Hey!

Christmas week! Can you believe it? But Guatemala has kept me a sphere apart this entire month--it doesnt feel like Christmas! Fireworks, tamales, 70 degree weather, turtle shells--to each country its own traditions I guess :)

Its hard to believe how quickly this week went by. We had a training meeting, and divisions so it was a little harder for us this week work wise. We've kept going with the family Mendez Tovar--Ive been so blessed to get to know them :)

I was able to get a real taste of Christmas this weekend though. President and Sister Baldwin invited me and three other elders to their home on Saturday to do a musical presentation for the district presidents in the mission. We all got together on Saturday and headed over to the mission home--it is incredible! They live in a penthouse on the top floor of a building looking over the entire city. Everything was decorated in Christmas lights and apple cinnamon smells :), Sister Baldwin made turkey and potatoes, Christmas punch, stuffing, pumpkin pie, it was all awesome. They even have a grand piano! So we all had dinner together and had a Christmas testimony meeting. Then we did a little musical thing. I played Silent Night and Still, Still, Still, and then accompanied while the 3 elders sang O Little Town of Bethlehem, and we read Luke 2. Then we had dessert and all went out to the balcony and looked out at the city lights. When everyone left, we cleaned up the apartment, and Elder Montoya drove us home--I LOVE guatemala city at night. So pretty! Anywho, it was way fun, and one of those aesthetic experiences the Lord has draped me in during these past 15 months. Ive been so lucky :)

Merry Christmas!

Tyler

Dec 14th post

Cant believe Im already writing again! This week has been lightspeed, everything is going so fast, and Im still stunned to be in the capital. Still loving it, of course :) Everythings going smooth and awesome. I think this change will be a good one for sure :)

News from this week...we've had training meetings yesterday and today (thats why this email is late btw, sorry!) about Simplified Study, a new implementation in the mission worldwide. Its been really incredible, we've seen such a change in our teaching, and the response of the people. I think it will continue to do incredible things. We've also kept going with the Mendez Tovar's, they are really awesome.

FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Tyler

Dec 8th

Week of surprises! Oh goodness gracious this past week has been so many changes. I think my email might run a little long this week, but I know you all are anxious to hear about it so I'll cut to the chase! ;) Haha

For starters...Im out of the mountains?!?!?! Hahaha. I cant believe it, but I guess my time finally came. Im back in the capital! 9 months in Santiago, sealed and done. Its so weird! But...I LOVE THIS PLACEEEEE. Ok I dont know how much I can express this to you, or have expressed before. The people of the capital are AMAZING. (If you dont believe me, ask Sis. Aldridge because she is one of them, and also wonderful. :) Today I find myself in an suburb called Loma Blanca. The area is called Cerro Grande, which means Big Hill in Spanish, and the stake is called Nimajuyu, which means Big Hill in Mayan :P.

Surprise number 1...I have been here before! I dont know if you guys remember but one year and something ago we had divisions in the CCM, and I came here with Elder Pande. And, a few months ago we had a training meeting in the cap, and I came here with Elder Davis! And now its my area. But its been way cool. I had met a lot of the members already and they are simply incredible. And the people are so wonderful. Im stoked!

Surprise number 2...me and my companion...are leading the zone! Definitely a huge surprise for me. I feel a little over my head, but at the same time am way excited--the zone is an awesome group of missionaries and we are way excited to be working with them. And my companion is way awesome--his name is Elder Cifuentes, from West Guatemala, and he is hysterical, and an awesome worker. Cant wait! Ok more surprises.

3. I had Pizza Hut this week. THREE TIMES. The capital is amazing.

4. We have a grocery store in our area. And I eat yogurt for breakfast now. Every day!!!!

5. The people here speak Spanish here like Miguel de Cervantes. Everyone has been making fun of my crazy mountain accent. :)

6. We decided to go contacting this week where I had been contacting before with Elder Pande. We contacted a house that we contacted a year and something ago, and found a new family! They are wonderful. And...they are related to Elder Cifuentes! Crazy coincidences!!! :)

Basically, I am WAY stoked about the new area. The mountains was incredible, and I was lucky to be there, but my heart has really always been attached to the people of the capital. They are SO humble, and SO prepared for our message. It is our turn to share it with them. We are teaching a beautiful family right now, the Mendez-Tobar family. They are coming to church consistently, and we hope they can get baptized soon. We watched the Restoration dvd last night with them and the lesson was so powerful. Please pray for them!

Anyways! Those are the detes from this week, I know, the most exciting email Ive had in a long while :) Really I am way excited to be here and hope I can stay here for a while. I dont think Ill end my mission here, but I think Ill be pretty close!

Sounds like everything at home is going awesome. Dad--HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! In Spanish, the word fifty is cincuenta, which can also mean without count. So Im guessing infinite candles for a cake is pretty hard to find! Haha, just kidding :) For reals, I hope you had an awesome birthday and I love you lots.

If you want to try, I think the best way to look up Cerro Grande on Google Maps would be to look for Zona 21 of Guatemala City. If there is a neighborhood called Loma Blanca, CG, or Nimajuyu, thats us!

Ive heard rumors that the new narnia movie is coming out soon. Is it true???

Love you tons. Feast up on this delicious Christmas spirit! :) (Did everyone watch the devotional? SO good.)

Tyler

Nov 23rd

Happy Thanksgiving!

One more week down in Santiago (possibly the last?). I cant believe how fast its going. Im almost done with the Tzutujil book . We've also been finding a lot of great families to teach lately--Ill be sad if I cant follow them in progression.

Sorry the email is late this week--we had a change of plans in the zone and had our Thanksgiving feast yesterday in Solola! Elder and Sis. Cranney made us turkey, potatoes, cran sauce, stuffing, the whole schpeel. It was awesome! Also someone brought refried beans to make it a real Guatemalan feast. :) And there was pumpkin pie and candy corn to top off. All in all, it was excellent!

Love and miss you guys as always. Next week is changes, but email will still be on monday! Till then, Happy T-givs :)

Tyler

More pics! These are from the Mirador (they say you can see the ocean, but its quite hard, theres always clouds)

Worldwide Missionary characteristic? Loves to EAT!!!

Pictures from Santiago sent Nov 15th

Guat IS the best! :) And yes they are ruins! Its so cool. There are even people who still come and do ancient mayan sacrifices on them, and you can watch. And get this--I understand what they are saying in that weird language now. Weird!!

the zone at the ruins at Iximche! It was too hard to get one of us all standing normal

ive started taking people with favorite fams before I head out. these kids and ladies are hysterical! The pics are of Yalur and Yachonita. (You'll notice the Guate habit of never smiling in pictures ever!)
their kid, Amax. Love him! I remember when he was just born. And I think they named him after me :)
"such an odd, common sight in this village o' mine" - Tyler
Gloria and Alex and us at one of Chukmuks many water tanks.

Nov 15th

Whew, another week down in Santiago. If time is going fast for you guys there, I think its X1000 faster here :)

This week was a really great week! We had interviews with President on Friday--ive said it many times, but he really is incredible, and Im lucky to have him asmission president. I learn so much every time I meet with him. Also this week, we found a really beautiful little family (something Guatemala has in spades :) The mom is Yalur, and she was abandoned by her husband when her children were little some 15 years back. They are all grown up now, and are a wonderful family. But I was touched by her need for the gospel. I hope we can be effective agents in delivering it to them.

Till next week! (Almost thanksgiving!)

Nov 8th

Officially halfway through the change. Ive started thinking so much lately about where Ill be next! Cant believe its closing in :)

This week was pretty exciting! Tuesday was our conference with Elder Martino--do you remember him? He gave a talk in April conf. with the story of the kid who played baseball. He's in our Area Presidency (all of central america), and he's WAY energetic, so it was a fun conference! He gave really awesome instruction and counsel, stuff we can do to improve the work here. It was all awesome--we were definitely lucky to have him!

Wednesday was our pday, so we went to Iximche out in Tecpan. We didnt have time to get home from the conference, so me and Elder Patterson got to stay the night in Patzun! It was AWESOME! I loved getting to be there again. We went out at 6ish and met with a lot of my old member friends from there, it was so exciting. I cant remember if I told you about the family Perez, but they got baptized! It was so exciting to see them after that. And I went to the Ajpops too--LOVE them. I think if there was one family I wanted you all to meet it would be them. They are hysterical. And they all speak Kaqchikel--I spoke some Tzutujil with them. We actually could understand each other! The languages are pretty close. It was way fun :) Anyways Wednesday the whole zone went to Iximche, to see the old ruins. It was way fun, and I love being with this zone. We also ate at a buffet, something I havent had in 14 months. It was amazing. Hahaha.

The work this week has also gone well--We found some way cool people this week to teach, and we've been working a lot with the members--I LOVE these members here in Santiago. They are all awesome.

Biggest news--no more scoff! The Area Presidency decided to nix it for all of Central America, any traditional clothing (I dont know how many more of us there were). So we packed it up, and the sandals too :( Haha. Im going to miss it, but I was lucky I got to use it most of my time here. And--this week has been so cold! Temps in the 50s.

Tyler

Nov 1rst

Another week gone in Santiago. Ahh! It pains me to write that. Im 99% sure Im peacing out of here on December 1st, which means 4 weeks left. What am I gonna do without scoff and Mayan languages??? :)

This week was a little different--my companion was sick with Asthma, so he had a really hard time going out at all. We had a few appointments this week, but mostly kept it slow in the house. I had a lot of time to study Tzutujil! Discoveries from this week--
1. They have a word to say "watch over something by night while it sleeps and you dont." Weird huh? They actually use this in the New Testament, when Jesus was born. It is what the shepherds were doing to the sheep when the angels found them :) Khnwaraaj je karnel chpam jun aq'a.
2. They have a verb tense to say "do something fast." "I do" is different than "I do fast." The interesting thing is how they use it. Technically, the Tzutujil dont have a word to say "to flirt." But you can take the verb "to smile" and put it in the fast tense. They interpret "She smiles quickly in front of him" as "She flirts." Cool, huh? Ntzib'la rii chwech ru gnar.

Anywho. Its all very cool. Its made me want to learn a lot more of languages when Im back home.

Before I forget--Halloween in Santiago is ridiculous. They celebrate it today and tomorrow, and everyone goes up to paint the "pantheons" (graves here are always above ground :/) neon colors. Its kind of hysterical. Anyways the road to the cemetery (where a lot of members live actually) is PACKED with street vendors--pizza, tacos, tostadas, pupusas, tamales, wiskil, you name it! Ill have to try and get some pics today. All very cool :) And of course, the tourists have flocked in. There are like a million!

I would love to hear the political results--all very intriguing. We get none of it out here. how is the economy by the way? What is the public op on Obama? This will all be cool to see pan out.

Miss you guys tons, and hope you have an awesome week. Its november! Drink lots of apple cider!

Love
Tyler

One more week gone--Im getting into that ethereal "near the edge" feeling, cause Im 95% sure Ill be leaving Santiago this change. :( So weird! But its been wonderful here. And Ive got 5 weeks left, so Im not that close in any case :)

This week was a pretty good week for us! We've had a hard time lately finding new people to teach, but we've been contacting and trying for references, offering service, and praying harder than ever--the works! In any case, I know the Lord will send us His chosen when He's ready. I think even more importantly, we need to be ready too. That's been my focus lately. :)

Story from this week! Monday we got stopped by a girl on our way to Tzutuhil class, who is here in Santiago working for the peace corps. Anyways she said she had been in Santiago six months, had tried everything to learn Tzutuhil (studied with natives, read books, etc), and still hadnt gotten it. But she said, everyone had told her that "the Mormon missionaries were the best non-native speakers in the village" and that they must have the secret :) So she's started coming with us to class. The first day of class, I showed her most of the book that I had written, and we looked over it. She said it was the clearest layout of the language that anyone had ever shown her, and that in all of the books she had looked at, nothing had explained the basis of the language clear enough to begin studying it. Concepts that I had been taught my whole time in Santiago were completely alien to her, verb groups and conjugations, possessive groups, transitive properties, the whole schpeel. I was excited to be able to teach everything to someone that interested in the language, but much more than that I realized the outreach that the gift of tongues has. It is not just the gift to be able to speak another language, but its influence creeps into the other boundaries--the Lord blessed his Santiago missionaries with the ability to figure out Tzutuhil, to dominate it, to discover connections and principles, to simplify it, to explain it in ways unknown to the world. I was deeply humbled by this realization. And as always, ever grateful that I have been able to play a part in this work.

Hope that fall continues on in its inevitable bliss :) I dont know if I told you this, but there is an RM that served in Santiago who is studying at BYU now. and the coolest thing---he's writing a thesis now about the similarities between indian languages and Hebrew :) Cool, huh?

Hope Halloween is excellent! Ill fill you in with the Guatemalan Halloween details next week. I have no idea what the mayans are going to do. haha.

Till the next, Tyler

Oct 18th

So Im officially here, last district meeting of the change. We'll get the call tonight to see who has changes! Im 99% (and hopeful!) that Ill stay here one more change, just cause Elder Patterson still needs to learn the language, but you never know. Mostly what we're anxious about is San Lucas--either E. Guzman or E. Kahaunele will probably be out this change. We've been together almost 5 months and Ill be sad to see either one go. But we've had a good time together, and we have done good work together in this district of Atitlan :)

Anywho everything is going awesome as ever. This week means Ive been in Santiago 7 1/2 months. Can you believe it? Time has flown. Ive learned so much here, and been through a lot. And Ive seen, like Fraulien Maria says :), "When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window." My testimony has grown strong of the Lord's love.

Love and miss you guys more than ever. Yesterday I turned 13 months old in the mission. Tick tock, tick tock. Going much too fast...

Oct 11th missive

Hey family!

Oh goodness you guys dont even know how lucky we are to live in VA in the fall. The colors, the climate, the foods, the smells-- I miss it!

We are one week away from ending this change in the mission. Can you believe how fast it is? I still definitely cant. They made a new change in the mission--change day will be on Wednesdays from now on, so it looks like even if I have changes, we'll still always have emails on Monday! Just to keep you informed. I am pretty sure Ill be staying here though--Elder Patterson still needs to learn the language before I can leave. He is doing AWESOME though! I wish I could explain to you how much I love speaking in Mayan. It is such a cool thing. We'll have to try it on the phone at Christmas. Also--Im writing a grammar book to leave for the missionaries! Its been a fun project. Ive learned so much. Way cool!

The work is going well! Rosa, Faustinos sister, told us she wanted to get baptized this week! Im excited for her--we're looking to find a date in the next month for her baptism. Also, we've been looking lots lately for new people to teach. The people of Santiago are wonderful but we have had a hard time lately finding some chosen people. We're working hard though! And we know the Lord will lead us to them in His own time. :)

Till next week!

Oct 4th email

Again, one more week gone. So fast! This week was very exciting and very different. And awesome as always :) We started out Tuesday heading to the cap for another week of training stuff. The training was the same as last time but it was so awesome to see everyone again, and the spirit was way strong. And I dont know if you guys can watch those videos but they are AWESOME! Definitely check them out. They are called "The District 2" and I think Lds.org has them.

Friday we headed back and spent the night up in Solola. Then we watched conference together with Elders Dodge, Long, Baysinger, Rosales, Gonzales, Tello, and the two senior couples, the Cranneys (LOVE THEM) and the Sandbergs. Way fun! We set up an English room and bought lots of snacks at the tienda. Then we had lunch at the Cranneys--Peanut Soup, something they learned how to make when he was mission president in Bolivia. Way yum! :)

Conference was awesome. Different from the MTC but still cool in its own aspects. I really loved Elder Hollands talk, I think that was my very favorite. President Monsons was so awesome too, and Elder Uchtdorfs as well. Elder Oaks was powerful, a good tool to use with investigators. And Elder Gong and Elder Kearon were also way cool. Hope everyone enjoyed it!

Love ya (we're leaving now, ill see you next week!)

Tyler