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| About half the elders at the CCM with Presidente and Hermana Cox. Ben is on the top row, just right of center, with a blue tie |
I miss you guys so much. The MTC is crazy! All Spanish after the first 2 days. My P day is on Tuesday, so it's been a while. I love it here! The first 3-4 days were really hard. I was barely holding on. But humility brings the Spirit, and it's been a lot better. My companion is named Elder Holliday. He didn't know a single word of Spanish when he got here. We are trying hard, but it's tough. Every day one of our teachers dresses in street clothes and we have to teach him a lesson. And just in case any of us were ready for that, it's all in Spanish. That started our 2nd day here.
My district is called District Pedro, and the D leader is Elder Gallerdo. He's been speaking Spanish for a while, so he's already great. The whole district is really nice and supporting too.
Apparently no one is allowed to take pictures at the Guatemala CCM so they took my camera away, I guess I'll get it back when I leave.
Sunday was AMAZING. Sacrament meeting was all in Spanish, so that was spiritual in a new way. Then we had a class on teaching investigators, in English (finally) and 3 devotionals. The Spirit was with us from 8 in the morning till 9 at night.
My companion is great. I love him. He's no bueno at speaking Spanish yet, so I do most of the teaching. However we're switching that soon so he has the opportunity to teach, whether he wants to or not. We are both very happy. He's a quiet kid from Blanding, Utah. He mostly talks to me, but he's starting to open up to the rest of the district. He's funny. Hopefully he will quickly catch up to me, and we can both catch up to the district leader!
The tie trading...it's serious. It's funny that it's such a big deal. I made one trade and had fun negotiating. The oldest elders here know how to unstitch ties, and cut them out a little and sew them back up to make skinny ties. It costs one tie to have them "skinny" one for you. The skinny ties are the most valuable, and paisley is expensive as well. I only brought one paisley, and I refuse to sell it. But it's all really fun.
So as I said, Tuesday is P day. It's weird that it's been a week. Half of me says how on earth has it only been ONE week, but the other half is saying, I'm pretty sure we got here 2 days ago. I guess Im confused.
The food here has been great. Super diversified. I've eaten beans, rice, tortillas, eggs, chicken, beef, gyros, and a lot else. Beans for breakfast, french toast for dinner, lasagna for lunch. That plus the fact that the windows here are super tinted means I'm always confused on the time. After about 11 in the morning, it looks like the sun is about to set. And the sun does set at like 6:30, so I'm a little lost in time for the most part.
I got here with almost 30 other missionaries, and I think 8 of us are going to SPSE [San Pedro Sula East]. We are an awesome group. I feel so busy 24/7. I have like 12 hours of class every day, plus eating sports and personal study. It's been insane. The president here is great--Presidente Cox. He's smart, spiritual, and really funny.
The temple today was PERFECT! I loved every second. It was in English, so I knew what was happening. And I got a new video! It looked SUPER old, and Satan was an old man. Hope that is identifying enough.
The blend of gospel, training, and Spanish here is filling my brain to the max, every day. If you're not paying super good attention, you're missing stuff. But I try my best, and I'm already seeing a change. The Latinos here are really funny. They make fun of English by speaking in a horrible accent. It's great. One of them, Elder Greenwich, is the most inspiring person here. He lived with his grandparents in Brazil. They told him a mission is a waste of time and money, and that he was forbidden to go. So he snuck out, and worked his way for several weeks to other family. There he got his mission call, and found his way to the CCM. He's never been to the temple and only owns 2 sets of clothing, including garments. I gave him one of my ties, because he only had 1. I think my entire room gave him one. He's the most happy person I've ever met, and I think he must be the one the most spiritually attuned and ready of all of us.
This incredible thing happened the other day. One of the elders in my mission got pretty sick, and was struggling to keep his spirits up. Two elders from my district jumped up, and anointed him with oil and gave him a blessing. I was teaching an "investigator" so I missed most of it. But afterwards, the sisters said they were so grateful for worthy elders, and we had an awesome conversation after that. I know this building has a certain spirit. I've never felt it before, but it's strong and constant here. I feel safe and taken care of. All of my worries wash away when I feel it, so hopefully you feel it as well.
--
Elder Ben Gozart
My companion is great. I love him. He's no bueno at speaking Spanish yet, so I do most of the teaching. However we're switching that soon so he has the opportunity to teach, whether he wants to or not. We are both very happy. He's a quiet kid from Blanding, Utah. He mostly talks to me, but he's starting to open up to the rest of the district. He's funny. Hopefully he will quickly catch up to me, and we can both catch up to the district leader!
The tie trading...it's serious. It's funny that it's such a big deal. I made one trade and had fun negotiating. The oldest elders here know how to unstitch ties, and cut them out a little and sew them back up to make skinny ties. It costs one tie to have them "skinny" one for you. The skinny ties are the most valuable, and paisley is expensive as well. I only brought one paisley, and I refuse to sell it. But it's all really fun.
So as I said, Tuesday is P day. It's weird that it's been a week. Half of me says how on earth has it only been ONE week, but the other half is saying, I'm pretty sure we got here 2 days ago. I guess Im confused.
The food here has been great. Super diversified. I've eaten beans, rice, tortillas, eggs, chicken, beef, gyros, and a lot else. Beans for breakfast, french toast for dinner, lasagna for lunch. That plus the fact that the windows here are super tinted means I'm always confused on the time. After about 11 in the morning, it looks like the sun is about to set. And the sun does set at like 6:30, so I'm a little lost in time for the most part.
I got here with almost 30 other missionaries, and I think 8 of us are going to SPSE [San Pedro Sula East]. We are an awesome group. I feel so busy 24/7. I have like 12 hours of class every day, plus eating sports and personal study. It's been insane. The president here is great--Presidente Cox. He's smart, spiritual, and really funny.
The temple today was PERFECT! I loved every second. It was in English, so I knew what was happening. And I got a new video! It looked SUPER old, and Satan was an old man. Hope that is identifying enough.
The blend of gospel, training, and Spanish here is filling my brain to the max, every day. If you're not paying super good attention, you're missing stuff. But I try my best, and I'm already seeing a change. The Latinos here are really funny. They make fun of English by speaking in a horrible accent. It's great. One of them, Elder Greenwich, is the most inspiring person here. He lived with his grandparents in Brazil. They told him a mission is a waste of time and money, and that he was forbidden to go. So he snuck out, and worked his way for several weeks to other family. There he got his mission call, and found his way to the CCM. He's never been to the temple and only owns 2 sets of clothing, including garments. I gave him one of my ties, because he only had 1. I think my entire room gave him one. He's the most happy person I've ever met, and I think he must be the one the most spiritually attuned and ready of all of us.
This incredible thing happened the other day. One of the elders in my mission got pretty sick, and was struggling to keep his spirits up. Two elders from my district jumped up, and anointed him with oil and gave him a blessing. I was teaching an "investigator" so I missed most of it. But afterwards, the sisters said they were so grateful for worthy elders, and we had an awesome conversation after that. I know this building has a certain spirit. I've never felt it before, but it's strong and constant here. I feel safe and taken care of. All of my worries wash away when I feel it, so hopefully you feel it as well.
--
Elder Ben Gozart
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ReplyDeleteIt is going to be really inspiring to read Ben's emails each week. He is an amazing young man and his experience will teach us many things. I am grateful for his blog. Thanks.
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