"If we follow their course, carry us... into a far better land of promise." February 23, 2015

Tortillas: 20 (They dont eat a lot here in XELA)

So, the big news, I have been transfered to Xela (Quetzaltenango). I have gone from one of the smallest and poorest parts of the mission to the biggest city and one of the richest parts. I am 5 minuetes walking from the temple, and every week for District Meeting I get to see the temple! 

My new area is called Los Altos. It is one of the biggest areas here with some of the biggest diversion. Part is what you would expect from a big city here in Guatemala, with houses connected together lining the streets. 

Also, we have two housing developments and an area with huge fields and farmers. 

The hard part is that being in the city, most people do not have time for the gospel. We were left with some good investigators by the Hermanas before us, but we have had problems just finding them. Because of that, much of this week was spent walking a ton and talking to as many people as possible. 

My companion is named Elder Carabantes and is from Guatemala City. He is a great guy and we are getting over the awkward first week with a companion phase. He and I have the same amount of time in the mission, in the CCM together but I did not know him. 

Mejor Milagro: 

So. Elder Carabantes comes from an area here in Xela called Los Jardines. There they found two investigators named Alejandro and Stephanie who are best friends and girlfriend of a member. Alejandro lives in our area and Stephanies parents wont allow her to have missionaries in their house, so the Hermanas before us were teaching them. This week on Wednesday the best friend, Brandon, left on his mission. For both Tuesday and Wednesday we were trying to get a hold of them, but could not. On Wednesday night we were leaving the part of our area where Alejandro lives when I received the impression to call him. We called him, but he did not answer. So, we kept walking and about a minuete later we get a call, and it was from Alejandro. We answered and he asked if we could come over to his house now. We were close, so we made our way over. We got to his house and met him outside. He obviously was preocupied with something when he invited us in. We came in and sat down and he immediately started bawling. At this moment he poured out his soul to us. The moment that we called him was the moment he was arriving at his house after dropping his friend off at the MTC in Guatemala City. The reason he did not answer was because he was talking to his Mom, who lives about an hour away, about how sad and lonely he felt. He is 20 years old and is studying medicine in Xela. He lives alone and for the last 3 months his only close friend was Brandon, who he just left for two years. One of the last things that his friend said to him was that when he felt bad to talk to the Elders. This being the second day of Elders in the area, God was definately looking out for him. We were able to talk to him, give him a lot of advice, and the most amazing part is that he does not want to solve his problems with doing bad but he wants to do good, and he wants to be baptized ASAP. He still has lessons to learn, so we are preparing him for the 7th of March. With Stephanie we were able to meet here a couple of days later, she feels the same, but is not as prepared. She will have her baptism the 21st of March! 

Testimony Time:

The title for the email is in Alma 37:45 and it is when Alma is giving advice to his son Helaman. Here he talks about how in the times of Nefi and Lehi their guide was the Liahona. He reminded him that the Liahona only worked based on their faith, and he then made the comparison that the scriptures are the Liahona for us. If we search the scriptures with faith and apply then in our lives, they will guide us through any troubles and safely home to our God. I am so grateful for the guide that the scriptures are to me. I would invite all of you to read this chapter, Alma 37, and look at it as if Alma is giving this advice to you! As we apply this in our lives, I know we will see changes! We will notice us being happier, having better relationships with those around us and with God. I know the Book of Mormon is true, and I invite all to read it and read it again! En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amén.

"This week we have.... Divisions with Elder Dalton,

Cutting Hermano Wayners hair and him cutting my hair,

saying goodbye to the branch,

and my new area!

The big rock is a rock that has a face carved in it that a bunch of people from the mayan religion worship. We were lucky enough to find it one day when no one was there.

Also, the pictures of the big mountain are actually a volcano, Santa Maria. We can see it from almost every aspect of the area, and what a beautiful sight it is.

Our area is actually very rocky with a ton of very big rocks that were at one point thrown from the volcano! Pretty Crazy! Love you! "

The last Monday that Elder Richardson was in Santa Ana Huista he told us he was going to be leaving.  He had no idea where he was going.  They had to catch a bus at 2:00 AM to the transfer station in Xela where he would meet up with his new companion and find out where his new home would be!  At the bus transfer station he also saw some of his buddies!