just ask and ask and ask but we also need to listen. Another thing with a lot of people down here is that whenever we make second visits with people they never remember and they are either super busy or just not at the house. We have been trying to find ways to help people remember but right now we have not had any luck with it.

Something that I have taken more seriously is my scripture study in the mornings when we have time. I have planned to reread The Book of Mormon and this time I am keeping a journal and writing down what I feel, what I have learned, and about the history in the book that I am reading. From this I have really noticed a difference in my study. I feel the Spirit more and when I take it more serious like that, I am understanding what I am reading in Spanish really well and that I am understanding and remembering the histories and teachings that I read. Also I have gained a greater love for the scriptures as well and how important it is to have the Book of Mormon in our lives. I don't know how other people can't accept the Book of Mormon. There are actually 2 reasons why: 1) People have not read it in the first place. or 2) People have read it but don't understand it. And those 2 things are actually from the Book of Mormon about why people don't believe that it is the Word of God.

Each day I gain a greater love for the scriptures and for being here in my mission. It is the best decision that I have made in my life. I know that I am here for a purpose and that if I do my part then I am fulfilling my purpose as a missionary. I know that this is the true church with all of my heart because it is the same church that Christ established when he was on the earth. I have found out for myself and I will never deny it.

I am so stoked for General Conference again to hear the words of the prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and from the apostles as well. It will really be a great time to hear the words of our Heavenly Father and what He wants from us. Also we need to prepare for it and always listen to the council of the prophet. THIS IS THE TRUE CHURCH.

Love,

Elder Kahl

PS: For those of you who don’t know what General Conference is, here is an explanation:  General Conference is twice a year where we listen to inspiring messages from Church Leaders (our prophet, apostles and other church leaders).  The meetings are broadcast from Salt Lake City and can be watched in person, on television, on the internet or through satellite in a local church building.  If you are interested in watching it, go to www.lds.org to find out more information about it.

Mango Season! We ate a lot of mangos at a member’s house this week!

We had a baptism this week! We baptized a girl named Perla!

I was also with Elder Choc and we took a picture outside of a church that is the companionship church!

6 month mark!  Time to burn a tie!

My burnt tie!

A puppy that was chained up outside of one of our investigators house.

Elder Quib and I emailing on P-day!

LAO LI NAKA BAN'U = WE ARE WHAT WE DO

Buenas!

I can´t believe that tomorrow I will be hitting my 6 month mark in my mission! My mission is 1/4 of the way done but it feels like I am just beginning it. Everything for me and my companion are good. I got the opportunity to baptize someone on Saturday and her name is Roxana. She is 28 years old and she is way awesome and was really excited for her baptism as well. It was hard to talk to the mom though because she is a little bit crazy because she wants nothing to do with us but is fine with her daughter being baptized. Roxana is a little special but really had the desire to be baptized. The baptism was really late notice to tell the members so we tried to invite them but none could come. So what we did was we invited the missionaries and we had 12 of us there for it, so that was pretty cool and she liked meeting all the missionaries.

This week we were trying to find new people to teach and we came to a house that had a family and a joven. This joven has a lot of energy and knows a lot about the Bible. He has been to other churches and can read really well, as well. He wants to learn more about the Gospel and whenever we go over to his house to teach him he is prepared as he studied and has questions for us. This joven is grasping the concepts really well which I am surprised at for his age. HE IS 92 YEARS OLD. He is OLD, but man can this guy do it all! We are working hard with him to get him to accept to be baptized and I feel like if he will pray to know if these things are true that we are teaching him then he will know. I also really want us to baptize him because it might be a record for the oldest person baptized in this mission, haha. He is way cool though, reads without glasses, amazing right! He can hear perfectly fine as well and loves to talk about the things that we have for him. We had a lesson with him and his son about the Restoration again to overview it and we were on the topics of prophets and how they kept saying how there are no prophets today that times with prophets ended with Malaquies. It was so frustrating and we tried out hardest to explain but we testified and challenged them to pray. Then the son insisted that he will bring a pastor to talk to us the next time. HAHA ok! However, I will keep you guys updated!

We also found a girl who is 19 years old who loves talking about the gospel with us as well. She has so many questions for us and some of them are things that we don't have the answers to or don't know how to answer them. She is pretty smart and has prayed to know if the church is true but is still waiting for an answer and for the Holy Ghost to testify to her heart that they are true. We are always with her for a long time and because of all the doubts and questions she has but it’s pretty awesome she has a lot of questions and wants to know for a surety that the things are true.

Today for P-Day we all went to the beach to hang out as a zone. We played volleyball, football, buried a missionary in the sand, and all haha. It was a lot of fun but oh man it was so hot (as missionaries we are not allowed to go in the water)! Sorry mom, but I got pretty sunburned! I did put on sunscreen though twice but I guess it just wasn't enough! We left the beach though and when we were going back to Coatepeque there was a guy who hopped on the bus in a shirt and jeans and started to preach to us. Yep, he preached to a bus full of missionaries. He pulled out his Bible that was like in shreds and started reading out of it and praying and this was going on for like 20 minutes or so. I thought it was kinda funny that he thought it would be a good idea to preach to a bunch of Mormon Missionaries. Oh well though. 

It’s MANGO SEASON! This time of year here in Guatemala is mango season where there are mangoes everywhere. Most of the trees here are mango trees and they are starting to ripen and oh man they are so good! Its kinda of funny how when mangoes ripen and get to like the perfect stage they just fall out of the trees. We will be walking or visiting someone and mangos will fall next to us and onto the roofs of houses, and when they hit the roofs oh man they are loud!

Everything here in our area is going good, but the hardest thing that is happening is trying to get our investigators to church on Sundays. Some commit but then they say they have other things that came up or they just don't come. It is pretty frustrating when they don't keep their word but we are working on them. We will be having another baptism this Saturday so I am looking forward to that!

It’s still hot as can be here but still working hard and trying my best! Keep me in your prayers because I need it!

Love you all and thanks for the support from every one of you! Stay Sweet!

Elder Kahl

I baptized a girl named Roxana who is 28.

The ceiling was so tiny at this house! 

The two kids are siblings and are the kids of some members. The kids here love to have their picture taken!

This is a part of my area that is like the slums

We went to the beach today!

Elder Heyrend was my companion in the CCM in Guatemala City.

This is Elder Call

This is me and my companion, Elder Quib

6 months!

Changes!!!

Masaáchol?

So here is the big news for the week.... I had changes! My last day in Catarina I was saying goodbye to some of the members and that was kinda sad because I was close to a lot of them as I spent 4 months in that area. Although it was sad I was feeling pretty ready to leave and to get to know more of Guatemala and to meet new people as well. I left my first area of Catarina and went to the change meeting in Retalhuleu where we went to figure out our new areas and our new companions as well. It was such a long meeting but... From 2 weeks ago we all took a test that would show President if we are ready to be trainers or the Senior companion in the companionship. At the change meeting it was like half the mission and President Ruiz announced and had the new Senior companions stand up. He starting calling the new ones and a few people stood up who had a little more time than me and then he called my name and I was kind of surprised. I looked and everyone was like what?? And they were all excited and I was excited too because that meant I did well enough on the test to be a Senior companion with only 5 months in my mission! I got to see my trainer, Elder Tzub at change meetings and that was cool and he was so excited for me and he actually guessed it too haha.

I figured out that my new area is in COATEPEQUE and my new companion is ELDER QUIB. My new companion has 20 months in his mission but I am the senior comp. so that is a little weird but he doesn't mind it haha. He is from Guatemala and is from the same area as Elder Tzub, in Coban. Elder Quib knew no Spanish before his mission as he spoke Kechi (not sure how to spell it, but it is a dialect in Spanish and it is so cool).  His Spanish is like a gringo but still really good. He is teaching me a few phrases in his native language which is way cool. I am happy to have him as my new companion and we are working well together and having a good time. It is crazy how in just like 5 days I have noticed the difference in my Spanish from not having an American comp! My companion is 24 years old and he can be pretty quiet but he is still pretty funny.

Our new house is really, really Spanish but it I kind of like it. It has 4 rooms that are connected by a small hallway and a door for out back where our pila is to wash things and where the bathroom is as well. We still take showers with freezing cold water but I’m pretty sure that the water here is even colder than Catarina because I am shivering every time... However, I really like my area so far and there is one area that is like the slums where the houses look like they are stacked on top of each other and it is cool to see but humbling at the same time. I will take more pictures to show you all.

We had a baptism on Saturday! It was of a guy who is 18 years old named Pablo. He is way cool and I feel like he is going to be an active member in the church because he loves this gospel so much. Our ward and church building is really small. There are about 70-80 active members in the ward but all the members are really nice and were really welcoming to the ward. They all made me feel at home which was really nice. Although it is really small I like it. We have 2 baptisms planned for the 21st of this month of 2 girls in their 20's and they are progressing a lot and really have the desire to come to church and to be baptized as well. 

In my zone we have like 36 missionaries which is a ton and I am finally in the same zone as Elder Heyrend who was my companion in the MTC so that is way cool and I will get to see him more often and I like all the people in my new zone as well but it was sad to say goodbye to the other missionaries in my other zone. I am way happy I will be speaking Spanish all the time though and that it will help my Spanish increase a lot as I will be more and more fluent in it as time goes on.

I will be getting more of a leg workout in this area as there are really steep streets that we need to walk up and man are they tiring! Here comes a better looking lower body! haha jk... but seriously. So ya I saw in one of the members houses that they were using the American flag as a shower curtain and I told the Hermana that I was sad to see that and how could she do that? I was joking though and she thought it was pretty funny though. She is old so I will cut her some slack haha.

The city of Coatepeque seems like it is bigger than Fort Collins but I am not too sure. It is massive compared to Catarina where I was so right now it is a little confusing to know where to go and where things are but with time that will all come to me. There is definitely more to do here in this city though and more local places to eat in!

This morning for P-day we went to a member’s house and did some service chopping firewood and I have not chopped much firewood in my life but I was actually doing pretty good and it is a lot of fun as well! I have some really nice blisters in my hands though that hurt a lot but that comes with the giving service. We then went over to a place called La Trinidad to eat lunch which is like a mini mall that they have here and met up with some other missionaries there. 

This week I have learned more about the sacred calling that we as missionaries have. I took more notice in that in the areas where we are, we are the only ones who can give people the opportunity to enter into the Kingdom of God and no one else and do that. That shows me how much we need to work to find those people who are waiting to hear the gospel and waiting to make these covenants with our Heavenly Father. However, if we do not do our part as missionaries then we are the ones at blame and that the sins of the people will fall upon our heads as the scriptures tell us. Alright.... LET’S GET TO WORK THEN!!! That just kinda scares me to make me work harder and to try to give it my all as well. God does 95% of the work, he only asks for us to do 5% of it. In reality that is not much but at the same time it seems like so much. Anyways, I love and miss you all!

Love,

Elder Kahl

Eating dinner at Fredy's house (investigator).

Saying goodbye to other missionaries. Elder Jolley (my zone leader far left) and Elder Wilden (the other one)

Saying goodbye the missionaries in my zone.

Saying goodbye to people in my area.

Having some ice cream with Elder Wight before I was transferred to a new area.

Saying goodbye to the Cardenas Family. My favorite family that was in Catarina!

Myself and Elder Ramos.

Elder Ramos and our tower of soda!

On our way to change meeting and this was our ride to it. In the back of a big truck!

Myself and Elder Wight.

Elder Tzub! My dad in the field! He finished his mission, this was his last day in the field. He will return home with honor!

The picture with the sisters are Hermana Cantey and Hermana Rosa. They were in the MTC with me and the American she is from Colorado as well.

Me and Elder Jolley.

My new house on the inside!

My comp and part of my area. We have an area that is like the slums.

We had a baptism! This is my companion, Elder Quib.

Me and Elder Choc. We put the same picture on our planners – Captain Moroni!

The flag picture is a U.S flag that a lady is using as a shower curtain in her house.