MISSION COMPANION - ELDER BELMAR - Trainer

From: Chile

Area:  Asunción Mita, Jutiapa

Dec. 7, 2015 - Mar. 7, 2016

Baptisms: Morris y Diego, Elsa y Lisseth

Week 97 - (the last) Changes

Well, it's that time again. Changes. I'm staying here in Las Brisas for my last change and receive my new companion, Elder Gordon. My new companion is from Utah. Not sure exactly where... I've learned a ton from Elder Ramos though. There are some things I'll miss, others I won't. But all in all, I think I've had a positive experience with him. I've definitely grown a lot with him and (now for sure) will never have another Brazilian companion.

This week we had yet another multi-zone conference with a member of the Seventy. This time with Elder Jorge Zeballos, part of the new area presidency. He's from Chile and shared a lot of neat experiences. It is always a privilege to have an
other conference with a general authority. 

This week an investigator we had found last week who had a fairly strange name, Estanislao Rac. He's begun to make drastic changes in his life. When we found him he was a bit drunk and didn't show much promise. The next time he was so drunk he literally was dying of cirrhosis. He looked like he was on his death bed. We went back because we had met his wife and she was starting to listen to us more. They ended up not being able to go to church that Sunday for the same reason. We decided to give him one more shot. When we got there he was up and well, he had shaved and combed his hair, He looked totally different. I would even say his spirit was different. There was literally a different spirit in his house. He had read the pamphlet we had left, I had accidentally left a Book of Mormon in his house and he kept it and tried to return it to us. He and his wife accepted a baptismal date and to top it off, they both came this week to church. 

That is another story in and of itself. Yesterday we left our apartment early to go and bring our investigators to church. When we got to the highway we waited for a bus to pass by to take us to the farther parts of our area to bring those that needed to come a bit more early. We waited and waited but no bus came. Not sure what was up with that but we resolved to pass by the investigators who were within walking distance of the church. We went to the farthest first, thinking that we could gather them all up on the way to the church (since it is basically one long road and the church is on the main highway) We passed by the first family, the Alvarez family. We had called a couple times and only gotten the machine so we thought maybe we might need to go wake them up. We got there and nothing. I called the phone again and still nothing. Even their cellphones. Nada. OK... The next family. Same story. Another investigator? Nuh uh. Less active family? Gone. Converts? Sick. We ended up going to church empty handed. I was a bit frustrated. I asked God "Why? Why would we get sent to look for people who weren't even home? The investigators that lived up on the mountain weren't answering the phone. There is a mini bus that goes up there to bring the members and investigators so they don't have to pay the bus fare there and back. We normally go with the bus to make sure it stops for our investigators but because we couldn't get up there, there was no way for the driver or any of the members to recognize who was waiting for to go to church and who was waiting for the normal buses. We got to the church, like I said, empty handed and a little discouraged. But then, the bus arrived and down came Estanislao and his wife, Martha Julia. Also, Jose and his son Chepito (nickname for 'jose') After starting a part member family came walking in and sat down in front of us. At the end, we had 8 investigators in church. A record for the are in the time i have here. When that part member family came in I literally started crying. I knew that God had answered my prayers. I saw that he was trying our faith and will never let us fail if we are obedient to his commands. 

This Sunday, being Fast Sunday, I had included Estanislao and his wife in my fast. I really have a testimony of fasting. I know that God allows us to be tempted. It seems that every time I fast, some member or investigator offers us food. This month I felt an especially greater strength as I fasted. I  wasn't really tempted by their offers (not that they were intentionally tempting me) I didn't feel hungry at all. This week we even had Ward Council meeting after church and it always takes a long time. Normally, we can just leave after we give our progress report but the family that invites us to lunch every Sunday are the Elders Quorum President and the High Priest leader. In other words, the only men in the house have to stay the entire meeting, meaning we wouldn't be able to eat until they finished and took us to their house. But through the entire meeting I felt fine. For lunch, they had prepared a special meal for my companion since they pretty much knew he would be leaving this change. It is called "Feijoada". It was basically baked beans with bacon, traditional sausage, dried meat, rice, and cabbage. It was soooooo good! It was a really heavy meal but it really hit the spot after fasting. :P jajaja!

This week I've really been noticing how quickly time passes and how little time I have left. President reminded me  of it in the conference. When I hugged him and shook his hand he asked me "you ready to give my another 6 week?" Really I don't feel distracted or worried about being home, not that I don't think about it, but I don't dwell on it. I've been looking back on my mission and I feel I have done what the Lord has asked of me. I feel I truly have grown and become truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel that I have learned infinitely more than I have taught any of my converts. I remember times of trial and times of happiness. I have seen God's hand as I work in his glory to save souls and bring His children to the fold. I am ready to give all that I can to the Lord in these last 6 weeks here in Guatemala. I may not be here to see the fruits of my labors but I have the assurance and comfort in the fact that the reaper and the sower are worthy of their recompense. I love the Lord and his children. I'm ready to give 'em heaven. 

Thank you for all of your love, and support, and letters. I'm sorry if I haven't responded personally but know that I enjoy reading them and send you my and the Savior's love.

Love you all.

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Las Brisas, Zona Florida, Guatemala Sur

Week 92 -Las Brisas

Hey guys! Sorry for the short letter last week. This week has been pretty cool. Elder Ramos is a pretty cool kid. He's 19, from Sao Paolo, Brazil, and his native language is Portuguese. Portuguese is really similar to Spanish but a couple parts of grammar change and some pronunciations. He's just starting his mission, I'm his first companion after his straining which makes me his "stepfather". This is the third time I've been with a missionary right after their training. First with Elder Campos, then Elder Cussi, and now with Elder Ramos. It's pretty cool because they are still pretty moldable and especially now that I have 21 months of experience in the mission field, I can impart of all my knowledge and wisdom. He helps me a lot too. His youth and newness give him a certain spark for preaching the gospel. Even though the language sometimes still gives him trouble he isn't afraid to talk with anyone. He's a little bit unorganized leading the area for the first time but he'll get used to it. Really, it has been a great start to the change. We have three areas that we work in: the Mero (the very)  Brisas, Vista Hermosa, and Bosques. Each one increasing in elevation and steepness :O. In one of our areas, there's a street that looks more like a wall. Seriously, it goes pretty much straight up! It is interesting because in Las Brisas it has a city feel but once you go to Vista Hermosa it is pure outside of the cap. We have to take buses to get to all of  our area. I imagine that, because of the hugeness and the general unfamiliarity of it all, that there are places that haven't been touched by the missionaries. 

On Thursday, we were walking to our area that was a bit far away when I noticed we were walking neck and neck with a guy and he seemed to be interested in us. I felt strongly like I should talk to him because if not it would be kind of awkward walking next to him the entire way and not talk to him. I started asking his name, if he had heard of the missionaries, the usual chit chat. Then, I felt impressed to ask him if he would let us accompany us to his house to share a message with him. To my surprise he said "Yes." Normally, contacts in the street aren't very effective here. There are no real addresses and generally people lie about their address or phone number, sometimes even about their name. So, when he said "yes", i was pretty surprised. He didn't even look like someone who would be interested. His name is Sergio and he was getting back from rollerblading in the capitol. He took us to his family and his mom had been investigating the church a long time ago but never had gotten baptized. She asked what was necessary to be baptized in our church. So, we explained about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited them both to baptism and they accepted. Wow. If I hadn't thought to talk to him we would have totally missed him and his family and might not have found them at all.

On Saturday, we went to an area that Elder Ramos and his trainer never really touched. We decided to visit an old widow. When we got there she had company but she is so friendly she invited us in anyway. She is fairly popular in the neighborhood where she lives. Everyone calls her "abuela" (Grandma) and always stops by to visit her and help her out. She was making some plastic flower decorations so we decided to help her. It was really cool. She is 72 and was baptized two years ago. She said she had gone through all the churches: Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Catholics, even the Jehovah's Witnesses, but she didn't feel "the call" until she found the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We helped her out for a bit but it was lunch time and it had just started to rain so we had to leave. The village where she lived was up on a mountain (like most of our area) so the rain was just pouring down the streets like a river of mud. We had no choice. Like a song I remember from my childhood "Can't go over it. Can't go under it. Can't go around it. Gotta go through it" So we went and by the time we got to the bottom our pant legs were soaked and our shoes filled with mud and sand. We got to the Lutin Family's house and I had to take off my shoes and wring out my socks so my feet wouldn't be swimming all day. hahaha

Looking forward to more adventures here with my Brazilian companion. 

Love you all! 

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Las Brisas, Zona Florida, Guatemala Sur

Week 86 - Though the weather outside is frightful, the work is so delightful

Hello everybody,

This week was really cool. (pun intended) I went from a really low valley to up on a mountain. Needless to say, it's a bit colder here. Here in Jerusalem it rains everyday. We're practically in the clouds so after about noon it is either raining or there is a constant mist. While I was still in Sanarate I broke down and bought a rain poncho so we wouldn't be all wet when we entered people's houses. (I like being soaked. I don't know why...) I thought it was a little weird that I had to buy another one (thoughts after the fact) since I had bought one while I was in Milagro (about a year ago...) Then, when I was packing, my suspicions were confirmed. I found my other poncho.... Oh well. Actually, it helps because I can leave one to dry while I take one out to work. It is so humid here it is hard for things to dry (since we don't have dryers, only hang dry. maybe with the fan). 

Elder Hernandez is a pretty cool guy. He's a bit shy. Shyer than I am. So it's kinda forcing me to be outgoing and take the initiative. He's still a bit green but I'm ready to learn from his fresh ideas.

We are teaching a family that their daughter has already gotten baptized and got confirmed this Sunday. The parents haven't gotten baptized yet because they aren't married. They've been together 26 years, they've just never gotten around to formalizing it (a common occurrence here in Guatemala). Gudiel, the husband, is an ex army member and is now working for a security company so he works 6 days then rests 3. That is going to make it hard for him and his wife to get married and baptized since he has to go take out documents of identification to get married.

One day while we were contacting I knocked a door and a little kid came out. He told me his parents had left to run an errand (classic answer) so I told him we'd come back. I then went to go to the next door and I found the rest of his brothers. They were bringing some fruit called jocotes. When I was at the next door I saw a jocote roll by. I kicked it back. Then more came. It turned into an all out jocote war in that alley. Then I stopped and was hiding in another alley and a woman came out and yelled at the kids. It was really funny cuz I was hidden and she didn't see me.

Well. The adventures are just beginning. I'll try to remember to give follow up on the Familia Barrios (the family that needs to get married) next week.

Just in case you heard about the earthquake last week, I didn't even feel it. My mission wasn't affected.

That's all for now. Love y'all

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Jerusalen, Zona San Cristobal, Guatemala Sur

Week 85 - Goodbye Devil's Alley, Hello Jerusalem

Hey guys, like the title says: I'm outta here! (El Callejón del Diablo/Devil's Alley is the street I live on and Jerusalem/Jerusalem is my new area) I'm going back inside of the capital. No more heat but a lot more rain! Changes are always interesting. Always new adventures. My new companion is Elder Hernandez from El Salvador (second Salvadoranian) and he's the District Leader there. The entire zone is made up of 8 missionaries, two districts of two companionships. We are in the Zone Leader's District so we'll probably be doing a lot of divisions.

I'm sad to be going though because I wanted to be here to keep supporting Keily (our investigator who JUST GOT BAPTIZED) Last Sunday she said she wasn't sure she wanted to go through with it so we said "that's fine. Read and pray about it and let us know your answer on Tuesday. We came on Tuesday and her entire countenance was different. We said a prayer, chit chatted for a minute, then asked the question. She smiled and said, almost chuckling, "of course!" We got everything ready, we had the interview on Friday and Elder Gruber (our zone leader) comes out and says "She wants you to baptize her". He hadn't even mentioned that we were an option to baptize and when he asked "who do you want to baptize you? the bishop? a member?" and she asked "Can it be one of my Elders?" I think this baptism went by the smoothest possible. Normally we're running all over town. Ahh we need the keys! Clean the baptismal fount! Clean the church! We don't have baptismal clothing! Where's the bishop! Where's the person who's gonna get baptized? Etc. But this time all went smooth like butter. We started a bit late but that's to be expected with GST (Guatemalan Standard Time, Like MST: Mormon Standard Time). The Spirit is definitely strong with this one! She came out of the water and was crying. When I came out from changing she was still crying in the hallway. I was a little worried.... Was she regretting her decision? I asked her what was wrong and she told me she felt so happy. She's sixteen years old and now has started her path to eternal life. I can't imagine what would've happened had we not found her mom. Or had we listened to our Ward Mission Leader and not gone back with her. God places us in the right places to help His children.

This week we also had a trip to the capital again to have another Multi Mission Conference, this time with Elder Renlund. This time it was The Guatemala South, East, and Central Missions and the CCM (MTC) as well. It's so great to see all my friends from the CCM and even from home. I saw Elder Gorze (East) Sister Montoya (Central) Elders Sweat, Shumway, and Brown (Central) As well as all my companions Elder Langi, Elder Cussi, Elder Campos, Elder Lascarez. It's like a big reunion. I love it because our mission always goes in suits and típica ties (cultural fabric patterns) He called us the Lord's "Atonement Delivery System". We take the Gospel and teach it to God's children so they can accept it and receive a remission of their sins. 

Well... gots to go. I'll be sending pictures of more ward members next week for when I say goodbye.

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Sanarate, Zona Jalapa, Guatemala Sur

Week 79 - The Downpour Begins

Hey everyone! This week I think it is safe to say that the rainy season has begun. I mean, last night, we were teaching/taking refuge in a house when the power went out. I actually love the rain. All of the members think I'm crazy because when it starts raining I almost get giddy. I love going out in the rain. I don't even carry an umbrella. I just put my books in a plastic bag inside my bag so they don't get soaked like I do. hahaha. Last night, when we left the house of that family we were headed to another family's house and we knocked on what we thought was their door. Come to find out, that because of the rain and it being kinda dark where we were we mistook their house. (The houses also look very similar. We found a man who had just moved in that day. When we realized we knocked the wrong door we took advantage. I really felt that we were guided to him. He's catholic, like everyone else here, but he says that there is something to learn from every message. He seemed really willing to read and learn more. Hopefully the spirit touches his heart and testifies that the message is true and that he wants to learn more.

I think I had an experience this week that no other missionary can claim. I went through an entire lesson with a chicken on my head! We were sitting on the patio of a family we were teaching when out of nowhere this chicken jumps on my back and roosts on my head. The kids thought it was funny and it actually helped them pay attention so I let it fly (pun intended).

I have been looking for a place to fix my proselyting bag. I have another one that I've been using but I like the one I brought on the mission better. It wasn't fatally broken or anything. Just a side zipper but I had left it with a man to fix it for two weeks, come to find out he didn't have the piece to fix it. So I took matters into my own hands. I ripped out the zipper and a member donated me a zipper to put on and I sewed it on by had. Good as new ;P

This week we had changes. My companion, Elder Cornejo is leaving and I receive Elder Garza, the new District Leader. I saw him enter the mission while I was in Mita. He's a pretty cool guy. I'll send a pic of us next week.

Elder Mattiaccio

Barrio Sanarate, Zona Jalapa, Guatemala Sur

p.s. Looks like Frankie had problems loading pictures this week so we'll have to leave it to our imagination until next time.

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.

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

Roosevelt - Week 56

Hello all,

First, I have a message for Abuelita: Te amo mucho! Espero que tengas un Feliz Cumpleaños! Gracias por aceptar el evangelio para yo poder estar aquí sirviendo mi mission.

This week I started in my new area, Roosevelt. This ward was one of the first wards organized here in Guatemala. Originally it was called just "Ward 6" but now that there are a ton more members it got a name. The ward is a lot bigger than all my previous areas. In membership and size. I feel like our area is the size of my last ZONE! We have to go on bus to get to  some areas. We mostly work in the area closest to the church because the members live there mostly. But we´re trying to expand our horizons. The members are great! They even provide us with dinner every day.

I've been focusing on helping Elder Mori with his District Leader stuff. It helps me have more patience.

I had divisions my second day in the area and guess who is my zone leader? Elder Olson from my CCM District! Soo cool. He´s still the same goof ball I met in the CCM. We had such a great day.

Towards the end of the night we had more appointments than what we could handle and he had to choose. I told him to follow the spirit so we went to a FHE. Turns out, the family had invited all their extended family (who weren´t members). We had an awesome lesson about the Plan of Salvation and Elder Olson had an awesome activity having to do with an invisible string (eternity) and a knot in the middle (mortal life). We left and we didn´t see a bus coming. So we had to run to get home before 9.  Then, while he was doing zone leader stuff, I was going to cook dinner. But when I went to grab a dish from the sink I saw this HUGE SPIDER. I almost had a heart attack. I couldn´t enter the kitchen the rest of the night. 

We learned how to make something called torejas. Super yummy. 

Well, that's all the time for now, but enjoy some picture of my families from Venezuela.

Love you all.

Elder Mattiaccio

Roosevelt, Zona Mariscal, Guatemala Sur

Changes and Moves - Week 50

This week were the changes and I received Elder Campos. He´s from Concepción, Chile (a bit more north than where Elder Belmar was from) He´s a bit green in the mission, he only has 3 months in the field which means I´m his senior companion. In our mission Senior Companion and Junior Companion don´t work exactly the same as other missions. Senior Companion means that you have the authority and the knowledge to be able to lead the area and lead in lessons. You become a Senior Companion pretty much at the 6 month mark. If, for whatever reason, you aren´t ready, President will keep you as a junior companion but that doesn´t normally happen. Anyway, he´s pretty fun. Even though he´s a greenie he is awesome in the lessons. He´s willing to learn and also helps me be better too. Junior Companions have a say too but the Senior Companion normally makes the decision

Before Elder Campos arrived in Venezuela I had to move houses. Elder Byrd left super early in the morning (like 5 am) so he couldn´t help too much. I was with my District Leader, Elder Nelson, and he helped me finish packing up the house and then Elder Alegría (Zone Leader) and Elder Lainez (Other District Leader) came and helped. I went with the member who helped us with the truck to unload at the new house and they stayed pulling out all the stuff to the street to be ready to load. When we finished they all left and then arrived my companion. Apparently they were looking for us at the old house and we didn´t have cell phone signal in the new house. So they called the Zone Leaders, and they took them to the new house.

On top of moving my house, one of our investigators got kicked out of the room he was renting. No warning or anything. Just "I want you out at the end of the day". So we helped him move all his stuff and store it in a school until they can find somewhere to live. We´ve been looking but their price range is limited and this area is really hard to find good, cheap housing. Him and his neighbors were being kicked out but they had found a place. 

I hope everythings going good up there. The rainy season is coming to an end. Now comes the wind and the cold.

Love

Elder Mattiaccio

Venezuela, Zona Nimajuyu, Guatemala Sur

Bodibautismo & Emergency Changes - Week 47 and 48

Sorry guys for not sending a letter last week. A lot of things happened last P-day that made it difficult to write and then we just gave up. Here´s what I was able to get out:

As you guys may know, this week we had a wedding (boda) and baptisms (bautismos). Ricardo Guerra married Kenia Cervantes on the 17th of September, 2016! The entire week we were making plans and making sure everything was going to run smooth. It was really cool to see the ward come together in helping plan the wedding. Each organization offered something for the wedding. The Relief Society got the dress and provided the food, the Elders Quorum provided the entertainment (Hno Roldán has a discotek and is a DJ in his spare time!), The Young Men and Young Women helped decorate. It was soo awesome. The day comes, we brought the sound equipment over and set that up, filled the font. Everyone arrives. The bride got her hair and makeup did up nice and purty, we lent a suit to the groom. There were flowers. We were all ready to go.... all except for the lawyer. The wedding was supposed to start at 3. We figured with chapín time (it's like Mormon standard time but worse) we´d be starting at 3:30 but we called the lawyer to see where he was and he didn´t answer. We called a bunch and nothing. We ended up having to call the missionaries in the area to go to his house and see what was up. They got there and he said he wasn´t ready. He told us we would have to wait. Well, we did have to wait. 2 HOURS! I was so nervous. More nervous than the bride and groom! He finally arrived and we started the service. I tried recording everything but didn´t have space enough in my camera to record the grand talks of the lawyer and our bishop. Those set us even further behind. And none of it would have mattered if I hadn´t invited President. He had promised the family that he would come so he came. He arrived and the witnesses (I was one of the many) had just finished signing the papers. They quickly had their first dance and then went to change into their baptismal clothing. We had a few hiccups with the baptism too. Elder Nelson baptized Kenia and Ricardo. But Kenia kept letting go of his arm and would throw her hand out of the water. So he had to redo it a total of 3 times. We also didn´t bring the baptismal records because it had been raining a lot so we didn´t want to have them get ruined. But President asked to see them and we didn´t have them.... He was a bit frustrated with that. We had the baptism and then President left. Then we had the after party. It was really fun to see all the people dancing and come together for the wedding. They got confirmed the next day and continue to progress. 

A bit of news for this week. We had Emergency Changes. President called us Tuesday morning at 6:30 and told Elder Lascarez to pack his bags. We didn´t know what was going on but the secretaries said there´d be a taxi at 11 to take us to the mission office. We go and had interviews with President Caffaro then we came out and found out that we were exchanging companions. So now I'm with Elder Byrd. He´s from Eagle Mountain and has 6 months in the mission. He´s a Junior Companion still so I'm basically in charge and responsible for the area. He´s pretty good though. His Spanish is a bit shaky but I feel we´re going to get along well this last week of the change. I´m not sure if I´m going to have changes this coming Tuesday... I sure hope not. I really like it here. President told me he didn´t know if I'd have changes or not but that I should teach Elder Byrd the area just in case... So. Changes: TBD.

Having a different companion kind of through me off. Even though he´s really good and we can speak English, the emergency changes threw me off my groove. I´m hoping this week is a lot better.

We did find a new family though. Their names are Jony and Ilse. They both work at FedEx and know how to speak English! They offered to have the lessons in English but to be honest, I'm not sure I'd be able to teach the same in English. Now that I have an English speaking comp I am practicing a lot more. Also, all of our materials are in Spanish. I´ve been trying to see if I could get some pamphlets in English just in case. 

We had our Multi Zone Conference this week. This conference was special though. We had the special guest of Elder Ochoa, the 1st Counselor in the Area Presidency. He did an impromptu demonstration with President Caffaro about how a first lesson should go and I felt the spirit soo much. It was awe inspiring to see two leaders, two special witnesses of Christ and how they would do what we do. It inspired me to be more spiritual in my lessons and talk less casaca (small talk). Be direct and straight to the point that way the people know why were here: to teach them the Restored Gospel and help them make changes in their lives and covenants with our Heavenly Father.

Just yesterday I was over at the Bishop´s house and his wife showed me how to make pupusas. It's basically a tortilla with cheese, beans, and chicharron (pork) stuffed inside. There's a video included of her making them, then me. They turned out really good. Even better than the ones I had in Mita. That´s something I miss. Because we´re inside of the capital, Pupusas are super expensive. Q8 each where in Mita they were Q4 each. Scan QR codes to see videos.

                                  

Elder Mattiaccio

Venezuela, Zona Nimajuyu, Guatemala Sur

Zona Nimajuyu - Week 38

Hola people

This week was a bit rough. We had to start everything from scratch. A new companion, new area, new ward, new zone, everything. My new companion's name is Elder Láscarez from Costa Rica. He's a Tico. The area is a bit different from La Económica.

The first day I was here we met with the Bishop of the ward, Bishop Perez. As we were talking his wife started talking to me and asked my how my Spanish was so good. I told her it was because my family is from Guatemala and I learned a little bit from my mami, abuelita and tia (Regina). She asked me what my family's name was and I said, Amado and Arriola from la Zona 5. She said "so you know Scarlet" and I said, "yes, that's my aunt". Long story short, it ended up being that they were the aunt and uncle of Josué, Laura, Lindsey and Andy. They are such good people.

When we got to the house here we found that the Area Book was empty of anything useful. The elders before us didn´t keep very good records so all the investigators they had are pretty much lost. We´ve tried looking for the few that have addresses and have had a little bit of luck. This first week we left a lot with Carlos Eduardo, a recent convert who lives right next door to us. We literally have a door that goes into his apartment. Sometimes when we´re in the house and its after nine, we ask them to go to the store for us and buy us things. And we always are talking with him and his dad, (also named Carlos so we call him Carlos papa, and the other Carlos son). They are actually both converts and he is 18 and married (wow) and has a baby. He leaves with us all the time to help us learn the area and contact. He´s actually super pilas for only having 3 months as a member of the Church. 

We´ve been doing a lot of contact in lieu (wow thats a fancy word) of the lack of investigators. Yesterday while we were contacting I knocked a door and a teen came out. I started my introduction and someone in the back said "come in elders". I was surprised. Had I found a golden family?? No. Just members. :P But these members didn't attend church this week because they were out of town and had just arrived a half an hour earlier. 

We are hopeful to find new and old prospects. Keep us in our prayers.

Elder Mattiaccio

 

Here are some pictures of his families in La Económica.