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Monday, December 10, 2012

December 10, 2012


This last week has seriously been NUTS!!!

I don't remember if I said this last week or not, but with the news of me training, I will be dying in Sayaxché as DL/trainer, which will give me a grand total in my mission of 10 STRAIGHT changes as DL, which is the equivalent of 14 months! It's absolutely NUTS! But, I am SUPER stoked!!

On Tuesday we went visiting members and investigators so that E. Bobadilla could say goodbye. It was a FULL day schedule! We left at 8 a.m. and got back at 7:00 p.m. We visited a good portion of the branch. We also had our last lesson with Darlyn ot get her ready for the baptismal interview.

On Wednesday morning Elder Bobadilla and I left Sayaxché for Santa Elena for changes. Usually we would meet up in BK to get the changes, but when we got to the ZL's house they already had changes!! I was shocked! E. Bobadilla went to an area called Tucuru in the Polochic to learn Q'eqchi'! Super crazy! I hope he does well up there! It's far away! With how blunt the Q'eqchi' people are, I hope they don't talk too much about his eye... the good news is that he has gotten over it.

I'm not sure why, but we ended up staying the day in the ZL's house. However, it gave me an awesome chance to talk to E. Ware who is AWESOME! We talked about a lot of cool/interesting topics! I think we get along so well because we have similar personalities, but not the same. They actually have the color personality test which tells you if you are red, blue, white or yellow... I took the test and turned out 22 red, 16 blue, 3 white and 3 yellow. If you haven't ever taken that test, you should! It's very interesting. Supposedly a red-blue combination is not very common, but they have some interesting personality traits that definitely describe me. I don't want to give it all away...

At about 11:00 pm on Wednesday night, my new companion, Elder Cody Hill, got to Petén! He is from Colorado Springs and is LEGIT! He goes to BYU and is in the ROTC and wants to join the army. He's tall! 6'4 and just awesome! We get a long ridiculously well! On Thursday morning we were in the bus on the way to Sayaxché and talked most of the bus ride, then we went with the ZLs to do the baptismal interviews for Friday and Saturday, and then... we had to go clean the baptismal font! What a wonderful welcome to Sayaxché, right? We spent about 2 hours cleaning the pila (font), which was super dirty, and then we went to the branch activity, and then we didnt have anyone to go out with us, so we had to stay home.

On Friday we did our weekly planning and Elder Hill met a less-active named Marvin who is doing EXCELLENTLY! He has improved a lot since we started working with him! And we had the baptism. We had a LOT of people in attendance!

Saturday was also a good day! We did our studies in the morning, got in a few contacts, and then we had the baptism. Unfortunately that was the last place we went... We were at the chapel from 2:45 until 6:30 and then we had to go home. However, Saturday's baptism was also awesome! It was really quick too! I forget how FAST the baptismal ordinance is over!

Overall, my first week with Elder Hill has been awesome! We are going to be GREAT companions and have a stellar companionship! He has such an incredible drive to work and be obedient and do everything! We went running on Friday and Saturday and I just about DIED from running on my toes. Supposedly it's better for your knees, so I ran 2 miles on my toes and my calves were KILLING me for 2 days! However, now they're back to almost normal :)

Stoked for this next week! Love you all!

Love,
Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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November 26, 2012

This one is out of place...didn't realized I hadn't posted for 2 weeks.

We just finished week 5 of the change, so it's the only title I could think of! 

Alright, I've got to FLY through this email!!

I'm pretty sure time is not going to allow!!

On Tuesday morning we got a phone call from some investigators we haven't been able to see in a few weeks asking if we could stop by in the afternoon, which was absolutely incredible! That almost NEVER happens in Guatemala, so we of course went to see them in the afternoon!

Their little 5 month old son is sick, and they were looking to us for help... They don't have a firm foundation of the Restoration of the Gospel, or the priesthood, but we did what we could to explain priesthood blessings and offered one for their little son, Leopoldo. Upon seeing that blessing, they asked if the other children could also receive blessings, so we explained a little more. It was a good lesson and we went back to see them on Saturday.

On Saturday we visited them and talked about their reading of Alma 7. They hadn't gotten very far, so we read with them and talked about how Jesus Christ can help us and also about the importance of baptism for the remission of sins. They ahve a sincere interest in our message, and I am hoping and praying they can come to a testimony of the truthfulness of all we have taught and desire to be baptized!

On Wedesday we did divisions with La Libertad and I was there, so it was a lot of people I don't know, but in hopes of helping E. Ramos and E. Simon in their companionship, who have been having some struggles. More or less accomplished?

Saturday was really a good day! Like I said, we had that GREAT lesson with Jorge and Alicia (See the previous previous paragraph) and also familia Mota Mazariego, where we are teaching 9 year old Darlyn. We taught her lesson 3 and talked about baptism. They would like Darlyn to be baptized on December 8th, but the only problem is that she wants ME to baptize her, and we have changes before that... so we'll see what happens there! 

Yesterday in church I spoke on the importance of the sacrament and the renewal of our bpatismal covenants! In my opinion, it was a good talk :) But I'm only SLIGHTLY biased.

Love you all!

Elder Andrew A. LaPray

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December 3, 2012


So there is HUGE news in transfers!!!! Like, Ridiculously huge! So, first things first. Elder Bobadilla is leaving Sayaxché and I am staying in Sayaxché. I am staying in Sayaxché to TRAIN again! So, it is official... Elder LaPray will end  his mission as DL/Trainer in Sayaxché! Now, perhaps even BIGGER news... Elder LaPray will no longer be leaving Guatemala on February 28th, but rather March 6th or 7th... Big news, I'd say so! Like, GINORMOUS!

As for being assigned to be trainer again, I'm honestly pretty stoked about it! Ever since about 2 weeks ago, it's what I was hoping to have happen for the end of my mission! However, It will be quite a long time in Sayaxché... 7 months.

I'm trying to think through my week and things I want to write about, but like, I honestly just don't know...

I guess I'll skip to Thursday. On Thursday morning we had a zone meeting, which was good. Hooray! One thing I'm not looking forward to about staying in Sayaxché is having to travel to Santa Elena... That kind of gets old, but oh well!

After we got back from our Zone Meeting at 3:15 we had the "Tarde de Hermanamiento". After the activity we had a lesson with familia Rodríguez, whose 2 children will be baptized next Friday. After that lesson we had a lesson with Darlyn, who will be baptized next Saturday! She is a REALLY smart 9 year old girl! She showed me her Book of Mormon the other day and I was looking at the things she marked, and she marked a lot of stuff, but things that were legitamately important, not just random stuff! She is very inteligent!

Friday was also a good day where we taught Marvin, Walfred, Alicia, Dora, and famila Rodríguez again.

Saturday at 2 a.m. I woke up and puked my guts out, which was just absolutely WONDERFUL! So Saturday was pretty much lost. We spent 90% of the day in the house. Hooray!

And then what I've already said about changes what I heard on Saturday. I'm excited to work hard my last 2 changes and 1 week. Love you all!

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Monday, November 19, 2012

November 19, 2012


Sorry about the wonderful "title"... I just don't know what to write in titles anymore! I've been writing for a LONG time now... I just can't come up with anything interesting anymore!!!

On Wednesday the 14th we didn't have district meeting, like we would normally have, because we had interviews with President and Sister Watts on Friday. Around 4 we had a great lesson with a man named Raul. We've been teaching him for about 2 and a half or 3 months, but he's really hard to find. He is actually reading the Book of Mormon and we invited him to keep reading from the beginning and he keeps going. 

On Thursday we had a REALLY good turn out to our weekly activity, "Tarde de Hermanamiento" of about 20 or so people! And after the activity we stayed at the member's home to teach his son Jared, who has a baptismal date for December 7th, and we taught him about the Plan of Salvation. He is progressing quickly and should be great for his baptism on the 7th, as well as his 8 year old sister! 

Friday was also a really good day!!! My old CCM companion Elder Willardson is the new AP, so I was able to see him, after not seeing him in almost a year! It was fantastic to see him and be able to talk to him about life, and more importantly our companionship and my responsiblities as a district leader! It was really cool! I also had a great interview with Sister Watts. I would like to quote my journal.

"She asked me, 'What kind of missionary do you think I think you are?' To sum it up I said I think she thinks I'm an excellent missionary. Hna. Watts told me everything I needed to hear and more. She took me by the hand and told me more or less the following: She thinks I'm one of the best missionaries they have, that I love my investigators and my companion and all of the people in Guatemala, that I know why I'm here, I'm diligent, hard-working, and that I'm one of the best trainers they have. As she told me everything she felt about me, I couldn't help but cry. The connection I feel with President and Sister Watts is the most unique blend between parents and grandparents. I love them both with all my heart! I anxiously await the day I can give Sister Watts a hug... 

"Hna Watts also asked me to share something about me with her. I told her what instruments I play and how 3 months ago I was 'bothered' by not being ZL, but not anymore. I also shared that with President.

"As usual, my interview with President Watts was fantastic. Today he asked me what kind of progress I have had personally, or something like that. I mentioned to him the lesson plans I have been making that have really helped me, even though I have almost 21 months. We also talked quite a bit about goals and having the end goal in mind and working plans backwards... 

"To finish the interview I asked to renew my temple recommend. I thought it might take 10-15 minutes, but it was a very quick interview. In spite of being a short interview, I could truly feel the Spirit as President asked me the interview questions and I responded with all confidence. I'm not sure why, but certain questions seemed to ring more powerfully. As he asked the last question, Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the House of the Lord?, I took a moment to reflect and feel the Spirit testify that I consider myself worthy."

The rest of our day was just incredible! I was happy all afternoon! Nothing could get me down! Our second to last lesson was a visit with Raul and then we went to familia Mota to begin teaching Darlyn, their 9 year old daughter, the missionary lessons. Somehow we were talking(before the lesson started) about having good companions, and Elder Bobadilla said, "I'm such a good companion, I grabbed your wallet when you dropped it, Elder LaPray" as he handed me a wallet... However, it was not mine! My wallet was safely in my back pocket! When we were with Raul, he saw a wallet, that looks almost exactly like mine, underneath the chair where I was sitting and grabbed it, thinking it was mine... It was HILARIOUS to see the look on his face when he realized that he had not picked up my wallet, but rather "stolen" Raul's wallet! SO FUNNY! Or maybe just if you were there...

Yesterday was District Conference and we got to the church at 7 to drive up to Santa Elena for the conference. We ended up leaving at almost 8, but we arrived in about an hour! It was a quick and comfortable bus ride. However, this week the youth are going to the temple to do baptisms and so they all had to have interviews with the district presidency and that took up almost ALL afternoon, and since we all came together, we were stuck at the church until almost 5:30 or 5:45 pm!! We got back to Sayaxché at 7:10 p.m.! It was a long day, but an excellent week! I love my mission and it is going to be weird when it is all over! On Friday I hit 21 months, and as of today, I have 100 days left! (NO! I'm NOT trunky! I just like math :)

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Monday, November 12, 2012

Pictures from the week of Nov. 5 - 12th






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November 12, 2012


A baptism in a river
Inbox
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Andrew LaPray
2:05 PM (23 minutes ago)

This week has been great! I love Sayaxché! Even though it's a little hot sometimes, it's a great area and we have been blessed this week!

I wish I had the time to be able to talk about all of the things that have happened this week, but I kind of get caught up doing other random stuff and then I forget that I still have to write the family. Sorry!

On Wednesday we had a GREAT inspired district meeting, if I may say so myself! It was actually an awesome experience! While I was preparing the district meeting I started preparing a message about the Book of Mormon, but after about 15 minutes I felt that that wasn't right so I stopped and prayed for guidance, and began planning another message. At the end of my study session I was still a little unsure so I followed the counsel of D&C 9:8-9 and after having studied out the problem I prayed and asked God if it was right. I believe that for the first time I had had an experience of that type. As I knelt to pray I felt a small clenching of my heart, but as Iasked Heavenly Father if this message was right and what the district needed to hear, I felt a relief come over me and unleash my heart and I felt the Spirit witness to me that this was the message the Lord wanted me to share with everyone! It turned out to be a great district meeting!

The baptism on Thursday turned out great! Even though it was on the other side of the river we had 37 people come! Almost the amount of people we have come to Sacrament meeting!! It was pretty fun to get into the river to perform the baptismal ordinance! There was a LOT of mud going down into the river, and we even had stairs to walk on! Everything seemed to be just right for the moment! And around 6 p.m. we had a great lesson with Raul and I wish I had more time to write about it, but I don't!

On Friday while we were in a lesson with some new investigators the pastor from another church walked in to visit them as well!! Talk about nuts! That was definitely not what we were expecting to happen! However, it was a "relaxed" situation, but he still wasn't very fond of our presence, even though we were there first. However, we gave him a Book of Mormon and invited him to read it.

GAH! Time is running out! On Saturday we put a baptismal date with the 12 year old son of a recently activated member to be baptized on the 7th of December, his birthday! We are pretty excited about that and are going to be working lots with him over the next month to prepare him for baptism!

Sunday was another great day and I really wish I had more time to write about it all! The work in Sayaxché is progressing and E. Bobadilla and I are praying and working for success!

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Monday, November 5, 2012

November 5, 2012


Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that is correct. As of today, the 5th day of November 2012, Elder LaPray has officially hit 10 consecutive months as district leader in the Guatemala, Guatemala City North Mission. I'm pretty sure it's a mission record. 10 months and 8 changes. At the end of this change I will have 11 months exactly as district leader.

On Tuesday morning Elder Bobadilla and I left towards a place called El Subín to meet up with the elders from La Libertad because we did a "surprise" division. It wasn't exactly anything we were planning on, but we did it anyways because it was definitely necessary. Elder Simon and I were in Sayaxché for the day. Things had been a little rough so we did a division so that I could talk to him about the mission and try to help him "relax". The stresses of missionary life are pretty high especially when you can't communicate everything you want to your companion, so we talked about it, and then went out to work. Our first visit was with Alicia. Elder Simon had a little bit of trouble understanding what Alicia was saying, so I did most of the talking, but that's normal. She had read the two chapters we left her of 2 Ne 2 and Moro. 8. She has a lot of "sincere desire" and "real intent" but she still hasn't gotten a firm answer as to whether or not the things we are sharing are true or not. We later got some referrals from the Relief Society president and her daughter, had our missionary correlation and ended the day with a lesson with Sergio. Sergio had spent the last week in Cobán where he asked his mother's permission to be baptized and for the moment has said no, but I think that it just confirmed more his desire to be baptized. While he spoke to his mom about his desire he told her of the new TRUTHS he had learned while speaking with us, such as the manner of prayer. It was a cool experience and incredible to see the light of Christ growing within him as our visits continue! I know that when he finally has the chance to be baptized he can be a strong member of the Church!

On Thursday night we had another lesson with Sergio and we read 1 Nephi 6 and 7 with him and then did an overview of what we read and he really is great at remember details about what he read and capturing information, and Spanish is his second language! I am writing this after I wrote the next 3 paragraphs... I was wrong. We did the previous stuff on SATURDAY with Sergio. On Thursday we had an EXCELLENT lesson about the first half of the Plan of Salvation!! Just absolutely AWESOME!!!

Saturday was a good day! I feel like it will come out better if I just quote my journal...

"It was a good Saturday! This morning we had good study time. I'm finishing up my lesson 3 plan and then I'm planning on going through lesson 4 and 5 quickly to hopefully finish Preach My Gospel in Spanish half way into next change. After lunch we went to fam. Hernández Tum, but they weren't home, so we went to contact. The first man we talked to was a 23 year old named Elmer. He didn't seem too interested, but as we finished the contact E. Bobadilla asked if he knew anyone who might be interested in our message and he sent us to his neighbors, Dilia and Lesbia. What a great opportunity! 3 years ago they listened to the missionaries and they were both transferred. We had a nice first visit lesson and helped answer some questions they had about the Book of Mormon. We then went to visit Jorge and Alicia, whom we met last Saturday. At the beginning of the lesson I wasn't overly hopeful because he began speaking about emigration, however, after we began the "teaching" we seemed to have his full attention as we explained the message of the Restoration. At the end of the lesson we asked if he would be baptized if God answered his prayer and told him this is His Church and he said that he would. He then asked if his children would be able to be baptized as well if they knew this is God's church and we briefly taught about how children don't need baptism until they are older.

"So with Jorge and Alicia we ended talking about baptism. When we left it was raining just a little bit. By the time we got to the school in La Virgencita it picked up so we took shelter at the school. In the end we ended up soaked. We later walked to visit Sergio drenching wet, but had a good lesson in which he asked what the requirements are for baptism. Interestingly enough, I had studied that in the morning. We walked home in the cold rain and for the first time I was cold in Sayaxché!"

Sunday was a great day as well! After church we prepared Brandon for his baptismal interview on Wednesday because on Thursday he will be baptized!! After the interview we prepared the baptismal service agenda and he has asked me to baptize in the river "La Pasión". I am so excited for him to be baptized! And will be going with the youth to do baptisms for the dead in the first weekend of December!! It should be great!!!

Everything in Sayaxché is going wonderfully and I am LOVING the work! Time is slipping away quickly, and I am just trying to do everything I can with the remaining time!! The Church is true, and the book is blue!! (and the other ones we use are different colors depending on your tastes :)

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Monday, October 29, 2012

October 29, 2012


On Tuesday I hit 20 months which is just MIND blowing! You don't even realize it and you slowly go from being one of the youngest people to one of the oldest and when you realize it you're going home. 

At around 4 p.m. on Tuesday we ended up looking for a couple we had contaced and taught about a month ago and we found the house and contacted the woman's mother, Mari Carpio, and taught her a short lesson and set up plans to go back on Sunday evening. Hopefully things will turn out well there! At 5 we had our weekly mission correlation meeting and talked about how things are going in the work and the branch visits to try to reactivate and get more people to church. Hopefully we see results in the next couple of weeks!

I had a cold all last week that just wiped me out! I was just super exhausted on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, but we still went out to do our work. On Wednesday afternoon our first visit was with Alicia. It was a little hard to focus because of our colds, but we had a good lesson and talked a little bit more about receiving an answer and baptism for the remission of sins. I truly believe that she will slowly come to know that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that this is the only true Church upon the face of the earth. We later passed by Dora, whom we met last week. Our visit with her was a little interesting, but it all turned out well as she has a true desire to receive and answer and has already asked to know if the Book of Mormon is true and if Joseph Smith was a prophet and is going to continue looking for an answer. 

Thursday was Elder Flores's birthday. Friday morning whie Elder Bobadilla was sick, after studying for an hour and a half and I needed to take a break and I started to think about math, and I wanted to figure out the quadratic formula, I know I'm super weird, but I did. So, I was having trouble remembering one of the values, but I knew the majority of it which is    x=-b + or - the squareroot of b squared -4ac all over 2a... Well, I couldn't remember the value "-b" but I created an equation and then solved as if I the variable "-b" were an unknown but I knew x, b, a and c and I just didn't know what to put in the location of "-b" if that makes sense.... the point is that I solved the equation and remembered the quadratic formula. Sweet, right? I guess. On Friday night while we were by the house there were some kids outside playing football where there is a trampoline, so I asked if I could do a backflip, and they said yes! But, it wasn't a spring trampoline, it was fabric, so I didn't jump a lot, but I was able to do it! Hooray! 

Sunday was excellent! I'm just going to copy my journal entry!

"What an excellent Sunday! Brandon came to church by himself because familia Lemus is in Coban. We only had 39 people in sacrament meeting today and I shared my grandpa´s talk "Take Up Your Cross". I know at least one person liked it. I gave the lesson in priesthood from conference, "How to Obtain Revelation and Inspiration in Your Life" by Elder Richard G. Scott. Interestingly we took a moment to talk about discerning whether or not a particular deram is a message from God or our own imagination. After Church was over we taught Brandon about the Law of Chastisty and the Sabbath Day with Nohemí. He is offically ready for a baptismal interview. After a quick lunch we went to see Luis and Seily and Nohemí came with us, but they weren't home. We ended up talking to her sister, Margarita, who lent us her phone and we taught her about the Book of Mormon and gave her a copy. We then went to see Norma as an idea that came to my mind and I asked her why she decided to read the Book of Mormon.... and I focused a little more to the Bible. Last we met familia Asevedo Carpio, Genaro, Mari, and Rolando. They seem extremely interested and we shared with them about the Book of Mormon and Hno Genaro was EXTREMELY interested in learning more about where it came from, why we have it, and wants to know if it is true! We're going back next Sunday!!"

Love you,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Thursday, October 25, 2012

October 22, 2012



----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Andrew LaPray <andrew.lapray@myldsmail.net>
To: Brian LaPray <bjlapray@yahoo.com>; Brian LaPray <bjlapray@gmail.com>; Tom Duncan <teeduncan@gmail.com>; Emily Duncan <bowsbyduncan@gmail.com>; sblapray <sblapray@yahoo.com>; Alexis LaPray <alexismarie17@yahoo.com> 
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2012 3:24 PM
Subject: 20 Months!

No, I'm really not baggy! But it's a HUGE number!!!! That's 5/6 of a mission! Elder Bobadilla is hitting a grand total of 2 months today! These last couple of months are just going to fly right away from me, and I know it! These last two changes here in Petén have felt like the blink of an eye, you have NO idea!! 

On Tuesday morning we had our Zone Conference with Elder Kevin R. Duncan of the 1st quorum of the 70, second counselor in the Central America Area Presidency. It was an excellent conference! I was asked to play the prelude, hymns, and the interlude. I spent a LOT of time practice "Come, Oh Thou King of Kings" and it was the only hymn I was able to play with both hands, but I did alright. The rest was all with the top hand only, but way better than nothing. Elder Duncan took the time to get to know each one of us, and I was very last in line. I thought that might be an advantage... nope. I was the one who got "rushed" through... but what can you do. It was still cool. I know we shouldn't think like this, but later than night I was talking to Elder Vestal and we both said, "What if he became one of the next Apostles?"... just saying, it would be pretty cool. 

One of the things he talked about that really called my attention was the process of calling a mission president. It had a lot of focus on the fact that the Lord has prepared mission presidents for His missionaries and missionaries for specific presidents. It was a cool experience to remind me, like I already know, that the Lord has a great plan for each and every one of His children and He knows ALL of our needs! Why else would I be in the same mission as Elder Llewelyn? I just have ENDLESS experiences and testimony to know that He is the Great Architect of this divine plan. 

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were all great days for our area! On Wednesday we talked to Alicia and later to Dora who both seem to have been prepared to hear and accept this Gospel. On Friday we visited Alicia again and we also visited Seily Paau, another person who seems to have been prepared to accept the Gospel!

Yesterday we went to Las Pozas. We have a familia in that aldeas(villages) named Familia Lemus who are AWESOME (members) and she always gives us lunch when we go out there, which is once a week. Yesterday's lunch was delicious! Rice and chicken... and then we taugth a lesson to our investigator Brandon, who is scheduled to be baptized on the 8th of November. When we were about to leave she asked if we wanted to try "ayote con leche"... which is like a tender green pumpkin/squash boiled in milk. It sounds super gross, right? Well, it actually wasn't too bad, but after a while I didn't like the texture too much, but it's Guatemala, you eat all sorts of stuff :)

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Friday, October 19, 2012

October 15, 2012


Yesterday I hit 600 days in the mission! That seems like an eternity! but in a good way! 

On Tuesday we got back to what I would call, "normal" missionary life. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were "abnormal" with General Conference and our Zone activity, and this week brings us back to "abnormal" since tomorrow we have a Zone Conference with a member of the 1st Quorum of the 70. Anyways...

I realized the other day, last Tuesday, that I have now been district leader for over 9 months. It's almost a mission record. Actually, it's a tie with the mission record I know of 7 straight changes. If I stay as DL one more change, I'll officially hold the mission record for straight time as District Leader. Nice. But, I'm happy to do it if that's what the Lord wants me to do. I mention this, because last Tuesday in my journal I was talking about preparing district meeting lessons and then I mentioned the amount of time I'd been DL. Tuesday was a great day for missionary work. When we went to visit a less-active 19 year old, he wasn't home, so we started talking to his sister-in-law outside and we had a nice lesson with her, gave her a Book of Mormon, and set up an appointment to go back on Thursday. Her name is Alicia, and she seems very positive. 

"[Wednesday] was excellent", I wrote in my journal. Because it really was. We had an EXCELLENT district meeting and we all felt the Spirit and left edified and ready to put in practice what we had learned about setting goals and making plans. It was a really cool experience, and we have all seen some of the fruits and benefits of doing so. The afternoon was also neat. As we were going from one plan to the next, I felt like we needed to visit a specific family, so we went towards there. However, I got lost and we ended up contacting a family that was very receptive. I believe it was guidance from the Spirit in order to get us to them, and not necessarily to the family I thought I had intended to visit. 

On Thursday we went back to visit Alicia from Tuesday and she read the chapter we left her, Moroni 10, and she had lots of great questions for us, but not about the Book of Mormon. Her biggest question was "Why are there so many churches?" which is the perfect question to ask a missionary! Like Elder Russell M. Nelson said in GC,"Ask the missionaries, they can help you!". So, we taught her about our Heavenly Father's love, gospel dispensations and apostasy through biblical history, Christ's ministry, the Great Apostasy, and the Restoration through Joseph Smith. I absolutely LOVE testifying about Lesson 1, and it helps me know every time that what I am teaching is true. I know it! And she seems like a GREAT possibility of someone prepared to receive the Gospel!

Yesterday, as you all know, was Fast Sunday. And once again, I gave the lesson in Priesthood. Luckily, I had time to plan it the day before, so it turned out alright. Elder Bobadilla improved the lesson in Sunday School. Gotta love it! But, it's really cool to be in a branch; it's a completely different experience to being in a ward in the capital!

I want you all to know that I know this Gospel is Christ's restored Gospel. We have the fulness of knowledge and truth, and all of the Priesthood authority necessary for salvation. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Through him, Jesus Christ restored His same Church upon the earth in these last days, and I have the honor of sharing that message with the world!

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Monday, October 8, 2012

October 1, 20-12


[Attachment(s) from Brian LaPray included below]

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Andrew LaPray <andrew.lapray@myldsmail.net>
To: Brian LaPray <bjlapray@yahoo.com>; Brian LaPray <bjlapray@gmail.com>; Tom Duncan <teeduncan@gmail.com>; Emily Duncan <bowsbyduncan@gmail.com>; sblapray <sblapray@yahoo.com>; Alexis LaPray <alexismarie17@yahoo.com> 
Sent: Monday, October 1, 2012 2:21 PM
Subject: Two Weeks in One

It's crazy how fast time is flying!! We're already in week 4 of the change!!! That's almost half way of the change! Wednesday marks half of the change. Ridiculous! Sorry about not getting an email out last week, it was super quick of time flew. My bad. I'll try to make up for it this week if there were any cool stories. 

Well.. it looks like there wasn't a whole lot to tell from the week I didn't write. I was just looking over my journal and not really many experiences to share. What an interesting blessing :) Looks like no one really missed out. The only thing I wanted to mention was Sunday. Rather interesting. 

Since it is the 4th Sunday of the month we had to talk, which is nothing out of the ordinary, so I already had a nice talk planned about "Being Born Again" which, I thought was pretty decent. Nothing knock your socks off, but it's Sacrament meeting, not General Conference, right? Then Sunday School starts, and the teacher didn't come to church, nor the person she called to give the lesson... "Hey, Elder LaPray, could you give the Sunday School lesson?".... ummmmmmmmm guess so... So I gave a nice impromptu lesson of 3 Nephi 1-7. Not the finest hour. I had 0 preparation time. Not even a quick 2 minute glance over the manual. It was start and go. It came out alright, I hope. Priesthood rolls around and, guess what, Elder LaPray gives the lesson! Good news, I already knew I was giving that lesson. It was from April General Conference "Converted to His Gospel through the Church" by Elder Donald L. Hallstrom. EXCELLENT talk! However, I kind of felt like it was Elder LaPray day. But, we are the only ones with a General Conference edition of the Liahona so I prepared the class assuming I would have to give it. I really enjoyed giving that class, probably because I was prepared. It reminded me a little of Nevis... even though I never had to give a talk and 2 lessons in one Sunday, I did have to talk a LOT and every fast Sunday I HAD to share my testimony. It's a little different as a missionary. The good news is that I like teaching. I just like it a little more when I'm prepared.

I know that you guys probably don't care, but last Monday I was in a paca and I found a SICK Beatles shirt and a Tommy Boy shirt (see attachments)... Like, Q15 for both of them! Steal! 

On Monday my hijo(son) Elder Hatch turned 20 and on Tuesday he hit 8 months in the mission. That's just super crazy because when I started training him he had 2 months. It CRAZY how fast time goes!! 

On Wednesday Elder Barahona and I had divisions here in Sayaxché. It's always interesting to go on a division with a previous companion. There are a lot of little differences that you notice with each one, and some things you remember that were the same, but it's really easy to teach together. I remember when I did a division with Elder Nelson when he was AP that we taught super well together, even though it had been almost a year since we were companions! Wednesday with Elder Barahona was very similar. We fell right back into our old teaching groove and everything flowed really well. The biggest difference is that when we were companions, I was more of the leading force, and in our division he was more of the leading force for being ZL. It's just a natural tendency. 

We met some great people in our division and got some new investigators. The goal was to put some fechas(baptismal dates) but it was good to get some new investigators as well. One of those new investigators is a 22 year old named Luis. We left him the Book of Mormon to read, 3 Nephi 11. On Friday Elder Bobadilla went back and he had read 3 Nephi 11 and really understood and had one of the most sincere desires to learn I have ever seen on my mission. He has true, honest doubts, but it doesn't put it out there that it can't be true. He really wants to know the truth about the Book of Mormon and is willing to read it to find out. It was an excellent lesson!! 

The other day I wrote one of my grandpa's stories in my journal, that all of my family knows very well, but for those of you who do not, I would like to share it. 

"It seems that once upon a time there was an Educated Cat. This cat was very smart - and he knew that there must be a better way to catch a mouse. He wanted to avoid the laborious and time consuming task of hunting, stalking, and pouncing - on a mouse. This was very hard work and the cat thought that with his education, he should be able to devise an easier way to do this essential task. He finally decided that the best thing to do would be to use a mouse trap. This seemed like the smart thing to do.

"The Educated Cat obtained an excellent trap, but found that he didn't have even a tiny bit of cheese to use as bait. He thought and thought and pawed through some magazines looking for ideas and finally he came upon the plan of simply clipping a picture of a yummy piece of cheese from the magazine. He set up the trap in this fashion and spent the rest of the evening in the warm and cozy comfort of his bed.

"THe next day he awakened and found that he had indeed been successful and had caught something in his trap - a picture of a mouse!"

I don't have time to go through the whole analysis, but in the words of my grandfather, the message is "as old as mankind. You get out of a task(life) what you put in." Now this applies to literally EVERYTHING in life, and most especially to a mission. I will get exactly out of my mission what I put in. If I put in a picture of a missionary, I will get out a picture of a mission. If I put in myself, my whole self, I will get out something much better. As the scriptures say, somewhat paraphrased, "He that loseth himself, shall find eternal life".

Love you all!

Elder Andrew A. LaPray

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Attachment(s) from Brian LaPray
2 of 2 Photo(s)
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Monday, September 17, 2012

September 17, 2012 - Elder Bobadilla


It has been a pretty long week, but a good week. On Monday morning Elder Castillo and I went up to Santa Elena and he left for the cap, all alone, and I stayed with the ZLs, like I already said. On Monday night we had an FHE with some members and investigators and it was really good. People that I probably won't see ever again. But, that's ok.

Tuesday I went out to work all day with them and we had lots of success. During my personal study on Tuesday I also finished the Book of Mormon for the 3rd time in my life, and the first time in Spanish. I felt rather accomplished and I learned a LOT this time around. Reading the Book of Mormon in another language can really change your perspective on certain scriptures that you hadn't seen in that way before. I am thankful to have the Book of Mormon in our day to read. An interesting note I made maybe a month ago is that we are truly lucky to have the Scriptures that we do. In no other time in history have the people had such a wide access to the Scriptures as we do. In Mormon's or Moroni's writing he says, "I write to you as though you were present, and yet you are not". The Book of Mormon was not written to be scripture for the Nephites. The Book of Mormon was written for US, the people of these last days, so that we may know of a surety of this latter-day work and look steadfastly towards Christ and His Second Coming. How great a time in which we live, to have the fulness of the Gospel at literally our fingertips.

On Wednesday Elder Barahona and Elder Vestal were sick, and we stayed in their house because they couldn't leave. In the morning I received the news that Elder Bobadilla from Peru would be my companion, but that left me completely in the dark, since he's brand new. The day in the house wasn't too boring since I spent most of it talking to an Elder named Elder Codling from Cedar Hills, UT. Super cool. At about 11:15 pm the bus showed up and I met Elder Bobadilla, my new companion. When I told him I would be his companion he jumped right in to give me a hug. Loving guy. I'm so grateful to be his companion! In my journal on Thursday night I wrote, "E. Bobadilla is going to be a great missionary. He has a lot of excitement, energy, and enthusiasm for the work and nothing is going to stop him." We stopped by some new investigators on Thursday night, Manuel and Margarita, and they had read the first 50 pages of the Book of Mormon in about a week! It was super awesome! I am hoping and praying for great things there!

On Friday I spent a lot of my journal writing focused on "The Fourth Missionary". After a few months of wanting it, I was finally able to get it and read it during my personal study on Friday and Saturday. It was truly incredible, and though it has a lot of focus towards missionary work, we could all use it with a small twist towards every day life. My journal entry goes as follows:

"The 1st and 2nd missionary are both disobedient and do not benefit from their missions. The 3rd missionary has great qualities represents the majority of missionaries. He is obedient and worthy, does his dute, sacrifices his will for the Lord's will, serves faithfully, but withholds his heart, he does what the Lord wants but he wants to do what he wants. Now here is the 4th missionary. He is obedient and worthy, consecrates himself, has charity, is a disciple of Christ, measures success from within, total surrender (he gives himself), and his predominant desire is to do what the Lord wants him to do. In all honesty, I am the 3rd missionary. I have not completely given myself, I don't have complete charity, and there are times where I want to do what I want. However, I am truly trying to become the 4th missionary. I still have a ways to go, but it's a process. While sharing this with E., Bobadilla I mentioned that my will is slightly changing. There are times when I may want to do what I want, but I am learning to want to do what the Lord wants simply because He wants it. For example, I wanted to be ZL right now, but I now want to be here because it is what the Lord wants for me. It's a satisfying feeling. While out in the field today I was completely focused on the work and my wants and desires were far from mind. I think this talk will help me for my last 6 months."

Saturday the 15th. "I made a promise with myself and wrote it down. It says, 'I, Elder Andrew Anderson LaPray, will become the Fourth Missionary. I will be obedient and worthy. I will totally and unconditionally surrender. I will consecrate myself. I will seek to have charity. I will become a disciple of Christ. I will measure success from within. My predominant desire will be to do what the Lord wants me to do. I will be the Fourth Missionary'".

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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