Del Monte Banana - October 31, 2011

Baptism of the Orozco Family

Banana field

Banana packing plant

Me and some workers for Del Monte bananas

Banana Plantation - October 31, 2011

The week was pretty good. We had divisions for a day that was my worst divisions with another missionary yet. We didn't get along, we fought over a couple rules, and we only taught one lesson. But I learned a lot. I learned to take the lead if we are on divisions again and not doing anything I will say whom can we visit or let's contact. I had a experience on divisions that was crazy too. We were doing service all morning far from the house and when we were returning hours later I had to use the bathroom so bad. We were almost home but I could not do it so I luckily found a bathroom for 2 quets and was relieved. Saturday was the wedding of the family and that went really well. Then the baptism was at 5 but we told everyone 4 because they are always late. Sure enough at 5 there was only a few people and no family. Finally after 5:30 the family was there and more members. The family was happy. I have been reading from the teachings of Spencer W Kimball but in Spanish and his life is incredible and the things he taught. I found a really cool quote about how Christ has tears in his eyes and a smile on his face when he sees all the souls that came to him this year and entered the waters of baptism. He also has much love for the people that helped in the conversion. It was perfect for the baptism. This is my 3rd family and I think my 19th baptism. It has been 2 weeks since I have gotten dearelders cause the leaders won't bring it, same with the package. But we have a conference in Reu and I think I will get it there. Progress is slow here and we have very little to work with now that this family is baptised but I will do all I can. I really love the book about teachings of Spencer Kimball. He did so much for the church and has incredible life stories and insights. Have you read it before or any other book of the teachings of the presidents of the church? The pool sounds like so much work but I bet you'll love it when you can go chill in the pool next year. Hope you get it all done. I'm glad that Jessica will get her letter for her bday. So I have two questions. Will you cover my tv in my room for me so it is protected? Can I wear brown pants with black shoes and what color ties can I wear with brown pants? I'm thinking of getting some brown pants. I'm glad you got to go see the family and hold Ivie. I can't wait to hold her and Corinne's kids. 18 days until the Philippines that is crazy. You're going to have so much fun especially because it is with the Beus'. Thanks for the email address I was using a s instead of a f for her email so it didn't work. So today for pday we went to a banana plantation of Del Monte bananas that the 2nd counselor of the stake works as one of the top dog bosses. It was so cool to see all the banana trees with a zip line that they use to send the bananas to the main area. There they inspect them and wash them then package them for export. No where in the states grows bananas and here is a major place to get them from. It was pretty cool to see thousands of trees and hear how they do it and see the process. So the next time you eat a Del Monte banana I saw them in person on the tree. I will send some pics. Thanks for the email and the letters and always supporting me. I love you so much Mom and Mondays always make my week so much better. Sorry for the stupid things I did as a kid and any pain I caused you. You're the best mom I could have and I'm glad you're my eternal family. Until next week. I eagerly await to hear from you.
Love Son

Waiting for My Package - October 24, 2011

Hi Mama! I love David he is really like my brother. No package yet I was expecting it last week but I did not get it so I'm hoping that tomorrow at our meeting I get it. It is crazy that I have 8 months already. Time has gone by so fast and I really like that everyone here always tells me they thought I had more time because my Spanish is so good. It was crazy about the rain and everyone said last week that the rainy season is over and we have sunshine again in the afternoons but everyday we have still been getting rain and sometimes a lot. Things with Elder Stzep are good. We had a good talk last week on how we can work better together on what our goals are. It really helped. He is from Guatemala in the capital, but everyone thinks he is from somewhere else because of his last name, it is very different. Just like my last 2 companions he has 21 months. Which is good but bad. It's good that he has experience but bad because sometimes they get baggy and don't want to work as hard or let some things slack. It's possible that changes in Nov he will stay here but I thought that with Elder Perez who goes home next month and he had changes. My luck has been my 2 comps with 21 months have had changes so it's possible that Elder Stzep will also. Part of me really wants changes because this area has been really hard this last week. I know I could get another area that is hard but I don't know. I really want to leave this area better then I found it, with more active members and many other good things. Right now the problem is contacting in the streets is not very successful because people don't have much interest and have strong beliefs in other churches. We want to work with the church leaders in our area but they are no help right now, and the members are very little help too. When we ask members for references they say they don't know anyone or they go to another church and it would be hard. The leaders aren't helping either so it is a little frustrating. and people are not keeping their commitments to come to church. But on the bright side we have a family that other missionaries have been working with for a long time that are getting baptized Saturday and there is a guy from here that has been living in California and is here visiting. He is very interested and is reading and praying and feels good, at peace and happy. We gave him a Book of Mormon and are trying to help him come to church. I taught him twice in English which was really weird. But I think he can progress and be baptized. I sent Jessica a letter last week so it should get there around her bday, tell sis to keep her eyes out for it. That's great that you were able to finish the pool house and it sounds like it looks very good. I hope you can get the pool done. That sounds so nice, a backyard pool party. I want one of those after my mission I cant wait to come home and go swimming. They have a Halloween here but I don't know if it is the same day or how different it will be. I will let you know. I'm so excited that the month is going by fast and I can hear your voice. I don't know who will be there that I can talk to, if I will say hi to Jess and Nana and Grandpa but I'm so excited to talk to you and I know I could talk with you the whole time. I'm doing pretty good. Just working and trying to work harder and make a difference here, be myself everyday and help people in any way I can. I love you so much Mom and I'm glad I can talk to you every week and get your letters. I like hearing what's going on in your life and just hearing about you. Thanks for writing every week and I can't wait to do it again next week. Love you with all my heart. Love Son

Paty baptism

New glasses and Elder Perez's Watch

Africa Tie

Blue Steel

Goodbye Elder Perez

Huge Zappo (Toad)

Subway, YUMMY!

A Very Rainy Week - October 17, 2011

No package yet but I'm hoping this week. I blessed the sacrament again this Sunday. So the scale I weighed myself was wrong. I weigh 152 not 157 so I gained one pound. Changes were this week and I had changes so I said my goodbyes and it was sad because my cook cried. I packed all my things and left. It was raining really hard the morning I left and I got soaked. The rain was actually so bad that we had to wait in the stake center an hour before we could leave. We finally left and had to wait at another church because there was so much rain all over Guatemala that some roads were closed because the rain was making a river. We finally got to the office for the change meeting but did not start for ever because other zones could not get past the rain to get here. We were lucky though cause we got Subway for lunch! I have not had Subway for so long, months and months, it was to die for! They finally did the meeting and I saw Elder Meoño. As they were announcing the areas they said my companion's name Elder Perez as district leader in a different area and I thought to myself, wait a minute he does not have changes. Then in Magnolia they showed me there with a different companion. What? Turns out there was a mix up and the assistants told me I have changes when in fact Elder Perez has changes. How crazy. So I had to go back with all my stuff and unpack again and say hi to everyone I said goodbye to. But on the good side Elder Meoño is in my zone again and that is awesome. So I have a new companion Elder Stzep. Can't believe how much rain there was this week, almost no sun. I'm so glad I have my boots and chose to wear them this week. One day when we were walking and the streets were all rivers one street had water almost to the top of my boots. I want to get a picture of me walking in the river to show everyone. We have another family that is going to get married and baptized next week. Other then that this week was really bad for the work. With changes the first of the week was nothing done. The last few days were hard. No new investigators, not much luck with working with members or contacting. People just were not interested. But I read the scriptures last night and I'm feeling better today plus I think about how many people love me and are praying for me. I need to find a different way to be more successful this week and have more faith. I hope you can finish the pool and everything. Sounds like lots of work and you could use my help. Good luck and don't hurt yourselves. David is a great friend. I am going to try and do another letter to him. I'm also writing a letter to sis for her birthday and Corinne because she sent me some wonderful cards from all the kids and some super adorable pics of the kids. I love her family. Sounds like lots of rain everywhere. Enjoy your week and holiday. I sent you some pics of my adventures. Love you so much Mom and I'm so grateful for all you do for me and all your love and support. Oh yeah I gave a talk in church about coming to Christ and missionary work, I feel I did pretty good. Anyways I want to work harder and do everything I can to make you proud. Love you Mom and I can't wait for your next letter or your package. I really can't wait for two more months when I can call you and hear your voice. Love you with all my heart, Son.

Excited for My Package - October 10, 2011

That is so true about conference. As soon as it was over I was already excited and ready for the next conference. It is so amazing and spiritually uplifting. I love my new feelings for conference. I'm so excited for the package and my shoes. It will be so nice. I love getting things from you. I can't wait to see the Virgin Mary package, I'm going to take several pics cause that is fun. Crazy about the rain. Sounds like Guatemala rain. You're so close to finishing the pool yet can't exactly finish the job. Crazy Utah weather always messes things up. I hope you can get it done before the weather gets really bad. I'm glad you went to David's party. They are very good people, David is my brother and Nancy and Rich are my other parents, haha. I actually have a lot of other parents, Aunt Holly, David's parents, Jessica's mom and a few others. I love David's family and going to their parties. Everyone there is always so nice. David is such a good friend and I'm glad you like his family. They like me a lot so that's fun you got to tell them how I'm doing. Who are some people there you met that you like? This week was good. Had an experience in our house when we ran out of toilet paper and didn't buy some for a day. We had to use actual paper. It was like I was camping except in a nicer house, bucket showers and paper for the toilet. What will I experience next in Guatemala? I weighed myself and the scale I used in a different place from last month said I was 157 lbs. So that could be true or a little difference in the 2 machines I don't know for sure. But it is possible that I gained 6 pounds last month so that is good. It's funny here, in little bags of chips and snacks they have pogs for the kids. For kids pogs are kinda a big thing right now. It made me think of all the pogs Jess and I had and how we would go to Dilly Dallys to get more pogs. Funny how some things come back into culture and are popular again. This week was not to successful with many of our investigators and getting new people. Sometimes I have a little hard time with my comp because he goes home in Nov and sometimes doesn't want to really work hard or follow the rules exactly. And I don't know if I should say something to him or what. I tried saying things to him but he got mad and it was not the best. So I just wake up at 6:30 and wait for him. I figured I can't force him to do anything so I will just do what is right and study the scriptures if he doesn't want to work much. It's been a learning experience in how I react to situations. But we are good. We had a baptism this Saturday. She was such a good and positive investigator. I really wish we had more like her. We actually had a lot of people come to the baptism and one investigator that is really hard to put a baptism date with so hopefully that helped. At church I blessed the Sacrament in Spanish and shared my testimony. We had a less active member come that hasn't come in so long. We taught him that night and I hope that we helped him change and come back to the gospel more. I don't know if I told you this but there is a member who went to America years ago and while there learned how to cook a lot. This last week she made us BBQ chicken and lasagna. It was so good. And it really made me think of home and our lasagna meals and BBQ all the time. It was a nice taste of home. This Sunday we went to her house for dinner again and had a different lasagna that was so amazing and we made a box of turtle brownies we bought in the store. I loved it and was stuffed but it was so worth it. Again it reminded me of home a lot. Other then that not to much new here. Lots of rain still but the rain season is almost over. There are changes Wednesday but we won't know until tonight if we have any. And I don't know if you saw the Liahona for this month but it is only about the Book of Mormon. It is so amazing it made me love the Book of Mormon even more. What an amazing blessing we have to have that book. I have been reading a lot lately about Lehi's dream of the tree and the iron rod. I'm learning so many cool things and how to use that to help members share the gospel and how to be a stronger missionary constantly grasping to the word of God. I love you Mom and I'm so grateful for all you do. I love your letters and your packages. You're the best Mom I could have and I'm excited to share my stories with you. I don't know if they are showing the Guatemala temple dedication in Utah but if so you should work with the bishop to get your temple recommend to go to it. I can't wait to go to the temple with you after my mission, that is a dream of mine. Love you Mom and I can't wait to write to you next week and share more of my stories. Love Son

Elder Perez and I

The view from the top of my house in Coatepeque

Conference - October 3, 2011

First on Wednesday we had a conference in Reu with President that was so good about character and how we can do better. It made me think there is so much more I can be doing but I felt so uplifted and spiritually ready though. For conference we went to the stake center in Coatepeque Centro and there was a conference room with a tv for all the 12 Americans. It was fun because we all had a bunch of snacks and nice chairs. Four of us even had a pizza delivered Saturday between sessions. Sunday I missed part of the first talk in the afternoon because we went to our area for lunch. But I got to see all the sessions and every session was so incredible with a message just for me. I received answers and spiritual help and how to be a better missionary and person. I love President Monson. He was making me laugh so much with his facial expressions and jokes and how much he loves and serves people. I also love the personality of President Eyring, he reminds me of Grandpa so I love listening to him. Elder Yamashita was very good and I really loved Elder Cook´s talk about it's better to look up. Lots of great talks about the Book of Mormon and prayer too. My attitude towards conference has changed so much over the last two years. I used to think it was so long and not always for me but now I'm hanging on every word. I find myself smiling so largely whenever a person comes up to speak and I can feel the love and spirit. These are men called of God to help us have more happiness in life and return to our loving Heavenly Father. There are so many talks I loved. The talk from Eyring about pushing yourself beyond the limit to serve I can do that more in my mission and focus all my attention and love to the people here to make a difference and then come home proud and happy forever loving the people. I loved also the talk about going about doing good everyday and President Monson about standing up for what you believe, with the funny military story. I would love to talk with you about these talks more and share insights. Saturday Elder Hock who is in my zone and from Kaysville brought me a tie he had found in his house that has my name on it. It is from another Elder Cox that was here before and a zone leader, the tie is called the Africa tie because it is yellow with some sweet red and green stripes. I'm going to clean it then take a pic of me with it, it is a very exciting tie haha. The temples will be awesome and I want to go to all the temples in Utah when I'm done here. So far I have been to 4 in Utah. I'm glad Lois is doing better I have been keeping her in my prayers. That could be a big change for Nana and Grandpa so I'm curious to hear what they are going to do. Didn't they want to serve a mission at some point in the not to distant future? Way to go Heather! What is her favorite type of dance? I haven't heard anything from RJ but I'm sure the missions are very different. Hope you get the pool complete with the weather, sounds like a lot more work then you imagined, I bet you're glad you didn't try to do most of it yourselves. I'm way excited for the slip on shoes to tell you the truth. I don't think that is a bad idea about shipping the shoes in different packages. I also thought of something for a package - another tie, if you see one you think I would like or look good in that could be a Christmas gift. I'm looking forward to your dearelders. I love reading your letters and I also really look forward to Mondays, it is the motivational boost of love, support, and spiritual support I need. They mean so much to me, YOU mean so much to me. Thank you for everything Mom. I love you with all my heart and am eternally grateful to be your son.
Love your Son