Elder Austin Michael Tyler
Guatemala Retalhuleu Mission
Barrio Concepion, Boulevard Centenario
Salida a Coatepeque, Zona 2
Retalhuleu
GUATEMALA
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Bringing hope to a man who is sad
December 20, 2010
Sounds like skiing was awesome AGAIN! I'm jealous, but not bitter haha
So the power has been out, off and on today, so we went to find
something to do while waiting to write email. Luckily I decided to
bring my frisbee when we left the house! Haha we played ultimate
frisbee in this huge grassy field! It was blazing hot and I'm
sweating like a wild boar, but it was so fun! (We won 5-2). Then the
power was still out, so we found a place with pool tables! And it's a
clean place, not a bar. And there aren't dirty pictures everywhere,
it was awesome! So the six of us went in and four of us played pool.
Elder Rigby and I won :D
It's been a fun P-day!
So this past week was really interesting. On Tuesday we had the
Christmas Conference. We all got a gift bag from a group of mission
moms living in Utah. They assembled things like socks, ties, shampoo,
play-doh, candy, and cards from primary kids. It was sooo cool! I
got two pairs of thick black socks haha! They'll last forever, but I
think I'll wait to wear them until I go somewhere a bit cooler.
It was awesome, as always, to see some of my buddies from the MTC.
Elder Shannon is a stud! His companion talks about World of
Warcraft all day, sounds like Elder Shannon is a bit tired of that.
Elder Hock has pooped himself five times now, but he's finally
recovered from his boo.
We did skits and it was a bit ridiculous. There were some hilarious
ones, but they were all sooo long! We did a rendition of the Grinch.
The missionaries serving in Whoville contacted the Grinch and stuff,
it was pretty funny. But there were about three hours of skits! It
was sooo boring! And there was some questionable stuff in some
of them. Elder Treanor, one of the Assistants got slammed over and
over. And it was his last week in the mission. I felt bad for him.
Before we left I went up and thanked him for everything. He looked at
me, and then gave me a huge hug. I felt bad for him, but he seemed
alright. He worked hard to the end.
I found out why missionaries like handwritten letters! I was
having a tough day on Thursday. I was really discouraged with a
couple things. Then I read some letters. I read Brother Teeples' and
Kendy and Megan's letters and they were a huge boost. Having
something to reread helps when I'm discouraged. I felt great after
that.
Friday we had another conference with President and it was amazing. I
want to share a bit of what I learned. He talked about Agency. So
I've always stuggled to understand the purpose of Satan's plan. I
understood that he wanted to destroy the ability of men to choose for
themselves, and to force them to be obedient. That would result in
nobody being lost. But I didn't quite get it. We discussed it in the
conference and now it all makes sense. The purpose of our ability to
choose is that we can learn and grow, eventually we can become
exalted. Satan sought to destroy our agency so that we wouldn't learn
and grow, so that nobody would be exalted. Then he said that he
wanted the glory (or power) of the Father. With that, he would be the
only exalted being in existence, with no competition. He would have
all power, the only power. It was a selfish plot devised in greed and
pride. I had never quite understood it that way.
President then talked to us about how we use our agency. He said that
when we disobey, we are violating laws put in place by the Lord. We
are in open rebellion if we aren't trying to do what's right. Then
Elder Reyes, the new Assistant, said that when we talk badly about, or
neglect to support our zone and district leaders, we are denying the
fact that they were called by revelation through a mission president
who was called by a prophet of God. In then end, we are denying that
this church is directed by Jesus Christ. I hadn't thought of it
that way either.
Another thing President talked about was the difference between a
habit and an obligation. He said an habit is something we want to do,
we do it of our own free will. An habit lasts beyond the mission,
whereas an obligation stops at the end. He said that if we want to be
succesful, we will take seriously the things we learn on the mission.
If we want to continue to progress after the mission, maybe we should
make a habit out of getting up early. And that includes going to bed
early. It made me think a lot about how the mission is changing me.
I don't want to go back to college and stay up late every night.
Maybe on the weekends, but I have responsibilities that are more
important than staying up late. Sure, I'll still have fun, but I will
prioritize my time differently. I'm excited to try it out.
Something else, along with that, is with companions. There are two
reasons why the church emphasizes getting married quickly after the
mission. The first reason is that it's a part of God's plan. The
other reason is that with a companion, you progress. When you live
alone, you're stagnant. And I've found that that is so true. Kind of interesting for me to think about.
Saturday was exhausting. We went to the Trochas on bikes. And these
are bikes made for people under five feet tall. It was blazing hot
and dusty (as always) and it was a long ride. We sang on the
way. Two of the three investigators we went to weren't there. But we
did teach a great lesson with on sister. It was worth it. We got
back and went to an activity at the church. It was a soccer activity.
We played for an hour and a half and it was intense. It was so fun,
but I was sooo tired. We got back to the house and there was no
water, so we couldn't shower. Haha awful!
Something I despise: alcohol. I'm sick of talking to drunk people.
I'm sick of seeing children trying to carry their passed-out fathers
home during the day. Ah I can't stand it. The other night we saw a
guy at a fast-food chicken place and he yelled to us. It was a guy
that had asked us for money one night. I was a little scared,
especially when we noticed he was drunk. He offered to buy us a meal.
We told him no thank you and that we had to go visit someone. He
wasn't happy, but we left.
Lately I've been praying to have the courage to act quickly on the
promptings I get from the Spirit. Last night we were walking down a
street and I saw a man standing in his doorway. I couldn't see his
face, but I thought, ¨that man needs our help.¨ I walked toward him,
my companion didn't know what I was doing. The man turned and looked
at us and I recognized him as the drunk that we had met twice. He
yelled, ¨My friends!¨and invited us into his house. He's a young guy,
25. His name is Henry. I was nervous, but I went with it. I asked
him how he was and he just said, I´m sad. We sat down and talked to
him. He knows quite a bit of English and wanted to talk to me in
English. He asked me what he needed to do to become a member of our
church. He said he was sad and he has a lot of problems and he's
looking for happiness. I taught him about our purpose as missionaries
and explained that the gospel is the way to happiness and peace. He
doesn't work on Sundays (which is rare here) and he wants to come to
church. After we talked to him, we knelt down and prayed. It was one
of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had. It was so cool. I'm
so excited to teach him more. It was a great way to end the night.
So yeah. I'm so stoked to talk to you guys on Saturday! I think I'll
be here. And assuming the power doesn't go out, I'll call you guys
probably between 10 AM and 4 PM. I'm sorry I can't be more specific,
but I don't even know that I'll be here still. But yeah, I'll call
you, and then if it's okay, I'll have you guys call back. It's way
expensive to call with our phones to the US and everyone suggested I
do it that way. By using caller ID I think I can just hang up and
have you guys call back. I won't be able to email before then, so I
hope that works out.
I love you guys! And I hope you enjoy this week. Don't worry about
having a white Christmas, it's fine haha!
Until Saturday! WOOOO! Merry Christmas!
Love you!
Elder Austin Tyler
Sounds like skiing was awesome AGAIN! I'm jealous, but not bitter haha
So the power has been out, off and on today, so we went to find
something to do while waiting to write email. Luckily I decided to
bring my frisbee when we left the house! Haha we played ultimate
frisbee in this huge grassy field! It was blazing hot and I'm
sweating like a wild boar, but it was so fun! (We won 5-2). Then the
power was still out, so we found a place with pool tables! And it's a
clean place, not a bar. And there aren't dirty pictures everywhere,
it was awesome! So the six of us went in and four of us played pool.
Elder Rigby and I won :D
It's been a fun P-day!
So this past week was really interesting. On Tuesday we had the
Christmas Conference. We all got a gift bag from a group of mission
moms living in Utah. They assembled things like socks, ties, shampoo,
play-doh, candy, and cards from primary kids. It was sooo cool! I
got two pairs of thick black socks haha! They'll last forever, but I
think I'll wait to wear them until I go somewhere a bit cooler.
It was awesome, as always, to see some of my buddies from the MTC.
Elder Shannon is a stud! His companion talks about World of
Warcraft all day, sounds like Elder Shannon is a bit tired of that.
Elder Hock has pooped himself five times now, but he's finally
recovered from his boo.
We did skits and it was a bit ridiculous. There were some hilarious
ones, but they were all sooo long! We did a rendition of the Grinch.
The missionaries serving in Whoville contacted the Grinch and stuff,
it was pretty funny. But there were about three hours of skits! It
was sooo boring! And there was some questionable stuff in some
of them. Elder Treanor, one of the Assistants got slammed over and
over. And it was his last week in the mission. I felt bad for him.
Before we left I went up and thanked him for everything. He looked at
me, and then gave me a huge hug. I felt bad for him, but he seemed
alright. He worked hard to the end.
I found out why missionaries like handwritten letters! I was
having a tough day on Thursday. I was really discouraged with a
couple things. Then I read some letters. I read Brother Teeples' and
Kendy and Megan's letters and they were a huge boost. Having
something to reread helps when I'm discouraged. I felt great after
that.
Friday we had another conference with President and it was amazing. I
want to share a bit of what I learned. He talked about Agency. So
I've always stuggled to understand the purpose of Satan's plan. I
understood that he wanted to destroy the ability of men to choose for
themselves, and to force them to be obedient. That would result in
nobody being lost. But I didn't quite get it. We discussed it in the
conference and now it all makes sense. The purpose of our ability to
choose is that we can learn and grow, eventually we can become
exalted. Satan sought to destroy our agency so that we wouldn't learn
and grow, so that nobody would be exalted. Then he said that he
wanted the glory (or power) of the Father. With that, he would be the
only exalted being in existence, with no competition. He would have
all power, the only power. It was a selfish plot devised in greed and
pride. I had never quite understood it that way.
President then talked to us about how we use our agency. He said that
when we disobey, we are violating laws put in place by the Lord. We
are in open rebellion if we aren't trying to do what's right. Then
Elder Reyes, the new Assistant, said that when we talk badly about, or
neglect to support our zone and district leaders, we are denying the
fact that they were called by revelation through a mission president
who was called by a prophet of God. In then end, we are denying that
this church is directed by Jesus Christ. I hadn't thought of it
that way either.
Another thing President talked about was the difference between a
habit and an obligation. He said an habit is something we want to do,
we do it of our own free will. An habit lasts beyond the mission,
whereas an obligation stops at the end. He said that if we want to be
succesful, we will take seriously the things we learn on the mission.
If we want to continue to progress after the mission, maybe we should
make a habit out of getting up early. And that includes going to bed
early. It made me think a lot about how the mission is changing me.
I don't want to go back to college and stay up late every night.
Maybe on the weekends, but I have responsibilities that are more
important than staying up late. Sure, I'll still have fun, but I will
prioritize my time differently. I'm excited to try it out.
Something else, along with that, is with companions. There are two
reasons why the church emphasizes getting married quickly after the
mission. The first reason is that it's a part of God's plan. The
other reason is that with a companion, you progress. When you live
alone, you're stagnant. And I've found that that is so true. Kind of interesting for me to think about.
Saturday was exhausting. We went to the Trochas on bikes. And these
are bikes made for people under five feet tall. It was blazing hot
and dusty (as always) and it was a long ride. We sang on the
way. Two of the three investigators we went to weren't there. But we
did teach a great lesson with on sister. It was worth it. We got
back and went to an activity at the church. It was a soccer activity.
We played for an hour and a half and it was intense. It was so fun,
but I was sooo tired. We got back to the house and there was no
water, so we couldn't shower. Haha awful!
Something I despise: alcohol. I'm sick of talking to drunk people.
I'm sick of seeing children trying to carry their passed-out fathers
home during the day. Ah I can't stand it. The other night we saw a
guy at a fast-food chicken place and he yelled to us. It was a guy
that had asked us for money one night. I was a little scared,
especially when we noticed he was drunk. He offered to buy us a meal.
We told him no thank you and that we had to go visit someone. He
wasn't happy, but we left.
Lately I've been praying to have the courage to act quickly on the
promptings I get from the Spirit. Last night we were walking down a
street and I saw a man standing in his doorway. I couldn't see his
face, but I thought, ¨that man needs our help.¨ I walked toward him,
my companion didn't know what I was doing. The man turned and looked
at us and I recognized him as the drunk that we had met twice. He
yelled, ¨My friends!¨and invited us into his house. He's a young guy,
25. His name is Henry. I was nervous, but I went with it. I asked
him how he was and he just said, I´m sad. We sat down and talked to
him. He knows quite a bit of English and wanted to talk to me in
English. He asked me what he needed to do to become a member of our
church. He said he was sad and he has a lot of problems and he's
looking for happiness. I taught him about our purpose as missionaries
and explained that the gospel is the way to happiness and peace. He
doesn't work on Sundays (which is rare here) and he wants to come to
church. After we talked to him, we knelt down and prayed. It was one
of the most spiritual experiences I've ever had. It was so cool. I'm
so excited to teach him more. It was a great way to end the night.
So yeah. I'm so stoked to talk to you guys on Saturday! I think I'll
be here. And assuming the power doesn't go out, I'll call you guys
probably between 10 AM and 4 PM. I'm sorry I can't be more specific,
but I don't even know that I'll be here still. But yeah, I'll call
you, and then if it's okay, I'll have you guys call back. It's way
expensive to call with our phones to the US and everyone suggested I
do it that way. By using caller ID I think I can just hang up and
have you guys call back. I won't be able to email before then, so I
hope that works out.
I love you guys! And I hope you enjoy this week. Don't worry about
having a white Christmas, it's fine haha!
Until Saturday! WOOOO! Merry Christmas!
Love you!
Elder Austin Tyler
My last week in Nueva Concepcion
December 13, 2010
Hey!
I loved your emails, it sounds like life is so busy right now, but so
great! You guys sound so happy! Way cool.
Although I envy the cold weather, and the chance to go skiing, and all
that, I really love hearing about it all! Sometimes when I'm sweating
bullets in the heat I just try to imagine myself elsewhere (like the
mountains) and it almost helps to cool myself off haha!
I don't really know where to start with this week. On Tuesday
afternoon I went to Tiquisate on a split with Elder Aguirre (Elder
Grover's companion). Elder Grover came to Nueva to do baptismal
interviews. I got to teach with Elder Aguirre, and I learned so much.
He is an excellent teacher, and he teaches like I was taught to teach
in the MTC and CCM. I felt like I didn't know anything haha! He
taught with the Spirit and with love. It felt very different, way
better, than a lot of the lessons we typically teach in Nueva
Concepcion. I'm trying to apply all the things I learned, and bit by
bit, I'm learning. While I was with Elder Aguirre, he would see
things that I was doing (or not doing) and correct me. Like when we
left the house, I didn't have a Book of Mormon in my hand. He told me
that we are always to have a Book of Mormon in our hand. Otherwise
people just thing we're rich gringos selling things.
I've learned a lot from my companion, and I'm so thankful for the time
I've had with him. We're entering the last week of this transfer, and
he's been here for six months. President told him he'll be leaving.
And in my email to President last week I asked him a couple questions.
All he replied was something like, 'just keep it up, keep being bold.
Elder Aguirre told me not to stop learning Spanish. Although I can go
on splits with members and teach by myself, I still have so much to
learn. But he told me that I need to be prepared to train by the end
of next transfers. That scared me a bit, and I don't know if he was
serious. But I have a lot to do. I feel way inadequate (sp?). I'm
happy, but not content. It's a weird feeling.
We had a baptism scheduled for Saturday, but our investigator ended up
having mental problems (I had no idea until the day of her interview
and we started noticing some things). It was so sad to find out about
that, but hopefully we can help her out and continue on with her plan
to be baptized. The Assistants are going to come this week and figure
out what to do with the situation.
Before this transfer, when all of Nueva Concepcion was our area, we
were teaching a man named Ezequiel. His whole family goes to church,
theyre all members except for him. He started attending church awhile
back, but didn't want to be baptized. He has talked with the
missionaries on and off for ten years, and he loves the missionaries.
He played professional soccer for a long time, and we play with him on
Mondays. It's way fun. But towards the end of our last transfer, I
asked him if he would be baptized. I explained how he has a wonderful
family and how important it is to be an example for his children and
to support his wife. He said something like 'we will see'. Elder
Rigby and Elder Thorley have been teaching him since they got here.
They again invited him to be baptized, and after ten years of meeting
with missionaries, he agreed to go through with things. On Saturday,
Elder Herrera and I got to attend his baptism. Elder Rigby baptized
him and everything went really well. After the closing prayer,
Ezequiel and his wife embraced for the longest time. They were both
crying and it was such a cool thing to see. The family was so happy!
They were finally united in the gospel. It was so awesome.
That was the highlight of my week. Other highlights included Elder
Herrera's birthday (we ate so much cake, it was sweet haha pun?),
fireworks all over the place every night (Christmas tradition),
painting the outside of Paty and Eu's house, and getting the Liahona!
I finally got to read some of the talks that we missed from
conference. We missed a few talks because we were late and then some
others because the satellite went out.
Tomorrow we get to go to Reu for the mission Christmas partay! Ah I'm
so excited! I get to see Elders Hock, Taylor, and Shannon again.
I'm really excited for everything coming up. Tomorrow will be great.
Transfers are always exciting, though I will be legitimately sad to
say goodbye to Elder Herrera. And then I get to talk to you guys!
Whoa. I can't wait!
As Christmas approaches, remember the reason why we celebrate! I look
forward to spending some time just thinking about the significance of
the birth of the Savior. Life as a missionary practically forces you
to forget the material aspect of Christmas celebrations and really
reflect on the meaning of this time of year.
I hope you guys have another great week! Dad, be safe in Chicago.
Haley, finals are important. You know that. Just work hard this last
little bit. Work really hard. That will make the break seem so much
better! And Mom! keep on doin what you're doin. You should look
into snowboarding, I can see you doing that. Just sayin...
In my emails, is there anything I'm missing? For example, I realized
that if I want to love my companion, it really doesn't help to talk
bad about him. Then I realized that it doesn't help to think anything
bad about him. So I've tried to stop that. I just don't want to slip
into the trap of developing bad habits early on, like Dad warned me
about. So if you notice anything, please let me know. Gracias.
I love you guys! Brock, good luck with finals!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
Hey!
I loved your emails, it sounds like life is so busy right now, but so
great! You guys sound so happy! Way cool.
Although I envy the cold weather, and the chance to go skiing, and all
that, I really love hearing about it all! Sometimes when I'm sweating
bullets in the heat I just try to imagine myself elsewhere (like the
mountains) and it almost helps to cool myself off haha!
I don't really know where to start with this week. On Tuesday
afternoon I went to Tiquisate on a split with Elder Aguirre (Elder
Grover's companion). Elder Grover came to Nueva to do baptismal
interviews. I got to teach with Elder Aguirre, and I learned so much.
He is an excellent teacher, and he teaches like I was taught to teach
in the MTC and CCM. I felt like I didn't know anything haha! He
taught with the Spirit and with love. It felt very different, way
better, than a lot of the lessons we typically teach in Nueva
Concepcion. I'm trying to apply all the things I learned, and bit by
bit, I'm learning. While I was with Elder Aguirre, he would see
things that I was doing (or not doing) and correct me. Like when we
left the house, I didn't have a Book of Mormon in my hand. He told me
that we are always to have a Book of Mormon in our hand. Otherwise
people just thing we're rich gringos selling things.
I've learned a lot from my companion, and I'm so thankful for the time
I've had with him. We're entering the last week of this transfer, and
he's been here for six months. President told him he'll be leaving.
And in my email to President last week I asked him a couple questions.
All he replied was something like, 'just keep it up, keep being bold.
Elder Aguirre told me not to stop learning Spanish. Although I can go
on splits with members and teach by myself, I still have so much to
learn. But he told me that I need to be prepared to train by the end
of next transfers. That scared me a bit, and I don't know if he was
serious. But I have a lot to do. I feel way inadequate (sp?). I'm
happy, but not content. It's a weird feeling.
We had a baptism scheduled for Saturday, but our investigator ended up
having mental problems (I had no idea until the day of her interview
and we started noticing some things). It was so sad to find out about
that, but hopefully we can help her out and continue on with her plan
to be baptized. The Assistants are going to come this week and figure
out what to do with the situation.
Before this transfer, when all of Nueva Concepcion was our area, we
were teaching a man named Ezequiel. His whole family goes to church,
theyre all members except for him. He started attending church awhile
back, but didn't want to be baptized. He has talked with the
missionaries on and off for ten years, and he loves the missionaries.
He played professional soccer for a long time, and we play with him on
Mondays. It's way fun. But towards the end of our last transfer, I
asked him if he would be baptized. I explained how he has a wonderful
family and how important it is to be an example for his children and
to support his wife. He said something like 'we will see'. Elder
Rigby and Elder Thorley have been teaching him since they got here.
They again invited him to be baptized, and after ten years of meeting
with missionaries, he agreed to go through with things. On Saturday,
Elder Herrera and I got to attend his baptism. Elder Rigby baptized
him and everything went really well. After the closing prayer,
Ezequiel and his wife embraced for the longest time. They were both
crying and it was such a cool thing to see. The family was so happy!
They were finally united in the gospel. It was so awesome.
That was the highlight of my week. Other highlights included Elder
Herrera's birthday (we ate so much cake, it was sweet haha pun?),
fireworks all over the place every night (Christmas tradition),
painting the outside of Paty and Eu's house, and getting the Liahona!
I finally got to read some of the talks that we missed from
conference. We missed a few talks because we were late and then some
others because the satellite went out.
Tomorrow we get to go to Reu for the mission Christmas partay! Ah I'm
so excited! I get to see Elders Hock, Taylor, and Shannon again.
I'm really excited for everything coming up. Tomorrow will be great.
Transfers are always exciting, though I will be legitimately sad to
say goodbye to Elder Herrera. And then I get to talk to you guys!
Whoa. I can't wait!
As Christmas approaches, remember the reason why we celebrate! I look
forward to spending some time just thinking about the significance of
the birth of the Savior. Life as a missionary practically forces you
to forget the material aspect of Christmas celebrations and really
reflect on the meaning of this time of year.
I hope you guys have another great week! Dad, be safe in Chicago.
Haley, finals are important. You know that. Just work hard this last
little bit. Work really hard. That will make the break seem so much
better! And Mom! keep on doin what you're doin. You should look
into snowboarding, I can see you doing that. Just sayin...
In my emails, is there anything I'm missing? For example, I realized
that if I want to love my companion, it really doesn't help to talk
bad about him. Then I realized that it doesn't help to think anything
bad about him. So I've tried to stop that. I just don't want to slip
into the trap of developing bad habits early on, like Dad warned me
about. So if you notice anything, please let me know. Gracias.
I love you guys! Brock, good luck with finals!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
After ten years of meeting with the missionaries, a man is baptized
12-13-10
Hey!
I loved your emails, it sounds like life is so busy right now, but so
great! You guys sound so happy! Way cool.
Although I envy the cold weather, and the chance to go skiing, and all
that, I really love hearing about it all! Sometimes when I'm sweating
bullets in the heat I just try to imagine myself elsewhere (like the
mountains) and it almost helps to cool myself off haha!
I don't really know where to start with this week. On Tuesday
afternoon I went to Tiquisate on a split with Elder Aguirre (Elder
Grover's companion). Elder Grover came to Nueva to do baptismal
interviews. I got to teach with Elder Aguirre, and I learned so much.
He is an excellent teacher, and he teaches like I was taught to teach
in the MTC and CCM. I felt like I didn't know anything haha! He
taught with the Spirit and with love. It felt very different, way
better, than a lot of the lessons we typically teach in Nueva
Concepcion. I'm trying to apply all the things I learned, and bit by
bit, I'm learning. While I was with Elder Aguirre, he would see
things that I was doing (or not doing) and correct me. Like when we
left the house, I didn't have a Book of Mormon in my hand. He told me
that we are always to have a Book of Mormon in our hand. Otherwise
people just thing we're rich gringos selling things. He asked if my
companion carries a Book of Mormon with him. I cringed a bit as I
said no (because he had asked a lot of other similar questions about
my companion and I told the truth). I explained that Elder Herrera
really does have a desire to do what's right, and I don't like to rat
him our for things like that, because that makes him sound chambon
(like a slacker). Elder Aguirre just said, 'noooo don't worry elder,
I'm not gonna say anything to him, and I know he's a good missionary.
But he should be doing this stuff. It helps me know how to help him
when I know what he's doing.'
My companion is a bit stubborn, but I hope I've helped him here and
there. I've learned a lot from him, and I'm so thankful for the time
I've had with him. We're entering the last week of this transfer, and
he's been here for six months. President told him he'll be leaving.
And in my email to President last week I asked him a couple questions.
All he replied was something like, 'just keep it up, keep being bold.
You will soon have a new companion with the same ethics as you.' I'm
way excited to see what happens next week.
Elder Aguirre told me not to stop learning Spanish. Although I can go
on splits with members and teach by myself, I still have so much to
learn. But he told me that I need to be prepared to train by the end
of next transfers. That scared me a bit, and I don't know if he was
serious. But I have a lot to do. I feel way inadequate (sp?). I'm
happy, but not content. It's a weird feeling.
We had a baptism scheduled for Saturday, but our investigator ended up
having mental problems (I had no idea until the day of her interview
and we started noticing some things). It was so sad to find out about
that, but hopefully we can help her out and continue on with her plan
to be baptized. The Assistants are going to come this week and figure
out what to do with the situation.
Before this transfer, when all of Nueva Concepcion was our area, we
were teaching a man named Ezequiel. His whole family goes to church,
theyre all members except for him. He started attending church awhile
back, but didn't want to be baptized. He has talked with the
missionaries on and off for ten years, and he loves the missionaries.
He played professional soccer for a long time, and we play with him on
Mondays. It's way fun. But towards the end of our last transfer, I
asked him if he would be baptized. I explained how he has a wonderful
family and how important it is to be an example for his children and
to support his wife. He said something like 'we will see'. Elder
Rigby and Elder Thorley have been teaching him since they got here.
They again invited him to be baptized, and after ten years of meeting
with missionaries, he agreed to go through with things. On Saturday,
Elder Herrera and I got to attend his baptism. Elder Rigby baptized
him and everything went really well. After the closing prayer,
Ezequiel and his wife embraced for the longest time. They were both
crying and it was such a cool thing to see. The family was so happy!
They were finally united in the gospel. It was so awesome.
That was the highlight of my week. Other highlights included Elder
Herrera's birthday (we ate so much cake, it was sweet haha pun?),
fireworks all over the place every night (Christmas tradition),
painting the outside of Paty and Eu's house, and getting the Liahona!
I finally got to read some of the talks that we missed from
conference. We missed a few talks because we were late and then some
others because the satellite went out.
Tomorrow we get to go to Reu for the mission Christmas partay! Ah I'm
so excited! I get to see Elders Hock, Taylor, and Shannon again.
I'm really excited for everything coming up. Tomorrow will be great.
Transfers are always exciting, though I will be legitimately sad to
say goodbye to Elder Herrera. And then I get to talk to you guys!
Whoa. I can't wait!
As Christmas approaches, remember the reason why we celebrate! I look
forward to spending some time just thinking about the significance of
the birth of the Savior. Life as a missionary practically forces you
to forget the material aspect of Christmas celebrations and really
reflect on the meaning of this time of year.
I hope you guys have another great week! Dad, be safe in Chicago.
Haley, finals are important. You know that. Just work hard this last
little bit. Work really hard. That will make the break seem so much
better! And Mom! keep on doin what you're doin. You should look
into snowboarding, I can see you doing that. Just sayin...
In my emails, is there anything I'm missing? For example, I realized
that if I want to love my companion, it really doesn't help to talk
bad about him. Then I realized that it doesn't help to think anything
bad about him. So I've tried to stop that. I just don't want to slip
into the trap of developing bad habits early on, like Dad warned me
about. So if you notice anything, please let me know. Gracias.
I love you guys! Brock, good luck with finals!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
Hey!
I loved your emails, it sounds like life is so busy right now, but so
great! You guys sound so happy! Way cool.
Although I envy the cold weather, and the chance to go skiing, and all
that, I really love hearing about it all! Sometimes when I'm sweating
bullets in the heat I just try to imagine myself elsewhere (like the
mountains) and it almost helps to cool myself off haha!
I don't really know where to start with this week. On Tuesday
afternoon I went to Tiquisate on a split with Elder Aguirre (Elder
Grover's companion). Elder Grover came to Nueva to do baptismal
interviews. I got to teach with Elder Aguirre, and I learned so much.
He is an excellent teacher, and he teaches like I was taught to teach
in the MTC and CCM. I felt like I didn't know anything haha! He
taught with the Spirit and with love. It felt very different, way
better, than a lot of the lessons we typically teach in Nueva
Concepcion. I'm trying to apply all the things I learned, and bit by
bit, I'm learning. While I was with Elder Aguirre, he would see
things that I was doing (or not doing) and correct me. Like when we
left the house, I didn't have a Book of Mormon in my hand. He told me
that we are always to have a Book of Mormon in our hand. Otherwise
people just thing we're rich gringos selling things. He asked if my
companion carries a Book of Mormon with him. I cringed a bit as I
said no (because he had asked a lot of other similar questions about
my companion and I told the truth). I explained that Elder Herrera
really does have a desire to do what's right, and I don't like to rat
him our for things like that, because that makes him sound chambon
(like a slacker). Elder Aguirre just said, 'noooo don't worry elder,
I'm not gonna say anything to him, and I know he's a good missionary.
But he should be doing this stuff. It helps me know how to help him
when I know what he's doing.'
My companion is a bit stubborn, but I hope I've helped him here and
there. I've learned a lot from him, and I'm so thankful for the time
I've had with him. We're entering the last week of this transfer, and
he's been here for six months. President told him he'll be leaving.
And in my email to President last week I asked him a couple questions.
All he replied was something like, 'just keep it up, keep being bold.
You will soon have a new companion with the same ethics as you.' I'm
way excited to see what happens next week.
Elder Aguirre told me not to stop learning Spanish. Although I can go
on splits with members and teach by myself, I still have so much to
learn. But he told me that I need to be prepared to train by the end
of next transfers. That scared me a bit, and I don't know if he was
serious. But I have a lot to do. I feel way inadequate (sp?). I'm
happy, but not content. It's a weird feeling.
We had a baptism scheduled for Saturday, but our investigator ended up
having mental problems (I had no idea until the day of her interview
and we started noticing some things). It was so sad to find out about
that, but hopefully we can help her out and continue on with her plan
to be baptized. The Assistants are going to come this week and figure
out what to do with the situation.
Before this transfer, when all of Nueva Concepcion was our area, we
were teaching a man named Ezequiel. His whole family goes to church,
theyre all members except for him. He started attending church awhile
back, but didn't want to be baptized. He has talked with the
missionaries on and off for ten years, and he loves the missionaries.
He played professional soccer for a long time, and we play with him on
Mondays. It's way fun. But towards the end of our last transfer, I
asked him if he would be baptized. I explained how he has a wonderful
family and how important it is to be an example for his children and
to support his wife. He said something like 'we will see'. Elder
Rigby and Elder Thorley have been teaching him since they got here.
They again invited him to be baptized, and after ten years of meeting
with missionaries, he agreed to go through with things. On Saturday,
Elder Herrera and I got to attend his baptism. Elder Rigby baptized
him and everything went really well. After the closing prayer,
Ezequiel and his wife embraced for the longest time. They were both
crying and it was such a cool thing to see. The family was so happy!
They were finally united in the gospel. It was so awesome.
That was the highlight of my week. Other highlights included Elder
Herrera's birthday (we ate so much cake, it was sweet haha pun?),
fireworks all over the place every night (Christmas tradition),
painting the outside of Paty and Eu's house, and getting the Liahona!
I finally got to read some of the talks that we missed from
conference. We missed a few talks because we were late and then some
others because the satellite went out.
Tomorrow we get to go to Reu for the mission Christmas partay! Ah I'm
so excited! I get to see Elders Hock, Taylor, and Shannon again.
I'm really excited for everything coming up. Tomorrow will be great.
Transfers are always exciting, though I will be legitimately sad to
say goodbye to Elder Herrera. And then I get to talk to you guys!
Whoa. I can't wait!
As Christmas approaches, remember the reason why we celebrate! I look
forward to spending some time just thinking about the significance of
the birth of the Savior. Life as a missionary practically forces you
to forget the material aspect of Christmas celebrations and really
reflect on the meaning of this time of year.
I hope you guys have another great week! Dad, be safe in Chicago.
Haley, finals are important. You know that. Just work hard this last
little bit. Work really hard. That will make the break seem so much
better! And Mom! keep on doin what you're doin. You should look
into snowboarding, I can see you doing that. Just sayin...
In my emails, is there anything I'm missing? For example, I realized
that if I want to love my companion, it really doesn't help to talk
bad about him. Then I realized that it doesn't help to think anything
bad about him. So I've tried to stop that. I just don't want to slip
into the trap of developing bad habits early on, like Dad warned me
about. So if you notice anything, please let me know. Gracias.
I love you guys! Brock, good luck with finals!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
Thursday, December 9, 2010
A Visit with the President of the Mission
12-6-10
Whatup err'body!
Okay, sounds like Haley's party was just epic. I want some pictures
if possible haha. I love hearing from you guys, especially today.
Last night I watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and it
made me so nostalgic. Elder Hock emailed me today and told me he
actually started crying when he saw temple square with the lights.
Ah! Haha I'm not depressed or sad, but I do miss home right now.
Mom, I never got a Halloween package, to answer your question. And to
be honest, I don't really need a water bottle anymore. I found that
it's easier to just take a gatorade bottle and keep refilling it. And
as far as ties, I can buy them in Patulul for rather cheap (3 for one
American dollar HA!) It's insane how cheap they are here.
So yeah, that stomach bug passed quickly, so no problems there.
Killed another scorpion this week! We're hopefully gonna spray with
permethrin around the house today. Oh! your other questions. Mom,
we talk with the Zone Leaders every night when we report the datos for
the day. So we let them know when we need something. And we see
President about once or twice a month. And I email him every week.
Speaking of President, we had a seminar with him on Tuesday. It was
for all the new missionaries (the ones with one or two transfers) and
it was awesome. We have six greenies in our zone, and I'm the only
one with two transfers, so I was in charge of getting us to Retalhuleu
for the seminar. That went well, except we were an hour late because
the Zone Leaders were really late in bringing some of the elders that
needed to come with us. It was awkward, but the meeting started 40
minutes late, so we didn't miss much. At the meeting, we shared
things that our trainers weren't doing right. I found out I'm not the
only one having a rough time with that. A buddy of mine from the CCM
explained that one day his companion took the phone, locked the house
from the outside, and left. Haha crazy.
I explained that my companion likes to ride on the back of people's
motorcycles and stuff, except I didn't explain that it was my
companion because I didn't want to rat him out. I just said it was an
elder in my district. One of the Assistants came up and said to me
later on, 'haha we know it's your companion that's doing that, you
don't need to try and protect him. Don't worry about it, we'll take
care of it.' And then they told me they were thankful for me trying
to help my companion and being an example for him.
After we explained things that our companions aren't doing right,
President laid down the law. He asked why we are letting them do
things like that. Haha he 'machete'd' us as my companion would call
it, but it was in a way that really motivated me to be better. I
learned so much at the seminar and it was cool being there with my CCM
group. That was one of the coolest parts. I walked into the seminar
(late) and saw Elders Hock, Shannon, and Taylor sitting at the same
table. I winked at them and sat down (trying not to interrupt the
meeting). When we got a break, we all stood up and bear hugged each
other. Haha then we swapped stories about our first couple changes
(transfers). It was soo cool.
The day after, my companion went to the meeting for all the trainers.
That meant I was to be senior companion with Elder Thorley (the
greenie in Nueva). Holy cow. Wake up call haha! We packed our day
and worked hard. It was so awesome. We couldn't understand
everything, but we got enough to be able to teach and help people out.
It was a successful day. Our companions were impressed when they got
back. It was a confidence builder to find out that I can get the job
done with someone that has less experience than me. But gosh I have a
lot to learn still.
My companion got back with a desire to improve some things. President
really laid down the law with them in their seminar. The first thing
he talked about was motorcycles. My companion wasn't too happy when
he brought it up, and he knew it was a result of my 'snitching' but he
just said 'I don't know who brought it up, but President said we can't
do that.' Haha it was an awkward moment. The night before I was
praying about how to help my companion and I felt the impression to
take advantage of the following night (the night he got back from the
meeting) when he had the desire to change some things. I followed the
prompting and prepared some goals to improve. He was willing to work
toward those goals and I'm so thankful. But there are still some
things he doesn't want to change. Haha so I still have plenty of work
to do.
I think my favorite part of the day is personal study time. It's nice
and cool in the morning and I have a solid hour of personal
reflection, scripture study, and prayer. I wish I had more of it, but
that would be selfish. But I learn so much every day. Why did I not
take daily personal religion more seriously before my mission? I feel
like that is the most effective way to start the day.
We aren't having a whole lot of success in finding people, and it's
been tough. We need the Lord's help and I feel like we're doing
better than we were as far as following the Spirit and working hard.
But I know that success is not measured in baptisms. But it's hard to
remember that sometimes.
I gotta go. Dad, don't worry about writing about home and stuff, I
love hearing about it! It doesn't make me depressed or anything.
Christmas is a pretty big celebration here, they have like a full week
of festivities. It should be pretty crazy. Haha I don't find out
about transfers until the day before we get transferred. But I should
be able to call you guys from the phone in our house using a phone
card. I dunno if it would be cheaper to have you guys call back or if
it's easier for me to just call you guys. But it shouldn't be hard to
figure out.
I love you guys and hope you fully enjoy these weeks leading up to
Christmas. Remember the reason for the season! Haha is that cliche?
Whateva
Love ya!
Elder Austin Tyler
Whatup err'body!
Okay, sounds like Haley's party was just epic. I want some pictures
if possible haha. I love hearing from you guys, especially today.
Last night I watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and it
made me so nostalgic. Elder Hock emailed me today and told me he
actually started crying when he saw temple square with the lights.
Ah! Haha I'm not depressed or sad, but I do miss home right now.
Mom, I never got a Halloween package, to answer your question. And to
be honest, I don't really need a water bottle anymore. I found that
it's easier to just take a gatorade bottle and keep refilling it. And
as far as ties, I can buy them in Patulul for rather cheap (3 for one
American dollar HA!) It's insane how cheap they are here.
So yeah, that stomach bug passed quickly, so no problems there.
Killed another scorpion this week! We're hopefully gonna spray with
permethrin around the house today. Oh! your other questions. Mom,
we talk with the Zone Leaders every night when we report the datos for
the day. So we let them know when we need something. And we see
President about once or twice a month. And I email him every week.
Speaking of President, we had a seminar with him on Tuesday. It was
for all the new missionaries (the ones with one or two transfers) and
it was awesome. We have six greenies in our zone, and I'm the only
one with two transfers, so I was in charge of getting us to Retalhuleu
for the seminar. That went well, except we were an hour late because
the Zone Leaders were really late in bringing some of the elders that
needed to come with us. It was awkward, but the meeting started 40
minutes late, so we didn't miss much. At the meeting, we shared
things that our trainers weren't doing right. I found out I'm not the
only one having a rough time with that. A buddy of mine from the CCM
explained that one day his companion took the phone, locked the house
from the outside, and left. Haha crazy.
I explained that my companion likes to ride on the back of people's
motorcycles and stuff, except I didn't explain that it was my
companion because I didn't want to rat him out. I just said it was an
elder in my district. One of the Assistants came up and said to me
later on, 'haha we know it's your companion that's doing that, you
don't need to try and protect him. Don't worry about it, we'll take
care of it.' And then they told me they were thankful for me trying
to help my companion and being an example for him.
After we explained things that our companions aren't doing right,
President laid down the law. He asked why we are letting them do
things like that. Haha he 'machete'd' us as my companion would call
it, but it was in a way that really motivated me to be better. I
learned so much at the seminar and it was cool being there with my CCM
group. That was one of the coolest parts. I walked into the seminar
(late) and saw Elders Hock, Shannon, and Taylor sitting at the same
table. I winked at them and sat down (trying not to interrupt the
meeting). When we got a break, we all stood up and bear hugged each
other. Haha then we swapped stories about our first couple changes
(transfers). It was soo cool.
The day after, my companion went to the meeting for all the trainers.
That meant I was to be senior companion with Elder Thorley (the
greenie in Nueva). Holy cow. Wake up call haha! We packed our day
and worked hard. It was so awesome. We couldn't understand
everything, but we got enough to be able to teach and help people out.
It was a successful day. Our companions were impressed when they got
back. It was a confidence builder to find out that I can get the job
done with someone that has less experience than me. But gosh I have a
lot to learn still.
My companion got back with a desire to improve some things. President
really laid down the law with them in their seminar. The first thing
he talked about was motorcycles. My companion wasn't too happy when
he brought it up, and he knew it was a result of my 'snitching' but he
just said 'I don't know who brought it up, but President said we can't
do that.' Haha it was an awkward moment. The night before I was
praying about how to help my companion and I felt the impression to
take advantage of the following night (the night he got back from the
meeting) when he had the desire to change some things. I followed the
prompting and prepared some goals to improve. He was willing to work
toward those goals and I'm so thankful. But there are still some
things he doesn't want to change. Haha so I still have plenty of work
to do.
I think my favorite part of the day is personal study time. It's nice
and cool in the morning and I have a solid hour of personal
reflection, scripture study, and prayer. I wish I had more of it, but
that would be selfish. But I learn so much every day. Why did I not
take daily personal religion more seriously before my mission? I feel
like that is the most effective way to start the day.
We aren't having a whole lot of success in finding people, and it's
been tough. We need the Lord's help and I feel like we're doing
better than we were as far as following the Spirit and working hard.
But I know that success is not measured in baptisms. But it's hard to
remember that sometimes.
I gotta go. Dad, don't worry about writing about home and stuff, I
love hearing about it! It doesn't make me depressed or anything.
Christmas is a pretty big celebration here, they have like a full week
of festivities. It should be pretty crazy. Haha I don't find out
about transfers until the day before we get transferred. But I should
be able to call you guys from the phone in our house using a phone
card. I dunno if it would be cheaper to have you guys call back or if
it's easier for me to just call you guys. But it shouldn't be hard to
figure out.
I love you guys and hope you fully enjoy these weeks leading up to
Christmas. Remember the reason for the season! Haha is that cliche?
Whateva
Love ya!
Elder Austin Tyler
The Reality of the Atonement of Jesus Christ
11-29-10
Haha whats up guys!
Where to start...
I killed a big ol scorpion this week! It was crawling up the wall.
Not cool. I'm okay with spiders and cockroaches, but scorpions cross
the line. Ugh.
So i finally got sick. I had some wicked boo and a nice little fever
on Tuesday. But all is well now. Haha I still get some aftershocks
in the bathroom, but nothing too severe.
Mom, don't worry about not writing last week! And Dad, I hope your
hand is alright! Sounds like that was pretty nasty.
So Wednesday, my companion had a meeting in Rehu, so I was on a split
with Elder Rigby and Elder Thorley. That afternoon we went to Cocales
to pick up my companion. We waited two hours and Elder Herrera still
hadn't showed up. And there were no more buses going to Nueva
Concepcion. Haha so we got a ride to Patulul (paradise) and stayed
with the elders there for the night. At 10:30 my companion finally
showed up there (there was a huge accident and backed up traffic).
And he brought mail with him. In the mail was a HUGE box full of
American candy!!! (I didnt open it until we got home the next day).
Thank you soooo much! I've been pigging out and I love it haha. I
also got a little package from Brother Teeples, which had a microfiber
towel and a letter inside. It was awesome. I'm writing him back
today, but please tell him thank you for me. I also got letters from
Kelley, Rita, Kendy, and Megan! Awesome. Haha that made for an
awesome night. But I slept on the concrete floor without a blanket or
pillow. Didn't sleep much. But I still had enough energy to get
through the next day.
So on Thursday we went to Tiquisate for Thanksgiving. We cooked an
actual turkey! It was so expensive, but worth it. We had mashed
potatoes, sweet potatoes, cake, bread, gravy. It took forever to cook
and everyone was bored and in a bad mood. But I was loving it! Haha
I helped cook and that was fun. I got some time to play the piano in
the chapel there and that was so great. And we got to talk and just
hang out and stuff. There are 6 greenies in our zone right now. It's
crazy! It was funny to talk to them. They're all gringoes. So yeah,
everyone was in a really bad mood and I was like, what the heck! It's
Thanksgiving! The Latinos were especially upset. They didn't like
the food and they were ticked off that we wasted an entire day
celebrating Thanksgiving haha! I couldn't help but get nostalgic. It
was really tough to sit there among grumpy company, eating a partially
raw turkey in a circle of chairs (haha we didn't have a table) and
listening to Hillary's Christmas cd. Haha it was almost like a movie
and I just sat there thinking about you guys and the snow, Harry
Potter, leftovers, movies, Settlers, etc. Haha it was sad, but it was
so awesome to have a legit Thanksgiving meal. I successfully didn't
let other people get me down.
I love hearing about your guys' Thanksgiving! Ah sounds like it was
awesome. I wrote you all letters and sent those off this morning. As
far as calling for Christmas, I think I'll be able to buy a card and
call with that. I'm still trying to figure it out. But there
shouldn't be any problems.
Haha so Elder Rigby found out that my companion still rides on the
back of peoples' motorcycles and he was like WHAT!? What is he
doing!?? Haha I just sat there and said, yeah, that's my companion.
Haha so things are still up and down. But we've made progress.
Sorry I don't have a lot of spiritual stuff to write. I was sick two
days, then we had Thanksgiving, so we didn't get to work a whole lot
this week. But last night we did get to help someone out. One of our
recent converts was contemplating suicide. It was an intense night.
We found out where she was, calmed her down, and talked to her. We
shared some scriptures about the Atonement and encouraged her to pray.
She said she felt so guilty for something she did and couldn't go to
the Lord or to her family. But she said she would pray. I shared DyC
45:3-5 with her and explained that nobody is perfect. We all make
mistakes, and we have the Atonement to help us out.
I love that scripture. When I read that, I get such a powerful mental
image of the Savior pleading our cause before the Father. I think of
standing there, at the final stage of judgment, leading to the
eternities with our families, with an eternal companion. Standing
there with the Savior. Ah I dunno, it's just so powerful, so
personal.
Well, I need to go, but I hope you are all doing great! Enjoy those
leftovers, enjoy the snow. Love life!
I love you guys! Take care and have an awesome week!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
Haha whats up guys!
Where to start...
I killed a big ol scorpion this week! It was crawling up the wall.
Not cool. I'm okay with spiders and cockroaches, but scorpions cross
the line. Ugh.
So i finally got sick. I had some wicked boo and a nice little fever
on Tuesday. But all is well now. Haha I still get some aftershocks
in the bathroom, but nothing too severe.
Mom, don't worry about not writing last week! And Dad, I hope your
hand is alright! Sounds like that was pretty nasty.
So Wednesday, my companion had a meeting in Rehu, so I was on a split
with Elder Rigby and Elder Thorley. That afternoon we went to Cocales
to pick up my companion. We waited two hours and Elder Herrera still
hadn't showed up. And there were no more buses going to Nueva
Concepcion. Haha so we got a ride to Patulul (paradise) and stayed
with the elders there for the night. At 10:30 my companion finally
showed up there (there was a huge accident and backed up traffic).
And he brought mail with him. In the mail was a HUGE box full of
American candy!!! (I didnt open it until we got home the next day).
Thank you soooo much! I've been pigging out and I love it haha. I
also got a little package from Brother Teeples, which had a microfiber
towel and a letter inside. It was awesome. I'm writing him back
today, but please tell him thank you for me. I also got letters from
Kelley, Rita, Kendy, and Megan! Awesome. Haha that made for an
awesome night. But I slept on the concrete floor without a blanket or
pillow. Didn't sleep much. But I still had enough energy to get
through the next day.
So on Thursday we went to Tiquisate for Thanksgiving. We cooked an
actual turkey! It was so expensive, but worth it. We had mashed
potatoes, sweet potatoes, cake, bread, gravy. It took forever to cook
and everyone was bored and in a bad mood. But I was loving it! Haha
I helped cook and that was fun. I got some time to play the piano in
the chapel there and that was so great. And we got to talk and just
hang out and stuff. There are 6 greenies in our zone right now. It's
crazy! It was funny to talk to them. They're all gringoes. So yeah,
everyone was in a really bad mood and I was like, what the heck! It's
Thanksgiving! The Latinos were especially upset. They didn't like
the food and they were ticked off that we wasted an entire day
celebrating Thanksgiving haha! I couldn't help but get nostalgic. It
was really tough to sit there among grumpy company, eating a partially
raw turkey in a circle of chairs (haha we didn't have a table) and
listening to Hillary's Christmas cd. Haha it was almost like a movie
and I just sat there thinking about you guys and the snow, Harry
Potter, leftovers, movies, Settlers, etc. Haha it was sad, but it was
so awesome to have a legit Thanksgiving meal. I successfully didn't
let other people get me down.
I love hearing about your guys' Thanksgiving! Ah sounds like it was
awesome. I wrote you all letters and sent those off this morning. As
far as calling for Christmas, I think I'll be able to buy a card and
call with that. I'm still trying to figure it out. But there
shouldn't be any problems.
Haha so Elder Rigby found out that my companion still rides on the
back of peoples' motorcycles and he was like WHAT!? What is he
doing!?? Haha I just sat there and said, yeah, that's my companion.
Haha so things are still up and down. But we've made progress.
Sorry I don't have a lot of spiritual stuff to write. I was sick two
days, then we had Thanksgiving, so we didn't get to work a whole lot
this week. But last night we did get to help someone out. One of our
recent converts was contemplating suicide. It was an intense night.
We found out where she was, calmed her down, and talked to her. We
shared some scriptures about the Atonement and encouraged her to pray.
She said she felt so guilty for something she did and couldn't go to
the Lord or to her family. But she said she would pray. I shared DyC
45:3-5 with her and explained that nobody is perfect. We all make
mistakes, and we have the Atonement to help us out.
I love that scripture. When I read that, I get such a powerful mental
image of the Savior pleading our cause before the Father. I think of
standing there, at the final stage of judgment, leading to the
eternities with our families, with an eternal companion. Standing
there with the Savior. Ah I dunno, it's just so powerful, so
personal.
Well, I need to go, but I hope you are all doing great! Enjoy those
leftovers, enjoy the snow. Love life!
I love you guys! Take care and have an awesome week!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
A Rainbow Shining in the Dark Sky!
11-22-10
Happy Thanksgiving! And Brock! Happy Birthday!!
This week was pretty awesome. To start, Im gonna answer some of your guys questions. Transfers are on December 22nd, so I have no idea how calling will work. I will talk to the Zone Leaders when I get the chance. I doubt skype will be possible. Word on the street is that we will be celebrating Thanksgiving as a zone, so that should be fun!
And Dad, I get the Liahona in English. The Liahona had a special edition on temples too and I absolutely loved it. There was some cool stuff in there. I use the pictures in some of our lessons. I loved that poem about habits, its so true. And its so easy to develop bad habits so quickly. Its a constant fight. ANd that picture with the turkey leg is epic. You should frame that one haha!
Haley, your stories are so great! They bring back so many memories, I love it!
So on Tuesday we met the other two elders in our zone. One of them is new, and he helicoptered his first three nights in the field (helicoptering is when you poo and vomit at the same time). He lost a lot of weight, I feel so bad for him. On the way to meeting them, a guy who had peed himself came up to me and my companion and asked us for money. We told him we had none. He started quoting scriptures and he was making really creepy and distorted faces and noises. And he tried to tell us we were evil for not loving our neighbor. We explained that we are here to help people spiritually, and he started quoting scripture again. I think he was possessed. It was weird.
Later that day we chopped some firewood for some members. Ive got some nice big blisters from that. But they were all impressed that a gringo knew how to use an axe. They were also surprised that I could work more than five minutes. Haha its ironic how some of these people are really lazy and they look at Americans like they're sloths. Haha Im glad I can set them straight. Wednesday we were walking to an appointment and saw a lady pushing her motorcycle. we offered to help her out. THe bike wouldnt start, so we helped her push it to the body shop or whatever its called. Elder Herrera sat on the bike and steared while I pushed from the back haha! It was about 350 degrees and I had my backpack on. The lady got in a tuktuk (taxi) to lead us where to go. So I was trying to keep up with the taxi and it was so hard. It felt like running a 400 with weights on my back. As we turned a corner, two dogs started chasing us. I was dead tired and I just tried to book it as fast as I could. One of the dogs grabbed onto my shoe, so I kicked him in the face pretty good. But the other bit Elder Herreras leg... and drew blood. I was trying to kick it, but I couldnt because I was running and pushing at the same time. We eventually got away and found out the dogs were vaccinated (thank goodness). I was a sweaty mess by the time we got to our destination.
Speaking of my companion, we have made some amazing progress! Ive been knocking out one bad habit at a time, one or two a week. I found a strategy. I find where it talks about the thing we struggle with, or the thing we dont do correctly, in Preach My Gospel. And then I tell my companion that I want to study that section during companionship study. We do so, and Elder Herrera will read something and say, "Thats a really good idea, I think we should try that." And then I just smile and say, I agree, lets do it. Haha its almost too perfect! And I dont tell you this to brag that Im changing my companion. Im just so happy that I figured out how to help him realize that we can be better. And it has been so great to see him change himself! Preach My Gospel is so awesome.
On Thursday, we got a call from a lady in the ward, Eugenia, and her baby needed a blessing. We said we would stop by after our appointment (It wasnt urgent). But we had a problem. I lost my vial of oil three or four weeks ago. And my companions fell off his belt loop two weeks ago. So I knelt down and prayed that I would be able to find mine. Keep in mind, I hadnt been able to find it for three weeks. I stood up, looked around my desk, then stopped. I walked straight to my room, and picked up my suitcase and reached down to pick up the vial of oil. It was like I knew it was there. It was a miracle.
Most people here arent comfortable looking me in the eye, especially girls. But I met a 14 year old girl this week who was not afraid to look me in the eye. I found out she has a baby of two months, and her husband was killed four months ago. And she is 14 years old. That helped me realize that I dont realize how blessed I really am.
Last thing. Last night we were walking to the church to meet a family who was going to accompany us to an appointment. It had just stormed, and we could see the storm in the distance. There was a full moon on the other side of the sky. As I looked up at the huge clouds, I saw a rainbow! A rainbow in the dark! And there was lightning flashing in the distance, it was the gnarliest night sky I had ever seen. And despite the full moon, the stars were still bright. It was nuts. So cool.
I hope you all have an awesome week. Im trying to write you all letters and I hope I can get them to you by Christmas. I love you guys! And remember, if you want to get good at something, practice it! If you want to master something, keep practicing. Practice is the key to learning.
Love you!
Elder Austin Tyler
Happy Thanksgiving! And Brock! Happy Birthday!!
This week was pretty awesome. To start, Im gonna answer some of your guys questions. Transfers are on December 22nd, so I have no idea how calling will work. I will talk to the Zone Leaders when I get the chance. I doubt skype will be possible. Word on the street is that we will be celebrating Thanksgiving as a zone, so that should be fun!
And Dad, I get the Liahona in English. The Liahona had a special edition on temples too and I absolutely loved it. There was some cool stuff in there. I use the pictures in some of our lessons. I loved that poem about habits, its so true. And its so easy to develop bad habits so quickly. Its a constant fight. ANd that picture with the turkey leg is epic. You should frame that one haha!
Haley, your stories are so great! They bring back so many memories, I love it!
So on Tuesday we met the other two elders in our zone. One of them is new, and he helicoptered his first three nights in the field (helicoptering is when you poo and vomit at the same time). He lost a lot of weight, I feel so bad for him. On the way to meeting them, a guy who had peed himself came up to me and my companion and asked us for money. We told him we had none. He started quoting scriptures and he was making really creepy and distorted faces and noises. And he tried to tell us we were evil for not loving our neighbor. We explained that we are here to help people spiritually, and he started quoting scripture again. I think he was possessed. It was weird.
Later that day we chopped some firewood for some members. Ive got some nice big blisters from that. But they were all impressed that a gringo knew how to use an axe. They were also surprised that I could work more than five minutes. Haha its ironic how some of these people are really lazy and they look at Americans like they're sloths. Haha Im glad I can set them straight. Wednesday we were walking to an appointment and saw a lady pushing her motorcycle. we offered to help her out. THe bike wouldnt start, so we helped her push it to the body shop or whatever its called. Elder Herrera sat on the bike and steared while I pushed from the back haha! It was about 350 degrees and I had my backpack on. The lady got in a tuktuk (taxi) to lead us where to go. So I was trying to keep up with the taxi and it was so hard. It felt like running a 400 with weights on my back. As we turned a corner, two dogs started chasing us. I was dead tired and I just tried to book it as fast as I could. One of the dogs grabbed onto my shoe, so I kicked him in the face pretty good. But the other bit Elder Herreras leg... and drew blood. I was trying to kick it, but I couldnt because I was running and pushing at the same time. We eventually got away and found out the dogs were vaccinated (thank goodness). I was a sweaty mess by the time we got to our destination.
Speaking of my companion, we have made some amazing progress! Ive been knocking out one bad habit at a time, one or two a week. I found a strategy. I find where it talks about the thing we struggle with, or the thing we dont do correctly, in Preach My Gospel. And then I tell my companion that I want to study that section during companionship study. We do so, and Elder Herrera will read something and say, "Thats a really good idea, I think we should try that." And then I just smile and say, I agree, lets do it. Haha its almost too perfect! And I dont tell you this to brag that Im changing my companion. Im just so happy that I figured out how to help him realize that we can be better. And it has been so great to see him change himself! Preach My Gospel is so awesome.
On Thursday, we got a call from a lady in the ward, Eugenia, and her baby needed a blessing. We said we would stop by after our appointment (It wasnt urgent). But we had a problem. I lost my vial of oil three or four weeks ago. And my companions fell off his belt loop two weeks ago. So I knelt down and prayed that I would be able to find mine. Keep in mind, I hadnt been able to find it for three weeks. I stood up, looked around my desk, then stopped. I walked straight to my room, and picked up my suitcase and reached down to pick up the vial of oil. It was like I knew it was there. It was a miracle.
Most people here arent comfortable looking me in the eye, especially girls. But I met a 14 year old girl this week who was not afraid to look me in the eye. I found out she has a baby of two months, and her husband was killed four months ago. And she is 14 years old. That helped me realize that I dont realize how blessed I really am.
Last thing. Last night we were walking to the church to meet a family who was going to accompany us to an appointment. It had just stormed, and we could see the storm in the distance. There was a full moon on the other side of the sky. As I looked up at the huge clouds, I saw a rainbow! A rainbow in the dark! And there was lightning flashing in the distance, it was the gnarliest night sky I had ever seen. And despite the full moon, the stars were still bright. It was nuts. So cool.
I hope you all have an awesome week. Im trying to write you all letters and I hope I can get them to you by Christmas. I love you guys! And remember, if you want to get good at something, practice it! If you want to master something, keep practicing. Practice is the key to learning.
Love you!
Elder Austin Tyler
Monday, November 15, 2010
Perseverance and blessings.
¡Buenos dias!
Haha! You guys are the best family in the world! Thanks for your
prayers and advice. It really does help so much.
I got a letter from Elder Jordan Franks this week! But I think it was
written a month and a half ago haha.
And I noticed last night that my top permanent retainer broke in half.
I dont know when, but it doesnt hurt or anything. Its just
ineffective. So looks like I have to start wearing my night retainer
EVERY night. ugh. ha
Dad that picture of the foliage and stuff is the cafeteria where we
eat (I think). It is right in front of our house. This computer
doesnt have an apostrophe button haha, and its frustrating to my
perfectionist tendencies. ANd as far as the Garcia family, we have an
appointment with them on Wednesday. The father works in the capital,
so its gonna be hard to teach them, but I know we were led to them for
a reason.
I hear from John quite a bit and it sounds like hes doing great! Troy
I heard from once, and he is so focused. Its so cool.
About changes!
I am still here in Nueva Concepcion with Elder Herrera (which Im
actually excited about!), but our area was cut in half. Thank
goodness! Elder Herrera is still District Leader and we have two new
elders here. Elder Thorley from Vegas and Elder Rigby from Layton,
UT. Elder Thorley is a GREENIE! Haha its so cool to be here with a
couple of Americans. I feel like I can learn so much from Elder Rigby
and I can help out Elder Thorley. Its helped me see how much progress
ive made since my time in the MTC. I went on a split with Elder Rigby
to show him the area and introduce him to some of the members and
investigators. He has ten months and he is obedient and determined.
His Spanish, although way better than mine, sounds kind of funny after
spending so much time with a fluent companion. Its been awesome to
have them here.
It is winter here right now, and its really interesting. Its hot
every day, but it cools off a bit at night (To the point where the
natives wear sweatshirts, and I still sweat in a short sleeve shirt)
haha! And it will be like this until February. In March and April it
gets hotter and hotter, and doesnt cool off at night, until May brings
tons of rain. Thats when things finally cool off.
I get so sick of the heat and dust, it makes for a nasty feeling of
dirt and grime at the end of the day. I shower before bed and when I
wake up. And I hate showering because the water is freezing! Haha
but I feel so much better afterwards.
This week we were on an especially dusty road and there were cars and
motorcycles driving by, continuously swirling the dust. I could
hardly see or breathe for the two miles we were on the road. And I
was sweating. Haha I just laughed and thought (in an Austin Eckel
sort of way) "This is soo horrible!!" And laughed some more. It
really was horrible, but I just thought about how funny it was that I
was in Guatemala in the heat and how I was still happy.
The heat makes it tough to focus. Im still memorizing a scripture
every day, and sometimes it is soo hard. But Ive learned sooo much
and Ive gotten so much better at remembering things! Its way cool.
And I pray for the help of the Spirit in remembering the things I
study (something I recommend for anybody that wants to do well in
school or work). I plan on continuing that pattern forever.
I miss snow and cold weather. I love hearing about those BYU football
games and the cold weather thats coming. Ah I miss that. Its good to
know that it will be there when I get back.
Dad, what you were saying about being willing to change, or
acknowledging that fact that we need to change and improve. I was
thinking about that this week. Whenever I study "Preach My Gospel"
and I read something that I dont do, I have a tendency to blow it off
and say, "thats not how its done, or thats awkward or ineffective."
Ive learned to recognize that feeling and as soon as I recognize it I
remind myself that Preach My Gospel was written by people who know
missionary work wayy better than I do. That it is the guide for
missionary work. And then I try to apply it. Ive tried to think of
that book as my trainer, and ive learned so much from it. When I
apply things in that book, it only improves. It may be awkward to
start a conversation a certain way, or to ask a certain question, or
to speak more boldly, but it works.
Haley, your poem is legit. And it sounds like PowderPuff was awesome!
Props on your tackle :)
And Mom, I got my debit card to work at the ATM, and yes I can buy
batteries here. So dont worry about sending those if theyre heavy!
Oh, and no need to worry about my number getting around. You cant use
cards to buy things here, only cash.
And also, I feel healthier. I work out more in the mornings and that
helps. And I figured out what to eat and stuff.
You guys have mentioned that Aubrey Evans is gonna write me, and Ive
been waiting for that for a long time haha! If you have her address,
could you send that to me?
And could you also give me Jonathon Clarks address? That would be
awesome. Thank you!
So ive mentioned how the mission is so up and down emotionally. I
woke up at three in the morning Sunday morning and couldnt sleep. The
thought "what in the world am I doing here, on a mission, in
Guatemala, etc?" and it was horrible! Haha but I was reminded of a
lesson the Brother Bott taught in my mission prep class at BYU. He
said those moments of depression will come, and you just need to
recognize them and not let it get to you. And he explained a process
of antidepression. Ha Sunday proved to be tough and I just kept
fighting those awful thoughts. And I kept doing my best to focus and
love everyone. Then last night we found an awesome family and taught
them a quick lesson on faith and repentance. I felt soo happy! It
was such a relief to find success after such a tough day. This
morning I was thinking about how one day I will be comfortable with
all of this and I will be able to help others with my experience and
knowledge. That got me excited.
Last Sunday I fasted for the gift of tongues. On Tuesday and
Wednesday I understood almost everything. It was so amazing. I know
there is power in fasting and prayer. I know that faith precedes
miracles and power. I know that the Spirit can guide us and enable us
to do amazing things. And I know that I need His help.
I gotta go, but I love you guys and hope youre doing great! Have an
awesome week!
Love,
Elder Tyler
Haha! You guys are the best family in the world! Thanks for your
prayers and advice. It really does help so much.
I got a letter from Elder Jordan Franks this week! But I think it was
written a month and a half ago haha.
And I noticed last night that my top permanent retainer broke in half.
I dont know when, but it doesnt hurt or anything. Its just
ineffective. So looks like I have to start wearing my night retainer
EVERY night. ugh. ha
Dad that picture of the foliage and stuff is the cafeteria where we
eat (I think). It is right in front of our house. This computer
doesnt have an apostrophe button haha, and its frustrating to my
perfectionist tendencies. ANd as far as the Garcia family, we have an
appointment with them on Wednesday. The father works in the capital,
so its gonna be hard to teach them, but I know we were led to them for
a reason.
I hear from John quite a bit and it sounds like hes doing great! Troy
I heard from once, and he is so focused. Its so cool.
About changes!
I am still here in Nueva Concepcion with Elder Herrera (which Im
actually excited about!), but our area was cut in half. Thank
goodness! Elder Herrera is still District Leader and we have two new
elders here. Elder Thorley from Vegas and Elder Rigby from Layton,
UT. Elder Thorley is a GREENIE! Haha its so cool to be here with a
couple of Americans. I feel like I can learn so much from Elder Rigby
and I can help out Elder Thorley. Its helped me see how much progress
ive made since my time in the MTC. I went on a split with Elder Rigby
to show him the area and introduce him to some of the members and
investigators. He has ten months and he is obedient and determined.
His Spanish, although way better than mine, sounds kind of funny after
spending so much time with a fluent companion. Its been awesome to
have them here.
It is winter here right now, and its really interesting. Its hot
every day, but it cools off a bit at night (To the point where the
natives wear sweatshirts, and I still sweat in a short sleeve shirt)
haha! And it will be like this until February. In March and April it
gets hotter and hotter, and doesnt cool off at night, until May brings
tons of rain. Thats when things finally cool off.
I get so sick of the heat and dust, it makes for a nasty feeling of
dirt and grime at the end of the day. I shower before bed and when I
wake up. And I hate showering because the water is freezing! Haha
but I feel so much better afterwards.
This week we were on an especially dusty road and there were cars and
motorcycles driving by, continuously swirling the dust. I could
hardly see or breathe for the two miles we were on the road. And I
was sweating. Haha I just laughed and thought (in an Austin Eckel
sort of way) "This is soo horrible!!" And laughed some more. It
really was horrible, but I just thought about how funny it was that I
was in Guatemala in the heat and how I was still happy.
The heat makes it tough to focus. Im still memorizing a scripture
every day, and sometimes it is soo hard. But Ive learned sooo much
and Ive gotten so much better at remembering things! Its way cool.
And I pray for the help of the Spirit in remembering the things I
study (something I recommend for anybody that wants to do well in
school or work). I plan on continuing that pattern forever.
I miss snow and cold weather. I love hearing about those BYU football
games and the cold weather thats coming. Ah I miss that. Its good to
know that it will be there when I get back.
Dad, what you were saying about being willing to change, or
acknowledging that fact that we need to change and improve. I was
thinking about that this week. Whenever I study "Preach My Gospel"
and I read something that I dont do, I have a tendency to blow it off
and say, "thats not how its done, or thats awkward or ineffective."
Ive learned to recognize that feeling and as soon as I recognize it I
remind myself that Preach My Gospel was written by people who know
missionary work wayy better than I do. That it is the guide for
missionary work. And then I try to apply it. Ive tried to think of
that book as my trainer, and ive learned so much from it. When I
apply things in that book, it only improves. It may be awkward to
start a conversation a certain way, or to ask a certain question, or
to speak more boldly, but it works.
Haley, your poem is legit. And it sounds like PowderPuff was awesome!
Props on your tackle :)
And Mom, I got my debit card to work at the ATM, and yes I can buy
batteries here. So dont worry about sending those if theyre heavy!
Oh, and no need to worry about my number getting around. You cant use
cards to buy things here, only cash.
And also, I feel healthier. I work out more in the mornings and that
helps. And I figured out what to eat and stuff.
You guys have mentioned that Aubrey Evans is gonna write me, and Ive
been waiting for that for a long time haha! If you have her address,
could you send that to me?
And could you also give me Jonathon Clarks address? That would be
awesome. Thank you!
So ive mentioned how the mission is so up and down emotionally. I
woke up at three in the morning Sunday morning and couldnt sleep. The
thought "what in the world am I doing here, on a mission, in
Guatemala, etc?" and it was horrible! Haha but I was reminded of a
lesson the Brother Bott taught in my mission prep class at BYU. He
said those moments of depression will come, and you just need to
recognize them and not let it get to you. And he explained a process
of antidepression. Ha Sunday proved to be tough and I just kept
fighting those awful thoughts. And I kept doing my best to focus and
love everyone. Then last night we found an awesome family and taught
them a quick lesson on faith and repentance. I felt soo happy! It
was such a relief to find success after such a tough day. This
morning I was thinking about how one day I will be comfortable with
all of this and I will be able to help others with my experience and
knowledge. That got me excited.
Last Sunday I fasted for the gift of tongues. On Tuesday and
Wednesday I understood almost everything. It was so amazing. I know
there is power in fasting and prayer. I know that faith precedes
miracles and power. I know that the Spirit can guide us and enable us
to do amazing things. And I know that I need His help.
I gotta go, but I love you guys and hope youre doing great! Have an
awesome week!
Love,
Elder Tyler
The first opportunity to teach a whole family!
Ahhh I loved all your emails! Thank you so much for the advice and
everything. This week, although by no means easier, was better. Mom,
that talk by President Hinckley was powerful, I needed that. It
sounds like your vacation was great! Mom on a jetski!?!?!? Haha
thats so awesome!
We had a little vacation of our own today, thats why my email is so
late. We were the most successful zone in the mission during October,
so we traveled to Reu (Retalhuleu) and met up with President Maravilla
and his family and the Assistants to the President and the
Secretaries. We went to this really nice resort (way cheap too!) and
played mini golf for our P Day. It was pretty awesome. Everyone kept
asking about how my Spanish is coming along and they all told me they
were impressed with my progress. So that tells me I think Im
progressing more than I think I am haha. President was really
impressed and told me to keep it up. He was pleased with our success
this past month and told us it better continue haha! We have some
great goals set, so I think it will continue.
After playing mini golf we sat around and talked until leaving to eat
lunch at BURGER KING. That was amazing. Oh and I think I overreacted
on the weight thing. I weighed myself this week and Im still at 180.
Ive been eating healthier and adjusted my work out plan every morning
and thats going well.
Dad, AA batteries are what I need most. And three AAA: Thanks!
And Mom, that sheet will work great! I dont remember all that I wrote
in my letter regarding the Plan of Salvation sheet, but I think it was
detailed enough. Im sure whatever you think will work will be just
great.
So I tried Iguana this week. That was interesting. We killed the
iguana ourselves and had a member cook it for us. Then we caught a
huge one that afternoon! Both green ones! Those are pretty rare, it
was nuts.
I also tried cow tongue. That was interesting too. Haha I dont think
it was the cause of my bu (diahrrea) but i felt a little funny after
eating it.
So a couple of really cool things happened this week. First, we took
a bus out to the trochas (toward the beach, which I still have yet to
see) and visited a family from the branch. They were so excited to
have us over. They gave me two coconuts to drink and then fed us
soup. Who knows what was in it! Haha it was weird. But we visited
with them for a bit and then we were about to leave when they informed
us that there wasnt a bus that comes by until three. It was one. My
companion was sure there was a bus that came every hour haha! The
father of the family offered to take us back on his motorcycle. Elder
Herrera said well my companion doesnt like to do that. They asked me
why. I explained that it was dangerous (rather than explaining that
we had a rule saying it was prohibited. That would have exposed an
element of disobedience and disunity in our companionship) and that I
dont like to do it haha. So Elder Herrera looked at me and asked what
we were going to do. He said, we have three options... walk the two
hour hike back to the house, wait the two hours for the bus, or take
the motorcycle. I said, well I will narrow it down to two options and
you can pick from there haha. He laughed and said, I guess we will
wait for the bus. Five minutes after we made that decision, we heard
a horn honking in the distance. It was a bus horn! We ran to the
street after saying our goodbyes and made it just in time! The bus
came out of nowhere and never comes at that time! It was such a
blessing. We got back to the house in time for Language Study and we
were on time to our appointment after that.
Another cool thing... So President told us we can use bikes if we need
them, but to be careful and not take improper advantage of his
permission. The other night we had two appointments in the Pampas,
which are pretty far. It was a situation that justified using bikes.
So we rode all the way our there. Elder Herreras bike chain kept
falling off. But we finally got to the house. The family wasnt
there. We went to the other house. That family wasnt there. UGH
haha
So we started to head back and we saw a man outside of his house
talking to his wife! A married couple! And there were kids in the
yard! It was a family just waiting for us! (we have had quite the
time trying to find actual families to teach and its a huge goal of
our zone). So we talked to the father. His wife had to go do
something and couldnt visit with us. But we talked to this guy and
realized he was very well versed in religion. He knew his stuff and
had investigated the church a bit. But the cool thing was how this
guy didnt let his knowledge turn into pride. A lot of times,
intelligent people become enslaved by their own knowledge. They let
it prevent them from seeing things from another point of view, or
understanding things in different ways. They let it get in the way of
feeling and humility. This man, Brother Garcia, was different. He
sat there and thought about each thing we said. He would then point
out how it was in agreement with something from the Bible and how he
never understand how other churches dont teach it that way, etc. It
was so cool to see him realize that there was more to the gospel of
Jesus Christ than what many churches teach. He accepted the Book of
Mormon and was eager to pray about it.
If we hadnt had those two appointments out there, and if they hadnt
fallen through, we might not have had the chance to find and teach
him. It helped see that sometimes there is a purpose to things not
working out as planned.
Awhile back, Mom asked if the place Im in is dangerous. Nueva
Concepcion is too lazy to be dangerous. Im sure stuff happens, but
the most dangerous thing for us is the street. Haha I almost got hit
by a drunk riding his bike today. Thats a pretty common thing. And
there are ten year olds driving motorcycles. We always have to be
alert when walking in the streets because its pretty crazy. But other
than that its pretty safe around here. People respect us as fellow
Christians, so we dont get any trouble.
So Ive mentioned that almost everyone here goes to church. The
churches teach some pretty interesting stuff. I dont want to get too
far into it because theyre all trying to do what they think is right.
But something that gives me weird feelings is when some of the
Evangelicos pray. They get all emotional and raise their voices and
weep and wail and chant. And everyone listening to the prayer mutters
chants and whispers and stuff. Its creepy sometimes haha and it makes
it kind of tough to teach the proper, reverent, method of prayer.
But theyre all good people and Im continuously learning to love them.
Ive learned a lot this first change and I look forward to seeing what
will happen this week. As anxious as I am to know whats going to
happen, Ive prayed to have the strength and faith to submit to what
the Lord has in store and make the best of it. Actually doing that is
harder than saying it, as is everything in the mission, but Im
determined. I was studying a lot about faith this week and learned
that faith is a gift from God, a spiritual gift. As we demonstrate
our faith through our actions and our humble desires to serve the
Lord, He is able to give us more faith. He is able to strengthen our
hope and we can partake, little by little, of the fruit of the tree of
life. Sometimes my faith is stronger than other times and I can feel
a difference in my abilities to speak Spanish and teach by the Spirit.
I have a desire to acquire more of it, and Im determined to act on
that desire.
I love you guys and hope youre all doing great! Haley, you arent a
terrible sister! But thats no excuse not to write haha I love your
letters!
Oh, funny story. Theres a house with two sisters (in their late
twenties) who live with their father. And we go there a lot to eat
dinner. And they do our laundry. But theres a drunk that lives close
by and every night he yells "PERDONEME!" at the top of his lungs.
Perdoneme means forgive me. Haha its the weirdest thing, but its
hilarious. When we walk by he tries to talk to me in english but hes
too drunk to say much. When he isnt yelling it means he has passed
out for the night. Funny, but in a sad way. People drink sooo much
here, its crazy.
Well, gotta go. Love you all and hope you have a great week! Thanks
for your advice and please continue to give it. I have so much to
learn.
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
P.S. Dad, I love the pictures, you guys look great! And I havent
gotten mail in a couple weeks, but before that I received a bunch of
letters. None from you guys yet, but Im sure theyre all in a pile at
the mission office. ill find out this week.
everything. This week, although by no means easier, was better. Mom,
that talk by President Hinckley was powerful, I needed that. It
sounds like your vacation was great! Mom on a jetski!?!?!? Haha
thats so awesome!
We had a little vacation of our own today, thats why my email is so
late. We were the most successful zone in the mission during October,
so we traveled to Reu (Retalhuleu) and met up with President Maravilla
and his family and the Assistants to the President and the
Secretaries. We went to this really nice resort (way cheap too!) and
played mini golf for our P Day. It was pretty awesome. Everyone kept
asking about how my Spanish is coming along and they all told me they
were impressed with my progress. So that tells me I think Im
progressing more than I think I am haha. President was really
impressed and told me to keep it up. He was pleased with our success
this past month and told us it better continue haha! We have some
great goals set, so I think it will continue.
After playing mini golf we sat around and talked until leaving to eat
lunch at BURGER KING. That was amazing. Oh and I think I overreacted
on the weight thing. I weighed myself this week and Im still at 180.
Ive been eating healthier and adjusted my work out plan every morning
and thats going well.
Dad, AA batteries are what I need most. And three AAA: Thanks!
And Mom, that sheet will work great! I dont remember all that I wrote
in my letter regarding the Plan of Salvation sheet, but I think it was
detailed enough. Im sure whatever you think will work will be just
great.
So I tried Iguana this week. That was interesting. We killed the
iguana ourselves and had a member cook it for us. Then we caught a
huge one that afternoon! Both green ones! Those are pretty rare, it
was nuts.
I also tried cow tongue. That was interesting too. Haha I dont think
it was the cause of my bu (diahrrea) but i felt a little funny after
eating it.
So a couple of really cool things happened this week. First, we took
a bus out to the trochas (toward the beach, which I still have yet to
see) and visited a family from the branch. They were so excited to
have us over. They gave me two coconuts to drink and then fed us
soup. Who knows what was in it! Haha it was weird. But we visited
with them for a bit and then we were about to leave when they informed
us that there wasnt a bus that comes by until three. It was one. My
companion was sure there was a bus that came every hour haha! The
father of the family offered to take us back on his motorcycle. Elder
Herrera said well my companion doesnt like to do that. They asked me
why. I explained that it was dangerous (rather than explaining that
we had a rule saying it was prohibited. That would have exposed an
element of disobedience and disunity in our companionship) and that I
dont like to do it haha. So Elder Herrera looked at me and asked what
we were going to do. He said, we have three options... walk the two
hour hike back to the house, wait the two hours for the bus, or take
the motorcycle. I said, well I will narrow it down to two options and
you can pick from there haha. He laughed and said, I guess we will
wait for the bus. Five minutes after we made that decision, we heard
a horn honking in the distance. It was a bus horn! We ran to the
street after saying our goodbyes and made it just in time! The bus
came out of nowhere and never comes at that time! It was such a
blessing. We got back to the house in time for Language Study and we
were on time to our appointment after that.
Another cool thing... So President told us we can use bikes if we need
them, but to be careful and not take improper advantage of his
permission. The other night we had two appointments in the Pampas,
which are pretty far. It was a situation that justified using bikes.
So we rode all the way our there. Elder Herreras bike chain kept
falling off. But we finally got to the house. The family wasnt
there. We went to the other house. That family wasnt there. UGH
haha
So we started to head back and we saw a man outside of his house
talking to his wife! A married couple! And there were kids in the
yard! It was a family just waiting for us! (we have had quite the
time trying to find actual families to teach and its a huge goal of
our zone). So we talked to the father. His wife had to go do
something and couldnt visit with us. But we talked to this guy and
realized he was very well versed in religion. He knew his stuff and
had investigated the church a bit. But the cool thing was how this
guy didnt let his knowledge turn into pride. A lot of times,
intelligent people become enslaved by their own knowledge. They let
it prevent them from seeing things from another point of view, or
understanding things in different ways. They let it get in the way of
feeling and humility. This man, Brother Garcia, was different. He
sat there and thought about each thing we said. He would then point
out how it was in agreement with something from the Bible and how he
never understand how other churches dont teach it that way, etc. It
was so cool to see him realize that there was more to the gospel of
Jesus Christ than what many churches teach. He accepted the Book of
Mormon and was eager to pray about it.
If we hadnt had those two appointments out there, and if they hadnt
fallen through, we might not have had the chance to find and teach
him. It helped see that sometimes there is a purpose to things not
working out as planned.
Awhile back, Mom asked if the place Im in is dangerous. Nueva
Concepcion is too lazy to be dangerous. Im sure stuff happens, but
the most dangerous thing for us is the street. Haha I almost got hit
by a drunk riding his bike today. Thats a pretty common thing. And
there are ten year olds driving motorcycles. We always have to be
alert when walking in the streets because its pretty crazy. But other
than that its pretty safe around here. People respect us as fellow
Christians, so we dont get any trouble.
So Ive mentioned that almost everyone here goes to church. The
churches teach some pretty interesting stuff. I dont want to get too
far into it because theyre all trying to do what they think is right.
But something that gives me weird feelings is when some of the
Evangelicos pray. They get all emotional and raise their voices and
weep and wail and chant. And everyone listening to the prayer mutters
chants and whispers and stuff. Its creepy sometimes haha and it makes
it kind of tough to teach the proper, reverent, method of prayer.
But theyre all good people and Im continuously learning to love them.
Ive learned a lot this first change and I look forward to seeing what
will happen this week. As anxious as I am to know whats going to
happen, Ive prayed to have the strength and faith to submit to what
the Lord has in store and make the best of it. Actually doing that is
harder than saying it, as is everything in the mission, but Im
determined. I was studying a lot about faith this week and learned
that faith is a gift from God, a spiritual gift. As we demonstrate
our faith through our actions and our humble desires to serve the
Lord, He is able to give us more faith. He is able to strengthen our
hope and we can partake, little by little, of the fruit of the tree of
life. Sometimes my faith is stronger than other times and I can feel
a difference in my abilities to speak Spanish and teach by the Spirit.
I have a desire to acquire more of it, and Im determined to act on
that desire.
I love you guys and hope youre all doing great! Haley, you arent a
terrible sister! But thats no excuse not to write haha I love your
letters!
Oh, funny story. Theres a house with two sisters (in their late
twenties) who live with their father. And we go there a lot to eat
dinner. And they do our laundry. But theres a drunk that lives close
by and every night he yells "PERDONEME!" at the top of his lungs.
Perdoneme means forgive me. Haha its the weirdest thing, but its
hilarious. When we walk by he tries to talk to me in english but hes
too drunk to say much. When he isnt yelling it means he has passed
out for the night. Funny, but in a sad way. People drink sooo much
here, its crazy.
Well, gotta go. Love you all and hope you have a great week! Thanks
for your advice and please continue to give it. I have so much to
learn.
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
P.S. Dad, I love the pictures, you guys look great! And I havent
gotten mail in a couple weeks, but before that I received a bunch of
letters. None from you guys yet, but Im sure theyre all in a pile at
the mission office. ill find out this week.
There is power in prayer!
Hi Everyone,
To answer your questions, Mom, about the temple.
I can´t go to the temple during my mission
because it´s outside of the mission boundaries. And they´re
dedicating the Quetzaltenango temple in April, and it´s right outside
our mission border. But we can´t go. So I want to go to the temple
with you guys as soon as I get back ha. I´m so sad about not being
able to go during the mission.
Dad, I think I might be the only gringo to gain weight on a mission in
the Guatemalan coast. It was as frightening as it was gross to
realize I am gaining weight. Haha it was more foreign to me than
anything about this new culture in which I´m living! But not to
worry! I have a new exercise plan and I figured out what I need to
buy as far as food. We eat so much bread and tortillas. And the past
few weeks have been kinda lonely at night, so I would eat a lot before
bed. But I got to spend a night with Elder Grover on a split and I
realized there is good healthy stuff to buy (beside bread) and I´m
gonna look for that today. My guess is that I weigh close to 190 haha
but that´s just a guess.
I´ve been eating a lot of cereal because it´s quick. SInce I do
dishes every morning (haha and night) I don´t have much time to cook
for myself. So I was eating a lot of sugar cereal. Ugh this is weird
to talk about. I´ve never had to worry about my weight. I always
tried to gain weight!
This is the last week before changes and I´m really anxious to see
what happens. I was having a tough day with my companion and was
thinking if President asked me to do another change with him what I
would say. There are times when I really do feel like I love him.
But other times I don´t. And I´m doing my best. I pray for him, I do
dishes and cook for him and all that. And I´m trying to swallow my
pride. I´m direct when I offer suggestions, but he doesn´t like those
very much. Any advice?
Sometimes time goes by really fast and other times it doesnt. This
change is taking it´s time but I feel like the weeks go by quickly.
It´s really weird.
We baptized two more members of Rosa´s family (one of the two girls we
baptized last week). Gloria Santos and Selvin Santos. El Diablo did
not want them to get baptized. They´ve had a lot of problems
financially (they live under a tin roof and on top of a dirt floor)
and this past week Gloria was in and out of the hospital with a random
blood sugar problem. So she was fighting that and still wanted to get
baptized on Friday.
On Friday we went to get the chapel ready for the baptism. We turned
on the font faucet and the water came out black. It was horrible. We
didn´t know what to do. We turned on all the faucets in the bathrooms
to try to get the dirty water out. It didn´t work. While I was in
the bathroom I said a prayer out loud and asked Heavenly Father to
bless the water to come out clean. We drained the dirty water and
turned on the faucet again before leaving to pick up the Santos
Family. As we left a huge storm rolled in and we couldn´t leave their
house. After waiting an hour or so for the rain to stop, we finally
left. We got to the chapel and the font was full of clear water.
There is power in prayer.
We still had some stuff to get ready for the baptism, so I was trying
to help out with that and my companion was frustrated with me because
I didn´t know what to do. He started making fun of me and laughing at
me when I didn´t understand. I didn´t feel very good about that.
But the night before that, Thursday night, we did splits with the Zone
leaders and they took care of interviews for the baptism. That was
when I got to spend a night with Elder Grover. That was such a
blessing. I felt so good being in their house, having companionship
prayer before bed, all that. He cooked pancakes for me and shined my
shoes! It was so cool! I had a lot of random questions for him and
he answered all of them. I asked him about the thing with people
always asking me why I´m sad or upset. He said oh you don´t even
know. That´s the story of my mission. Everyone gives me a hard time
and I´m never angry or sad! Haha so that made me feel more normal.
But not very many people ask me that anymore, I smile a lot more I
think.
I also asked him about what I can do to improve things. I explained a
lot and there were a lot of questions that I asked about the same
topic, but he gave me an answer that made me feel a bit better. He
said not to worry about changing everything right now. He told me to
remember I´m a greenie and I need to learn what I can while being
patient. He said my time will come to apply what I learn and fix what
I need to, but for now, focus on loving your companion and the people
and be patient. That made me feel a lot better. I made a list of
things to improve in the future, so that I don´t forget. And I´m just
being an example and not worrying.
I´ve thought a lot about time lately. Time is such a gift. The
scriptures say time is only measured unto man. I think God gives us
time so that everything doesn´t happen all at once. We learn
patience, as well as how to use our agency to manage our time. And
even to deal with time. Sometimes we want more of it and sometimes we
want less. But all we can do is use our agency to squeeze what we can
out of each moment. I´m learning the basics with the time I have
right now, and I look forward to the time when I can apply what I´m
learning more fully. I don´t know if any of that made sense, but
whateva.
We find a lot of our investigators by tracting, but we are starting to
work more with the members. Our Branch President gave a class on
using pass along cards and working with us missionaries. That was way
cool.
Yesterday we were hoping to confirm Vicky, because she was unable to
come to church last week. We went to her house before church to bring
her with us. Her mom wouldn´t let her go, so she still hasn´t been
confirmed. It´s. so. frustrating.
But we´re staying positive and we continue to pray for her.
They don´t celebrate Halloween anymore here, i guess it kind of died
out a few years ago. I dunno why. But today and tomorrow they
celebrate the Day of the Dead. It´s a pretty big celebration and they
honor their deceased family members.
I have to go, but I sent some pictures before writing this. I hope
you get them! Haley I got your picture and it looks like it´s been a
fun Halloween week!
Mom and Dad I hope you have an awesome time on your cruise! Happy
Anniversary!
That´s so sad what happened to Alex. I hope he heals up fast, does it
look like it´s going to end his season?
I love you guys and hope you´re all doing great! I love your emails.
And I´m so sad when Brock and Aubrey forget to write! Haha hint
hint...
Love you!
Elder Austin Tyler
To answer your questions, Mom, about the temple.
I can´t go to the temple during my mission
because it´s outside of the mission boundaries. And they´re
dedicating the Quetzaltenango temple in April, and it´s right outside
our mission border. But we can´t go. So I want to go to the temple
with you guys as soon as I get back ha. I´m so sad about not being
able to go during the mission.
Dad, I think I might be the only gringo to gain weight on a mission in
the Guatemalan coast. It was as frightening as it was gross to
realize I am gaining weight. Haha it was more foreign to me than
anything about this new culture in which I´m living! But not to
worry! I have a new exercise plan and I figured out what I need to
buy as far as food. We eat so much bread and tortillas. And the past
few weeks have been kinda lonely at night, so I would eat a lot before
bed. But I got to spend a night with Elder Grover on a split and I
realized there is good healthy stuff to buy (beside bread) and I´m
gonna look for that today. My guess is that I weigh close to 190 haha
but that´s just a guess.
I´ve been eating a lot of cereal because it´s quick. SInce I do
dishes every morning (haha and night) I don´t have much time to cook
for myself. So I was eating a lot of sugar cereal. Ugh this is weird
to talk about. I´ve never had to worry about my weight. I always
tried to gain weight!
This is the last week before changes and I´m really anxious to see
what happens. I was having a tough day with my companion and was
thinking if President asked me to do another change with him what I
would say. There are times when I really do feel like I love him.
But other times I don´t. And I´m doing my best. I pray for him, I do
dishes and cook for him and all that. And I´m trying to swallow my
pride. I´m direct when I offer suggestions, but he doesn´t like those
very much. Any advice?
Sometimes time goes by really fast and other times it doesnt. This
change is taking it´s time but I feel like the weeks go by quickly.
It´s really weird.
We baptized two more members of Rosa´s family (one of the two girls we
baptized last week). Gloria Santos and Selvin Santos. El Diablo did
not want them to get baptized. They´ve had a lot of problems
financially (they live under a tin roof and on top of a dirt floor)
and this past week Gloria was in and out of the hospital with a random
blood sugar problem. So she was fighting that and still wanted to get
baptized on Friday.
On Friday we went to get the chapel ready for the baptism. We turned
on the font faucet and the water came out black. It was horrible. We
didn´t know what to do. We turned on all the faucets in the bathrooms
to try to get the dirty water out. It didn´t work. While I was in
the bathroom I said a prayer out loud and asked Heavenly Father to
bless the water to come out clean. We drained the dirty water and
turned on the faucet again before leaving to pick up the Santos
Family. As we left a huge storm rolled in and we couldn´t leave their
house. After waiting an hour or so for the rain to stop, we finally
left. We got to the chapel and the font was full of clear water.
There is power in prayer.
We still had some stuff to get ready for the baptism, so I was trying
to help out with that and my companion was frustrated with me because
I didn´t know what to do. He started making fun of me and laughing at
me when I didn´t understand. I didn´t feel very good about that.
But the night before that, Thursday night, we did splits with the Zone
leaders and they took care of interviews for the baptism. That was
when I got to spend a night with Elder Grover. That was such a
blessing. I felt so good being in their house, having companionship
prayer before bed, all that. He cooked pancakes for me and shined my
shoes! It was so cool! I had a lot of random questions for him and
he answered all of them. I asked him about the thing with people
always asking me why I´m sad or upset. He said oh you don´t even
know. That´s the story of my mission. Everyone gives me a hard time
and I´m never angry or sad! Haha so that made me feel more normal.
But not very many people ask me that anymore, I smile a lot more I
think.
I also asked him about what I can do to improve things. I explained a
lot and there were a lot of questions that I asked about the same
topic, but he gave me an answer that made me feel a bit better. He
said not to worry about changing everything right now. He told me to
remember I´m a greenie and I need to learn what I can while being
patient. He said my time will come to apply what I learn and fix what
I need to, but for now, focus on loving your companion and the people
and be patient. That made me feel a lot better. I made a list of
things to improve in the future, so that I don´t forget. And I´m just
being an example and not worrying.
I´ve thought a lot about time lately. Time is such a gift. The
scriptures say time is only measured unto man. I think God gives us
time so that everything doesn´t happen all at once. We learn
patience, as well as how to use our agency to manage our time. And
even to deal with time. Sometimes we want more of it and sometimes we
want less. But all we can do is use our agency to squeeze what we can
out of each moment. I´m learning the basics with the time I have
right now, and I look forward to the time when I can apply what I´m
learning more fully. I don´t know if any of that made sense, but
whateva.
We find a lot of our investigators by tracting, but we are starting to
work more with the members. Our Branch President gave a class on
using pass along cards and working with us missionaries. That was way
cool.
Yesterday we were hoping to confirm Vicky, because she was unable to
come to church last week. We went to her house before church to bring
her with us. Her mom wouldn´t let her go, so she still hasn´t been
confirmed. It´s. so. frustrating.
But we´re staying positive and we continue to pray for her.
They don´t celebrate Halloween anymore here, i guess it kind of died
out a few years ago. I dunno why. But today and tomorrow they
celebrate the Day of the Dead. It´s a pretty big celebration and they
honor their deceased family members.
I have to go, but I sent some pictures before writing this. I hope
you get them! Haley I got your picture and it looks like it´s been a
fun Halloween week!
Mom and Dad I hope you have an awesome time on your cruise! Happy
Anniversary!
That´s so sad what happened to Alex. I hope he heals up fast, does it
look like it´s going to end his season?
I love you guys and hope you´re all doing great! I love your emails.
And I´m so sad when Brock and Aubrey forget to write! Haha hint
hint...
Love you!
Elder Austin Tyler
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Chased by a dog and bit by a chicken!
It´s sooo hot! Haha.
Haley, I´m gonna start with you! I love hearing about all your high
school experiences! except for your Spanish grade...here´s a tip.
When I study Spanish, I read out loud everything that I read, write,
or memorize. Using the senses of both sight and sound while training
your tongue to remember words and phrases helps your brain retain the
information. Try doing that, even if you have to whisper in class.
That should help. And pray for help too!
Regarding your desire to do everything... I know, right! Haha I feel
like there´s so much to do, so much I want to do. And I simply cant.
I started praying for the gift to prioritize this week and I think
that will help. But you can always try to figure out what is best out
of your options. It´s tough to sacrifice the other things that you
want to do, but sometimes we have to. Just remember not to waste your
time. I got your letter and I loved it!
I also got Alex´s letter through Dear Elder. And that was so great!
I wrote him back and should be sending that today. Mom, I finally
sent you a letter, that should arrive in a few weeks haha!
Brock, it sounds like things are going great! Thanks for you email,
and your advice. Keep up the good work in school. You sound way
happy, I love it!
It sounds like the two missionaries are way cool! It´s neat to hear
about stuff like that.
Dad, to answer your questions...
Transfers are every 6 weeks. Elder Herrera (from El Salvador) has
been here for 4 months. He is a convert of four years and his parents
aren´t members. His brother and sister are, but I think he´s the
first to serve a mission. He´s awesome.
And I´ll be reading D&C 53 today during personal study. I´m excited
to check that out.
This week was crazy!! Lots of good stuff, some tough things too. The
mission is such a roller coaster! On tuesday and Wednesday we had a
Seminary with President Maravilla. It was amazing, I learned so much!
I was able to see a couple other greenies who are also having some
interesting experiences haha! Elder Thomas (6´8¨) basketball player
was chased by a drunk gay guy, he doesn´t have running water, and he
goes poo ten times a day. I gave him some of my Immodium on Wednesday
haha. I hope he´s doing better.
President talked about a lot of things, especially the importance of
finding families. He also emphasized the need for every investigator
to read and pray every day and attend church. We focused on that this
week and it went great!
Thursday we met with the Santos family and applied some of what we
learned in the Seminary. They told us they wanted to be baptized on
Saturday!! We then talked with Vicky, the girl who had a baptism date
set and then dropped it. She also said she wanted to get baptized on
Saturday! It was amazing! Then on Friday we met with Julio. He got
an answer to his prayers and expressed a desire to get baptized. He
came to church with us yesterday and it was great. On our way to
church we walked by the house of his pastor, who was standing in the
front yard! That was awkward and funny. Julio didn´t know what to
do, so we just said good morning and kept walking. My companion
warned him that his pastor is going to say all kinds of things about
the church, and to remember the answers he´s gotten to his prayers.
I´m praying for him.
So on Saturday, we planned the baptism and it was kind of hectic.
Rosa, the 20 year old sister in the Santos family still wanted to be
baptized, but the rest of the family did not. So it was just Vicky
and Rosa, but it was still great. Elder Grover came to interview them
and I accompanied him with that. I kept being blamed for stuff not
getting done during the day and I still don´t really understand what I
failed to do. But everything was ready for the baptism. Then Elder
Herrera asked Rosa and Vicky if I could baptize them! And they said
that would be great! I had assumed he would be doing it and hadn´t
memorized what to say. I stumbled on the words, but it was all good.
It was a wonderful experience.
Yesterday Rosa was confirmed, Vicky didn´t show up to Sacrament
Meeting. I had thought Elder Herrera had called her to make sure she
was coming, so that was an unfortunate assumption on my part. Our
Zone leader wasn´t happy with us. I learned a lot from this weekend.
I didn´t like the rushed feel of preparing everything. As amazing as
the experience was, it would have been so much better had we planned
it out better.
Two more members of the Santos family want to get baptized this week,
so hopefully we can do a better job assuming all goes well with that.
Last night we had a District (stake) leadership meeting with our
mission president! It was awesome. He laid down the law and it was
powerful. He has been called of God and he has an ability to
communicate what needs to be said in a way that makes you really want
to get going on it. Haha I don´t know how else to describe it. But
he´s stopping by our house today to visit with us and interview my
companion.
Elder Herrera told me we could use bikes to get to our appointments if
we didn´t have time to walk. So we borrowed two bikes on Thursday and
did that. I didn´t feel right about it, so I asked Elder Grover if we
can use bikes. He said no. I told Elder Herrera that Elder Grover
said we shouldn´t ride bikes, so I wasn´t going to ride a bike
anymore. He wasn´t happy, but he respected my desire to follow the
rules. We took the bikes back that afternoon.
One night when we were riding our bikes back to our house, two nasty
dogs started chasing us! With a well-aimed kick to the face of one of
them, Elder Herrera fended off his opponent. I was too fast for mine.
It was intense, but hilarious. I couldn´t stop laughing. The dogs
here are disgusting! Ugh. I miss Ginger haha! I was also scratched
and bit by a chicken this week.
I finished reading ¨Jesus the Christ¨this week. I´m sad it´s over, I
learned soo much! Towards the end I felt such a strong feeling of
appreciation for the Savior. The Spirit was so strong as I read the
last few chapters. I fear that I don´t fully appreciate the Atonement
or the Savior simply because I don´t fully understand the significance
or the impact of His life and sacrifice. That book is amazing.
I have pictures to send, so I´m gonna try and do that. I love you
guys and I hope you all have an awesome week! Thank you for
everything! I love you!!!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
Haley, I´m gonna start with you! I love hearing about all your high
school experiences! except for your Spanish grade...here´s a tip.
When I study Spanish, I read out loud everything that I read, write,
or memorize. Using the senses of both sight and sound while training
your tongue to remember words and phrases helps your brain retain the
information. Try doing that, even if you have to whisper in class.
That should help. And pray for help too!
Regarding your desire to do everything... I know, right! Haha I feel
like there´s so much to do, so much I want to do. And I simply cant.
I started praying for the gift to prioritize this week and I think
that will help. But you can always try to figure out what is best out
of your options. It´s tough to sacrifice the other things that you
want to do, but sometimes we have to. Just remember not to waste your
time. I got your letter and I loved it!
I also got Alex´s letter through Dear Elder. And that was so great!
I wrote him back and should be sending that today. Mom, I finally
sent you a letter, that should arrive in a few weeks haha!
Brock, it sounds like things are going great! Thanks for you email,
and your advice. Keep up the good work in school. You sound way
happy, I love it!
It sounds like the two missionaries are way cool! It´s neat to hear
about stuff like that.
Dad, to answer your questions...
Transfers are every 6 weeks. Elder Herrera (from El Salvador) has
been here for 4 months. He is a convert of four years and his parents
aren´t members. His brother and sister are, but I think he´s the
first to serve a mission. He´s awesome.
And I´ll be reading D&C 53 today during personal study. I´m excited
to check that out.
This week was crazy!! Lots of good stuff, some tough things too. The
mission is such a roller coaster! On tuesday and Wednesday we had a
Seminary with President Maravilla. It was amazing, I learned so much!
I was able to see a couple other greenies who are also having some
interesting experiences haha! Elder Thomas (6´8¨) basketball player
was chased by a drunk gay guy, he doesn´t have running water, and he
goes poo ten times a day. I gave him some of my Immodium on Wednesday
haha. I hope he´s doing better.
President talked about a lot of things, especially the importance of
finding families. He also emphasized the need for every investigator
to read and pray every day and attend church. We focused on that this
week and it went great!
Thursday we met with the Santos family and applied some of what we
learned in the Seminary. They told us they wanted to be baptized on
Saturday!! We then talked with Vicky, the girl who had a baptism date
set and then dropped it. She also said she wanted to get baptized on
Saturday! It was amazing! Then on Friday we met with Julio. He got
an answer to his prayers and expressed a desire to get baptized. He
came to church with us yesterday and it was great. On our way to
church we walked by the house of his pastor, who was standing in the
front yard! That was awkward and funny. Julio didn´t know what to
do, so we just said good morning and kept walking. My companion
warned him that his pastor is going to say all kinds of things about
the church, and to remember the answers he´s gotten to his prayers.
I´m praying for him.
So on Saturday, we planned the baptism and it was kind of hectic.
Rosa, the 20 year old sister in the Santos family still wanted to be
baptized, but the rest of the family did not. So it was just Vicky
and Rosa, but it was still great. Elder Grover came to interview them
and I accompanied him with that. I kept being blamed for stuff not
getting done during the day and I still don´t really understand what I
failed to do. But everything was ready for the baptism. Then Elder
Herrera asked Rosa and Vicky if I could baptize them! And they said
that would be great! I had assumed he would be doing it and hadn´t
memorized what to say. I stumbled on the words, but it was all good.
It was a wonderful experience.
Yesterday Rosa was confirmed, Vicky didn´t show up to Sacrament
Meeting. I had thought Elder Herrera had called her to make sure she
was coming, so that was an unfortunate assumption on my part. Our
Zone leader wasn´t happy with us. I learned a lot from this weekend.
I didn´t like the rushed feel of preparing everything. As amazing as
the experience was, it would have been so much better had we planned
it out better.
Two more members of the Santos family want to get baptized this week,
so hopefully we can do a better job assuming all goes well with that.
Last night we had a District (stake) leadership meeting with our
mission president! It was awesome. He laid down the law and it was
powerful. He has been called of God and he has an ability to
communicate what needs to be said in a way that makes you really want
to get going on it. Haha I don´t know how else to describe it. But
he´s stopping by our house today to visit with us and interview my
companion.
Elder Herrera told me we could use bikes to get to our appointments if
we didn´t have time to walk. So we borrowed two bikes on Thursday and
did that. I didn´t feel right about it, so I asked Elder Grover if we
can use bikes. He said no. I told Elder Herrera that Elder Grover
said we shouldn´t ride bikes, so I wasn´t going to ride a bike
anymore. He wasn´t happy, but he respected my desire to follow the
rules. We took the bikes back that afternoon.
One night when we were riding our bikes back to our house, two nasty
dogs started chasing us! With a well-aimed kick to the face of one of
them, Elder Herrera fended off his opponent. I was too fast for mine.
It was intense, but hilarious. I couldn´t stop laughing. The dogs
here are disgusting! Ugh. I miss Ginger haha! I was also scratched
and bit by a chicken this week.
I finished reading ¨Jesus the Christ¨this week. I´m sad it´s over, I
learned soo much! Towards the end I felt such a strong feeling of
appreciation for the Savior. The Spirit was so strong as I read the
last few chapters. I fear that I don´t fully appreciate the Atonement
or the Savior simply because I don´t fully understand the significance
or the impact of His life and sacrifice. That book is amazing.
I have pictures to send, so I´m gonna try and do that. I love you
guys and I hope you all have an awesome week! Thank you for
everything! I love you!!!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
Settling in
Holy cow! Lot´s of questions to answer. And tons of awesome news
from you guys! Dad that´s awesome what happened on the plane! And
that´s sooo cool about Alex! I wish I could see him play sooo bad.
Haley it sounds like you´re keeping busy and staying awesome. Keep it
up! I love hearing about your high school experiences. I remember
thinking the same thing as you regarding how cool it was to finally be
driving and hanging out in high school. And then before I knew it, it
was over! Slow down and enjoy it when you can. It goes by fast. Mom
I love that scripture you shared. The thing you said about sharing
the message about Joseph Smith is very applicable here. Most people
believe in Christ, the special message we get to share with them is
how Christ´s true church is on the Earth. Sometimes they think it´s
really interesting and other times they get offended at the idea that
all the other churches aren´t Christ´s church. Even though we explain
that those other churches are wonderful, they simply lack the
authority of God. It´s tricky, but when we follow the Spirit we
always know what to say.
This week has been tough. So now Elder Herrera and I have the whole
area to ourselves. It´s a big responsibility, and I want to get going
on things again. Things were slow last week because of the sudden
changes and leaders coming through to check on us. We didn´t get much
done and my companion was really depressed for a couple days. Also,
one of our investigators was hit by a car and passed away. It was
really weird even though we hadn´t taught her much yet. But we had
the opportunity to talk to the family about the gospel and we´re going
back there tomorrow. Also, we had a meeting with the Branch
leadership and the two counselors in the branch presidency said they
would not help us with missionary work. My companion patiently and
admirably tried to explain the benefits of helping with the work, and
they yelled at him. It was weird. President Maravilla is coming this
week to our Branch. I think he might be coming to see if this area is
going to have missionaries after this next change. It´s been a crazy
week haha ahhh
So it´s always hot. The thermometer on my alarm clock says 81 to 84
every night. But I´m getting used to it. I have trouble sleeping
sometimes, especially when I get a freaky dream or something. I had
one last night that kinda threw me off and I couldn´t sleep much after
that haha. But I might take a nap today because nobody´s playing
soccer for P Day. Lame.
Haha but I think we´re gonna clean up around the house and buy some
food. So that´ll be nice. Yesterday we had bread and butter, rice,
and water for dinner. It was a caused by a misunderstanding on how
much food we had in the house.
Sometimes it´s really tough to love somebody you live with, especially
when you come from different cultures. I can rarely understand my
companion, but I´m getting better at understanding other people. I
ask him to clarify or explain things and I get even more lost. It´s
really weird. I don´t think he does it on purpose, but I don´t
understand why it´s getting harder to understand him the more Spanish
I learn. But I´m focusing on the fact that I am learning so much!
It´s great!
We eat lunch at the restuarant on every day except Sunday. The owners
are the landlords of our house and they´re like our grandparents.
Hermano Kike is a member of almost two years and he´s awesome. He and
his wife are really old and cute and they like to talk to us when we
come home at night. It´s fun to talk to them, they make my day.
We eat lots of chicken, beans, eggs, rice, and bread. And sometimes
steak, I eat a lot of cereal. We eat well. I love the food. One of
the members wants to make an iguana dinner for me soon. That´ll be
cool.
I can remember names, but I can´t remember places very well. I´ve
never been good with directions, and it´s harder when my companion
tries to explain where stuff is haha! Ahhh but I´m figuring it out
finally.
I gave my first talk in Spanish yesterday! It went well I think.
Hermano Kike said it was good, but that was the only comment I got. I
spoke about the importance of working together in missionary work, how
every member is a missionary and we need the help of the members. I
invited the branch to pray about people they know who we can visit and
that we would be asking them for references in the coming weeks. So
hopefully that will help things pick up.
I´m still getting used to the concept of not having personal space.
Haha especially with kids. They walk past me so they can feel my
white arms. It´s uncomfortable, but whatever haha!
Some of the members here are soo awesome and they´re willing to help
us with anything. I love visiting members´homes, they always help me
feel welcome.
So I´ve been thinking a lot about what you said, Dad, about not
waiting to be great. I´ve been trying to figure out how to leave
things better than when I found them. As a greenie, I´m not taken
very seriously, so I´m trying to patiently change one thing at a time.
We don´t use our time very well, so I use extra time to study. And
that´s helping me learn a lot, but that´s not what that time is for.
Sometimes I feel guilty for not using time more wisely, but I don´t
know what to do. I obviously can´t go contact alone, but I don´t know
what to do. Sometimes I feel like, as a greenie, I should just sit
tight and learn as much as I can while I figure out what to apply
later when I have the opportunity to make a difference. But then I
feel like I should be applying that stuff now. But I don´t know how!
Ahhh it´s bugging me. I guess i need to rely more on the Spirit.
It´s been an interesting week, but I´m loving the work! It´s been
cool becoming accustomed to this environment. I´ve learned a lot
about myself and I have a lot to do and become. Julio wasn´t home
twice this week, but we talked to him and his uncle last night. He´s
going to come to church next week even though he doesn´t feel like
he´s gotten an answer to his prayers yet. He likes what we have to
say and he has a strong desire to learn. I keep praying that he will
recognize the Spirit. I gotta go, but it was awesome reading your
emails! I´m sending a few letters today, just a heads up! I love you
guys and hope you´re loving life! I read Romans 5:1-5 this week and
it´s cool. It helps me keep a proper perspective. Love ya!
Elder Austin Tyler
from you guys! Dad that´s awesome what happened on the plane! And
that´s sooo cool about Alex! I wish I could see him play sooo bad.
Haley it sounds like you´re keeping busy and staying awesome. Keep it
up! I love hearing about your high school experiences. I remember
thinking the same thing as you regarding how cool it was to finally be
driving and hanging out in high school. And then before I knew it, it
was over! Slow down and enjoy it when you can. It goes by fast. Mom
I love that scripture you shared. The thing you said about sharing
the message about Joseph Smith is very applicable here. Most people
believe in Christ, the special message we get to share with them is
how Christ´s true church is on the Earth. Sometimes they think it´s
really interesting and other times they get offended at the idea that
all the other churches aren´t Christ´s church. Even though we explain
that those other churches are wonderful, they simply lack the
authority of God. It´s tricky, but when we follow the Spirit we
always know what to say.
This week has been tough. So now Elder Herrera and I have the whole
area to ourselves. It´s a big responsibility, and I want to get going
on things again. Things were slow last week because of the sudden
changes and leaders coming through to check on us. We didn´t get much
done and my companion was really depressed for a couple days. Also,
one of our investigators was hit by a car and passed away. It was
really weird even though we hadn´t taught her much yet. But we had
the opportunity to talk to the family about the gospel and we´re going
back there tomorrow. Also, we had a meeting with the Branch
leadership and the two counselors in the branch presidency said they
would not help us with missionary work. My companion patiently and
admirably tried to explain the benefits of helping with the work, and
they yelled at him. It was weird. President Maravilla is coming this
week to our Branch. I think he might be coming to see if this area is
going to have missionaries after this next change. It´s been a crazy
week haha ahhh
So it´s always hot. The thermometer on my alarm clock says 81 to 84
every night. But I´m getting used to it. I have trouble sleeping
sometimes, especially when I get a freaky dream or something. I had
one last night that kinda threw me off and I couldn´t sleep much after
that haha. But I might take a nap today because nobody´s playing
soccer for P Day. Lame.
Haha but I think we´re gonna clean up around the house and buy some
food. So that´ll be nice. Yesterday we had bread and butter, rice,
and water for dinner. It was a caused by a misunderstanding on how
much food we had in the house.
Sometimes it´s really tough to love somebody you live with, especially
when you come from different cultures. I can rarely understand my
companion, but I´m getting better at understanding other people. I
ask him to clarify or explain things and I get even more lost. It´s
really weird. I don´t think he does it on purpose, but I don´t
understand why it´s getting harder to understand him the more Spanish
I learn. But I´m focusing on the fact that I am learning so much!
It´s great!
We eat lunch at the restuarant on every day except Sunday. The owners
are the landlords of our house and they´re like our grandparents.
Hermano Kike is a member of almost two years and he´s awesome. He and
his wife are really old and cute and they like to talk to us when we
come home at night. It´s fun to talk to them, they make my day.
We eat lots of chicken, beans, eggs, rice, and bread. And sometimes
steak, I eat a lot of cereal. We eat well. I love the food. One of
the members wants to make an iguana dinner for me soon. That´ll be
cool.
I can remember names, but I can´t remember places very well. I´ve
never been good with directions, and it´s harder when my companion
tries to explain where stuff is haha! Ahhh but I´m figuring it out
finally.
I gave my first talk in Spanish yesterday! It went well I think.
Hermano Kike said it was good, but that was the only comment I got. I
spoke about the importance of working together in missionary work, how
every member is a missionary and we need the help of the members. I
invited the branch to pray about people they know who we can visit and
that we would be asking them for references in the coming weeks. So
hopefully that will help things pick up.
I´m still getting used to the concept of not having personal space.
Haha especially with kids. They walk past me so they can feel my
white arms. It´s uncomfortable, but whatever haha!
Some of the members here are soo awesome and they´re willing to help
us with anything. I love visiting members´homes, they always help me
feel welcome.
So I´ve been thinking a lot about what you said, Dad, about not
waiting to be great. I´ve been trying to figure out how to leave
things better than when I found them. As a greenie, I´m not taken
very seriously, so I´m trying to patiently change one thing at a time.
We don´t use our time very well, so I use extra time to study. And
that´s helping me learn a lot, but that´s not what that time is for.
Sometimes I feel guilty for not using time more wisely, but I don´t
know what to do. I obviously can´t go contact alone, but I don´t know
what to do. Sometimes I feel like, as a greenie, I should just sit
tight and learn as much as I can while I figure out what to apply
later when I have the opportunity to make a difference. But then I
feel like I should be applying that stuff now. But I don´t know how!
Ahhh it´s bugging me. I guess i need to rely more on the Spirit.
It´s been an interesting week, but I´m loving the work! It´s been
cool becoming accustomed to this environment. I´ve learned a lot
about myself and I have a lot to do and become. Julio wasn´t home
twice this week, but we talked to him and his uncle last night. He´s
going to come to church next week even though he doesn´t feel like
he´s gotten an answer to his prayers yet. He likes what we have to
say and he has a strong desire to learn. I keep praying that he will
recognize the Spirit. I gotta go, but it was awesome reading your
emails! I´m sending a few letters today, just a heads up! I love you
guys and hope you´re loving life! I read Romans 5:1-5 this week and
it´s cool. It helps me keep a proper perspective. Love ya!
Elder Austin Tyler
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Gratitude
Holy cow!
So much good stuff in your emails! Mom, your email pumped me up.
Thank you for all you shared, sounds like you had a great Sunday! I
can honestly feel the strength of your prayers. Thank you so much.
Haley, make the most of this last week of CC! Don´t leave the season
with any regrets! And be an example. Sometimes we´re given
opportunities to be a light in other people´s lives. And when you
hold a torch to light another´s path, you inevitably brighten your
own. Brock! Congratulations on your new job!! That´s soooo awesome!
Dad, you should send me a picture of that new tree if you get the
chance, sounds like it was quite the project. And New Orleans almost
sounds like Nueva Concepcion in a few ways! Haha! Oh and I know your
birthday isn´t till Saturday, but Happy Birthday!!!
It´s sooooo hot! I love it! Not really, but I´m starting to get used
to it. We played soccer today and I think it´s about 100 degrees.
Absolutely nuts. I drank about a gallon of water afterwards. I´m
doing well with sunscreen and drinking water, but it´s a pain. I´m
tired of water haha but what a blessing!
That´s something I´ve been learning lately. I feel more blessed than
I ever have before. Never before have I really been truly thankful
for the ability to read. Never have I been truly thankful for dental
care, or for carpet. Little things like that. It sounds weird, but
those kinds of things just aren´t common down here. Counting my
blessings has made me realize I´m blessed to be here. It´s made it
easier to cope with such a different environment.
We worked hard this week, but our only baptismal date was dropped. I
don´t understand what happened. My companion´s Spanish is terrible!
Haha it´s comical how I can´t understand him, but I can understand
other people. But I´m getting better at recognizing words.
Yesterday we taught a young man named Julio. When we showed up at his
´house´he was reading the pamphlet we left him. It´s a pamphlet on
the Restoration of the Gospel. He was also reading the Bible and
writing things down. It was exciting to see. As we asked him about
praying to know the truth of the gospel, he explained that he prayed,
but didn´t get an answer. My companion started talking about the ways
in which we feel the Spirit. I then shared Doctrine and Covenants
8:2,3 and then explained that Galatians 5:22,23 explains the fruits of
the Spirit. That was the scripture I had memorized for the day. As I
explained it he looked at me kind of funny. It wasn´t until I looked
down at what he had been writing that I understood why. When we
showed up at his place he was reading Galations 5. He had written
verse 22 in his journal. I then explained that something that helps
me feel the Spirit is the Book of Mormon. I explained what the book
is and marked 3 Nephi 11 for him to read. We have another appointment
with him on Wednesday and I´m praying hard for him. He has a desire
to find the truth and it´s exciting to teach him.
On Tuesday we had a branch presidency meeting. It was interesting
haha! To start the meeting they passed out cokes and crackers. It
was funny, and a bit different. There´s a counselor in the presidency
that quotes a scripture or a prophet every chance he gets, no matter
if it´s relevant haha. It´s ridiculous. I´m trying to think of ways
to help strengthen the branch. At church yesterday there were 101
people in attendance. It was testimony meeting and I bore my
testimony and introduced myself. I wasn´t nervous, I felt really good
about it. And I was enthusiastic (something I´m trying to be better
at).
People here always ask me what´s wrong if I´m not smiling or talking.
I know they´re trying to look out for me, but they assume I´m angry or
sad all the time! Haha so I´m trying to show my happy feelings more
abundantly.
There´s a particular girl, or snake, that I think I mentioned
last week. She is obsessed with me and it´s disturbing. She comes to
church but never listens to our lessons. Her sister was the one with
the baptism date. But the snake found out where we live and stopped
by a couple days ago! Lovely. And we went to their house yesterday
to bring them to church and she was dressed like a prostitute. It was
awkward.
I keep having to go on splits, which is hard. I´m expected to
remember people´s names, addresses, how to get to those addresses, and
what we taught. Most of that´s easy because I can write it down, but
sometimes I forget how to get somewhere. It´s frustrating. I don´t
feel like a greeny, aside from my lack of ability to communicate
comfortably. But I can teach most of a lesson now, so I´m making
progress. During one of the splits (they´re usually all day), I was
studying after lunch (we have language study in the afternoons). We
had an appointment at three, so I ended study time at 2:45. I went to
grab my companion, Elder Matamoros. I couldn´t find him. I went
outside and didn´t see him. Then I looked up and saw him sitting in a
palm tree 25 feet off the ground. He was cutting coconuts from a
tree! We were late to our appointment. Typical. But funny.
Sometimes I feel like we aren´t working hard enough. This week was
way better, but sometimes I don´t know. We supposedly can´t contact
after dark because it´s considered rude in this area to knock on
someone´s door after 7 pm. So I asked if we could schedule
appointments later at night, and contact in the day. That´s helping a
bit. One night we didn´t have any appointments scheduled, so we
contacted in the morning and studied at night, I don´t know if that´s
allowed, but I felt better about not wasting time.
There´s a lot I don´t know. I need a companion who I know wants to
work hard. That way I can learn what´s appropriate, what isn´t.
What´s expected, what I can do to improve. I just don´t know
sometimes. But I feel better about things this week.
I´ve learned a lot about opposition. Opposition puts things into
perspective. It´s sooo hot, but that makes me appreciate when I´m not
burning. We work hard and that makes us appreciate rest. We get
hungry, we see hungry people, and that makes us appreciate food.
Everything is soo dirty here, but that makes me enjoy cleaning. About
that... people throw their trash in the street into piles and then
burn it. It makes for a lovely smell in the evening haha but that
makes me appreciate when there isn´t trash burning everywhere! All
the appreciate makes me happy.
I´m gonna try to figure out how to put up pictures. I don´t have much
time so hopefully it works. Thanks for all the updates and for your
advice. Mom, I want to write you a legitimate letter, hopefully I can
do that today. I love you all and miss you and it´s great to hear
from you. Thank you for your prayers!
Love,
Elder Tyler
So much good stuff in your emails! Mom, your email pumped me up.
Thank you for all you shared, sounds like you had a great Sunday! I
can honestly feel the strength of your prayers. Thank you so much.
Haley, make the most of this last week of CC! Don´t leave the season
with any regrets! And be an example. Sometimes we´re given
opportunities to be a light in other people´s lives. And when you
hold a torch to light another´s path, you inevitably brighten your
own. Brock! Congratulations on your new job!! That´s soooo awesome!
Dad, you should send me a picture of that new tree if you get the
chance, sounds like it was quite the project. And New Orleans almost
sounds like Nueva Concepcion in a few ways! Haha! Oh and I know your
birthday isn´t till Saturday, but Happy Birthday!!!
It´s sooooo hot! I love it! Not really, but I´m starting to get used
to it. We played soccer today and I think it´s about 100 degrees.
Absolutely nuts. I drank about a gallon of water afterwards. I´m
doing well with sunscreen and drinking water, but it´s a pain. I´m
tired of water haha but what a blessing!
That´s something I´ve been learning lately. I feel more blessed than
I ever have before. Never before have I really been truly thankful
for the ability to read. Never have I been truly thankful for dental
care, or for carpet. Little things like that. It sounds weird, but
those kinds of things just aren´t common down here. Counting my
blessings has made me realize I´m blessed to be here. It´s made it
easier to cope with such a different environment.
We worked hard this week, but our only baptismal date was dropped. I
don´t understand what happened. My companion´s Spanish is terrible!
Haha it´s comical how I can´t understand him, but I can understand
other people. But I´m getting better at recognizing words.
Yesterday we taught a young man named Julio. When we showed up at his
´house´he was reading the pamphlet we left him. It´s a pamphlet on
the Restoration of the Gospel. He was also reading the Bible and
writing things down. It was exciting to see. As we asked him about
praying to know the truth of the gospel, he explained that he prayed,
but didn´t get an answer. My companion started talking about the ways
in which we feel the Spirit. I then shared Doctrine and Covenants
8:2,3 and then explained that Galatians 5:22,23 explains the fruits of
the Spirit. That was the scripture I had memorized for the day. As I
explained it he looked at me kind of funny. It wasn´t until I looked
down at what he had been writing that I understood why. When we
showed up at his place he was reading Galations 5. He had written
verse 22 in his journal. I then explained that something that helps
me feel the Spirit is the Book of Mormon. I explained what the book
is and marked 3 Nephi 11 for him to read. We have another appointment
with him on Wednesday and I´m praying hard for him. He has a desire
to find the truth and it´s exciting to teach him.
On Tuesday we had a branch presidency meeting. It was interesting
haha! To start the meeting they passed out cokes and crackers. It
was funny, and a bit different. There´s a counselor in the presidency
that quotes a scripture or a prophet every chance he gets, no matter
if it´s relevant haha. It´s ridiculous. I´m trying to think of ways
to help strengthen the branch. At church yesterday there were 101
people in attendance. It was testimony meeting and I bore my
testimony and introduced myself. I wasn´t nervous, I felt really good
about it. And I was enthusiastic (something I´m trying to be better
at).
People here always ask me what´s wrong if I´m not smiling or talking.
I know they´re trying to look out for me, but they assume I´m angry or
sad all the time! Haha so I´m trying to show my happy feelings more
abundantly.
There´s a particular girl, or snake, that I think I mentioned
last week. She is obsessed with me and it´s disturbing. She comes to
church but never listens to our lessons. Her sister was the one with
the baptism date. But the snake found out where we live and stopped
by a couple days ago! Lovely. And we went to their house yesterday
to bring them to church and she was dressed like a prostitute. It was
awkward.
I keep having to go on splits, which is hard. I´m expected to
remember people´s names, addresses, how to get to those addresses, and
what we taught. Most of that´s easy because I can write it down, but
sometimes I forget how to get somewhere. It´s frustrating. I don´t
feel like a greeny, aside from my lack of ability to communicate
comfortably. But I can teach most of a lesson now, so I´m making
progress. During one of the splits (they´re usually all day), I was
studying after lunch (we have language study in the afternoons). We
had an appointment at three, so I ended study time at 2:45. I went to
grab my companion, Elder Matamoros. I couldn´t find him. I went
outside and didn´t see him. Then I looked up and saw him sitting in a
palm tree 25 feet off the ground. He was cutting coconuts from a
tree! We were late to our appointment. Typical. But funny.
Sometimes I feel like we aren´t working hard enough. This week was
way better, but sometimes I don´t know. We supposedly can´t contact
after dark because it´s considered rude in this area to knock on
someone´s door after 7 pm. So I asked if we could schedule
appointments later at night, and contact in the day. That´s helping a
bit. One night we didn´t have any appointments scheduled, so we
contacted in the morning and studied at night, I don´t know if that´s
allowed, but I felt better about not wasting time.
There´s a lot I don´t know. I need a companion who I know wants to
work hard. That way I can learn what´s appropriate, what isn´t.
What´s expected, what I can do to improve. I just don´t know
sometimes. But I feel better about things this week.
I´ve learned a lot about opposition. Opposition puts things into
perspective. It´s sooo hot, but that makes me appreciate when I´m not
burning. We work hard and that makes us appreciate rest. We get
hungry, we see hungry people, and that makes us appreciate food.
Everything is soo dirty here, but that makes me enjoy cleaning. About
that... people throw their trash in the street into piles and then
burn it. It makes for a lovely smell in the evening haha but that
makes me appreciate when there isn´t trash burning everywhere! All
the appreciate makes me happy.
I´m gonna try to figure out how to put up pictures. I don´t have much
time so hopefully it works. Thanks for all the updates and for your
advice. Mom, I want to write you a legitimate letter, hopefully I can
do that today. I love you all and miss you and it´s great to hear
from you. Thank you for your prayers!
Love,
Elder Tyler
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Austin's address - Update
Friends and Family,
This is the mission home address where you can write to Austin for the next two years. He said he currently does not have an address so this is the most reliable way if you want to send it regular US post.
Also, you can use the previous address I posted (Pouch mail service through Salt Lake City), or email them to me (Post dated 8-19-10). Sticking religious symbols on your letters will help keep people from going through things as they are superstitious and will leave things alone that look religious. We were discouraged sending packages but I'm going to try it and if you want to, putting religious symbols on boxes will assure a better chance of them getting to him.
As always, thanks for your support. His last letter was very tender and I can't help but think there is no better way to gain this kind of experience than devoting two years of your life to serving the Lord.
Elder Austin Michael Tyler
Guatemala Retalhuleu Mission
Barrio Concepion, Boulevard Centenario
Salida a Coatepeque, Zona 2
Retalhuleu
GUATEMALA
(phone: 011-502-7771-2404)
This is the mission home address where you can write to Austin for the next two years. He said he currently does not have an address so this is the most reliable way if you want to send it regular US post.
Also, you can use the previous address I posted (Pouch mail service through Salt Lake City), or email them to me (Post dated 8-19-10). Sticking religious symbols on your letters will help keep people from going through things as they are superstitious and will leave things alone that look religious. We were discouraged sending packages but I'm going to try it and if you want to, putting religious symbols on boxes will assure a better chance of them getting to him.
As always, thanks for your support. His last letter was very tender and I can't help but think there is no better way to gain this kind of experience than devoting two years of your life to serving the Lord.
Elder Austin Michael Tyler
Guatemala Retalhuleu Mission
Barrio Concepion, Boulevard Centenario
Salida a Coatepeque, Zona 2
Retalhuleu
GUATEMALA
(phone: 011-502-7771-2404)
"Hardest week of my life!"
I love you guys!
This has been the hardest week of my life. I miss the MTC. I miss home. I know I shouldn´t be complaining, but I feel like I need to vent and let you know how I feel. Dont get me wrong, I have so much to be thankful for, but this week has been a shock.
Our president is amazing. I love him. He and his wife are really cool and I feel so blessed to have them here. We had a tough time getting to the Mission Office because of strikes and riots in the streets. Nothing violent, but a lot of road blocks. But everything happened according to schedule, so it was okay.
I am serving in the Tequisate Zone, the Nueva Concepcion Area. It´s the hottest area of the mission. And it´s sooo hot. And sooo wet. Yesterday was the first day that I ended with dry feet. The first night it started pouring and I was in my suit pants. They´re moldy now. I´m trying to figure out how to wash them. We were hiking around in knee deep water, it was an interesting welcome to my first area. That night, my companion and I saw weird lights in the sky. And then all the power in the city went out. It was weird and kinda scary. We couldn´t see anything. Luckily I had packed a flashlight in my bag. That was a blessing.
My companion is named Elder Herrera. Everyone says he´s a really hard worker, but I think this past week was rather slow. I´m hoping things pick up. I´m trying to figure out how to use an Area Book. I asked one of the APs what I could do personally to improve the mission. He said to use the area book. It´s a trend I hope to start today.
I forgot to bring my camera, I think I can hook it up to the computer to send pictures. And the pictures you sent are so great! Haley, you´re beautiful!
Oh! I don´t have an address, so just go ahead and send things to the mission office. I got seven letters this week! It was so wonderful! I don´t know how well I will be able to respond to them. If you could tell Brother Teeples thank you so much for his letter, I would appreciate that. It was so great to hear from him. Also, Rita Argueta and Holli Machmer wrote me! If you could message them on facebook for me and thank them for their letters, I´m going to try to send them something when I get the chance.
Like I said, I forgot my camera. But to give you an idea, our house is very different than the luxiorious apartment I saw in one of Troy´s pictures haha :)
I shower with what looks like an outdoor spout, and the water is less than cold. But I´m getting used to that. Everything is always dirty. Today I´m going to buy cleaning supplies to give me something to do. There are lots of bugs, but that doesn´t bother me much. I sweat all the time, and I´m getting used to that too. It´s either blazing hot, or pouring. But night time is wonderful... when it isn´t raining haha.
It´s really hard to focus. I miss home and it´s mhard when I can´t relate or communicate a whole lot with anyone. I need to forget myself and realize that I´m here for other people. But I don´t know how to focus on their needs when I can hardly understand them.
General Conference was the most wonderful thing ever. Ever talk was comforting and so helpful. I nearly cried at the end of yesterday´s session because it was so great. I´m sad that it´s over.
There was a lot I learned about finding comfort during times of trial. And that has helped. Never before have I needed the comfort of Christ, the companionship of the Holy Ghost more than I do now. Constant prayer is the key. Hope and faith are the key.
Enough complaining. The people here are so poor. It´s sad, but I´m glad to be here to help them. Almost everyone is religious, which makes it tough. They think every church is true. Regardless, I think I´m in one of the most successful areas of the mission. I haven´t seen the fruits of that yet, it being my first week. But I´m excited to get working.
During the talk yesterday about parenting teenagers, I felt a bit guilty for the past. Mom and Dad, I´m sorry if I ever made it seem like I would be offended by your counsel. Now I am starting to realize how much I miss your advice and counsel. Please feel free to offer whatever advice you have.
Brock, I want to thank you for serving a mission. I realize that I am blessed to be here... so blessed. I admire your perseverance and thank you for your example. I love you.
I was able to watch Conference in English with Elder Grover, the zone leader. That was such a blessing. I was able to ask every question I wanted to ask. And he answered them all. Right now it´s hard not to think of home. And it´s hard not to think that I have two years of tedious work. But he told me to focus on the needs of the people and time will fly. I´m trying to do that, but again, it´s hard to help them when I can´t understand them. His words were comforting, and I´m thankful for the time I had with him.
I wonder how my friends from the MTC are coping. I´m going to try to email them.
Oh! It´s such a blessing to live next to a restaurant. We have our lunches (the biggest meal of the day) cooked for us. That´s soo wonderful. And costs less than two dollars each day. Also, we have our clothes washed for us. That´s a blessing too. But I don´t know how long it takes. So tonight I´ll be washing some of my own clothes because I´m running out haha!
As difficult as this time is, I´m thankful for it. I learn so much every day. I pray every day that I can feel God´s love. When I seek it I find it. I dedicate every day to the Lord, and I hope to become the best I can be.
I asked Elder Grover if everyone has a tough first week. He said yes. That´s comforting to know I´m not the only one who has a rough time. We had the opportunity to listen to the testimonies of all the elders who were going home. That made me nostalgic. But as much as I look forward to that day, I need to focus on the here and now. I have work to do. And this is such an opportunity!
My Spanish is improving, but it´s hard to go every day (except for conference :)) without English. It´s a comfort to write in my journal in English and read the scriptures in English. Despite my feelings of loneliness and depression, there are moments of joy and excitement. The little things, like food and clothing make me happy. Learning makes me happy. Understanding something that somebody says makes me happy.
The people here are impressed with my Spanish, and my height. They say I´m much farther along than the other North American greenies that come through here. I´m grateful to be able to understand the bit that I can. I think my Spanish is a lot better than I sometimes give it credit.
The women here are obsessed with us missionaries. It´s weird and annoying. By no means am I tempted to fall into the trap that so many elders fall into, it´s annoying and they are distracted from our purpose here. Nothing too weird happens. They just try to flirt and what not. It´s easy to take care of.
My companion is from Honduras and he´s a bit hard to understand sometimes. He´s the district leader and he´s a cool guy. I look forward to playing soccer with him today. He´s been a great help. He´s a lot more mature than the elders in my district in the CCM. I´m grateful for his companionship.
It is so great to hear from you guys. Dad, good luck with your trips and work. Thank you for your advice and counsel. And that was awesome to hear an update about Alex. I want to email him. Could you send me his email sometime?
Mom, I got a couple of your dear elders this past week and it was so great to read them, even though they were a bit old. Thank you for writing me.
I can feel the strength of your prayers and I thank you for them. Everything really isn´t as bad as this email makes it seem. I have so much to be grateful for. It´s just that right now I´m having a tough time. The food is great, my companion is great, my president is great, conference was amazing, I have stuff to do like cleaning the house and building the area book, and I´m loving the people. Wet feet are a small price to pay for all that.
Real quick about the people... they are easy to love, which is such a blessing. I´m so grateful to be in this area. The members are awesome. There are tons of inactives, and I look forward to bringing them back into the fold. There´s so much work to be done here. Thanks for listening to my venting. I feel better haha! I still miss you guys. And I miss my friends too. But I´m here for a great purpose.
Haley, check out the style of music Reggaton. It´s extremely popular here and I think you might like it. I don´t know how clean it is, or if they have much of it in English, but it seems like it would be fun to dance to.
Last thing, I´m running out of facewash and don´t know if i´ll be able to find anything legit down here. If you could send some next time you send a package I would appreciate it. Thanks again for everything. Thanks for your love and examples. Please tell the ward I love them and thank them for their examples. Tell Alex he´s such a stud, and the Lord needs him. And tell him I love him. Thank you guys for everything, I wish I could talk to you face to face, but email is such a blessing. Love you!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
This has been the hardest week of my life. I miss the MTC. I miss home. I know I shouldn´t be complaining, but I feel like I need to vent and let you know how I feel. Dont get me wrong, I have so much to be thankful for, but this week has been a shock.
Our president is amazing. I love him. He and his wife are really cool and I feel so blessed to have them here. We had a tough time getting to the Mission Office because of strikes and riots in the streets. Nothing violent, but a lot of road blocks. But everything happened according to schedule, so it was okay.
I am serving in the Tequisate Zone, the Nueva Concepcion Area. It´s the hottest area of the mission. And it´s sooo hot. And sooo wet. Yesterday was the first day that I ended with dry feet. The first night it started pouring and I was in my suit pants. They´re moldy now. I´m trying to figure out how to wash them. We were hiking around in knee deep water, it was an interesting welcome to my first area. That night, my companion and I saw weird lights in the sky. And then all the power in the city went out. It was weird and kinda scary. We couldn´t see anything. Luckily I had packed a flashlight in my bag. That was a blessing.
My companion is named Elder Herrera. Everyone says he´s a really hard worker, but I think this past week was rather slow. I´m hoping things pick up. I´m trying to figure out how to use an Area Book. I asked one of the APs what I could do personally to improve the mission. He said to use the area book. It´s a trend I hope to start today.
I forgot to bring my camera, I think I can hook it up to the computer to send pictures. And the pictures you sent are so great! Haley, you´re beautiful!
Oh! I don´t have an address, so just go ahead and send things to the mission office. I got seven letters this week! It was so wonderful! I don´t know how well I will be able to respond to them. If you could tell Brother Teeples thank you so much for his letter, I would appreciate that. It was so great to hear from him. Also, Rita Argueta and Holli Machmer wrote me! If you could message them on facebook for me and thank them for their letters, I´m going to try to send them something when I get the chance.
Like I said, I forgot my camera. But to give you an idea, our house is very different than the luxiorious apartment I saw in one of Troy´s pictures haha :)
I shower with what looks like an outdoor spout, and the water is less than cold. But I´m getting used to that. Everything is always dirty. Today I´m going to buy cleaning supplies to give me something to do. There are lots of bugs, but that doesn´t bother me much. I sweat all the time, and I´m getting used to that too. It´s either blazing hot, or pouring. But night time is wonderful... when it isn´t raining haha.
It´s really hard to focus. I miss home and it´s mhard when I can´t relate or communicate a whole lot with anyone. I need to forget myself and realize that I´m here for other people. But I don´t know how to focus on their needs when I can hardly understand them.
General Conference was the most wonderful thing ever. Ever talk was comforting and so helpful. I nearly cried at the end of yesterday´s session because it was so great. I´m sad that it´s over.
There was a lot I learned about finding comfort during times of trial. And that has helped. Never before have I needed the comfort of Christ, the companionship of the Holy Ghost more than I do now. Constant prayer is the key. Hope and faith are the key.
Enough complaining. The people here are so poor. It´s sad, but I´m glad to be here to help them. Almost everyone is religious, which makes it tough. They think every church is true. Regardless, I think I´m in one of the most successful areas of the mission. I haven´t seen the fruits of that yet, it being my first week. But I´m excited to get working.
During the talk yesterday about parenting teenagers, I felt a bit guilty for the past. Mom and Dad, I´m sorry if I ever made it seem like I would be offended by your counsel. Now I am starting to realize how much I miss your advice and counsel. Please feel free to offer whatever advice you have.
Brock, I want to thank you for serving a mission. I realize that I am blessed to be here... so blessed. I admire your perseverance and thank you for your example. I love you.
I was able to watch Conference in English with Elder Grover, the zone leader. That was such a blessing. I was able to ask every question I wanted to ask. And he answered them all. Right now it´s hard not to think of home. And it´s hard not to think that I have two years of tedious work. But he told me to focus on the needs of the people and time will fly. I´m trying to do that, but again, it´s hard to help them when I can´t understand them. His words were comforting, and I´m thankful for the time I had with him.
I wonder how my friends from the MTC are coping. I´m going to try to email them.
Oh! It´s such a blessing to live next to a restaurant. We have our lunches (the biggest meal of the day) cooked for us. That´s soo wonderful. And costs less than two dollars each day. Also, we have our clothes washed for us. That´s a blessing too. But I don´t know how long it takes. So tonight I´ll be washing some of my own clothes because I´m running out haha!
As difficult as this time is, I´m thankful for it. I learn so much every day. I pray every day that I can feel God´s love. When I seek it I find it. I dedicate every day to the Lord, and I hope to become the best I can be.
I asked Elder Grover if everyone has a tough first week. He said yes. That´s comforting to know I´m not the only one who has a rough time. We had the opportunity to listen to the testimonies of all the elders who were going home. That made me nostalgic. But as much as I look forward to that day, I need to focus on the here and now. I have work to do. And this is such an opportunity!
My Spanish is improving, but it´s hard to go every day (except for conference :)) without English. It´s a comfort to write in my journal in English and read the scriptures in English. Despite my feelings of loneliness and depression, there are moments of joy and excitement. The little things, like food and clothing make me happy. Learning makes me happy. Understanding something that somebody says makes me happy.
The people here are impressed with my Spanish, and my height. They say I´m much farther along than the other North American greenies that come through here. I´m grateful to be able to understand the bit that I can. I think my Spanish is a lot better than I sometimes give it credit.
The women here are obsessed with us missionaries. It´s weird and annoying. By no means am I tempted to fall into the trap that so many elders fall into, it´s annoying and they are distracted from our purpose here. Nothing too weird happens. They just try to flirt and what not. It´s easy to take care of.
My companion is from Honduras and he´s a bit hard to understand sometimes. He´s the district leader and he´s a cool guy. I look forward to playing soccer with him today. He´s been a great help. He´s a lot more mature than the elders in my district in the CCM. I´m grateful for his companionship.
It is so great to hear from you guys. Dad, good luck with your trips and work. Thank you for your advice and counsel. And that was awesome to hear an update about Alex. I want to email him. Could you send me his email sometime?
Mom, I got a couple of your dear elders this past week and it was so great to read them, even though they were a bit old. Thank you for writing me.
I can feel the strength of your prayers and I thank you for them. Everything really isn´t as bad as this email makes it seem. I have so much to be grateful for. It´s just that right now I´m having a tough time. The food is great, my companion is great, my president is great, conference was amazing, I have stuff to do like cleaning the house and building the area book, and I´m loving the people. Wet feet are a small price to pay for all that.
Real quick about the people... they are easy to love, which is such a blessing. I´m so grateful to be in this area. The members are awesome. There are tons of inactives, and I look forward to bringing them back into the fold. There´s so much work to be done here. Thanks for listening to my venting. I feel better haha! I still miss you guys. And I miss my friends too. But I´m here for a great purpose.
Haley, check out the style of music Reggaton. It´s extremely popular here and I think you might like it. I don´t know how clean it is, or if they have much of it in English, but it seems like it would be fun to dance to.
Last thing, I´m running out of facewash and don´t know if i´ll be able to find anything legit down here. If you could send some next time you send a package I would appreciate it. Thanks again for everything. Thanks for your love and examples. Please tell the ward I love them and thank them for their examples. Tell Alex he´s such a stud, and the Lord needs him. And tell him I love him. Thank you guys for everything, I wish I could talk to you face to face, but email is such a blessing. Love you!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
Leaving the Guatemala MTC
Hola! They gave us some time to write today! I leave tomorrow
morning! I GOT MAIL! Haha Dad, I got your letter with the SD card.
So I'm sending you guess a letter today. Mom, I tried to write you a
letter, but I only had time to reply to Dad's. I'll write you a
personal note as soon as I can. Dad, thanks for the letter. It was
awesome to read it.
I don't really know what to write about! Haha I've been so focused on
getting ready to go that I haven't really thought much about the past
week. For one, I'm really excited to get out to Retalhuleu. We have
an awesome group going and I'm excited to put into practice everything
that I've been learning the past nine weeks. I'm also nervous. I'm
afraid that I'm going to forget something important, that once I get
the hang of things (whenever that will be haha) that I'll will have
forgotten some essential part of what I should be doing. But I know
that with the guidance of the Spirit, everything will be okay.
This past week was a bit weird. A lot of people were waking up in the
middle of the night screaming. People were having nightmares and
stuff. It was over a period of two nights. The second night I had a
really creepy and awful feeling. I couldnt sleep and it was terrible.
It was weird. But yesterday made up for all of that. We watched
"The Lamb of God", "The John Tanner Story", and "The Joseph Smith
Movie". They were all amazing. I felt the Spirit all day and fasting
was a great way to start this new week. I think it's so cool that I
get to have conference my first Sunday in the field! That will be way
cool.
Adjusting to Latino culture is very difficult. Here are a few things
I've needed to get used to: I have no personal space. They don't have
any concept of respecting other people's things, space, etc. Haha
it's almost funny how awkward it gets. The second thing is that they
don't like to support leaders. They point out as many things as they
can to bring the leader down. We evaluated our teachers this week and
they got upset at me when I voted for anything less than an
"excellent" rating. It was so annoying. They would push me out of
the way and yell at me haha. Everyone else had the same problem. One
of the funniest things is when we sing hymns. Nobody knows how to
sing, but they all think they have the voices of angels. It's
absolutely hilarious sometimes! I've learned to appreciate the words
of the hymns more than the notes.
As an "adopted Latino" I've had a tough time the past three weeks, but
it's all worth it. I've learned so much. Haha some of the Latinos
didn't like the idea of having Gringos in their zone. Some of them
legitimately hate us. It's weird. Despite the divinity of this work,
there are a few in the group that don't even try to develop
Christlike love. I wonder what kind of past experiences theyve had
that have influenced their feelings toward us Gringos. All I can do
is smile and say 'love you brother!' It makes them even more mad
sometimes haha.
Haley! How was Homecoming?? Mom said it was great, but I wanna hear
more! How exhausted are ya? Was it worth the effort?
Apparently, we only have twenty minutes to write today. So I have to
get off soon. To conclude, I was reading in 2 Nephi 2 and 3 yesterday
and I learned sooo much! I don't know if it's the power of being a
missionary or that I was simply oblivious before, but I learn sooo
much more from the scriptures. You guys should check it out! I love
you and I'll inform you all about the heat of Reu next week! Love
you!
Elder Austin Tyler
morning! I GOT MAIL! Haha Dad, I got your letter with the SD card.
So I'm sending you guess a letter today. Mom, I tried to write you a
letter, but I only had time to reply to Dad's. I'll write you a
personal note as soon as I can. Dad, thanks for the letter. It was
awesome to read it.
I don't really know what to write about! Haha I've been so focused on
getting ready to go that I haven't really thought much about the past
week. For one, I'm really excited to get out to Retalhuleu. We have
an awesome group going and I'm excited to put into practice everything
that I've been learning the past nine weeks. I'm also nervous. I'm
afraid that I'm going to forget something important, that once I get
the hang of things (whenever that will be haha) that I'll will have
forgotten some essential part of what I should be doing. But I know
that with the guidance of the Spirit, everything will be okay.
This past week was a bit weird. A lot of people were waking up in the
middle of the night screaming. People were having nightmares and
stuff. It was over a period of two nights. The second night I had a
really creepy and awful feeling. I couldnt sleep and it was terrible.
It was weird. But yesterday made up for all of that. We watched
"The Lamb of God", "The John Tanner Story", and "The Joseph Smith
Movie". They were all amazing. I felt the Spirit all day and fasting
was a great way to start this new week. I think it's so cool that I
get to have conference my first Sunday in the field! That will be way
cool.
Adjusting to Latino culture is very difficult. Here are a few things
I've needed to get used to: I have no personal space. They don't have
any concept of respecting other people's things, space, etc. Haha
it's almost funny how awkward it gets. The second thing is that they
don't like to support leaders. They point out as many things as they
can to bring the leader down. We evaluated our teachers this week and
they got upset at me when I voted for anything less than an
"excellent" rating. It was so annoying. They would push me out of
the way and yell at me haha. Everyone else had the same problem. One
of the funniest things is when we sing hymns. Nobody knows how to
sing, but they all think they have the voices of angels. It's
absolutely hilarious sometimes! I've learned to appreciate the words
of the hymns more than the notes.
As an "adopted Latino" I've had a tough time the past three weeks, but
it's all worth it. I've learned so much. Haha some of the Latinos
didn't like the idea of having Gringos in their zone. Some of them
legitimately hate us. It's weird. Despite the divinity of this work,
there are a few in the group that don't even try to develop
Christlike love. I wonder what kind of past experiences theyve had
that have influenced their feelings toward us Gringos. All I can do
is smile and say 'love you brother!' It makes them even more mad
sometimes haha.
Haley! How was Homecoming?? Mom said it was great, but I wanna hear
more! How exhausted are ya? Was it worth the effort?
Apparently, we only have twenty minutes to write today. So I have to
get off soon. To conclude, I was reading in 2 Nephi 2 and 3 yesterday
and I learned sooo much! I don't know if it's the power of being a
missionary or that I was simply oblivious before, but I learn sooo
much more from the scriptures. You guys should check it out! I love
you and I'll inform you all about the heat of Reu next week! Love
you!
Elder Austin Tyler
Monday, September 27, 2010
A Challenging Week
Ahh I love emails!!
This week has been NUTS! Thank you all for the advice. Dad, I was
thinking a lot about your visit to California last week, that must
have been pretty awesome. Mom, it sounds like your talkimony was
great! I wish I could have been there!
Haley, keep on keepin on! StuCo is challenging sometimes, but think of ways
to make it fun! Im trying to figure out how to make things fun when
everything is going wrong. Maybe we can help each other figure it
out.
I weigh 185 lbs. Thats ten lbs more than when i entered the mtc. And
it isnt fat :) I do push ups every morning. I hate it, but im
getting a bit bigger.
I never imagined how hard it would be going into a Latino district. I
thought it was tough living with a companion, but add on top of that
learning a new culture (AND language) and it has its ups and downs.
This was the hardest week yet and I cant wait to get into the field.
Elder Granja is awesome. But hes different. He said the F word twice
this week haha oops.
To give you an idea of the Latino mentality (or at least for this
group) is this: Elder Taylors companion goes to the bathroom nine
times a day. Every morning he adds four scoops of fiber to his
oatmeal. Elder Taylor explained to him that fiber makes your stool
soft. The next day, his companion added five scoops.
They dont ever take our advice. In my exit interview with President
Steimle, he asked about my experience (After making sure i understood
that it was a blessing). I told him theres a psychological effect
that takes place that makes everything really frustrating. Because we
dont have the ability to communicate well, the Latinos assume we dont
know anything else. It isnt an issue of pride, its just natural i
think. But that dont accept any of our suggestions and they wont take
our knowledge as legitimate. Elder Hock, Elder Taylor, Hermana Pelaez
and I frequently pulled each other aside to vent. All week. Perhaps
it wasnt a good thing to do all the time, but it was crazy. There was
so much bad stuff happening all the time. It was weird and soooo hard
to deal with. I dont know why but they dont realize weve been trained
for six weeks longer than them, they still wont listen to us about
anything. but it has been worth the difficulty. My spanish is way
better. My companion is reading this right now, i hope he doesnt
understand much English haha.
The temple this morning was great, I felt much better about everything
and Im so excited to get into the field. President Steimle told me
not to expect a studly trainer. He shared DyC 84:106 and explained
that I may need to help train my trainer...great. But he said it in a
way that got me a little excited about it. He told me to learn to be
direct, which I applied this week in district meeting.
Weve been having a huge drama problem in our district. Elder Granja
is our district leader and hes had some issues with other elders not
liking him, and making it obvious enough. Then he would fight back
and it just got ridiculous. So during the meeting, I shared Mosiah
18:21 and explained that I wanted to make the most of this last week.
And I cant feel the spirit when theres contention in our district.
Then I proposed a goal to overcome our differences and show our love
for each other. Then Elder Granja (who was one of the people I hoped
would try and change a bit) started to preach about the same thing.
Then it erupted into a nice long discussion about issues with one
another and i think everyone decided to change. It was sweet, but
this week was still tough.
Some of these elders are really prideful, while others are so amazing.
I dont understand what causes such a stark contrast in people who
supposedly have the same goal, the same mission. It frightens me.
But President told me to get used to it. He told me im going to be in
a leadership position for a lot of my mission (kinda caught me off
guard) and im gonna have to deal with that problem a lot. He said
that my president wont be crazy, he is guided by the Lord. And he
counselled me to have fun with improving myself as I help uplift my
companions. Im scared for that, and i dont know how excited i am to
deal with stuff like that, but i know i will and I better make the
most of it. We had another proselyting activity in the park this week
and it was tough. ill try and write about it in a letter. i havent
received any mail for a month. i dunno what the deal is. but im sure
its on its way. I have to go. UGH i have so much more to write. i
shouldnt have complained to much haha
But Haley, I love you. Mom and Dad, I love you and thank you so much
for all your advice. Brock and Aubrey, I love you too. Good luck
with things. Next week Ill be in Reu! Until then...
Love ya!
Elder Austin Tyler :D
This week has been NUTS! Thank you all for the advice. Dad, I was
thinking a lot about your visit to California last week, that must
have been pretty awesome. Mom, it sounds like your talkimony was
great! I wish I could have been there!
Haley, keep on keepin on! StuCo is challenging sometimes, but think of ways
to make it fun! Im trying to figure out how to make things fun when
everything is going wrong. Maybe we can help each other figure it
out.
I weigh 185 lbs. Thats ten lbs more than when i entered the mtc. And
it isnt fat :) I do push ups every morning. I hate it, but im
getting a bit bigger.
I never imagined how hard it would be going into a Latino district. I
thought it was tough living with a companion, but add on top of that
learning a new culture (AND language) and it has its ups and downs.
This was the hardest week yet and I cant wait to get into the field.
Elder Granja is awesome. But hes different. He said the F word twice
this week haha oops.
To give you an idea of the Latino mentality (or at least for this
group) is this: Elder Taylors companion goes to the bathroom nine
times a day. Every morning he adds four scoops of fiber to his
oatmeal. Elder Taylor explained to him that fiber makes your stool
soft. The next day, his companion added five scoops.
They dont ever take our advice. In my exit interview with President
Steimle, he asked about my experience (After making sure i understood
that it was a blessing). I told him theres a psychological effect
that takes place that makes everything really frustrating. Because we
dont have the ability to communicate well, the Latinos assume we dont
know anything else. It isnt an issue of pride, its just natural i
think. But that dont accept any of our suggestions and they wont take
our knowledge as legitimate. Elder Hock, Elder Taylor, Hermana Pelaez
and I frequently pulled each other aside to vent. All week. Perhaps
it wasnt a good thing to do all the time, but it was crazy. There was
so much bad stuff happening all the time. It was weird and soooo hard
to deal with. I dont know why but they dont realize weve been trained
for six weeks longer than them, they still wont listen to us about
anything. but it has been worth the difficulty. My spanish is way
better. My companion is reading this right now, i hope he doesnt
understand much English haha.
The temple this morning was great, I felt much better about everything
and Im so excited to get into the field. President Steimle told me
not to expect a studly trainer. He shared DyC 84:106 and explained
that I may need to help train my trainer...great. But he said it in a
way that got me a little excited about it. He told me to learn to be
direct, which I applied this week in district meeting.
Weve been having a huge drama problem in our district. Elder Granja
is our district leader and hes had some issues with other elders not
liking him, and making it obvious enough. Then he would fight back
and it just got ridiculous. So during the meeting, I shared Mosiah
18:21 and explained that I wanted to make the most of this last week.
And I cant feel the spirit when theres contention in our district.
Then I proposed a goal to overcome our differences and show our love
for each other. Then Elder Granja (who was one of the people I hoped
would try and change a bit) started to preach about the same thing.
Then it erupted into a nice long discussion about issues with one
another and i think everyone decided to change. It was sweet, but
this week was still tough.
Some of these elders are really prideful, while others are so amazing.
I dont understand what causes such a stark contrast in people who
supposedly have the same goal, the same mission. It frightens me.
But President told me to get used to it. He told me im going to be in
a leadership position for a lot of my mission (kinda caught me off
guard) and im gonna have to deal with that problem a lot. He said
that my president wont be crazy, he is guided by the Lord. And he
counselled me to have fun with improving myself as I help uplift my
companions. Im scared for that, and i dont know how excited i am to
deal with stuff like that, but i know i will and I better make the
most of it. We had another proselyting activity in the park this week
and it was tough. ill try and write about it in a letter. i havent
received any mail for a month. i dunno what the deal is. but im sure
its on its way. I have to go. UGH i have so much more to write. i
shouldnt have complained to much haha
But Haley, I love you. Mom and Dad, I love you and thank you so much
for all your advice. Brock and Aubrey, I love you too. Good luck
with things. Next week Ill be in Reu! Until then...
Love ya!
Elder Austin Tyler :D
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