July 2, 2012

What. A. Week.

Well...let me start off slow, and kind of sad. On Monday night, the day that I wrote the last time, we got the changes. I found out that I was leaving the area, which wasn't much of a surprise, cuz I already had a bunch of time in that area. But...on Tuesday we went and said goodbye to all of my converts, and friends in the area. I hate saying goodbye. It was especially sad when I said goodbye to the Monzon family. I just love those guys, and I really don't know what will happen to them, but they just kept telling me not to go, and tried to delay my leaving. I've never come closer to crying saying goodbye to a family than I did with them. Lots of prayers go to them.

So...anywho. On Wednesday we got to the change meeting. It was a tense one, too, cuz this was the change where the mission was being split. If you went to Mariscal, or Nimajuyu, you would be part of the South mission. No one really wanted to go, but thankfully I got saved from that fate. I was sent to one of the farthest out areas in the entire mission. It is one of the tourist capitols of Guatemala, Panajachel, Sololá!!! I was just RELIEVED to FINALLY be out of the capitol! This is the zone that I have wanted to go to since I found out I'd be coming to Guatemala like...4 years ago!!! It's an awesome area, though. Since it is so touristy, there are a TON of Gringos here! In fact, one of our next door neighbours is from Colorado! It was REALLY weird. The first day I got to the house (Which is AWESOME, by the way. It has a fireplace and a sauna...Not sure why missionaries need a sauna, but if we do...there it is!) I just heard a bunch of people speaking English! It kind of weirded me out! But...I have a feeling that I'll be speaking English a LOT this change. We'll see.

So, part of our area is called San Antonio Palopó. It is about half an hour away in the back of a pickup truck. It is a VERY weird place. Well...not so weird...but...well...let me explain. The large majority of the population speaks a native language known as Kaqchiquel (That is painfully written...sorry), Basically, it is an old Lamanite language. The large majority speak Spanish (if they speak it at all) as a second language. It was SUPER odd. We went there the first day, and we had a lesson with a family of 8 or so. Well...about half way into the lesson, a little inter family squabble came up. They just started yelling at each other in this language. Now, the weird thing is that they have a lot of words that don't exist in their language, so they just mix in Spanish words when they need to. So, I was just trying to follow this incredibly confusing conversation, understanding ever about...thirty words, not really being able to figure out what was going on. They're all just yelling about me, cuz I heard the word, "Pelirojo" mashed in there at some point...so...it was weird. Me, the gringo red head, my Ecuadorian companion, and 8 angry Lamanites yelling about the ginger kid in their room. Juuuust a crazy site. Sometimes I wish you guys could see what I see every day.

Anyways...the branch is awesome. Our Elder Quorum president is actually a gringo. He's here with his family, and they are from Utah. It's fun to have him here, but he doesn't speak Spanish much, so I play translator for him. But he's a great guy, and has a lot of desire to work here, so it's awesome. The branch has almost 300 members, but only about 80 show up for church. We're fighting to get the second building put on the chapel, so...that's what we want! I'm SUPER stoked to be here. I just LOVE little tiny branches! It's actually the first branch I've ever been in, but I LOVE it! The only problem is that on Sunday, the building is FILLED with mosquitos...gonna have to find a solution to that one.

Well...I'm happy here! I just LOVE being a missionary! We're going to work SUPER hard here, and have a TON of success!

Love you all!
Love,
Elder Hopper 2