Feliz Natal

Hola Everyone!

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas. I have to see this has been the least usual Christmas I have ever experienced in my life. However, it was still one to remember! 

First of all, the tradition here in Guatemala is that everyone does all of the celebrating on December 24th, which is called Noche Buena (Christmas Eve for us Americans). This is the night where all the fun happens. That evening the people set of tons of fireworks; as if it was Independence day in the states. Most of the people also spend the whole night at home with their families or in pubs drinking all night. 

On Christmas Eve we went to a member´s house to eat some American snacks, like chips, brownies, and icecream. After that, we went out with them and visited a non-member family and a less-active family. We sang Christmas hymns and gave them gift baskets with food. It was an awesome experience. When we finished there, we went back to the members´ home and did a gift exchange. I ended up getting a new watch, which was cool. After, we had a classic Christmas Eve dinner with a turkey and mashed potatoes. Overall it was a great time. Later in the night, we decided to celebrate Christmas Guatemala style (minus the drinking, of course). We set off some little fireworks and at the end of the night we lit a lantern and let it fly. 

On Christmas day we got together as a district and made waffles (the kind that come frozen in a box) and hot chocolate. Each of us also had the opportunity to call our family through Skype. It was nice to finally speak face to face with my family. When we finished the call, I definitely felt refreshed. 

On Saturday we had the opportunity to hear messages from Elder Alejandro Lopez from the Seventy and his wife. They shared messages with us about how we should conduct ourself as missionaries and how we should take care to not waste this time since it is the Lord´s time. They brought their family as well, and one of the sons has his call to serve in Utah on his mission. 

Overall this week was great. It´s always a wonderful time when we can reflection on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Savior. I´m looking forward to the new year and where it brings all of us. 

I hope you all have another wonderful week and that the new year brings you all prosperity.

Elder Taylor

Las Palmas REU

Hola Everyone,

Just to start off, hope everyone is having a great holiday season. This week has been insanely busy. Last Monday, we traveled to San Marcos to prepare the Christmas Devotional for the missionaries in the mountains. On the way there, we passed through Quetzaltenango. We ate at a restaurant there called San Martin. We also passed by the Temple in Quetzaltenango. 

On Wednesday, we had our Christmas Devotional in San Felipe. We got to listen to some great talks, eat good food, and have a talent show. We had a talent as an office and sang and did a funny dance in front of the other missionaries. 

Things have been really chaotic here in the office. We´ve had to take care of lots of changes in the mission and it has left us burned out at the end of the day. There are lots of perks to being here though. I get to drive the mission car, we have air conditioning in the office, and we still have the chance to go out and teach investigators. 

Sorry for another short email. We are really busy today. Hope you all have a great week!

Mission Office In Zona Las Palmas

Hola Everyone!

This week has been crazy but the mission is still great. On Tuesday, they notified all the zones of the transfers. Three missionaries from Zona San Felipe had cambios and I was one of them. On Tuesday night, I visited my converts and the members to say goodbye and it was really cool because one of the families that we baptized bought us food and cake. 

On Wednesday we went to the Reunion de Cambios in Retalhuleu. My new assignment is in the mission office in Zona Las Palmas. I am being trained to be the new executive secretary. My companion is Elder Perez, who was companions with Elder Tumbaco in Pueblo Nuevo before I came. 

Things are crazy in the office. There is always stuff to do, and on top of that we have time to go out and find investigators and teach. This week I have been more exhausted than ever. 

This week we had a Christmas activity at a finca (a property where they grow crops or goods like coffee or sugar). A lot of people live at this finca and none of them are members. The week before I came, the missionaries in that area had brought 30 adults to church from the finca. All of the people are interested in the church and we are all helping out as a zone to animate the people to join the church. Its been a really interesting thing to see. 

Sorry that this email is so short. Today we have a work day on President´s orders. We are preparing for a Christmas Devotional for the missionaries that will be held tomorrow in the mountain area. Today I am going to be travelling to San Marcos and I get to pass through Xela (Quetzaltenango) which is out of our mission, so thats cool. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Taylor

Missionary Life

Hola Everyone!

This week has been pretty good. We had more lessons, which was nice. The rain has finally stopped which is also really nice. Now its just really hot all the time. 

Right now we are really focusing on finding new investigators. The mission has assigned us to have three Christmas activities in our area in which we can find lots of new investigators. This week we want to sing Christmas Hymns in the park and show the church´s videos to the public. We are passing out the cards that say Ha Nacido un Salvador (A Savior Is Born) and the people are really appreciating them.

This week are transfers, and there´s a good chance that I might leave since I have had almost 4 months in Pueblo Nuevo. I would like to stay until February, but at the same time, it would be nice to be in a new place. We find out the changes tomorrow so next week I´ll let everyone know what happened. 

Yesterday we had the chance to watch the Christmas Devotional. It was awesome. The music and messages were amazing. It is really refreshing to have the opportunity to hear from our authorities in the church. I am so grateful for such an amazing organization. This truly is the perfect church. 

Again, I would like to invite everyone to watch the ¨A Savior Is Born¨ videos. They really bring the true spirit of Christmas and the church has done an amazing job of capturing that spirit. I am so grateful for a Savior that lives and because of him we can overcome everything here in this earthly life. 

Hope you all are having a happy holiday and I wish a great week for everyone!

Elder Taylor

Dia de Accion de Gracias

Hola Everyone!

Hope Everyone´s week was great. This week went pretty well. To start off, things went pretty normally. We finally were able to get some decent lessons in this week and now we have some progressing investigators. We are still struggling to get people to go to church, but we haven´t lost faith! I really hope that I´ll have the chance to baptize again here in Pueblo Nuevo before I have transfers. 

On Thursday we had the opportunity to have our own Thanksgiving missionary style (aka Dia de Accion de Gracias). We got to eat turkey, potatoes, rolls, and pie. It was great, and the turkey was really, really good. We even got to share with everyone what things we were grateful for, which is something we have always done in my house so it was cool. The missionaries are feeling extra baggy these days, as Christmas is getting closer. I still can´t believe how fast time is going. To think that I´ll have 5 months in the mission on the 8th of December is nuts! 

Last night it was insanely hard to sleep. A church close to the house was having a worship service all night with really loud music and singing. I think they were celebrating a birthday or something. So yeah, that was annoying. Today as a zone we went to play paintball again. It was pretty fun. After that, we ate at Burger King and did some shopping. 

The Church released their Christmas message for this year on Youtube called ¨Ha nacido un Salvador¨ (A Savior is Born). I´d like to invite everyone to watch that video and ponder what it means that a Savior was born. I am full of gratitude for the love that a brother of mine showed the world to save us from sin. That gift should be the most important gift of all to us this holiday season. As Christmas gets closer, i´d invite everyone to mediate the reason for the season. 

Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Taylor