Change is in the air!

Alright... Here´s the inside on the transfers are you ready? It´s crazy.... So it turns out that yes indeed my companion Elder Yama is out of here... He´s going to a place called Puerto Barrios which is even a little hotter than it is here with humidity times 100.... He´ll probably end up dying so I will say my final goodbyes forever tonight hahaha ;) With my companion leaving it means that I have to get a new companion right? My new companion is Elder Vasquez. He´s straight from the CCM and he´s brand new which means I am the trainer and senior companion. I am extremely overwhelmed and scared to take on this new responsibility.... I feel like I am still just a baby out here and have no idea what I´m doing and now I´m getting another missionary that is even more new than I am.... I just finished my own training... I definitely don´t feel ready to train another.... I hope that I know enough Spanish and enough about our area and the people that all will be well but..Yikes... I´m super nervous and overwhelmed... It´s alright though, I continue to press forward with faith and I pray a lot a lot a lot a LOT hahahaha ;) There´s the inside scoop with transfers though!!

I meet my new companion tomorrow... today is my last day with Elder Yama and we´re going to say good bye to all the members for him...

My most spiritual moment this week was preparing my talk for this last Sacrament meeting. I was preparing my talk and the spirit was just guiding me. I just picked up my pen and the spirit did the rest. It guided me to scriptures and thoughts and everything and it was actually really incredible. I shared it on Sunday and I was told that I did a good job.... I know that´s something that everyone says anyway but I think that they really meant it haha :) 

We’ve been doing a workout routine and I feel like I´m getting stronger and healthier.  I think I just need to start eating a little healthier... It´s hard when you´re living on your own and have to cook for yourself but I have been buying lots more fruit and vegetables but that brings on the whole new problem of having to wash them and having to wash them with clean water hahaha!! Lots of work to eat healthy!

I continue to pray for you guys every week!! I hope you are staying busy and that all is going super well. No sicknesses or anything. I know this gospel is true. I know that it is being directed and guided by the Lord. I feel his influence and blessings every single day and am so grateful for you everyone and the prayers that you´re sending my way. 

Thank you much for everything!!!

I love you with all of my heart!!!

Elder Lott

This morning we saw a pillar of light exactly through our window, which descended gradually until it fell upon our room…we thought it was like Joseph Smith’s story.  Anyway, here’s me playing in some light.

Scorpion Visitor

Look at this little guy that I found by MY HEAD!!!  I was just making my bed (Mom I hope you’re so proud of me) and I moved my mattress to tuck in all of my bed sheets and stuff and BAM!  I found this SCORPION chilling right next to where I was sleeping.  Did I freak out a little?  Yes…definitely a lot! I had a small heart attack!  Was my first instinct to take a picture of it?  Well, of course!  As insane as it was and as scared as I was, it was also my first time seeing a wild scorpion so it had to be documented.  Did I sleep that night?  Actually, yes!  I passed right out because every single night I’m exhausted.  I just pray that I won’t ever have to see anything like that again. 

What do I do to protect myself? Hope and pray? Check my bed every night, that is what I´ve been doing hahaha! We have seen a couple of HUGE spiders along some of the streets and stuff and it´s a little unsettling to know that those things are crawling around but we have some insecticide and I just hope that my treated sheets protect me like they´re supposed to hahaha!

 

Here we were cleaning and filling the baptismal font for the sisters in our district who had a baptism. We were the witnesses for the baptism and we went and got everything prepared and everything so that was pretty fun! Not our own convert.... But hey, it was still super exciting and everything was well. It was super spiritual and super cool! 

I often think about the missionary force of just my friends and how grateful I am that we´re all out serving at the same time and the support and comfort that that brings me.  I wish I had time to write them all and hear from them personally but I´m super glad you keep me updated. Ah it´s so good to hear that everyone is doing well and everything. 

We had the multi zone conference this last Wednesday which was super good. We talked about the vision that Lehi had and applied the 4 groups of people to 4 different groups of people.  President Crapo is super awesome. My Spanish is getting tons and tons better and that´s good because next Sunday we will find out about our transfers... Who our next companions are and where our next area is and everything!! Pray for me. I´m a little nervous but at the same time super excited.

Love,

Elder Lott

Birthday Suprise...Chased by a Dog!

We actually received a letter in the mailbox Saturday and it was so exciting!  It was a trial run to see if it would really arrive.  Here are a some highlights:

Life is super different over here in Guatemala.  Everything is so different. I don’t think I’ve found one similarity.   What an adventure for sure!  Oh my,  iknow what Alan was talking about when he said he missed carpet.  You can’t find carpet not ANYWHERE!  Apparently it’s because it hold heat, that’s what my companion told me and I guess it makes sense cause it’s already 100° here but oh man, there’s nothing quite like praying on your knees on this tile. I’ll definitely be lying on the carpet when I get back J

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You got my letter??? Hey!!! That´s good to know. Now I know that if I send them you will get them and they won´t get lost :)

Family Life.... Good question.... The houses are dirt and clay with some cement poured over the top of them with tin roofs with long sticks to hold them up. Really the only materials used here are cement and rocks and dirt oh and wood. I´ll try to get some pictures to show you! Employment opportunities sounds like there aren´t a lot.... A lot of the investigators we have are always looking for jobs and it sounds like it´s hard to find a job. Ya the kids go to school (and it´s weird to think that I graduated hahaha and that I was there like 4 months ago hahaha) but they do go to school. One session from 7-1:30 and kids who choose to do the night session go from like 2- 7 or something like that.... Super different. Toys.... Hmmmm..... Not much... Like these weird card things... I have handed out some lizards though and they love those. 

This week I have been reading in the missionary library I finished reading Our Search for Happiness by Elder Ballard and I´m halfway through True to the Faith, this has strengthened my testimony because I always find The Restoration in these books and how important that is. I need to read Preach My Gospel though especially Ch 6 for the Multizone conference that we have this Wednesday. Apparently we have to get shots and I´m not super stoked for that but I´m not super distraught either so that´s good. 

Yes I can buy chocolate in Zacapa and yes I do it frequently hahaha more than I should ;) The Hershey isn´t super expensive even so I even get some quality chocolate hahaha (Good thing we taught him Hershey Milk Chocolate is quality chocolate!?!) I can´t buy the chocolate chips though and the ones they sell are semi sweet and kinda expensive so it´s not worth it. I do satisfy my chocolate craving with Hershey’s bar though don´t worry ;) 

Yep! Elder Yama gets to enjoy letters from both of his sisters and mother and father! Emails not letters. He says that his family is way too lazy to send him letters and packages hahaha but yep he has good support from his family :) 

I’m noticing more ties that I didn’t send than that I did

Ya some are purchases and some are swaps it´s like a trading game with the missionaries some of them have literally "been in the business" for a while hahaha It is lots of fun though! 

Here´s a little about my birthday!!

Alright here´s how my day went are you ready? So my companion woke me up at 4:50 in the morning with the fire alarm. It was actually super funny I´m not going to lie. He pushed the test button and then plugged his years and laid on his bed. I woke up and was like "What the heck is that??" Kind of panicked but not super bad and then he started laughing so I started laughing and it was all good. Then we got up and for our exercise that morning we went on a hike up the mountain! Oh my gosh on the way up though, we had been warned of ravenous dogs but we hadn´t seen any... We were carrying rocks though and my companion was carrying his slingshot and not until the very end when we were almost there we ran into 2 wilds dogs. Oh my, it was so scary! They started growling and barking and one of them like started circling us so we took off running and it chased us and I thought I was going to get rabies but luckily my companion turned around and shot it with the slingshot and they left us alone but wowwww that was probably the scariest experience of my stay here in Zacapa. 

Anyway, after that we got ready for the day President Crapo made a personal phone call to wish me Happy Birthday which at first scared me very bad but then was super good hahaha after we went to a district meeting.... They surprised me with a "cake" which was really just a bag of beef jerky hahahaha oh well it was funny. After our district meeting though we went to get Vaca Negras! Which I thought was funny cause literally translated that means "Black Cow" Hahaha but it´s like vanilla ice cream but instead of root beer it´s coca cola.... Super interesting but it´s actually quite good.

 Then opening my package was a highlight and I decorated my whole side of the room with the decorations hahaha thank you for all the treasures and decorations and treats. I absolutely loved it. 

I hope all is well at home and that you are staying busy!!

I love you with all of my heart!!

Elder Lott

We assume these pictures are of their “zoo” excursion.  The pictures came on Sunday so I asked if there were any “live” animals in the zoo but got no response. 

Short and Sweet

General conference was in the stake center. There were a lot of people gathered and there were 4 Elders from Utah that got to watch the session in English :) :) I was one of those 4 elders. We had our own little room and our own little tv that we were huddled around and it was awesome!

I missed our Priesthood Session traditions so much that we went and got ice cream after just to keep our tradition going. I thought conference was really great though. 

I can´t believe I’m turning 19.... I asked my companion if I would feel more like a man..... He said probably not hahaha I feel like such a baby out here only being 18 years old when everybody else is 20 or more hahaha Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes.  I miss you guys and it will be weird celebrating without you.

We ended up not going to the zoo last week because it was closed. We just went to lunch instead and that was good! We do usually try to go and do something fun on P-days and today we went to a zoo! I will send pictures as soon as I can find working wi-fi haha until then... You just have to wait... 

One thing I´ve learned from my mission though is the power of prayer.

Love,

Elder Lott