Hola from PELEANDO Patzicia!

¡Hola Familia!

Well how is everything going? I just want to say thanks a million for all of the emails! I received an email from everyone in the family today! You all are awesome, thanks for that! Like always, it sounds like everything is going good! I´m just REALLY glad I wasn´t there when Dad found out about the broken frame on the golf cart. There isn´t much that frustrates Dad, but that´s JUST the type of thing to make him start breathing heavy and leave the room… haha Love you all, and miss you so much.

Ricky, I´m way impressed that you didn´t take that tournament too hard. I´m not going to lie, that sounds pretty frustrating. Those are some of the most intensely difficult feelings, when things aren´t going the way they need to go, and you feel like there´s nothing you can do about it. The thing is, there is always something you can do about it… Even if it comes to just falling down on your knees and just praying for help, there is always something, and always someone to help you. That´s awesome though, you´re going to become so much better from that tournament. Those are the times when you can really learn and grow… If you won all those games would you be practicing hard right now? I think not. Haha I know I wouldn´t be.

Tanner, I´m glad to hear that you´re taking off to go to scout camp! You´ve already gone and you´ll be reading this when you´re back in a week, but it sounds like a lot of fun. If Brother Wise is the cook and you´re going with Brother Nelson…. Wow talk about luxury! Mom, don´t worry, he will be fine!

Well, here I am, still just working like crazy in Patzicia! I´m happy, and a little bit healthier than 2 or 3 days ago so everything is good! Haha I´m not sure what happened, but let´s just say I set a personal record for time in the bathroom… I´ve never felt ANYTHING like that before. I was sick for a little bit, but I got better fast and we´ve had some awesome days since then. I´m happy and healthy and still working like crazy.

Really though, I´m just loving life here in Patzicia. A week ago they told me that I would be speaking in Sacrament Meeting about missionary work. I was pretty excited to get that opportunity, because there have been a lot of things i´ve noticed I wanted to talk about. Then, I asked them how long they wanted me to speak. The secretary said, “Well, probably 25 minutes.” Haha I seriously had no idea what to say when he told me that. 25 minutes of the sacrament meeting? Well, It turns out that on the agenda yesterday was a youth speaker, and then to take up the rest of the time was Elder Melville. Well, the youth speaker got up and spoke for what seemed like 30 seconds and there I was, in front of the ward, speaking until the end of the sacrament meeting. It was pretty intense, but I actually went over! When I finished the girl who was directing the music got up with her “I heart AC DC” shirt and we finished the meeting. Can I just tell you, the English shirts we see here are always so funny, they almost NEVER match their owner. One time I saw a guy walking down the street smoking, but was wearing a shirt that said so and so “cheerleading.” Haha I love Guatemala.

We had a bolo show up at church yesterday with about 5-10 minutes left in the meeting. We took him in with the Hermanas to sing the closing song and have the closing prayer, and we have an appointment with him at the Stake President´s house tonight. We´ll see how that goes, it should be pretty interesting. Ha, you should have seen the looks on the faces of all the people when we came marching in with this bolo.

So I´m finally starting to figure out why the work here isn´t functioning well enough- it´s not that the members aren´t helping. There are members who are willing to help. The problem here is the reputation that the members have in Patzicia. The people here have heard about the “Mormons” from their pastors, and of course that starts it off bad, but the example that these members are leaving isn´t very “Christlike.” After sitting through a ward council yesterday and listening to the different groups just fight and point fingers and throw the blame all over the room for almost two hours, my companion went into depression and it really made me think. It finally got so bad that the secretary who was trying to take notes stood up and said VERY strongly that he couldn´t even write the things that they were saying because it didn´t make sense and that he wasn´t even going to keep trying anymore. The gossip, the pride, and the lack of love is killing this ward. Someone died in the Colony of Zarahemla, and the family isn´t a member family (You wouldn´t BELIEVE the incredible missionary opportunity this could have been). Someone went to tell the bishop and he said, “They´re not members, why would we go help them?” When I heard that the Relief Society was over there fighting with the family over pans they wanted to borrow from the church, I just wanted to sit down and cry. Haha How are we supposed to bring people into this ward when the Sisters fight in Relief Society until people leave the room early, and priesthood is a big meeting of “Let´s see who knows more.”

Family, we have a big responsibility ahead of us. My companion is coming out of his depression and we HAVE to help this ward. We´re going to do it, but i´m going to need your help and prayers. I´m actually really excited for this opportunity, and the challenge that lies ahead. I just need your advice and prayers and everything you can give me. Dad, you know how a ward works, help me! Just know even though this is hard, I´m a lot happier than even other times in my mission. I love my companion, and love this ward. Jesus Christ lives, and with him ANYTHING is possible. How awesome is that.

Our ward attends the Stake Center. We start at 8 in the morning, and the other ward starts at 10 in the morning. Either way i´ll be able to see the group, i´m really excited. The stake president is in our ward and actually this week we are moving to live in his house. We´re really tight with the stake president and i´ll give him the heads up! So the opportunities are 8AM and 10AM.

I have to run, but just know I love you all so much, and I´ll see ya later!

Elder Micah Melville