We found out afterwards we were to NEVER eat anything off the street

EMAIL:  Saturday, August 25, 2012 10:03 AM  Guatemala MTC

Dear Family& Friends,

So this week has been really amazing. First of all, I want to thank you mom, dad, emilie, and riley and everyone else for fasting for me and nick. I received the blessing I really needed. I said last week that I am a terrible leader. That is still true, but I am a better, more organized, more effective leader than I was before, and I feel a lot better about how I am leaving the district today. I asked the district what I can do to be a better leader, and they said to use the bigger hammer! Ha ha ha. We call it the “hammer of justice”, and so I have been more decisive and assertive in sustaining the rules that our district has set. And it has been working out a lot better! I know that was a direct result of your guy}s prayers and it started Sunday night. So thank you so much for that. I know it was because of you guys that all this happened.

 

Just to let you know mom, yes I got yours and dad}s dear elders this week, and I just got letter number one from you, and Grandma Cindy{s letter with the picture of Declo two days ago. We get Dear Elders every wednesday and other letters (real letters as we call them) whenever they show up. It looks like that is a week and a half after they are sent. But yes, I have been receiving your guy}s letters, and I really appreciate all of them. I don}t get the most letters anymore, but I am still high up there. There is one missionary that hasn}t recieved any Dear Elders or Real Letters yet here in Guatemala. If you won{t mind, I think he would like to get a letter from you guys. His name is Elder Jasperson, and he is a really good guy. He{s from the LA area, and is a really cool, helpful guy.

So this week we got a new group of Nortes and Latinos. So we are viejos now. Lol. The day before, we went to the market and learned to barter and buy things. The market looked like a gutted Walmart or department store (you could see tiles on the ground) with three levels, crammed full with booths and stores. The hallways are super tiny they are so full! I bought a little hackey sack and nearly bought a sweater, but I think the price was still a little high so I decided to wait. Everyone here thinks that Nortes are loaded so they try to charge you 300 percent of what it normally costs. So we got to barter our guts out. Ha ha ha. 

During that trip, we went to the main plaza with the fountain, Guatemalan White House and The Catholic cathedral are up in Zone 1. I think it is all in my mission. but in any case, we went there, fed the pidgeons, took TONS of pictures, and this member we met bought us all ice cream. We found out afterwards we were to NEVER eat anything off the street, especially if it wasn{t wrapped up. But the ice cream was really good! Ha ha ha. Didn{t get sick from it.

 

Although, Elder Stuart was really sick this week. He was pretty much out all of Wednesday. He had a stomach ache like I did, and Sister Nicolayson told him to sleep it off. He slept like 17 hours and I brought him bananas and bread, and now he}s good as new! Ha ha ha. I think he got sick because of a curse, because I was sick the same way and both of us were sick when PANINIS were being served for dinner. So I call it the Panini curse. Ha ha ha.

 

Well, I head out in about two and a half weeks, so in about a week}s time, start sending letters to the mission home. When the old viejos left this week, they received a whole bunch of letters here at the CCM after they already left. So better safe than sorry.

 

Well, the spiritual thought for the week: This week I have been studying the Holy Ghost like crazy. Every day, I have been studying a little part of Chapter 4 of Preach my Gospel, and I have learned so much. I have been trying to apply an idea from a talk Elder Bednar gave at the MTC. He said to study the doctrine, not the applications or even the principles. These are important too, but if we first understand the doctrine in our hearts and minds, the principles and applications will follow. Applications by themselves don}t work. Gimmicky reasons phrases or explanations do not get Home Teaching done, do not convert people, or provide lasting changes. Only the doctrine can do that.  So before you start teaching the R}s of repentance or the Example of the bicycle for the atonement, make sure you understand the doctrine.  So that is what I have been doing with the Doctrine of the Holy Ghost.  I haven}t been asking, What can I do to invite the Holy Ghost, or how do I know what it feels like. Rather, I have been asking, what IS the Holy Ghost. What is his purpose. How does he communicate with mankind. What is the difference between the power and gift of the Holy Ghost, how does Prayer invite the Holy Ghost, etc... And I am starting to develop and understanding I never imagined, and I have been filled with the desire to change my thoughts, words and actions to invite the Spirit more and be guided by it more often.

 

Well, I gotta go soon. thank you so much for all the support you guys give me. I would love to hear from some friends. I love hearing about their lives. And Kylee, you will be hearing from me as soon as I get the chance to write you a letter. I can{t believe you didn}t let me know before my mom. Lol.

 

Love Elder Welker

 

 

I went proselyting for the first time!

Dear Family, Friends, Relatives, etc...             EMAIL from Guatemala MTC   8/18/12

To answer your questions mom, yes I have been getting letters from you, grandma cindy, camilla, and britney so far while I have been here.

I will be leaving in about three weeks from this Tuesday for the mission field.

Never heard anything about Permetherin yet. We haven}t really had any health training, but I think we are getting a lecture tomorrow about that stuff. We are going to become the Viejos of the CCM, and so we will be getting more and more instruction about the field in the comming weeks.

I am getting along fine with Elder Stuart. Our teacher, Hermano Vasquez has said that we teach with really good unity and we make a great team. So I guess that speaks for itself! Ha ha ha. We like to toss around a hackey-sack that I bought at the weekly store, and we try to have as much fun as we can, while striving to stay on topic as well.  He is a great guy!

I think I am a terrible district leader. Ha ha ha. But seriously. It almost seems impossible for me to find the balance to helping others stay on task, and yet at the same time not come across as annoying. I could be a better example myself, and I feel that overall, I am somehow missing something really important. I talked to President Nicolayson about it, and he said that sometimes the best leaders don{t get chosen, and that this must be my time to learn, to gain experience, and to learn to love others. I guess I just need to learn to love more. He shared with me his philosophy, 'Why use a sledgehammer when a tac hammer would work just fine.' Sometimes, I feel that the tac hammer doesn{t really work, but I don{t think upgrading the hammer will necessarily be the best. I have one week left, and I really hope I figure something out by then.

We have been getting thunderstorms, and they are AWESOME!!!! Just yesterday, we had the thickest rain that I think I{ve ever seen, and it was so cool. Some missionaries from my district went out in it, and they said it was like a shower, and that the rain came in sheets! Super cool stuff. Don{t worry, the rain comes every day, the thunder weekly, but it never actually touches us here in the CCM. Except at Gym, and then it{s awesome!!!!

Some other cool things about my life here:

I discovered that I will most likely be speaking Quechi rather than Quiche on my mission, so I bought a Quechi Book of Mormon and have been trying to study and translate it. I got a few words: yuwa=father laj=of li/lix = book, stuff like that!

What else? Ummm, oh!! I went proselyting for the first time this last Monday! And it was so much fun!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously! We went around in a part of Guatemala City, Elder Stuart, Elder Rodriguez, and I, and went around inviting others to learn more about the gospel. Most everyone we met was really friendly, and if they didn{t want to take a moment to listen to our message at first, they would when we said it would only be about five minutes of their time. They ALL love Jesus Christ here. I think everyone we asked all said that they believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. Most wanted to learn more about us. There was one lady in particular that didn{t, and she exclaimed, Oh no, you guys worship Joseph Smith, and don{t believe in the Bible. Well, we obviously replied that these statements were not true, but she still didn{t want to hear from us. So we kindly left her and kept going.

From that experience, I learned that the most important thing about being a missionary is being enthusiastic about the work, and being animated about our message, because it is important!!!! I got along pretty well with my Spanish, so I did a lot of the talking. Elder Rodriguez was a big help though!

I want you to know that despite all the challenges I am having out here, I am seriously having a great time. I love it here, and I wouldn}t rather be anywhere else, with any other challenges. I am learning in ways that I never really understood before, and I feel great!

Well, I gotta go, but first send me on Dear Elder my friends addresses. Amber, Lacey, Alyssa, etc....

Gotta go, love you°

Elder Welker

John 4:7 "Let us love one another..."

Dear Family, loved ones, Reinaldo, and Nick,         EMAIL 8/11/12

I am having a great time here, and I have really enjoyed reading all of your letters. Unfortunately however, here in the CCM, they don{t allow us to print off our letters and read them later, so they cut into my writing time. For the time being, until I can print letters in the field, please Dear Elder me, or send me handwriten letters.

I only have about twenty more minutes to write.

Ha ha ha. So yeah. Things going on this week.

I got sick for the first time this week. (yay). It was a stomach thing. But I went and talked to Sister Nicolayson about it, and she told me to go lie down and drink some pepto bismal. So I did, took a four hour nap, and I felt fine afterwards! Seriously, it was really cool. Today I have a sore throat. I guess I saw that coming though. About half of my district is sick and it is spreading like wildfire here, so I tried to initiate a no shaking hands rule. Hopefully, that will slow down the rate that we get sick!

What else, what else? OH! I went into the Guatemalan City Temple on Thursday! That was a really cool experience. It is smaller than most temples in Utah, but its architecture is really unique. There were about 32 missionaries there, and the temple could barely accomadate us. (There were other youth groups there and stuff, but we were the largest group by far.). I am pretty sure that they usually expect about ten, to thirty people to be in the temple at a time. Ha ha ha.

While I was at the temple, I was talking to this youth group leader about the ruins up in Northern Guatemala (Peten area), and he said that many tour guides like to say that Tikal is the ancient Nephite city Ammonihah. Pretty interesting huh? I asked my Guatemalan teacher here about it, he confirmed the belief, and said that Zarahemla and Bountiful are believed to be in the southern part of Mexico about Guatemala, and that the Guatemala City area could very well be part of the wilderness that seperated the Nephites and the Lamanites. I guess this means I will be teaching in the Nephite land. North are Nephites, south are Lamanites.

Every day I have been trying to memorize scriptures in Spanish. One of my favorites recently is 1 John 4:7 through 9. (7 Beloved, let us ^alove one another: for ^blove is of God; and every one that loveth is ^cborn of God, and knoweth God.  8 He that loveth not ^aknoweth not God; for God is love.

9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might ^alive through him.)  It is really applicable to my situation right now, and I am trying to learn from it as much as I can.

Ten minutes left....what else?

I talked to one of my teachers about seeing if there would be someone here that would be willing to help teach me Quechi while I am here in the CCM. He said that none of the teachers here speak Quechi (Kekchi), but that he would try to get me a Book of Mormon in the language. Hopefully, by our next Temple Day on Thursday, I can swing by the Distribution Center and pick one up. Then I can start practicing.

Thanks to Camilla Unrau and Britney Madsen who sent me letters. I got them this week, and responses should be there in about a week and a half.

Recently, I think I have been really struggling with patience. I just can{t seem to wait very long before I get annoyed and impatient. It is something that I was blessed with in my setting apart, but I don{t seem to have it quite yet. I guess I just need to practice, and I guess that means I will get a lot of chances to practice. Ha ha ha.

Our practice investigators aren{t progressing. Neither has read the Book of Mormon after three lessons. It is really difficult to progress when they flat out won{t even read the first page. Ha ha ha. I will get my first tracting experience this Monday. I will go with a Naitive companion, and we will preach the gospel.

Five minutes left. Ummmmmmmm...... I just want to let all of you know that I love you all and love getting your letters. They mean the world to me. Two minutes left, they are sticklers here at the CCM. Ummmmmmmm. Just remember that I love all of you, and that I will start sending pictures probably starting sometime in September. The weather here is perfect, and I just want to be outside all of the time.

One minute. I gotta go. Plllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssseeeeeeeeeeeeee send REAL letters or Dear Elders, I get to much love over Emails, and I can{t read them all.

Love you all, write you guys next week,

Elder Welker

Because I "spokah the Spanish", he trusted me!

Dear Family,     EMAIL 8/4/12     GUATEMALA MTC

     I love it here! Seriously, this place is the greatest! My companion, Elder Stuart is a really cool guy, really obedient, and funny, so I think that we are going to get along just fine. Also, I am really really REALLY enjoying the food here. It isn{t quite rice and beans like I thought. So far we have had things like Carne Asada, Pork, Trout, and all of these different, delicious kinds of food. The only rule there is that you HAVE to eat anything you take. Not usually a problem for me though. ;) Ha ha ha. And the fruit! OH!!!! The fruit is delicious!!!!! If you have only eaten fruit from the US, you don't know how fruit is supposed to taste. I don{t know if I will ever get used to the fruit back at home after this. Their watermelon is more melon than water, their piñas are so juicy and sweet, and their juices (every kind of fruit juice you could think of) is the sweetest, most flavorful juice I have ever tasted. What else? What else? Ummm.... OH! And their guacamole! It is insanely good! I have met some of the cooks and I always compliment them on jobs well done. Some of their names are Diego, Ruiz, Gloria, and I forget the name of the last one I met. Gotta figure that out.

     So in any case, side note, I don{t have an Enter key and the { thing is supposed to be ', but it takes to long to remember where' is. My district is cool. Everyone seems to get along and have fun. I have the most experience with Spanish though. Most of the other Elders (and Sisters) have only had about three weeks or a year of Spanish. So I get the opportunity to help a lot of the time. And now, I have a responsiblity to help them, because I have been called to be the District leader. It{s quite a big responsibility, but I actually kind of look forward to it. Not really to boost my own self esteem, but the class often has a hard time focusing, and it is sometimes left up to me and Elder Martinez (he is also in my new district) to kind of herd everyone together and get them moving. I kind of felt a little like the unofficial leader. Hopefully, now that this call is extended, I can get a little more help with leading the group. I am a little scared of the call. I haven{t been in a leadership postition in a long time. Just FHE Father at BYU, but that job I didn{t have to be in charge every moment of the day. The president of the MTC (Pres Nicolayson) has stressed the importance it is that I become the most obedient, the most enthusiastic, the most loving, the most focused,and the most dilligent in my group. No pressure there right?  I told him that I would do my best, but right after he said, 'No, you{ll do better.' I really hope so.  I am going to need the spirit more now than ever to look out for the members of my district. Personally, I am a terrible leader. But with the Lord, nothing is impossible...right? The President also stressed that I ought to bring my district towards the right direction, not push or force them, so I really need to learn to have more Charity and patience.

     The members of my district are me, elders stuart, oveson??? hendersen, Martinez, Willie, Yates, Jacobsen, Russell and one more whose name escapes me, and Hermanas Dansie and Fallond??? I really got to learn all of their names. While here, I have also made a lot of Latino friends too! Elders Ruiz, de Leon, Arboleda, and some others have been really cool to me, and have helped me with Spanish as I help them with English. So everyone wins!!!! Ha ha ha.

     Yeah, about eight minutes left. What else to say, what else to say??? Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. OH! the Temple!!!! the Temple is amazing here. It is a little grayer and surrounded by buildings than the old pictures show, but I can see it all the time, and I think it is beautiful. Also I really enjoy P.E. time. We still play volleyball, except, now it is over concrete. Ha ha ha. Don{t worry, no injuries...yet.....and what else to say?

     Oh! Nick, if you get this email, I got a letter from Elder Pierce. He came to the temple the day before I got here, and it is kind of a bummer because even though I am in his mission, he can{t come visit me. Bummer.

     One last story before I go. When I was on the 930 pm plane headed for LAX (my flight to Texas got delayed and we needed a new one), I was looking for a spot to put my carry on away, so I handed my bag and waterbottle and my copy of our search for happiness to a man sitting next to my seat. When I returned, and after we took off, I tried to talk to him in English, but he only spoke Spanish. So I asked him the same question in Spanish, and because I "spokah the Spanish", he trusted me! Ha ha ha. We talked for a little while on the plane. He learned why I am going on a mission, and I learned that he is a semi prof soccer player from Mexico, a teacher, and loves movies. He said he wanted a family, and we started sharing pictures of our family, and Tana, Joe, and Grace's cards on the plane. It was so much fun, and he really had a good time.

     Gotta go now. I love you ALL SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!!!!

Love Elder Welker

I'm already in love with the people, the culture, the food, the city, the weather, and hopefully later, the jungle.

Dear Family, 8/1/12 EMAIL from the Guatemala MTC

I am here, this keyboard is weird and I only have ten
minutes to write you guys so excuse the mistakes and the block
paragraph. I am safe in Guatemala, and it is way cool here!
Seriously, we got off the plane, and made it through customs super
easy, and everything here is so green. The landscape is beautiful,
the architecture and the materials they use for walls (like corrugated
iron plates) is actually really interesting and gives the city a cool
character. The food here is amazing. Breakfast included eggs,
platanas fritas, a tortilla with a sauce of some kind, a roll, banana
bread (with banana chunks in it) and oatmeal. Not to mention the
juice and the fruit. THE FRUIT IS SO DELICIOUS. It puts our Estados
Unidos fruita to shame! The watermelon and strawberries were so rich
it was delicious! My compañero is Elder Stuart (como Aunt Doni). He
seems like a good guy so far. The facility here is super nice. The
bathrooms are better than the Provo MTC, as are the rooms. And the
kitchen. Because we got in around five thirty this morning and only
slept like three hours, they let us take a small nap, shower, get
ready, and we are already back to work starting at ten. I am sooooo
excited to be here, it is amazing. I am already in love with the
people, the culture, the food, the city, the weather, and hopefully
later, the jungle. Can't drink the water though. There are hand
sanitizers everywhere and extra water to drink and brush teeth. Gotta
go, I love you all so much, and don't worry about me, everything will
be great!

Love, Elder Taylor Max Welker