Quite the Service Project...

Well there isn´t really anything new to report. I´m still here in Las Ilusiones and I´m still with my same companion. It´s all good though! I´m doing alright. I´m hanging in there. The good thing is that there are lots of missionaries here in the zone that I really enjoy that keep me laughing and having a fun time. 

 

 

We did have quite the service project this last... Tuesday it was I believe. We chopped that huge stump in half and then chopped both halves into smaller pieces to be used as fire wood and we were working on that darn stump for like 4 hours and I couldn´t feel my hands or my arms after we were all through hahaha! They fed us breakfast and lunch though so I mean I guess it´s worth it ;) We´re planning on visiting the jungle again though in these coming weeks and we´ll see how that goes... I´ll have to bring my camera and take some fun pictures so you know what it´s like here in the jungles of Guatemala. ;) 

We just received a letter from the mission secretaries saying the mail service that received packages has been closed for who knows how long. They are trying to receive whatever packages are pending or stuck there. We´ll have to see what happens. I hope we don´t end up losing my birthday package with all of those snacks and goodies and my favorite jeans. I believe in miracles. I´m sure it will get to me. (How does the mail service in an entire country just shut down?  I pray every single day that his birthday package will somehow arrive with all of those darling pictures!)

All is going well though. We have lots to do and we´re staying busy. There is definitely something that needs to be learned or taught in this transfer and I´m anxious to see what that is. Thank you though for always supporting and encouraging me. Sometimes I see these other missionaries that don´t receive any messages from their parents or friends and I´m always so grateful for everyone writing me and supporting me so thank you all!

Love,

Elder Lott

Invitation to read the Book of Mormon

Well, I don´t have transfers and neither does my companion. We´ll be here in Las Ilusiones another transfer together but I´m going to try and do things a little bit differently this transfer... take a new approach on things and see how it works out. I was a little bummed at first but I know that I need to learn something and that we´re here together for a reason so now I´m just motivated to see what will happen and to do my very best. 

This week´s talk was good! I thought it went really well at least. I was pretty nervous like all of Saturday but then Sunday when I woke up and got ready I wasn´t nervous anymore and gave a good talk on why attending sacrament meeting is important and what it means to keep the Sabbath day holy. I actually enjoyed preparing the talk and gained a new appreciation for that commandment. The bishop shared a little story too that I´ll have to try and find in English for you guys hahaha ;)

We have been invited to read the Book of Mormon cover to cover before the year ends.  I’m not sure if that invitation is worldwide or just here in the mission but I extend the same invitation to all of you.  There were several blessings promised if we would read the Book of Mormon including protection from the adversary in these challenging days. 

The truth is, ever since I got here to Zona 18, I’ve heard about killings like literally every single day. At first it really scared me and I was always like super worried all the time but then I just said to myself as long as I´m doing what I need to be doing and taking precautions like having a member with us and staying close to the house at night, the Lord is going to protect me and we haven´t had any problems at all so that´s a blessing :) 

Nothing is really new... I´m a tiny bit worried about this transfer just because this one was a little bit of a struggle but I’m determined to make the best of it and to just keep being the missionary that the Lord needs from me. What makes me happy is to hang out with David and Janet because they literally treat me like their son and they even played a cd the other day of like John McClain (I think he meant Michael McLean) and I was SOOOO homesick. I almost shed a tear or two and they were just like talking and laughing with me and I just really enjoy spending time with them. 

I feel like Guatemala doesn´t really have seasons. It´s always just like the same temperature no matter what month it is. I can´t believe summer is already over though and that school is starting up again. I hope you know that I love and miss you all and can´t wait to hear from you next week. It´ll be here before we know it. 

Love, 

Elder Lott

I have just really grown to love and appreciate these people...

Well it´s only been a few days since I wrote you and there´s not too much new going on.  Actually this Sunday was kind of eventful. First of all, I spent all week preparing my Sacrament talk and I was ready to give my talk and then they never announced me as a speaker. So I asked the bishop what was up after and he was like oh ya there was a change in plans. You´re going to be talking NEXT Sunday on a different topic!! Hahaha oh good! So now I´ll spend this week planning another Sacrament talk but that´s alright because it´s always a good opportunity to learn. Also, this Sunday we talked to the bishop of the other ward and he asked for our help because his ward doesn´t have missionaries. So, we talked to President Crapo and he said it would be great if we could work in both areas so now we´re covering two wards which is two areas and there is SO much work to do and there is not enough time in the day. We are just running from one house to another to another to another and it´s absolutely nuts but it´s so fun and exciting! I am meeting so many different people and everyone is just always so happy to see us and they always give us like a snack and some water or whatever they have around, and I have just really grown to love and appreciate these people.

Wherever I go here everyone always tells me that "los gringos" are winning all of the gold medals and I just have to laugh haha. I heard that Michael Phelps walked away with several medals and that he´s going to retire but he always says that so we´ll have to see what happens.

My area... well it´s like a super big area and well we´ve never had any problems but they say that´s pretty dangerous and especially in the night time. So I feel like it´s basically the same as my previous area. We usually just don´t wander very far from the house in the night time but we´ve never had any problems so that´s a blessing for sure :)

We have been able to find TONS of new investigators. We have received lots of references and everything as well and now we´re even working in San Rafael, our neighboring area, and there is just so much work to do and we´re just busy as ever. 

Service opportunities...we had the greatest service opportunity ever and I forgot my camera but we did it as a district so I´m going to ask the other elders to send me some pictures and I will get back to you on that. It was super awesome though. He took us down into literally a jungle and we searched for wood to bring back up to his house but there are videos and pictures that explain it all better so I´ll get right on that. 

Best moment of the week... Probably on Sunday when we went and visited this little old man that has been sick for a few days and we just talked about tons of things and he shared with us some fun stories about his conversion and his testimony and asked us questions about the Book of Mormon and told me that I knew a lot and it was obvious that I was born in the church because I knew all the primary songs and everything so that was probably the funnest part of our week :)

We´re in the last week of transfers... I can´t believe how fast time is flying by. All is well though and I´m doing good and staying super busy which is good and helps a ton. 

Love, 

Elder Lott

I LOVE the TEMPLE

I was super excited to be able to go to the temple this week! (which is why P-Day was switched to Wednesday this week.) I have actually started to miss the temple when there are long periods of time when we don´t get to go. I hope I can make that a habit for the rest of my life and take advantage of having temples so close to our house :)  

When we went to the temple today we were entering as all the missionaries from the CCM were leaving and there were a couple of new missionaries from the states that were asking me all sorts of questions like how I learned the language and what the mission field was like and it was super funny and it made me laugh because I was in that same spot a year ago and wow how the time has flown.

 

Here is a picture of me and my companion at the temple.  My companion and I have been doing good. He seems to open up a little bit more now but he doesn´t talk a ton usually short responses but it´s alright. Little by little.

The picture where I´m in the middle of the two missionaries is me with the zone leaders and the other is me with Elder Tejada who is a missionary here in our district.  We have just seemed to click and always enjoy a good laugh. 

We definitely felt the effects of Hurricane Earl.  We were caught like 3 or 4 times in a down pour. I always carry my umbrella in my backpack just in case but it just hits so fast that I didn´t even have time to pull it out before I was drenched. It was like a bus passing by in a puddle and you just happen to be standing there and you´re drenched from head to toe. That fast. It´s funny though we were able to have some good laughs which was good for a change. There was lots of talk about Hurricane Earl and if we were going to catch some of the outer edges of the hurricane and sure enough haha but not too bad just a couple of good rainstorms.

 

We found our little lizard friend after one of the rainstorms. Maybe he lives around here and just comes out when the rain hits or something who knows haha!

 

Yes that is some original Kraft Mac n´ Cheese. I was sooooo stoked when sister Janett made it for us. It tasted super good!  It definitely gave me a little taste of home and I was grateful :) 

This week we had interviews with the President and a Zone Meeting. It was good! There´s always tons to learn and I got to see the missionaries from my zone but I see them like 3 times a week anyway so that wasn´t very new.  But we got to go to Walmart this week.  It isn´t as big as at home and doesn´t have all the same stuff but it does have some things that you don´t find in other stores so it was fun to go.  I bought  5 whole pounds of gummy worms and they have been a real treat!

Best moment of the week was definitely going to the temple.  It was the best. Worst moment.... Ummm.... We don´t have worst moments... Just good moments ;) 

I have actually grown to love giving blessings... at first I was always scared because I didn´t know what to say and everything but now they´re always so grateful and it´s such a neat experience. The priesthood is really something special.

This transfer has flown by. We´re about to finish this transfer and we´ll see what that holds in store for us. Missionary life is good though. I´m always busy and the time just flies by.  I´m so glad that all is well. I miss you guys more and more everyday but am continually grateful for your support and all of the things that I have learned from you guys.

Love, 

Elder Lott

Facebook informed us there were six people killed in Elder Lott's area this week due to gang violence.  We know the Lord protects his missionaries and we know Elder Lott is protecting us.  Thank you for your continuing prayers for his safety and success.

A pretty normal week...

Well, not much is new. We had a pretty normal week. Yesterday in Ward council they assigned me to speak in Sacrament Meeting on the 14th. Speaking in Sacrament again...Ugh. :) What else? Nah, mostly just that. We´ve been making progress in our area and we are finding investigators that seem to have lots of interest in the gospel so that´s always the best. 

Sister Ventura is a super nice little old lady. She has several children. I think they´re all boys and I think I´ve actually met all of them. One of her sons is David Ventura (Janet´s husband). She is married. Her husband is of a different faith.  One of her sons lives there with her and he has actually opened up to us several times (could be because he likes to drink a little bit).  However, her grandchild, Andy is 13 years old and he loves to be sarcastic and joke around and play and everything and I get along SUPER well with him. He said that he has only grown attached to one other missionary in his life and I´m the second and that´s probably my favorite part about going to that house. Well, Sister Ventura always gives us food too which is always a plus. Joking around with Andy makes me miss my little brother though... Homesickness ;) 

Janet makes the banana bread. We actually pay her to cook for us and she cooks lunch and dinner for us every single day and the food is super good and it´s always a variety and I´m loving it. David, her husband, served a mission in Honduras and he loves to tease and joke around too. I have loved spending time with them and getting to know them and they treat me like I´m their son so it´s super nice. We wake up and do exercise every single day with David. They are a younger couple... like 30 both of them? Something like that. They have 2 kids and they´re little hoodlums. They don´t have a computer but they have smartphones and a tablet so that´s good!

Mom, your prayers have been answered. These two families are always talking to me and keeping me sane so that has been a real blessing. We see other missionaries Monday, Wednesday and Friday but that´s it. 

Investigators are slow but steady. We are always finding new investigators and we just have to find the ones that really want to accept and apply the gospel. We do have tons of support from the members though and especially from the bishop so that´s super helpful. 

I absolutely love 2 Nephi 31. It´s so true we use that chapter a lot while we are teaching because it talks a lot about the Doctrine of Christ, Baptism, being obedient, enduring to the end and lots of things and it´s honestly just a great chapter...probably one of the chapters that I have marked up the most haha!

All is well and time is flying by. I´m loving the mission and I’m learning so much. 

Love, 

Elder Lott

His new scripture covers for his Spanish Scriptures -- what a treasure!

Elder Lott before church on Sunday