¡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