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Monday, December 26, 2011

I need to buy a maca‏

or in other words, a hammock, why? Because I got sent to the coast!!!!!!!!!

I HAD CHANGES THIS WEEK!!!!! So crazy. There are 3 different places I could have gone: the capital where I was, the mountains, or the beloved coast.  I got sent to the coast!!! How crazy is that! My area is Escuintla. It's right on the coast and my area, Puerta De Hierro, is literally on the beach. We can see the beach from the roof. And its so cool! Fun fact: all the beaches in Guatemala have black sand. Weird huh? Anyway so my area is great. It's a different chage of pace though. The people in the capital are always working and have stuff to do, but the people here have nothing to do but just lounge around all day! Every house has a hammock or two on the front porch and they just go outside and drink piña juice and just chill. So it's very different, but, I'm getting used to it. We only have a branch here! Its not a ward....yet. We´re working on it. We have a couple baptisms lined up this month and next so I´ll keep you all updated.
 
So, a little more about my area. There is the coast, and then there is THE COAST: Escuintla is all on the coast. Every area, except 2, are about 35 minutes landward. It's like Penasquitos copmpared to Coronado. My area and the area next to ours, Puerto San Jose, is right on the beach. Because of this, it is the HOTTEST area in all the mission, like seriously, it is SO HOT! I sweat just from sitting down, it's crazy, but I love it. It's so cool. Puerto San Jose is the busiest port in all of Guatemala and a lot of cruise ships dock there, so look at pictures online and maybe you can get a taste of my new area.
 
As for my new companion, his name is Elder Porter, sounds like a gringo name huh? oh wait, HE IS GRINGO! I have a gringo companion! He is from Mesa Arizona. It's cool. We talk English, well I TRY to talk English. It's hard hahaha. We get along really well and we are working hard in our area. It's great. So I'm happy. :) like that. 
 
Well I love all of you bastante and love all your support. If you´re reading this right now, I love you. Individually, I love you. You are the best. Keep being the best and doing super cool awesome things, because you´re great. Know that I love you and will be home in less that a year and a half to give you a great big hug. :) LOVE YOU!!!!
 
Love,
Elder Yates
 
Elder Yates at the beach


The Beach

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Just like the weather here....‏

CHANGES ARE HERE! I can´t believe its already been another change. I will be entering my fourth change. But I will NOT be entering it here in Villa Nueva. Yesterday we received changes calls and the verdict was that I´m to leave :( I dont want to leave again!!! I just got here and I fell in love with this area! But the Lord has need for me elsewhere so elsewhere is where I shall go. I´ll keep ya´ll posted because changes are tomorrow. So, next week I´ll be in my new area.

But for better news, we had a lesson with Jorge and Lydia and a miracle happened. THEY FOUND THE PAPERS HE NEEDED TO GET MARRIED!!! I guess the robbers only took the money and threw out the papers and someone found them and returned them to Jorge. The Lord answers prayers! And many times he works through other people. There are angels here on earth :) So great. We talked to them about their marriage and they decided the first or second week in Januray. We really wanted them to get baptized and married this month but they want to wait a little bit and I respect their decision. I am really sad that I won't get to be here for their big days, another missionary will get to experience that. But, it doesnt matter which missionary. Only that they are making covenants with the Lord, right? 

On Sunday, I got to go to the TEMPLE DEDICATION! It was spectacular. Elder Uchtdorf came here with Elder Neil A Anderson and they dedicated the Quetzlatenango Temple, it was great. I could feel the spirit so strong even through the satellite transmission. They really are men of God. What an awesome experience and if you haven't seen pictures yet, you need to look online because it is a gorgeous temple. The house of the Lord. :) 

Well not much else has happened since last Friday. Today I need to say goodbye to a lot of people and pack a lot because tomorrow is the big day. Thank you all for everything you do and I have started writing my letters to you, so be ready for them. And next week, I should be in a brand new area! Keep reading your scriptures and doing good things and being obedient. I love you all and pray for you every day. Keep posted for my new area and new companion! :)

Love
Elder Yates
 



    Elder Yates in front of Christmas Tree



     Elder Yates at the Temple



     Elder Yates and Elder Ortega after the temple

Sunday, December 11, 2011

I love to see the temple‏

Hello EVERYONE!!! I cant believe it´s already December! Crazy huh? Yeah I know. So I've had a really busy couple of weeks. First, I FINALLY got your dearelders. I think they were trying to kill me and it almost worked. Some of the dearelders were from October. wayyy too much time. I will now work on writing you guys back. Please have patience, there are a lot of you I need to write and I don't have a lot of time, but I WILL write you. :) please and thank you.

Second, WE HAD ANOTHER BAPTISM LAST WEEKEND!!! We had a woman named Carmen Albisuris and she wanted to get baptized but kept telling us she wasn't ready. So we had her baptism date set for like the end of December. Well last week we visited her and she said ¨I´m ready and I want to get baptized this weekend.¨ There was no arguement from us, so we held her baptism and her grandson baptized her. It was great! I have pictures right here on my camera, but I don't have the freaking cord to the computer. I left it in the casa. So I will send the pictures on Tuesday. Promise. =)

Also this week, we had an actividad navideña and our zona (villa nueva) and another zona (chimaltenango) got together for food, games, service, and a great time. This was yesterday. It was great! First we went to an old run down school and we cleaned it up. It looks real nice now. :) Then we played soccer and human bowling and ate pizza and a whole bunch of good stuff. It was great. Then we had a spiritual night last night. We watched this movie called 17 miracles and it was so good. It was about the pioneers that made their way across America in the dead of winter and the trials they had. EVERYONE NEEDS TO WATCH THIS MOVIE. It was incredible the way these people put their faith and trust in the Lord and the Lord carried them to Zion. Many died of course, but it was amzing how they Lord worked miracles through there ordinary people with extraordinary faith. I COULD NOT HAVE BEEN A PIONEER, ever. It makes the trails we have here in the mission field seem like nothing, really a spiritual experience. A great way to celebrate my six month mark in the mission. :)

Then this morning, we got to go to the temple! It was awesome. Unfortunately, we went to the six o'clock in the morning session. And we had to be ready for the bus at the stake center by about 4:15 am. So we had to wake up this morning at about 3 am. So I'm pretty tired. And on top of that, we were fasting. So we were hungry and tired and extremely happy and grateful that we got to go to the house of the Lord and feel His spirit there as we prepared ourselves to baptize 204 people in Janurary. It was awesome.

Well this month we were preparing Jorge and Lydia Gomez to get married and baptized. But something happened. Jorge went to the capital to get the papers necessary for his marriage and on the way back on the bus, robbers got on and robbed EVERYTHING from EVERYONE, and yes, they robbed his papers for his wedding. It will take about a month to get them again. So we can definitely see Satan working hard against us. But we are determined to work harder. So it looks like we will baptize them in Janurary, adding to the 204 baptisms that we need. But we are working hard so don't worry. :)

Well I think that's about it this week. It has been a very quick week but a very great week.  Changes are on Wednesday. I can't believe I've been in this area for 6 weeks already. I will be going into my fourth change! Eeeek! Where is my mission going?! anyway. I love you all SO MUCH and I just want you to know that trials are good. In some of your dearelders, many of you have been telling me of some hard times you are having. Just remember, the Lord will try you and he will try you hard. But he will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER give you more trials than you can handle. EVER. Just remember that He is your Father and He knows you better than you know yourself. Trust in Him, embrace the challenges, and you WILL be blessed. He loves you and wants to bless us when we are faithful to Him and His commandments. And always remember that God knows EVERYTHING. Trust in His knowledge. He knows more than us. He loves you more than you can possibly know and he knows each one of you. YOU ARE HIS CHILD. Remember, that I love you all too! And I´ll talk you soon! :) Have a great week!

Elder Yates

Sunday, December 4, 2011

oh what do you do in the summer time....‏

when all the world is green?

Greetings Bloggers! How is everyone? 'm doing great because we had BAPTISMS!!! Hermana Galdis was baptized by her grandson Brayon and Hermana Oralia asked ME to baptize her!! I of course was honored :) The pictures are kinda a funny story. Brayon, Hermana Gladis grandson, didn't have white pants that fit him, and he and I are the same size pants so I told him we could just share. We played rock, paper, scissors to see who would get to baptize first, and he won. So that is why I'm not wearing white pants. Because Brayon is wearing them. But don't worry. I baptized in white pants, they were just wet when I put them on :P

We are planning another baptism for this weekend!! Another Hermana we have been teaching says she wants to get baptized this Sunday and there wasn't any arguements from us. :) So we are planning her baptism this Sunday! I'm so excited for her! 

Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get a hold of the familia Estrada. They have been working everytime we stop by. But thankfully, Jorge and Lydia have been available. We had another lesson with them and challenged them to get married and then baptized, and they agreed!!!! We planned the wedding for the 10th of December and the baptism on the 18th. So they are going to get baptized! They are great. Sadly, we have changes on the 14th of December so one of us might not be here for their baptism! I hope I don't get changed! I want to stay here! 

Elder Ortega and I are wroking very hard and finding lots of hopeful familys. We feel we can find enough people to baptize in Janurary to have 204 baptisms! It's going to be great. I'm so excited. 

I hope everyone is doing fantastic! I miss each one of you very much. Thank you for your support. I will be home in a quick 18 months. Crazy to believe that I reach 6 months next week. AHHHHH. where does the time go?! Anyway, I love you all and hope you had a great Thanksgiving and I`ll talk to you soon! love you! 

Love
Elder Yates
 
 





Elder Yates and Elder Ortega eating McDonalds