¡Qué Semana!

Wow... What a Week!

I think Imma go through this week day by day so It doesn't sound like I'm jumping all over the place playing leapfrog.

But before I get to this week I forgot to mention something last week. For all those from El Dorado Hills and surrounding areas that told me to look for a Élder Johnson. I found him. My first day in Guatemala, actually, in the Mission President's home. It was kinda nice to meet someone from home.

LUNES

So after I sent the Email last Monday we had some lessons that night. And one of the lessons was in Guadalupe, which probably means nada to ya'll. But pretty much it is a 3km half hour walk from our house. Which isn't too bad. But we weren't going home... We were going to Flores, an 8km 1 hour and something walk from Guadalupe. Which normally would have been fine 'cause we can just take a tuk tuk. But not after 7. After 7pm pretty much all the tuk tuks head home. And our lesson in Guadalupe went a little long. So ... No tuk tuk. So we got to walking with our thumbs held up like hitch-hikers and guess who pulled over ... The policia. They pulled up with big ol' smiles on their faces yelling, "Élderes! Need some help?" in Spanish, of course. So long story short, we hitch-hiked in the back of the police truck to the next lesson and got some fun pictures with them and their numbers so we can contact them later.

MARTES

Not a lot actually happened Tuesday. Just lots of walking and petting dogs and making new breakfasts like ground beef with plantain.

MIERCOLES

OK so this day is when the crazy started. So to start the day we did a 2 hour service project washing chanclas that the seminary teacher here in Genova is going to sell. So that was fun and interesting. Then after that we had a baptism. Élder Rodriguez baptized Adrian Villatoro from Manantial. The thing is the water reserve for the church building was dry... So Élder Rodriguez and I began to make trips back and forth from our house and the church building with a full 30 gallon trash can and two 5 gallon buckets of water. We did this about twice when we realized it would take hours to fill it 'til it's deep enough. That's when a tender mercy happened. When we realized how long it would take we realized that we had another baptism the next day and the father of the next youth that was to be baptized happened to be a fireman. So we called him up and within a couple of minutes the "fire truck" was in the "parking lot" (basketball/futbol court) with a hose running water to the font. Then after that fiasco and the baptism we left it full for the next day.

JUEVES

Now this day was a great day! To start it off we had a district conference in Coatepeque so got to travel for about 2 hours. One there and one back to Genova. Thursday Élder Rodriguez wasn't feeling too great but he pushed through it like a champion until we got to the house then he conked out on an inflatable mattress we had. Later that day after some lessons we headed to the church building because we had a baptism to attend. Ricardo Maxmilíano Castillo Rodas was baptized... and I baptized him!!! My first baptism!!! It was awesome, considering we only had a foot and a half of water and the first time his foot came out of the water and the second I messed up the words (granted it was my first baptism, let alone first in Spanish). But third try, I got it and he was baptized!!!

VIERNES

Friday nothing much actually happened other than found a trailer with a Montana license plate, shout out to the Dees's in Montana! Élder Rodriguez still didn't feel great but he still pushed through 'til our return to the house.

SABADO

Saturday started with una guerra de globos de agua (a water balloon war) at the church building. And no, there still was no water at the church building. So remember what we did with the buckets when we tried to fill the fount? Ya... we did that again with water balloons, but three times completely filled to the brim. This night Élder Rodriguez also asked me to cut his hair. So I cut his hair how he asked. But it was very different and much shorter than how he had it. And after I cut his hair, he realized he did not want shorter hair. Haha, so this Monday morning we made a quick trip to the barber to fix it up and try to make it look nicer. Let's just say he doesn't think he can pull short hair haha.

DOMINGO

Fast Sunday! Not gonna lie, wasn't too hard to fast this Sunday cause I haven´t been able to eat as much as I normally do at home. Fast Sunday dinner was a little sad, though. We thought we had a dinner that night but turns out we didn't. And we didn’t have much food at home so I had breakfast for dinner! Ain't nothing like frosted flakes and fruit loops for dinner (both of which are Guatemalan off brands). That night we also had a tender mercy happen. Later that night we had a lesson with a member which went a little late. Which was awesome but also there were no tuk tuks to take us home the 5.5 km (about an hour walk). 10 minutes into the walk a car pulled over next to us and offered us a ride to Genova. Come to find out they were inactive members who we are going to start trying to reactivate after P Day!

LUNES

Today we started the day with a haircut for Élder Rodriguez. After that we went to Coatepeque for another district P Day because it is the birthday of an Hermana in our district. So we got a piñata and candy and played games. We had to leave after a while though. Come to find out there was a funeral today at the stake center. Which was kinda sad cause they had me and two other Élders carry in the casket. So after that the APs and some of the other Élders wanted to go thrifting at a Guatemalan thrift store and after PIZZA HUT. Never missed pizza so much.

So ya, this week has been a lot, but it's been amazing! And my Spanish is getting better and the members are awesome! We are working with multiple people trying to get them to church but they are being difficult. According to the people I'm now officially puro Chapin (pure Guatemalan). Dunno what makes me puro Chapin, but I ain't complaining.

But anyways that's about it for this week! Thanks for tuning in this week! And I'll bug ya later!!

And once again if any y'all wanna see more pictures here's a link to an album with the rest.