Officially Half Way...

The most exciting news I have is that we had our 2 baptisms and it was an incredible day and then they were confirmed Sunday. We were running all over this whole week getting everything planned and prepared and it was all worth it because we had a great turnout. We made little invitations and invited everybody and there were like 60 members that came to support these little ones in their baptisms and it was awesome. We have found a member that has a car and he hooks us up sometimes. He also knows how to make homemade donuts and he helped us with the dessert for the baptism and it was just so awesome. I baptized the little boy and my companion baptized the little girl and it was just super fun. It was a crazy and fantastic day and I loved it!  We´re already planning another baptism for this coming Saturday and life is just crazy right now but it´s so awesome at the same time.  

Yes! I am wearing flip flops. My other sandals broke and I had to buy new ones and the cheapest find was a pair of flip flops. I only use them to shower with so I can live for another year.   It´s super weird and I will never use them again after the mission hahaha!!!

(Brayden could never stand ANYTHING between his toes.)

No, this is not a roofing project, that´s just us on the roof... That´s just how the roofs are out here... Flat.... We just climbed up there to take a picture.  There have been tons of changes in our zone and now I just have a little district of 4 and it´s a riot. These two elders are fantastic and I love working with them! The darker one is Elder Flores from the Dominican Republic and the other is from Ecuador, his name is Elder Gaibor. We´re always running around doing things together and it´s super great.  I´m getting better at being a district leader. I´m getting the hang of it ;) 

The Reese´s came from a little shop in Pinares... Another area... They bring all sorts of good stuff from Mexico and sell it here in Guatemala and I´m just taking advantage of it... I´m going to buy another bag of Hershey’s chocolate chips today.... It makes me miss home so much but it´s so good.

 

Did you like the pictures... I know I haven´t sent any recently but it´s because every time we get to the church where the Wi-Fi should be, it´s not turned on or something like that and I haven´t been able to send pictures but whenever I can you know I´ll send pictures :) I had a couple of good ones and I was excited to send you the father´s day pictures.

Love from Guatemala,

Elder Lott

Innocent...

This week has been kind of a crazy week. Wednesday we had a multizone conference with President Crapo and 3 other zones. I didn`t get to see any of my companions though so that was kind of a bummer but we did get to learn lots about planning and how important it is to really plan your day and your week. When we have an effective planning session, we have an effective day! It was a good reminder and I enjoyed it! Then on Thursday, I went on divisions with the Elders in my district and I went to their area in Pinares and got to meet their investigators and work there with Elder Flores but I forgot my camera and I didn`t get to take any pictures this day and I was so bummed. Next time I won`t forget though. 

My investigators are doing good. We are going to have a baptism this Saturday with two little kids--Moroni and Mia. They’re brothers and they’re super awesome. They have really grown to love us and have developed a testimony of the gospel even though they’re only 9 and 10 year olds. They`re so... Innocent... I don`t know how to describe it but they’re so excited for their baptism and so are we! I`ll grab some pictures for sure. We have a couple more but they’re a little further down the road. We’re on fire though and it`s so awesome. The mission is so great!!!

Dad, that is so awesome that you went on splits with the missionaries!  I imagine that was quite a new experience for you because it was for me the first time I did it but now it`s what we do everyday! That`s so awesome!! How is Elder Painter? Did you guys just talk about the Restoration of the Church and stuff or did you talk about other topics of the church? That`s so fun!! Well, hey...I can say that whenever we go home teaching again, I`ll be a lot more useful instead of just being your partner ;) 

Yes, they celebrate Father’s Day here. It was this past... Friday I think... I`ve lost track of all the holidays there in the US. Sometimes the people here ask me like when do you celebrate this? And I’m like..... Uh..... I don’t even remember. But I’m going to send some pictures of me and my companion celebrating Father’s day.  They will be coming your way :) 

Oh ya the weather has definitely changed from the scorching sun to the cloudy storms but it`s actually super fun. We run around with our jackets and umbrellas and we plan our visits so that we can hop from like one house to the other in between storms because usually it rains for like 10  or 15 minutes like super super hard and then stops for like 5 minutes and then starts again so we have our lesson for like 30 minutes and then when we hear the rain stop we finish up our lesson and then run to the next house to avoid the rain hahaha! The lightning and thunder shakes our house at night but nah it doesn’t scare me. It`s kinda nice to fall asleep with the rain and everything. 

I’ve gotten rid of my cold--thank goodness! I`m staying healthy as for now, eating bananas and vitamins and lots of chocolate... That`s healthy right? I found a little shop in Pinares where they sell those bags of Hershey chocolate chips that I always ate at home by the handful... Ya... I found those here and I buy like a pack every week... Yikes... No cavities.... ;) 

Love, 

Elder Lott

Lighting the area on fire!

What´s new?  Hmmmm.... Well not too much... Just lots of work and lots of busyness! This last Friday President Crapo came to our planning session and we got to plan with him--just my companion, President and I and it was super awesome! We made the best plans that I´ve ever made and we are already seeing miracles. In these next 2 weeks we have 3 baptisms planned and they are all coming to church and doing their homework and my goodness it´s so fun to see the hand of the Lord in every area of my life.

We didn´t meet with any of our referrals because we´ve been pretty busy with our baptismal dates. We´re going to try and set apart one day this week to just go and find all of these referrals because we have a ton and we need to go find them so we can report back on them :) 

Divisions with the zone leaders was pretty good! I went half the day with one of the zone leaders and the other half of the day with the other zone leader and learned a ton from both of them. One of them has 23 months in the mission and is at the point of going home so I just chatted with him for a while about all his experiences and what he would suggest and everything and it was a fun time. I really enjoyed it. They helped me understand a little bit more about my responsibilities as a district leader and that was good for me too. There is just so much to learn out here and I just can´t keep up but I´m doing my best haha ;)

My companion and I have definitely clicked and the fire was lit and we are just lighting this whole area on fire. We are having so much success and it´s moments like these where you just are so excited to be working here in the Lord´s work. Our plans aren´t falling through as much. Our investigators are genuinely interested in the gospel and everything is just going so good. I don´t want this transfer to end because I´m afraid I´ll be transferred and I want to keep working with all these people that we have to work with! 

As for walking... No we don´t walk even close to what we did in Zacapa. Everything here is pretty close together and we just walk like down the street to most of our appointments but there are some days that we walk like a ton. In Zacapa everything was farther apart and we had to walk a lot in between appointments but here is a lot less walking. Hopefully I´m not getting fatter...

Life is good and I´m enjoying every second.

All my love,

Elder Lott

 Picture from saying good-bye to Elder Brubaker.  

There has to be a story about those ties!

Super Good Day!

Yesterday was a super good day in the work of the Lord! Yesterday our ward mission leader went on all of our visits with us for the whole day. We finished lunch and then went on visits with him for the rest of the day and we implemented a plan in our ward. We went and visited several families in our ward and did a fun little activity with them where they thought about friends and family members and then we said a little prayer and they gave us specific names of people that are ready to accept the gospel. We got like 20 referrals and now we have lots of work to do for this coming week :) We´re hoping to make it a habit and do it like every Sunday. Wow that would be great!

Yes, being a district leader is hard right now, for me at least.  I just don´t really know what to do and what is actually expected of me really, you know? However, tomorrow we´re going to go on divisions with the zone leaders and they are going to help me out and explain and answer whatever questions or doubts I have so I think that will help tons.  I have 2 other companionships in my district so there are 6 of us in total. I talk to them every night about how their day was, what kind of challenges they faced throughout the day, how their investigators are doing, how we can improve and how I can help them…things like that and then I report to the zone leaders.   I don´t get as much sleep as I used to which is kind of a bummer but it´s kind of fun at the same time because I´m enjoying working closely with the zone leaders and other missionaries. I like being in the middle of all the excitement. I´m definitely learning and growing and praying for help and guidance but I know that all is going well. :) 

Yikes! No more enjoying perfect weather for you guys. Now you just get to enjoy the blazing sun and sweating.  But one thing you have is air conditioning! That´s definitely something I miss! The rainy season has finally come but I’m stoked for it because it will finally take away all this heat and get rid of the sun and it´s awesome! I have been taking vitamin c more often and I seem to be doing much better :) 

Elder Brubaker is off to Zona Bosques in Minerva. I´m not exactly sure where that is, but it´s here inside the capital still. Oh also Elder Vasquez, the missionary that I trained, just got moved up to district leader too and we talk about it all the time haha! 

I haven´t gotten any letters or packages... Apparently there are several missionaries waiting for packages and letters.  It must be backed up in the office or something :(

Love you all!

Elder Lott

Transfer Week Excitement

Transfer weekkkkk.... dun du du dunnnnn!!! I don´t have transfers haha I get to stay here another change with Elder Barrera! I was kind of expecting it though cause most missionaries that come to this area are here for 6 months so I kind of already knew. Elder Brubaker got transferred though.... I´m bummed about it... We´re not sure where he´s going yet but he told me he would write me and let me know next week so I´ll let you guys know! Now I don´t have anybody to talk to in English... Ya.... Bummer.... Oh well I guess I´ll just keep working on Spanish haha ;) There was only a slight change here.... So our district leader finished his mission and went home and I became the new district leader here... It´s just a little change.... Ok maybe kind of big... At least for me anyway!  I´m pretty nervous about it but at the same time excited... We´ll see how it goes. It´s just new responsibilities and everything that I have to learn and stuff.  I´M SUPER NERVOUS AND I DON´T KNOW WHAT I´M GOING TO DO BUT I´M EXCITED TO LEARN AND GROW :)

You got the pictures of the baptism and everything? That was a really fun baptism because I have been working with them since the beginning and I got to see the whole process and wow I loved it! Michelle seems really happy and they both seem to have the vision of going to the temple in a year to be sealed as a family and they said they were going to invite me so I´m looking forward to that :)

In our Mother’s Day call, Elder Lott told us his companion had a convert going through the temple and they had permission to go but no transportation.  We all prayed for a miracle and here is the story…

Well  we ended up talking to a member and asking for directions and he just decided that he would go with us so we got up at like 4:30 in the morning and got ready and caught the bus and headed for the temple and then after, we wandered around lost for a little while because the member couldn´t remember which bus to take to get back hahaha!  We had to do some asking around and it was hilarious but the temple was super good and the convert was super pumped to head out in the mission field.

I´m feeling good!! I´m feeling tons better I just have a little cough that continues to bother me a little but other than that I´m up and running again!!  Everything is going good and I´m looking forward to another transfer and lots and lots of learning!

I´ll let you know how my first week goes as a district leader ;) 

Love,

Elder Lott

The Rainy Season has started!

It´s true, the little couple we have been working with are super young but they´re super awesome! He´s 20 and she´s 19 years old. The wedding was super fun though you could tell they spent a lot of time planning it all and getting everything ready. We just helped with decorations and stuff!

Lessons with Michelle are super good. She has quite the testimony and she learns super quick. Her husband is actually already a member so it was more of an activation process with him but they are both attending church every week now and you can see the progress and that is what the mission is all about. It´s so great. Michelle was actually baptized this last Saturday and guess who got to baptize her?? This guy :) It was super awesome and super special. The spirit was so strong and it was such a great day! Baptism days are always kind of crazy but when the baptism finally happens it is so so worth it!  Pictures will be coming.

I´ve been a tiny bit sick with a cold... runny nose and a cough but I haven´t had a sore throat or headache or anything so that´s good! I´m almost better though... I´ve almost gotten rid of it :)

Everything is going good.  We´re just about to finish the transfer and we´re going to finish strong. I don´t think I´ll have transfers but who knows.

I GOT THE BIG FAMILY CARD!!!! :) I loved it!!

I´m super stoked for the rain.... All the members are talking about how the rainy season is starting and how it´s going to rain like every day from now on and I am so pumped. We run around with our umbrellas and rain jackets... We don´t always need them but we do always need to be prepared!  It’s lots cooler and I love it. I don´t know if it makes the mosquitoes worse... As for right now, it has helped.  I haven’t noticed as many so that´s good! I haven´t heard anything about the new dress guidelines yet in the mission.... Maybe in the next conference? 

We are headed to a big mall called MetroNorte today. We´ve been there before and it´s pretty cool. We´ll see what it has in store for us today. Mostly it´s just to go eat something a little better than normal ;) 

Love you all!

Elder Lott