"Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah."

Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:8

Monday, December 20, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Hey  lin junkab'al !! How is everyone doing? It feels kind of weird writing you again so soon because it feels like I just wrote you guys yesterday! It's a little bit difficult to type on this computer because the space bar is really messed up but just chaakuy lin maak and try to look past the errors that there will probably be in this email. Ok.

First of all, sorry that I opened all of my presents  all at once. I guess I should learn more patience. But when I saw the frisbee and the peanut butter I just couldn't wait. Plus all of the little cards  (which by the way, I loved the poems, especially the one about Elder Lusty haha.  He liked it too.)  fell off and I  didn't know which belonged to which so I read a couple to try and find out generally where they belonged and I guess I wasn't really expecting them to say exactlyu wha tthe gift was . So I just opened them all. But I've been saving the candy and things like that to last me a long time so don't worry. But everything was seriously awesome, so thank you all so much, I really loved it. I didn't get the insta snow though, I just assumed that  was the thing you said that you couldn't fit in the package or something.  (We sent him some Insta Snow, but apparently it never got there.  I wonder if someone else in Guatemala is having fun with it right now!)
 

I'm really glad to hear that you guys are getting into the spirit and are helping other people out, and I'm especially glad to hear that  Matt is making good use of my C.A.W. ( Christmas around the world) Santa suit from 6th grade. I still remember when I was in that suit so long ago. I'm a little bit surprised that Matt fits in it haha, but I'm glad to hear that he does. I wish I could be there to make gingerbread cookies and watch dfferent versions of  "A Christmas Carol" with you guys, but as you both said in your emails, I am here doing the absolute best thing t hat I could possibly do during the Christmas season- -  to bring others unto Christ.  Elder Lopez and I were teaching a lesson the other night and I started to be impressed by the Spirit about some things. I was thinking about the Light of Christ and how cool that topic is. When Christ was born, a new star appeared and light literally entered the world.  I thought about how similarly, when Joseph Smith saw God and Jesus Christ, he saw a pillar of light.  And I think he was born on the winter solstace when more light is starting to enter the world right? Anyways, I was thinking about that, and I thought about the wise men who followed the star to find the Christ . In a similar way, there are so many people who are truly looking for Christ and they just need something to follow. We, especially, in this season, need to be their light that they can follow to come unto Christ. We need to let the light of Christ shine through us to be like the guiding star to others who are seeking the truth. It's just cool how many connections there are and how closely related Christmas and the Restoration of the Gospel are.  Just a little thought for all of you to reflect on.

Here's a little update on my area and the work I'm doing:  Alma was baptized and confirmed so that was really good, and we are still on for Tio Nino's baptism this Saturday, so we're exctied for that. We haven't found any new investigators lately though, so we've got to work a little harder to find some new people to teach. With transfers, there were none.  No transfers at all in Zona Polochic and only 2 in Senahu, so not very many. I don't think President wanted to worry too much about changes right around Christmas. So Elder Lopez and I will be together for another change de plano.  I have to say that things are getting better generally because  we are getting along a little better now, but it's still super hard.  But I'm not going to give up and  I'm going to try especially hard this change to learn what the Lord would have me learn from this companionship. We still haven't found a house. We have given up looking in the center and we are now looking in the more surrounding parts to see if there is anything. We were going to maybe live in the church, but there's nowhere to shower, so we can't. I don't know what will happen if we can 't find a house.  It's possible, and probable  that we'll be taken out for a little bit I would assume. But I honestly hope that that doesn't happen because we really are having success here and I don't want to leave my investigators that are waiting behind. It will be at least another couple of weeks before Ubando can get baptized and we have no idea how long it will take with Carlos and Gilberto.  But if we  do leave I have faith that the Lord will keep them in the right path. Carlos is super pilas so I don 't think he'll stop going to church even if we're not  there.   We have some options that we are maybe going to go look at  today. We'll see what happens though. Today we had our pday in Sacsuha and we played frisbee in a big field all morning and it was GREAT!  I've missed being able to play frisbee and it felt good to run around and just play. But I didn't put on any sunscreen so I got pretty burned.  Oh well I guess! Coban was really awesome. It's kind of like the captial a little bit but way more tranquilo. We'll have to go there and visit wheen you guys come down. And also I'm going to buy all of my clothes from here right before I leave because everything's super cheap here. To answer your questions just a little bit, I didn't get to talk with president Torres, but we are having interviews with him and some training in January. Also the Christmas conference was really cool. The theme was cleansing the inner vessel and faith. He talked about how we have to cleanse the inner vessel and change the things we are doing before we can go out and change what others are doing.   It was cool because there were 6 people from my group out of the 4 zones that were there at the conference. There are 3 of us now in the Polochic/ Senahu. But I'm sitll the only one in Polochic. The other two are in Senahu. The highlight of being in Coban-  I had my first warm shower in forever and it was HEAVENLY.

Alright so now a little bit of things that I need to say. Xben Xben, the call this Saturday. Here's what 's going to happen. I'm going to give you the number of our mission telephone, and you are just going to call me. Not too complicated.  So on Saturday morning, the 25th of December, most commonly known as Christmas Day, you should call me at 9:00 AM, GUATE time. I'm pretty sure that right now it's the same, but just in case, be sure to call me  at 9:00  AM Guat time. I don 't know if you can do this, but if you can put Grandma in as a conference call, that would help me  out a lot. We are only supposed to talk for 1 hour (although all of the missionaries here say that nobody follows this particular rule...) so, if you can work something out like that  then that 's good. If not, I'll just call Grandma once I'm done and just have her call me back. So that's how that should work.  If that time is inconvenient, well that 's too bad haha because that's when it's got to be.  If you haven't called me by 9:10, I'm just going to call you and have you call me back, but I trust you guys to call me at 9:00 AM (don't forget that it's in the morning.)   Well I hope that all of you have a super week this week and that you all know that I'm thinking about all of you and missing you. I know this is where I'm supposed to be and that the people here need me to be here to help them. Thank you for all of your love and advice that you have given me in your last emails, I really really appreciate  it.  I can't wait to talk to you all this Saturday and I'm super excited  to hear  your voices! Love you all so much!! Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon!  

Love,
Elder Norton                                                                                              

 

No comments:

Post a Comment