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Tuesday, January 29, 2013

January 28, 2013


Well things have not been quite what I expected, once again. On Thursday the ZLs called us to let us know that we would have to come down to the capital on Sunday night so Elder Hill could sign papers for his residency application. So, last night we left Sayaxché at 5:30, got to Santa Elena(Petén) around 7, got on another bus at 9 p.m. from Santa Elena and got to the capital this morning at about 5:30. BORING! And TIRED! The bus ride was FREEZING cold, so that made it hard to sleep, but I caught a few winks, luckily I took my sweater in anticipation. We sat around the APs house for a couple hours this morning, waiting for them to be ready to leave, and then we headed out to the office, snagged breakfast, and then we went to have Elder Hill sign the paper work. It literally took a grand total of 5 minutes. We spent (to the moment) 10 hours on a bus, with at least 10 more to go so that we could spend 5 minutes signing two papers and getting his picture taken. Lame. But, what can you do? We're trying to get done with internet and everything fast so that we can hopefully peace out by 2 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. and be back in Petén before the morrow. That would be LOVELY! I do NOT want to sleep on the bus, I'd prefer a cot.

This last week has held MUCH more success than the last few. We've been working hard and trying to help Elder Pérez adjust to missionary life and learning how to teach the Gospel. It's been pretty hard for him, but we doing our best.

For weeks now we have been working with an investigator named Noemí, and she feels the desire to be baptized she just doesn't know when. Finally after almost 2 months she came to church yesterday!! Elder Hill and I were elated when we saw her walk in and sit down next to him! Better yet, she stayed for all 3 hours! On the downside, it looks like she is going to leave Sayaxché for a few weeks, so we won't be able to teach her for a while, which is always a somewhat sticky situation, so we'll just hope we can keep in touch with her!

There has been a lot of rain this last week, and we got soaked a couple times, but it was fun. Nothing like last week. Because my letter was so short last week, I didn't mention this part, but our first day with Elder Pérez we got absolutely soaked walking in the rain, and it was freezing cold! In order to make the situation less awful and painful, I started singing some hymns at the top of my lungs to lighten the mood. It actually turned out to be pretty fun :) But still really cold at the same time!

Last Friday we had a REALLY good day! We had an excellent talk with Hno Carlos Guillermo. He had been working for a couple weeks and we hadn't seen him, but it appears that they both have the desire to get baptized, they just have a couple things they need to do before they can do so, one of them being receive all of the missionary discussions and have a testimony of the Gospel as restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. We also had 3 lessons with 3 referrals that night! It was overall fantastic!

Saturday was also a pretty good day. We had a lesson with Familia Morán. I'm not sure how we can help them know  that their civil state is okay, but they really need to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon as the word of God. One of the most interesting things is that Hna Sonya shares a lot of our beliefs, but she is a little unsure because it seems that everyone else stands against us, even though I personal know that we are following the teaching of the Savior, Jesus Christ. We also had a nice visit with Familia Mota, whom we hadn't seen in several weeks due to the holidays, and our last cita was with Henry and Julieta. Julieta is a slightly less-active member and Henry is her non-member husband. They are 23 and 22, respectively. Henry seems very interested in learning more about the Gospel, and I feel that he should progress fairly quickly, especially if his wife can give him a good example. The difficult thing is that we can't seem him very often, once every week or two due to his work.

Yesterday in church We only had 49 in attendance, as opposed to the 71 we had last week! But it was good. We didn't get to do too much teaching in the evening because we had to leave for the capital, but overall it was a good week! I just know that I'm going to work my hiney off until the end comes!!

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray


Monday, January 21, 2013

January 21, 2013


I do not feel ready to go home. It's an emotionally overwhelming feeling I can't describe. I just read a few words of my mom's email and just cried. It's not at all what I expected it would be. When a missionary has 2-6 months in the mission he or she thinks, "I can't wait for that day! It will be so cool to finally get to go home!" These are the most difficult emotions I have ever struggled with in my life. I honestly have no idea what to feel. Top it all off with huge changes in my companionship that I didn't expect, 2 more missionaries in my district that area actually living in my house, and it's just a disaster for my feelings right now. I sound like an emotional wreck, but this mission has been the most life changing thing I could ever go through. For the last 2 years I have tried to worry about so many other people, I have gotten used to the changes, to study, to missionary work, to teaching, the whole 9 yards, and to think that it's all over... I thought I would kind of smile inside. It actually hurts. A lot.

I don't know what to write. I'll try to get some more out next week. Just know that I am doing well, it's just a lot of emotions that a departing missionary isn't really ready for. Today I received my travel plans and my spiritual experience sheet and it's just all become a reality. Whenever you have the opportunity to serve the Lord, take advantage of every second. Life changes really fast, and when the time is over, it's over.

I know that I am serving the Lord, and that He accepts the sacrifices I have made, but He hasn't finished with me yet. I have 44 more days which I can dedicate to the Lord, and I will do everything I can to invite others to come unto Christ, because they must hear my voice.

Love,

Elder Andrew Anderson LaPray

January 14, 2013 - Happy B-day to Andrew tomorrow!!!


What a weird feeling! It's still not a real feeling... When I think about the fact that I am starting my last change in the mission, it's honestly just not realy to me. I can't imagine it yet. It's as if I still were going to start using another agenda at the end of these 7 weeks. It's a feeling that truly can't be explained. I don't think it will really be real until Elder Hill says, "Elder LaPray, you need to pack your bags! We're leaving tomorrow so you can grab the bus!"

Tuesday was an EXCELLENT day of work. We finally had what we felt was a "successful" day. We had 2 great lessons with investigator families. I don't want to tell all the stories, it just takes a lot of time for people you don't know, and I'm running SUPER low on time doing other stuff!

Wednesday was also a really good day! Thursday we had zone meeting in Santa Elena and when we got back to Sayaxché, Elder Hill had a fever and so we spent the afternoon home, same with Saturday and Sunday. The Good news is that Elder Hill and I get along really well, so it wasn't boring in the house, except when he was asleep!

Big news in Sayaxché, my comp and I don't have changes, but they are dividing Sayaxché! CRAZY!!!! But it should be fun for my last change to have two more elders in my district!

Friday we were also able to get out and we visisted the same people we saw on Tuesday and Wednesday, but with no complaints because they are progressing investigators!

Things are going to sky rocket in Sayaxché this next change, I just know it!!

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray

Thursday, January 10, 2013

January 7, 2013


Subject: It's a New Year!!!
New Year's Eve was pretty normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just a whole bunch of fireworks. Boring. On New Years Day, Elder Hill and I met a former missionary from our mission named Spencer Wixom. "While sitting down a car pulled up and the driver said, 'Hi guys!" E. Wixom, now Spencer, and his wife Kenzie. He was looking for Hna Zoila, but she moved since he was last here. We ended up talking to them for about 20 minutes about missionary work and Sayaxché in particular. Spencer told us one Sunday they had almost 80 people in church! with 15-20 investiatros! but none of them were baptized, so we asked him where they live to see if they're now ready to accept the Restored Gospel. Interestingly enough, this morning I was reading in Preach My Gospel the experience of a siter missionary who served in the same mission her sister had served in a few years prior. After a few months she was in one of her sister's old areas and was told by her sister to visit some former investigators who were then taught and baptized by the younger sister. Hopefully this can be the case with E. Wixom's former investigators!"

The rest of Tuesday was also poretty decent. We had two really great lessons with a member present in each. One lesson with Mirian, and the other with familia Guillermo, who were new investigators this last week! They are a GREAT family! "I'm hoping and praying that Heavnely Father has finally led us to His prepared family".

On Wednesday we did divisions with the missionaries in La Libertad. I was with Elder Simon in La Libertad and Elder Hill was here in Sayaxché with Elder Ramos. Elder Simon and I had a great day in La Libertad!

On Thursday morning I did a baptismal interview for their investigator, Leti. Interestingly enough, I had given her son a baptismal interview 2 months ago! She is a great leady who is well prepared for baptism!

Friday was a dud day! We have been having a really hard time getting success going int he area, but we are workiing super hard to get things going!

Saturday we went to the "village" Las Pozas to teach our recent convert Brandon, It was fun, but Elder Hill has been getting sick, so we took the rest of Saturday off so that he could rest, same with Sunday. But, we're working ahrd and we are DETERMINED to have success! This is our last week of the change, and then it's time for my last change! SO crazy!!

Love you!

Elder Andrew A. LaPray


December 31, 2012


For those who weren't at my phone call, IT'S STORY TIME!!


So, on Christmas morning Elder Hill made us breakfast, pancakes and eggs! Delicious! As we were getting ready to eat I got a phone call from the mission nurse letting me know that an elder in my district was sick and asking if I could get some medicine to him because the stores would be closed due to Christmas, so as soon as breakfast was over we got dressed and what not, and headed out the door!

It was SILENT as we left the house. There was absolutely NO movement in Sayaxché. As we got to the river, there were 2 buses on the other side of the river, waiting for people to head out. We were the first 2 to arrive... we waited... and waited... and waited... and after about 45 minutes one of the bus drivers decided to try his luck with the 4 of us and see if he could get more people en route. Finally, about an hour and 45 minutes after leaving our house we arrived to La Libertad, a trip that should have taken tops 45 minutes, but we were able to deliver the mess, talk to them for a bit about Christmas and what not, and then around 10:30 we headed out to come back to Sayaxché. 

The chances of us finding a bus were about 0.00000000001% so we went straight to the main road (which took us 20 minutes walking) to try to hitchhike a ride. Well, we were throwing up the thumb for about 15-20 minutes with no luck and it was now about 11 o'clock and we were stuck 22 miles from our house, and my family was going to be calling in 6 hours. It was decision time. We needed to know if we needed to start walking or not. Elder Hill suggested a prayer, so pray we did, asking direction about whether or not we should begin walking or whether we should stand there and just keep asking for rides. At the end of the prayer we stood silently for about 30 seconds or so, looked at each other, and confirmed the truth we weren't all too ready to accept... "Get walking". So, we started the 22 mile journey from La Libertad to Sayaxché on Christmas day. 

We had walked about 200 meters when we saw a Mitsubishi SUV coming fairly quickly... We had just arrived to a perfect pull out point, stuck out our thumbs, and they honked and whizzed past us! And stopped! The cabin was full, but they offered us a ride in the cargo area, and I was not at all too picky about riding in the cargo area of that Mitsubishi! As soon as we got in, Elder Hill and I both took a moment to pray and give thanks for the wonderful blessing our Heavenly Father had given to us! 

That was the biggest story of the week!!

On Friday we had a great lesson with Noemí who has really been progressing! She had great questions for us about the Plan of Salvation and she seemed to really accept the things we were teaching her. We had another lesson the next day to explain the Plan of Salvation from beginning to end instead of just her questions so that she could understand it all! She has a great desire to learn and grow and change! It's awesome! We were also able to find 2 great families that same day!!

On Saturday Elder Hill and I felt like marriage counselor! It's interesting how when you walk around in a white shirt and tie and put on a nametag people just look at you as if you were to have all these insights and knowledge about everything! I've never been married in my life! Yet a couple of 33 years of marriage asked Elder Hill and I for advice and opinions on marriage!! Definitely not what I expected. However, being in a constant companionship helps us as missionaries prepare for the day in which we WILL be married and have to do much more than co-exist with our companion, we have to reach eternal marriage! It takes a lot of work, and I'm glad to be preparing now!

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray

December 24, 2012


This has honestly been one of the hardest weeks of my mission.

Unfortunately, I squandered away my interenet time doing other, less important things. Sorry.

I didn't want to go into many details anyways, but Elder Hill and I have honestly been doing everything we can to try to work with members and teach in their homes, and just be the best missionaries we can be, and for some reason this week everything we had planned to do fell. I think we were able to have 3 of our planned citas, and the rest were all "out of the blue"... and there weren't that many "out of the blue" ones either.

I wrote something in my journal on Thursday I would like to share with you all.

"This just has not been our week at all! Our study time was well used today, but it seems that every appointment we have falls through. I know it's not because we're being disobedient or don't know how to plan, it's just that the Lord wants us to learn a lesson and He is placing us in other paths to meet other people we didn't know we needed to find, and the best way is to get us moving in the right direction, moving from plan to plan and contacting, but in the moment it's frustrating."

That about sums up our week. Elder Hill and I really get along great!

I hope you don't think that because of this email I'm "getting trunky" or that I don't want to be here or anything like that, it was just one of those weeks where nothing seemed to work out, but we have been working hard! Last night we talked about the things we are going to do differently this week and it's going to be AWESOME! There is great potential in Sayaxché and we are going to achieve it!

Love,

Elder Andrew A. LaPray

December 17, 2012


This was our first whole week together, Elder Hill and I. We are rocking it! We get along so well! Our companionship is inspired! He is a really hard worker, and always has been and always will be! I wish I could see more of what he'll do in the mission. But, I am glad to be a part of the very beginning, which are the most important months according to what the First Presidency and the Quorum of the 12 say.

On Tuesday we had a lesson with a less-active member named Marvin. He is doing really well! He has continued his reading in the Book of Mormon and is advancing rapidly and is learning a lot! He always shares with us from his reading and gives great analisis of what he reads. After we talked with him, his sister-in-law came and we had planned to teach her, so that was perfect! We did something from Preach My Gospel that is called "How to Begin Teaching" which more or less presents the purpose of our message and our visits, and ultimately presents the topic of baptism, and our end goal that people come closer to our Heavenly Father by making covenants, one of them being baptism. At the end of our visit, Elder Hill invited her, Noemí, to be baptized! She didn't quite understand his invitation, so I restated it, and she said yes! She would like to be baptized, and that is ultimately her desire, but she wants to feel prepared and that there is a change in her life, and we let her know that our purpose is to help her feel prepared and ready to make those changes in her life! It was a great experience for all of us! We hope to work closely with Noemí over the next few months!

On Wednesday morning we had our district meeting, nothing out of the ordinary. We got a hitch-hiked ride to La Libertad from Sayaxché INSIDE the cab of a pick up truck! The man driving was really nice! His name is Maguín. Elder Hill was freaking out because he saw the he had a pistol in a holster on his belt that was NOT on safety and the holster was NOT done up... I actually never saw the gun, but I wasn't worried cause he was a nice guy with whom we had a nice talk about the gospel :)

On the way HOME from District Meeting we got in the most ridiculously packed microbus EVER!... okay, maybe not ever, but it was packed! We said no to one micro bus that was pretty full, and when we said no the bus driver said, somewhat angrily, "I was going to take you guys for free, but if you're going to complain, I don't care"... but I don't think it would have been free... the next bus was more full and we went standing up for about 15 minutes and I was bending over cause I was too tall for the bus... Elder Hill was bent even more and he was on a down step. There were 30 people in a microbus built for a maximum of 16. It was just a joy and a half! I was THRILLED when I was able to sit down :)

Thursday was a good day.

Friday we had good study time, and weekly planning and then we went out to work after lunch.

Our first cita was with a couple people we contacted on Wednesday. We ended up talking to their grandpa, and when we mentioned a living prophet he was immediately closed off to our message, so that ended quickly, which was really sad!

That left us a TON of time to try contacting. We had some really good contacts though! One of the people we contacted is a man named Tomás. He was a really nice guy who is currently attending another church, but we shared with him about the Book of Mormon and gave him a copy so he could begin reading to find out if it is true. The Book of Mormon is truly one of the most powerful tools that we have in our missionary work and in our lives. We also saw Marvin and had to spend the evening in the house.

On Saturday we had the branch Christmas activity on Saturday, which was pretty successful!!

In Sacrament meeting yesterday we had 63!!! It was a record for my time in Sayaxché! I was so happy! We had a great day of work, and a great week!!

Elder Hill and I are working hard and studying hard! He is honestly the best companion I could have asked for to end my mission! We are going to work our tails off for the next 10 weeks!! Love you all!!

Love,
Elder Andrew A. LaPray