This week has been absolutely crazy! I know that after I sent my last
email everything sounded all happy go lucky, and it was! But right
after that... maybe 30 minutes or so, I got really upset. I would like
to share that experience with you, because it´s as real as missionary
work gets.
This is a quote from my journal on May 2nd 2011 "We went to the
equivalent of Wal-Mat and I had a break down. I went and started
talking to Colton (Elder Llewelyn/my cousin) and just started crying.
Missionary work is hard. I just realized that 2 years is a long time
to be away from home, and I've only been gone for about 2 months. I´ve
only covered 1/12 of my mission. I also miss my family, a lot. In a
letter I wrote to a friend yesterday I said, 'I would love a hug from
my mom. And sometimes I just feel like I'm not cut out for missionary
work, or that I'm inadequate. But Colton said something to me that
helped. He related something his MTC teacher told him. 'Is Christ
still suffering? No. Christ only suffered for a little bit and then He
was raised to glory and He is no longer suffering.' From that I
realized 2 things. 1) I am going to suffer/struggle/sacrifice for a
little bit on my mission, but it won't be all the time and it won't
last my whole mission. 2) Christ suffered for me. In the Atonement He
felt exactly what I was feeling. He knows perfectly how I feel, how to
ehlp me, and how I can find the strength to carry on (See Alma 7:11-12
and Mosiah 14:3-5). As hard and challenging as this work is, and no
matter how much I may want to give up, I can go on, I will go on. Like
the Sons of Helaman, I have been taught by my mother; taught to
believe in the Lord, my God. Óur mother´s always taught us we should
never doubt. If we are true and faithful we will conquer now. Our God
will fight beside us, He will help us win. Our mothers always knew it,
we shall all come hom again.' Our Mothers Always Taught Us - Kory
Kunz"
I'm better now! On Tuesday we went and started teaching an
investigator named Santos. He is 78 years old and is very
excited/ready to be baptized. He knows a LOT about the gospel, we just
have to teach him a few more things. We also found a 7th Day Adventist
missionary later that day and that was very interesting. He said he
would be willing to listen to us and as long as we would listen to
him, but he didn't listen to us at all. So that was slightly annoying
and we is unwilling to accept that the Book of Mormon could be the
word of God. So we spent about 30 minutes "talking" to him even though
we were really just trying to ask him if he knew where an address was.
That was interesting. I also got a very strong spiritual impression
NOT to go into an area where we had several appointments and thus, we
did not go there. Who knows what could have happened, I just know what
did happen because we didn't go up there.
May 5th marked 10 weeks in the mission, as well as the day after my
Dad's birthday so, Happy Birthday dad 5 days ago from today. On
Thursday we had interviews with President Torres which was just dandy,
except when I broke down again. But things are all better now so don't
you worry about it! I was just preoccupied with life back home and how
long a mission is but life is good and the work is true!
I had two very interesting experiences with prayer recently. I may
have already said the one with Jose, but I think it was the Saturday
or Sunday before last Pday we stopped by Mario and Jose was drunk. We
asked Mario to pray at the end of the lesson and it was awesome,
except for Jose adding his "Amen"s "Please, Lord, Jesus" and stuff
like that. But right after Mario said Amen, Jose decided to start
praying. It was the most... interesting... prayer I have ever heard in
my life. He speaks English and Spanish and he just want back and forth
between the two really randomly and talked about Egypt, Pharoah,
splashing blood and the doors, and who knows what else. It was just
crazy. Then on Friday, the 6th, I had another great experience with
prayer. At the end of a lesson with our investigator, I gave the
prayer and this lady started saying her own prayer during mine. I
understand when people throw in "Hallelujah"s and "Amen"s etc, but she
just said a whole different prayer and so by the time I ended, she
just kept going until she was done. It was interesting.
My phone call back home to my family on Sunday was absolutely
fantastic! We went to church, and then pretty much the rest of the day
was spent studying. We went out for an hour to try to go to an
appointment, but it fell through and so did all of our back up plans.
Anyways, it was really nice to hear the voices of my family members!
Ellianna is way big and talking like crazy! I'm glad that she knows
I'm on a mission and prays for me on a daily basis. (Bytheway, thank
you to everyone who prays for me, no matter how often or not often, I
appreciate the prayers, as well as those for all missionaries). Alexis
misses me a lot, and I really do love and miss her too. And obviously
my parents are great and it was great to talk to them and hear about
life back home! (Spencer, Tom, Emily, you are not forgotten, I enjoyed
all of our conversations, but not necessarily anything to write home
about and put on the blog...) While I was writing in my journal last
night, I had an incredible feeling come over me that erased the pain I
felt earlier in the week (Monday and Thursday.. I know my Heavenly
Father. I may have not seen His face, per say, but I know who He is
and that He Loves me. I had a feeling of calm, peace, serenity, like
everything is going to be okay. Life is good in Guatemala! Pray for
the work! Hopefully we will have a baptism on Saturday for Santos
Chipix. As of right now we don't know who will be doing the baptism,
but Elder Nelson insists that somehow it will end up being me. I'm not
complaining.
Elder LaPray
P.S. If you feel the strong desire to send me a hand-written letter
the address to use is as follows, not the previously mentioned one
Elder Andrew LaPray
Misión Guatemala Ciudad Norte
Apartado #951-A
Guatemala, Guatemala
C.A.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Ode To My Mother
For starters, I'm definitely not a poet. I´m no Walt Whitman, but this
is the best I can do to express the words of love for my mom in
poetry, rather than just writing a letter.
It's been 2 months since I last talked to my mom. As far as life is
concerned, 2 months is not that long. As far as time without talking
to your mom when you are used to talking to her nearly every day, it´s
and eternity. I have two previously written thoughts I would like to
share, follwed by something new.
"I miss my mom. As the first talk in Sacrament started, I remembered
all the things my mom has done for me. She really is the best mom in
the world. I love you, Mom" May 8th, 2011 9:20 a.m.
" ´I want a hug from my mom´, and it´s true, I would love a hug from
my mom... As hard and challenging as this work is, and no matter how
much I may want to give up, I can go on. I WILL go on. Like the Sons
of Helaman, I have been taught by my mother; taught to believe in the
Lord, my God. ´My mother always taught me I should never doubt. If I
am true and faithful I will conquer now. My God will fight beside me,
He will help me win. My mother always knew it, I will come home
again.´ " May 2nd, 2011
This isn't anything special as far as poetry is concerned, but I wrote
it out of love for the woman who means the most to me in my life; my
mother.
A mother's love is one of a kind,
A mother´s love is something to find.
It´s nothing you´ll find on the shelf in a store,
A mother´s love is something much more.
I cannot say it appears all a sudden,
It grows, as you grow, with each passing day.
When you do something wrong, or do something right,
Her love is there, through the day and the night.
As you´re a child you feel it so strong,
But as you grow up you feel you´ve been wronged.
She leads you and guides you, through the good and the bad,
And as you turn her away, she´s inevitably sad.
The I love you´s get fewer, and far inbetween,
Until one you day you realize how silly it seems.
Your mother as loved you through thick and the thin.
She´s seeking your love and you just won't give in.
When all of a sudden, when she isn´t nearby,
You realized you´ve loved her and begin to cry.
She was there in sickness, and in health,
Your mother´s love is a source of wealth.
A mother´s love is never ceasing,
But love isn´t there for taking or leaving.
So take it, she loves you, you´re not here alone,
I found my mom´s love, When I left home.
I love you Mom.
is the best I can do to express the words of love for my mom in
poetry, rather than just writing a letter.
It's been 2 months since I last talked to my mom. As far as life is
concerned, 2 months is not that long. As far as time without talking
to your mom when you are used to talking to her nearly every day, it´s
and eternity. I have two previously written thoughts I would like to
share, follwed by something new.
"I miss my mom. As the first talk in Sacrament started, I remembered
all the things my mom has done for me. She really is the best mom in
the world. I love you, Mom" May 8th, 2011 9:20 a.m.
" ´I want a hug from my mom´, and it´s true, I would love a hug from
my mom... As hard and challenging as this work is, and no matter how
much I may want to give up, I can go on. I WILL go on. Like the Sons
of Helaman, I have been taught by my mother; taught to believe in the
Lord, my God. ´My mother always taught me I should never doubt. If I
am true and faithful I will conquer now. My God will fight beside me,
He will help me win. My mother always knew it, I will come home
again.´ " May 2nd, 2011
This isn't anything special as far as poetry is concerned, but I wrote
it out of love for the woman who means the most to me in my life; my
mother.
A mother's love is one of a kind,
A mother´s love is something to find.
It´s nothing you´ll find on the shelf in a store,
A mother´s love is something much more.
I cannot say it appears all a sudden,
It grows, as you grow, with each passing day.
When you do something wrong, or do something right,
Her love is there, through the day and the night.
As you´re a child you feel it so strong,
But as you grow up you feel you´ve been wronged.
She leads you and guides you, through the good and the bad,
And as you turn her away, she´s inevitably sad.
The I love you´s get fewer, and far inbetween,
Until one you day you realize how silly it seems.
Your mother as loved you through thick and the thin.
She´s seeking your love and you just won't give in.
When all of a sudden, when she isn´t nearby,
You realized you´ve loved her and begin to cry.
She was there in sickness, and in health,
Your mother´s love is a source of wealth.
A mother´s love is never ceasing,
But love isn´t there for taking or leaving.
So take it, she loves you, you´re not here alone,
I found my mom´s love, When I left home.
I love you Mom.
Monday, May 2, 2011
The last TWO emails and some pictures!
Day before the Field!
This is it for Elder LaPray from the CCM! Tomorrow morning at about
8:00 I head out for the Mission home!
As absolutely thrilled and excited I am, I am really scared and
nervous! I wonder who my companion will be, what he'll be like, where
we'll be serving, how effective I will be, etc etc! I'm still kind of
nervous about Spanish too! Cool story, I just send Buckwheat (Alexis)
an email, and she responded back and so I sent her another short one..
it's almost like texting... but not nearly as fast or personal. Gosh,
I miss that little Punk. Lex, I hope you know I love you, I miss you,
and I think about you (you too Tom, Em, Spence, Elli, Mom, and Dad),
and I know that you guys think about me every day too (I hope).
We still don't know who the new APs are going to be so it's kind of
hard to know how we are going to be training tonight. Also, they
changed our companionships for like, 17 hours, which I don't
understand, so I'm sort of with Elder Dold (previously unmentioned)
but I'll be with Elder Willardson after 9:00 pm again tonight. Weird.
I don't get it.
I really don't remember a lot of the day to day stuff in the routine
anymore. These last 6 weeks have been a blur! I remember that Provo
felt like an eternity and I remember a lot from everyday, but here,
everything went SO fast and I don't remember lots of little details. I
think that's what happens when you start to lose yourself in the
service of others and the Lord. You lose track of time (because it's
not longer yours), and everything is given to the Lord. Plus, when you
enjoy something, the time passes as if it were nothing! And that's
exactly how these last 6 weeks of been! I have absolutely loved my
time with Elder Willardson! I'm going to miss working with him a lot!
We got along really well, we knew how to read each other in lessons,
and we taught with really great unity and were able to teach to the
needs of our "investigators" (a lot of the time). The great thing is
that we both go to BYU, and I know that somewhere in the next two or
two and a half years our paths will cross again (if not in the
mission, back in Provo). But I have a feeling that somewhere in the
mission field we'll work together SOMEHOW.
Brock, I hope you read this because today, we watched a video, and it
made me think about you and how important you have been to me in my
life. I was nearly brought to tears with the feelings and thoughts I
had (in a good way). I know how important your example has been to me,
and how much you have inadvertently helped me get to where I am now.
You know about all the experiences we shared when we lived together
and how much we learned and grew together. Brock, Te Quiero, Hermano
Mío (Google translate if you need it.) I know that you will absolutely
LOVE President Steimle, the CCM, and the people of Guatemala. They are
all fantastic!
The Gospel is true. Although I am scared out of my mind to go out into
the field and talk to real people, I know that if I just trust in the
Lord and forget about the fact that I'm working towards the end of
something, that I can reach goals that I never thought possible (See
DeathCrawl of Facing Giants). I am grateful for this Gospel and my
Savior Jesus Christ. Although this work is hard, and although I know
I'm scared, when I trust in the Lord, and do my best, I know I've been
prepared.
Love, Elder Andrew LaPray
1 Week in the Field
It´s been ALMOST a week since I entered the mission field, sort of,
and a lot as changed! Technically I left the CCM on Tuesday morning,
but I didn't get my comp until Wednesday morning. Bytheway, I have
officially been out on a mission for over 2 months now. That's longer
than the summer term at BYU was. That's crazy.
First things first... My trainer/companion is Elder Nelson. He is
about 6´6 and he is from Salt Lake City. Elder Nelson has been out for
about 9 months and he's pretty great. The fist day in the field, we
went back to the apartment, I dropped off my suitcases, we did a
little planning, and then we went out to work. We first visited the
familia Beltrand. They've been going to church for over 4 years but
can't get baptized because they're not married and can't get married
because his papers are in El Salvador and it's apparently pretty
expensive to get the papers moved here and he can't get in touch with
his brother to ask for them either. They are a really great family and
as soon as they get married, they'll be baptized. After that I meant
José Soto, Juana and Roselia Medina. José is having problems as far as
progressions go and - spoiler - we dropped him yesterday. My first day
wasn't terribly scray, but it wasn't exactly all smiles either. As far
as Spanish goes I am understanding about 80% of what people say (for
the most part, sometimes more, sometimes less) and I can say most of
the stuff I want to say most of the time, so that is really cool.
Bytheway, Colton and I are in the same district. We work in the same
ward and we see each other at least 3 times a week and have the
opportunity to talk on the phone (for approved phone calls) a couple
times a week as well because his companion his District Leader, the
make phone calls to our apartment every night.
There is a lot of info for the next day. April 28th marked 9 weeks of
being out on a mission. 9 weeks since I left home for the MTC. Time
has gone super fast, and at the same time kind of slow, it's
interesting. But we´ll see how different time moves now that I'm in
the field instead of being in a training center. On Thursday we talked
to a couple Recent Converts (RCs) Alex and Bride (Bree-day), 13 and 16
respectively, and gave them their triple combination and a bible. I
also had to use their bathroom while I was there and that was an
interesting experience. Everyone in Guatemala is under the impression
that toilet paper physically cannot go down the pipe and that if you
flush toilet paper it will ruin the toilet, so they put it in the
garbage can next to the toilet. I'd heard that, but kind of forgot and
hence put the toilet paper in the bowl. Unfortunately, to flush their
toilet you need a bucket of water (I knew this), but there wasn't any
water in the bathroom, so I had to get Bride... he flipped about the
toilet paper and everyone in their house was laughing at me (including
about 6 kids under the age of 6). I didn´t think it was very funnyk,
but they got a hoot out of it.
Later that night we went up into a sketchier area and got
surprised/attacked by some dogs. Also, not funny. We were visiting a
less active member who got offended by the Bishop so she refuses to go
back to church, which is absolutely and terribly sad, but it's nothing
different than what happens in the states. There are a lot of less
actives in our area and I really hope that we can help with some
reactivation.
On Friday we went to a choir practice for an activity for future
missionaries that would be held on Saturday. That lasted from about
8:30 until 11 and then we had a meeting with President Torres, my
companion and I as well as 3 other new missionaries and their trainers
(Elder Llewelyn and his comp, and then two Norte sisters I knew very
well in the CCM) to talk about the new training program that we are
the draft class for. It puts us with our trainer for two transfers (3
months) instead of 6 weeks with two different trainers and it also
adds an hour of companionship study to our first 3 months in the
mission. Hopefully this program is effective, because it makes a big
change in how we do missionary work.
We also found 3 new investigators. 2 boys who are 12 and 13 (Brothers)
and another woman in probably her early 20s named Jessica. We met
Jessica at a less actives house and ended up getting her information
and sharing another message with her. She also attended a baptismal
service the next day, which was super awesome! If only we could have
investigators at baptismal services every week! (that would require a
service every week though...) We stopped by José and he was drunk and
it was impossible to talk reasonably with him and he does this
consistently, hence the reason we have to drop him. While I was
talking to a drunk José, Elder Nelson had two awesome chats with Luis
and Mauro. He extended baptismal committments to both of them, but
they are both without dates. Luis has had baptismal dates before, but
he always does something to stop him from being able to follow
through. Mauro is way cool that and we made a contract for him to pray
3 times a day, and as far as we can tell he is doing it every day! He
is 17 and if it weren´t for his job and studying, we could have him at
church every week and probably baptized within a month. But those are
two bigh problems.
On Saturday we had the activity in the morning which we didn´t get
home from until about 11:15 so we were studying until 3 when we went
to the baptism, which I already mentioned. After the baptism we
stopped by to see José´s brother Mario and we had a pretty good lesson
with him and got him to pray... unfortunately José was drunk again and
kind of detracted from the lesson, but Mario went to church yesterday
and we´re hoping he will start reading the Book of Mormon and praying
daily so he can develop the faith to make the necessary changes in his
life and want to be baptized.
Yesterday at church we had 6 investigators, which is awesome! I bore
my testimony, as well as the other 5 elders in our ward, and it was
really cool. Elder Llewelyn´s Spanish is way awesome and I was really
touched by his testimony. I'm surprised at how much of the spanish I
am understanding. After church we went back to the apartment and did
our studying (because church goes from 9-12ish) and so we didnt have a
lot of time out proselyting because on Sundays we are back in the
apartment by 8. However, we made one really good contact and set up
some appointments for later this week. I'm hoping we have some really
great success this week and can set a couple of baptismal dates
(fechas). The mission field is tough, but I love it! I'm learning a
lot and hope to keep learning more. Although 2 years seems like a
really long time, I know it will be worth it.
Love, Elder LaPray
Pictures!!!
Elder Nelson and Elder LaPray
Elder Hernandez and Elder LaPray
Elder Heaps and Elder LaPray
Elder Wilardson, Elder Gonzalez and Elder LaPray
Elder Hernandez again!
Elder Chen and Elder LaPray
Elder Gil and Elder LaPray
Elder Gil, Elder Chen and Elder LaPray
Hna Ayala1 (Gray) Hna Ayala 2 (My teacher in Yellow).
Sister and President Steimle
My Toilet
Showerhead
Our sink
Our Cupboard
Elder LaPray, Elder Anderson, Elder Llewelyn
This is it for Elder LaPray from the CCM! Tomorrow morning at about
8:00 I head out for the Mission home!
As absolutely thrilled and excited I am, I am really scared and
nervous! I wonder who my companion will be, what he'll be like, where
we'll be serving, how effective I will be, etc etc! I'm still kind of
nervous about Spanish too! Cool story, I just send Buckwheat (Alexis)
an email, and she responded back and so I sent her another short one..
it's almost like texting... but not nearly as fast or personal. Gosh,
I miss that little Punk. Lex, I hope you know I love you, I miss you,
and I think about you (you too Tom, Em, Spence, Elli, Mom, and Dad),
and I know that you guys think about me every day too (I hope).
We still don't know who the new APs are going to be so it's kind of
hard to know how we are going to be training tonight. Also, they
changed our companionships for like, 17 hours, which I don't
understand, so I'm sort of with Elder Dold (previously unmentioned)
but I'll be with Elder Willardson after 9:00 pm again tonight. Weird.
I don't get it.
I really don't remember a lot of the day to day stuff in the routine
anymore. These last 6 weeks have been a blur! I remember that Provo
felt like an eternity and I remember a lot from everyday, but here,
everything went SO fast and I don't remember lots of little details. I
think that's what happens when you start to lose yourself in the
service of others and the Lord. You lose track of time (because it's
not longer yours), and everything is given to the Lord. Plus, when you
enjoy something, the time passes as if it were nothing! And that's
exactly how these last 6 weeks of been! I have absolutely loved my
time with Elder Willardson! I'm going to miss working with him a lot!
We got along really well, we knew how to read each other in lessons,
and we taught with really great unity and were able to teach to the
needs of our "investigators" (a lot of the time). The great thing is
that we both go to BYU, and I know that somewhere in the next two or
two and a half years our paths will cross again (if not in the
mission, back in Provo). But I have a feeling that somewhere in the
mission field we'll work together SOMEHOW.
Brock, I hope you read this because today, we watched a video, and it
made me think about you and how important you have been to me in my
life. I was nearly brought to tears with the feelings and thoughts I
had (in a good way). I know how important your example has been to me,
and how much you have inadvertently helped me get to where I am now.
You know about all the experiences we shared when we lived together
and how much we learned and grew together. Brock, Te Quiero, Hermano
Mío (Google translate if you need it.) I know that you will absolutely
LOVE President Steimle, the CCM, and the people of Guatemala. They are
all fantastic!
The Gospel is true. Although I am scared out of my mind to go out into
the field and talk to real people, I know that if I just trust in the
Lord and forget about the fact that I'm working towards the end of
something, that I can reach goals that I never thought possible (See
DeathCrawl of Facing Giants). I am grateful for this Gospel and my
Savior Jesus Christ. Although this work is hard, and although I know
I'm scared, when I trust in the Lord, and do my best, I know I've been
prepared.
Love, Elder Andrew LaPray
1 Week in the Field
It´s been ALMOST a week since I entered the mission field, sort of,
and a lot as changed! Technically I left the CCM on Tuesday morning,
but I didn't get my comp until Wednesday morning. Bytheway, I have
officially been out on a mission for over 2 months now. That's longer
than the summer term at BYU was. That's crazy.
First things first... My trainer/companion is Elder Nelson. He is
about 6´6 and he is from Salt Lake City. Elder Nelson has been out for
about 9 months and he's pretty great. The fist day in the field, we
went back to the apartment, I dropped off my suitcases, we did a
little planning, and then we went out to work. We first visited the
familia Beltrand. They've been going to church for over 4 years but
can't get baptized because they're not married and can't get married
because his papers are in El Salvador and it's apparently pretty
expensive to get the papers moved here and he can't get in touch with
his brother to ask for them either. They are a really great family and
as soon as they get married, they'll be baptized. After that I meant
José Soto, Juana and Roselia Medina. José is having problems as far as
progressions go and - spoiler - we dropped him yesterday. My first day
wasn't terribly scray, but it wasn't exactly all smiles either. As far
as Spanish goes I am understanding about 80% of what people say (for
the most part, sometimes more, sometimes less) and I can say most of
the stuff I want to say most of the time, so that is really cool.
Bytheway, Colton and I are in the same district. We work in the same
ward and we see each other at least 3 times a week and have the
opportunity to talk on the phone (for approved phone calls) a couple
times a week as well because his companion his District Leader, the
make phone calls to our apartment every night.
There is a lot of info for the next day. April 28th marked 9 weeks of
being out on a mission. 9 weeks since I left home for the MTC. Time
has gone super fast, and at the same time kind of slow, it's
interesting. But we´ll see how different time moves now that I'm in
the field instead of being in a training center. On Thursday we talked
to a couple Recent Converts (RCs) Alex and Bride (Bree-day), 13 and 16
respectively, and gave them their triple combination and a bible. I
also had to use their bathroom while I was there and that was an
interesting experience. Everyone in Guatemala is under the impression
that toilet paper physically cannot go down the pipe and that if you
flush toilet paper it will ruin the toilet, so they put it in the
garbage can next to the toilet. I'd heard that, but kind of forgot and
hence put the toilet paper in the bowl. Unfortunately, to flush their
toilet you need a bucket of water (I knew this), but there wasn't any
water in the bathroom, so I had to get Bride... he flipped about the
toilet paper and everyone in their house was laughing at me (including
about 6 kids under the age of 6). I didn´t think it was very funnyk,
but they got a hoot out of it.
Later that night we went up into a sketchier area and got
surprised/attacked by some dogs. Also, not funny. We were visiting a
less active member who got offended by the Bishop so she refuses to go
back to church, which is absolutely and terribly sad, but it's nothing
different than what happens in the states. There are a lot of less
actives in our area and I really hope that we can help with some
reactivation.
On Friday we went to a choir practice for an activity for future
missionaries that would be held on Saturday. That lasted from about
8:30 until 11 and then we had a meeting with President Torres, my
companion and I as well as 3 other new missionaries and their trainers
(Elder Llewelyn and his comp, and then two Norte sisters I knew very
well in the CCM) to talk about the new training program that we are
the draft class for. It puts us with our trainer for two transfers (3
months) instead of 6 weeks with two different trainers and it also
adds an hour of companionship study to our first 3 months in the
mission. Hopefully this program is effective, because it makes a big
change in how we do missionary work.
We also found 3 new investigators. 2 boys who are 12 and 13 (Brothers)
and another woman in probably her early 20s named Jessica. We met
Jessica at a less actives house and ended up getting her information
and sharing another message with her. She also attended a baptismal
service the next day, which was super awesome! If only we could have
investigators at baptismal services every week! (that would require a
service every week though...) We stopped by José and he was drunk and
it was impossible to talk reasonably with him and he does this
consistently, hence the reason we have to drop him. While I was
talking to a drunk José, Elder Nelson had two awesome chats with Luis
and Mauro. He extended baptismal committments to both of them, but
they are both without dates. Luis has had baptismal dates before, but
he always does something to stop him from being able to follow
through. Mauro is way cool that and we made a contract for him to pray
3 times a day, and as far as we can tell he is doing it every day! He
is 17 and if it weren´t for his job and studying, we could have him at
church every week and probably baptized within a month. But those are
two bigh problems.
On Saturday we had the activity in the morning which we didn´t get
home from until about 11:15 so we were studying until 3 when we went
to the baptism, which I already mentioned. After the baptism we
stopped by to see José´s brother Mario and we had a pretty good lesson
with him and got him to pray... unfortunately José was drunk again and
kind of detracted from the lesson, but Mario went to church yesterday
and we´re hoping he will start reading the Book of Mormon and praying
daily so he can develop the faith to make the necessary changes in his
life and want to be baptized.
Yesterday at church we had 6 investigators, which is awesome! I bore
my testimony, as well as the other 5 elders in our ward, and it was
really cool. Elder Llewelyn´s Spanish is way awesome and I was really
touched by his testimony. I'm surprised at how much of the spanish I
am understanding. After church we went back to the apartment and did
our studying (because church goes from 9-12ish) and so we didnt have a
lot of time out proselyting because on Sundays we are back in the
apartment by 8. However, we made one really good contact and set up
some appointments for later this week. I'm hoping we have some really
great success this week and can set a couple of baptismal dates
(fechas). The mission field is tough, but I love it! I'm learning a
lot and hope to keep learning more. Although 2 years seems like a
really long time, I know it will be worth it.
Love, Elder LaPray
Pictures!!!
My Bed
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Out of the MTC - April 26, 2011
Andrew left the Guatemala MTC this morning and reported to the Mission Home. He will be assigned to an area and given a new companion but at the time of his email yesterday he did not have any details on this. I am sure it will be next week before the next email letting us know where he is other than Guatemala.
Unfortunately, the email he sent yesterday was accidentally deleted but the general idea is that he is happy and doing well and excited to enter this next phase.
If any friends have heard from him this week and want to let me know so I can post that would be great. You can email them to bjlapray@yahoo.com.
As always...thanks for all the love and support you give to Andrew.
Janet LaPray
Unfortunately, the email he sent yesterday was accidentally deleted but the general idea is that he is happy and doing well and excited to enter this next phase.
If any friends have heard from him this week and want to let me know so I can post that would be great. You can email them to bjlapray@yahoo.com.
As always...thanks for all the love and support you give to Andrew.
Janet LaPray
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Lots to Write About - April 13, 2011
Last Wednesday, as with all Wednesdays, we had the opportunity to go
to the temple, but this time, everything was in Spanish! It was way
cool and I was surprised that I understood almost every thing! It
might be because I knew what would be happening in English, but I
think it's probably something more like the gift of tongues. I was
absolutely thrilled! I have 2 Latino companions this time around!
Elder Chen, he's a Guatemalteco, and Elder Gil, from Mexico. They are
both really awesome! I love them! Sometimes I don't understand what
Elder Gil is saying because he speaks faster and a little differently,
but it's all good! They are the Latino Zone Leaders, so that's pretty
cool.
Last Wednesday I also went to the doctor to get my wart frozen off
again. No big deal, same ol' same ol'. He froze it, the blister came,
and that was that. Then Elder Willardson and I went running errands
with one of the supervisors Hno. Dubón (he took us to the doctor so
while we were out we went running errands) and we went to Office
depot, a couple drug stores, and their version of Sam's club. It was
pretty cool to just get out of the CCM, see some more of Guatemala,
and talk to Hno. Dubón about Guatemala. It was cool.
The next morning I was playing soccer and I fell down. You'll never
guess what happened... my blister totally popped. Talk about a waste
of time getting it frozen off. So now I've had the pleasure of having
to cut off the blister and letting the wound heal the old fashion way,
not the greatest thing, but, Hey, I'm in Guatemala and not in the rain
and snow and what not of Idaho :) So I'll take that over the wart
thing any day. Last Thursday night all of the Mission Presidents from
Central America came and we got to meet our Mission President,
President Torres, and he gave us a little Q&A for about 30 minutes. He
is fantastic, and so is his wife! I can't wait to get out in the field
and start working with them! I talked to Sister Torres afterwards in
Spanish and she was surprised at how good my Spanish was and told me
she thought I was a Latino (I think she was kidding cause I'm pretty
freaking white) but I still felt good!
I am skipping two days, I'm sorry, but just know that on Friday and
Saturday I got to know my Latino companions better and we taught a few
lessons and felt the Spirit. I also read my Patriarchal Blessing
searching for personal revelation and it was an absolutely fantastic
experience that I won't really write about, it's personal, duh!
Sunday was absolutely PHENOMENAL! We had 4 genearl authorities come to
Sacrament meeting and give a devotional! The Area presidency, which
includes a member of the 1st Quorum of 70 and 2 of the 2nd Quorum of
70, President Clarke, Elder Falabella, and Elder Martino, and the
icing on the cake, Elder Hinckley! It was so good! Elder Hinckley
looks almost exactly like his father. Elder Hinckley shared some
really special and personal experiences about his parents that I wrote
down and it just reminded me of the short time I was able to spend
with his mother, sister, and father President Hinckley and how
incredible that experience was! I also had the opportunity of eating
lunch with Elder and Sister Hinckley so that was pretty awesome as
well.
I have a minute left! AH!
On Monday Elder Willardson and I had the opportunity to teach our
teacher as a progressive investigator and it was absolutely
incredible! I truly believe in the gift of tongues! Elder Willardson
was absolutely incredible with his Spanish! The more and more we teach
together the more and more we teach to the needs of the investigator
rather than teaching a lesson! And the more and more we teach by the
Spirit! I love it!
Love Lder LaPray
to the temple, but this time, everything was in Spanish! It was way
cool and I was surprised that I understood almost every thing! It
might be because I knew what would be happening in English, but I
think it's probably something more like the gift of tongues. I was
absolutely thrilled! I have 2 Latino companions this time around!
Elder Chen, he's a Guatemalteco, and Elder Gil, from Mexico. They are
both really awesome! I love them! Sometimes I don't understand what
Elder Gil is saying because he speaks faster and a little differently,
but it's all good! They are the Latino Zone Leaders, so that's pretty
cool.
Last Wednesday I also went to the doctor to get my wart frozen off
again. No big deal, same ol' same ol'. He froze it, the blister came,
and that was that. Then Elder Willardson and I went running errands
with one of the supervisors Hno. Dubón (he took us to the doctor so
while we were out we went running errands) and we went to Office
depot, a couple drug stores, and their version of Sam's club. It was
pretty cool to just get out of the CCM, see some more of Guatemala,
and talk to Hno. Dubón about Guatemala. It was cool.
The next morning I was playing soccer and I fell down. You'll never
guess what happened... my blister totally popped. Talk about a waste
of time getting it frozen off. So now I've had the pleasure of having
to cut off the blister and letting the wound heal the old fashion way,
not the greatest thing, but, Hey, I'm in Guatemala and not in the rain
and snow and what not of Idaho :) So I'll take that over the wart
thing any day. Last Thursday night all of the Mission Presidents from
Central America came and we got to meet our Mission President,
President Torres, and he gave us a little Q&A for about 30 minutes. He
is fantastic, and so is his wife! I can't wait to get out in the field
and start working with them! I talked to Sister Torres afterwards in
Spanish and she was surprised at how good my Spanish was and told me
she thought I was a Latino (I think she was kidding cause I'm pretty
freaking white) but I still felt good!
I am skipping two days, I'm sorry, but just know that on Friday and
Saturday I got to know my Latino companions better and we taught a few
lessons and felt the Spirit. I also read my Patriarchal Blessing
searching for personal revelation and it was an absolutely fantastic
experience that I won't really write about, it's personal, duh!
Sunday was absolutely PHENOMENAL! We had 4 genearl authorities come to
Sacrament meeting and give a devotional! The Area presidency, which
includes a member of the 1st Quorum of 70 and 2 of the 2nd Quorum of
70, President Clarke, Elder Falabella, and Elder Martino, and the
icing on the cake, Elder Hinckley! It was so good! Elder Hinckley
looks almost exactly like his father. Elder Hinckley shared some
really special and personal experiences about his parents that I wrote
down and it just reminded me of the short time I was able to spend
with his mother, sister, and father President Hinckley and how
incredible that experience was! I also had the opportunity of eating
lunch with Elder and Sister Hinckley so that was pretty awesome as
well.
I have a minute left! AH!
On Monday Elder Willardson and I had the opportunity to teach our
teacher as a progressive investigator and it was absolutely
incredible! I truly believe in the gift of tongues! Elder Willardson
was absolutely incredible with his Spanish! The more and more we teach
together the more and more we teach to the needs of the investigator
rather than teaching a lesson! And the more and more we teach by the
Spirit! I love it!
Love Lder LaPray
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
MERCADO VACATION!
You all just thought Andrew was serving a mission but according to his title of the letter is vacationing and shopping....and for all things...a PURSE ...for his little sister.
Elder LaPray is doing great and as all of you know getting Andrew to eat a salad is just short of a miracle. He misses not only his family but his many friends as well!!!
So this last week has gone by REALLY fast! I feel like I've only been
in the CCM for a week and a half tops, it's been much faster than the
MTC. I don't know why, but everything just seems to move so quickly
when you look back! It feels like just yesterday I was packing up my
bags to head for Guatemala, and it will seem like tomorrow I am
packing my bags to really head to Guatemala! This is a random insert
that doesn't follow in the day by day, but all of the Latinos and the
old North American group left today and yesterday so now the only
people in the CCM are the people that came with us to Guatemala, a
total of 18. There are only 13 new "Nortes" coming tomorrow. (Norte is
short for North Americans), and 8 of the 13 nortes are sisters! That
is crazy! And of the new Latinos coming this group, there are only 3
sisters! So there will be 13 sisters (old and new) "sharing" 3 Latino
sisters as companions. It's pretty unusual. Anyway...
I think it was last P-day, but it might have been a few days later...
Idk, either way, I, Elder LaPray, ate... a salad. It's a miracle I
know! Even worse... I ate another one yesterday. The one yesterday was
only a few pieces of lettuce though. However, the one last week was
ginormous and I ate as much of it as I possibly could (not as much as
I could bare because it was a salad, but as much as my stomach was
physically capable of holding, it's a miracle, I know). Anyway, last
week on Thursday, I was really tired and I fell asleep during class
instruction, sometimes I do that when I already know the Spanish
grammar about which we are talking, and I was passed out for a good
15-20 minutes. My district thought it would be funny to get up, leave
the classroom, and have the other Norte district come in. After they'd
been in there for about a minute I woke up and thought to myself "What
the heck are they doing in here? I don't care, I'm going back to
sleep". I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Anyways, anyone
who says that missionary work isn't work, they are wrong! Even life in
the CCM/MTC is demanding and makes you tired when you don't get all of
your sleep!
I don't think I have much of a report from Friday, I'm sorry. But, I
did start reading "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard and
it was absolutely fantastic! I loved that book. It makes the
principles of the gospel so clear! If someone read that book in
addition to listening to the message of the missionaries with an open
heart, I don't know how they couldn't come to know the truth about
this gospel!
General Conference was absolutely fantastic! I hope that everyone
watched and enjoyed it as much as I did! I watched all 10 hours for us
and only fell asleep for a maximum of 10 minutes during Elder De
Hoyos's talk, and that's 10 max, it was more like 5! That is a new
record for me when it comes to conference and I was truly blessed by
listening to it! I think that my favorite talk came from Elder Kent F.
Richards during the Saturday morning session. It was phenomenal! I
highly suggest that you all read it when the conference report comes
out next month. It holds so much information for us that would be a
shame for us to miss, or at least for me it did! I wish I could talk
more about conference, but all of my notes from conference are
downstairs. Just know that I found it absolutely wonderful! The talks
were all spiritually enlightening and uplifting, in different ways and
degrees.
On Sunday night, after I again enjoyed conference, I talked to
President Steimle about whether or not I would have a Latino companion
full time or not. After a lot of
meditation/pondering/wondering/revelation I decided against changing
to having a Latino companion full time. After I talked to President
Steimle, he asked me to go and get my companion Elder Willardson and
so I got Elder Willardson, we went into his office, and were assigned
to be the new APs. It's not really anything special, but I thought I
would mention it. Basically all we do is conduct meetings when
everyone, Nortes and Latinos, are together as well as assign Room
Leaders and turn off lights, ACs, and close doors at night to lock up.
It will be nice to work slightly more with President Steimle as well
as the Latino Zone Leaders. Hopefully it will be an assignment from
which I can learn and grow.
So today is my focus now. It was incredibly "chilero" (cool). We went
on our "cultural visit". This including going to a huge relief map of
the country of Guatemala, the Mercado, and then a Museum and Mall. The
relief map was very interesting. You can see all of the geography of
Guatemala and relate it to how things likely played out in the Book of
Mormon. I have a better understanding of the term "narrow neck of
land" as well as going "up to the land of Nephi" and "down to
Zarahemla". It has NOTHING to do with North and South, but rather
altitude and climates. It was a neat experience. The market was really
cool too! It was like the Idaho Falls flea market on triple steroids!
Mom, the fruit blew anything from Nevis out of the water! Except that
they don't have Gineps. I saw some dragon fruit and cashew fruit as
well, including TONS of other fruits. The mangos looked absolutely
delicious! I got a really cool "mexican hoodie" although they aren't
that. I have 20 seconds, I love you all. Bye
Elder Andrew LaPray
Elder LaPray is doing great and as all of you know getting Andrew to eat a salad is just short of a miracle. He misses not only his family but his many friends as well!!!
So this last week has gone by REALLY fast! I feel like I've only been
in the CCM for a week and a half tops, it's been much faster than the
MTC. I don't know why, but everything just seems to move so quickly
when you look back! It feels like just yesterday I was packing up my
bags to head for Guatemala, and it will seem like tomorrow I am
packing my bags to really head to Guatemala! This is a random insert
that doesn't follow in the day by day, but all of the Latinos and the
old North American group left today and yesterday so now the only
people in the CCM are the people that came with us to Guatemala, a
total of 18. There are only 13 new "Nortes" coming tomorrow. (Norte is
short for North Americans), and 8 of the 13 nortes are sisters! That
is crazy! And of the new Latinos coming this group, there are only 3
sisters! So there will be 13 sisters (old and new) "sharing" 3 Latino
sisters as companions. It's pretty unusual. Anyway...
I think it was last P-day, but it might have been a few days later...
Idk, either way, I, Elder LaPray, ate... a salad. It's a miracle I
know! Even worse... I ate another one yesterday. The one yesterday was
only a few pieces of lettuce though. However, the one last week was
ginormous and I ate as much of it as I possibly could (not as much as
I could bare because it was a salad, but as much as my stomach was
physically capable of holding, it's a miracle, I know). Anyway, last
week on Thursday, I was really tired and I fell asleep during class
instruction, sometimes I do that when I already know the Spanish
grammar about which we are talking, and I was passed out for a good
15-20 minutes. My district thought it would be funny to get up, leave
the classroom, and have the other Norte district come in. After they'd
been in there for about a minute I woke up and thought to myself "What
the heck are they doing in here? I don't care, I'm going back to
sleep". I hadn't gotten much sleep the night before. Anyways, anyone
who says that missionary work isn't work, they are wrong! Even life in
the CCM/MTC is demanding and makes you tired when you don't get all of
your sleep!
I don't think I have much of a report from Friday, I'm sorry. But, I
did start reading "Our Search for Happiness" by M. Russell Ballard and
it was absolutely fantastic! I loved that book. It makes the
principles of the gospel so clear! If someone read that book in
addition to listening to the message of the missionaries with an open
heart, I don't know how they couldn't come to know the truth about
this gospel!
General Conference was absolutely fantastic! I hope that everyone
watched and enjoyed it as much as I did! I watched all 10 hours for us
and only fell asleep for a maximum of 10 minutes during Elder De
Hoyos's talk, and that's 10 max, it was more like 5! That is a new
record for me when it comes to conference and I was truly blessed by
listening to it! I think that my favorite talk came from Elder Kent F.
Richards during the Saturday morning session. It was phenomenal! I
highly suggest that you all read it when the conference report comes
out next month. It holds so much information for us that would be a
shame for us to miss, or at least for me it did! I wish I could talk
more about conference, but all of my notes from conference are
downstairs. Just know that I found it absolutely wonderful! The talks
were all spiritually enlightening and uplifting, in different ways and
degrees.
On Sunday night, after I again enjoyed conference, I talked to
President Steimle about whether or not I would have a Latino companion
full time or not. After a lot of
meditation/pondering/wondering/revelation I decided against changing
to having a Latino companion full time. After I talked to President
Steimle, he asked me to go and get my companion Elder Willardson and
so I got Elder Willardson, we went into his office, and were assigned
to be the new APs. It's not really anything special, but I thought I
would mention it. Basically all we do is conduct meetings when
everyone, Nortes and Latinos, are together as well as assign Room
Leaders and turn off lights, ACs, and close doors at night to lock up.
It will be nice to work slightly more with President Steimle as well
as the Latino Zone Leaders. Hopefully it will be an assignment from
which I can learn and grow.
So today is my focus now. It was incredibly "chilero" (cool). We went
on our "cultural visit". This including going to a huge relief map of
the country of Guatemala, the Mercado, and then a Museum and Mall. The
relief map was very interesting. You can see all of the geography of
Guatemala and relate it to how things likely played out in the Book of
Mormon. I have a better understanding of the term "narrow neck of
land" as well as going "up to the land of Nephi" and "down to
Zarahemla". It has NOTHING to do with North and South, but rather
altitude and climates. It was a neat experience. The market was really
cool too! It was like the Idaho Falls flea market on triple steroids!
Mom, the fruit blew anything from Nevis out of the water! Except that
they don't have Gineps. I saw some dragon fruit and cashew fruit as
well, including TONS of other fruits. The mangos looked absolutely
delicious! I got a really cool "mexican hoodie" although they aren't
that. I have 20 seconds, I love you all. Bye
Elder Andrew LaPray
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