Week #69: Singe my eyebrows and "Ponderize" this!

Turtle Soup??

Another week that has come and gone, and things are going good over here. Life with Elder Keck is pretty awesome and living in a house of four missionaries always seems to make things even better.   Yesterday we committed ourselves to only speaking in an English accent the entire time we are in the house.   This tends to make everything a little bit more entertaining, and allow us to feel more posh and cultured.
   We have been all over the place this week, from a special meeting with President Ruiz, Tuesday, to having surprise baptisms at 8pm and a temple trip in between it all. Things have been simply great...well apart from the whole loosing my wallet part of the adventure....that wasn't cool but with everything else that has happened all is good, and you learn to just roll with it.
    On Tuesday we had a meeting with the mission president and he decided to have interviews as well. His messages are always something special. He reminds me of Elder Holland a little, speaking with just enough fire to singe our eyebrows, but full of power and inspiration at the same time. After the meeting was over and he started on the interviews, he began with the missionaries residing in the areas furthest away and going through the list to those that were the closest.  Our area is pretty close and with that we were last to be interviewed.   Elder Keck had fallen sick the night before and was struggling during the meeting. By the time interviews had started he had already been on the phone with the nurses and told that he needs to go to take some tests to see what is is up with "the sick" he is experiencing.  As we waited for our turn in the interviews, Elder Keck had a temperature so hot I was tempted to crack an egg over his head just to see if it would cook.  Sadly enough, there were not any eggs nearby, and I was hungry, but at least he got to remain resting peacefully.   When it was our turn for the interview Elder Keck entered  first only to come out a few minutes later. When it was my turn President Ruiz and I started to talk and it was funny because President didn't even realize that Elder Keck and I are from the same group.  He got a good laugh at that after he realized it.
    Wednesday really kinda put into perspective just how far we have come in the mission. Though we never went into the temple and did a session in Spanish just the mere fact the the last time I went through the temple I didn't know Spanish is just a weird thought. Reflecting back on just how far we have come makes me feel kinda old in the mission. I know that our group is one of the oldest now but it never really hits you until something else passes. I remember back to when we first came here to Guatemala It took a good 3 to 4 months before I really hit me that I am actually living in Guatemala and speaking Spanish....I guess by the time we realize just how old we are in the mission we won't even be here. But to put it all short,  "I love to see the temple! Ill be going back some day. to feel the holy spirit, to listen and to pray and a short while after to be married in one..."
    Thursday we had another meeting followed by a super cool cita over in our area. We started to talk to this family and had just began explaining the plan of salvation to them when the old little abuelita de la familia asks us, hey whats this whole baptism thing....I want to know about that. they are going to need a little bit of work and everything but at some point I think that little old lady and her daughter will start walking on a good path.
    Saturday we had a huge stake activity called dancing around the work. Every ward and branch¨s youth prepared a dance from a country around the world and then preformed it in a local theater over by the stake center. There were dances from Tonga to Spain to Russia and Arabia. It was a super cool activity and that theater filled up thanks in a large party to the army of missionaries outside stopping cars and bringing in everyone who happened to be walking by at that moment.  Just as the activity was coming to a close the zone leaders waved us down to come over to them. Turns out some of their investigators who had said they didn't want to get baptized that day had a change of heart and so we ran across town to throw together a baptismal service.  It was something really special and I think the mom of the two kids will shortly be following her kids. She loved the whole thing.
    A lot is going on these days but that is great! Right now my #PONDERIZE is El Cristo Vivente, we have copies of it on the fridge in front of both toilets and on the walls of both showers. I figure with the amount of time we spend in those bathrooms we will have it memorized in no time.I already have the first 4 paragraphs down.

Week #67: Getting the band back together!

    The life in the mission is filled with surprises and well as far as these last changes/transfers are concerned. Each transfer, only those who have changes and the zone leaders go to the change meetings.   For those of us, that remain behind, this means we have no idea who is coming our way until they are at our door.  This transfer Elder Tufuga had changes and I was left behind in Magnolia to see who would become my new companion.   In the morning, another missionary and I went out contacting and then headed over to the market to grab a quick snack and then head over to the church. The moment we sit down to enjoy the chips and salsa we bought the bus arrived and all of us watched attentively (and tentatively) as everyone got off the bus.   We were just thinking, well not him, not him, not her of course.  Oddly enough, I got through all of the people and was thinking to myself...who is my companion. Then Elder Hala jumps out with his new greeny and says,  "Elder Wilcox!  Elder Kecks your comp!"  I was like no way!!  We are from the same CCM group and I thought it was a joke.  Now I know it's not a joke and we are having a great time, working hard, real hard, but having a great time finding much joy in the journey!  I guess we are getting the CCM band back together.
    We have been doing a lot this week; including changing houses after two guys were murdered outside of our house and are even going to the gym and eating healthy and...just being your average everyday superheros errr  missionaries... woops could have sworn I put missionaries....
    The other day we went back down to that part in our area called Silencio.  This time we went with a member, and we went on a search for the man with the goats.   Thats not his name or anything but she couldn't remember it, so that is how we began our quest looking for "the man with the goats".   We did end up finding him, but he told us to talk to another man, the man with the red truck. Yes, the man with the goats took us to the fireman.  This fireman is actually a member and has been for a long while.  He has just been very very less active.  However he has quite the family and none of them are members of the church.   Although they didn't show up to conference I think we still might have just found a golden family.
     Conference was absolutely amazing!  We set the record as a zone for investigadores entro de la conferencia.  But that wasn't really why it was amazing.  Something seemed so different this time. I dont know if I am just getting older and understand more of it now or if I am better prepared, with questions in my heart that need answering, but what but it was super cool this time and I can't wait to study and ponder (even ponderize) the words of the prophets and apostles.
    Life is good, the mission is wonderful, the gospel brings joy and the church is true!  Sorry I don't have pictures I left my camera in my other bag.  There will be some good ones next week.