Quetzaltenango Guatemala

Quetzaltenango Guatemala

7.27.15 Another week of miracles, and a surprise........?

July 27, 2015



Hey everyone it's already the end of July!!! That means 10 months down, I can't believe I've already been here that long but it's the truth. So changes are this next week, the next time I email you guys we will know who is staying and who is going, I already have 5 months here in this area so everyone thinks I am gone, but we will see. Ya so like the title of the email says, this week we had some pretty cool experiences, and there is a little surprise at the end=) enjoy


             I guess I will start with one of the really cool spiritual experiences. SO this week Elder Caal and I went back to visit the family Quiem, if you don't know who they are, they are a family of 3 investigators that live a little above our house. So when we went and knocked on the door, Rolando answered. Now I don't think that you guys know who Rolando is, he was a guy that Elder Cano and I contacted one down walking down the street. Elder Cano and I were going out to a lesson but on the way we were contacting. While we were walking down the street he told me that he was still pretty scared to contact (it was still pretty early on in his training), So I told him that the next guy who turns the corner we will contact so that he could get more practice. So, turns out that Ronaldo was the first person that turned the corner, so we contacted him. The next night we taught him the restoration and he agreed to read the book of mormon. Truth is, I hadn't seen him since that night, more than 2 months ago. So....... Rolando answered the door, he is part of the Quiem family, but he lives in Xela, he was just here visiting. So he let us in and sat us down, then he started to tell us what had happened to him in the past 2 months. He started off by saying that the day we had contacted him in the street he had been dealing with a lot of things in his life. Here are the things that he said we're going on,

He had 2    $5,000 fines
His wife had put a restraining order on him
He was struggling with alcohol
The judge was going to throw him in jail the next day because of the lateness of his fines

                He then continued to say that when we was walking down  the street that day he was on the verge of tears, just completely miserable and didn't know what to do............ Until we showed up=) He told us that when we had visited him that night in his house he felt something super different and good! After we left that night, he had prayed to God to see if what we teach is the truth or not, he prayed over us and the book of mormon. The next day, he got a call from the judge telling him that he was not going to go to prison. His wife lifted the restraining order. The fines were pardoned. And he had NO desire to go and drink. While he was telling us everything that happened he was crying, he said that thanks to us his life had been COMPLETELY changed in 24 hours. It was stinking powerful!!!!!! He then proceeded to tell us that he and his wife had been reading the book of mormon together, and that they had written down a TON of questions of a sheet of paper for us to answer................. um if you've served a mission you know that this never happens. Ya so in the 2 months that he wasn't here in Cantel and he didn't have a phone, our prayers were being answered, and I didn't even know it. It literally was a miracle, something I will never forget. Its truly something special when someone tells you to your face in tears that you changed their life. Words just can't explain


              So this week my comp and I went to visit Noemi, but in the next paragraph I will talk about her. When we got there, her 6 or 7 cousins attacked us and wanted to take a thousand pictures with us=) Haha I attached some  of them below, super awesome kids, super dirty, but just the funniest kids ever!!


              Ok so Noemi, she was our other miracle this week. So the week before, we challenged her to read the book of mormon again, and we made her the promise that President Smith made us, If you read the book of mormon and pray about it with a true intention for 10 days, you WILL receive your answer. So we made her that promise and left it at that. So... this week we came back to visit her, and to our great surprise, she had taken the challenge!!! She started on Wednesday, and we visited her on Saturday, so she was already in day!!! She told us that as she reads and prays, she continues to feel awesome, she feels the spirit and knows that it is good stuff. So I asked her if she had received her answer, and this is what she told me
I know that what you guys teach is true, I read it and pray about it, it all makes sense, and I feel the spirit every time that I read and pray. THis stuff is true.

                what!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!?!! Day 4 and she admits that it is true!!!! What a huge miracle!! She came to church sunday of course, and she even told a member that she is ready to get baptized!!!!!!!!!!! Her baptism date is the first of august, what an answer to our countless prayers!!!!!! So this week we are going to go into overdrive to get her ready in time, there is still a lot she hasn't been taught but the most important thing is that she knows that whatever we teach her is true=) So the changes are this next tuesday, and my chances are huge for leaving, so we are going to make sure that she is prepared for this saturday, I pray that everything goes according to plan, it would be the perfect ending to a 4 month battle with this girl=)


               Updates on our companionship, we are getting over being sick, what a blessing it is to just be normal, with health. He is now 19 and is not a little kid=) haha i joked with him a lot, now i have to find something else to joke about. We have ordered pizza 3 times in the past 1.5 months, more than I have in the other 8.5 months of my mission his english is getting better and my spanish is getting a little better


                   This week I had the chance to do divisions again with the elders of Chikilaja, but this time I was with elder dilley. It was awesome because I had the chance to visit his investigator that has a baptism date for this saturday, he is progressing well and it looks like this saturday will be his big day. If everything goes according to plan, every companionship in our district will be baptizing this week!! Haha we are only 2 companionships, but ya doesn't matter. It was super fun cuz we ended the night having the greatest bible study you could ever image, good times in the mish.


          The surprise.    So something awesome that I learned this week is that their is a little village in our area called Almalonga. Ok, so I've never really heard a ton about this village that's way out there, but this week I heard something crazy from the members that blew my mind, Almalonga is the city that Alma the younger established............. ya mind blown! The members of the stake's high council told us, I knew we were in the lands of the book of mormon, but I never would have thought that MY area specifically included ancient book of mormon prophet cities, ya it's sick, best mission ever.


                  Well this week was a super awesome week of teaching people who are truly ready to receive the gospel. We also did divisions, visited a mayan altar in the jungle, ate MORE pizza, learned a ton, prayed even more, and studied the scriptures like no one else. It was an awesome week, definitely going to take up some space in my journal. The blessings have been pouring in, we have been so blessed to be able to see the people here progress and start to accept the gospel into their lives. I love the mission, and I know it's true when I say that I am in the best mission in the world, I am here teaching the Lamanites thousands of years after the ancient book of mormon prophets did, that's pretty special. Love you all, keep the faith, don't forget to say those prayers, but do it like the prophet daniel and say at least one in the morning, afternoon, and night. Love you all, 

Hasta ver

Elder McLeod