Merry Christmas - 12.24.11

It's Christmas!!!

TO: You + 5 More

Show Details

Message body

It's CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!! Or, almost Christmas. Same thing, right?

 

I'm not going to lie, I have like, 0 ganas of writing an email right now (Ganas means desires). I don't know why, but all my ganas of writing just went out the window, I have no idea why... sorry. I don't know what to write about. Christmas is tomorrow and I'll be talking with my family on the phone. I don't know what all to talk about either... If I say everything, there won't be anything to talk about tomorrow, right? At least, that's how I look at it.

 

I've had a LOT of people ask me what Christmas is like in Guatemala, so I guess I'll start there.

 

In Guatemala people DO celebrate Christmas... but it's quite different. People put up lights, and trees, and the whole nine yards. In fact, there is a HUGE Christmas tree on the way to the office that's all decorated and what not. It's called the "Gallo Tree" because it is sponsered by the Gallo company. In Guatemala people start celebrating Christmas on December 1st. Everyone alread is putting up their trees and they light fireworks ALL the time. From December 1st until the New Year there are fireworks EVERYWHERE. It's crazy! On December 6th they have what is called the burning of the devil. Everyone gets all of their garbage together, buys piñatas shaped like the devil and fireworks and at 6 p.m. everyone lights their garbage on fire in the streets, lights of fireworks (mostly firecrackers) and burns the devil. How's that for a different tradition? After that everything is normal, just more fireworks, until December 24th. Everyone in central America celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. It's a VERY different experience than in the US. At midnight on Christmas Eve they have the family hug and then they eat dinner! At midnight... then after dinner and talking for a while, they open their presents! Or sometimes even before dinner! All of the hype and celebration is a build up to the 24th of December.... it's basically like the 25th isn't Christmas. It's weird! Not weird as in weird, but weird as in completely different from the US traditions. As for traditional Guatemala Christmas food. Tamales and ponche. Everyone (almost) eats tamales for Christmas. All KINDS of tamales. You couldn't even describe them all. And ponche is a very weird drink. It's boiled fruit water. They put all sorts of fruit into water and boil it. Then you drink this hot fruit water and eat the fruits. They put in apple, pineapple, pear, cranberries, prune looking things, papaya, just whatever kind of fruit you want! I'm not a big fan. Call me weird, but I don't really enjoy my fruit HOT. It tastes alright, but I don't like eating all the fruit afterward. It's just the way it is here in Guatemala!

 

Yesterday we had our Mission Christmas Conference with all of the missionares inside of the capital. There were 100 of us! It was CRAZY! We started out by preparing Christmas presents for investigators or members in need in our areas. Afterwards we played sports for an hour. That was CRAZY with 100 missionaries. There is always a little bit of racism for soccer and basketball. It kind of stinks. I didnt play either. Someone brought a football so we played two hand touch, first to score and then switch teams which was WAY fun! Lunch was delicious as well! Roast turkey with mashed potatoes and gravy, chef's salad, and a piece of bread. And for dessert, a slice of apple pie! Yum! The best part of the activity, or one of the best, was that we got to watch... A MOVIE!!! How sick is that? We watched last year's big hit "Tangled". Absolutely loved it the second time too! It was a nice stress reliever and fun time to watch a silly Disney movie with a bunch of other missionaries and President and Sister Watts.

 

As Sister Watts was sharing her message with us, she quoted a scripture which I absolutely love and I think is absolutely perfect for this time of the year, and it applies to all of us. "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!"

 

I, too, know that He lives. Yea, that He is our Savior and Redeemer. We celebrate this time now as His birth. In a few short months we will celebrate His resurrection. I am so happy to be here int he mission, sharing my testimony with the world of Jesus Christ. Like the prophets of old, like the prophets today, I know that He lives. Everything He did while in this life was for US. I will join my testimony with those that have gone before me, that the whole world may know that Jesus is The Christ, the Son of the Living God, our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Everliving Friend. Merry Christmas.

 

Love,

 

Elder Andrew A. LaPray

Christmas is Coming

A NIECE!! A WEEK BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

TO: You + 5 More

Show Details

Message body

That might be kind of misleading.. I'm not getting a niece a week before Christmas. I just found out that I am going to have another niece AND it just so happens that this week is a week before Christmas. Just a clarifier.

This has been a long and nondestinctive week. Except for Sunday. Sunday was absolutely incredible. I would like to quote my journal. Bear with me.

"Today was one of those days you just don't forget. I'd like to preface it with an experience that happened almost 8 years ago. Let me take you back to January 8th, 2004. My family and I were living in the Carribean on the island of Nevis.My family of 6 made up the only members of the church on the island. Fortunately there was a small branch of members on our sister island, St Kitts, where we traveled every Sunday to participate in church meetings. The summer before they had just built a new meeting house, but it had still not been dedicated. In late December of 2003 we heard the news that President Gordon B. Hinckley and Elder Russell M Nelson of the 12 would be coming to dedicate our chapel. It was a week before my 12th birthday, and I had never been in the presence of a General Authority, but I knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. On that day, January 8th, 2004, we were all in the chapel, waiting for the arrival of President Hinckley. I saw the van come in to the parking lot and my excitement was grew. I was bursting. The car door opened and as we saw President Hinckley step out of the car there was a tangible energy that spread through the room, sending a hush throughout.

"I don't remember the words they spoke, but I do remember feeling the Spirit and being extraordinarly happy. We had the opportunity to meet Sister Hinckley and talk to her for about 15 minutes, along with their daughter. In the end we were able to meet President Hinckley and shake his hand.

"As he shook my hand he said, 'And where are you from?' 'Nevis,' I said. He replied, 'No no, before that!' 'Idaho and Utah,' I replied confidently. Then President Hinckley, with his never failing humor, told me, 'Well pick one! You can't be from both!' I had just spoken with the prophet of the Lord. In that brief time with President Hinckley and Elder Nelson I could feel so srongly the Spirit of God and the love of my Heavenly Father. There was no doubt that he was and is a prophet in the last days. That was my first memorable dedicationg, here's my second.

"I've been to two previous temple dedications, for the Nauvoo and Twin Falls temples. However, back then I was 8, 9, or 10. Today the Quetzaltenango, Guatemala temple was dedicated, on this the eleventh day of December, 2011. It was kind of rough to get there on time, but we were there at 8:15.

"I enjoyed just sitting reverently, listening to prelude music and watching the video of various parts of several temples. It was quiet and peaceful. It honestly reminded me of the tranquility and sense of  calm in the temple itself. I have honestly never felt that in a chapel, but today the chapel was an extension of the temple and the Spirit was with us. President Uchtdorff presided while Elder Neil L. Andersen of the 12 directed. The latter speaks Spanish while the former does not. It was a privelege to hear words from them. The sealing of the cornerstone was kind of funny with President Uchtdorff. You'd just have to have heard him. We also heard a powerful testmony from the temple president and the area president. The temple president's father had a dream in which 2 strangers came up to him and the first thing they did was to show him a book that changed his life. The Book of Mormon. That dream came to pass within a week."

The temple is a marvelous blessing given to us by our Heavenly Father. There is no other place on earth where we can be so close to our Heavenly Father and I feel truly blessed to have seen the dedication of the Quetzaltenango, Guatemala temple! It truly is a special experience.

The only other great news I would like to share with you is that today Javier was baptized! It was a great day! I've been teaching him since my 3rd week here in Martí! He looked really happy and I hope that he can keep strong in the church! He has a lot of friends in the church, and his mother is a member (not active), but I know that he can stay active, he just has to keep doing basic things like praying, reading, and going to church. Those are the basics that all of us need to do!

Next week is Christmas and I hope we can all keep Christ in mind this last week before we celebrate His birth! I'll be writing one more email next week! Talk about baggy! Love you all!!

Love,
Elder Andrew A. LaPray

December 10, 2011

Halfway

TO: You + 5 More

Show Details

Message body

We are halfway through the change. Not the mission. Not QUITE that far yet... but we're in the process :) 

 

Sunday was the last fast and testimony meeting of the year! There hve been SO many things that have happened this year, and at the end of the year I plan on writing a HUGE journal entry about all of the craziness that has been this year and some of the things that have made a difference in my life this year. It's going to be good! Look forward to that one the week after Christmas!... probably the 7th of January... As you all know the Christmas Devotional was on Sunday night and we got to go to that! It was really weird to think back on the fact that 1 year ago I was there in person... 1 year has FLOWN by! I remember it like it was yesterday! I don't remember the messages very well though, I know, I should, but it's really hard to stay focused on the voice of a translator because I'm used to listening to the speaker with their voices and the changes in voices and everything. Translators don't do that. So, even though I understand it all, it's just not the same. But, I know they were good messages!

 

We went to see Carla again on Monday, which I always enjoy! This time the guard refused to let us pass. It was ridiculous! They let salesmen in with who knows WHAT that no one wants, but people preaching about Jesus Christ can't get in. We told him exactly which house we were going to, that we had an appointment, and everything and he still refused. So, I called Carla and she cinched the guard and he let us pass. (Cinched is the gringo past tense verb of cincho(noun) which means belt. Or, in this sentence, chastised...) it was sweet. We always have such great spiritual visits with them. Today we focused on faith and feeling the Holy Ghost. She says she is really focused on strengthening her faith in God and the basics, which is perfect! but that she has always had problems feeling the Spirit, so we tried to explain how the Spirit CAN feel, and to associate it to other spiritual experiences she has had in the past. I absolutely love that family!

 

Tuesday was ZL Council, but they didn't do it in the office which was sweet cause we got a little bit more work done... sort of. Oh, and we got the budget on Tuesday! I love the budget! But that's private. Sister Watts made a Thanksgiving dinner for concilio(council) which was absolutely AMAZING! I had turkey, potatoes, stuffing, salad, gravy, jello, and best of all, INCREDIBLE homemade rolls! Just delicious. Everything you could ask for in a Thanksgiving dinner! We didn't get out of the office until late though, and there was a lot of traffic. We visited a less active named Oscar Azurdia and gave him some reading glasses because Hna Watts has hundreds in her house, so we took him 3 pair because his broke. We talked about the Holy Ghost with him and helped him remember some of the great experiences he has had with the Spirit as well. He doesn't have a lack of a testimony, just a lot of things that have hurt him over the years, which is a really tough situation when you don't get the help and support you are looking for (not financial). He was even a branch president. I know that we are resparking those feelings he felt so strongly when he was a branch president and that he could return to the church and be such a strong member! Today he told us that really appreciates our visits. He hasn't had much communication for the last 10 years and it's just a perfect opportunity for him to communicate with us as human beings and servants of God at the same time. He told me that he really appreciates my patience with him and that he is grateful for me. It made me feel special. I know that sounds cheesy, but it was just one of those moments where you know that you are doing something good. That's the only way I could describe it.

 

I love days when I have a random thought to take up space in my journal. On Thursday I heard a line I really liked from a song "Mistakes of the past don't define you, they refine you". I thought that was a very uplifting and comforting thought. Sometimes as human beings we tend to think that our mistakes are what people look at or that they tell everyone what kind of an awful person we are. That is not true. It is true that our mistkaes make us who we are; but not because they define us, rather, they define us. They help us learn, grow, and progress, thus reshaping our lives to something even greater, like refined gold. It was a nice thought, that we can become something better, no matter what happened beforehand.

 

This has nothing to do with anything, but when I was writing in my Journal this morning I wrote "Time is honestly just running away from me. (Random, but that reminded me of the song "Time" by Hootie and the Blowfish). I just thought it was kind of funny. On Friday night we were able to teach Javier again, who has a fecha for next Saturday to be baptized! It was the first time we'd taught him in a while and we taught him the Plan of Salvation, really making sure he understood how it answered 3 questions of the soul Where did I come from? Why am I here? and Where do I go after I die? I just keep hoping and praying that he is getting a strong testimony to stay strong in the gospel no matter what happens. Unfortunatel he still prays to Jesus Christ, but he closed "In the name of Jesus Christ" as well... So he's getting better. It's hard growing up with the Catholic ritual of praying to Jesus to change completely. Although, I was surprised by how many catholics in Guatemala do NOT recite prayers. Incredible.

 

So that was my week pretty much! And now the change is halfway over! I have 9 more weeks in the office. Which is SO weird to think that I have the equivelant of my MTC/CCM experience to spend in the office again, but I like it. I love you all and am thinking about you all a lot in this Christmas season!

 

Love,

Elder Andrew A LaPray

December 3, 2011

Communication. The Savior of the World.

TO: You + 5 More

Show Details

Message body

I guess it's time I right the weekly letter! Half of my Internet time is already up. Man the time just goes by fast!

I just wrote this to Spencer, but I thought I'd throw it in here too.. time flies by SO fast! I remember 6 months ago when I called home for Mothers' Day I was thinking about the Christmas phone call and how it was an eternity away. Well, guess what. It's coming in THREE WEEKS. That's basically tomorrow in missionary time! Times just keep going by faster and faster and faster. Although, from what I hear, the time period of 9-12 months in the mission is the slowest. I say "casaca" (lie in Guatemala). Anyways...

To talk about the week...  On Sunday afternoon Elder Barahona and I did divisions with members. He went with the bishop and I stayed at the church to do an English Book of Mormon reading which was pretty legit! The bishop wants all of the members to read the Book of Mormon in the "language of the Restoration, exactly how Joseph Smith translated it" which I think is a really cool idea! I found power in the Book of Mormon no matter what language it is! (assuming I understand more or less what is going on.) So I did that for an hour and we had a decent turn out of about 8 people! Hopefully that number increases this Sunday! We were also able to teach Javier Cotero (has a baptismal date of the 17th of December) more about prayer using Enos as an example and the importance of praying to our Heavenly Father and closing in the name of Jesus Christ. Sundays are good days.

As a missionary you try to leave out negative things in your emails, as mentioned in the Missionary Handbook, so I don't want to mention specifics, but more about the learning that comes from these experiences. It all focuses on one word. COMMUNICATION. This word has a meaning of transmitting thoughts, feelings, and ideas through speech, writing, simbols, signs, etc. (Definition according to Elder LaPray). Communication can bring about many terrible things. However, when used correctly, it is a very powerful tool. Here in the office we have what I like to call a LACK of communication. With the exception of the communication between finance elders (my comp and I) and the poucheros (Elder Francks and Elder Cantillo) it's pretty much everyone to their one stuff. We're a team in the office and we need to communicate. It's a simple matter of "Hey, we have these things planned for this time and we wanted to let you know so that there are no conflicts in schedules and so that we can work better". Or "Could you call us a taxi to take us from A to B at X hour for such meeting?" Done. Here in the office I am learning A LOT about myself and how I can become successful in all aspects of life, like this communication stuff. Yesterday the poucheros needed some help with the packages and materials they were moving. They told us at 2 p.m. "Hey, around 3 we'll be coming back with all of the mail packages and picking up the materials to send out to the various areas. When we call you could you bring the materials out into the hall and load them in to the elevator?" our reply "Absolutely". Then, at 2:55 we received a phone call "Hey, can you take the stuff out to the elevator, it will be waiting?". Done! We took the stuff out there, loaded up the elevator, got in, took the stuff down, unloaded with the help of the poucheros, loaded up the taxi, put the packages from the post office into the elevator, went up, and took it out. Job completed in a matter of 10 minutes with COMMUNICATION. The poucheros alone would have taken at least 30 minutes to complete the job alone. 

Now, this communication business isn't just a work thing or a human to human thing. It works on an even grander scale. Personally, one of the most important communications I have is with my Heavenly Father. This communication is absolutely NECESSARY to success in life. We can communicate with our Heavenly Father and He can communicate with us if we are willing. He has given us the wonderful opportunity to pray, communicating our thanks, desires, questions, and needs to Him and He will communicate with us through thoughts, feelings, the words of a friend, one of His servants, or thousands of other means. When this communication is a in work, life always seems to go just that much smoother, with that much more tranquility and calm. What a wonderful gift we have in communication.  

On Wednesday our District Meeting focused on sharing the Book of Mormon. That was also the message in our "Noche de Hermanamiento". There are so many blessings we receive from the Book of Mormon and it is so easy to share with a friend. "Hey, Jim, I know that Christmas is coming up and I was thinking about you. I love Christmas because it gives us a chance to reflect up the birth of Our Savior, Jesus Christ. I love that about the Christmas season. But it's not just about the birth of Our Savior, you know? He did so much for us! He performed miracles, He established His church here on the earth, and more than anything, He paid for our sins. What a wonderful gift our Savior has given us. You know, Jim, one of the best ways I can remember the gifts of my Savior is through the Book of Mormon, I know you've heard a little about it. But really, it's one of the most beautiful testimonies we have of Our Redeemer. I'd like to give you a copy I bought, just for you. There is one scripture I would like to share with you, that helps me remember Jesus Christ at this special time, it says......."

What a wonderful opportunity the Christmas season opens to share OUR testimony of the Savior of the World. What have you done this year to share YOUR testimony of your Savior, Jesus Christ?

Love,

Elder Andrew LaPray

November 19,2011

There are less than 100 days before I hit a year. I know that may sound like a lot, but it's really not! I remember when I thought having 100 days in the mission felt like a lot. Ya no. (In spanish that means not anymore). This was another pretty good week! Last week of the change in fact!! Next week I get a new companion, right before Thanksgiving (more to come later).

 

Monday was absolutely fabulous. I prefer having Mondays as regular working days and Saturdays as Pday, not gonna lie. It seems more like a normal thing I guess you could say. Anyways... Sunday afternoon as we were getting ready to leave for the area, I called Carla to see how she was doing and if she needed anything from us since we were going to be in the area and she said that she was feeling really weak, but aksed if we could pass by tomorrow (Monday) and I said of course and now here we are on Monday. I've come to realize more and more how much of a miracle it was and how much we needed to go and knock on Carla's door. Today when Elder Spilker and I tried to enter her street the guard stopped us and said "Where are you going" "What's your purpose" and a whole bunch of other questions. Had we not had a specific house and name of where we were going, he would NOT have let us in. In addition, we even had to leave behind ID. With this kind of criteria Elder Williams and I never would have gotten through a couple weeks ago. But, for some reason, the other guard didn't say a single thing to us two weeks ago. It's just another great manifestation of the love of God and the ways He brings about His divine purposes!

 

Carla was weak again today, but asked us if we would give her a blessing, so I was the one who pronounced the blessing once again, but this time a lot less nervous now that I knew her and her situation and I felt everything was slightly more in tune, I don't know how to explain. Afterward she asked us if we could "talk to her about God", and of course our answer was yes. I talked to her a little about the great love that our Heavenly Father has for her and the many ways he has showed it and also talked a little bit about how the gospel blesses us and the purpose of prophets. Carla has been inactive for quite a long while now and would like us to reteach her as if she had never known anything at all. I'm extremely grateful to be a part of her spiritual journey back to the gospel. I don't know how to explain it, but sometimes I feel like there are certain people here in the mission that I have known for my entire life, or even before this life and I'm just doing something I always knew was going to happen. Just like, some special connection that was before the world. I don't know how to explain it, but it is a very powerful and spiritual experience!

 

That was the climax of the week and super awesome!!

 

Tuesday we did splits with a couple members and we were able to get 3 lessons with member which was AWESOME! and they were really great lessons! On Wednesday we had district meeting and had a GREAT message about setting and completing goals based on the desires of our heart coupled with some great scriptures about Alma the Younger in his missionary efforts! I wrote down a whole thing in my journal, but it would take a while to explain it all. If you want to look it up and see how Alma set his goals and what kind of things he did in the process the scriptures, in order, are Alma 29:4, Alma 8:10, Alma 10:11, Alma 16:15, Alma 31:32-34, Alma 31:30-31, Alma 17:5 and Alma 25:17. It's a great chain!!

 

now.... for the big exciting news about my change! I am.................... staying in the office. But I will be getting a new companion. I will be senior companion *gulp*. My companion's name is Elder Barahona and he is fromHonduras. And he is 22. Ya. I don't know. I think we will get along great! I've never met him... but I'm worried about having 2 latinos and 2 gringos. (Me and Elder Francks and Elder Cantillo and Elder Barahona). It shouldn't be like this, but it ALWAYS happens that we polarize and take sides. I would rather just be with my companion and always be happy, but, i don't know if it will work like that. I sure hope so! More news to come next week!!! Love you all!!

 

Love,

Elder Andrew LaPray

November 12, 2011

Second best Sunday ever

TO: You + 5 More

Show Details

Message body

 

 Well that stinks! I just wrote out like three paragraphs and then it got deleted! SUPER frustrating! Not that exciting here in the office and I totally just lost all desire to want to write out what I just wrote again... but I'm going to do it anyways, you're welcome.

 

Last Saturday was the baptism of René. It was a great experience and he was baptized by his older brother Freddy. Sorry, that's about all the detail there is.

 

I really enjoy fast and testimony meeting, even though I'm not very good at the fasting part with my acid reflux, I do what I can. I'm still really frustrated about the email getting deleted, sorry. Anyways... Last Sunday was an extremely great blessing because Lourdis, Carla, and their mother came to church again! It was really cool to be able to see them in church and participate in Sacrament meeting. It strengthened my testimony once again of God's incomprehensible love for us, His perfect knowledge of us, and his consistency in manifesting that love to us! (For further explanation see last week's blog). I hope that Carla can keep coming to church to experience more fully the comfort we receive from the Spirit and the teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. On Sunday afternoon I did divisions with a missionary named Elder Aguilar who got his wisdom teeth taken out a few days ago. We mostly just did a lot of contacting, but contacting is SUPER important, otherwise people don't get the opportunity to hear the "good news" which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I just wish more people would accept it.

 

Monday in the office was SUPER long! I spent literally the whole time working on future missionary recommendations. I was updating all of the information we had received from them and then making a list of everything that they were lacking to be completed and then I wrote that up in a report to send out to all of the District Presidents and for President Watts. It was a vbery long and tedious process, but super important so that these members can fulfill their desire of serving the Lord like I am doing right now to share the Everlasting Gospel with all those who will listen. 

 

Unfortunately that's pretty much it for experiences this week. Not really anything to write about from Tuesday, or Wednesday, or Thursday, or Yesterday. Yes, I am still working, just not really like experiences to share if you know what I mean? It would be really boring and nothing uplifting I guess you could say. 

 

But, I am here, serving our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in His work, to bring to pass the immortality and the eternal life of man! How great is my calling? I hope that we can ALL particpate somehow in this great and marvelous work, at least by letting the light of Christ shine through us, and having His countenance engraven upon our own.

 

Love,

Elder Andrew LaPray 

November 5, 2011

Bad Saturday, Incredible Sunday, Awful Week

TO: You + 5 More

Show Details

Message body

 

How's that for a disclaimer? Just a crazy mix and whirl of emotions and feelings and experiences and just everything. First off, I am fine, happy, and healthy. The subject has nothing to do with any of that, just lots of crazy experiences to share. Don't worry!

 

I can't talk a lot about Saturday since they were perosnal experiences involving other people that isn't really my place to share, but I heard some tough news and I didn't exactly know how to react. I knew it was all for the best and for a divine purpose, but nonetheless, difficult to accept. So that was basically Saturday. Get ready for an emotional 180.

 

I have shared this experience verbally several times and written once. I liked the way I expressed myself when I wrote it, then copied it in my journal, and now I am going to make a direct quote from my journal. It's a LONG excerpt.

 

"This day was an absolute miracle in my life. The best experience of my mission so far. Skipping over church and lunch, Elder Williams and I were out on divisions. We went to contact a place where we had never contacted before called Zapote. I wasn't expecting much success, but I knew the Lord needed us to be there. The first few houses were busts. So we went to a house with some noise. Nothing. So we went to the house next door.

    "This 9 year old opened the door and I asked if his mom was home and if he would call her. He turned around and a woman came out and said,´Hi Elders, come in'. She came closer and said, 'Who sent you here?' Usually we say something like 'God' but I said, 'No one. We were just walking around knocking every door.' She continued, 'Really? No one sent you? I am a member of the church. I want you to give a blessing to my sister who was just diagnosed with cancer. I called missionaries the other day to comeon Sunday but they said they probably couldn't come. It is a miracle that you are here. God sent you'.

    "I know Heavenly Father sent us to this woman. There is NO WAY we could have known, but we made that contacting plan days ago so that nothing would interfere. This woman desperately needed us, and we followed the Spirit and we were able to be the miracle Carla needed, and she was our miracle too.

   "So the woman, Lourdis, let us in and we talked for a few minutes and she told her mom and sister (Carla) what a miracle it was that we were there. After talking for a few minutes we were invited to giveher a blessing and I was the one who sealed the annointing and pronounced the blessing.

  "I always feel awkward giving blessings to people I don't know just because I feel like they expect me to tell them they will be healed. This blessing was different. I just called her by her name, 'Carla Lorena Mejia Martinez', sealed the annointing, and started to give a her a blessing. Sometimes as Priesthood holders we stumble or speak slowly in blessings. I feel it's because we're trying to follow the Spirit and prounounce the blessing that comes from our Heavenly Father. I can't say it was an eloquent blessing in which I said, 'Be thou healed', but I can say I blessed her according to the Spirit. What a beautiful experience.

   "We then shared a small message about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was honestly the most amazing miraculous experience I've had on my mission. Right now Carla is less-active, but her sister, Lourdis, said she, Carla, has been wanting to go back at least to Sacrament, and didn't know there was a chapel so close. Lourdis and her family are active members where they live in Canada, but she is going to be down here visiting her sister until December. What an amazing wonderful incredible experience to end the weekend and see the blessings the Lord has in store for us when we just continue to be obedient and follow the Spirit.

   "There honestly aren't enough words to come close to describing the whole experience and how I felt. I felt as if everything that had ever happened before, any bad experience, none of it mattered because of of that one moment that so infinitely overpowers any experience that I know I at least fulfilled one little purpose God has for me in my mission. I want this experience to be engraved in my memory for the rest of my life. It was one of those moments in life where you realize that God exists and He knows each one of us individually and He loves us so much that he sends two young missionaries to be able to give a blessing to His daughter who is in desperate need of that blessigns and the love of her Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ."

 

  That one experience makes the rest of the weeks experience sound lame, because there was one good one, and the rest were just not that great. But, like I said, this one experience so greatly overpowers any bad experience that it doesn't matter. So, I realize now, that the rest of the weeks experiences don't matter at all, and I'd rather not share them, just to keep the wonderful experience a wonderful experience, untainted. Kind of like a drumroll. The drumroll is always so exciting and a build up experience, but what it builds up to is always kind of... meh. I'm going to consider my Sunday experience as the drumroll. A moment that will forever be untainted. (Partially stolen idea from How I Met Your Mother, season 1, episode entitled "Drumroll, Please".)

 

Love,

Elder Andrew Anderson LaPray

No Cool Name - Oct. 29.2011

   P-day night was a little crazy. We had a lesson with Familia Cotero that didn't go so well, unfortunately. However, the Gospel is still true and Javier still wants to get baptized and his mom is supportive of his decision (since she is a member and ever since he was a little boy she pictured him as a missionary). Funny story, there was a 17 year old member named Jenny at the lesson in addition to the other 2 members (the bishop and his son) and Javier likes her and I guess she likes him, because Javier had his arm around her through like the entire lesson. Anyway, the bishop gave her a ride home with the rest of us and in the car the conversation somehow came around to the fact that the whole family really loves Jenny, so I said "But one loves you a little more than the others" in my classic LaPray sarcasm. Perfect timing and SUPER funny!

 

  On Sunday Elder Williams came out with Elder Spilker and I and we had one awesome lesson I want to talk about. It was with a new family named familia Mesaya that we had contacted a few weeks ago. The mom is super nice and was willing to let us come back and let us in. She is a catholic and used to be very closed to listening to anyone of any religion, but has recently come to find friendships and a greater knowledge in listening to other religions. Anyways, we started talking to her about all of lesson 1 from Preach My Gospel, how the gospel blesses families, how God works through prophets, Jesus Christ's earthly ministry, the apostasy, and the Restoration. She had a hard time accepting the apostasy and Joseph Smith, but Elder Williams explained how Joseph Smith translated the Book of Mormon and how it gives a witness of the restoration and Joseph Smith as it's prophet. She admitted that in order to know if these things were true she would have to read the Book of Mormon, and that if the Book of Mormon is true, then Jospeh Smith was a prophet. Bingo!

 

    While we were contacting on Monday, Elder Spilker and I met this guy who came up to us out of no where and starting talking to us about Guatemalans in the US and Barack Obama and how "Guatemalans were the hardest working immigrants in the US" and then he said "Tell Obama to be good to those Guatemalans"! and then he left with a high 5 saying "chóquenla" or "hit it". SO funny!!!!!! And then he just walked away like nothing happened. Gotta love Guatemala. We also had a lesson with Fito again, after about 3 or 4 weeks. We were able to finish teaching him about the Restoration. Like most catholics, he belivies in the tradition that Peter was the first pope and that the line just keeps going down. I shared with him my testimony of the first vision and the restoration of the gospel. He then went off about how to be able to testify of something you have to have been there and I didn't know what to say. Elder Spilker, very powerfully, told him that we COULD TESTIFY of the Restoration because of the Book of Mormon, which gives witness that Jospeh Smith was a prophet by the power of the Holy Ghost. It was a great experience.

 

  Sorry, I hate doing day-to-day play by plays. I'm sure they are kind of boring. Last night Elder Spilker and I didn't teach a single lesson. It was rough. We spent the entire time walking around looking for citas or contacting. In one of the contacts we did, we were speaking through the intercom. The lady essentially said "Nope, go away"., Right as she finished this dog came up to the fence out of NO WHERE and barked REALLY angrily at us. It scared the CRAP out of me because it came out of nowhere. So not funny.l Or at least, not at the time.

 

  This morning in my personally studied I read Alma 17:1-8. I love the story of Alma and the sons of Mosiah. What I learned from Alma 17 1-8 today is how to Spiritually Prepare ourselves. 1. we must study the scriptures. 2. we must dedicate ourselves to prayer. 3. we must fast. Why? So that we may 1. have the spirit of prophecy. 2. have the spirit of revelation. and 3. teach with power and authority which will bring many unto repentance, which leads to baptism. Super cool! Elder Gallo and I also had a great companionship study about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I love the scripture Moroni 7:33. Our faith in Jesus Christ gives us the power to do ALL thing which are convenient in Christ. Or rather, Faith in Jesus Christ gives us the power to ACT and bring about WORKS of faith. Faith without works is dead. However, Faith in Jesus Christ inherently should move us to ACTION. Faith is an Action word.

 

Love,

Elder Andrew LaPray

October 15, 2011

Just a note:  Andrew wanted to protect me from worry so he didn't write the following incident in his letter.  The AP's were delivering a mattress to Sis. missionaries last week and were held up (by gun) and the car stolen.  Good news - they were not hurt and cars are replaceable.

This week I realized that I have a lot of friends out on missions who have been out over a year or are coming up on a year really fast. It's kind of weird to think about. And I've been out for 245 days! (No, I'm not baggy and I don't count the days like you think, I just write it down at the top of my journal for a reference to those who read it in the future, thank you very much).

 

 On Sunday, just as we got ready to leave the house and go to the area, it started raining like CRAZY and there was so much water on the road that the taxis spark plugs got wet and it stopped. So, the taxi driver asked us to try to push start him. It was POURING rain! So, Elder Francks and I got out and pushed the car... and it didn't start. So we got in, then do it again. Then again, and again. So we got in and out of the car 4 times and on the 5th time it FINALLY started and I got SOAKED. And I was soaked for the rest of the day. I hate wearing wet clothes when I'm not swimming. It's the worst.

 

On Monday Elder Spilker and I learned how to do ALL sorts of stuff for putting in future missionaries applications in the computer. Because we have districts of the church here, Pres. Watts acts as a stake president in the interview process and he puts in all of the medical information. Well, Pres. can't do all of that because it would take a while, so we put in all of the information. But, we also have areas with people who don't even know HOW to use a computer, so we have to put all their information from the old paper form into the computer (which can cause some difficulty because the application has changed) but we learned a lot of important stuff! I talked to Brock on Monday night. I spent over an hour and a half on the phone with him just talking. I can't even explain it.

 

 On Tuesday I went to the temple with Brock and his companion Elder Grijalba. It was an indescribable experience and that's all I can say. Sorry.

 

Wednesday was change conference! Obviously I didn't have a change. The new AP (since Elder Davis went hom) is Elder Gallo fromHonduras. He is way legit! He'll go home when I hit a year. Colton is going up to Coban with an elder from Chile. Elder Nelson is going to be Zone Leader in Coban!! (So cool!) and the new office elder is Elder Cantillo (a costa rican from my group). Elder Davis went hom on Thursday morning. It was really sad to see him go. He has been a really good friend and example to me! On Thursday night we taught a lesson to the non-member brother of a recent convert and invited him to be baptized and he said yes! He said he's been thinking about getting baptized in a couple of weeks and set his OWN fecha (date) for the 5th of November when his brother can baptize him.

 

 On Friday we had a multi-zone conference! We had a member of the 1st Quorum of the 70 with us, Elder Carlos H. Amado. He's been a 70 for over 20 years. Sister Watts gave an awesome talk about who we want to be and what we are doing to become that person. We may not all be like Captain Moroni, loyal and faithful for all of our lives, but we can all be like Alma the younger, and make the ecision to be loyal and true for the REST of our lives. Elder Amado talked about a lot of cool stuf. He told us that being an especial witness of the name of Jesus Christ (an apostle) means that they have had a PERSONAL experience with Jesus Christ in which they KNOW him, and thus can testify of his divinity. How cool is that!? I mean, obviously it's what most people probably think and assume, but it's the first time I've heard that from a general authority!

 

God Speed,

Love Elder Andrew LaPray

Normal - October 8, 2011

This week has been... normal. Not. It was week six of the my fourth change! (No, I'm not baggy, this is just me and the time thing again and the whole math in me) but the end of this change marks 1/4 of my time in the field, and in two weeks I hit 8 months, 1/3 of my mission. Time really goes by so fast. It still seems like just yesterday I was back home, wasting time waiting to come to the mission, and an eternity before I'll do that again. But definitely worth the wait :)

 

So, like I said, this week has been anything but normal. For starters, conference was on last weekend (which I count as part of my week now) , which was absolutely incredible! I hope you all paid LOTS of attention, because we heard from the living prophet of the Lord God. For what greater blessing could you possibly ask? My favorite talks still came from the Saturday session, but obviously everything was good and spiritually uplifting. Sister Dalton's talk from Sunday was very powerful, in which, she told us men how to raise a daughter. I know I don't have a daughter, but it gave me a lot of ideas for the future and strengthened my testimony now. J. Devn Cornish was another of my favorite conference talks from Sunday. He talked about prayer and asking Heavenly Father for the help we so desperately need. I love that in conference we can receive so much personal revelation in conference, sometimes things that have absolutely NOTHING to do with what the speaker is discussing. I absolutely love it!

 

Monday was SUCH a busy day for Elder Spilker and I in the office, but I absolutely loved it! We got so much work done. We were out running errands, busy on the computer, just doing everything. Unfortunately, our in field time was no so busy. We spent 5-7 contacting  because everything fell through, but we had some really promising contacts! I used to hate contact, then I disliked it, and now I tolerate it. I'd call that a definite improvement! This week, I actually even ENJOYED one of the contacts I made as I testified of the blessings of the gospel in our lives. We went to visit a member around 7 named Josué Castillo, who is super pilas. We talked to him about life and missionary work, service, and sharing the gospel. At the end, my companion invited him to pray, while we sang, about who could be prepared to receive the gospel message. It seems really weird, and it was weird to me at first as well, but it worked! The Lord truly does have people prepared.

 

Tuesday was Zone Leader council so we had all of the out of capital ZLs at our house on Monday night and Tuesday morning. When we were literally 3 minutes away from the office, Elder Williams, one of the APs, called us to go back home because he forgot something. So we went ALL the way back home and then all the way back to the office, just because we love him ;) However, that day had some very bad news about a missionary who had run away. It broke my heart. I don't understand what drives people to disobedience when they testify to people of the blessings of obedience and can see the reflections in their own lives. Yes, a mission is the hardest thing I have ever done, but when you get right down to it, and you do it right, it is the most fun and most rewarding thing as well. The taxi ride to the area was VERY interesting today. We didn't go with our regular taxi driver, but with one of his colleagues. Anyways, we got stuck in a little bit of traffic and he wanted to get us out quickly, so he took this short cut on the dirt path next to the railroad tracks. Well, it just so happens that on BOTH sides of the railroad tracks there are one bedroom concrete houses with metal doors. As I see the type of people walking these roads and standing in the doors of these houses, I realize that we are driving down, what I would call, Hooker Lane. They were brothels. It was absolutely SHOCKING. Luckily, that only lasted for about two minutes and we were out of there and on a different road, but those are just the kinds of mission experiences that make great stories.

 

The APs and some other missionaries were out looking for the run away today, and they were gone for about 6 hours with no luck, so they came back to the office. Then, around 2ish, he called Elder Davis and told him where he was and that he wanted to be picked up, so Elder Davis and I got President's car keys, and we were off to get him! It was absolutely crazy. That is enough for Wednesday.

 

Thursday night we had the Noche Mormona like usual. Before it started, Elder Spilker and I taught a recent convert named Cesár Guzmán and talked about General Conference. This may sound weird, but I loved seeing the light in Elder's Spilker's face as he testified of Thomas S. Monson. I think that it was the first time I have really noticed that "light" that other people say they see in us. It was a very special experience, and I hope that my face "shines" like that when I testify of the things which I know and love. The Noche Mormona was really great! Some great members gave it and they had us doing an activity in 4 groups doing all sorts of crazy stuff, learning to work together, have fun together, and learning about each other to demonstrate charity, the pure love of Christ.

 

On Friday, every cita fell through again. Literally, EVERYTHING. We contacted. That's it. In the office I played "In the land of the Tall Green Trees" with Elders Spilker, Francks, and Hogan and it took them about 2 hours to figure out how to play, but it was SO funny watching them try to figure it out. (It wasn't two straight hours, we were doing work as well). That's pretty much it.

 

This morning we went over to President and Sister Watts's house for the traditional week six breakfast. It was DELICIOUS! We had pancakes, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns, pineapple, and watermelon. I love them so much! And now, I'm sitting here talking to you guys! Like I said, it was anything BUT a normal week. But that's what the mission is all about! Change conference is next week, and I don't think I'm leaving the office, nor Elder Spilker. But one of the APs, Elder Davis will finish his mission, which is really sad. I love Elder Davis. He has been a super good friend and he is a great guy and missionary. I'm sure the whole mission will miss him. So, next week when I email you, there will be a new AP, and mostly likely a new office elder (but not my companion). Even in the office we don't hear changes early. Well, not TOO early :)

 

Love, Elder Andrew Anderson LaPray

General Conference Week

I love the weekend when General Conference comes around! There is seriously no better weekend in the mission! Quoted from other missionaries (several other missionaries), General Conference is the "Super Bowl of the mission", and it's true. It's my hope and prayer that we can think of and feel that General Conference is even better than the Super Bowl!

Last Sunday we had my first baptism here in Marti of the son of an active family, a boy named Geovanni. It was super legit. I know it doesn't mean anything, but it's a really cool motivating factor when you have a baptism every month of your mission. But baptisms don't measure the success of a mission. What matters is your own personal conversion to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and your committment to Him in His work here on the earth in those two dedicated years!

On Monday we had district capacitation. So every 3 months we have what are called zone conference, and inbetween zone conferences, president is visiting every DISTRICT and giving them another training period which is absolutely AWESOME. I had an incredible experience that day, but it's a little too personal to share, I'm sorry. I know most of you are probably thinking, well, if you aren't going to share it, then why even bring it up? Well, you just kind of do that kind of thing without thinking about it. I will share what I can in the best way I can. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is the SINGLE greatest gift given to us by our Heavenly Father. It allows us SO many other blessings. It is the reason we were able to come to this earth. Without the Atonement, we would have come to the earth in vain, only to receive a body that would decay and our Spirits would remain after our death, never to receive a fulness of joy. We would be subject to the punishment of our sins. We would have to endure all of our trials and afflictions alone. It's a terrible burden that Jesus Christ took away. e usually think of repentance as asking for forgiveness of our sins. But it's so much more than that! Yes, it's asking for forgiveness of our sins, but it's leaving behind the sins, and making changes in our lives to be in accordance with the laws, ordinances, and teachings of the gospel. We repent as we start keeping the commandments of God that we hadn't been keeping before and by following Jesus Christ even more than we had before. Repentance is an amazing and basic principle. Hence, the reason it is the second principle of the Gospel!

In our weekly acitivity called "Mormon Night" Elder Spilker and I shared 3 ways to make conference more meaningful (found in the September 2011 Ensign and Liahona) 1) Know that you can receive personal revelation. 2) Don't disregard a message just because it sounds familiar. 3) Know that it will be a compass for the coming 6 months, or maybe even longer.

OH!! ON Friday, in the office, we had some down time so I did some study, which included Mormon Messages from the church's website. I don't remember exactly what they are called, but one of them is called Sanctify Yourself (I think) and talks about being worthy to give Priesthood blessings, recently featured on the LDS.org homepage and can be found using the bottom link in the center column, and another one about the power of forgiveness and I have NO idea what that one is called, but I think it was called Sanctify Yourself: THe power of forgiveness, or something like that, talking about a man forgiving the man who caused a car accident that killed his wife and three of his kids. They have VERY powerful messages!

2 sessions of General Conference have already passed by and I have learned an incredible about and felt a strong Spirit testifying of the words of the servants of God. Two messages I want to share are 1) No matter how insignificant you may feel, "You matter to [Our Heavenly Father]. and 2) When our trials and experiences burden us and weigh us down, we often feel tempted to look down and sorrow in the wake of our grief, but in the words of Thomas S. Monson "It is better to look up".

Elder Andrew Anderson LaPray

Sept. 23, 2011

I hit 7 months yesterday! That's a really long time!! But, it was a really good week.

 

 OH!! So, Dynamite by Taio Cruz is playing right now and it's making me super baggy. Anyways, on Monday there was an EARTHQUAKE in Guatemala! But not even CLOSE to where I am. It's like living in Las Vegas and saying "There was an Earthquake in Salt Lake!" so not close at all. BUT, we were in the office and I felt the after shocks! It was the first time I had ever felt ANYTHING of an earthquake and it was pretty cool, but I did NOT like it at all.. the building kind of swayed back and forth and made me feel kind of sick. I wasn't worried about the building falling at all, but it definitely made my body feel weird. (Now "Papa Americano" is playing and it is a REALLY annoying song! Nvm, it just ended. Score!) Elder Spilker and I have done a TON of contacting this week too. In my change before this one we did like, 15 contacts in the entire 6 weeks! This change, we have over 300 I think! It's crazy! But, if you don't talk to people, then no one can ever learn about the gospel.

 

  I don't think there is really anything cool to say about Tuesday... the Church's money that we use is divided into a whole bunch of different sub-accounts like transportation, food, utitilities, rent, and also whether it is transportation by the president or by the missionaries and so and and so forth. So, on Tuesday and yesterday Elder Spilker and I spent like, 6 hours going into the computer and checking a TON of receipts to reclassify things into the right account to try to balance the mission budget. Talk about exciting.

 

   Wednesday has some GREAT stories though. Well, a great story. I got to drive the mission truck again, all the way to the office this time, which was pretty legit. So, here comes the part where everyone can make fun of Elder LaPray for becoming the class awkward missionary that everyone becomes... we went to see some inactives and the children (17 female, 15 male, 13 male) aren't members because after the husband left the wife she stopped going to church (more than 10 years ago, probably closer to 13). So they children have no idea what it's like to have missionaries over, what our purpose is, nothing at all! So we talked to them, shared our testimonies and set up an appointment to go back the next week. (We were with 2 members, Willy and Hna. Rosario, that's how we got to this family). So, in Guatemala it is very customary to give a hug and a kiss on the cheek when you say goodbye to someone of the opposite sex, regardless of age or marital status. So as we were saying goodbye I saw the daughter, 17, give Willy a hug and a kiss (one of the members who is like, 30) and then give Hermana Rosario a hug and a kiss (Sister Rosario, another member who is about 50+). I thought to myself "oh crap, she is totally gonna try to hug me and give me a kiss". So as she was coming over I tried to stick out my hand and she came right in for the hug and kiss! I started to back away as I said "As missionaries we don't hug!!". LUCKILY, she didn't kiss me and she only kind of sort of hugged me. It was SUPER awkward and I felt really weird afterward. There you go... go ahead and laugh everyone.

 

  I'd like to share my journal entry from Thursday with you all. I didn't write ANYTHING about what we did, but I think it's very helpful in life... "Today Elder Spilker asked me what I think my purpose is here in Martí(my area). I strongly believe, or rather, I know that we receive our area and companion assignments by revelation, and thus, from God. As Doctrine and Covenants section 100 says (paraphrased) that I have "been allowed to come to this place; thus... it was convenient for the slavation of souls". It's no accident that I am serving a mission, that I'm in Guatemala, that I'm in the norht mission, that I was companions with Elder Nelson and Elder Chavarría in La Leyenda 3, and it's no accident that I'm here in Martí now with Elder Spilker. I just don't know my purpose here in this area yet. I don't know when, or if, I'll know. It's been 8 years since I moved to the Caribbean and I STILL don't understand the purpose! But, I know it's where the Lord wanted us to be because like all big decisions in life, I meditated it out in my mind and went to God seeking His guidance and I felt the Spirit witness to me that we needed to go. I wasn't exactly thrilled or excited. I had to leave behind everything I knew, but we all followed the promptings of the Holy Ghost. When we follow the Lord, there is a purpose behind where we are and what we're doing. We may not know it right away, and it may be difficult, incomprehensible, but know that Heavenly Father is aware of us".

 

   I forgot to write about Elder Williams's birthday party! Elder Williams (one of the APs) turns 21 today, but the APs left the capital this week so we celebrated on Monday night. His mom sent him a package with some birthday stuff.. BATMAN birthday stuff. It was sweet! Elder Francks and I went on divisions last night and we had a good time, and a really intense lesson that ended in us not going back there anymore. Not that they don't like us or anything, but like most people, they just couldn't accept another book of scripture. It's really frustrating when people judge a book by it's cover. The Book of Mormon in and of itself testifies of Christ, His divine nature, and how we can be saved through him. It doesn't discount or discredit the Bible. Quite the contrary, it supports and uplifts the Bible and even QUOTES the Bible. Why? Because the Bible has important scriptures that we need to understand, but the Book of Mormon expounds upon certain doctrine that may be left unclear in the Bible. For example, Matthew 3:14-17. What does it mean "to fulfill all righteousness"? 2 Nephi 31:5-7 answers that question and gives FURTHER TESTIMONY of Christ's baptism. It was really hard to see them reject the Book of Mormon without even touching it, but that's life, and all we can do is invite. But, I promise you with all of my being, that the Bible is the word of God. The Book of Mormon is also the word of God, and the only reason I know that is because the Spirit testified to me of it's truth and power (Alma 5:45-47, Moroni 10:3-5), and you can know too.

 

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray