Starting Over

¡Hola todos!

This week has been full of meeting new people, learning new areas, and doing new things. Training is completely different from what I expected. My new companion Elder Vargas loves the people SO much, and he really wants to help them in every way possible. He´s really great at connecting with them and making them feel good. It´s really cool to watch him work. He´s still learning how to teach simply and effectively, without saying too many things to confuse the people. He´s also learning how to plan efficiently so that we don´t have to cross the entire area in between every visit. But he´s learning everything super fast, and he´s already a really good missionary. And my Spanish is getting a lot more natural now that I almost never speak English during the day. 

    The coast is really, really hot. Our area is super humid, and there are green exotic trees and plants everywhere. We have a mix of city and streets with concrete houses, and half jungle with houses made of sheet metal. There are iguanas and other interesting animals near the rivers here. 

We sleep without blankets and with huge fans blowing on us all night. Then when we wake up, we take a really cold shower that feels super good. This house is a lot nicer too; we actually have a shower with running water, instead of just buckets. And the door isn´t made of bars, so the dirt doesn´t blow in all the time. It´s super cool. 

    My comp has the coolest accent ever. And it´s kinda changing my accent too, which is funny. I´m finding myself dropping the s at the end of a lot of words, and using other jerga that people always say here. It´s great though. My companion is learning English too, which is super cool. He always says these random things in English with a really heavy Spanish accent, which makes me laugh a ton. He still has a lot to learn, but he´s going for it. 

    My favorite thing about the mission is being able to help people every single day. Whether that means getting water from the well, chopping firewood, or teaching them how they can change their life and come closer to Christ, it´s really amazing. Seeing people smile everyday because of what we´re doing for them is just priceless. And I´m going to keep working everyday so I can make as many people happy as I can. 

Love you guys!

-Elder Cloward

I´m a Father

¡Hola canches!

So this week has been stuffed with stuff, but nothing like anything I´ve ever experienced before. So the time in the mission is divided "changes." Every change last six weeks. And the first two changes of your mission is your "training," where you´re learning how everything is. In your training you have an older, more experienced missionary as your trainer to teach you how to do everything and to help you learn. So I just finished my second change in the mission field, which means I´m out of my training! I´m a regular missionary now...except I´m not. We just had companionship changes today, and guess what...I´m training. So I just got out of my training, and now I´m training another missionary. It´s super funny, and I really did not expect that to happen even though a lot of other people told me I was going to train. So now I´m with Elder Vargas from Bolivia. He´s super great. He already has one change in the mission, so I´m finishing his training with the second one. So he´s not completely new, but he is still pretty fresh and still learning a ton. I´m super excited to be with this guy. 

Not only did I switch companions, but I´m in a new area too! This area is called Palmar. and it´s in a Zone called Santa Lucia. It´s on the coast of Guatemala, which means it´s super hot, and super humid. The difference is huge; it´s sooo humid here. But it´s a super awesome area. Way more people, and a ton more civilization. Now I get to meet all of the people here. It was pretty hard to leave the people in Jocotillo. I´d only been there for three months, but I already love those people so much. And the fact that people actually cried when they learned that I was leaving...I´m not gonna pretend I didn´t shed a few tears with them also. But they´re great. I´m gonna miss that area a ton, and all of the people especially. But now I get to do everything new again, which is gonna be super fun. This area seems super great, and I´m gonna learn a TON.

We also went to the temple again, which we only get to do twice a year. It was super special, especially because this time it was in Spanish. It´s a different language and even a different country, but the feeling in there is exactly the same. It´s super happy and really great, just how things of God always area. Afterward, the zone took a group photo, except Elder Croft and I weren´t there yet. So we took our own group photo. I also took some great pictures with the kids and the mom of the familia Gomez before I left. They´re super special to me. 

Haff bardie oh shoe

¡Buenas!

This week went by super fast. And I don`t have very much time to write, so I`ll see what I can do. I got beat really bad by my companion in Monopoly. We also walked through a field of fire that people were burning (they always burn their crops after harvesting, but this was the only way through). We debated the bible with an evangelical pastor (I don`t like arguing, but I do like learning from people who believe differently that me, so it was more calm). We rode in the back of a truck on the highway again, which is super fun. We also experienced an earthquake, which was really interesting. It wasn`t very strong down here, but everything was shaking all over the place. 

This week we had a lot more people come to church. So many people that the bus was totally full and my companion and I were hanging on the outside of the bus for our lives. It was really funny. We also taught a guy who speaks almost perfect English, and it was the first time I`d ever taught anyone in my own language. It was really hard actually, but as we got used to what we were doing, my companion and I ended up teaching a really powerful message about the love of God for us and the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Someday I`ll be able to do that in Spanish too just as well, because English is always a little more from the heart for me. But I`m getting better everyday. :)

This is the last week in the change, which means I`ll probably be getting a new companion, and I might end up leaving my area too. I love these people a lot and don`t really want to leave, but I know I`ll have a great time if I get to meet knew people in a new place also.

Oh yeah, the title was a little girl trying to sing happy birthday

Love you guys!

-Elder Cloward

Casamiento (super super good)

That´s so Guatemala

¡Hola hermanos!

This week was full. Lots of doing, and lots of thinking. I also noticed a lot of super stereotypical Guatemalan things. Yesterday we saw a bunch of kids sledding down a suuper steep dirt hill on big pieces of cardboard. It actually looked really fun. We also saw the metal outside of a computer in someone´s yard, but they had ripped out all of the inner mechanisms and were just using the outside to hold their firewood. That´s Guatemala for you. There´s also a lot of written English here, like on their t-shirts, products, and napkins, but they don´t actually know what it says. And sometimes it says things that are super funny, and we have to not tell the people what their shirt says so that they won´t get all embarrassed. Another common thing is that people´s headlights will break, and instead of fixing them, the people will just attach these huge bright light bars to the front of their car, and connect them to the wires from their headlights. We also see chickens trying to fight all the time, but then they forget they were mad and sort of shuffle away...but then they remember again and run up and get super mad! And then they forget again and walk away. It´s really funny. 

I´ve been learning a ton this week. I literally get to serve people all day, everyday. And because of that I love them a ton. But I don´t always show it. I´ve noticed that sometimes I fall into a mentality where I just teach the people a ton of things and then hope that they come to church and want to come unto Christ. But that´s not how it works. They need to know that they´re important, and that I love them and care about them a lot. So I´ve been working a lot harder to show the people how important they are to me. That means listening to them more, talking about their problems, their joys, and the things that are really important to them. And really listening and then helping them as well as I know how. And not just with them, but with my companion too. Jesus established His church on lots of things, but one of the most important things is love. So I´m working right now on making sure that the people can feel the love that Christ has for them through the way I make them feel. And it´s really fun to make people happy. That´s why I´m here, and I know that when you do what Jesus did and follow His example, you´re always more happy. We´ve seen tons of miracles this week and learned a lotta lot, and I know that God is watching over us, helping us to love His children the way He does. And it´s one of the most incredible things I´ve ever done.

Love you guys!

-Elder Cloward

¡Hola folks!

This week went by so fast, I honestly don´t remember what happened. Just thatit was really happy and super cool. We played soccer and basketball with a ton of other missionaries in the mountains, and I realized two things: missionaries are bad at sports, and Latinos are crazy good at soccer. Like wow. They can do anything they want with a soccer ball. I also saw my first companion there. He´s gained a lot of weight...

One of the things that is really big here is coffee. Guatemala is HUGE on coffee, and you can see it growing everywhere. We´ve got tons of rides in trucks with bags and bags of coffee beans, because they´re just taking it everywhere all the time. I´ve seen coffee plantations that grow coffee for Starbucks.

Apparently Guate has some of the best coffee in the world. But...in the church we believe that God wants us to take care of our bodies as well as our Spirits, and coffee has some substances that are harmful for your body, as well as some some addictive properties. And it´s not going to kill you, but we believe that God has commanded us to not drink it, as well as do drugs, smoke, drink alcohol, and tea. So instead of coffee, we give the people Morcaff, which is like exactly the same, just made of grains and healthy stuff instead. The people all love it, and they are all willing to instantly switch to drinking our "healthy coffee" instead. Super cool. I don´t know if I like the stuff or not. because I´ve grown up my entire life not drinking coffee, so I´m still not used to the taste. Feels weird to be drinking "coffee" for the first time. But this stuff is super good for you.Pretty funny.

We confirmed the familia Gomez as members of the Church this week. They were really happy. With that, they received the gift of the Holy Ghost, which means that they´ll have the holy spirit with them always as a guide in their lives, as well as a companion that just makes them happier all the time. They liked that a lot, because the bible talks about how people need to receive the holy spirit by the laying on of hands, and finally they were able to receive the blessings that are written. I know that the Spirit of God is real. It´s the reason that the things of God feel so pure and good. It´s a spirit of peace, happiness, and love. If you ever feel like you need more peace and joy in your life, I invite you to read the scriptures. It´s kind of amazing how they just make you feel good inside. 

Love you guys!

-Elder Cloward

I´m a Pro Sticker Collecter

¡Hola todos!

We´ve been doing a ton of work here. We ate more piñas, taught lots and lots of people, and swept a dirt floor for an hour as a "service project." And I loved it :)

So almost all the houses here have dirt floors. So a lady told us she needed help with something, and we came over to her house early in the morning, totally ready to help (we are always looking for service, and we do stuff like chopping firewood and making tortillas). But then she said needed help sweeping the dirt. And it´s all dirt. So we swept up the dirty dirt so that you could better see the clean dirt, or something like that. But the funniest part was that the dirt looked a lot cleaner afterward. These people know what they´re talking about.

There are these little wafer cookies here called "Picnic," and you can find them in every shop all over the place. And I guess they must be making a new How to Train Your Dragon movie, because all of the Picnics have a sticker from the movie inside. So my comp and I are having a lot of fun collecting them when we´re passing by. 

We had another baptism this week! Maria wasn´t able to get baptized with her family last week, so we went to Santa Elena this week to baptize her. They have a baptismal font there, so it was a little more peaceful and calm. The spirit was so strong there though. She was super excited, and really wanted to do it because she knew that it was what God wanted from her. I really love seeing the happiness in people´s eyes when they change their lives for the better, and that´s really why I´m here. I´m building God´s kingdom on the earth by helping people to come unto Christ. I know that it´s true, not because I can see God and talk to Him face to face, but because I can see the eyes of these people, and I can see their lives getting better everyday. And it´s the most worth it thing I´ve ever done. 

I love you guys! Keep being awesome :)

-Elder Cloward

Walmart stole my Book of Mormon

¡Hola todos!

This week has been stuffffed with stuff. We are eating a ton of piña and really tasty food. We also are running around all over the place and visiting as many people as we possibly can, because we have a ton of people who are learning a lot. We had to chase chickens out of the house, and a couple of dogs came to church for some reason. But also, we had a wedding and baptized a family this week!

So we have permission to go to Walmart on pday, which isn´t actually in our mission but is really really nice. So when we go there, we have to put our backpacks and stuff in their little cubbies, and they give us a little card with a number on it so that we can come and reclaim them when we´re done shopping. But...for some reason they moved my backpack into a different cubby, and moved my Book of Mormon into the cubby of some random person that was already there. So when we came back, they wouldn´t give me my things and tried to make me give them a card that I never had. I told them all of the stuff that was in my backpack, and the name on it matched the one on my nametag...but they still didn´t really believe me. Finally, they let me have my backpack, but they just would not give me my book. I´m not sure what they wanted from it, but maybe they´ll read it and know it´s true. I laminated it and put pictures and marked it up and everything...oh well. Time to make a new one, because in this mission we always, always carry a Book of Mormon in hand wherever we go. 

So this week, we did everything to plan a wedding and a baptism for the familia Gomez. They are extremely poor, so they have never been able to pay for a wedding. But they wanted to get baptized because they know that the church is true and they want to have the guide of the Holy Ghost in their lives. So we payed for everything, and they did it! There´s no baptisimal font in this church, so we went to a river that has naturally heated water from a volcano. They were really really happy to be baptized. I baptized three out of the four of them that were over 8 (Jose and his wife Lesvia, and their daughter Helen), and the other daughter will be baptized probably next week. They also have a baby (Olga) and a three year old (Nanci) and another daughter who is about five (Norma). For some reason they didn´t want to smile for the picture, but they were smiling and laughing before and after. I guess they don´t take pictures very often haha. But that was a really amazing experience, because they really want to follow the example of Christ, and they´ve seen the blessings that come from it. So that was my big happy moment of the week :)

¡Les amo!

-Elder Cloward