Sunday, August 25, 2013

Week 2

So this week has been kind of boring, because it is kind of the same thing every single day.  So that gets kind of repetitive and boring, but i know that it is necessary to have these classes to learn from so that i can become the best missionary that i can be.  So not much has happened this week, but there are five elders from the mtc that are all leaving on tuesday to go to quetzaltenango.  So i have been talking to them a lot about jonny, and when i told them that he was about 6 3 and 200 pounds they didnt believe me.  But yeah i guess i would believe myself either...  

Well I accidentally sent that last one so here we go again.  They seemed like they were pretty excited to go to serve in quetzaltenango, and they all wanted jonny as a trainer, and i told them to say hi to him for me.

On tuesday it is our p-day this week, but i am sending this to you now, because we get to go to the market tomorrow to shop for things, so we wouldnt have time to email... but p-days kind of change throughout the weeks, so next week it will be on wednesday, then back on tuesday in two weeks. 

Also me and Elder Pyper are both sick this week, mine is because of allergies, but his is a sore throat so Im trying to stay away from him as much as possible, even though that isnt really possible in the mtc.  

Sundays are the best days here, because they are relaxing, but we still learn a lot.  But in church everything is in spanish, which i am getting better at, but i still cant understand the latinos.  so i just kind of do my own personal study while they talk.  But after church this last week we watched like four videos that were all about an hour long.  It is nice to have that break from everything.  We watched two videos about pioneers, a video about Joseph Smith, and a devotional from elder Bednar.  So that was a good day.

Im going to kind of do the thing like Jonny where he shares a scripture with you each week, but a little different, because i have challenged myself to memorize one new scripture a day, so that by the end of my mission i will have about 730 ish scriptures memorized, sounds like fun right???  So i will share my favorite one that i memorized through the week.  This week is 1st Nephi 2:10, and it says,  And he also spake unto Lemuel, (insert name here) O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the lord.

Love,
Elder Jeffrey Stuart

Sunday, August 18, 2013

First Week!!!


Ok so now I have a lot more time to write, then I did on the first day... so be prepared!  So after you dropped me off at the airport, I went to the gate with Elder Dixon, and to our surprise there were like 5 other missionaries sitting there!!  So we decided to sit with them.  By the time that we were to board the flight, there were 30 Elders and Sisters on our flight!  But that was only to LA.  When we got to LA after about 2 hours, we found even more missionaries.  So on our flight from LA to Guatemala, I think that there were 50 missionaries that were all going to the Guatemala MTC. When we boarded, I was in the middle seat.  That sucked flying through the night in a middle seat, between two Guatemalans.  But I still ended up sleeping for all five hours, because I was tired, so I slept.  When we landed we were all put into a school bus that said I love Jesus, and Jesus loves us all over it, so that was awesome.  Then we rode on the bus for about an hour to the MTC, or as they call it here the CCM. We got there and were shown to our rooms.  There are three bunks in each room and the person you share the bunk with is your companion.  So my companion for the whole week is Elder Pyper.  He is kind of an interesting guy.  He is the type of person that skips leg day in the gym.  He is a die hard workoutaholic...  He can basically do anything with his arms, but his legs are little.  So yeah he kind of look like an upside down pyramid...  But he is a good guy, even though he doesn’t like to be on time to things. So we got there at about 7:30 and we were given the option to unpack or to take a nap until 10:30.  So I decided to unpack, because I was excited to get out and work.  Then at 10:30 the MTC president and his wife talked to us and told us the logistics of what we are going to do here, and that it will be the best time of our lives.  Then we had class for a little and then lunch.  I liked the food here the first two days, but then it went downhill, and I’ll explain that later.  Then after lunch we got to email you guys and tell you we got here.  Then we had more lectures, dinner, more class, then we went to prepare for bed. So if we had unpacked earlier we got to go to bed at about 9:00 but if we hadn’t unpacked we had to unpack then go to bed.  So I got to go to bed early that night.  When I went to bed that night it was just me and Elder Pyper, but when we woke up in the morning, there were four new Latino missionaries in the room with us.  So we woke up to having four new roommates... that was weird. So we basically have the same schedule every day, and it is already after a week getting super boring, but whatever.  We wake up, shower, eat breakfast, go to class for four hours, eat lunch, go to class for three hours, have sports for an hour, eat dinner, then prepare, and teach an investigator until 9:00, then plan for tomorrow and do other stuff until 10:30, then we go to bed.  So yeah it is kind of repetitive, but it is worth it, because I have already learned so much Spanish, that I already can’t evenn speel in english...  ok... that was just a joke. But it is coming along great!!! When we teach our investigator we have to teach him in Spanish.  So that is a challenge, but it helps a ton.  We teach one investigator as a district, and we have 6 companionships in our district.  Three are Elders, and three are hermanas.  Also elder Dixon that we met at the airport is in my district so that is cool.  And from our district, we have our district leader, the zone leader, and the zone leader type of thing that is for the sisters.  So our district is basically the best, but I’m not supposed to say that because it isn’t a competition, but we are the best... Also in the Guatemala MTC, they let us teach real investigators.  So the investigator that we are teaching is one of the kitchen workers.  His name is Daniel and he works here but isn’t mormon, and we know that for sure, because we kind of stalked him to see if he was a real investigator, so yeah he is real.  And he wanted to know more about what we do as missionaries.  And on the third lesson as a district, we got him to commit to baptism, and I was the one who did it!  It was amazing to feel the spirit that missionaries get when they are teaching the gospel, and to hear the investigator say that he wants to be baptized.  So we are passing him off to the "real" missionaries.  So that was a great experience to be able to teach him. But the food here tastes good but sucks!  Almost everyone in the MTC that came in our group got dirrhea (maybe I spelled that right) by the third day, except for me!!!  So right now I’m going strong on a week without having dirrhea.  The food tastes good, but it never does sit well, but it has never made me sick, so I guess I’ll just have to get used to that. Thank you for all the emails they were great. Love you, Jeffrey Stuart. P.S.  I couldn’t figure out how to use the enter key...

Sunday, August 11, 2013

I'm Here!!!

I made it to guatemala safely, but it has been quite the adventure. It probably has been the most hectic, but the best day of my life.  So far nothing has gone wrong, but it has only been a day...  I cant wait until i can finally go out into the field to share the gospel, instead of being in the mtc, but whatever.  Spanish is ten times easier than i thought, but it is still hard.  And my room already has a huge leak... the floor was covered with water, but thats no big deal.  We were right though, I am like a foot taller than everybody...  See you later!!!                                               

Love Jeffrey Stuart