The Trio is no more :-(

Heyyyyyyy, errrbody!

Thanks for answering my questions! I had like 90 pictures on my camera. I’m pretty sad ‘cause all the pictures I had with Elders Mortensen and Maradiaga are gone. Many others, too. Sad stuff. When you send my next package, would you send me more pictures of the fam and of friends and all the good stuff? Make sure my corn row pictures are included . . . LOL . . . And my picture with me and all my shoes in the hall . . . Thanks!

We have been working with Gloria (the runaway) more and it looks like she will be baptized this Saturday. I guess the problem is that she had some things she didn’t want to discuss in her interview. That’s okay as long as she has it all under control now. She will need another interview, though. We also have a baptism on Wednesday, so it should be a pretty good week!

I was ddddddiiiiiieeeeeeng about the Dylan texting story! LOL! That was so funny! Good li’l reminders of me . . . LOL . . . Is that a seminary, Stacie? No, Derek . . . It’s a cemetery. Oooppppssss! College intuition . . . Close enough . . . All that stuff . . . LOL . . .

I also enjoyed Dylan’s pictures! Thank you! He is quite a li’l charmer!

I’m missin’ the playoffs a lot. I’m excited for Dallas’ e-mail. Sorry ‘bout the Lakers though! I’m sure they’ll pull it off. The west is sooooo good, though!

Oh, Mom! I wanted to say that Zusi is missin’ you! She said you don’t write to her . . . LOL . . . I know both of you are busy. Just when ya want, though . . . She’s always wllin’ to write ya . . .

Well, I gotta be honest. Not a whole lot happened this week. The biggest story I have is that Elder Mortensen had an emergency change last Tuesday. It was pretty sad. We were havin’ so much fun in our trio. He got sent way up in the mountains in Coban. He got the change ‘cause one Elder got sent home because he was sick. So . . . Yea . . . That kind of messed up our nice li’l trio. Maradiaga and I still had a great week, though! We had like 35 lessons again and we set two more baptismal dates! We have nine again in our Area now!

I’m sooooo excited for Mother’s Day! I just sent a li’l package today, too. It contains my journal and some baby clothes from a paca for Dallas and Kim. The clothes were like 60 cents. They should like them even though they’re old. I also sent you a letter, Mom . . . it is in the front of the journal. You can only read it early on Mother’s Day, though! And, I had my “oldish” memory card with me to send to y’all, but I forgot to take it outta my pocket! I’m sorry! I’ll try to send it off next week . . .

Well . . . I sure miss you all. I can’t wait for this Wednesday ‘cause I didn’t get DearElders last week, which means double this week! LOL . . . Can’t wait to hear from you all! Keep it real! One love . . .

Elder Maradiaga and I have amaaaaaaaazing lessons together!

Hellllooo!

Well, thank you for all the updates once again! And I got lots from ya this week, so thanks! It is very good to know that the earthquake didn’t touch you guys. Was there much damage done there? Anyone killed?

My shoulder is all fine now, but it was sore for almost a week! I’m a soldier, though . . .

I’ll try to get a package sent home to you next week maybe . . .

My trio has been amazing! Elder Mortensen is doin’ great and is continuing to learn while I am learning a lot from Elder Madriaga. He’s a really good missionary. He is a pretty smart guy and boy! We have had some amaaaaaaaazing lessons together. We were just going back and forth on people sharing scriptures. There was soooooooo much power and knowledge in our lessons. This companionship with him has been a dream as far as teaching and, really, as far as everything goes! We had FORTY lessons this week! That is definitely a record for me! We got to a point this week that we had 13 baptismal dates just in our area! Just in our area, though! Amazing, huh? Unfortunately, a lot feel out for different reasons and we are back down to 7, but that’s still more than 99% of companionships have! Elder Maradiaga had an interview with President this last week and President said a big part of us being in a trio is so that I can learn from him. All of my companions have worked hard . . . But I’m positive that President recognized that Elder Maradiaga has a lot to teach me and that he placed us together for that reason. Last night, Elder Maradiaga and I talked for almost 2-1/2 hours just ‘bout mysteries of God and a lot of doctrinal stuff and then we talked about ties for like half an hour in between! LOL! I’m such a missionary! If I talked for 3 hours for someone before my mission, it was about girls and sports! Weird how the mission changes us! But, yea . . . Everything in this companionship is doin’ amazingly and I’m not stressed at all anymore about not being a District Leader. I’m a happy young man . . .

I’m very excited to see a picture of Dylan and his girl . . . LOL . . . Get that to me asap, por favor!

Tell Ashley and Tom to be safe on their trip for me, will ya? Thanks!

Okay . . . More of my updates now . . .

Bad note . . . I lost my camera . . . So sad, dude. I was pretty mad for a li’l while. In the taxi ride home the other day, I was taking pictures ‘cause we pass by things that we never see in our mission. After I took the pictures, I put the camera on my backpack. Well, we were in a rush to get out and get to work when the taxi pulled up in front of the house, so I didn’t’ even think ‘bout the camera as I took out my backpack and I’m sure my camera just fell on the floor of the taxi and I didn’t even realize! It’s Guatemala we are talkin’ ‘bout so it’s gone . . . I lost like 90 pictures, too. Pretty sad. So, yea . . . Ummmm . . . When ya can, I guess . . . Could you send me another camera? Maybe as an early birthday present? Just as soon as possible, please . . . I’m really, really, really sorry, though. If you can’t get me a camera right now, though . . . Don’t stress . . .

Happy Birthday to li’l Ryan!

Ummmm . . . Another really sad thing from this week . . . We were supposed to have a baptism, but the lady started workin’ on Sundays. So, we could have baptized her and should probably would have gone inactive, but that would have been just drinking condemnation to her soul and mine and my companions’ too . . . So, I talked to her for like 45 minutes to convince her to drop her work ‘cause the commandments are more important and God won’t ever give us a commandment that we can’t complete. It was really hard ‘cause she’s 3 months in debt to her landlord. She asked me what I would do if the landlord came by and started throwin’ out all my stuff ‘cause I hadn’t paid . . . Wow! What a question . . . I told her that I couldn’t say with 100% surety what I would do, but I told her that I do know that the Lord will bless us greatly if we strive to keep allllll of his commandments. And that means making big sacrifices. Anyway, she said she would leave her work behind as we promised to use all of our power to help find another job that didn’t require her to work on Sundays. So, she had her interview and passed. Then, on Saturday, we never found her. It was really a bad feeling. To put in all of that work and have her basically run away. We had gone to the Church and filled up the baptismal font, prepared the chairs and the agenda . . . A bunch of members were there waiting for the baptism and we had to tell all of them that the baptism wasn’t gonna happen. Not cool . . . It happens, I guess, though . . . We will go back to her soon. We are just gonna give her a li’l space for a few days now, though. It will all work out. I hope I didn’t pressure her way too much. But she needs a true baptism to live with our Heavenly Father again and she knows it! Dang it! Oh, well, though . . .

Anyway, I really am doin’ great and continue to grow. Thanks for all of your love and support!

And, Dad . . . I read all the talks that you sent me in DearElders. They were amazing! I loved ‘em and took notes on them! Thank you! Whenever you do that, though, make sure you put the talk in two letters ‘cause a lot of the talks got cut off. I imagine that the DearElder just doesn’t hold that many characters. Just talk to Mom ‘bout it, LOL . . . She’ll know what I mean.

And, Mom, keep me posted on everything through DearElder too, please! Oh, and now that the lottery is comin’ up, Dad, could you go to NBAdraft.com and send me that list so I can see who my Clippers prospects are?

Thanks for everything! I sure miss you millions! Love, love, love you all! Tell Aaliyah I say hello and that I love her!

"Another great week with exciting changes!"

Heyyyyy yo!

Thanks for all the updates! And for the picture of Dylan, too! I sure hope you guys get the pictures I sent you today! I can’t believe that Butler almost had Duke with a three at the buzzer! Dang it!!!! And it sounds like you guys had a very entertaining week! Lucky! I wanna go to an A’s game! LOL!

Well . . .Questions . . .

Did Cali really have a huge earthquake??? What happened? Everyone’s good, right?

Where did Jermain end up goin’ when he left MPC?

Well, I had a pretty dog on good week . . .

I got to go on Divisions with Elder Petersen this week. He’s one of my Zone Leaders. I had a great day with him! I got to do a baptismal interview for them. The little 9-year old girl passed her interview easily and was baptized on Sunday morning before Church. Elder Petersen and I had lots of success with good lessons and finding new investigators. I also got to meet a player from the Cremas who is an inactive member. Cremas is the huge soccer team here in Guatemala. The Cremas and the Rojos are a huge rivalry. If you live in Guatemala, you have to choose which team is going to be your favorite. I picked Creama when I first got here ‘cause I like their jerseys better . . . LOL . . . But, yea . . . The place where he lives is a really rich area and it feels too much like the United States, so I was happy to leave.

Luis, Paolo and Cindy were baptized and confirmed this weekend! Noly wasn’t quite ready, but I know that prayers were answered because we were able to baptize those three. It was a great week just for the three of them.

I popped out my shoulder yesterday but it popped right back in. Man, it hurt really, really bad for a li’l while, though. I guess that’s what I get for finally wrestling Barrientos . . . LOL . . . I just pushed him down and he tried to pull me down more and it just popped out and right back in . . . Whoooooooo . . . It hurt, though!

I was lookin’ back on the work I’ve done in my area and I feel like I have really left it better than I found it so far. With the Lord’s guidance, I have helped give the Ward six new members. Also, the average attendance at Sacrament Meeting has improved from 91 to an average of 100 over the past few weeks! Kinda cool, huh? I look forward to helping it improve the entire time I’m here . . .

So, yea . . . I don’t have a change . . . But Elder Barrientos was transferred. He bore a very nice testimony in Sacrament Meeting yesterday. He cried and all the good stuff . . . LOL . . . He really had very nice things to say about everyone and lots of people cried over him. Know what, though? He only moved one area away! LOL! So, we are still in the same District! Kinda cool and funny, huh? I’m happy for him ‘cause he likes feeling comfortable . . .

As for my companionship, I was excited to just be with Elder Mortensen, but we got put in a trio again! LOL! We now have Elder Maradiaga from Honduras. He is on his last change. I’m still Senior Companion, but I am no longer District Leader. It’s a little confusing for me, but I know I haven’t done anything to disappoint my Zone Leaders, APs or President Torres. They are all very happy with me. My Zone Leaders told me that I will probably be made a Zone Leader my next change because that’s what President seems to like to do . . . Maybe just to test me . . . Dunno though . . . I’m all good!

So, yea! Another great week with some exciting changes! I’m doing great, guys, and can’t wait to hear your voices again soon! Keep in real! Be good and safe . . . All of you! I love you millions!

"Why we are baptized"

Hey! Yo, family!

Thank you for the Easter videos! Dylan (Derek’s 16-year old brother) looks soooo long in that video! Has he been growing? I hope not . . . LOL . . .

And Zander (Derek’s 22-month old nephew) is a man now! Wow! He just has to learn to pull the trigger with the bat! He’s always watching . . .

As for sending you pictures, I will probably send another package soon. I can’t just send the memory card in a letter ‘cause it’s too risky. But I’ll try to get it sent out within a few weeks.

I was so happy, too, that it clicked with me that I could have Zusi e-mail you guys for me! She speaks amazing English, too! I’m glad Dad was happy. I hope he didn’t cry, though . . . Hee, hee . . .

This week I don’t have much to say . . .

Butler in the finals????? Whaaaa whaaaa? You guys know those are my boys! Sooooo cool!

This week we had Zone Conference. Elder Empey, from my Zone, gave a talk. Two other Elders also spoke at the Conference. They all did really well, but I thought Empey really did the best. Of course, President Torres brought down the house with his talks. He’s a man of much knowledge . . . LOL . . . Zone Conference was also fun ‘cause I got to see my boy, Elder Legua! He needs to be my companion someday. Free lunch with a brownie also topped off the Conference! It was one of the best Zone Conferences I’ve ever attended.

We still have dates for nine baptisms in my Area. We have four scheduled for this Saturday, one for the next Saturday and four more for the Saturday after that. I’m getting’ a li’l stressed and anyone who knows me knows that I don’t like that. But, the four who are supposed to baptized this Saturday are soooo close and I think they have a few challenges. Just keep ‘em in your prayers . . . Luis, Paola, Cindy and Noly . . . I really think we can help them with amazing lessons and lots of faith and prayer.

I realize that a lot of people who read my blog probably don’t understand why I get so excited and stressed when baptisms are coming up. So . . . I’d like to explain my feelings to all of you real quick.

Jesus Christ was a perfect being and He was baptized. He taught that baptism is a saving ordinance. We know today that no one can return to the presence of our Father in Heaven without a baptism that is done with authority. As Jesus was baptized by John (a holder of the Holy Priesthood since he was a child, as we read in the book of Luke), He was setting an example. We can’t be baptized by whoever we want. We must be baptized by someone who holds the authority to baptize.

Jesus also showed us, in the book of Matthew, that we must make the decision to be baptized. Jesus was not baptized by David when he was an infant. Jesus made a clear cut decision to be baptized. We should do the same. To be baptized is to make a holy promise with God that that we will keep his commandments for the rest of our lives. A little child that can’t make his or her own decisions cannot make an acceptable promise with God because the little child has no idea what he or she is doing. Children are placed where their parents put them, they eat what their parents feed them, and they have no power of their own. We have the opportunity to make the decision to be baptized, just as Christ did!

We are also clean from sin when we are baptized. Little children have no sins because they don’t even know right from wrong yet. They have learned nothing and know nothing as children, so they cannot sin. If a baby dies as a little child, they go directly to live with our Heavenly Father. I testify that God love children and would never cast out one of them for not being baptized when they were a baby. He loves us all too much. Can you really imagine a God that punishes little children for not doing something that they have no power or control over doing? I sure can’t . . .

God loves us and wants us to enter His kingdom. We must be baptized to enter His kingdom. It can save us if we do it correctly and endure to the end after our baptism.

The General Conference was amazing! I thought the Priesthood session was the best I’ve ever seen! I almost always just got bored in the Priesthood session, but this one was amazing. I loved the talk by Elder Uchtdorf in the Priesthood session and I loved many others but I don’t have time to talk about all of them even though I brought my Conference notes so I could tell you! I just don’t have time now! It was amazing, though! And, Elder Rasband’s talk about how missionaries are called was REALLY cool! Also, Elder Martino’s talk was awesome! Just five weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet him and I talked to him personally for like 15 minutes! Cool, huh? It was an amaziiiiiinnnnngggg Conference!

Well, that’s all I’ve got to say for now! I sure love you guys! And, yea baby . . . Ten months! Double digits, yo! Be safe and good all of you! I love you more than you all know! Really, though!