January 26, 2012

Hello!  It's Jocelyn here. We are happy to report the Elder Delgado has arrived safe and sound back here in Bakersfield.  I cannot express how grateful I am to him for his strength and his awesome 10 months of service to the Lord in Guatemala.  We will be on pause here with the blog.  After his stay at home, we are going to continue his future missionary letters through an e-mail group.  It was very hurtful for our family to learn some incorrect things about Elder Delgado from another missionaries blog.  Some people just don't know how to be respectful of missionaries and their families.. We love and support our missionary and are so excited for the future!

January 16, 2012

Woo! Im OLD!!!! I feel gross! jeje Just kiddin! I feel pretty great! Like a strong young buck!

 Thank you so much for all your guys' had work in all this! I really love you guys, and throughout these past 9 months i truly realized how important the (united) family is to any individual, and am really blessed to have a family such as mine! Jaja, my comp and I will go visit some epic waterfalls later today, and maybe have some steak-packed meals later today. im definitely looking forward to it! However, I will not have my comp smack me in the butt. jejeje!

 Haha, yeah that stump pulling machine looks pretty epic. But is it as fun as using the truck? (good memories) 

Glad to hear the kids are epic as usual, although sorry to hear spencer forgot his name! jajaja thats funny, im sorry! jajaja They really are awesome kids! I love them all!

Wait...which companions mom?

 Well, the ward I go to now is in spanish, (YAY) We have about 80-120 attendance every sunday, (easily the largest, and most active ward I have gone to in my entire mission) Our house is very stylish. Its painted sky blue, inside and out. We have hot water, a patio, a few tables to sit outside and relax, and a tiny orange tree, which sadly was cut down, but now its growing a couple branches again. The house is 1570 sq feet, so its a very good size house. We have a kitchen, but really dont use it other than a pantry, because frankly, the members stuff us with food all day. Ill keep taking pictures throughout the week, and will post them when I get the chance.
I love everyone!
 Hugs and kisses to the family, and to all the ward members for their support and love!

With epic, manly love,
Andrés

 ps. Sister Bunting is awesome, and shes epic. Thanks you!!!

January 9, 2012

San Jeronimo is AWESOME! Never have I felt so Baggy (Trunky) in my life. The climate here is EXACTLY like Bakersfield is on a nice, warm summer day, complete with all the rolling hills, distant mountains, and golden colored shrubbery. The air here is dry, and not humid like Ive felt it for the past 9 months. We have electricity, running water, dust, and all the other good stuff that a city like SJ has to offer. We have lots of water features here. We have a river, which we have to wade through to cross to the other side. We have waterfalls. We have Mayan ruins nearby. etc etc etc! Never have I felt so good about an area like I do this one. Did I mention I turned 9 months old on friday? We visited a series of waterfalls today in Rabinal, rumored to be the hardest area in the entire mission. I loved rabinal though! Its gorgeous and reminds me of Taft. I can definitely send palm hats and Corte (fabric) home if you ever need it. Its so easy to get here. I just need the cash for it, because it gets pricey to send home, especially on a non-reimbursable budget like I have. I took a whole bunch of pictures today, and I think you'll be glad to hear that i've gained a few Kilos. Except this computer isnt reading my camera... ugh.. I turn 20 next Monday. I feel wierd here in San Jomo, because im actually teaching and speaking to the people in spanish for the first time in 6 months. Qeqchi is still present here in Salama, and San Jomo, but the accent is totally wierd, I can barely understand them. The Achí and Pocomchí dialects dominate this area, so im excited to learn a few other ancient mayan dialects. Aww Levi!! Thats awesome dood! I love you guys!!! Ill try and see if I can get the pictures up later. Mucho Love, Andres

January 2, 2012

THIS WEEK HAS BEEN EPIC! I know I say it pretty much every week, but then again, every week here is amazingly...beautiful! As of now, we have about 30 investigators, with most of them pretty much ready for baptism. I took a few pictures with them this week. Sad news though, after spending only 6 weeks here in Tanchi, The Lord has deemed it prudent to send me to another area. I have whats called an internal change, or rather, i dont have to travel far to my next area...all bets are for El Estor, Izabal, in the Polochic Zone again.! Im excited, and next week I will write to you from my new area! Anyway,

About the hats, well, $30 translates to about 240 quetzales here..which is amazingly overpriced. Heck, they sell those hats here for up to 40 quetzales, maximum. You can get nice leather ones for about 50-70. In fact, its the latest fashion trend for Kawachins (Kekchi Cowboys, for lack of a better description, Pronounced ((Kow-ah-CHEENS)) I wear them sometimes on hot days, and even go proselyting in them. They are fantastic!

En cuanto a your questions, These past couple weeks, due to the holiday festivities, we havent really spent much time at home. When we are there, we usually make something quick, like cereal, or pasta, or quesadillas, or tamales. We dont have an oven, or microwave. We DO have a small fridge, an electric stove, and a small gas stove. There is no hot water, other than to take a shower. We use rain water, which is collected through the roof gutters, and sent to a HUGE water tank outside. We have a small water pump that we use for everything, including showers, washing dishes, etc. We filter it through a bucket so we can drink it too.

There arent really dinner appointments, we simply show up, and people automatically give us food. (its simply customary to do so.) Jobs here are pretty limited. Coffee and cardamomo are the main industry. People here have their own crops, that they grow on their own land. At given times throughout the year, people harvest coffee beans, cacao beans, corn, cardamomo, and sell them to travelling merchants that pass through the town every once in a while. Its the main source of cash flow here.

 The branch size is pretty small. We number about 50-60 every sunday. For the ward christmas party though, about 200 showed up, including catholics and evangelicals. There are TONS of kids. Each family has about 4-5 kids. Do the math.! jajaja

The mayan calendar isnt all that prominent here as it is hyped up to be. People simply say its just another year. No one is really freaking out either. Everything is all fine and dandy concerning world destruction! jajaja

My health is great! I took the Bomb again (a set of pills against parasites). I feel great. I just ate half a pizza and a piña colada at this fancy restaurant. Life is great! Im fattening up, spiritually strong, and workin hard!

 Anyway, I love you all! Happy new year, merry christmas! happy hanukah!, etc e tc etc! Nakexinra! Laj Andres!

December 26, 2011

Wooooo!!! The phone calls for every elder here in the Coban House left everyone feeling nostalgic, but happy with warm fuzzy feelings on the inside.! jaja Christmas wasnt as crazy here though, we ate LOTS of tamales, and cake, and pizza! There isnt much to talk about since yesterday, so I'll give you the rundown from today, We made the 3 hour trip to Semuc Champey, which in Kekchi means Hidden Deep-Cave-River thing...I'm not sure what "Pey" means, we simply cant find a definition anywhere... jajaja But it was the most spectacular, beautiful scenery I've ever had the privilege to witness. It was gorgeous. Enough said. Anyway, we got back a couple hours ago, so we had lunch, went shopping, and here I am! Tonight we will have another slumber party at the Zone Lords house here in Coban, and will go to Tanchi tomorrow morning. (The buses stopped running at 5pm) Anyway, health is great, we did some great hiking today. My weight is back up to 167lbs with my boots on. (So about 162, and its all in the legs!) Here's some pictures!!!! I love you guys so much!!! Thanks for everything you guys do!!!

December 19, 2011

Ma Sa Laa CH'OL Lin Hermaan!!! Oh gosh, I dont think we worked at all this week in our area... We spent the entire week spending nights and having parties in Coban, (which is fantastic, by the way). Last night we sang in a choir, along with other catholic, evangelical, and nazarene choirs. It was awesome. I woke up this morning here in Coban, where we played Soccer, and had Mcdonalds for breakfast. I just got done eating a foot long from Subway. It was delicious.} From what you can probably tell, my health is fantastic, and my diet even better. I cant complain! jajaj! My spirits are beyond what ive felt in the past few years. Im ecstatic. I received the packages, although I wasnt sure how many to expect, but I received 2 packages from your guys. What instrument does Nathan Play? the Piano, or did he choose something different? Im excited to see the house! Send pictures! Clara is so girly! Its awesome!!!!! As for Christmas calls, I will call this coming Sunday the 25th, around 1 or 2 pm, bakersfield time. I will call first, and then you must redial, but remembering all the while to dial 011 first, then 502 and then my number, which I will tell you when I call, because I still dont know it. Im so excited to call! Church is only 1 hour next week, and we also plan to spend the night in Coban for christmas, and we will buy turkey and roast it ourselves., and have a slumber party for the entire Zone, (minus the sisters, they never get to have any fun! jaja ) As for investigators, we have a new family, and they are the first Kekchi family that I think is actually fulfilling all of their compromisos, and challenges that we leave them. They want to get baptized in a river though, so im excited for that. ejjeje! Anyway, I will tell you more in person by next week when we talk! Im so excited! I love you all, and a million thanks to everyone!!! Rahoc, Andres!

December 12, 2011

This week has been absolutely EPIC!

Starting with today, we visited an orphanage of about 100 kids, and I took care of 5 for a few hours. 4 boys and a girl from 5-9 years old.

We played games and told stories and shared candy, and pretty much they stole my heart. Never have I seen or felt the Spirit so strongly when we were all singing together. It was literally the pure love of Christ in play. (Moroni 7:45-48)

We also had our Christmas Zone Conference, where we had amazing food, and watched the new disney Movie, Entangled.  It made us all really baggy, homesick and brought back memories of good dates with girls. I cried like a baby...along with everyone else.

Anyway back on topic, We found an amazing investigator family, and have been teaching them alot. We should have 5 baptisms with just them soon I think. Also we have a few other investigators, etc. We just keep truckin and see how far we can go.

Healthwise, ive been doing amazingly. I feel almost superhuman.  Emotionally, I just miss home. Basically. Im just excited for the next 16 months and see how fast they will fly by.  Spiritually, I think Ive grown more in the past 2 months than I have in my life. Scripture study is amazing, and the Cincho book has me analyzing scriptures at unprecedented depth. So Im definitely learning A TON of doctrine. Im really excited that im able to apply it in my life now, as well as other people.

I didnt get the packages yet. I was expecting them today, but President and Sister Watts didnt bring any packages. I should have them this week.

In other news, This friday i will be in a parade, for the Church of course, and will probably be on the news. (Maybe Al Rojo Vivo)  I have a small part in a play. As well as a choir for next sunday. :D

December has been amazing to everyone. Right now Im listening to Bing Crosby playing on the speakers that the store has in place (Nothing I can do, short of covering my own ears, But I dont mind).

I love the kids, I love everyone, more than they know!
Im excited, happy, and Sa Lin Ch'ool!

Muchisisisismo Love,
Elder Andres Delgado