Christmas Phone Call

We got to talk to Colton on Christmas and he is doing amazing. For all of you that might worry.....he is still the same funny Cole. He was telling jokes and making us laugh throughout the whole call. Cole also sent us a Christmas package which was really fun. He sent the girls some purses, Con and Stock got soccer jerseys, Cameron got a pipe....for all his smoking haha. Spencer and Suzy got a painted plate and table runner and I got a doll and a bracelet and Brad got a really cool wooded flute....decoration only.
We had a great time with all his gifts and especially when we got to talk to him. It was the greatest.
Hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Alyce or Momma Alee

Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas

WHOOO!!! Christmas time is hear! Freak I love it!! And to let you know, I got the package and I am sorry to say I opened my birthday presents! hahahaahahhahahahahhaha the card had to have been the best part. It made me remember how funny my family really is and it made me that much more excited to talk to you all in 6 days! What the freak!

Enough talking about that or this week is going to go by slow. Ok well this week was a really good week. and if you were wondering I think I am considered famous now in Guatemala. I think a picture of me was in the newspaper. haha ok that is a lie I don`t know but we did a parade this week down Main Street Coban! We all dressed up in Israel clothing and we marched behind a donkey with Mary and Joseph and we sang Christmas hymns! It was probably one of the coolest things I have done so far here in Coban. After we all met up in the Plaza and we did a skit of Samuel the lamanite and the birth of the Savior and what happened here in America. It was really cool and we had a lot of people come. I was the angel that appears to Samuel... I know I know surprise surprise. haha. But it turned out really well and at least we planted the seed into the hearts of the people here in Coban.

We also had a really cool experience finding a family this week. President has asked us to make sure we are focusing on finding families because as we know, the family is called of God. The day before we had the District Conference with President we were walking down the street and there was a couple of people lifting an entertainment center so we asked if they needed help and they were happy we came. We told them who we were afterwards and they said they would be happy if we came to the house. We went to there house on Saturday and her and her husband with there two small kids were there ready for us. They had millions of questions and we gave them a book of mormon and they said they would read it!! We found a new family!! It was amazing and they had an interest in everything we said. It was an amazing week and this week is going to be so great especially because I know that I will be talking to the my family at the end! I love you all so much and I want to wish you a Happy Birthday and Merry Christmas!! haha I love you bye!

 

Out of Power!

Hello famiy!!!

Well you all sound like you are doing really well! I understand that sometimes you think your lives are boring but here is the thing! I want to know what you all are up to! Hannah thank you for the details. I would also like to make sure you all know that I love you very much. I have felt so much support from everyone and it really makes things so much better because on those days that are rough, I always know I have my family right there, all of you! Oh and today I heard Taylor Swift in McDonalds. haha

Well a lot has happened this week and first I would like to tell you the story about what happens in Guatemala when the power goes out. Well I went a day with out power, and you may all be thinking, a day with out power? That is not a big deal. Well my water in my shower is heated by electricity. Ask me how that went. If you can imagine, ok I don`t want you to imagine me in the shower but I was in and out. Haha it was a pretty funny day. It was really cold outside and that night we went to a place in my area called Chinimlajom. It is about 30 minutes from the house by foot and with out any lights lighting the way. It was a little frightening let me just tell you! I was in the jungle with out lights. The bright side to this story is we went there to teach Marcia who was baptized on Friday! haha ok it was a bad situation just really funny. We didn`t have anything to cook because well we couldn`t cook so we ordered Dominos. haha that was a real treat!!

We also had the baptism of Marcia like I mentioned. We had to teach her all the commandments this week so we had to visit her everyday. We had some really good lessons with her and it was amazing to see how much she understood why we do what we do. She shared her appreciation a lot with us and she really is an amazing convert to the church. Yesterday after she was confirmed she took the sacrament and as she sat waiting for it to be over she started to read the book of mormon. She can`t read spanish very well so it is a slow process but her desire to know is amazing. The gospel really does make people have a desire and it changes peoples lives.

Also yesterday was the Christmas devotional and we went around inviting everyone to go. We had an investigator that was referred to us by a guy in the ward. We taught her once and she said she would really like to go to the devotional. I couldn`t think of anything more perfect than having someone who is not of our church listen to the prophet talk about the birth of the savior! It was amazing and I hope you all watched it! The mary in it was pretty by the way. haha

Well that was my week! It was a little long and a lot of work but it was great! This Sunday we are going to the stake to watch the Temple in Quetzaltenango be dedicated and it is going to be great! I am super excited and Pres. Uchtdorf is going to be down here in Guatemala!! Whoo!! I am really excited and the people are so excited to have a second temple in their country! It even came out in the Guatemalan news paper as "Mormon Temple Open House!" haha

Well I love you family! Thank you for all you do!! Stay happy! and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I'm Staying in Coban...Yeah!

Hey Family!!
Well I am doing well and it sounds like you are doing really well over there. You sound busy and that is what I like to here. Well you are all probably wondering how changes went down well, you don´t have to worry. Everything in Coban 2 is staying the same. My companion and I are together again and I am really happy. We have a lot of work to do here and I am excited for this new change! This week was a really great week minus it was very hectic and not my favorite. The baptisms that were planned all fell through because they are not ready. We had felt that one of them was not ready but he confirmed that for us so now it is just more teaching and praying that he progresses. The other two are ready we just can´t get him married... it sucks. But hey we saw him in the Plaza and he is still optimistic so I am hoping things will go well for him this week!
The thanksgiving dinner was so great!! We had a turkey that was amazing and I took a picture but sadly the computer won´t let me show you, it is what happens in Internet Cafes. It was a lot of fun and it made me think a lot about the family so I am hoping to see so many pictures of the Thanksgiving up there. It would be the greatest. We also went to President Fraatz´s birthday the next day and had another Thanksgiving dinner. He is the old stake president in our area and was mission president in Nicaragua. It was really great so this week was filled with a lot of food. It has been nice and I heard it gets worse. Tamales and ponche everyday baby. I am going to get so fat, but hey it is Christmas in Coban and that is the best thing in the world! Here in Coban the church does a parade and the elders are involved and everything. They do a nativity scene down main street so I am pretty excited about that. It really is going to be a great change and I am going to party hard!! haha just kidding I meant to say work. Well to tell you about the area...We are working with the Coronado Family. They are 18 and 21 and married. We contacted them and I can´t remember if I have told you all about him but they are progressing really fast. They have some doubts and weird questions but hey I think that is all part of it right! We had some really good lessons with them this week and I am hoping that they progress like crazy! We are also teaching a 23 year old girl named Marcia who is progressing also. She only speaks kekchi, Q´eq´chi!! I am learning a little here and there but not much. I am trying to get a little down so the sister that is helping us doesn´t have to translate everything but it is a very pretty language. They now have a triple in Kekchi. It is great!! The people here are very blessed for it and the church is growing pretty fast here!
Yesterday we had a Conference and Pres. Uchtdorf and Elder Holland spoke!! It was amazing and what was great was Sis. Torres was leading the music! It was amazing to see her and I know she is the happiest to be able to come back to Guatemala! When Elder Holland bore his testimony in Spanish it was amazing and I knew the people here were very touched by it. Marcia came and she really liked it.
Well family everything is working out amazing! The work is great and I love my mission. It is ballin and it really is so great to be here! I love you all family! Elder Colton Steamberry Llewelyn

Celebrating Thanksgiving

Hello family!!

Today has been an amazing day and this week has been amazing!! I went and bought all the Christmas presents today and I hope that you all will like them. It is kinda crazy stuff but hey! I am in Guatemala! Everyone sounds like they are doing really good except for Alyce and her sewing machine part. haha tell them to be nice and to think about what they´ve done... haha ok I don´t have very good advice on this one. Well this week was a good one. We worked hard and we are now teaching two Kekchi women who don´t speak any spanish. haha it is really hard but they are both learning and one is reading and that is because the other can´t read. The triple is now being printed in Kekchi and it is amazing! haha not like I understand or even read it yet. We had three baptisms scheduled this week and I am very excited. One is Jose Barrios. He is 23 and is now ready to be baptized!! He is great!! He was the first investigator I met here and well we had to put ourselves pilas as they say here and he just needed a little push! The others are Wily and his 13 year old daughter! They are great and they have been waiting a long time for this. We have to get them married first which has us a little worried but we have the plans to baptize them this week hopefully!! Today we will be celebrating Thanksgiving!! We paid a sister in the ward to help us out and we are having thanksgiving as a zone!! Whoo!! I love Coban and I love my family! I hope all is well and that you are all still feliz!

Another Great Week

Hello the best family in the world!

I would like you to know that this Monday has been amazing. It was so nice to hear from all of you and all your letters were amazing! You all sound like you are doing really good and I`m doing really good here! We put another baptismal date so now we have 3 baptisms for the 19th of November! It has just been a really good week and I am loving this change but I am a little sad that it is ending. We are already in week 5 and who knows what is going to happen. I don`t want my companion to go. We have the same time and we get along really well.

But for a relapse of what my week consisted of, well the excited things because as a missionary things happen but it is what I do everyday. So that you all know Otto Perez, mano duro, won the elections. President Watts said that we could leave which wasn`t bad but outside of our house at about 10 o clock last night there was fireworks crazy things happening outside and yelling and car horns ambulances and all that jazz. Haha it was pretty funny. Both my companion and I had a good laugh because we just thought, well it`s Guatemala. But for a good spiritual experience, here is a good one. Well on divisions with one of the teenagers in the ward we went contacting. We contacted a young couple and they told us that we can come back. We scheduled an appointment with them for the next day, we passed and they weren`t there. Well a couple days passed and we had a busy day so we asked the priests if they could do divisions and they left. We passed by the house again and they did not accept us but we scheduled an appointment with them again, it is what happens in Guatemala but I felt like there was something there. We my companion and I passed by the next day and we had an amazing lesson with them. They had a lot of questions and the sister told us, I don`t have a lot of trust with random strangers but she looked at me, pointed and said but I felt something that said I could trust you. This family is very young. She is 18 and he is 21 and they are married. They don`t go to a church right now but they told us they weren`t sure which is the one that was true. It is like a Joseph Smith story. I know the Lord is blessing us.

This work is amazing. It is full of miracles and I know that with the support I have that the families here in Guatemala are being blessed. I love you all. You all enjoy your new Justin Bieber Christmas CD while I am here eating tamales and ponche for Christmas!! Whoo!! haha I love you!

Second Baptism

Hello family!!

Happy Halloween!!

This week has been really really good. Everyone sounds like they are doing good and I am happy to hear that Hannah is now able to kiss random strangers and she is certified to do it! (Hannah is CPR Certified...)

The hunt sounds like it went really well except for the fact that you didn`t shoot anything but hey! There is always next year right? This week went by really fast and I feel like this change is going by really fast! I have been here now for 3 weeks and it feels like it is flying by. I love Coban and I don`t care who knows it. I am having trouble with the computer and I would like to add photos but I think it might have to wait until next Monday. The baptism went really well. Pablo was really excited but he was very nervous and he has reason. His family had told him that they would kick him out of the house if he was baptized but he did it anyways. He has a family here in the ward that is very supportive of him. They entire family showed up and I think that helped him out as well. We also had 3 other 8 year olds that the parents had asked us if we could teach them. They were all baptized and it was a really great service. The ward put on everything and it was way nice. This ward is amazing and the people here and very supportive. All in all the baptism went really well. The rest of the week was filled with hiking in the mountains and going from one edge of the earth to the other! haha there is a lot of walking. It takes about 3 hours to walk from one end of my area to the other, that is why we don`t do it. These boots are a lifesaver and I am rockin them.

I also went on divisions with Elder Nelson this week after district meeting. It was a pretty good time. We were teaching a lesson and we had brought one of the young men in the ward who is preparing to go on a mission with us. Well I was teaching a principle to a less active sister in the ward and a chicken decided to walk into the house, it is normal don`t worry, what is not normal is when the young man we brought picks it up when we are teaching and begins to give kisses to the chicken. haha only with Elder Nelson would weird things like this happen. We are also teaching a couple of fairly old people and well the sister doesn`t really respond to my questions why? she only speaks kekchi and I don`t understand a word she says haha so those are my pretty good stories of the week.

Today was a sister in our zones birthday so we all got together and hit the piñata in the shape of a sister missionary. It was pretty funny and then we went to a nice pizza restaurant and there was a group of europeans and they were talking in english, I said hi and I got scared because I don`t know how to do missionary work in english. It brought on some good laughs.

Well that was my week this week. This place is amazing and I love where I am. The baptism was a miracle and it was awesome to see all of the kids get baptized. It reminds me of my baptism yet I don`t remember it very well I just remember how happy everyone was. I see now why and what an amazing step that is in someones life if they really understand the significance of baptism. We take upon the of Christ because we know what he did for us in Gethsemane and we believe in the words he taught us and maybe at the age of 8 we are not quite sure what that means we just know what happened is real. I love this work and I love Guatemala. It has it`s funny points and all like when I was shopping in the store this morning there we two live chicken just hanging out on the coat wrack but it is something you just grow accustomed to!! haha I love you family!!