Guatemala City South

hey mom and family,

wow it was so great talking to you guys, i loved every single second. and wow your  english sounds so good. haha, i got the suit case and i read all the letters and i loved them. i will try my best to write back but we´ll see. i don’t have as much time as i did before. we have become really busy lately. but all is well and I’m loving it here. i was just so happy i had the opportunity to talk to you guys and grammy and nanny. i love them and i miss them so much. they sound good and healthy so that is good to hear.  here is my previous week and a half. ha. the reason I’m emailing today is because we went to the temple and pres doesnt want us losing time so he combined our temple day and our pday.  that is really cool to hear that joseph is now a district leader. send him my congrats and i know he will be a good leader and example to his district. ok here we go.

Monday, so on monday we didn’t do too much, everyone kind of did their own thing for pday so we just stayed around and relaxed. and went to eat at mcdonalds which was really really good. that night we had an awesome lesson with the family deloroca and it went really well. with that family we pretty much have just been watching videos from the church with them and using a different method of teaching but were running out of videos so it will start getting tricky soon haha.   we watched the video of the restoration and it was so good. i love watching that video because it does such a good job of explaining what happened with joseph smith and the restoration. it is truly a remarkable event in history and the start of Jesus restoring his church to his children again here on earth.  we watched the video and then just bore powerful testimonies after and it went really well and the spirit was really neat there. i love that feeling so much.  it is a feeling of comfort and knowing that what we are sharing really is true and the promises are real.

Tuesday, on this day we had our district meeting in the morning and then after we went on divisions. i went with Elder Walker from Utah. he is a really really neat elder and i learned a lot from him. he taught me a lot about how to have more love and how to teach with more love and just always be serving. it was neat. it went really well.  we went to a comedor in their area and the food was so good. i also made some tortillas but i didn’t have my camera so i didn’t take any pics. but it was funny. i did pretty good.  i fell really good with them there and they made me some really good food for dinner and the lunch the next day. just really nice and cool people.  that night we were teaching this family that is really cool but have a little problems. the guy needs to divorce and then they need to get married so the wife can be baptized. the wife of his other marriage lives in the united states.  we taught them and as we were teaching  i learned that the girlfriend isn’t a member and the kids aren’t either. so i just asked what they were waiting on. they then explained the situation about the us thing and then i explained that the kids can be baptized too, so they put a fecha for their kids to be baptized and hopefully that will get them more working on the wife situation. so yeah. then me and elder walking went home that night and we just talked until about 11 30 at night, we were just having a grand time and we got along really well. it was funny, just talking about our pasts and the good times and just laughing our heads off.

Wednesday in the morning me and elder walker went and visited this family and they were really neat. they were a little bit more slow so we had to explain a little more slowly but they were still really cool. and they loved what we taught from 3 nephi 11. i love that chapter so much. so after that we ate lunch which was really good then we returned to our companions. when i returned me and my comp went right back to work. it was good and we got a lot done. the members were happy to have me back here too. then that night we had our english class which went well and once again we have a bunch of new people. haha, it makes it kind of hard but oh well. i love teaching them because they actually want to listen and they have fun learning. so that went well and yeah that was pretty much it.

Thursday - not to much happened this day in the morning we did our planning session and got some good planning in and then we did our shopping for the month. we went to the store and bought some food we needed for the house. then we went out and did some contacting and visiting members. but nothing really to exciting happened this day. it was kind of a bummer day.

Friday - Friday in the night we went to the church where we were supposed to have our activity and a family showed up. they are a really cool family and really nice. we talked with them a little bit and taught a little about the gospel of jesus christ and in all it was good.  we went with the young women after that and we helped them bake a cake. it was so dang good too. it was with carrots and pine apple and just delicious. i don’t have any pics but I’m working on getting copies so that i can send them to you.

 So on saturday we left and we pretty much contacted all day. we received a ton ton ton of contacts and it went well. we set some good appointments and it was just way cool. so hopefully that will all go well. then after we had our classes of english again and it went well. i taught about how we form questions and they seem to be learning quite well.  after we went with this one family and they were way cool. they are called the family de leon. there are some possible baptisms there so were going to work harder with that family and push them to get to where they need to be. the mom has always had a problem with the missionaries and she told me that she really likes me and that i fall well with her. so that was good to hear.  she invited us for breakfast the next day so that will be good.  we taught them a little bit about the faith in jesus and then we were out. it went well though.

Sunday  we went to church and it was so dang funny. there is this kid named kevin and he is a good buddy of mine and i taught him a couple flirting tips with some people so he went up to the girl playing the piano and was all like, um i don’t know how to play would you teach me. haha and she was all just like yeah sure. and he was just like in heaven but it was so dang funny. he is a really neat kid. then in church the youth all talked in church and it was really cool and neat. they are a good bunch of kids. it is just scary the world they live in so hopefully they can stay strong and endure to the end.  after church we went home and my comp and I just talked with each other until you guys called. and that was way fun, i loved taking to you guys. i miss you guys all so much and hope and pray everyday that you guys are doing fine. i can’t believe that paul can talk. that just blows my mind.  he sounds cute too and just makes me so excited to when i can have kids of my own. i cant wait. kate and jon  are really good parents and i want to raise my kids like you guys did mom and like how kate and jon do too. sunday was a really good day of my mission. haha, oh and happy mother’s day mom. i hope you had a great day.

so here is a little bit of this week too,

Monday  we woke up and since we were to have our pday on wednesday we went to work. we went in the morning to visit a couple people but none were really home so we just visited some members around the area and then we were off and headed out of the area. we first went to a store where i had to pick up a new back pack for me, it was more small and really cheap. so we went and picked that up then we went to my favorite place to go and visit which is mira flores. it is a huge mall here and it is where we went in my last zone all the time.  we just passed by there and then ate some lunch there. after that we went to the office where we picked up my suit case you guys sent. I’m so dumb i completely forgot to take pics as i was opening it i was so excited to have it but oh well. it is here and all is good and safe. i love it. i love all the things you guys put in there and it really means a lot to me that you took the time to do all that. i love you mom and all the effort you did. it is great. ha the letters were funny too so thanks to all those who wrote me letters. we got the package and then we went to go to work a little bit and all went well. 

Tuesday we were supposed to have our zone conference but it got moved to friday. so we were a little done for this day. we had no plans and it was a bummer. we had our district meeting in the morning and then we just went around our area looking for people we could go teach. no one could meet with us. at night we went with a member and we cooked the pudding (scary – it was instant pudding) you sent and we all ate it. it was so dang good. but yeah that day was a bummer.

Wednesday- wow i had an amazing day this day and probably one of the most spiritual experiences ever mom. it was great.  so we went to the temple in the morning. we had to wake up at  4 am. so early. then we headed over there and it was really neat.  elder oakey and I sat next to each other and we looked at our cards and saw that they were brothers. it was so neat. how cool is that. brothers are finally going through the temple and getting their work done and were sitting next to each other. so that made it pretty special.  when i was in the celestial room i was sitting there pondering and mediating and all i could think  about was my family. not only you guys but my future family. it just made me think how happy i am going to be when i can have a family of my own and do fun stuff with them. i can’t wait. i love them already. i was sitting there and then i said my prayer and i was just asking if what I’m doing is the right thing and asking for answers to many questions i had on my mind. after my prayer i was thinking of all the converts that would come through this room. all of them that eventually would be sealed with their family and all would be good for them. how happy they are going to be and all the things that are just going to pass. maybe one day even you guys will pass through this room. then i got the weirdest feeling ever in my whole life. i was just sitting there thinking and then i got a bunch of chills and then a whisper in my ear that i swear sounded like grandpe’s voice in my ear, all i heard was, “i´m so proud of you”, it was so powerful and so neat and just awesome mom. i can’t even explain it that well. but it was just amazing. so that was a really spiritual experience for me and an assurance of what I’m doing is the right thing. then after the temple we went out of there. my comp and another elder did another session so me and elder oakey left on divisions. when we left the temple there were about 50 gringos. it was so weird. they were from byu idaho and were touring down here in guatemala. it was so neat talking to them and we had a good time laughing and all. ps it was like 40 girls 10 guys. lucky for them haha.  their teacher called them on the bus and they were about to leave when me and oakey were thinking, hmm i really wanted a photo. and he did too. ha so we ran to the bus and he got on the microphone and said, is it cool if we take a pic with you guys. they all screamed yes. so we got in the middle of the bus and the girls were like can we touch you guys, and a guy yelled, “no they’re missionaries”. haha it was just so dang funny. but we took a pic so it was good. then after that we went to the zoo and hung out there for like 2 hours and just looked around. haha they are all the same. all the animals are always sleeping. but it was fun. so after that we went to taco bell and ate lunch then me and this elder hernandez went to my house and we met up with my comp and his comp there. and then my comp called his family last night and they talked pretty much the whole night so i just organized all my stuff again so it is really clean. but yeah that is pretty much all. i just cant even explain how spiritual the temple was mom. i loved it.

 there is my week and a half. haha it went good. changes are next week so we will see what happens. i think I’m staying and my comp will leave but we´ll see. i love you guys and miss you a ton. i hope all is well and that you guys are continuing to be good examples to the ones you know. i love you. ps i should probably tell you i sent the box of stuff home and the lady is impatiently waiting for the money haha. and you might be a little mad but it cost about 80 dollars. so tomorrow i will take out the money i need if you can put that on my card so it is ready for tomorrow. thanks mom i love you. heehee. your going to love the pics too.

love your son. elder daniel shipley

Craig Covington, Mexico