Visit from Elder Andersen

Elder Moore here, ever your faithful correspondent :) So good to hear from you as always! Hope everything is going awesome back home, it sounds like it is. Week 2 of this change has FLOWN by! Everything is still going awesome in Patzun, I become more enamored with the people in this village every day. They really are remarkable :)

The work here continues awesome, and I really dont think Ive worked this hard since I was with Elder Patterson. Its good to get lost in the work again, and its really been fun to help and serve Patzun. Wish you could be here to meet the people Im meeting!

The big story from this week is...Elder Andersen! Wednesday he came to our stake conference, and then afterward, we had zone conference with him up in Solola. It was AWESOME. Definitely an experience to be remembered! Elder Clark (area president) and his wife came too, as well as Elder and Sister Mask (temple). His message in Stake Conference was very sweet and centered around the descendants of the book of mormon, and then in zone conference we got to have a question/answer session! It was way cool.

He served his mission in France, and was then a mission president there, but then lived in Brazil for 4 years (I think for church stuff), so with English, French and Portugese, Spanish is his FOURTH language! Too cool. It was pretty funny because he is still learning it, and he lapsed a lot into portugese words and french accents (one time he even said "entre l'bien y l'mal" :), but above all the coolest thing was that even though his spanish was hard to understand, his testimony of the Book of Mormon and the Savior was as visible as ever. Truly our apostles are called of God! (Another thing in zone conference, to fully express himself, he talked in English most of the time with a translator--his council and insight were AWESOME!)

Hope everything is going good back home with the last stretches of the snow :) Congrats on the Gayton game! Thats awesome. Hope the Dials are doing well, be sure to tell them hey for me. I cant remember if I told you but I got their christmas card a few weeks ago. Looks like theyre doing well in Utah! And holy cow! I cant wait to talk to all the Guatemalans in Richmond, I wish I had known :) Hopefully Ill be able to throw down some Kaqchikel :) I was just talking to Elder Johnston who was in the only area in the mission where you HAVE to learn the language because they dont speak spanish. Its called Santiago and its right by lake Atitlan. The missionaries there wear these shorts called scoff, and sandals! To blend in better with the culture. Anyway they speak Tzutzuiil, it sounds SO cool :) The people there are actually very rude in general, and he says they throw insults around at each other all the time, words like "Saqchu" (white fish) and "Ashhibii" (Joseph, also means Stranger). Weird! :) I was also talking to Ophelia the other day, and in Keqchi they dont have a word for Blue. So strange! But way cool :D

Anyways, so good to hear from you as always. Love you all and miss you tons and tons and tons. Till next week!
Tyler