Monday, August 9, 2010

A Week Outside My Area...‏

Hey Family!

I love you all. It was great to hear from Dad about all the fun stuff that everyone is involved in and how summer is winding down. You all know what THAT means, right?! That means that next summer...I`ll be HOME! hahaha Just kidding, I`m not thinking about that...too much. =P

This week was really quite uneventful for me. I spent almost the entire week outside of my area in divisions with another elder. Elder Glenn is assigned to the area in my zone called Racanà and they had a pair of investigators that had to get married before they could get baptized. So, I was put in charge of getting the legal paperwork in line for the wedding and making sure that the pair was ready for baptism. It was interesting for me because it was the first time that I`ve had a reason to deal with the bureaucracy of Guatemala personal identification systems. We had all the papers that we needed when we went in, so it was actually pretty slick. However, the problem in Guatemala is that hardly anyone keeps good track of their records or even their own identities. So it COULD have been really tough...but it wasn`t. So I spent the week over there, teaching, walking, and waiting for the wedding and baptism to be over. Another stumbling block was that the pair does not speak Spanish, so we had to have a member translate for us all the time. It was fun though, a good experience.

While I was gone, Elder Kahawaii and Elder Glann`s companion, Elder Amaya, were working really hard here in my area. They had a TON of contacts and our investigator pool is getting a little deeper. That was all good, but I still feel like I missed out a little on the fun part of the week and don`t know much about who our new investigators are. Oh well, I`ll figure it out as I go.

The big event of this last week happened last night. During our daily planning session, Elder Kahawaii and I basically had a very long, very sincere talk between companions about what we haven`t been doing right and what we a lacking as a companionship. This whole change with him I`ve felt a huge gap in our communication and it`s effected me very much, so last night I just laid all my thoughts and feelings on the table. We worked through almost everything very smoothly and I did my very best to be teachable and open. I learned many things that I`m not doing exactly right and, as a result, that I was setting a not-so-good example for the missionaries in my zone. I now know what I have to do better and what I need to change to be a truly effective zone leader and a better companion for Elder Kahawaii. He shared with me the fact that he feels that he would really love to become good friends and see each other after the mission, knowing that we made each other better missionaries and better people. I would really love my family to one day meet Elder Kahawaii, he`s a great man and a very focused and effective missionary.

Tomorrow our zone might have interviews with President Lorenzana. I`m really looking forward to that for two reasons. One, I really want mail and the packages from Mom that have been waiting to get to me for a LONG time now. And two, so that i can speak to President about many of my thoughts and feelings and ask for his help on many subjects. I`m also planning on asking President Lorenzana to keep me and Elder Kahawaii together at least one more change. I still have much to learn from him before I`m eligible for a different area, companion, or assignment, so I`m asking the Lord for more time. Apparently, in Xela Mission, the mission president actually respects missionaries requests and helps them progress in the ways that they believe they must.

Alright, so I have a lot of hope and goals for this, the last week of this change. I have 5 changes left after this week. My time is rather quickly coming to an end. I think of you often, but I don`t allow myself to miss you too much. I`m here to work until I`m sent home with Honor. I`ll make you all proud.

This week be sure that you all say your personal prayers, that you study your scriptures at least 5 minutes every day, and that you constantly seek to better yourselves for your families and for your Lord.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. Yes, the festival here in Momos is finally over and the streets are finally open and uncongested again. We can finally get to work like we want to without the bother of pushing through crowds of strangers and market vendors.

P.P.S. Yes, I`ve been able to use my DVD player and it`s very useful. This week we`ll use it in the outer villages so we can generate interest in the Church. I expect to have wonderful things to report next week. =P

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