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

Hobbitenango

¡Buenaaaas!

We are so busy here it´s actually amazing. We´ve been traveling a ton (always in the back of random trucks and stuff and almost falling out multiple times.) Saw a volcano erupting at night and shooting lava everywhere, and it was one of the coolest things I´ve ever seen. Rode in the back of a truck of mandarinas (literally exactly the same as clementine oranges, or cuties, except the peel is green. They´re suuuper good and actually grow here) and the driver gave us a ton of them. Happens with piñas all the time too, and it´s super great how nice the people are. 

This week for pday we visited Hobbitenango. And it´s not a coincidence that the word "Hobbit" is in there. This place is on top of a mountain, and it´s made to look almost exactly like the Shire from Lord of the Rings. It was soooo cool. Surrounded by mountains, volcanoes, green farmland, and little Hobbit houses. We also visited Antigua, which is basically tourist Guatemala. It´s really really cool. All the streets are cobbled. and there are ruins of old catholic cathedrals everywhere. But there are also tons of really fancy shops all over the place, so it was awesome. I didn´t buy anything because most of it is the same price as it would be in the states, so like twice as expensive. But it was super awesome.

An interesting difference between Guate and the US is the water. The water here is 100% not safe to drink. So instead you buy drinking water in the tienda (there are tons and tons of little shops that sell tons of really good snacks and also random other things you might need, and you can find these shops everywhere on every single street). But here, the word agua doesn´t really mean water. If you ask for agua, they´ll ask you what flavor, because it means "soda" or "juice" here. You really want "agua pura." And usually we buy water in little bags to drink. It´s like a sealed bag with a couple cups worth of water, and you bite off the corner and then drink the water. I actually really like them. 

So a weird thing about my companion is that he talks in his sleep. A LOT. He´s from Utah, but he always sleep talks in Spanish. He says really weird stuff, and sometimes he teaches entire lessons in a perfectly clear, loud voice...but he´s literally asleep and doesn´t remember any of it. One night he almost kissed me in his sleep, and woke up with his face literally inches from mine. Goodness gracious haha

We are teaching tons of people, and we had a ton of nonmembers come to church this week. We usually have like 30-50 people, but this time we had over 70, and there was hardly even space in the chapel. This week was the primary program, so all the kids sang songs and taught us about Jesus and how he loves them. It was really touching, and I liked it a lot. So we have this mini bus that we take to pick up a bunch of people and bring them to church. But this week the bus was SO full, my companion and I were hanging out the side the whole time. It was fun, but I hope we figure out a way to keep up with the growth in this area. I love it. 

The people here are preparing for Christmas with tons of fireworks and processionals and things. I hope you are all preparing for Christmas with your families and with Christ, because that´s really what Christmas is all about. 

Love you guys!

-Elder Cloward

We finally bought a mirror for the house. About time...

My comp is making the sign for "pisto" (money) because that´s what he does every time he sees my camera. He loves photography, and I feel like someday he may murder me and steal it. He´s super great though and I love him a lot. 

They calls me big mama

¡Hola amados!

This week was crazy. We traveled almost every single day of the week to go to some meeting, training, practice, or other. It was frustrating not being able to visit all of the members and investigators, but we learned a ton. I´m learning a ton about planning and organization, because we literally have the potential to forget to visit people who are hoping to be able to live with their families forever and ever, and that´s really scary for me. I´m doing all I can to help them and I love them a lot, so I´m glad to learn how to have time for all of them. 

Something interesting about Guate is the animals. The streets are filled with chuchos (dogs) and pollos (chickens). Almost everyone has at least one dog, and I´m not sure if they own the chickens or just let them walk in their yard. But I´ve seen chickens do some really funny things, especially when they´re mad. The dogs can be a little more dangerous, but if you put your Book of Mormon in between you and the dog, It never bites you or the book. I guess the words of God is powerful for animals as well as people. There´s this one house with a huge field of weeds and tooons of chuchos that just hide there and then run in and surround you when you´re in the middle. I´m not sure why this family has an army of chuchos that hate people, but that´s always fun to get out alive when we go to visit this family. Don´t worry, it´s all good. 

Every year on December 7th they have this tradition where they "Queman los diablos," or burn devils. They get these devil piñatas and just burn them in the streets. Some of them have explosives and fireworks attached, so they´re actually super loud and kinda dangerous. That evening was really funny, because we couldn´t really teach anyone when we were surrounded by smoke, fires, and crazy people. Felt like we were actually in the underworld or something. Interesting tradition there...

The word "calidad" literally means "quality." But the people here use it to mean "cool." And it´s actually hilarious how much they say it. It´s becoming a part of my vocabulary now. 

We haven´t been able to teach much this week because of all the traveling, but we had some great families come to church for the first time this Sunday. This Sunday was special because we had a testimony meeting, which means that for an hour, the members who want to get up and share what they believe and how their lives have been affected by the church. It was fantastic this Sunday. There were only around fifty people including kids, but so many people wanted to share their testimonies, and they honestly made me cry. These people are so humble, and understand so well how much God is loving and blessing their families. The meeting went for almost two hours just because there were so many people who wanted to share what they believe. I love these people.

Love you guys!

-Elder Cloward

Walkin´ through the streets of Cheecaigo

¡Hola amigos!

This week has been really exciting, but also kinda sad. My companion and I have been working really hard and meeting a lot of new people. But last night, we got the news that he has to leave. We had emergency transfers, which usually happens when one elder finishes his mission and has to go home, meaning that a bunch of the other companionships are changed up. So my companion is going to be the zone leader in a more cold, mountainous area of the mission, and I´m staying here with a new companion. His name is Elder Eborn and he´s really cool. He´s actually from Utah, so he speaks English. But he´s been out in the field for over 15 months, so he´s got solid Spanish also. It´s exciting to change, but it´s really sad to see my other comp go, because he was honestly one of the best missionaries I´ve ever met. I feel like there´s a lot that I learned from him, but also a lot that I didn´t have time to learn from him yet. But this is the mission, and I´m excited to have someone new. :)

The email title for last week was kinda joking, kinda serious. While this country is really beautiful and the people are great, the reality is that it´s a third world country, and a lot of the people really just want to make enough money that they can try to make it to the US. Including my teachers in the CCM. So Hermano Godinez, one of my teachers, would search for moments when someone accidentally bumped him, or called him a name, and he would say "Hey, that´s a hate crime! Gimme my visa!" It was really funny, but also kinda weird to think that a lot of the people here are actually like that. The people are fantastic though, and sooo willing to just stop and have a conversation. It´s super awesome.

Guatemalan Spanish is super cool. There are a ton of words that have unique meanings here. Chucho = dog. Pisto = money. Patojo = child. Ishkamik = dead. Saber (usually pronounced "saaaaber") means "I have no idea," which is funny because the word in regular Spanish means "to know." Also sometimes they start saying this one word that I don´t know, until I realize they´re trying to say my name...and they really, really can´t. It´s so funny. A bunch of them have started calling me "Clung" for some reason, and so that´s what I answer to a lot of the time. I´ve also heard them call me "Cloro," which means bleach. Also sometimes they just call me "Canche," which means "white guy." I get a lot of stares, interested looks, and sometimes worse, because some of these people literally haven´t ever seen a white person before. They all think my eyes are interesting too, and it´s kinda funny all the looks I get. Not to mention I´m taller than almost all of them, which still feels weird. If only I could fully speak their language. Working on that one.

This guy is so awesome. I´m gonna miss him a ton, but he´s gonna do great in his new area. This picture was taken outside of our house when we got haircuts.

We weren´t able to baptize Mirna and Lucero Ismatul on Sunday, because Mirna couldn´t get off of work. She works in a chocolate shop, so there´s a lot to do in this season. But it´s all good, and she hopes to be able to get off soon, because she really wants to be baptized. We are teaching a lot of other people too that are really excited to hear the message. It´s great to be able to tell them that I really know that this message is true, that God loves them a lot and wants them to be able to live with their families forever. These people are really changing their lives, and it´s so exciting to see how much happiness they´re finding from learning to come closer to Christ. I know that this is what God wants me to do, and I´m excited to continue the work.

Picture of my comp while we were riding in a jalón.

This is a pretty typical Guatemalan landscape. In the background theres a huge blue sky, clouds, a mountain, and a volcano. In the forefront on the left theres a piñale (pineapple field), and on the right there´s a field of milpa (corn plant)...and more pineapples. It´s great :)