Welcome back to small town living - Week 74

Upe! Hey everbody! Salutations from Sanarate, El Progreso!

Going back outside the cap! Oh it´s such a different feel out here. The rhythm in the work is so different from inside of the capitol. Here, practically everyone answers the door and lets us in! Our area is pretty big in comparison to roosevelt. but there is one main city (Sanarate) and a bunch of aldeas (villages). 

This week we had some pretty cool adventures. We were visiting with one of our recent converts and she told us she had a rat problem. So we, semi jokingly, said we´d take care of it. So we go into the room where she said the rat lived and we went looking around. I got it all on video too! jajaja the guy who grabbed it was another recent convert who was accompanying us.

(WATCH AT YOUR OWN RISK)

Well gotta go. More adventures next week!

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Sanarate, Zona Jalapa, Guatemala Sur

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Pictures from this week

Adios Roosevelt, Hello SANARATE! - Week 73

So continuing on from last week.  My next divisions were with Elder Ludwig from the area Monte Maria. That day we were on fire too! We taught a woman who was from here but she had lived in the US for 27 years! She now works as an english teacher here and teaches it as part of a social project to better the futures of the people here. Here is where all the phone calls go when you call tech support or customer service hahaaha. There are even some utah based companies. But if you know english you get payed really well here. She´s super awesome. She rents a room from a member here. The lesson with here was actually really cool! She´s so ready and she even took notes! It´s a shame I won´t be here for her conversion. Which brings me to my next point....

I¨VE GOT CHANGES!!!! I´M GOING TO SANARATE, JALAPA!! My new companions name is Elder Cornejo. He´s salvadoranian and went to Mita just a little bit after I left. Elder Langi was there not too long ago and he said it´s awesome. But I'm going back to the heat. Getting ready to drop some more poundage! jajaja 

This week was really cool too though. We did a lot of service this week. Last week we helped a sister move her stuff to a new apartment. And this week, we helped her move her stuff BACK! jajaja. It's a long story but she ended up decided to stay in her house and buy a new house instead of moving to an apartment. We also painted the room of a the mom of one of our investigators. I swear I'm going to be a pro at painting when I get back. (mom, we´re finally gonna paint my room ;P)

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Roosevelt, Zona Mariscal, Guatemala Sur

Frankie failed to mention something...He had tamales! Thank goodness I caught that! Probably didn't want to make us all jealous Here's some other fun pictures I found from his district and members in Roosevelt.

Week 72

Hey guys, sorry I haven´t written my letter to all you in a while. This week was really awesome! Started off the week with back to back divisions. First with The Zone Leaders from Villa Lobos. I was with Elder Lainez in my area. We had an awesome day together. We were knocking doors when a less active member we´ve been visiting called us and said he needed a Priesthood blessing. I told him we were a bit far and didn´t have coins to take the Transmetro (public transportation) He was disappointed but there was nothing i could do. I then thought that we just ate lunch with the bishop´s dad and the bishop arrived to eat too. The bishop lives in the same colony just down the street from him. I called the bishop to see if he could give us a ride and he said he had to make some calls for work but that we could go in 30 minutes. We went and we got to his house and he came out to let us in and the door shut behind him. Here, all the doors are "locked" from the outside. They don't have doorknobs here. To open your door you have to use the key. Anyway, he was in a robe and didn´t have his keys, so we were locked out of the house. We had to open the window slit and with a broomstick and some cable we found outside to pull the little lever to unlock the door. Im sad i didn´t take a picture or videotape us doing it cuz it was super funny!

Looks like ill have to tell you about the rest next week.

Love you all. I'll be better at this.

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Roosevelt, Zona Mariscal, Guatemala Sur

Temple Trip and Elder Rasband - Week 69

This week was full of a lot of great stuff. We started off the week going to the temple. We had to take the red urban buses to get there and in the mornings they´re super full. We got to the bus station and another zone arrived. We decided to let them get on first since their temple session was at 10 and ours was at 11. They decided to take another bus because the R40 didn´t pass. Then, after they had left, two R40s passed by. We got to the temple before they did since the bus they took went another way and didn´t pass by the temple. We went to the distribution center and I bought a new Mission manual and the cover for it since mine is all dirty and ruined from getting wet in the rain and dirt. As for the time at the temple, it was awesome. We were waiting in the lobby and reading the New Era and I felt the spirit so strongly. I felt I received a ton of answers to my prayers and questions.

Then, on Thursday, we had a Multi-Mission Conference in Montufar. The guest speakers were Bishop Dean M. Davies, Presiding Bishopric, Elder Craig C. Christiansen, President of the Seventies, Elder Jose L. Alonso, Area Presidency, and Elder Ronald A. Rasband, Quorom of the Twelve Apostles! That was such an awesome conference. We went by and shook all of their and their wives hands! It was such an honor and a privilege to be there. Again, SOOO much inspiration and the Spirit witnessed to me that every word they said was true. I KNOW this gospel is true. It is too beautiful and perfect to not be true! I wholly believe in this work I am engaged in. The Guatemala Central Mission was there too. I saw a bunch of people from the CCM that i haven´t seen since. Its also one of the only times our entire mission was together.

This week I was going to have my first interview as a district leader. I went to the elders area and we had lunch and we were walking to go start working when Bryan, the baptismal candidate, came up to us. He said his mom didn´t want him to get baptized so soon and the grandpa wanted to come from El Salvador. :/ He´s super pilas and wants to be baptized, but he wants (and we do too) his family to be there to support him even though they aren´t going to be baptized. 

Today is the birthday of the new sister in the zone, Hermana Amador. we were going to make her a cake and do a piñata and everything but we started a fast last night so... no cake. But we´re going to break the piñata! Anyway, hope you all have a good week. 

With love,

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Roosevelt, Zona Mariscal, Guatemala Sur

New Change, New Animo - Week 68

Hey everyone,

This week was an awesome week here with Elder Langi. He just came from being Zone Leader so he understands and is helping me a lot. He´s also my first "gringo" companion. He brought a new motivation. Being in an area for a long time has its difficulties. You know how to work the area and know all the members but, when it comes to tracting, you´ve tracted everything. Sometimes more than once. It's hard to knock a door you´ve already knocked when you know the person and remember what they said last time. But the great thing is that sometimes you find someone new. Maybe someone else opens the door. Someone else who wants to hear the gospel. I´m trying to find new ways to work in the area. If you always do the same thing and expect different results, that's called insanity. So we gotta switch it up a bit.

Yesterday we went on divisions with the members to help them do their home teaching visits. We visited mostly less active members. The miracle? Both my companion and I found someone to teach in those visits. And after, we went back to doing our normal visits, when our citas (appointments) had fallen and I was thinking of who to visit, I saw a member out of the corner of my eye crossing the street. When he saw us he started towards us. When he got to us he asked if we were busy. I reluctantly said no. He said "Good, because I just found a soul for you to save." He found a new family that moved to the ward in his home teaching visit. The mom is a less active member and lives alone with her 9 y/o son, Irvin. He had heard something about baptism and asked if he could get baptized. We started to teach him and he´s pretty excited. The mom was planning on returning to church but now has a greater motivation. In order for us to be able to baptize her son, she has to go to church for 2 months straight. WITHOUT missing. But she said she would do the fight in the mornings so her son could get baptized.

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Roosevelt, Zona Mariscal, Guatemala Sur

Changes and "It´ll all work out" - Week 67

Hello everybody, This week is CHANGE WEEK! WOOO! Drumroll please *bbbbrr* Elder Mattiaccio........ Stays in Roosevelt and receives his new companion ELDER LANGI! 

This week we had a week of urgency to find new investigatos. It was great. Everyday felt like nothing was happening. We would go contacting all morning and afternoon and have doors (and windows) shut left and right. It felt the day would never turn out, but, EVERY SINGLE DAY, when we had exhausted our appointments, something lesson come out of the blue. I think it was a kind of lesson to trust more in the Lord´s plans. I was reading an article in the Liahona about President Gordon B. Hinkley and I read his favorite catch phrase "it will all work out in the end". Really I felt that was a theme for the week. When we were ready to resign to despair, He would send something our way.

This week we started to leave with a new member, Amilcar. He just moved from Esquintla to come and work. He´s a recent convert and came here to save money for his mission! He´s super pilas. We found a guy who knows a ton about the bible. He might be a little lost in all his knowledge but we´re gonna try and teach him and turn that knowledge into wisdom. 

We painted a members house again this week. I think I'm going to consider taking up that profession when I get back, because with all the practice I'm getting here, I'll be a master painter by the time I get back. Now you all know: If you need a wall painted, I´m your guy. (jajajaja)

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Roosevelt, Zona Mariscal, Guatemala Sur

Worldwide Training - Week 66

This week we had a Worldwide Missionary Training with the Apostles and other members of the Missionary Department. They discussed a lot of things that we as missionaries pass through. It helped me feel like they actually know how we feel and listen to our questions. It inspired us all to go out and work, teach repentance and baptize converts.

I had a pretty cool experience this week that helped me feel the support of my Heavenly Father. We were teaching a family we found that were actually less actives. REALLY less active. They had a family member who was actually a pastor. Everytime we´ve gone there he won´t stop talking to let us teach our lesson. He would go on and on from topic to topic. It got to the point where he recognized it at the beginning of the lesson and said I'll be quiet this time. BUT he didn´t. It was getting late and we needed to go, so I bore my testimony to him. I have never felt the spirit so strongly. The words just flowed out of my mouth and he was completely quiet after. We finished with a prayer and he asked our forgiveness. I told him it was alright, but if he truly wanted to learn from us like he said he did, he needs to be quiet, listen, and listen to the spirit.

I had divisions in Monte Maria this week and we helped someone in their ward move. We had fun doing it. They gave us pizza after.

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Roosevelt, Zona Mariscal, Guatemala Sur

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A little note from Frankie's Mission President:


Elder Mattiaccio is doing good. He is taking his responsibility as a District Leader very seriously and I am impressed by his efforts!

Thank you for your support!

Atentamente,

Presidente E.J. Caffaro
Misión Guatemala Sur
#dispuestoydignoparabautizar