Trainer this week, Senior Companion next week!

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Brian and I with Hna Neighbor at the airport

We got an email from the mission president saying that Carolyn had been made a “Trainer” because she was now the only missionary with Hna Astorga, since her companion came home on Thursday.  Then today we got another email from the mission president saying that she was being made a Senior Companion.  Once this Hna Astorga leaves for the Provo MTC and then on to her calling in the Rochester, NY Mission, Carolyn will get a new companion whose name is also Hna Astorga.  It was great to go to the St. George airport and be there when Carolyn’s last companion, Amber Neighbor from Paragonah arrived home.  We also went to her Sacrament meeting to hear her speak.  She is awesome.  It will be so fun for Carolyn to have a great friend from her mission right here close to home!

As far as attendance goes we have been really blessed. We had 11 investigators and the attendance of the branch was 115! It was the best that it has been! It was a really good Sunday.

Whole family baptized!!

We baptized the R family! It was amazing everyone was so happy. They had been seeing a few problems in their week; E  was sick, F  was told he had to work, B  was in Esquintla and didn't get back until Friday night....BUT E  and F  said that they were just obstacles from Satan and it didn't matter what happened that they were going to get baptized. F said that even if his boss said he had to work he wouldn't go and that he would rather go to church and get baptized! They are such an awesome family..4 of the greatest people in the Gomera.

We also found out that there has been a boy attending named D that isn't a member. He already has 3 attendances and wants to get baptized. The only problem would be his Evangelical grandma.

We also have another jovencito that wants to get baptized that we have been teaching. We were passing by his house and his parents said that he had already left to go to church on his bike so we got there and..There he was! This 10 year old kid showed up to church by himself! It was so great! 

We also visited an investigator named S yesterday and challenged him to be baptized the 17th. He still has to attend 2 more times but he said that he wants to get baptized. His wife is a member so we are hoping for a lot of support from her too.

I have loved the opportunity to be Hermana Astorga's companion. She really is the best and she is going to be a great asset in New York...too bad we can't just keep her in my mission!  Tomorrow we are going to the capital again to pick up the visa :(

Last Wednesday we stayed the night with Hermana Astorga's family when we had to go to the capital. They are amazing...I can't wait for you to meet them..you guys should skype :)  YES WE WENT TO PRICEMART!  (Guatemalan Costco)  I got crangrape :) aka daddy's juice!  

(We got an email from Hna Astorga’s mom telling us how excited Carolyn was when she walked in and saw all the food and things just like in Costco!  I guess they bought a lot and then the Astorgas drove them back to their area with the car full of goodies.)

I am training Hermana Astorga until she leaves and then I will be getting another Hermana when she goes. 

Hermana Alvarado is training a new missionary from Nicaragua.

They are making a mission in Coban, Guatemala and taking 2 areas from us to situate missions. We really don't know all that much though.

Well I love you all very very very much. Thank you for being amazing parents and an amazing brother! I LOVE YOU and I hope you have a great week. Tell grandma and grandpa I love them too and that I will write them next week.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Hi momma I'm on now! I hope you are having a wonderful day off! Can't wait to hear where Ryan is going on his mission!

The 3 Musketeers of La Gomera - Hnas Neighbor, Astorga & Brown

So I just changed my agenda for the new changes and I don't have all the dats from the last week but I can still tell you about some of the good stuff that has happened.

We are working really hard and we have found a bunch of really great families and investigators so that Hermana Alvarado will have lots of success with her companion! So we have been going with A & J and we taught the word of wisdom and he has lots of problems...smokes, USED to drink, drinks coffee...that's about it but we taught him and then the next night we passed by and his wife said that he took atol to work instead of coffee! The next time we saw him he said he was doing good and he's trying really hard to not drink coffee or smoke! He's pretty awesome.

We are also teaching a lady named S and her husband W. They are really receptive too...well mostly W - he reads and prays and stuff. The only thing is that he works in the Safra so he works everyday but he said he was going to ask for a Sunday off to go to church.

Last night we went and taught an investigator named R and we met her husband...who also works in the Safra. We think that he has made a lot of mistakes in his life because he was really focused on how he could repent and be forgiven. 

We also went and taught the mom of a recent convert named A. She was like yeah I'm definitely going to church...and then didn't go...at least A went.

Going away party for Hna Neighbor

We taught N...like an hour ago haha. She is doing good. She went out of town this weekend but we taught her sister and dad. This morning we taught her (and her sister A) the word of wisdom and Law of Chastity and they both said that they would keep the commandments! Everything is going pretty well. Hermana Alvarado is just afraid of getting lost here because it's a really big area haha.

I asked if there was any news on Hna Astorga’s visa so she could start her mission in Rochester, New York.

Well her mom JUST wrote her like 2 seconds ago and said her papers have come...so that's why it took me a second to write back...I was crying.

Tell all the cool people that I say hi!! Especially Len and Linda.

Well I just want to let you all know how much I love you! You are the best family in the whole wide world! Hope you have a wonderful day and week! LOVE YOU happy late valentines :) and happy early anniversary!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

This week we only had 287 contacts....

Well, things are hard. We're working hard and everything it's just awkward to have 2 companionships in the same area. Some days we want to call the same members to go to appointments with us so that stinks.  haha. And then living together is really hard too but I guess it's just something that we will have to figure out. 

This week has gone really well. We have found a ton of really receptive new investigators who are actually interested in learning more. The coolest experience was last night.. There was a girl whose name is N and we had visited her once -  Hermana Neighbor and I and then like 3 weeks later she came to church with her neighbor who is a member. Then Hermana Alvarado and I went to visit her and she understands everything PERFECTLY. She didn't come to church on Sunday because her daughter got sick but we went and visited her yesterday and she said that she had prayed and prayed and prayed and then she just stopped saying anything and so we were like shoot she didn't receive her answer. And then we asked how she felt and she just said 'really good'...It made me want to cry..And then I cried a little bit. SHE GOT HER ANSWER!! It was awesome. And then since her daughter was sick we asked a new convert and our branch president to give her a blessing so that was really good too.

This opening an area stuff is really cool because we're starting from scratch and we can really see the miracles that God is giving us. Hermana Alvarado is still teaching me a lot of stuff and I think I'm helping her a lot too. I'm not sure if she likes the area though. As for me I have been in love with it since I got here..Some days are hotter...I mean harder than others..(haha) but it's a great place.

As for me, I still feel like I'm stuck in a really difficult position being in an apartment with my old companionship, but being in a different one…but I guess it will only be for a week more.  Then Hna Alvarado will get a new companion to work in the area we are opening, and  I will get to have Hermana Astorga for my companion again.  She is awesome (just tell me she won't be getting her visa for like 6 more weeks and I will be happy)!  

So I sent a SD card with Olivia Neighbor, but I need you to send me the pictures of the baptism of B and J before next week please! I also will probably be writing on Monday next week because Hermana Astorga and I will be going to the temple with Hermana Neighbor before she goes home.

Lake Atitlan, aka The Waters of Mormon

Yesterday we went to Lake Atitlan but the side of the lake that isn't cool at all so I only took one picture. These are what everyone says are the Waters of Mormon. Sorry it wasn't very exciting because we went to the crappy side of the lake.  If we go again I will take more pictures

How is your mission handling 70 new missionaries in one month?

President Brough will just be opening a TON of areas...that's how we will accommodate the new missionaries.

What did you guys do while Hna Neighbor's dad and sister were down there?

We worked....haha that's about it. We had a baptism (well Hna Neighbor and Astorga). It was M one of our converts daughters so that was great. We had lunch and dinner with Amber’s family so that was good.

How is the new area going?  

The 4 of us are in the Gomera now we just work with different investigators and plan and everything separately.

Any news on Hna Astorga's visa?  

nope

Are you still over retention for your zone? 

yep

What all does your district cover? 

well if you look on a map...everything from a place called La Democracia to Sipacate

What does your zone cover?

All of Santa Lucia till Sipacate.

  

Momma thank you so much for everything and all the pictures and everything too! Love you so much!   I love you too daddy I hope you have a great week you are the greatest! Have an AMAZING WEEEK!

Love you!

70 NEW MISSIONARIES IN ONE MONTH!!!

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Well the first thing to tell you is that yes we will probably have about 70 missionaries entering this month. We went to changes yesterday because we received another Hermana so we could open another area in La Gomera..It’s Hermana Alvarado! my momma haha (That’s what they call their Trainer companion).  Hermana Alvarado is such a good worker so I know the area will be blessed for having her here!

 Last week was good we finally met our goal to have 500 contacts... we had 537! Our lessons with a member present went down a ton and we are going to fix that this week. 

On a good note M is finally really to get baptized and she really wants to. E said that things have really started to change in their home since she started going back to church. 

The coolest thing is that JL FINALLY got all of the paperwork done and supposedly he is now legally single! So him and A can get married and she can get baptized! If all goes well we are planning on having the baptism this weekend.

We have also found a lot of really great families that we are working with so we are excited to see their progression.

short email I know....there just isn't much to say haha. Hna Alvarado and I opened the new area so we are starting from zero but when Hermana Neighbor goes home on the 20^th of February, I will be going with Hermana Astorga so that will be good.  (They are all living in the same apartment.)

 My birthday (Jan 31st) went really well thank you all for writing me. Tomorrow I complete 11 months..WOAH WHAT THE HECK! haha 6 more months..wow. ok I'm done being baggy haha.

I forgot to tell you about the rain we had 2 weeks ago. WE GOT DRENCHED!! But it was really fun because our companionship is always happy so it was good times. Basically we can't use umbrellas here because of the wind so when it's rainy season I will be wet all day every day. (See last weeks picture) 

I just wanted to tell you how much I love you and I am so happy you are my parents! It’s super weird to think that in only 6 months I will see you again and I can't wait to see you! You are the best parents ever and I just want to hug you really really really bad. So I will hug Hermana Neighbor hahahaha 

I will get my stuff on Friday or Saturday because her family is in the city right now and won't be here in La Gomera till Friday.  (We sent a bag down with Hna Neighbor's dad and sister.  Her original release date was Feb 7th, but it was changed to the 20th.  Her family already had non refundable reservations, so they went down, but will not be bringing her home with them.  She wants to stay and use the new release date!  Now THAT'S dedication!!)

Tell Brad and Jessica thank you for writing me and that I love them!!