1/16/12
Hey!
This week has been so crazy!!!
Aubrey, isn't that the worst!!???!?!?!?!?! Hahaha oh gosh. Worst mistake possible. At least he didn't cry.
Haley, The UP theme sounds sooo cool! Your email was super up and down hahaha totally high school. I just heard a Taylor Swift song on the radio just so you know. It's a new one. That's cool to hear about Elder Christofferson visiting. I'm jealous. I have seen no general authorities in person in the mission. Well I take that back, Elder Clarke came to the Guatemala MTC. But still. Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Andersen came and didn't stop by to say hello to the missionaries! I'm bitter. And like four of the Apostles spoke to the other four missions in Guatemala!!! But not us. Hahaha but hey, we got a temple dedication.
Dad, that sounds like one awesome birthday party. Thanks for the updates on world news, I love those. And thank you for the advice and encouragement.
Mom, I love you!!! I'm writing you a letter today!
Any news on Austin?
So this week started out with a bang. We went to the leadership meeting and President was fired up. He came down hard on some things. It's a little different meeting with President in that environment. He expects so much more of us and is not afraid to lay down the law. He also isn't afraid to get into deep doctrine. But I loved the conference. Seriously, I think a huge reason why the Lord called me to this mission is so I can learn from him. We planned some things for the new year and discussed goals and new methods to apply. After the meeting we were all talking and packing up. I went up to him to say thanks and he gave me a big bear hug and said in broken English 'I love you man.'
Last night we had a meeting with him and our stake president. It was really interesting to see President interact with other leaders. He was very supportive of President Garcia's (the stake president) ideas, but when it came to things that needed to be changed he was very stern and authoritative.
When we got back from the conference, I went on exchanges with a new elder. He's from Oregon and he's been struggling with being away from home and what not. I was exhausted from traveling and being at the conference, but i get excited about the work with the new elder. We started out by looking for a recent convert whose family are not members. We couldn't find the house, so we said a prayer and asked for help. Three minutes later we found it! That night we were trying to catch a bus to get to another area and meet some families. We were waiting like forty minutes for a bus. We said another prayer and asked for a way to get there. Two minutes later a bus came and we got there in time.
Saturday night, Elder Cortez and I were looking for a referral and we got lost. We said a prayer and asked for help. We went around a corner and sure enough, there was the house. Those simple miracles are so great.
It's interesting, even though we've been so busy and things have been kind of hectic, it all falls into place when we stay focused. When we lose focus, it doesn't go so smoothly. And that's the trick, staying focused. It's a struggle, I'm tired of being the companion to motivate, but Elder Cortez is helping me with a lot of stuff. He's a very talented missionary. He gave a talk yesterday at church and everyone loved it. The members are even more motivated to help us out.
Being in the city is a little different. Cuyotenango was the only 'city' that I've been in, and it was small. And we didn't spend a lot of time in the actual city part. This place is different, very busy and the people are a little more rude, but more intelligent. I think everyone I've met so far has been literate. That's a huge plus.
As far as what we have to do every day...
We buy things that the missionaries need, like medicine, fans, pillows, kitchenware, etc. And for some reason there is a lot of stuff missing (the missionaries have asked for a lot of things). We go on exchanges twice a week (one goes to another area and the other stays in our area with a different missionary). We talk to the district leaders every night and analyze the progress of each area (after a long day, it's tough getting used to). We make a lot of phone calls, between the missionaries and the nurse or APs or President. We meet with the stake leaders. And on top of that we are expected to baptize families and be an example for the whole zone.
I like staying busy and all, but it's tiring. It's cool to serve the zone though. We get a lot of flack for things that we can't control, but I learned that from Stuco haha. And then there's the whole disciplining and correcting thing. We haven't had to deal with that yet, but President is concerned. Sad stuff happens in the mission sometimes.
It's a good time. The members are great here, that's making everything even better. We just need to organize ourselves better and balance our focus between the zone, our companionship, the members, and our investigators.
I love you guys so much! Thanks for all your love and support. Have an awesome week. Time is going by even faster now, I can't believe it.
Love,
Elder Austin Tyler
