Week 28:Elder Young working and walking in Racana

Gabino, a previous less active I've been talking too, decided to serve a mission! I've been sending him texts every now and then about the blessings he can receive as he decides to go, and yesterday I called him and he said he's for sure going on his mission and that he'll talk to president Torres next week!

Also, Alexander (and maybe Bascillia) are going to be baptized next month. They met with Pt. Torres and are progressing wonderfully. We talked to the husband and he says he likes what he heard and could be baptized in the near future also. 

Milka is going to come to church this week finally! Her husband gave her permission to be baptized next month as well along with her daughter. 

Don Joawakin is struggling with giving up drinking but has made huge progress. 

We found two inactive young men, Walter (16) and Freddie (14) who will probably come back to church the next week as well. They, along with many other less actives, have been experiencing difficulties with members who have offended them in the past. The members here have been, unfortunately, the cause of offense and a barrier in the way of less actives coming back. Whether it be punching people in the face, insulting words, or not saying hi when they see each other in the street, feuds here in this little village can last a life time with eternal consequence. 

On the personal side I've learned a lot this week. It's been very tough though. After finishing Jesus The Christ and all the other books in the library, I'm running out of things to learn so I've been rereading the Book of Mormon over again every day. 

We went to the capital this week in Guatemala so we haven't been able to do much work. We only spent two days in our own area actually. We stayed the night with a bunch of missionaries bout to end their mission. It was crazy to think of that happening in the future. We're going to have an apostle come in February and I am going to play piano at the meeting. Nothing much new happened this week, other then that we had a really awesome experience with teaching a newly married man to pray for the first time. 

We were sitting together and I bore my testimony about the truth of the gospel and asked them if they felt it was true. they all said yes and the husband agreed to pray for the first time. It was a great experience. The best experiences are the ones where we don't have to convince them or use logic to say why they should pray they just feel like the should themselves. 

I read Grandpa Young's mission papers. Wow he was successful. It's crazy to think that he baptized that many people every week. It makes me feel like a little bit of a failure, but we'll see baptisms soon.

We played alot of ball iwth this family. They also agreed to feed as as we did service for them. THey heard our message. 

For a Pday activity the missionaries went to Racana and they walked to this waterfall.

Week 27:Elder Young Singing in Racana

I made a big recording about all the events that happened through this week, but I accidentally deleted it when I sat on my recorder, so it looks like I'm going to put my fingers to work and type it all. 

Monday- We went to Walmart! WOW! that was crazy. Walmart has so much to offer, it was a little bit of a culture shock. I bought ham, cheese, mayonnaise, and a whole bunch of exotic looking fruits. It was a day for the books.We then had family night with the district president. They had a broken guitar which I tuned and we played I am a child of God together as we ate a whole bunch of rice and beans.  

Tuesday- We visited a couple of families who told us that one of our investigators suddenly died. We visited her house the following day and it turns out she was alive and the death was someone else in her family. We taught the plan of salvation to her family and her neighbors. 

Wednesday- We brought over two families to visit one of our strongest investigators, Milka. The two families walked with us to her house, bore strong testimony of how the church is restored and the priesthood is again on the Earth. They spoke powerfully in Quiche, and I understood it all. Milka asked her husband if she could go to church and he gave permission! We have plans for her baptism next month. 

Thursday- We visited Bacilia and Alexander, the family who came to church at our invitation last week and wanted to return. They weren't home, but we gave a lesson with their family which was well received. 

Friday- We visited Sasaclac (a village about 40 minutes away) and we talked with Celestina, Wendy, and Ingrid (A mom and her two daughters) who said they'd love to go but aren't ready to make the long walk to church. We have plans from their baptism in a month. We then visited an amazing house. 

We found, in the most vacant lot of Mirador,  two youth leaders in the Catholic church. They accepted us and gave us oranges ( which tasted amazing). They showed us some music from their church, and agreed to hear our message. We testified boldly of the restoration of the Gospel. They brought out a book of questions and answers of what to say to Mormons if they find them. My companion yielded the time to me, and I explained with love and conviction the answer to every question and encouraged them to simply ask God. I answered all their questions with scriptures in the Bible, and then I testified that if they would read our message and ask God they could find out for them selves. I'll never forget what happened next: one of the youth leaders took the book in his hand and said: I'm going to read it. I feel strongly that I should read this book and that what this elder was saying was true. To the dismay of his other pastor friend, he committed to read it and basically bore his testimony of everything I said. He started crying, and I did a little bit too. He asked us if we could visit again in the future. We told him any day at 6 he could stop by at the chapel. He doesn't live in Racana but I expect him to be baptized in the future. 

Saturday- We did service with a member, cutting a bunch of branch looking stuff in his yard. He gave us sugarcane, which was demasiado deliciouso, and the best, richest orange i've tasted in my life. It was so good. We then taught some people how to speak English and visited some less active members. I felt like I should leave a note on the door of a man who hasn't come to church and has been drinking for the past 6 months, so I did. 

Sunday- 

It turns out that the man, Joawaqun, read my note I left and decided to stop drinking and come to church for the first time in 6 moths. We went to his house and shared the word of wisdom and he committed to live it. I LOVE THAT MAN. He gave the most sincere prayer I've heard in my life. To hear a 70 year old man pray for forgiveness from his life of drinking and say that he wants to walk with Christ again was priceless. Priceless. Also... 

Our district president specifically requested our mission president that I stay even more time here in Racana in order to teach people how to sing and play. He said he didn't want me too go without teaching everyone. 

President Smith (Mission president) gave special permission for me to go around to all the branches in the district to teach them how to SING!! I gladly accepted. I traveled with District President Gustavo through the mountains into a branch called PANCAW. I taught them how to sing, and it was a BLAST. Next week and all the weeks in the future, I'm going to be able to do that: go on splits with Presdient Gustavo and meet all the people who live in teeny tiny villages and teach them how to sing! This Sunday we are going to KONKEESHAHA. One of the mission presidents counselors that night told them whole branch that they need to teach their kids to sing and play piano so they can be like ''elder young''. He said that Elder young is famous throughout the mission because he ''had an amazing mother who taught him how to sing and play piano.'' And that all the mothers and parents should be like my parents and teach them how to be musical. I thought it was cool that in some obscure branch, 1000s of miles away from home, a whole congregation was praising my mom's efforts (in the Spanish language) to teach me piano and sing. Thanks for putting up with my constant not wanting to practice, Mom. Because of your persistence, all the branches of Racana are going to receive instruction on how to sing hymns, play piano, and teach their kids music. How cool.

Monday- Today we visited a waterfall in RACANA and afterwards played Monopoly for a district activity. It was fun to trade and play it in Spanish. I won (always bet on the oranges). 

Other stuff-- we found a man called Juan Acabal torres. He is so sincere and very funny. He called us five times a day and asked us to pray for his business. He can't read but he loves to hear his children read to him. We gave him some pamphlets to read and invited him to church. 

We are trying to baptize the sons of Julio and Pualina. They, J and P, are hilarious. The wife can't speak Spanish and the husband can't hear very well. I taught my first lesson in complete Quiche with the family. They liked it, and two of the kids are coming to church, but they don't want to get baptized still. 

Hope thats a good update. 

Week 26: Elder Young Rockin it in Racana

This week sacrament meeting was great. It was full of less actives that we had visited. People who hadn't come in 8 months, 2 years, and even 20 YEARS all came to participate and stay, and the testimonies were great. I bore my testimony in Quiche for the first time, and the people thought it was the funniest thing.

 

The best part was Alexander. He's a ten year old kid who had pain in his teeth who lives about 30 minutes from the church in a primitive part (where they speak tons of Quiche) called Che'Cruz. I told his parents to give him pure water with salt and gurgle it in his mouth to help with the pain, and then we invited him to church thinking little of it. He came! And brought his mom! And they stayed all three hours and turns out that the mom (bascillia) is friends with Juliana, the most active member or our ward. We are going to work with them!

We're going to baptize another young kid about 8 years old who lives close to the church. His mom is active, but his dad lives in the United states and isn't a member. 

The other best part of church was the last class. The president asked that I teach the people to read hymns. I taught about 80 people how to read notes, read melody, and breathe properly. I taught them about introductions (how we should wait for the piano to finish the music in the brackets) and we had a great time with the concept of a fermata. I loved it. We even got Bassiclio (a funny, active member) to sing the bass part in ''hasta ver!''

I've almost finished Jesus The Christ in about a week. I had it in my hand everyday as we walked to appointments. It's fascinating. Jesus Christ lived. There is sufficient evidence to attest to that. If He truly was the Son of God (and He is) then learning and emulating his examples in our life should be priority number one, and our endeavor to find His truth should be our first ambition. Jesus The Christ by James E Talmage should be a best seller and Sacrament meeting should be filled every day. The after life is the only lasting goal we really have after all is said and done. 

I, no matter what happens with my feeble mind and shallow understand, want to live with all my brothers and parents and family in the celestial kingdom. First I'm going to seek that, then the other stuff. 

This life is so important, because the next life is so important.

Love ya, 

EYOUNG

Week 25: Happy New Year from Elder Young in Racana

This week has been fairly productive and rather enlightening. Three of our investigators came to church, but what's most exciting is that six less active members also came. In light of the advice given in the six week reunion, we've set plans to visit member families and then walk with them to some new investigators houses right after. It was a great experience to walk with the families to their friends and see them contact with us. This is a much better way. 

The focus of this week's study has been personal revelation. I've been focused on understanding better the role of the spirit in my life especially through how the spirit works specifically to guide my life: sending promptings, providing peace, and approving actions.

I've talked a lot about a lot of things, but I thought I would leave a couple of cultural notes here and there. The people do a lot of walking. 70, 80 year old people roam the streets and it's normal! Another thing that I enjoy is people just stand and look at things. We pass people on the side of the street just looking out at the mountains, motionless, pensively. ''What are you doing'' Is a redundant question, for they are, quite simply, taking in the view and thinking about life. It's almost like they're Pokemon trainers that want to fight you if you approach them, always in the same spot, moving as adventitious creatures. 

Another cool thing is the culture of conversation. Everyone is ''watchalal'' or brother. For the most part, unless they've succumb to the stories about how missionaries want to steal their children, the people are willing to talk with you, teach you Quiche, and meet their family. 

I also really enjoy how people help their neighbors. We installed a pila (water basin) at the district president's house. He called some fellow friends to help, they dropped what they were doing and spent the next 50 minutes moving around two big old water basins, collecting the worms underneath, and making sure everything was alright before returning to their own work. All without any compensation. I like that! Why do we need compensation for helping one another anyway? Isn't the reason we help one another due to an intrinsic desire?

I also enjoy how people pray. All people here acknowledge the existence of God. They don't have the facade of fake material things to blind them from the fact that life is short. Instead, they have endless mountains, infinite stars, and zero reason to deny the existence of an all powerful creature. They pray very simply yet eloquently. We went to a member's house and asked her to pray. She, a 84 year old women, stood up and sang a 5 minute song without the slightest shame. Things like that are normal where I live. 

I also enjoy the language. It's simple. Shark in Quiche means ''tall fish'' in Spanish. ''Door'' in quiche means ''mouth of the house'' in quiche. When there is a lot of something, trees for instance, you say ''wis chye'' or 'much tree' it reminds me of that dog meme. 

Also, the people's clothes. Almost everyone has throwback American style things, so its hilarious to read their clothes. I've seem many of the tough men (tough here is relative) wearing girls volleyball uniforms that say ''Sophie is number 1'' on the back or other shirts to that effect. 

I like the cost of things. I can get a whole meal for 1 dollar and 2 cents. A haircut costs a little under 2 dollars, and an hour ride into the town costs 90 cents. Shirts cost 1 dollar, ties are 50 cents, and everything else is cheap too. I feel like the missionaries that serve here could single handedly sustain the local economy of the town. 

Animals are an integral part of the society. Cows are everywhere. Goats walk among men, herded carefully by six year old kids. Pigs run ramped, and dogs bark endlessly ever failing to catch the passing cars. 

The men are hilarious. When they feel like their masculinity is threatened, they lift up their shirts and rub their bellies. The women are funny too, very traditional. They inflect their voices almost every sentence (quiche has an accent on the last syllable of every word) and it makes everything sound dramatic. Everyone uses the phrase SABER (saw bear) when they don't know something. I love it because it literally means ''to know'' 

They kids, starting at age six and up shine shoes. They shine for about 15 cents, and they do a great job. I I always give them a good tip so they always flock to me and the missionaries when we walk by. There are also many kids that sell gum for 20 cents. I bought about four dollars worth once and the kid was thrilled. I love helping the people out like that. 

The ward is great. They support each other. The Lord has blessed them greatly, as he does all His children in accordance with their obedience. They always stay after church and clean the whole building every Sunday. It's humbling to watch them pay tithing ( a tenth of their money) so faithfully. Great people. 

I like that there is no Internet. it's refreshing to see that the youth don't have that distraction. They talk to people, converse, and enjoy the great outdoors. The kids do creative things like make kites, play with fake bamboo guns, and race tires. It's nice to know that, when unfunelled through wires, the youthfulness of a kid can manifest itself in so many creative and entertaining ways. 

The people love music. their are pianos, trumpets, and drums every which way. Unfortunately the music is always the same, but nevertheless, I'm grateful that they appreciate it. I help a man make a song in English that he's going to sing to his congregation (he is a church leader). Music means so much to the people. One of the most hilarious sights is when the old men carry radios around their shoulders and listen to Christian mariachi bands professing their love for ''el espiritu santo''

Churches galore! There are so many churches (about 12-15 in a twenty minute walk). Everyone worships so differently. Some churches huddle together as they dance and sing; others wail and cry; some just yell; and others still wear white shirt and ties, bless and pass the sacrament and separate into Sunday school classes. Thinking about it like that. The Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints here is the only church that actually stands out from the rest. 

There are plenty of parties and festivities. The people, poor as they are, find ways to celebrate with fireworks. Every shop has them. The new year here had the best fireworks I've seen in my life. We saw, over the hills, about 1000 shimmering lights across the hills, each one a different family shooting off something. I felt like I was in the middle of a war. I can't describe how crazy December 31st was here. The people go crazy on buying fireworks and it was the most beautiful, smoke filled, widespread, festival of explosives I have ever seen and heard in my life (including Disney land, or at least right about there)

The kids dress up to go to school. I like that. I like the idea that school is a blessing and I wish I would've taken that as more of a blessing for me in my life. 

The people are very giving with what they have. We will leave a lesson and people will just give us corn. It's great. 

The people love new technology. They love integrating it. It's weird yet funny to see the old ladies with iphones and sunglasses, mixed with colorful cultural corte. Everyone is constantly searching for the coolest iphone or galaxy. They have the latest brands of cell phones and technology, but they charge them on the floor... where they sleep, sometimes without beds, by the pecking chickens, in the dark (because they don't have lights in their house, in their one pair of clothes. Priorities are interesting here. 

Well that's a bunch of interesting stuff right their. I just had some times so I thought I'd send some things. 

ADIOS

Week 25: Pictures from Racana

I asked that guy for his shirt. He gave it to me.