Aug. 31, 2015

     Okay so this week has been absolutely insane, really great but really crazy. First off we had to change all our plans for this week like six hundred time. First off we were going to have a conference with President Nelson of the Quorum, but he decided it was to dangerous to come to Guatemala so he went to El Salvador instead which doesn't make any sense because El Salvador is the most dangerous country in Central America but what ever. Entonces  Tuesday we were still going to have a broadcast and listen to him then Monday they said it was really going to be Friday so we had to replan everything. Then after we had everything all figured out we figured out the Traveling APs were going to be visiting our zone this week and hadn't let us know about it. So once agian we had to change all our plans. And on top of all that my comp was super sick all week. So the day by day. Monday we deep cleaned our house and I mean we deep cleaned it. I even cleaned the fridge and the stove, which is really just two hot plates. After that we just slept a little bit. Tuesday we had a mini zone meeting with all the missionaries so that they could all get to know each other and we could talk about some of the goals we had for the zone. Wednesday we had divisions with the Assistants which was pretty cool. We saw a ton of blessings and had a really awesome day. I was with Elder Taya from Peru and it was great. He's an awesome missionary and I like him a lot.  Thursday we were going to do divisions but last minute they told us that the missionaries from Guazacapan and Taxisco were going to spend the night with us to be able to get to the conference on time Friday, so we just went and did a baptismal interview and weren't able to do real divisions. Friday, we got to go to Jutiapa to see the broadcast of President Nelson which was amazing. He talked a lot about the Book of Mormon and how it is the tool God has given us to convert the people here in Central America. Saturday my comp got really sick so we didn't leave and I pretty much went crazy in the house by myself without any music. Saturday was normal we got out and went to work a little bit and then Sunday was pretty rough for my comp again. But he says he's feeling really good today and so this week should be much better than last week. My comp is from Honduras I don't think I ever told you that. Chase just so you know there are a ton of raw chickens in Guatemala and they carry them around in the back or pickup trucks and then sell them to the people so I can understand why that would gross you out. Kate I sent your letter and hope it will get there before your birthday this weekend.   This week in Guatemala are the elections to decide who will be the new president and things are going to get crazy inside the Capital.  The people are already asking the current president to resign, but he won't and the people are about to revolt so I'm really happy I'm out here where everything is Tranquilo. Well I love you guys a ton and hope you have another fantastic week. Love Connor. 

P.S. Chase, why are you always wearing my Super man shirt???? 

Aug 24

     First off I am sooooooooo happy about my changes.  My new comp is just fantastic and someone that I already knew. His name is Elder Gudiel, another one of the missionaries that is going to finish the same time that I do, and he was my zone leader when I was in Nimajuyu. I absolutely love this kid and he's an amazing missionary and a fantastic leader so I'm going to be learn so much from him this change. So anyway Monday  was normal we went and played soccer, said goodbye to some people and got some lessons in at night.  Tuesday was the change meeting, which was a lot of fun. I got to see a lot of my friends and say goodbye to Elder Searle, which was pretty sad but still good. In our zone we had a ton of changes but all the missionaries that we gained are super awesome and going to work super hard. Four of the new missionaries in the zone are fresh out of the CCM and three of them are gringos so thats always fun.  Wednesday was a pretty normal day just working super hard and having tons of success. Thursday I was able to do divisions with one of the newbies. His name is Elder Wright and he's pretty awesome. His spanish is already really good and he teaches very well. We got to talking about his family and it turns out that his mom is from Arco, so its very possible that you might know her, Mom. Her name is Heidi Myers and her sisters name is Tina. We had a okay day with him because we were working in a sector that I didn't really know and so we just spent the entire day contacting and finding news. Friday I was with another greenie named Elder Speth. Mom, Elder Speth is the missionary you told me was coming to my mission from Wellsville. It was pretty fun to be able to talk to him about good old Cache Valley and hear how its going there. That day we had an awesome day because we were working in the best sector we have. Saturday I was with my comp again which was fantastic. We went crazy on Saturday, working super hard and having a ton of success. Sunday was a little bit slow but we were able to gain the trust of the members and the leader of the branch by leaving with them to visit less actives. Okay so a Miracle of the week was one day just after we had gotten off the bus and started walking some random lady in the street asked us if we could go give a blessing to a kid that she knew. She was a member in another ward but she took us to this family and had an awesome lesson with them. Weird things don't happen here, at least I don't think there weird so I don't remember them. Today we woke up super early at like six and went to exercise with some of the members. It was pretty rough. We ran and then went through a ton of workouts but it felt so good to really work out a little bit. Chase, I can promise you, you will be stronger than me because I can't do anything here but I can also promise you I could outwalk you any day of the week. Anyways I love you guys and hope that school goes super well for you this year. Love Connor

                                               From last p-day or two p-days ago. I don't really remember

Elder Romero Elder Ferraro Elder Cativo 

                                                        Me and my new comp Elder Gudiel

Aug 17, 2015

    Well, its has been another excellent week in Guatemala. Some crazy stuff happened and we had a really busy week, but it was a good week none the less.  Monday, we played here in Barbe for the first time. To be honest, it was pretty lame. I didn't really feel like doing anything and almost nobody showed up, so we couldn't really do anything. We did play soccer but me and a youth in the ward named Rafa, just messed around the whole time and I don't know how but we had some of the coolest goals I've ever seen. Tuesday, we had the Zone council, which didn't go as well as I had hoped. We wanted to put a goal with the zone and we wanted to put a really high goal and then see the miracles that God could perform to help us reach that goal.  The Zone's has faith is low and so they couldn't accept that goal and we had to put some stupid lame low goal. That day I also got to go to Oratorio to do some baptismal interviews, which was pretty fun. Oratorio is where my dad, Elder Mann, died so it was pretty cool to go see what it was like. The interviews went really well but a little girl said she all of the sudden didn't want to get baptised and wouldn't tell us why. We're pretty sure her grandma or aunt fed her some sort of lie about the mormons or something. Wednesday we were in divisions again. I was with Elder Aviles from El Salvador.  It was a pretty good day we went to an area and found a lot of new investigators and had  a really good time messing around and talking to people. Thursday was going to be a nice easy day but then two Elders in the zone had some problems getting along, so we had to go talk to them, which took up all of our morning and little bit of the afternoon. Then later that same day, our investigator, Leonardo, had an accident in his work and is currently in the hospital. We're hoping that him having this accident will help him realize he shouldn't put off getting baptized and motivate him to get married and baptised with his family. God answers prayers in mysterious ways right. Friday was divisions yet again. The coolest thing that happened that day was that we almost got hit by lightning. So the lightning story is that it was getting really cloudy and there was a ton of lightning and we were walking on this hill when all the sudden it gets super bright and we hear the thunder instantly and also hear the power lines behind us get hit by lightning it was pretty darn cool to be honest with you.  It rained a ton that night and there was a huge lightning storm.  It was amazing.  Saturday and  Sunday were a little more tranquilo. We were able to work all day Saturday without any problem and Sunday  my comp got sick so we went to some priesthood conference, worked a tiny bit then went home. I pretty much went crazy those three hours in the house without anything to do so I wrote Kate her birthday note and got some other stuff done like eating all the food we had in the house.. Changes are tomorrow and almost the entire zone has changes.  Its going to be crazy. My comp has changes, which is weird because he only has two changes in the area and we only have one together. He's pretty bummed out about it but that's just how it goes sometimes. Anyway love you guys a ton and hope you have fun at school this week. hahahahahahahahahaha Love Connor

     Well it sounds like you guys had a pretty fun week. Okay so just a couple things at first while I'm thinking about them. First off, Chase your hair has gotten super light, super canche and you're wearing my super man shirt. Second, if Landon is still reading this I got your Christmas letter this week. I've got no clue why it took so long to get here but I did get it. Thank you so much for the money and thank you for the things you said in your letter. Mo Anyway this week was pretty freakin crazy, but it was great. On Tuesday, we got to go to the temple which was awesome. On Monday, the assistants told us that we were going to go and we had to tell the whole zone.  There are some areas that are super far away and they had to come to our area Monday night, so we had a huge sleepover with 4 other elders. It was soo much fun. Then Tuesday we went to the capital early, ate some breakfast, took some pictures and then entered the session. It was great! I love going to the temple. After the temple we went to Taco Bell for lunch and then headed back outside the Capital. I went straight on Divisions with Elder Rivera and didn't have any of my things which kind of sucked but I survived. Wednesday was the 5th so me and Elder Gardner did divisions to celebrate our one year mark together. It was really fun. We had an awesome day and taught this guy that was super crazy. He straight up told us he wasn't right in the head and that when he was little people had performed witchcraft on him. It was a very interesting lesson. That night we bought hamburgers and ate them on the roof of our house and just talked forever. It was a ton of fun but Elder Gardner was really tired the next day when we finished divisions.  Thursday was the only normal day that we had and it went pretty well I guess.  I don't really remember much of what happened.   Friday, we went back into the capital for the mission council which is always great. They changed the church where they had it so we got a little lost and had to pay a taxi but that's alright. The council was awesome and pumped me up hard core. Right when we got back from the mission council, we went and did a baptismal interview in Nueva and missed the last bus coming back to our area so we had to call a member to come pick us up and it took like two hours which sucked really bad. Saturday was a really rough day for my comp. First off the comedor where we eat closed for the day without telling us so we had to find our own lunch and that made him really mad. Then Daniel didn't show up to his baptism. We called and called but he didn't want to talk with us. Apparently he showed up later at like 7, super drunk, so he's obviously not quite ready for baptism. Anyway my comp was super upset so we bought some Ice cream and then went and taught Lionardo and Jesenia and the lesson was awesome. Theyr'e going to choose they're own fecha and Leonardo wants to get baptised in a river which will be awesome. Sunday was a good day too.   Daniel showed up to church and so I think he still wants to change and I'm willing to help him.  I'm doing much better but I'm going to take one more test today, just to see if there is anything else I can do. I actually haven't named a single one of the parasites, surprisingly enough, but I'll try to start doing that with the rest of them.   Anyway I hope you guys have a great week and enjoy your last few days of summer Love you all a ton. Love Connor

Pictures of our sleep over and the temple.  

 Thats Elder Gardner and me talking to some missionaries from the CCM. It was fun to see them and think thats where we were one year ago

 More Pictures of the temple those are all the missionaries from my group that are in the zone

                                                                 My district

                                                                My zone

  Elder Gardner and me celebrating the one year mark and then the other ones are me making my first tortilla it turned out pretty well. 

1 Year Down

     Well its been another fantastic week. We had a baptism and a bunch of other really fun stuff happened. To take you through the day by day Monday was Pday as usual. We got all the fun stuff taken care of like sending the dats to all the leaders and figuring everything out. Then we both went and took parasite tests which is just the funnest thing ever let me tell ya. Although I can now put on my resume that I'm a pro and pooping in a cup without getting any on my hands. Turns out I've got another Parasite that we already killed, bacteria and some sort of infection or something fun like that. Good news is Hermana Caffaro is taking really good care of me so you don't need to worry. She called me like 5 times this week and got mad at me because I hadn't had time to buy my drugs and all that so I'm in good hands. Tuesday was a very normal day. We weren't able to do divisions, which was alright and I can't remember anything fun happening. Wednesday we did divisions with Jalpatagua which was fun because I got to be with Elder Perry my old Zone Leader.  He's doing great. In that area they don't even have a branch. It's a basic unit and I didn't even know such a thing existed before I went to Jalpatagua. Thursday we did divisions with Elder F, who is another missionary from my group. He's a really quiet kid who really doesn't talk at all in Spanish or in English, so he has a really hard time contacting and talking, but he really loves the people and he's trying hard so thats all that really counts. Friday we went to some areas and didn't get anything done. It was a pretty rough day for us but sometimes that happens. Saturday we had a baptism of a lady I don't even know. She works in the area offices of the mission so she got everything taught to her there and we just filled the font, planned the baptism, and baptized her but it was still really cool. Sunday was a good day we did divisions with some of the youth of the ward to get to know some of the less actives.It was really weird to walk around with a bunch of kids for awhile but I got used to it. So I'm going to tell you about two of our investigators. One is Daniel, who is a 19 year old kid who has really changed his life. When I first got here he was always super sad and serious but as we've helped him get over his addictions, we've seen a huge change in his life.   He's happier now and he's not as stressed or sad. It's amazing to see how the gospel can change the life of someone like that. The other is Jesenia, who is this lady who really wants to get baptised but her husband won't marry her. Please pray for her and her husband. Other news Anzl came home this week so keep your eyes open for him. I got your packages you sent me, love the PJs and the sheets there awesome. Love you guys a ton and hope you enjoy the end of the summer. Love Connor

 This is one spot in my area where there are like a hundred huge spiders all hanging out together. Its terrible. and Then some photos of the baptism. 

More pictures of the baptism. The little kid next to me in the last one is a punk, he's absolutely crazy. While we were confirming Maricela on Sunday, he just made his way up to the front and put his hands on top of ours and just stood there the entire confirmation.

lease pray for her and her husband. Other news Anzl came home this week so keep your eyes open for him. I got your packages you sent me, love the PJs and the sheets there awesome. Love you guys a ton and hope you enjoy the end of the summer. Love Connor