12/19/11
Hey!
So great to hear that the move went smoothly! And 3:00 PM works perfectly. I can't believe John's already done! So crazy.
Aubrey, thank you so much for sending all those pictures, they were great! Everyone looks so good! Mom and Dad have lost weight, Haley cracks me up and looks gorgeous, and Brock and Aubrey look so happy! I'm so pumped to talk to you guys!
Regarding the move, I'm way excited! I am now loving the idea of coming home to a new house. Haha I was talking about it today at our Christmas conference and mentioned to the buds that my parents moved! Elder Hock replied, well while we're talking about crazy news from home, my mom got remarried to a hippy named Bob and she bought a new house. Haha Elder Hock cracks me up. I feel for him though. His family situation is not the most stable from the bits and pieces he's shared.
But seriously, I am way excited. I'm kind of sad that I'll only be there a few weeks before having to head out to school, but that will just serve as an excuse to visit often.
Regarding shopping, I haven't seen any nativity scenes aside from the one in the Catholic church, but I'll look. I have no idea how much money is in my account, so I don't know what to buy yet. But cool story...
On Wednesday we stopped by a members' home. They are very wealthy members. The husband is not an active member and his occupation is sketchy haha. The wife is such a strong member and a wonderful lady. We stopped by and we were in their shop from which they sell Brazilian silver haha. In the corner of the room I saw a painting from this famous Guatemalan painter that I love. It was a painting of a quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala. I told her how much I loved it and asked where she got it. She looked at me and said, Really??? I said yes! She explained that they haven't known what to do with it and she gave it to me! I couldn't believe it! It's a nice painting. I'm going to send it home through the mail I think. Not sure how yet, but I'll figure that out next P Day. People here are so overwhelmingly generous!
This week was pretty crazy. A Christmas choir organized by a stake president in Coatepeque came and performed here in Tecun. We were very busy with preparations and set up. We invited a ton of people, ran an announcement on the radio, etc. I was kind of skeptical because music isn't a forte in the local culture. Most people at church are tone deaf haha. It makes for interesting melodies in the common hymns. But we worked hard in preparation. The event was held in an cultural center by the city government building. Elder Moss and I set up a greeting table with church material and greeted people as they came in. We weren't expecting the place to fill, but it turned out to overflow! There weren't nearly enough seats. It was amazing, everyone was so surprised. And the choir was so great! Supposedly they perform every year. I was blown away. Everyone loved it. And it resulted in about 50 families or adults for us to visit this week haha. Should be interesting with the Christmas activities. Nobody is home during this month.
Today they started to take down the local chapel. They'll be constructing a two-story church with an indoor basketball court and all. But that won't be done for ten months.
So the Christmas conference was today. We all went to Retalhuleu and there were some musical performances and such. Then President spoke about Christmas. Afterwards we had time to eat a really nice lunch and chill with friends. It was fun! Much better than last year. I realize that I'm getting old in the mission, I feel like I don't know anyone aside from the old crew (part of that is due to the fact that I've been here on the outskirts for six months) and I was really annoyed with the immaturity of some of the missionaries. But it was so great to see everyone. People asked me where I am at right now. When I replied, Tecun Uman, everyone responded, 'STILL!??' Haha and then followed up with an 'I'm so sorry, that's rough!' Hahaha! But I like this place. It will be weird to go. Elder Molina told me I will be changed in January.
Brock, thank you for your email, sounds like you're doing great. Thanks for the world update. Dad, sounds like you're way busy. It'll be nice to kick back for the Holidays. Mom and Haley, I love you guys and hope all is well with finals and the new move. I pray for you guys and hope you all feel an increase of love and joy during this week. Make it awesome! I love you guys so much. I always say that, but that doesn't make it less true. Talk to you Sunday!
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
