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 

Jailine was baptized!

Alight here`s what I have for this week.... 

Jailine was baptized this Saturday!!! It was so awesome and everything went so well! We had lots of support from the two wards and the four of us Elders even sang a special musical number. Everyone was reverent and the spirit was so strong and WOW. I think that will be a day for them to remember forever. I thought it was awesome! We were running around like crazies all day getting everything together but it was so worth it!  It was such a great day.

And then the day after she was confirmed a member of the church but guess what—me and my companion had to talk in Sacrament Meeting. I was super nervous but I think that it all turned out well. Several people told us that we did a great job so that made me feel good! It`s getting easier and easier to talk in front of people because of how often we have to do it haha! 

Easter here is called Pascua but they celebrate way differently and they celebrate the whole week. It`s called "Semana Santa" or "Holy Week" and school gets out and all the businesses shut down for like the whole week. Did we have some trouble finding some food this week? Ya, a little bit! We did get invited by some of the members to eat this week though so that was awesome :) It`s celebrated by the Catholics... All of the Catholics in the whole community get together to paint and decorate the streets and then later there are like parade floats of Jesus carrying the cross. It`s super different and quite interesting.

The holiday did help us share the gospel actually. Because of the holiday, nobody works during the week. Several people go to the beach or visit family far away and the streets were deserted but there were also several people that stayed in their houses and just spent some time with their families and that was where we had the opportunity to share the gospel with some of the families that we normally wouldn`t have the opportunity so that so super fun! 

We don`t hear a ton about world news but I have heard a little about the terrorist attack and also about the politics going on there in America. But really we don`t hear too much hear...everyone here just watches soccer hahaha! 

I email you guys from a little internet cafe that`s close to our stake center. It`s like kind of secluded but it has like 8 computers so the whole district can write at one time so that`s where we go. The computers work really well too so that`s always good! 

 

Here is the picture of me and Elder Uribe from the day we had divisions and I went with him. He is from Chile so we talked about Alan`s mission there and how cool Chile is and stuff and it was fun!

I miss you all and love you all tons!!

Elder Lott 

The Heart of the City

This week has been super good! Nothing really bad or ugly to report... Well not that I remember anyway but it`s because the good drowns it out. We had a super awesome lesson with Jailine yesterday and she is going to be baptized this Saturday if all goes well. We went through a practice interview and she has a strong testimony of the gospel so we were both super excited. The interview is scheduled for this Thursday and we`re hoping for the best :) 

We had a district meeting in one of the stake centers that`s like 15 minutes away and it had Wi-Fi :) so that`s where I ran into some luck to send you guys some pictures!  We also went on divisions this week. I went with Elder Uribe from Chile and I talked to him about Alan and his mission and all that stuff.  He`s super awesome and we had a fun day.

The city was fun... We went to celebrate my companion’s birthday and we had fun shopping and eating and what not. Of course we had to snag a couple pictures. That was like more in the heart of the city with traffic and cars and stuff because everywhere else is a little more different haha! The price of gas in the area is like 25 quetzales per gallon.. Which is about the equivalent of 3 dollars...a little more.

We made it to the mall. It was fun and always a new adventure to see each zone and how different they all are.

This is Elder Proby!! He`s from Provo, Utah even though he doesn`t look like it haha! I actually bought that sweater here! Every once in a while you can find something super awesome here. Most of the clothes stores are similar to the DI or Ross or stores like that so sometimes you can look for hours and not find anything or sometimes you can hit the jackpot. We noticed that we both had the same sweater and we had to grab a picture! He`s super awesome. I actually got to know him in Zacapa and then we met up again here in Alameda! 

All is well and we`re busy and working hard. 

Con amor,

Elder Lott