Sick on the Wedding Day :(

Well up until Saturday, life was pretty normal. We were just preparing things all week for the wedding and it all turned out super great. There was tons of support from friends and family and it was awesome! I have lots of pictures that I´ll send next time I´m in the church with wi-fi :) Saturday I was pretty sick all day actually.... I think I got food poisoning or something because I was in the bathroom like every hour and it was the worst... The day of the wedding too... Whyyyyyyy..... it all turned out well though and I’m feeling tons better already :) 

Our Zone Conference was super awesome because we got to hear from Elder Ochoa and his wife.  We´ll have to go look him up when I get home because I even got to shake his hand and meet him personally! Maybe he´ll remember me! ;) We got to hear from President Crapo and that was awesome too!  Then after we were able to catch up with all the other missionaries and everything and I loved it. It was so fun to see my old companions. This is the stake center in Zona Molina.  It´s nice and big!  I don´t think there´s a single building here in Guatemala that doesn´t have a tile floor.... Everywhere is tile and I miss the carpet.

This is the case for my agenda. I am still waiting on my scripture covers. It’s so awesome!  The front is the Guatemala Temple and the back is just like a Mayan design from the Mayan Indian tribes that were here in Guatemala. It´s super cool. 

I loved the Casualness leads to Casualties story you sent. It is so true and sometimes we just forget to protect ourselves by doing the things that we have been instructed to do like read our scriptures and say our prayers every day.  That’s what will protect us from the venomous snakes and everything else. I loved it! It was a good reminder for me. 

All is going super good here. I hope you guys are doing well and staying healthy ;) 

Remember that I love you guys SO much and miss you SO much. 

Love, 

Elder Lott

Mother's Day Call

We had the wonderful opportunity of visiting with Elder Lott on Mother’s Day.  It was a true gift to visit and laugh with him.  We miss him so much!

Our connection wasn’t the best and he was often pixelated and a little fuzzy but it was him!  He had some trouble speaking English.  It was fun to watch him translate his Spanish thoughts into English words. He couldn’t wait to show us an invitation to an investigator's wedding.  He was so excited and anxious to help with the wedding.  They are hoping a baptism will follow shortly. 

He also shared a funny story.  They were walking down the street and a couple of guys carrying a box were quickly approaching them with their hoods pulled low.  Without much warning, the guys circled the missionaries and Elder Lott said he thought this was it, the moment they were going to get robbed.  Suddenly the gentlemen pulled back their hoods to reveal friends from Zacapa.  He was delighted to see them and equally delighted about the contents of their box—BANANA BREAD.  He said it was truly a taste of home and he enjoyed every bite.

Without any warning, we asked him to share a quick message we could share with each of you so that you could enjoy hearing from Elder Lott too.   Thank you for all of your love and support!

Love the Temple!

P-Day was moved this week so the missionaries could go to the temple.

We just got back from the temple and it was so great!! I love going to the temple so much!  The temple session was in Spanish. It´s super different and I often think about the session in English in my head but I´m understanding basically everything in Spanish so that´s really good. I´m super excited to go to the temple with you guys after my mission.

This is our new zone.

Me and my companion.

 Elder Brubaker and Elder Lott!

I'm guessing there is a story behind those ties.  That has been his only request...a few new ties.

I haven´t received my tie package yet but they usually deliver packages and letters on Fridays.... So maybe this Friday I will get letters and packages and I will anxiously be waiting and asking to see if I have gotten anything :) 

We have actually had a couple of days of rain here but it is super hot as always!  It´s fun to get a little wet in the rain too. Hey my companion used to ride horses all the time and I told him that I knew how to ride a horse and he was pretty impressed haha!

I often see people here that remind me of Sabino.  I´m excited to talk to him when I get back. I think he´ll be impressed. There have been several people that have told me for being a "gringo" I have a really good accent so that´s awesome!

Time is short today.  All is well.

Love,

Elder Lott 

Here are some pictures of our apartment.

 They are living in a palace compared to Zacapa :)

Readjusting...

HEY!!! I am so excited to write you guys!!! Hmm... Not too much is new this week.... Really just that we had transfers and it has been a week of readjusting and getting to know the new missionaries. There are tons of new ones and they are all great. Some a little bit different than the others but for the most part all is well. We have a new district leader and it`s hard to adjust to a new one but he`s an awesome leader and has lots of experience in the field.

The baptism was so awesome. It is truly an experience I will never forget! It was fun to have the family there and to see their smiles and everything as the sister we baptized left the water. There was such a unique spirit there and I loved it so much! In the picture that`s her husband, daughter and son and she has another son but he wasn`t able to make it. It was so awesome though and we visit the family frequently to check on them and see how they`re doing. 

I received a giant card from the youth in our ward and I got a good laugh because there are tons of Young Women and all the missionaries were asking me if they can hook up with them and I told them they have to learn English. They`re all crazy it gives me a good laugh. 

Wow, I’m jealous that you guys are getting rain. It is so hot here and I`m just waiting for the rain to come. I`ve only seen a little bit of rain twice while I`ve been here in the capital but apparently we`re almost to that season.  That`s too funny that you`re wishing for no rain and nicer temperatures and I`m just dying for a little bit of rain haha!! Crazy to think that we`re in two different climates

No we never cook. We always eat lunch with Elder Brubaker and his companion at a little lunch place. It`s fun though I really enjoy it. I just need to learn how to make tortillas while I`m here and I`m set ;) 

Yes, we still have someone that does our laundry and even irons it for us so that`s super nice. We just pay her at the beginning of the month and then we just bring our clothes to her whenever we need it.  It`s super nice. 

Me and my companion are doing good. There is lots of work to do and we keep looking for more opportunities to serve and help our area grow and the Lord`s hand is definitely seen in all areas of our lives.

Love to you all,

Elder Lott

Estoy Feliz = I'm Happy!

We had a baptism this last Saturday that was super awesome! The hermana that we baptized had a stroke and has some trouble controlling her movements and talking, but the baptism turned out great! Me and my companion both entered the baptismal font and when she came up out of the water she had the biggest smile on her face and struggled a little bit to say "estoy feliz" which means “I`m happy” and honestly I felt the Spirit so strong. That is the highlight of the week!

We had transfers today.  Nothing new with me and my comp but there were tons of Elders in our area that were transferred.  I`m anxious to see who will be coming....... I`m kinda sad but at the same time excited to see who will be coming to liven things up a little, you know? 

Here is the news headline that found us here at home on Friday:

A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.2 has struck the Pacific Ocean just off the southern Mexican state of Chiapas and Guatemala, seismologists say. No tsunami warnings have been issued. The earthquake struck at 9:11 a.m. CT on Friday. Shaking was felt throughout the region in both Guatemala and southern Mexico.

And here is his response :)

Mommy, I`m safe! I honestly didn’t even know there was an earthquake and I didn`t even hear about it... That`s nuts!! I am safe though don`t worry :)

Elder Barrera (his companion on the left) is 21 so he`s a little bit older than me but not too much... There are ages from 18 to like 25 here so it`s not too old but a little bit more experienced you could say ;) 

No, I can`t buy goldfish here... or Cheetos. There is a knockoff brand of Cheetos here though that I guess is pretty similar ;) 

No senior couples in our mission... Actually I think there are but they all serve in the temple! :) 

Specific in prayers...Hmmm...Maybe just one of our investigators... Michelle... She had her baby recently and is on the road to recovery and then baptism so pray for her :) 

Thanks for everything!

Love to you all—

Elder Lott

These are my dear friends, Elder Brubaker and Elder Nawhinie (the Hawaiian).  Elder Nawhinie is leaving and that`s a bummer :( but we have some good memories and I think we`ll run into each other again down the road.

Emergency Transfers are Hard!

It was a pretty normal kind of slow week... However, we did have a good missionary correlation this last Saturday with our ward mission leader where we planned a fun missionary activity.  We are going to share a fun spiritual message with slideshow and everything and then we`re going to invite the members to give references to us so that we can find friends and family of the members that are ready to receive the gospel.  I`m pretty excited for it we`ll have to see how it goes!

Emergency transfers were absolutely nuts and honestly I don`t really ever want to have to do them again!  But hey, it is what it is and the Lord has a plan and he knows what he`s doing and I`m excited to learn and grow from the experience that my companion has had and everything!!

We didn`t really sleep the night of transfers cause we were packing his bags and everything and then after I was worried all night about what was to come but it all worked out and my companion is a great guy. My Spanish has definitely improved tons where I can express myself and understand almost everything so that helps a lot.

Elder Figueroa is in an area called Fiscal. One of our investigators saw him the other day and told me that he looks like all is well and told them to tell me that he missed me so that was kind of fun!

Elder Barrera a little different but he`s a fun guy! He has a strong testimony and likes to teach so that`s always fun. I`ve learned some new teaching strategies from him and I`m learning every day! Elder Barrera is from here in Guatemala but from someplace far away from here.  I don`t even remember what it`s called haha! He doesn`t speak a lick of English. He speaks another language though called Quiche or something like that so that`s kind of crazy. He has 14 months out in the field.  We`re all settled in now.  We`ve adjusted and we`re off working again. I`ll try and get a couple more pictures of my new companion so you guys can get an idea of him! All is well though and I`m doing good :)

Alameda is actually starting to cool off. Apparently we`re entering the spring season and it`s going to start raining so I guess I`m going to start carrying an umbrella or a rain jacket or something just in case because usually when it rains...it downpours for a good few minutes haha! 

There is always tons of dogs... some that have like weird diseases and are super ugly... some that are scary and growl and stuff but eh we just avoid them...take other routes or something like that.

Obedience brings blessings... EXACT obedience brings miracles... I have seen so many blessings just from being obedient!

Love you all!

Elder Lott

A custom suit made by a tailor in Guatemala is the treasured souvenir of Elder Lott’s Mission.  We knew that before he left.  Apparently Alameda is the place.

You got the pictures?!? Did you like it? I thought it was super awesome and I was super pleased with how it turned out. I got it in time to wear for general conference and it is everything I dreamed it would be. It is seriously so awesome. The color, the way it fits and all the custom patterns and stuff I was way stoked about it. I wear it as often as I can but I also try to treasure it and keep it safe and everything.  It`s a hard balance haha ;)

Emergency Transfers = New Companion

Hey! I had quite the crazy start to my week. The President`s assistants called us on Monday night and told us that we had emergency transfers. This was like 11 at night and Tuesday morning at 7am the taxi was going to swing by to drop off my new companion and pick up my old one. So here I am with a new companion and it was crazy. His name is Elder Barrera and he`s from here in Guatemala but a different part and he seems pretty awesome. I don`t know him super well yet but little by little. It was a crazy week though because it happened so fast and now I`m teaching the area and investigators and everything and it`s super crazy. It`s awesome though at the same time. It`s a good learning experience. The Lord is always blessing and watching over us.

I did get to watch general conference! All of the sessions and I loved it so much. I got to watch all of it in English except for the Priesthood Session.  That was a little bit of a bummer but the truth is I understood everything. The only bummer was that I didn`t get to hear the actual voice of the prophet and everything which is what I like most about English.  Like I said though I`ve gotten to the point where I could attend either English or Spanish and understand so that`s awesome.

Conference was such a great weekend. I learned so much and always love to hear from the prophet and the apostles. Those two days honestly flew by so fast.  I loved every second and learned so much. Now I have tons of notes to go through and remember how awesome it was. We watched the conference in our stake center here and I had the same question at the end of the Priesthood Session.  We all looked at each other like hey... where`s the other half hour?

Everyone asks me if I know the prophet and the apostles like personally because they all live so close and the conference center is so close and everything haha! 

When you told me Grandpa was sending me some of his ties, it brought a tear to my eye. I can’t wait to get them!  

My health is doing good. I`m feeling great and don`t have any cold symptoms or anything. As far as I know I don`t have any stomach problems and I`m eating healthier and feeling better so I`m doing super good for right now :) 

Love,

Elder Lott