Solola!!

Great to hear from you guys as always! Your emails always make my week :D Sorry I didnt get a chance to write on Monday, it looks like every six weeks (always after changes) we have district meetings on Wednesday.

In any case...IM IN SOLOLA!!! Oh my goodness I could not believe it! So on Saturday we got the phone call for changes, I found out I was leaving! Elder Patterson will officially have been there for 7.5 months after this change--crazy! So on Monday everyone that has changes and all of their companions and everyone that has interviews and all of the zone leaders go to the church building that is in the area right next to the University. It is a lot of people! They all sit in the chapel and then the APs announce who will be going with who. It was very exciting! Very anxious. And kind of sad too because they announce all the people who are done with the mission and going home! Anyway it was fun. I am very sad to leave my last district with Elder Patterson, Marquez and Elder Hutchings, but so goes the mission! And we will see them again anyways. Elder Hutchings only has one more change than me--we are hoping to be comps down the road!

So--Solola! Oh my goodness I didnt expect it! It is one of the three "mountain" zones of the mission. My area is called Patzun and I am with Elder Gaido. He's awesome! Hes from Honduras (no ingles!) and is an awesome missionary. This will be a fun change. Also...I have to learn another language! Kaqchikel (kak--cheek--ell, or KatchyKell if you say it fast), and our entire area speaks it. Elder Gaido says everyone also speaks Spanish, but only about half of the people are actually fluent and can understand it. We'll see how this goes! I get the impression so far that we wont teach too many lessons in Kaqchikel, but we'll see.
As far as the area, it is BEAUTIFUL. Not at all what I had expected either, it is very civilized. The streets are paved with cobblestone, ancient cathedrals line the central park, the golden fields run down the hillside--its awesome. I will send pics asap. There are grocery stores, Kodak stores, internet cafes, and a post office so I really am set! Many of the people are very well off (BMWs etc), but the poor population is WAY larger than in the Universidad. The people are extremely nice too. In the city, only a few people (the ones that own tortilla shops) wear "guatemala clothes", but here almost everyone wears them. Very cool!
Also, we live in a HOTEL. It is so cool. Hot showers, working kitchen, etc etc etc. Again, Ill send pics soon!
Loved hearing from you guys on Christmas--that was awesome :) Do I have an accent? Guatemalans have a weird accent when they ask questions and I think Ive been picking it up even in English. Also I am somewhat picking up a Honduras accent, ill have to tell you about that on the phone in May.
See you next week! Happy new year!
Miss you tons. The work is going awesome :)

Tyler

This is Tyler and Elder Patterson painting their apartment...green.

This is the Alvarez family who were just baptized.