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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

July 30, 2012


Well, there's no sense in waiting until the end. I have a change. And I have a pretty good feeling that I'm going outside of the cap...

I really don't like beating around the bush, and really I just want to talk about the last two days by quoting my journal. It comes out better and quicker. As for the email last week and the weather change with the "canícula", I was totally wrong. Just like a normal weatherman :) So, the weather has been pretty normal. Turns out that Elder Flores is going to have surgery after all here in Guatemala. Moving on, I'm just going to quote my journal from Saturday and Sunday. Beware, there is a LOT of content!! Just a quick overview of Friday, it was awesome. Moving on.

"It's interesting how our days don't always turn out to be what we expected, but I truly believe that if we follow the Spirit it is the day that Heavenly Father expected of us.
"This week we have been sharing a message about the Liahona from 1 Nehpi 16:10, 28; Alma 37:43-45; and 2 Nephi 32:5. The Liahona was a compass, but not a normal compass. A normal compass, regardless of circumstances, always points north and thus we have a rough estimation of which way to go. How would we like to have a compass that told us everything we need to do to get to our destination? Well, physically it exists - GPS. The wonderful thing about this modern day compass is that if you stray off course, it will try to redirect you. If we choose not to follow it, well, we may not end up where we hoped to go. Well, spiritually our Father in Heaven has given us guides that tell us step-by-step what we need to do, temporally and spiritually. However, just like the Liahona of Lehi, our current day Liahonas require 3 things mentioned in the scriptures in 1 Nephi 16:28: faith, diligence, and to heed its counsel.
"Our current day Liahonas are 1) the Scriptures and 2) the Holy Ghost. 2 Nephi 32:3-5 says, '...the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do... and... the Holy Ghost... will show unto you all things what you should do.' What an incredible promise. I know that what the Book of Mormon teaches is true. If we have faith, are diligent, and heed the counsel of the Scriptures and the Holy Ghost they will tell/show us all things that we should do. However, when we fail in one of these 3 conditions, such guidance is not promised.
"The Lord loves us. He desires our salvation and just as He gave Lehi a guide through the wilderness, He has given each and every one of us a personal guide through our wilderness called life and 'unto a far better land of promise.' Let us take advantage of that which God has made available so that we are led, as Lehi, not only to a physical land of promise, i.e. temporal things, but the spiritual promised land, i.e. the Celestial Kingdom."

"Today was one of the biggest blessings of my mission. The Lord loves me a lot! Church itself was a huge blessing. We had 9 investigators in Sacrament meeting... Stuardo Polance... came to church and talking to me in Priesthood asked, 'If someone wants to get baptized, what does he or she have to do?' I then asked him if he wants to be baptized and he said yes! I have waited so long to hear that, but knew one day I would. The only small problem is that he live sin the South mission right now... Once he decided to read the Book of Mormon there has been a big change in him, but it always came from him. That is something I feel is very important. As missionaries we teach correct principles and extend commitments, but the desire must come from the investigator, and it has been exactly that for Stuardo...
"After church while we were waiting for coordination a member came over with someone and started asking about English classes, so I explained the problems with giving the classes. The woman then explained that her daighter had been born in the U.S. and realy only speaks English. I looked down at the 8 yeard old girl and asked 'Where were you born?' She said shyly, 'Idaho.' I replied, 'I'm from Idaho! What part of Idaho?' She responded, 'Idaho Falls.' Can you imagine my surprise when she said that? I responded with excitement, 'I'm from Idaho Falls!!!' This woman is named Hermelinda and her daugher is Jimena. They lived on Tiger Ave. right behind the football stadium. Literally a 2-3 minute walk from my grandparents' house. I explained to Hermelinda where I live and she started to ask me about people I know; John Murdoch, Mary Hart(daughter-in-law of Pam and Brent), Melanie Dawe, the Steeles, and Annette Perez, wife of Ralph Perez. Once again, can you imagine my surprise? She knows several members of my ward, and the most shocking is that Hermelinda is not a member of the church. She worked in the cafeteria of Dora Erickson where Jimena was in kindergarten-2nd grade. The connections have been absolutely mind-blowing. lso, she lives in our ward boundaries! I felt a very special connection with Hermelinda and Jimena. It would  be the most incredible thing to teach them and baptize them."

The connections with Hermelinda and Jimena went on and on. However, she was asked to voluntarily leave the country 7 months ago and is thus living here in Guatemala, but she didn't break any law. I was heart broken for this woman and her daughter Jimena who feels completely lost in this world and country that is not hers. The Lord truly watches over each and every one of His children and has shown love to several of them upon making the 3 of us meet! I know that God is our Father in Heaven and that He watches over and cares for each one of us and is constantly working for us to return to his presence.

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Tuesday, July 24, 2012

July 23, 2012 ---- 7 months to go


Hello world! Elder LaPray here, from Guatemala City, Guatemala, Zone 1, from Aces Internet/e-learning. We've been having high temperatures for the season, people are calling it the "Canícula" of the summer. That's a two-three week hot streak in the middle of the Guatemalan winter. We've been sweating bullets under the hot Guatemala sun but it seems like rainy days are just ahead as the canícula comes to a close. We've got clouds all across the sky with looks of rain rain rain. I hope you've got your umbrellas ready! The Guatemalan wintry rains don't let up until about September. 

This last week has been VERY eventful!! I wish I could mention it all, but it doesn't seem as though time will permit. We'll see. I've just received permission from my coworker, Elder Flores, that there is breaking news to share and that I have the authorization to tell, more on the breaking story to come. Now as for the news breaking title of this message, well, as with any good news report, that story has to wait until the end, I hope you can hold on for that long. We'll try to keep the uneventful news to a minimum. 

Well, we've already got the news report up until last Tuesday so we're going to move on straight to Wednesday. Once again, not much to report. As is usual for Wednesdays here in Las Victorias Elder LaPray and Elder Flores dropped by Gilda and Marian before district meeting, but weren't able to share much of a message, but they need that spiritual visit and the knowledge of love and support they receive from the missionaries. However, on the upside, Gilda asked for and received her first priesthood blessing and strongly felt the Spirit. She described it has a "heat that passed through her whole body". I believe if she were speaking English she might have employed the word "warmth" as we do within the church. They also had a quick visit with Neri who actually continued through on his reading. On the downside they were not able to visit Neri during the rest of the week although they tried on several occasions. 

Now Thursday was quite the eventful day, but as we mentioned earlier, ever news reel ends with the "juicy stuff". Moving right along to Friday we had a few good lessons, but nothing too noteworthy for the general public. If you're really interested you'll have to wait for the "hard-copy" in the Missionary Journal of Elder Andrew A. LaPray, written and dedicated for/to future descendants. 

Saturday came around rather quickly this week, and held an interesting conversation about masonry. (For more on masonry see "Mormons and Masons"). As for this news reporter, he can't share too much information, but it was a rather interesting conversation from what I was able to gather in the quick report. In the swing of missionary work, Elders LaPray and Flores received 3 new investigators named Victor, Luisa, and Sharon on Saturday afternoon who seem very shy, but interested in learning more about the gospel. As the gospel interchange moved forward, they seemed to open up more and more, to the point where they were comfortable in asking questions. (No, Elder LaPray is actually NOT from Zacapa, Guatemala as he often claims, but it gets a good laugh out of several.) (For those who don't know, Zacapa has a reputation for people who are of a whiter complexion, lighter colored hair, and green and blue eyes, unlike the native Guatemalan with a darker skin, dark hair, and dark eyes). Elder LaPray and Elder Flores also got invited to lunch by new members in the ward who moved in from the Parroquia ward, always remaning within the Guatemalan Stake. Interestingly, in Guatemala, a lot of people live outside of their ward boundaries but continue to attend another ward because of people they got to know, or callings they have held. Not the best practice in the world, but definitely not unseen in the United States.

As for the Big Breaking News of Thursday. Elder LaPray and Elder Flores received a phone call around 9:00 a.m. to go to the hospital, not in the ER, in order to have an exam done on a mass, located on the back side of the jaw of Elder Flores. They ended up in the hospital for a total of 3+ hours of what was an expected 1. Elder Flores for the first time had to put on a hospital gown and asked his companion if he truly needed to remove all of his clothes. The funniest part of this whole story, still unknown to Elder Flores, is that Elder LaPray asked his parents that same question more than 8 years ago when he had an ingrown toenail surgery done in Nevis. An interesting tale for all to tell. Elder Flores has an absolute HORROR for needles, but was okay with the needle they placed for possible IV were he to have remained in the hospital. Rather than performing the anticipated biopsy, they performed a "tomografía" which I believe is similar to a CT scan, but am not really sure, as things get "Lost in Translation". (punny). It turns out that Elder Flores has a tumor blocking some sort of salivary gland behind his jaw. Once again, we are not 100% sure of the English translation of that gland. (Further news to come as Elder Flores and Elder LaPray have a doctors appointment today at 4:00 p.m. to talk about the pathology results). 

Now, as for the caption... "A Light in the Dark". Quoted straight from the Journal of Elder LaPray "WHile we were in the Celestial Room of the temple, the power went out and we lost all light. I know we're all adults and nothing to be afraid of, but no one said anything. Not a sound. I sat quietly and continued to feel the peace. Until now I am realizing that in this world, like in that room, we are surrounded by darkness. But that darkness doesn't matter with the light, knowledge, and peace we receive because of the Gospel in our lives and the endowment we had just remembered. It was a truly unique experience. "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hilll cannot be hid... let your light so shine before men... and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

I know that this was a weird email, but sometimes it just gets so boring to write the same way. I hope you've enjoyed the "dorkiness" of Elder LaPray today :) Love, 

Elder Andrew A. LaPray

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July 17, 2012


For starters, I am writing today, instead of yesterday, because our Zone Activity this change was a temple visit, and since the temple is closed on Mondays, Pday got switched to Tuesday this week. Just so you know. For those of you who believe that my former companion, Elder Hatch, got an emergency change to San Antonio, Texas... you're wrong. I know that I never explained that it was San Antonio GUATEMALA... but I thought it was kind of self-explanatory because we're in Guatemala... we speak Spanish... and San Antonio is a Spanish name. I realize, poor explanation on my part. Elder Hatch was switched from "Barrio Las Victorias" to "Barrio San Antonio" always within the "Estaca Las Victorias" (stake). He's literally like, 4 stones throws from our old area... maybe 6, depending on the stone and who throws it.

This last week has been really good, kind of hectic, but good. About a month ago I bought a Rubix cube in the market... and for about 1 month of slowly been trying to remember how to solve it and put it all together. (I'll have you all know, I did remember, but because I came up with my own pattern :) In this I thought the following "Perhaps some people might say, 'What's the fun if you already know how to do it?' or perhaps the question of the puzzle table, 'Why again?' I know that once or twice I have had similar thoughts in reference to the scriptures, or Sunday School classes. The pieces will always be the same, and there is only one correct end result, but we do it just a little bit differently each time. And each time you come out with the same final product, but always with a satisfying feeling of accomplishment and very likely a previously unseen detail or a way of seeing it. As for my special case in the Rubix cube, it is like our previously earth life. We already learned how to solve it. In the Pre-mortal Existence, we each learned of and accepted the Plan of Salvation and learned and grew line upon line, and precept upon precept. However, in this life we must remind ourselves of all the information we previously knew. Another comparison could be that, with the table puzzle, or with the Rubix cube, we know what we are hoping for as the final result, a beautiful scenery perhaps, or 6 sides each with its corresponding color. The thing we must do is figure out how to get to the end, which we do by trial and experience, but with a guide, the Holy Scriptures." Maybe I'm nuts, or not good at forming all of my thoughts... I would love it if someone would like to organize that a little better for me.

Not to be morbid or anything, or speak bad about Guatemala... but this last week, on Tuesday, I saw a dead person due to murder for the first time in my life. It was a very sad, heartpressing emotion that I would not wish upon any human soul. Don't worry, we were not around with the shots were fired, we arrived several minutes later.

I don't know why, but I just don't really feel like talking a whole lot about my week... it was a good week, just not anything to talk about in the email. However, in reference to the Subject...

Yesterday, Elder Flores and I had to go to the central mission office so that the doctor could check out something on Elder Flores's neck... no big. However, while we were there I saw none other than Andy Hulse, from Idaho Falls. A lot of you are thinking "and he is...?" Well, Andy Hulse was in my seminary class my senior year and I've known him since his sophomore year, my junior year, and he just got into the mission field last week! With the exception of Brock, that's the first time I've seen someone I know from back home here in Guatemala!! So I walked out of the office and he was chilling in the lobby and said, "I didn't know you were here!" and then we hugged. It was SO good to see someone else from back home. We talked for about 15-20 minutes about life back home, friends on missions, and everything! It was SO cool! And the best news of all, is that he told me that someone I knew in high school was baptized about 2 months ago, just before Andy went into the MTC! It's great to know that the gospel work is going forth with people I knew from high school as well!!

Love,
Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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Monday, July 9, 2012

July 9, 2012


Hey Mom, just a question, are you still posting my emails in my blog? And do you put my subject lines as my blog posts? I know I never told you to do that, but I kind of just hoped you would... I know my subject lines are that funny, but sometimes they are kind of "punny"... 

As I said last week, my new companion is Elder Flores. The translation of "flores" is "flowers". Hence, "Life with Flowers". Haha... it's okay to laugh. Anyways... ever since about June 11th or so, I've been REALLY good at writing in my journal, and my record continues with Elder Flores. It's really cool to see once again daily journal writing. There are a lot of things that happen in a day that you just can't explain after a lot of time has passed, hence the reason I never caught up on the month of May that I missed so much of. Oh well. Maybe one day I will get around to it, but I'm not exactly banking on it. 

Wednesday, as you all know, was the 4th of July. Did you know that Guatemala has a 4th of July as well? It's just like every other day. But, I did put on a special tie to celebrate the United States' Independence! in only 4 years we celebrate 240 years of independence, which means in 14 years, when I'm 34 and a practicing doctor, we will celebrate 2 and a half centuries as an independent country!! Woohoo!!!! To celebrate, we worked like normal. In the morning we had a visit with Marian and Gilda and they had questions for us about Patriarchal Blessings, because that's what they talked about in Relief Society. They also heard all SORTS of stuff from people's blessings because they read parts of them in class. Definitely NOT normal... but they learned a little about them, but we definitely had to clarify a few things. Just another Sunday in Guat :) And then we had district meeting and then went to eat lunch and had hot dogs, hamburgers, and rootbeer floats! It was pretty delicious. 

On Thursday night I was talking to the finance elder, Elder Nelson (not my former companion) about some questions he had about the office and he told me about some of the small little "fights" they have had in the office and it reminded me of something I learned back when I was in the office that is very important to remember when you are expressing your feelings and opinions... It's important not to blame others. It IS important to use expressions such as "I believe" and "I feel" in order to appease situations. Just because you believe something should be done another way or that someone else is imposing unjustly responsibilities doesn't mean you have to say "You're doing this" or "You're doing that"... but rather... "I feel that the way things have been going are making..." or "I believe that if we were to approach this problem/situation..." you are much more likely to be heard, less likely to offend, and you yourself are much less likely to continue being upset. I know I probably don't need to counsel anyone in that... but it really helped me and it never hurts to recap for myself.

On Saturday I was able to go to my second wedding in Guatemala. Hooray! One of our investigators and his member wife were married! which is really great news! Not necessarily an exciting ceremony, but that's okay. Now we just have to keep working with the husband and spark in him the desire to be baptized!

Life with flowers, Elder Flores, is great! We get along really well! He's a fun loving guy who loves to work hard in the work of the Lord. We're going to work harder than ever this week to receive the blessings of our Heavenly Father that we so desperately need in our lives.

Love,
Elder Andrew A. LaPray

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July 2, 2012


For those of you, mostly my parents, who got another email before this one can probably guess at this blindside shot. For others, you'll find out later. It's so much more intriguing. 

Tuesday was a busy full day! In the morning I studied Alma 13-15, but more than anything I love Alma 13, in which we learn more about the history of the Melchizedek Priesthood. If you study the chapter closely, there are lots of comparisons of Melchizedek with Jesus Christ. I invite you to read the chapter and search for ways in which you believe Melchizedek compares with Jesus Christ. If you study the scriptures wth that view in mind, you can see hundreds of comparisons of "normal" people to our Savior. Truly everything in the scriptures is a symbol of the plan of salvation. The lessons on Tuesday were also great!

On Wednesday before district meeting we had a visit with Gilda and Marian, our recent converts, and more than anything we talked about how they felt after being confirmed. It was really cool. They have also both finished 1 Nephi and our starting 2 Nephi! At this rate, they'll finish in about 8 months, which is awesome for the first time! The first time I read the Book of Mormon it took me a year... Last Saturday Elder Hatch and I were walking to a lesson and we saw a family walking down the same street as us, so we decided to contact them, and they said we could come back on Monday, so we went back and the dad wasn't home yet, so we went back on Wednesday and we found them! It just so happens that the father, Elfidio, lives and works here in the capital, and his wife and kids live in a department called Jutiapa and are only here for one week a year, and we happened to find and contact them the day they arrived and we were able to teach them twice in the one week they were here! God knows His children and He knows how to bring about their salvation! 

Thursday was also a super great day!!! We had 5 lessons! By far the highlight was with our investigators Max and Xiumara! In this lesson we taught lesson 1, the Restoration of the Gospel, in fairly brief terms because the class of Gospel Doctrine on Sunday had already touched a lot of the main points. At the end of our explanation I asked Max if he believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet, and he shared with us an experience he had several years ago and we understood it to mean that Yes, he does believe that Joseph Smith truly was the prophet of the Restoration, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that we have living prophets on this earth. It was absolutely INCREDIBLE! In speaking about the Book of Mormon, he practically gave us Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk from the October 2009 General Conference in knowing that this book, the Book of Mormon, is far too complex for Joseph Smith to write it, and the only explanation for the Book of Mormon is that it is truly inspired of God!! So cool!! When we got home that night, we planned as normal and got ready for bed. At 10:27 p.m. we got a phone call from the Zone Leaders in which they said, "Elder Hatch, you have an emergency change. You are going to San Antonio and you need your bags packed and ready to go by Saturday morning. Elder LaPray, your new companion is Elder Flores." and that was the phone call. So, long story short, my companion is no longer Elder Hatch, rather Elder Flores from Panama.

Therefore, Friday was a rather sad day, knowing that it would be the last day Elder Hatch and I would have together. A lot of the members were rather sad to know that Elder Hatch would be leaving as well. Especially Gilda and Marian, our 2 recent converts. But, not withstanding all of the drama of that day, Elder Hatch and I worked hard and had an awesome last day together full of hard work and lessons!!

And Saturday Elder Flores and I had our first day together! Honestly, it was a pretty rough day. It was raining from about 3 until 9 and we were only able to teach 1 lesson and we tried going around to EVERY body. It was just not our day. But, I'm excited to work with Elder Flores! He has 2 months in the mission and he is really excited and enthuastic about the missionary work! We're going to do great things together, because that's what the Lord wants us to do! Sometimes I wish that I could see the end from the beginning as our Heavenly Father, but I know that He has put Elder Flores and I together for a reason, and I'm just going to work hard and hope that some day we find it all out. But if not, I will have at least given my best efforts to the work of the Lord!

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray

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June 25, 2012


We'll just get straight to the point. Elder Hatch and I had our first 2 baptisms together on Tuesday and the confirmations yesterday! It was absolutely fantastic. No words are such as those that I wrote in my journal, so I'll just give you all that long quote from Tuesday :)

"This morning we had Gilda and Marian's baptismal service. We had between 18-25 people present, which was great! Olga and Gloria gave the messages, both of which were very good. I baptized Marian first. Upon stepping into the water it was fairly cold, but then I didn't feel the water at all. The ordinance went down flawlessly and you could see the smile on her face, the same with Gilda. They were also surprised at how quickly the actual ordinance is over, even though we had practice before.

"After the ordiance and the welcome to the Relief Society and the ward, Edder (our ward mission leader) invited Elder Hatch, Gilda, Marian, and I to share our testimonies. First I passed and then Elder Hatch, and then Gilda. yesterday after Gilda had her interview with Elder Richins, Elder Richins just said, "She's pilas" and I didn't understand until today. As Gilda got up, she began to tell us all of her spiritual journey. For years missionaries had passed by her house and she always said, "No, gracias." But when Olga asked her if we, the missionaries, could pass by, she decided to listen and see what happened. She remember perfectly how we passed by once and left her the lesson 1 pamphlet. A week later we passed by again and found her outside on the step of her house and asked what she had read, and she remembered. She wasn't feeling well that night and her sister asked us to say a prayer for her, so we passed inside and offered a prayer, and then we left. 2 or 3 weeks later we stopped by again, but Gilda was sick. The week after she was with us again and mentioned how ever since we started visiting them she has felt a peace she has never felt in her life, but after a few days she would go back to the old feeling, and when we passed by, the peace returned. We told her this peace would stay with her as she read the Book of Mormon and it did. She says that for her, we are like angels sent from God. She has a firm testimony that the Book of Mormon gives us peace and tranquility. I am humbly grateful with my Heavenly Father for having been a part of Gilda's spiritual journey towards her and our Heavenly Father."

I previously told Marian's story, but she too has a firm conviction of the truthfulness of this message and she shared her story again in the baptism.  "As she told the story again, you could see a big smile on Marian's face that radiated happiness. As with Gilda, I am extremely grateful that Heavenly Father entrusted these two daughters into the hands of Elder Hatch and myself. It was probably one of the best baptismal services, if not the best, of my mission.

"Later this afternoon we stopped by to see how they felt and Gilda mentioned to us once again how we were like little angels, and that for the first few weeks, she didn't even take note of our physical appearance until Marian mentioned it later. It just proves that it truly is the Spirit of the Lord which brings about such a mighty change in people. Today was absolutely FANTASTIC! Baptism days are always fantastic, but today was even more so."

And that is the end of another journal. Not journal entry, but rather my second journal! Well.. it actually ends in my testimony, but the email isn't over yet :)

On Thursday I was sick, so I spent the whole day in the house, which is always pretty boring for Elder Hatch, but the apartment is clean now ;) It's a nice way to get out of cleaning (totally kidding! I was really sick!) The rest of the week rather paled in comparison to the baptism, until Sunday morning when we had the confirmation of Gilda and Marian. On Sunday morning we took them each their brand new sets of scriptures with their names embossed in gold. Awesome! The bishop performed both confirmations, which was absolutely great. It was very sweet to see Marian crying after her confirmation. I know that for both her and her mother this whole experience has been life changing and very spiritual! I hope it is something they will ALWAYS remember!

"I know the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true and living church of Christ. We are leaded and guided by a living prophet. THere is no greater cause than that of the work of the Lord, and to bring to pass the eternal life of man. I know the Bible and the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. I have found strength and comfort in their holy pages and I know that whosever shall read them with real intent will find Heaven's answer. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

Love,
Elder Andrew A. LaPray
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