General Conference this Week! Holler!

‘Sup family!

Thanks for your e-mail! In response to your e-mail . . . I thought you should all know about the Bracket I filled out. Well, I had Ohio State, UConn, Vandy, and BYU in the Final Four. Then, I had UConn vs. Vandy in the Finals. And I have UConn winning it all. LOL . . . That’ll be cool if I guessed the Champion right! Did anyone at home have UConn taking it all?

It has been very fun to hang out with Elder Legua. We just got into the Capital this morning at 6:30ish and when we got in, we just headed straight to the Temple and got to attend a session! And . . . Now we are using Internet! I think that after this, we are gonna go visit some families. It’s been way fun, though, ‘cause I’ve been able to hang out with my two best buddies all day . . . Elders Peterson and Legua. You guys should already have known that, though. Zone Leader council is tomorrow . . .

Oh, and yea . . . It’s waaaaaay fun with Elder Molina. Oooooo . . . You shoulda seen the tie trade that went down with him yesterday. Just nasty ties involved. We might have the two best collections in the Mission. You know I never come in Second Place when it comes to style, though!

And, sweeeeet that I got an extension on my Driver’s License! Gooooooood . . .
And, that’s soooo cool that Dylan has his trip this week! It’ll be something he will remember forever for sure! Make sure he writes me right after his trip, please!
Sooooooo . . . I loved Stacie’s letter . . . LOL . . . It just left me with nothing to say, though. It just made me wanna hug ‘er. Anyway, that’s why I haven’t written back and I don’t know if I’m going to . . . LOL . . . I think I’ll be home by the time Stacie would write back to me . . . LOL . . .

Hey, Happy Birthday, Toni and Allie!

We don’t have many Zone fechas this week, but we have a million progressing investigators! And, after this Council, we should be rollin’ out there in Peten again! We did end with nine baptisms in March. Not bad, not bad. April should be better, though.

Oooooo . . . And General Conference this week! Holler! Guess what? This is the last one I’ll watch without all of you! Cool stuff! Man . . . I’m just excited for the talks and all, though. It’ll be goooood, gooooood stuff . . . Like always . . .
Soooo, this week, Elders Mejia and Cruz finally moved outta our house. It was a bummer to watch ‘em go ‘cause we really did get along with ‘em so well. I gave ‘em each two ties and then Elder Mejia gave me a “moral” and Elder Cruz gave me a sweeeeeet corte tie. They were living with us for a li’l while, though, ‘cause they opened an area this change and didn’t have a phone or beds or anything. But, once we got a hold of all those things, they got the boot. Good kids, though . . .
And, this week, I got to do a division with Elder Snell! He is a kid that entered the Mission with me. It’s cool ‘cause we all find a way to end up being the greatest of friends! We had a good time talkin’ ‘bout memories and all that plus I got to learn form his way of teaching! Then, at night time, he bought me pizza! Well, he bought us pizza! LOL . . . Buena Honda, though . . .

Oh, by the way . . . I drew on an all white tie for me and it came out sick! Then, one missionary saw it and said he’d pay me to make one for him so I did it and struck up some dough! LOL . . . Plus two other missionaries said they want me to do the same for them! LOL . . . Cool, huh?

Anyway . . . Everything is goin’ gooooooood! I love you all sooo, sooo much! Hit me up! Everything is going soooo, soooo well! Peace!

My new Companion is Elder Molina from Honduras!

Hello, family!

Good to hear from you all during this time of March Madness! Ahhhh . . . I’ll never miss another one of these . . . What a blessing . . . LOL . . .

Thanks for your stories anywho. LOL . . . I can’t believe everyone is getting’ home from their missions now! Ahhhh! It’s not making me feel good. First Jeff, then Alyssa, then McKay and now Tyler . . . LOL . . . I remember how mad I was when they were leaving because we all grew up in the same grade and everything but they got to leave before me because of stupid birth dates! LOL . . . I couldn’t have been called at a better time, though. Of that I’m sure . . . Anyway, lemme know how Tyler is when he gets home.

How cool that Dylan did so well in his workshop. That kid really is amazing. Hey . . . Has he decided where he is gonna go to school? He told me he wasn’t sure and I told him to talk it over with you all, but I hope he wasn’t just pullin’ my leg! I need him at Gav with me!!!!!!!! Dylan! I need you there with me! For reals! Don’t lemme down, man! I understand if you have to, though . . . LOL.

And, the 49 fechas weren’t for this last week Mom . . . Sorry . . . We had one baptism. And it was in my Area. Elder Crespin did her baptismal interview and said he had never done an interview for someone so prepared. She knew everything he said! LOL . . . She really is so special. We were just guided to find her at the right time. She had received missionaries for so long before but wasn’t ever prepared; but we got there, and she was ready. Three straight Sundays in Church and . . . Boom! To the water! She’s amazing and can now be an example to her five children who are already members and to her member parents. LOL . . . My new companion got lucky to get here and have a baptism his first week! The baptismal ceremony was great! She is afraid of the water, so the first time I tried to put her under, she rolled up in a ball and some of her hair came out of the water sooooo . . . We had to try it again . . . LOL . . . We stood in the font for a good five minutes while I was trying to help and comfort her and while she tried to hold back tears and get her air back. Aaaaaand . . . The second time we got it down pat! LOL . . . The testimony she bore was amazing and her friends and family members gave great testimonies for her as well. It was one of those special baptisms . . .

Anyway, yea . . . We had changes this past week. Ten changes in total . . . Three went to Coban (we lost my boy, Elder Thacker), two had internal Peten changes, and five went to the Capital. My Companion was one of the five who went to the Capital. Anyway, we have two missionaries here now who were Zone Leaders but are not anymore because so many from our group are Zone Leaders! There have never, ever been so many from just one group. We have thirteen or fourteen of the twenty-two leaders in the Mission . . . LOL . . . So it might be my turn to not serve as a Zone Leaders. I’d be okay with that just ‘cause I think I might be settin’ a new record for time as a Zone Leader!

Also, for changes, Elder Legua was made a Zone Leader! That was very exciting ‘cause now I’ll see my best friend in the Mission at Zone Leader Council next week!

Oh! And my new Companion is Elder Molina from Honduras. I’ve told you all before that I seem to get along very well with Hondurians. And . . . Nothing’s changed! Elder Molina was an Office Elder for a long time and I got to know him there and we were already good buddies from that point, so it was one of those changes of much excitement to receive your Companion. I feel very happy and a member even told me I seem happy yesterday! I learned a lot from Elder Alonso, and I know I will learn a lot from Elder Molina. I know this change is gonna fly by!

Just so you all know, when I talk about going home, it’s because it’s close to that time, but it doesn’t mean I’m working any less . . . I promise. I’m very focused on my Zone and my Area. I know that leaving the Mission behind will bring many tears and twister feelings, but I wan’t wait to see all of you again. I love you all so much. El fin se acerca . . .

I'm staying in the Peten Zone!

Heyyyyy, family!

Wow . . . I really can’t believe that I only have two changes left! LOL . . . I really never thought I would get to this point in my Mission . . .

To answer your e-mail first, of course . . .

For P-Day today, we have done absolutely nothing except eat and print off pictures and walk through the market a li’l . . . Nothin’ special . . . Just chillin’ . . .

LOL . . . And it really is soooo, soooo weird how worried I was to come and speak Spanish and now I can say just about anything and I can understand 99% of everything! I do remember praying my first days in the MTC in Spanish . . .What a tough time . . . LOL . . . It’s cool how much I’ve been blessed, though . . .

McKay wrote me today to tell me that he’s gonna be home this Wednesday. Ahhhhh! That’s soooo crazy . . . Cool, cool for him, though!

As for my Zone and all, we are doin’ very, very well. Our Zone reported 49 baptismal dates this Sunday. The next closest is like 25, so yes, Dad, we are doubling! The zone has really improved sooo, sooo much since the time I got here. I don’t give myself the credit, but something has clicked. It’s really been a really cool experience. We had 5 baptisms as a Zone last month, 2 of them from my Area. Now, through the first 2 weeks of this month, we have 5 Zone baptisms! This week, we are waiting on 5 baptisms . . . One of them from our Area! Soooo . . . That will hopefully give us 10 for this month and then we still have the last week of the month which is usually the biggest baptizing week of every month! Soooo . . . We are excited to see what goes down!

As for changes, we had ten changes in the Zone. Eight people are leaving Peten and two have internal changes in Peten. My Companion is one of the 8 leaving Peten. He’s pretty sad because we have really gotten the Zone moving together. Sure, we bumped heads sometimes, but we were successful together and really made some good things happen. Sounds like I’m gonna train a new Zone Leader, but we shall see what goes down . . . LOL . . . I might make a record for time as a Zone Leader. If I die as a Zone Leader, I will have completed 8 changes in the assignment. LOL . . . That’s almost a year as a ZL! Hahahahaha! Tiring! Oh, well! It’s good, good stuff and God has blessed me in the work. I’ve learned sooo, sooo much about leading in every one of those changes. I’ve become a much more effective leader throughout my whole mission and I’ve learned to think bigger rand to really expect to be the best and realize that we can do much, much better by small and simple things . . .

Hey . . . Happy Birthday, Luke!

Soooo . . . Nothin’ happened in Gilroy with this big storm? People were calling me worried about all of you ‘cause they heard the storm was gonna hit California. I knew you’d all be fine, but anything crazy happen there? Lemme know . . . It won’t scare me . . . I know you’re all fine.

This week, I did a Divison with Sayaxche Two with Elder Hale. He is a District Leader who had been strugglin’ a l’il. Soooo, on that Division, we had an amazing day together! We put a baptismal date with two people and taught some amazing lessons . . . LOL . . . He was amazed with how good the lessons went, so I knew the Divison would really help him a lot. Plus, my Companion did a great job with Elder Hale’s companion and they were both very strengthened in that day. Plus, one of the two baptismal dates we put went to church this week and he was never, ever goin’ before! I called the guy . . . His name is Marvin . . . And he is very, very excited for his baptism and wants me to be there for it. We will see what we can do! It was a great day with Elder Hale, though! Great, great guy!

Oh! And we had another powerful District Leader meeting this week which was very, very powerful again . . . Which is part of what I think really helped animate our Zone . . .

Soooo, yea! I’m doin’ amazing, though! I love you all sooooooo much and I appreciate you all so much! Hey, Dylan! Goin’ to Gav? Hope so (big smiley face). Love you all! Hit me up!

A new Area in the Peten Zone!

Hey, family!

Good to hear from ya! LOL and good to know that Dylan is with Mr. Rose . . . I really loved the guy . . . Anyway . . .

Zone Leader Council went very, very well. Of course, the long bus rides were the most fun . . . NOT! LOL . . . But we learned lots and, after the lunch, I got to anoint Hermana Torres ‘cause she was sick and then President sealed a blessing on her. It was a pretty cool experience. I just always think that I might not be able to work with someone so in tune with the Spirit as a Mission President, so I gotta take advantage of President Torres. Speaking of being in tune with the spirit, this is President’s big week! LOL! He’s gotta get all the changes ready. LOL . . . Can you believe it’s already week six? I’m only going to have two changes left! LOL! I really never thought this moment would get here. After the blessing, President also gave me an interview to renew my Temple Recommend. He gave me the interview in Spanish which was interesting, but it was just another cool experience. Now I can enter the Temple ‘til like September with this recommend. Oooooh! And, speaking of Temples, we went to the Temple before Concolio and I did everything in Spanish! It only took like twenty-one months! LOL!

Thanks for sending me the Indiana game . . . LOL . . . And I heard the Clippers traded B-Diddy. Is that true? Can you send me some updates and all stories on that? Thanks!

For P-Day today, my Companion and I went and had lunch at an investigator’s home with Elders Orozco and Crespin. LOL . . . We didn’t just eat, though, of course we had to kill the food we were gonna eat. Sooooo, Elder Crespin and I killed a chicken each . . . LOL . . . Obviously, I had never killed a chicken before, but they way they taught me today was to take it by the neck and spin it until its neck cracked. They told me it would be easy to feel it crack, but I never felt it . . . LOL . . . I think it cracked after two spins, but I gave it twelve spins and the body of the chicken went flying and I was holding the head . . . LOL . . . Ewwwwww . . . It was gross. I really didn’t want to kill it in the first place, but for that same reason, everyone wanted me to do it! Buuuuut, I don’t think I’m ever gonna do that again . . .

Oh! Happy Birthday, Uncle Trent!!!!

Oh! I wanted to tell you! When we went to Yaxha, a man took a video of me and three other missionaries running up one of the ruins. Me, Toolson, Thacker and Richins. Anyway, he said he has a website. I can’t go look at the video he took, but you can ‘cause he gave me his card! The website is www.garygs1.com. So, you can check that out! I started bad, but I hope the comeback is in there . . .

Oh! More cool info . . . President is gonna open another area here in Peten! Yay! We are gonna have thirty missionaries here in the Peten Zone in just a li’l over a week! It makes my Companion and me happy because our Zone has been progressing and we feel like President really recognizes it . . .

Aaaaaaand . . . One other cool story . . . Our recent convert, Adelfa, just paid her tithing in her first month as a member yesterday. It is a really huge act of faith and was really, really cool. Not much of a story, sorry . . . But it was really, really cool . . .

Hey! Did McKay already return from his Mission? If he did, can you get in touch with him and ask him to write to me? Thanks!

Well . . . That’s ‘bout all I got! I love you all soooo, soooo much! Talk to you soon!

We went tracting with President Torres!

Heyyyyy!

Gonna hitcha back real quick! Oh! And, FYI, this keyboard stinks . . . I’m gonan be a li’l fast today so that I can write back to Dad. Here I go, though!

Well, to respond to your e-mail, my memory card says it is a ScanDisk, SDHC Card 2, 4gb.

And, yes, I know exactly what Dylan was feeling after his last basketball game. I remember my last game at Alisal and goin’ up to Dad after the game and just bawlin’. It is a very strange feeling . . .

How cool that it snowed in Gilroy! LOL! I remember the last time it snowed in Gilroy . . . We were comin’ home from the Temple and we were able to throw snow balls!

Aaaaand . . . Bummer that Dylan didn’t get accepted to BYU Provo . . . Maybe it’s a sign that he shouldn’t go to a BYU School right now and that he should go to Gavilan and play with me for a year. I think that is correct . . .

Oh! And I loved Dylan’s pictures . . . LOL . . . He’s grown up a lot. He’s such a handsome li’l crap.

Well . . . I’m gonna tell you real quick what went on with me this week . . .

Today, for P-Day, we went to Yaxha. It’s another National Park kind of like Tital, but smaller (not as cool). Anyway, we got to visit today and it was very pretty. The coolest part about Yaxha is thath some of the ruins look out over a lake so it’s very, very pretty. They say that Yaxha was on the rise as Tikal was falling and everyone was abandoning it. Kinda interesting . . .

Oh, great update! I FINISHED READING THE BIBLE! Yes! I read all 1590 pages . . . LOL. It took a long, long time, but it was worth it! I learned a lot and my testimony has grown. I now know that people can’t fool me with false doctrine because I’ve read of it all! Cool, huh? Yes, cool . . .

This week, we had President Torres in town with us. We had Zone Training. Soooo . . . We met from 9am to 4pm on Thursday and we learned from his instruction and the words of Hermana Torres. Also, President went out to work with me and my Companion for a few hours on Wednesday night, but it was a disaster! LOL! No one was home and, in two and a half hours, we only got in one house! LOL! It was a bummer ‘cause we wanted to have a great night to show President that we are working well (pride, really), but, instead, we had maybe the least successful night we have had since we have been together. LOL . . . Heavenly Father knows why, but it remains a mystery to us why all appointments fell! LOL! Oh well! We did learn a lot from President on that stressful night.

Oh, hey Mom! You never sent me the Clippers vs. Indiana update and I need to read about that one ‘cause Dallas said my boy had a huge game . . . LOL . . . Please!

Oh, and this week, my Companion and I . . . Yay! We get to go to the Capital again for another Zone Leader Council. LOL . . . I believe this will be number eight for me! LOL . . . It’ll be good, though, and we should learn lots.

Well, I sure love you all! Tell Dad to let you read the e-mail that I’m gonna send him. I love you all sooooo, sooooo much! Take care!