Till We Meet

Hola Everyone!

This is it. The final email of the mission. What do I have to say? Really, there's a lot.. In fact, way too much! The tortillas, the tamalitos, colorful fabrics, 5-seated 7-passenger taxis, exotic animals, and paying the garbage man to take away your trash, only to find out later that he was throwing it in a river...  Honestly, it has been such a great adventure and a huge learning experience. I've learned to appreciate more different cultures and lifestyles, and also the many blessings that our Heavenly Father gives us constantly. He loves us so much! 

This last week in Rio Blanco I had lots of really great experiences. The best of them all was a mini-lesson that we had with a drunk guy named Carlos. Usually when we teach drunk people, we really don't expect them to progress much because they usually forget what we taught them and tend to only want to learn English from us. We met Carlos last week and he had fallen down from his drunkedness and had a few scars. We gave him Priesthood blessing and just chatted for a bit. The crazy thing is that we didn't think anything would come of it. On Sunday, we saw Carlos walk into sacrament meeting with a white shirt. We were totally surprised. We put an appointment with him in the house of a member and taught him the Restoration. I just have to say that The Restoration is my favorite lesson of all. As we explained to him about the Authority in Christ's Church, and the prophets and apostles, he became very understanding of the concept. He told us that in a dream, his mother, who recently passed away, had told him, ¨Talk with the three brothers in the white shirts and ties. Ask them for help.¨ The interesting thing is that we just happened to be in a trio during these past two weeks. It's amazing to see how Heavenly Father prepares his children to receive his gospel. It's so hard for me to comprehend at times how a Being so Supreme can trust in someone as young and inexperienced as me, and can allow me to represent Jesus Christ and carry the name of His perfect Church on my shirt. I'm sad to say that it's coming to an end. I'd love to be able to carry this name tag for the rest of my life.

My invitation to all that have followed me in my journey through Guatemala is to BE A MISSIONARY. We know that the Lord's Restored Gospel has yet to encompass all of the earth, and that His Second Coming is approching. Let's be like the Apostle Paul. Let's be like Alma and Amulek. Let's follow the example of Jesus Christ. This work is perfect, and will never fail. We have been called. If we don't do it, someone else will.

For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors. - Alma 34:32

[ Photos Below:

                          Our friend Rudy; a guy that pretends to be a statue outside of the local supermarket in San Marcos

                         

                                                   Our P-Day Activity. Life-Size Battleship feat. food coloring inside of water balloons. 

                                                                                                           Zona San Marcos Before

                                                                                                                         and After

                                                                              My trainee Elder Cook and me. Love this guy. ]

                                                                                             

And with this famous scripture, I finish: 

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him,and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in no wise deny the power of God. - Moroni 10:32

I know all these things to be true for myself, and I testify of them in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. 

Jesus loves you. Till we meet again. 

Elder Taylor

Sent from the most powerful mission in the world, Misión Guatemala Retalhuleu. (La Misión mas Poderosa del Mundo)

El fin se acerca

Hola Everybody! 

Sorry this is going to be short. Wow! This week has been busy. Since my companion and I are going home together, President Goodman assigned us to work with some of the missionaries in my district. We've been traveling a lot between all of the areas, so as of now, we don't really have an assigned area. I can't think of a better way to finish the mission. This Thursday, we are going to head down to Malacatan for our final interviews with President. Right now, we are just trying to make the best of the time we have left. Wish us luck!

                                                                                   A wall dedicated to Jesus in San Pedro

          The park in San Pedro

                                                                                                   

                                                          A rare photo of the sun shining in Serchil.

                                                          Jesus te ama!

                                                          Elder Taylor

"and earthquakes in divers places" -Matthew 24:7

Hola Everyone!

This week has been pretty good. We have been working a little in a town called San Lorenzo, and on Sunday, we attended the group sacrament meeting there (it's too small to be a branch). About 20 members attend the group. Even though the group is small, the Spirit was felt so strongly. Its amazing to see challenge it is to be a member in a place where literally everyone is of another religion. San Lorenzo is made up mostly of Catholics and Evangelicals, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is not well known. The funny thing is that there is always someone who has a smart or funny comment about the Mormons. In the end, there is plenty of work to do here!

This past Wednesday at like 2 in the morning, we felt an earthquake. It was pretty strong and everything was shaking like crazy. I heard my companion sit up in his bed and say, "Whoa." It lasted just a few seconds and then it calmed down. We went back to sleep and in the morning I mentioned to my companion, Elder Johnson, that the earthquake was pretty strong. The weird part was that he didn't even remember. He thought that I was crazy. Turns out that he was sleep-talking during the earthquake and never woke up. I guess he missed out.. We heard that there was a little bit of destruction in San Pedro and Quetzaltenango but nothing too serious. The good news is that we are found safe and sound. There was another earthquake today almost about an hour ago, but it was small and hardly anyone noticed. 

This last week we found a pretty sweet family (Familia Perez Chavez) in Serchil that accepted to be baptized. They are taking refuge for a while from a civil war that is going on in some nearby cities called Tajumulco and Ixchiguan. The only thing is that since they don't have any previous church attendances, they won't get baptized until after I get home. It's a little sad, but the important thing is that they can have a testimony of this restored gospel. 

Apart from that, things have been going really well. It has rained like every day this last week and the rain here is really cold. Lueckily we haven't gotten too sick. Wish us luck!

                                                                                  A pile of fur and bones that used to be a dog... 

                                                                                       Playing fusball in Dominos

Dominos Pizza. Elder Garcia, Elder Gayheart, Elder Cook, Elder Sanchez, Elder Johnson, Elder Taylor (Left to Right)

The best of wishes to everyone! Only 2 emails left! Jesus te ama.

Elder Taylor