Week 16: We chilled on the side of the microbus and felt like James Bond

Well Im in my third change and Ive already had a visit from 4 seventies and 2 apostles. Ive had 3 areas and 5 companeros. Also Im including the ccm as an area and a comp and also elder ceballos visited once there and once in the field but you get the point. This week has been loco.

It all started on tuesday. It was just a normal day we had a district meeting and because it was the third week we had entrevistas (interviews) with presidente (president.) It was normal. We kinda just chatted about normal things and what not and then just randomly he said Elder Severe Ive recieved revalation and I call you to a new area. He said it a lot cooler but I probs shouldnt say it. Anyway he said I would go to a place called Santa Ana Huiste and I had no idea where that was. Then he said and your comp will be Elder Hinckley (yes hes related.) Hes honestly probably my best friend in the mission and when he said that I got so hyped. I came out of the smiling so hard and I hope my old comps couldnt tell that I was happy to leave them.

Anyway that night my new comp came and we were just chillin it was so sick. The next day he stayed in my area and we just did divisions because the next day we had a multizona so it wouldnt make sense to leave and come back. So I said goodbye to a bunch of people and it was kinda sad cuz there was some awesome families in that ward. It was really sad cuz the Valasquez fam said they were planning a party for me on sunday for my bday and also the missionary couple said we were gonna come over and make cinnamon rolls and have a big dinner cuz it was also the bday of an office missionary but its whatever.

The next day we woke up early to go to the multizona to get good seats cuz our whole mission was going plus the mission of Retaluleu because Elder D. Todd Christofferson came to speak to us! We did the thing where we chilled on the side of the microbus and felt like James Bond but when we got there pretty much everyone was already there. It was cool cuz a lot of my friends from the ccm were there. Anyway before E.C. spoke Elder Goddoy from the pres. Of the seventy spoke to us.. I think. It was super good. E.C. was awesome though. He knows spanish too so that was pretty cool. Anyway after that we went and had lunch and it was the first time in our presidents mission that the whole mission was in one place so it was cool to see everyone and it was also on valentines day so he gave us a cute tear jerking pump up talk. After we made our way to Santa Ana.

So I was literally a block from the mission office before, the closest I could possibly be, now Im literally the farthest I could be from the oficina. At least from what people say. It was a very long day. I dont know exactly where I am because we dont have any maps but my comp said last week they took a 20 min bus ride to the border of mexico. So we took a mas o menos 7 hr bus ride to get here and it sucked. I am in the huehue multizona now so thats cool. Tons of my homies were on the bus with me and it was fun until about 3 hours in when me and my comp and two other guys were the only ones left. Then they got off and it was just us for about another hr and a half. The bus was crazy and driving crazy on these terrible roads and and I was a bit nauseous. It wasnt bad tho cuz me and my comp just talked the whole time. We got to the town and its so cool. Its just this little cute pueblo. And istantly i could feel the difference. Xela wouldve been likd 40 degrees at this time but it was like 65 or 70 and it felt pretty good. Our house is tiny but I kinda like it its a bit nicer than my last one. I unpacked and it was a big day but fun.

So friday we just kinda walked around and got to know people. So just the city is about as big as my last area but then we have like 5 aldeas or villages outside and we have to take buses to get there. Its huge. Its super cool and its hard to explain but this is a bit more towards what I thought Guatemala was gonna be like.

Saturday we spent most of the day in this place called Nenton and its big like Santa Ana but there are only like 6 members so they dont have enough for a branch so theyre in our area even though its like an hour away. We caught a bus to the highway and then we straight up hitch hiked there. It was so sick. We just hoped in the back of this guys truck and the landscape changed form Guatemala to like Africa it was so weird but super pretty. Nenton is super cool. I think I like it a bit more than Santa Ana cuz it has all these houses on the hill and stuff and it just looks cool. We found a few pretty good contacts there. When we came back we visited this guy on the other side of the river where its like just dirt roads and tiny houses. His names Julio and hes like 80 and cant read but hes super fiel and just wants us to read the LDM with him.

Later we had dinner with a family and they lived in a tiny one room house. Some people have tiny cement houses but this was just like a few sheets of metal with tarps on the outside. Pretty crazy. My stomach didnt handle the food super well and I couldnt wait to get home. Without going into too much detail I used their baño which was just a toilet on the side of the mountain. Just a toilet with no walls or anything. It was for sure interesting.

Sunday we went to church. Its a tiny little building and only 30 people went. The people are super cool though. It was my birthday but really the only time I remembered it was in the morning and at night. It was just a normal day and I didnt feel sad or excited just kinda normal haha. Oh and now that Im 7 hours away from the oficina and I cant get my package until march but its whatever. Holidays dont really have a ton of hype on the mish and now navidad and dia de la madre arent gonna feel as special now that we can talk to my fam everyweek. Which i guess isnt a bad thing.

Anyway this emails getting super long but Im really happy to be here and idk if I mentioned it but its super hot here. Really hot. Adios