I guess the sun was in hibernation‏

Greetings earthlings and welcome to the fantastical blog of a missionary. This week has been kinda hectic but really great! We found a couple more families that are really great!

First, the rain stopped!! It stopped on Thursday! So great!  Since then the sun has been out! But, for some reason it has been kinda cold, like 50F degrees. But at least the sun is out! B,ut as a result of all the rain, there have been a TON of landslides and mudslides and that kinda has all of Guatemala in a little panic. One even happened really close to our house! But no one was hurt (in that one at least). There was one landslide where two people were walking and the ground just fell out from underneath them and they both died! It killed a dog too! But, the sun is helping dry everything out.

On Wednesday, Elder James B. Martino from the Seventy came down and spoke to us! Only a couple zones from my mission were allowed to go and my Zone was one of them! It  was great to hear him speak! He was great and his words were definitely inspired. And you may remember, this is the same Elder Martino that gave a prayer at General Conference. The same! A man of God.

On Friday, it started off as a normal day and then we got a call to go to the mission office. So we went and found out that our zone had been selected to help with a service project. Because of the constant rain these past 2 weeks, many parts of Guatemala have flooded and are without food, water and shelter. So, we went to the airport here in Guatemala City and helped unload trucks full of clothes, water, and food, and helped load them on to planes to get shipped to other parts of Guatemala for those people that are in need. It was great! I love service and I especially love helping people who need help. So that was great. So, look for my picture in the next Ensign! :) Just kidding.

Then on Saturday, we had the baptism of Nancy and her sister Magdalena!! It was great!  Magdalena asked me to baptize her and I gladly accepted. I would do anything to help  others make everlasting convenants with our Heavenly Father. Unfortunately, the mother and other sister did not get baptized because they didn't have permission from the father. He is very against our religion and the only reason Magdalena and Nancy could get baptized is because they are both over 18 and therefore do not need a parents permission. The mother and sister (Roxeli) still want to get baptized and we are planning on talking to the father with the bishop here to help maybe sort some things out.

Then on Sunday, we had a Sunday dedicated to missionary work. So all the jovenes or teenagers in the ward sang in a choir and I played the piano! Then, they asked ME to give a talk about the blessings of missionary work, and finally, Magdalena asked me again to confirm her a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So needless to say, my Sunday was quite busy. But it was such a great day.

Well that's about all from my end of things. Keep being awesome whoever is reading this! I love you and everything you do. Talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Yates

ps. its NOT raining right now! What the....?

Hurri-can(e) not stop raining

Greetings Humans! And extra-terrestials. Both are welcome to this blog. :) Well I'm pretty sure this past week, there was a hurricane down here because (and I´m not exaggerating) I haven't seen the sun in over a week. It's been raining everyday, all day. Its raining right now! Some days it is even really windy. So is it a hurricane? Can someone please tell me? Please and thank you! Oh and I bought a canoe. ;) jajaja just kidding.

I hope everyone is doing fine. Everything is fine here. Thank you Miss Mary for the gnome. I love him. I named him Murray and he watches me study. He is a good gnome. Very obedient.

So this past week, the Mission President wanted to start a new little routine thing so it was a rule that everyone in our district had to contact at LEAST 25 people everyday! So we were super busy this week running around knocking doors and talking to people in the street. We unfortunately fell a little short so we are doing it again this week and we know we can do it.

We still have the baptism date for Magdalena and Nancy set. We set it for the 22nd because the 23rd is their dad's birthday. The mother Lillian is ready to get baptized but is very scared, and therefore doesn't want to get baptized till a little later. It's unfortunate. She is praying to know if she should get baptized the same day as her daughers, but she is still unsure. So pray for her! As for her other daughter, Roxeli, she wants to get baptized too but since she is only 11 years old, we need the permission of the father and it is hard to get ahold of him! He's ALWAYS working!!

Other than that. Everything is great. Just working hard, smiling, eating delicious Guatemalan food, and reading the dearelders you send me. The life of a missionary. Keep studying everyone and working hard!! I am proud of each one of you and I am proud to call you my friends and family! And keep reading las escrituras!! Ellas son las palabras de Dios y contienen la plentidud del Evangelio de Jesucristo! Les Amo!!!

Elder Yates

and the rains came down and the floods came up

Greetings friends and family. My name is Elder Yates and I am a missionary! This past week has been kind of hard to be honest. First the good news: Alma and Lorenzo were confirmed!! Alma asked the bishop to confirm her and so did Lorenzo. PSYCH!! Lorenzo picked MEEEE!!! AHHHH I was so scared! I had to confirm him a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints IN SPANISH!!!! IN FRONT OF THE WHOLE WARD!! IN THE TÚ FORM!!! But the spirit definitely helped me and somehow I made it through it on my first try. What a relief! The spirit was so strong for sure!

This week we had Pday as a Zone! It was so much fun! We played capture the flag and played games and ate pizza! Unfortunately, my companion Elder Lagos is VERY competative and HATES to lose. So while we were playing capture the flag, he went a little overboard and ended up twisting his ankle pretty bad. As a result, he couldn't walk the rest of the day, nor the day after, so those days were pretty hard because we were unable to leave the house.

Thursday I had the opportunity to go on divisiones with the district leader. He came to MY area! So I had to navigate and lead him around! EEEK! But everything went great! We contacted and had lessons! He said I did really good. I'm going to be training before you know it! uh oh! hahaha.

We are still going strong with Magdalena and her two sisters and mother. I mentioned we talked to her father and he accpeted the challenge of reading the Book of Mormon. Well apparently after we left, we turned the tv on and some pastor was talking about the evils of the world and he was like, Oh! thats my answer! the Book of Mormon is not true. We unfortunately haven't gotten to talk to him since. But Magdalena and her mother and sisters are scheduled to get baptized on the 23rd of this month! So pray for them!!

Finally, I am parting with a scripture that has helped me a ton! It's is D&C 122 verse 7. EVERYONE READ IT! It has helped me a ton, and sorry for no pictures. The computer this week is stupid. NEXT week though!

Love you all!!!!

Elder Yates

General Conference should be every week!‏

Greetings everyone from Guatemala! I hope everyone had the magnificent priveledge to listen, ponder, and meditate, the words of our living prophet this weekend! How lucky we are to have a living prophet that shares with us the will of God! It is so important to heed his advice because everything he said is STRAIGHT from God. He is Gods mouthpiece! And my favorite talk was the one given by Dieter F. Uchtdorf Saturday morning. He talked about how we are so important to God and He is ALWAYS there for us. We are so lucky to have a Father in Heaven who loves us and wants the best for us always. :) What was your favorite talk and why? I would love to hear, send me a dearelder! :) Oh and here is the best part, I WATCHED IT IN ENGLISH!!!! They had a room set apart for gringo missionaries those very few Guatemaltecos that know English or are learning. So, I got to hear the words of the Lords servants directly from their mouths, what a blessing! Oh and I hope everyone heard the talk given by Jeffrey R Holland during the priesthood session! So direct! But it's true! So everyon preparing to serve a mission, PREPARE NOW! You'll be glad you did. I promise. And finally, congrats to Elder Jayson Jensen serving in Barranquilla Colombia on the annoucement of a new temple there. That is so exciting. Alomst as exciting as TWO temples in Provo!!!! YAYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love temples! They are the Lords house here on the earth and we would be lost without them. I challenge everyone to try and find time to visit them temple because there are many people who are not able to. I know that you will feel the spirit of the Lord and receive personal revelation.

And in between conferences on sunday, we HAD THE BAPTISM OF ALMA AND LORENZO!!!! It went great. They had tons of family there and tons of the ward came to support them. Alma asked Elder Lagos to baptize her and Lorenzo asked the Bishop. So that's him next to Elder Lagos in the picture. The bishop is so cool. He is a magnificent bishop who does great things for the ward and for missionary work. I hope you enjoy the pictures! We have come so far with them. I love them. They have such great spirits. Have I mentioned they are both 18 and are from a small village in Huehuetanango? So their first language is Canjoval. I can't understand it at all! Thank goodness they speak Spanish too!

And for everyone asking me, my spanish is coming along nicely. Having a latino companion helps a ton because whatever I want to say, I HAVE to say it in Spanish, most other gringo nuevos are good at gospel topics in Spanish, but I'm good at everything! :)

Well that's about it, nothing else new. I love all of you and hope to hear from you soon. (if I don't drown first =P) keep praying!

Elder Yates

I think Jimmer should be the new Quarterback

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having the best week of their lives! That includes everyone at BYU who has midterms this week!!!! Bwahahahaha. NOT ME! :) But I´m sure you will all do fantastic. Just study hard!

Anyway, everything is good here! We had the marriage of Alma and Lorenzo this week!! They were happily married on September 22, 2011. They were so cute and a bunch of their family came to support them! There were a ton of members there to support them in their awesome decision to get married. Everything went great. We were also planning on having their baptism on Sunday after church, but a little problem came up that we are taking care of right now and we will hopefully have them enter the waters of baptism so they can make eternal covnenants with their Father in Heaven. So pray for them! :)

Also this week, we found a great family. We have been teaching a mother and here 3 daughters ages 23, 20, and 11 for some time now and everytime we would have a lesson, the father was always working. Well this week during the lesson, he came home! He sat and listened to our message and was very receptive. He is very religious. He told us that in his life, he has only read one book: Harry Potter. Nah just kidding! The Bible. But he accepted our challenge to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it is true! Hooray! Oh and after my mission I´ll talk to him about reading Harry Potter because he really is missing out. But the Book of Mormon first because it IS more important :)

Also this week, I had the priveledge to give service! What a great opportunity. A Hermana in the ward needed a tree cut down because it was growing from underneath her house! So we chopped it down......with a machete! :) Sooooo awesome! Everyone needs a machete! They´re fun! :)

The rain hasn't slown down at all. Thankfully the earthquakes have but the rain is seriously crazy here. Hopefully though it will slow down because rainy season is coming to an end. I´ll keep ya´ll updated. Also, we had changes! I of course didn't get changed or anything nor my companion. But I am OFFICIALLY not the newest in the mission anymore! How crazy is that, that I've already been here 6 weeks in the mission field. que loco!

Well that's about all I got. Thanks for all your support and I hope many of you will receive the letters I sent soon. They´re a great read ;) I love you all. I love Guatemala. I love Spanish. I love the mission. I love the Book of Mormon. I love the gospel. I love BYU. I love Jimmer, and most importantly, I love the Lord. Keep doing good and keep choosing the right (choose the right in spanish is Haz lo justo which translates to Do The Good, so Do good everyone!) And keep sending me stuff or I´ll cry! (no seriously). Anyway. Love you!! Enjoy the picutures of Alma and Lorenzos wedding! Look how cute they are. :)

love,
Elder Yates