week 60

Hey! So changes happened! It was pretty hard to say bye to Elder Smart, I would be lying if I said no tears were shed haha. 

Looks like Elder Nelson is going to come be my companion, which is pretty funny because he is my brother in the mission (Elder Helton trained both of us.) I have one or two more changes than him. He is from Canada, and is a really good missionary. He came in the mission speaking Spanish and English, and I hear that he knows really, really good Kekchi, he learned in the MTC. So it should be a good change or two with him! He will get here tomorrow if I remember right. Sadly like all of my close friends from the old days got sent out of the Polochic so that was a bummer. They are getting sent to Peten. There are a lot of new Kekchi speakers coming, like five new ones I think. Thankfully Elder Bos is still in the area right next to mine, so I will still see him all the time which will be great. We might do divisions here in a few weeks in honor of his birthday actually.

This week was kind of unproductive because I got sick. I counted and I think I am on like week 27 of the same parasites. Then I got this cold or something that plugged me up, which gave me a nice headache, which was fun. But I think I am getting over it! I feel like sometimes the mission is just kind of a long trial but that is how we grow so it is ok. Pretty much the only way I have made it this far is with the Savior helping and strengthening me. 

We gave baptism interviews in Yalijux this week. We rode on top of a truck which was super fun and kind of sketchy. 

It was like four hours away. It is the farthest area up, the highest area in the Polochic, and the coldest. It is pretty awesome up there, but by the time we arrived it was too dark to take pictures. We did one interview and then we walked back to Semarac in the pitch dark through the mountains. Elder Smart described a horror movie he had seen so I got scared haha. We were walking for like three hours roughly before we made it, it was kind of exhausting. I was already sick so I think that made it worse.

We weren't able to baptize last week because the little girl, Maria, didn't show up to her interview or church. Fidel and Tecla didn't show up either...and neither did the Paulinas...so it was not a good week in way of success. I don't know what to think, none of them show up to church, they technically could all be baptized this week, but they only commitment they are keeping is agreeing to being baptized.

This email sounds really depressing when I go back and read it, I swear the week wasn't that bad! We still had some good lessons and stuff so no problem! 

I am with Elder McEntee in La Tinta, where I will probably sleep. We don't have too much planned for today. I will be going back to Coban next week for Consilio (leadership training) so that will be good. I already have like three divisions planned, so we will see what Elder Nelson says.

My spiritual thought this week is about the Book of Mormon. I know it is the word of God. Along with the Bible, it is a testimony of Jesus Christ. It is really important to get a testimony of, because if we know the Book of Mormon is true, then we know Joseph Smith was a Prophet, which means prophets are on the earth, which means every revelation in our Church today is from God. So read the Book of Mormon, and keep reading it. It is a good read!

I love all of you, have a good week!

Love, Elder Toolson