Well this week has been one of the craziest weeks of my mission. On sunday I found out that I had changes and would be training a greenie in Taxisco, the hottest and furthest area in the mission (President has put his trust in me again, since it is so far away we could get away with anything, and no one would know). I am also reopening the area. I am training Elder Hansen, from Idaho. He is really great and is a ginger. We started the week by hopping on a bus with all of our luggage to take a 2.5 hour bus ride to Cuilapa. We then hopped on another bus to take us another 2 hours to Chiquimulia. Then from there we had to take yet another bus, for 30 minutes, to take us to Taxisco and then walk a ways to our house. It was about 5 hours in total and it was a crazy hopping from bus to bus as they threw our luggage on and off the tops of the busses. We finally got all settled into our house and started cleaining. Our house looked like a pigs home when we showed up so the first thing we did is clean. It still is not really clean and we can not use the kitchen yet, but it is a lot better than it was. We then went out to work and realized just how hot and humid it is here. The entire day sweating puddles. IT IS SO HOT!!! On Wednesday we had zone councel in Cuilapa which is another 2.5 hours, 2 busses, travel one way. Elder Lindquist is my district leader again which is a lot of fun. On Thursday we had division and I stayed in the area with Elder Venegas who was here for 1 week before the emergency changes and before they closed the area. He showed me more of the area and our recent converts. In our area we have about three little towns that we have to take tuk tuks to get there. One is about 15 minutes in tuk, another is 30 minutes in tuk, and the last is 1.5 hours in tuk. Our area is really large and the houses in the little towns are really spread out, but it is really cool. The beach is also in our area but as far as I know we can not go there. On Wednesday the electricity went out in our house too. I did some investigating and turns out that the previous missionaries did not pay the light bill for the last 4 months so it got cut. I quickly got it all payed and figured out, but we went with out electricity for 2 days. No fans for 2 days was awful. We would be sweating puddles as we studied and sleeping in the night was almost impossible. Just sweating so much, the bed was even wet. On Saturday and Sunday it rained here which at first was nice because it made it a little cooler and not so humid and hot. However when it rains here it rains cats and dogs. Man it rained so hard. Nothing is waterproof and umbrellas serve very little, only keeping your hair dry. The streets here flood really easy and so when we had to cross streets we were crossing rivers that were calf deep or just below the knee in places. It was awesome until all my shoes were soaked after two days. Lots of fun and the lightning and thunder storms are really loud and cool too. On Sunday we found out fast that we are really in a branch. We are pretty much the counselors to the branch president and help run the branch. We blessed the sacrament and both gave talks. We will have to do it every week and might even have to run the meetings every now and then. We have about 15 active members in the branch. To Top it all off- I am recovering from Chickungunya. I had an awful rash, fever a couple of nights, and everynow and then my wrists and ankles still ache/hurt. It has been an awesome week! I am really loving it here and am enjoying training and teaching spanish to Elder Hansen. It is really awesome here outside the capital. We write in internet cafes and there are not a lot of places to eat. I have already lost weight. It is truly the best week/day of my life. -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber Rash from Chikungunya. Church building in Taxisco. New apartment. Elder Hansen
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This week was a good week. We have found more success in the area and have found a lot more investigators and people to teach. Our hard work is paying off but I feel like I am going to have changes so I started saying goodbye to some of my favorite members this week.
On Thursday we decided to cook for a member family that always gives us dinner and lets us into share messages with them and helps us out. I decided to make them an easy american meal that they have never had before, one of dads specials. I made them Mac-n-cheese with fried hot dogs. They ate it all and said it was good, but said, "this is the most american food ever." It was a lot of fun. Tonight if all goes well we'll pass for another member family and have root beer floats (yes I found root beer here) with them and then share a small message with the family. We will also go eat lunch in Santa Catarina Pinula today with my district when they are on their 1 hour lunch break. I am doing great but hoping for changes. I have gotten bored here in the area and a bit complacent. I want a change of scenery. We will find out changes tomorrow in the afternoon and see what the lord has in store for me. That is about it for this week, not much new or interesting. -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber Well this last week was a great week. On Thursday we went to the Temple as a zone and I was able to receive many answers to questions I had. I love going to the Temple and wish I could go more. Hopefully everyone with a temple recommend uses it and goes at least once a month. I also bought a small Spanish quad which I am so happy about. One book now for everything and it means a lighter bag with more space. After the Temple President took us out to Chile's since we are saving money and are still under budget. I had my first steak in a year and IT WAS SO GOOD! I had a 12 oz Sirloin steak cooked to perfection! I guess you could say that Thursday was easily the highlight of the week.
The area is good. The work is slow but steady. We are trying to work more with the members and as a mission we using a program called "never go alone." The point of the program is that every week one member invites a nonmember to church. If they say "no" that is ok. keep inviting them and share parts of your testimony with them weekly. Ask the lord first who you need to invite and who you need to share you testimony with. The lord will inspire you and you will see miracles and find more happiness in your life. Think about it. If every member invited just one person, someone is bound to show up (most likely a couple) and the work of the lord will progress even faster. I invite all to never go alone to church and invite someone to Church every week, maybe it will be the same persone every week for a month until they finally come. You can invite more than one and everyone should share their testimony daily with someone. You will see a change in your life and the lives of others and will see your testimony grow and find more joy and happiness on a daily bases. I promise you! Things are going great here. I am happy and I am having the best day of my life. Still healthy, and learning lots. Well that is about it for this week. -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber This last week not much new happened. Last week we went to a really cool museum for Q5 about the Mayans and ancestors here in Guatemala. It was especially cool because there was a wall of paintings showing the change of religion through time and one thing that was painted towards the end of the wall were two, guys in white shirts and ties holding a blue book, or in other words two Mormon missionaries. I thought that was funny.
We also ate Panda Express this last Saturday after standing in line for about 30 minutes as it is the first one here in Guatemala. It was good, but not quite as good as in the states. I did miss orange chicken though and that was awesome to eat again. On Monday we had interviews with president which went well and then president bought us all Little Caesars pizza. This last week we were also able to pass for an Elderly lady in our ward who is a widow and bless her house which was a really cool experience too. Other than that things are going well. Knocking doors, teaching lessons, saving money, serving others, learning Spanish, leading my district, oh and of course having the best day of my life and making sure those around me are having the best day of their lives too. -- Having the best day of his life, Elder Gruber |