Woohoo! I love emails! Haha there´s been a hold up in the mail, and
I haven´t gotten anything for two weeks. It´s a bit frustrating haha.
Mom, if you could go ahead and send an SD card, that would be great!
I don´t think I´ll have time to buy one. And about your
testimony/talk, that sounds good to me! I think personal experiences
are the most interesting and powerful ways to explain and teach. It´s
still in the 60s and 70s here, but that will change when I head to
Reu. And I have two weeks left in here! I´m so excited to get to the
field!
It´s been reeeeealllllly tough being in a Latino district. It´s so
hard. The sister in my district from Utah cries almost daily. It´s
rough on all of us North Americans, but it is soooo worth it. I´m
learning way more than before. It´s hard to communicate with my
companion, but we´re always able to figure out a way to explain
things. Elder Granja is a stud. He´s my comp, and our district
leader. He spent the last year as a security guard here in the city.
He´s funny. It´s really interesting being in a Latino district. they
all have extremely powerful testimonies, but sometimes they lack basic
knowledge about the gospel. It´s hard to go back to the basics again,
but it´s helping me better understand and appreciate those things.
I keep hearing crazy stories about violence in Guatemala, particularly
here in the city. Two nights ago we heard gunshots in the street as
we were all lying in bed. We think it was just a drunk shooting out
of his car window, cause we heard no sirens afterwards.
One of my teachers, Hermano Contreras told me a story last night. He
mentioned his wife and I asked why he didn´t have a wedding ring. He
explained that it was because he rides the bus and it´s dangerous to
have rings, watches, etc in public. He said he would drive a car, but
his car was stolen six months ago. He was driving one day, and
stopped at an intersection. Two cars pulled in front and behind him
to keep him from going anywhere. A bunch of gangsters with machine
guns popped out and yelled at him to get out of the car. He got out
and they got in and drove away.
Elder Taylor´s companion is named Elder Morales (i think). He´s from
Retalhuleu. Three years ago he was walking home from work with his
day´s earnings. A couple thugs approached him and his friend
demanding their stuff. They resisted. His friend was shot twice and
he was shot thirteen times! Crazy. But he said he was in a rough
part of the city and he was really stupid to resist. And I know I´ll
be protected. Don´t worry Mom :) I´ll be smart. And obedient.
On a lighter note, I´ve become much better at understanding the
Spirit. Last night I was trying to figure out what I should focus on
today. And I got an impression telling me to help my companion in the
temple in the morning. I thought... what?? It seemed so random, so I
asked what I should help him with. I felt like I would find out when
the time came. So I wrote it down and waited till this morning. At
the temple, they split me up from Elder Granja and sent me with a
Latino Elder who was going through the temple for his first time. He
didn´t have the opportunity to speak with a member of the temple
presidency about the temple, so I had the privilege of explaining
things and helping him out with everything. Huge testimony builder.
It was soo cool.
I´m so thankful to be able to go to the temple every week. Even
though everything is in Spanish, I´m still able to learn more every
time.
On Sunday, we had a devotional by Elder Hatch. He taught us about how
we can help other people accept and understand the gospel. it was
really cool. He talked about how we need to be bold. How the
authority and power of our calling gives us the ability to make
miracles happen. How we have the ability to help people change their
lives, how we are angels to the people looking for the gospel of
Christ. He talked about how our calling enables us to bear testimony
with thunder, and bring light to the lives of people living in
darkness. I´m being kicked off the computer, so I love you guys! Thanks for your
letters, I´m praying for you! And thank you for your prayers! I feel
the strength that comes with the calling of a missionary. Love you!
Elder Austin Tyler
