Guatemala City South

hey there mom

I'm really glad that your week went really well. especially during the funeral. I was really praying that all would go well and that you guys would all be ok. It was really weird too. so every Tuesday we do our district meetings and they are in the mornings but I'll be honest with you. I was not very focused on that meeting at all. I don't know why or what it was but I just couldn't talk and I just kept feeling a Spirit with me of comfort and that everything was going to be ok. I have been not very sad lately but a little confused or I don't know how to describe it but just kind of weird thinking i will never see papa ever again in this life. anyways i just felt a spirit at that moment that didn't really permit me to talk and it was just really weird. we then went with our branch president and i asked him for a blessing not telling him anything that happened about papa, and you will not believe this. he blessed me to have peace in my life and to be calm and just allow the spirit to work through me and to just be obedient and continue doing the Lord's work. then he blessed me to remember that those who have passed on remember me and are doing the very work that i am doing and they are here with me supporting me. how cool is that. he really is a inspired man. anyways it went really well.

so this past week went pretty well. and we were able to do a lot of things. i went on divisions with a elder named elder mcnabb. he is a great missionary and we had a blast. he is just full of a spirit that is so fresh and ready to work hard and do good. i hope to always have that with me too. anyways we really found a ton of new people that are new this week. we went with Oscar this past week and he is just progressing so much now. he is running out of questions and says we are doing good at teaching him and getting rid of all his doubts, he is loving the gospel and is really seeing how it has made us happy and he wants that for himself too. it is cool. and also we are going with a couple other people like maria luisa and jazmine and they are the ones that are really progressing the most. Maria luisa we went with them and shared a message with them about our family. haha, we went there with pictures of our family and they loved it, then we just talked about how the family has been a blessing to us and how it has made us so happy and etc. it was just a great lesson and kind of made me miss you guys a lot haha. but yeah. also this past weekend we had a regional meeting with all of Guatemala where Elder Clarke of the 70, Hermana Cook of the president of the young women, and Elder Uchtdorf, and Elder Holland all talked via satellite. it was soooo cool. i loved it. Elder Holland even talked a little in Spanish. did you know he could do that? I love that man more and more every time i hear him talk. he started in Spanish saying his Spanish was really bad and that he was going to talk in English but then he ended with his testimony, correction, powerful testimony and did that in Spanish. there wasn't a dry eye in the room mom. it was amazing. he is truly an apostle of God and he is just so amazingly awesome. I really hope that i can be a man just like him. I have always told myself that i want my mission to be just like elder Holland's because he talks about his mission with such love. it is just amazing.

Well I'm sorry i didn't write to much, i am just so exhausted and I'm really wanting to go home and take a nap. we did a lot to day.

PS sorry no pictures because we are at a Internet really really slow. i will try to maybe do it next week, or if we end the zone conference early I'll pass by really quickly. I love you mom and I hope all is going well. I pray and hope that the Spirit of God may always be with you and everyone in the family and my friends. i love you guys and I'll talk to you later.

love always
Elder daniel shipley

..........and that is the beautiful part of the plan of salvation. that we have that knowledge that we don't only have a hope but we have a knowledge. we know for a fact that we will see papa again and that we will be reunited with everyone once again. do the work for papa as fast as you can, and get nanny baptized as well. work on getting the missionaries over to visit her. and then within a year I can go to the temple with her and we can all go in. how cool would that be?

I think I might get the suitcase this week in our zone conference but I'm not sure, the missionary party is in December. they havent told us yet so idk, but yeah, were heading out now, I love you mom. next week we will have good internet so we will talk then, I love you so much and miss you a ton. if I was there I'd give you a big hug, just imagine that and pretend I'm there and you will feel my Spirit. make some mac and cheese and think of me while eating it. Elder Holland says that is the secret to pretend someone is there with you. just drink hot chocolate by the fireplace while listening to him talk and you will feel like he is there. well eat mac and cheese and you will feel me there too, ha jk I love ya, talk to you next week.