Elder Preston William Tucker

Last E-mail on the Mission.

2011-02-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Family!

WOW! Sounds like almost EVERYBODY had a very intense week this week! hahaha Mine was awesome, but it almost sounds like everyone else was stressin way bad. I hope that after you get this email that everyone can just take a deep breath, realize that I´m coming home on Thursday, realize that I am very aware of everyone and their desires to have personal time with me, realize that I am defiantly NOT the Preston William Tucker that left on his mission two years ago, realize that the "new" me is very improved and much more mature, and just exhale and be at peace. hahaha It seems to me that everyone is stressing out, but there´s almost absolutely no reason to. Yes, I´m coming home this week. Yes, our schedule will be intense and I will have to manage my time well and not be selfish. Yes, a lot of things in our family and our lives are going to change soon. BUT, it´s going to be OK! haha Everything will be fine. It will all go smoothly and everyone will be satisfied. And if someone ISN´T satisfied, all you gotta do is tell me and I´ll make sure I do better on my part. Okay? Get it? Got it? Good! =) I love you all, and as long as we all can just chill out a little, everything will be absolutely wonderful!

Okay, this week was intense and wonderful and FULL of memories that will last a lifetime. On Monday night we were told about a special conference that President Lorenzana wanted to have with the two zones of Huehuetenango and the zone of the city of Totonicapan. It was planned quickly, but thoroughly, and it was an incredible experience. President rented a place in Xela called "El Rancho" for 2 days and 60 missionaries. We all brought regular clothes to relax in and clothes for sports. We also brought blankets and pillows to be able to sleep there, in the outdoors. We were basically as close o "camping out" as possible in the mission field here in Guate. On Tuesday we all went down to Xela after our meetings and we stayed in a hotel for the night. FYI It takes a while to get from Huehue to Xela. On Wednesday, my 21st Birthday, we went to "El Rancho" and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to me and one of the Assistants that was turning 24 as well. After that we were all separated into teams and given colored shirts with team names for the two day conference. My team was "Companía Hinckley" and our shirt is bright orange. I think it immediately became my favorite shirt. =) We then picked team captains and started competing in sports events to earn points for our team. I was selected as our team captain and the first event, from cold start, was wind sprints! haha I had to run the sprints and pick up the members of my team to run with me. haha Needless to say, I was not prepared for that, and ended up throwing up after that event. haha It was awesome. It´s okay though, it let me know that I gave my all for my team. Anyways, after that we had a few more events, and then a couple of hours of conference given by President. I have awesome notes on all of his conference sections and I´ll tell you all more about it once I´m home. It was INCREDIBLE! So that was the pattern of our two days: sports, conference, food, sports, conference, food, and then sleep. Unfortunately, my team didn´t win any events, but we still had an AWESOME time and gave it our all. That night, President had four huge cakes brought in and we celebrated my birthday all together. It was incredible. The next day we woke up and climbed a mountain to have a devotional led by the Assistants, which was also excellent. After that, more sports, more conference, Sister Lorenzana taught us all how to take good care of our bodies and how to cook good meals. And then, we closed the conference with another short conference section by President Lorenzana. During this entire time I had the opportunity to talk a little to President personally, and thank him for my best birthday yet. He then told me a few things about our personal relationship, the "why" of my recent changes in the last few weeks, and then reassured me once again that I am ready to go home and I have earned my Honor. My 21st birthday was the best I could have asked for here in the mission and I will never forget it.

Tomorrow I will have my last interview with President, and I believe at the same time I will renew my Temple Recommend with him. On Wednesday it´s possible that I will get to go to my last Mission Conference, and then head in bus to the Capital. I will stay at the CCM for the night, and the Thursday morning I will get on a plane, homeward bound.

I love you. Thank you for preparing so much for my Homecoming. I´m very excited to get home and thank you for everything you have done for me over these two years. I will miss Guatemala. I will miss the Mission. I will miss the people I have served. I will miss my companions. I will miss the spiritual high...and I will miss President Lorenzana. But I am ready to come home. Get ready...cuz here I come! =D

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Second to Last Email

2011-01-24T13:10:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Family!

I have to apologize from the beginning of this email because I suspect that it´s going to have to be short. I also apologize if I have a lot of misspelled words in here...the keyboard of this computer is old and doesn’t type as well as I´d like it to. It sounds like everyone is getting super excited about my Homecoming...and I am too. This week was wonderful and I had the chance to work every day in the field and have a great time with my companions. On Wednesday I received my final change. I was sent to a new area with a new companion. My area is called Las Flores and it´s in a Zone called Zaculeu. This area is right in the middle of the city of Huehuetenango, one place that I hadn´t gotten to see in my entire mission, but had many desires to get to know before I left Guatemala. It´s a big, beautiful city in the rolling hills of northern Guate. It´s considered a border city as it has a large highway that runs right through the middle of it, and is very close to the southern Mexican border. It´s very beautiful here and the culture is a little different than that of the rest of the Xela Mission. I feel almost like I´m back in the capital city again with all the busy streets and busy people. It brings back wonderful memories of the beginning of my mission. This area is home to a ward of about 130 members and yesterday we had Stake conference. It was refreshing to finally see a chapel, it´s overflows, the cultural hall, and several other rooms full of members there to receive the Word. There was probably well over 1000 members there, and there was a lot of talk about the possibility that the stake will be turning in application papers for a 3rd Stake here in the city of Huehue. (pronounced "way-way") It´s was very exciting and President Lorenzana was there and gave a wonderful talk about renewing and keeping our faith strong. My new companion for the next week and a half is Elder Zimmerman. He is t19 years old, from Draper, Utah, and has about 6 months in the mission. His Spanish is wonderful, he is a hard worker and very obedient. I love and enjoy my time with him. It´s really a shame that I couldn´t have been here, with him long before now...we would have done a LOT of good work together. As things are right now, we had no positive investigators, but we´ve been contacting a lot, serving, and working hard to find new people to teach. We have a couple promising contacts and keep our energy up as we continue to work. I´m really trying hard to keep my head up. working hard, and continue learning and teaching those around me. I truly have come to love and enjoy every aspect of the mission, even though it´s never been exactly the way that I imagined it would be.

I wanted to share my most spiritual experience of the week with you before I have to go. On Wednesday, we received our emergency changes (not just me, a LOT of elders were changed around in preparation for a big push to purify the mission and lift its level to where it needs to be.) On the bus ride from Xela to Huehue (about 3 hours long in bus) I sat in the front seat to enjoy the ride. To my surprise, the man that sat next to me was a member and we had a good time talking about all the different parts of Guate that I´ve come to know and love throughout these two years. However, the source of this spiritual experience was the young man sitting behind me on the bus. Before we left the terminal, he casually asked me to translate a text message that he had received from a friend, as it was written in English. I translated it for him and began to talk to him about normal things, just shooting the breeze. Eventually he asked who I was and why I was wearing a white shirt. I began the explanation of my missionary status and my two years here in Guate, a story that I´ve become very good at telling. haha Eventually I saw the opportunity and I began to teach this young man, David Carreto, about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He was extremely receptive and had all the right doubts and questions. Honestly, he was the golden investigators, the best of the best, and I just drank it all in. I was teaching him alone, but the member beside me was helping me to hold my Scriptures and hand me all my "tools of the trade" as I worked through the lesson´s principles. It was incredible. I loved it! Eventually we got the Joseph Smith´s story and he related perfectly with it. I taught him about the Book of Mormon and he ate it all up. I gave him a copy, with a pamphlet of the Restoration, and all my contact information. Then I started in on the commitments. I committed him to pray and ask if the Church is true...he accepted. I committed him to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know if it was true as well and is Joseph Smith is a prophet of God...he accepted with energy. And then I asked him, if he came to know though prayer and the Spirit of the Lord that these things were true, would he follow the example of Jesus Christ as be baptized by someone holding the Priesthood authority of God...he ACCEPTED! It was wonderful. Unfortunately, he lives in the coast in a place called Coatepeque. I´m going to pass the reference off to President Lorenzana and he has promised to call the Stake President of Coatepeque personally to make sure this man gets his chance to be baptized. I just share this story because it´s the perfect example of the success that the Lord promises his servants if they will obey him. Obviously I won’t be the one to baptize David, but honestly, I don´t care, because I know that someone WILL do the deed. I love finding the Chosen People of the Lord...it´s what the mission is all about.

Well, I’ve run out of time and I´ve got to run. Today I might get to go see another Mayan ruin here in Huehue, and if I do, I´ll take tons of pictures to share in a week and half. I´m very excited to turn 21, everyone knows I´ve been waiting my whole life for that day. I can´t wait to celebrate it with you all, my Family, once I´m home. I can´t wait to see all of your beautiful faces, hug you once again, and tell you that I love you. It´s coming soon. Until then I´m gunna work, and be obedient, and enjoy every minute until it´s over and I walk off the plane.

Love Always,
-Preston William Tucker

Good Emails = Happy Missionary!‏

2011-01-17T22:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

I love you all to the Moon and back 17,000 times! =) Oh man, this week has been extremely full of a LOT of events for all of us, and I can imagine that we`re all ready for a calm week to settle back into our grooves and get ready for coming events (a.k.a My Homecoming! ;P)! Personally, I have been changed out of my area in Momostenango, had a wonderful interview with President Lorenzana, I`ve been put with a pair of Zone Leaders and their (now, here in Xela Mission, most of the ZL`s have younger companions as well as work with the other ZL on zone business) since last Thursday, I`ve enjoyed being obedient to the mission rules and the Gospel Commandments, and this week I think I`ll receive a new companion and a new area to finish my mission. Crazy huh? Well, it`s all due to some very strange and very sudden events that have happened in the Xela Mission as a whole, and my mission individually. I`ll tell you all about the reasons for "why?" once I`m home, so don`t worry about it right now. Just know that I`m clean, I`m happy, and I`m enjoying the blessings of obedience to the Lord`s will. Oh, I`m also having a great time in my Scripture study and have been learning a lot of about Church doctrine lately. I think besides reading all my favorite books once I`m home, I`ll want to start a section of my hardback collection with Church books. Ya know, Doctrine of Salvation, Mormon Doctrine, books on the Atonement, and modern studies of the Standard Works. I`m getting really interested in getting to know as much as I possibly can about the Church and the True Gospel Doctrine. Just a hp, I guess, that as soon as I get home, I`ll start studying to be able to blow you all out of the water with DEEP doctrine. hahaha Just kidding, that`s not my purpose. I know you all think I`m weird for thinking this, but I think it`s just plain fun to learn it all. =) Yes, Mom, my BS file is about to get a LOT bigger. ;)

Well, this week I`ve had the opportunity to be around many different types of missionaries. I`ve been around disobedient missionaries, obedient missionaries, old missionaries (with regards to time in the mission field), and very young missionaries. I`ve even met a couple missionaries from Tremonton! =) Oh man, it`s been a fun week for me. As I haven`t really been in an area that I can call "mine" I don`t have much news about investigators or the work, but I have a lot to say about what the mission means to me.

My best moments this week have been spent with an Elder from Idaho by the name of Eric Larson. He is finishing his mission this change too and we have had a lot of fun talking about all the wonderful things that we miss about home, all of which we will be able to enjoy in about 17 days time. On the other hand, we have also spent a lot of time talking about the good times in the mission that we have grown and learned from, all those wonderful Gospel principles that we`ve studied and tried to apply in our lives and the lives of others. Elder Larson has not baptized very much in his two years, just like me, but both of us have had WONDERFUL experiences getting to know and love and serve the Guatemalan people, getting to know our own selves, and getting to know the Lord Jesus Christ. It`s been wonderful for me to think back on all of the beautiful experiences of my last two years of life, and thank Heavenly Father for everything that we have ALL learned as a result. I am happy to be coming home, but I am also happy and grateful for the time I was given here. It was all truly a gift, from my Father to Me. I can only hope that all those lessons that I`ve learned and taught in the last two years will stick with me and that I will continue to serve Him throughout the time I have on this Earth. Also, I`ve reviewed my actions over the last two years and I`ve compared them with the news that you all pass me each week through email, and I noticed a district correlation between when I was being sensitive to the Spirit of the Lord and when I was heeding to the wrong spirit as well. This week is a perfect example of that correlation. Last week it seemed like everything was falling apart...and to be honest it was because I wasn`t obeying the voice and will of the Lord at that time. THIS week, however, according to the wonderful, uplifting emails that Dad and Whitney sent, according to my obedience to the Lord`s will...I and my family were immediately blessed. Yes, Dad is still looking for a better job situation. Yes, Mom may be a little stressed with school and preparing for the new semester. Yes, Whitney is still getting teased and picked on because of the infinite and UNDYING love that we share for each other. ;P But, everything just seems to get better as I choose to be obedient (and as we ALL choose to be obedient TOGETHER) and follow the Lord`s plan rather than my own. I guess what I`m saying is that I`m beginning to really taste and notice that all blessing truly ARE predicated on our obedience to the will of the Father and His Gospel Plan.

Family, I love you. I can`t wait to see you all again. It`ll be an incredible day for me and I`m sure that I`ll never forget it. I want to thank you all for all the support, love, and prayers that you`ve given me over these last two years. I can`t describe to you how good I feel when I think of my family and how blessed I was to be chosen to come to you. I hope, once I`m home, that you all will allow me to love, and serve, and maybe even teach you as I have these Guatemalan people. Because that is now my life...and I dont really want that to change. I will listen and understand you. I will counsel and serve you. And I will love you...until the end of Forever! ;)

Love ALWAYS,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. The Elder that I met from Tremonton, his name is Elder Seederholm and he graduated with Katie Howard. On Friday, him and I spent about a hour talking about how much we love Tremonton, Fielding, and Garland and all the awesome, epic memories we have there. While we talked, I was reminded of several things that I want to eat and enjoy once I`m home. One thing that I want to ask Grandma Welling to make is her homemade bread with butter and raspberry and strawberry jam. Another thing, a junk food item that I want on Saturday with the potsticker dinner, is Pizza Plus breadsticks! =) Just two suggestions that, when we thought about them, made me crave them super bad. Let Grandma know, please? Also, Mom and Dad...very soon after I get home, we all need to go to the Pie Dump and get some hotrolls!!! Then I got to take some pictures with them and send them to Elder Seederholm. Okay? Okay! =) haha I love you and I hope you`re all game for those three suggestions, cuz I want em! =)

Uneventful Week

2011-01-10T09:29:00.000-08:00

Hey Family,

This week I`ve been missing my last area pretty bad because there a lot would happen every week and I would have plenty to write about on Mondays, but here in Tierra Blanca every day is much of the same. It`s okay though, I just keep myself focused on the fact that my time is running out quickly and that I just need to work hard and study my best until I`m released. Three more weeks...okay, my baggy moment in this email is over, now I can talk about the good stuff.

I was really happy to hear that our family is going through a little bit of rough times right now because recently I`ve heard a new phrase that I really like. The phrase goes more or less like this: "Heavenly Father never sends big trials and challenges to the weak, only to the strong." He does this because He knows that we have the ability to endure and come out on top. He does this to make us stronger. He sends small, trivial challenges to His children when he knows that they are weak and cannot handle the big challenges yet. He sends to BIG stuff to His children when he knows that they`re ready to grow and learn and become even stronger than they were before. In my case, I think the Lord put me in my current area for my last change NOT to make me baggy, or to make it hard for me not to think of home, but to help my patience grow even more and to help me spend time reflecting on and relearning ALL the wonderful lessons that He has taught me over two years through the Scriptures, my companions, my Presidents, and the people I have served. We receive trials to make us stronger, but we NEVER receive trials that we cannot overcome. That`s the lesson that I`ve learned this week. I hope it helps some of you to look at your/our situation with new perspective and give it all you`ve got to come out on top. I know it`s hard. I know it`s not fun. But I also know that the rewards that await us are worth every second of effort that we spend in consulting the Lord and doing His will.

The only news that I have from my area is that we`re teaching a 18 year old girl that is the only child of a less active family that hasn`t been baptized. She wasn`t baptized with her family because she had been baptized in another church as a baby and didn`t want to offend God. We`re teaching her the Gospel on a very simple level and we`re preparing her to be baptized on the 29th of January, my last Saturday in the mission.

I love you all. I think about you often and pray for you constantly. Help me and my prayers to have an effect in your lives. Listen to the Spirit of the Lord, NOT the spirit of Satan. Be strong. The Lord and I have faith in you. Remember that we love you and that I`ll be home soon to listen, teach, love, and serve you once again.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Happy New Year!

2011-01-03T15:44:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year Family!

2011 has finally come! Holy cow...I never thought that this moment would come. I never believed that I would finally be counting down the time until I´m home in a matter of a few days rather than in a few months. But the time has finally come. Here in the mission, missionaries are now calling the year that they spend completely in the mission field (from January 1st to December 31st) the "Black Year." I have finally completed my black year and it went by so fast. MUCH faster than I ever imagined it would. I´ve seen good times and bad, but mostly they´ve been VERY very good! I´ve become truly converted to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and have finally learned the grand lesson of putting the Atonement of Christ in effect in my daily life. The amount of goals and ambitions that I have accomplished and obtained this year astounds me. Some missionaries say that living the two years in the mission is like living 20 years of normal life all at once. I feel like they may be right. I wont lie, yes, i feel tired and ready to come home, but I also feel a little nervous to leave behind the world that has become my life and reenter the "real world." However, my nerves never have the chance to turn into fears because I know that I have a wonderful, strong, loving family that is waiting to receive me with love and joy. I´ll walk off the plane without fear, knowing that I´m not leaving one battle field for another, but knowing that I´m leaving the mission field for the paradise of my own home. However, I still have 4 weeks to make a little more difference here in Guatemala, and I intend to do my very best to love, serve, and if it be the Lord´s will, baptize.

Things here in the branch of Tierra Blanca are not in a great position for immediate growth. As with many of my previous areas, this branch has been beaten down by Satan and the lack of hope and true conversion. However, I´ve become a much more able servant of the Lord to deal with that type of challenge and I know that my companion and I will be able to do several wondrous works before I must leave it all in Guatemala and come home. We´ve met a lot of the branch´s active members, although we still dont know very well exactly where they live. We have had a couple very good meetings with the current branch leadership and we have been able to listen and participate to set goals for the new year and to get to know what expectations the branch presidency has for us as their new elders. The hardest part about this area will be finding new, positive investigators. It is yet another very Catholic community, and there are many roadblock in the minds of the people that dont allow them to freely accept the True Gospel. However, we have the right tools, fasting, prayer, hard work, service, and love. We´ll do our best to be instruments in the Lord´s hands, and He will do with us as he sees fit. We currently have NO investigators. The previous elders left us with nothing...but it´s kinda a good thing...it means a fresh start and anything that we leave behind will have all be fruits of OUR labor. I actually really enjoy my companionship with Elder Jimenez and we get along just fine. On New Year´s Eve and Day we were ordered to stay in the house because the communities ge dangerous with alcohol and guns. So we just enjoyed basically tow full days getting to know each other and laughing our butts off about the stupidest little things. I love the feeling of aching ribs after having laughed until you cried. Elder Jimenez teaches me many cool things about Mexico, where he´s from, and I enjoy learning the slang that he used to use there. Needless to say, I´ll be able to hold my own in a Spanish conversation with American Hispanic once I´m home. =) I´m sure I´ll make friends in the Latin community very fast.

Well, there´s no other news besides the fact that we´re finally ready and correlated with the members to work hard in these next weeks and try our best to do the Lord´s will. I´ll be home soon, so have all your questions, party junk food, and favorite meals ready for me. Can´t wait to party it up with my family in my own home. =) i love you all. I loved talking with you all on the phone. Can´t wait to be there in person and start out true adult life. Until next week...

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Christmas and Changes

2010-12-27T08:42:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Family!

I love you! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I was sad about missing the Welling Christmas party...I´m sure that the food and the fun were excellent. Next year, by the time we have the party, I´ll be out of finals at ASU and I´ll be able to come back home for a visit. Again, it was a little weird to be in Guatemala for another Christmas without all of the snow and lights and music everywhere...but this time I wasn't sad because I knew that I´ll be home soon and next year I´ll be able to enjoy a truly North American, traditional, Welling/Tucker Christmas together with the family I love so much! My companion and I had the usual dish of pasta with prepackaged red sauce for dinner, read the scriptures a little and talked about what we learned, and then spent the rest of the night talking about what we were going to talk to our families about the next day. It was actually a very comfortable, very calm Christmas night for me and I really enjoyed the time getting to know me companion.

Okay, so I better tell you all about the changes that I experienced this last week, before I forget to talk about it. So, I had told you all in previous emails that I was also SURE that I was going to stay in San Carlos Sija for my last change and that I was going to stay with my companion Elder Bergquist. What made me so sure about it was the fact that the Stake President, the Branch President, and us as missionaries, we had all asked President Lorenzana, and the Lord, to let me stay. We had big plans for the area and were ready to put them into action. I guess the Lord´s plans, for ME at least, were a little different. On Tuesday night, at about 11:30PM I got a call and was told that I had changes. They didn´t tell me where I was going or who I was going to be with, but they told me that Elder B was staying and that I was going. So on Wednesday Morning I got to say goodbye to the Perez Family, then ride with them into Xela to the bus terminal and receive my changes. Once I got there it was a madhouse of activity and I just waited until the assistants saw me so they could give me my changes. Imagine my surprise when they told me that I was headed back to Momostenango for my last change! Not only that, but my new companion was going to be Elder Jimenez, another missionary that was transferred to Xela, originally from Guatemala Central Mission as well! I didn´t know Elder Jimenez at all before that moment, but I´ve gotten to know much more about him in the last 5 days, and I get along with him wonderfully. He is from Mexico, he is 19 years old, has about 8 months in the mission, and has a identical twin brother on a mission in Honduras. He is from Tobasco, Mexico, and wants to go to Cuba after his mission to study medicine. He was trained by Elder Carcamo, an elder that entered the mission field with me when we left the CCM. We talk a lot about the differences between Central and Xela Missions, and we enjoy the relaxed, hardworking attitude towards the Mission Work.

Yesterday was our first Sunday in the Tierra Blanca Branch. It was a madhouse! haha kinda fun actually. Yes, I´m serving in another branch, but this one has a few more members than the last couple that I´ve served. Tierra Blanca (White Land) has a normal attendance of about 70 members, and it stays pretty constant. Here´s the thing though...it´s mostly little kids! Seriously, most of the Sacrament Meeting room was FULL of little children. I don´t know how many of them are baptized or how many were just friends of the member´s kids visiting the Church, but it was crazy. Crying, spilled drinks, women breast-feeding their children, chaos everywhere! hahaha It´s great though, the prophets tell us that it´s very important for us to bring our children to Church, so we tried our best to feel the spirit and serve every one we could. The classes were normal, but the members don't participate much. We´ll change that. =P The year of Old Testament came to an end yesterday, so next year it will be easier to understand and participate. =) The Branch President has only been in his calling for a month, and the last Branch Presidente was assigned from somewhere else, so we don´t have a ton to work with. However, now I know well how to work with these circumstances, and we´ll turn things around quickly.

Maybe it would interest some of you to know that Tierra Blanca was the area where Elder Kahawaii finished his mission. It was funny because when we got to the chapel (we live in a room in one of the small classroom buildings) I fond a lot of very familiar articles of clothing and papers that Elder Kahawaii left behind when he left for home. The area has been closed for a month and a half, so any investigators that he used to have, will be hard to find, but we´ll do our best to pick up where he left off. Alright, my time is up. Pray for us this week. We´ll have a couple activities and a big New Year´s party in the branch so we need to make sure those things go well. We need to find, teach, and serve all the members of the branch this week, win their trust. Please pray that we will be able to to do effectively, and I know everything will go well.

I enjoyed every minute of our phone call on Christmas. We got everything that I wanted to talk about worked out and I´m excited to come home and see my beautiful, powerful family once again. I love you and miss you every day. I´ll be home soon, but for now I´m gunna work hard to come home as tired as I can. ;)

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

My Last Change!

2010-12-21T15:41:00.000-08:00

Good Afternoon Family!Sorry again for writing later than expected. Yesterday the mission had a soccer tournament among all the zones. Elder Bergquist and I attended and it was fun to be around all my missionary friends and see a couple guys that I hadn`t in a while. The only bad part was that I was having shin splints in my left leg and I couldn`t run or play. It was fun though,.I changed into comfortable clothes and hung out with the guys, drinkin 7UP, waiting for the secretaries to bring us pouch. This will probably be the best news of this entire email...I got my Christmas Package!!! =) I got the package that you all (Mom, Dad, Hope, and Whitney) sent, and I also got a package from my good friend Lillian Cruz! They were wonderful! FULL of candy and love. haha I`m actually wondering if I`m going to be able to finish it all becfore I come home! haha I`ll share the love and make sure everyone gets a taste of good old Tucker Love. =P The only bad thing is that only packages came, no letters. Still waiting on the letters. President Lorenzana has now been personally informed by me about my situation and the fact that I haven`t received physical mail for 5 months. He authorized me to ask Elder Ava, the pouch secretary, to call the Central Mission, make sure nothing got sent there by accident, and also to revise the whole Xela Mission office to find what he can for me. If it`s not there...I guess it got lost and it`ll eventually get to me. It may have just been the Lord`s way of trying my faith, but don`t worry, my faith is still VERY intact. =) I love you all and know that you`re always thinking about me, praying for me, and missing me. Never doubted it for a second. I love my Family!

This week was interesting. I don`t know what it is about the difference in the Latin and North American cultures and our seperate upbringings, but sometimes it creates tension and small problems out of no where. At times lately, it`s been hard to understand the actions and attitude of the latin elders that we live with here in Sija. Sometimes things will be fine, but suddenly the atmosphere will change and I feel like I`m walking on eggshells. It`s okay though, it`s teaching me to adapt and to love unconditionally. Today I had a good dose of the relaxing powers of preaching the Gospel. Tuesdays are the usual day that we have district meetings, and lately the focus of the mission has changed from focusing on entire zones, to focusing on the wellbeing of the individual districts. I have a wonderful district full of a mix of experienced and relatively new missionaries, and we have good times together. So, as a part of the new focus on districts, in my calling as a District Leader, I`ve been asked to direct and teach everything in the meetings. It`s a little tough to prepare for 1-2 hours of instruction, but the Spirit helps me to find the right words most all of the time. =) However, today, in our house, we woke up with tension in the air and me not knowing how to fix it. Elder Bergquist and I left early, without Elder Solis and Elder Barrios, to the meeting and I was fuming a little...I wasn`t in a good mood and didn`t have a good attitude. I wasn`t in good shape to teach with the Spirit at all, but I was going to try anyways. Before we began, I told Elder Boren, our zone leader, that my message was going to be maybe 10 minutes long at the longest and he looked a little worried. However, as I began to pray for guidance, calm and love filled me and I was shown what to teach. I taught about how we can help our investigators go to Church and experience the right Spirit throughout that experience. I also taught about the follow-up that we must give those investigators that accept baptismal dates, and the importance we have in that short time from commiting them, to entering into the water. The words and lessons just flowed...I didn`t open the Scriptures or Preach My Gospel not once, but the doctrine and teachings flowed perfectly. I felt peace, and my heart was conforted. By the end, almost the entire district was feeling the Spirit strongly and we all left ready, enlightened, and willing to put in practice what we learned. The Lord continues to remind me, every day, of the lessons that I`ve learned in the mission. The only difference now is that he`s helping me apply those lessons to how I will live my life once I`m home and released. It`s an interesting experience and I`m loving every day. =)

I love Elder Bergquist, and I hope that tonight (change night) they tell us that nothing is going to change for us and that we will finish my mission together. =) Keep your fingers crossed for me, okay? I love you!Okay, so I have to admit something, I`m not going to send a Christmas package this year...hahaha BUT, I AM constantly on the look out for fun things that I can bring home as souveniers for everyone and for my own personal mission collection. It`ll be a very fun show and tell the night I get home. By the way, Mom and Dad, if you could help me out with a little cash, the day after I come home, I would like to take a trip to the Distribution Center and buy a whole new set of garments. I was folding my garments last night and realized just how trashed some of them are, and it was kinda embarrassing for me. I want to start out my new adult RM life with new, white, clean G`s. Let me know if you`re planning on helping me out with that. =P Today I got a true blue Guatemalan hamock! =) You`ll all love it, but it`s MINE okay, so don`t steal it from me once I`m home. =) hahaha I`ve also bought some other cool little things that I can`t wait to share. Be excited. P.S. Dad, if you wonder where my personal funs go...that`s where, I`m buying up memories and getting ready to show off my mission once I`m home. =P Any requests of stuff that you`d all like me to look for? I`ve looked all over the place for traditional Christmas stockings here, but there aren`t any...they were just a thing I found once in Antigua Guatemala that one trip as a zone...sorry.Okay, about my phone call. I`m planning on calling you all at about 9AM on Christmas morning. I`m glad you`re all staying home, just so that the reception on both ends can be great and not a word will be lost. As far as I know, it`ll just be Mom, Dad, and Hope, so you`ll have me all to yourselves. Just like I do with President Lorenzana before my interviews, I think you all should think about what you`d like to talk about and what questions you`d like to ask me. I don`t know how much time I`ll have to talk, but we`ll live it up while we can, okay? I`m sure there wont but much to arrange for the day that I come home or anything, so I`m not going to worry about that. You`ve got my flight plans, you know where to be and when to be there, I`ll just have a couple requests and questions for you and then we`ll talk about other things. =) I don`t know if Daylight Savings time will mean that when I call it`ll be 8AM or not, but be ready. haha Plus, it`s Christmas, Hope will have you all up before 8 anyways! hahaha I love you Family! Can`t wait to hear your voices again!

Love Always,-Elder Preston William Tucker

No Changes for Elder Tucker!

2010-12-13T14:50:00.000-08:00

Hey Family! I love you more than anything in the whole world! This week was FULL of meetings, activities, and traveling to and from Xela for me and Elder B. Thus, we didn`t get much of a chance to workin our area like we would like to. However, I am completing my role as a District Leader and a Senior Companion, and I am finding happiness in the things that we ARE able to achieve in th time that is given us.As you all know, last Monday w had the Christmas Lunch of the whole Mission of Xela. It was fun and we were served good food, even though we didn`t receive nearly as much portion-wise as we all paid for. haha It was like eating in a French restaurant...super small portions, but they were all very pretty and very flavorful. All the zones in the mission put on an act of sang hymns. Most of them were good, but like always, they didn`t give any of us much time to practice or prepare,so some of them didn`t turn out so well. hahaha The only thing that got on my nerves was that a couple zones decided that they didn`t care about the rules that President set for the skits, and decided to break them all for the sake of making it funnier or more fun for them. One zone reminded me REALLY badly of High School, where there is always a certain group of punk kids that think that they`re all that and that the rules dont apply to them, so they do whatever they want and don`t care if they make themselves look like fools in the process. haha It`s obvious that not ALL elders mature to manhood during their missions.Anyways, that was Monday and we all enjoyed. Then on Tuesday we were supposed to have a P-Day, but the Assistants tried to organize an activity last minute and made it SUPER difficult for anyone to really"prepare" themselves for the week. The results were that I had to rush to organize my district so that we all could use Internet at the same time in the same place, and that result difficult. This is why I ended up having to write you all on Wednesday, because there were no Internet cafes that had enough working computers that I could write at the same time that my district was writing. SO I took one for the team and waited until Wednesday to write, I hope I didn`t stress anyone out too much at home. (ahem...Mom, Whitney, Grandma Welling...ahem) hahaha=P So lately the stake presidency has become VERY involved with the mission work here in the Quetzaltenango Zone. The had set expectations and goals for us to reach by the end of January of next year. The stake needs to provide two new, strong wards of 150 members in order to help organize the fourth stake in the city of Quetzaltenango. We,here in San Carlos Sija, have to lift up the branch to the point of150 active members in order for it to become a ward in the new year.It wont be easy, but we`ll do everything the Lord asks us to do in order to make it happen. I don`t think it`ll happen while I`m still here, but we can try as hard as possible while I have time. Also, the First Presidency of the Church have set new standards for full-time missionaries all over the world. They have asked us to find at least one full family and one future Melchizedek Priesthood holder everyday. They have asked us to baptize two full families and two higher priesthood holders every month per companionship. All I can say is that it`ll be tough to do almost anywhere...but we`ll do our best and the Lord with qualify us for the task. Elder Bergquist and I try our hardest every day to keep me working to the very end and to lift the attendance in the Branch and help the members become truly converted to the Gospel. The work is going well, and we try every day to help it move along faster. As a result of our new assignment of reactivating and retaining members and new converts, Elder B and I have no positive investigators right now, but this week will change that. I appreciate your prayers and all the support and spiritual help you send us across the miles. I look forward to the day that I can step off the plane and thank you all personally for what you helped me achieve here in Guatemala. I`m thinking you`ll all be rather impressed with the Preston William Tucker that comes home to you. =)
Well, as you all know, it`s about that time. I think I really wrote a novel this week. I still haven`t gotten anything that you have sent me for Christmas, whether it be packages or letters. I verified with Whitney the correct mailing address of the Mission Office and I think you`ve had the right address the whole time. Who knows what`s been happening to everything...I don`t. But I`m being patient. Just 7 more weeks until I`m with you all in person, so I`m not going to complain. Oh, I almost forgot to explain the subject line of this email. Because the Quetzaltenango Stake has so many high expectations and they`ve put so much effort into training us missionaries in our zone to achieve this goals, President Lorenzana has decided that unless someone in the zone wants changes, he`s not going to change anyone in our zone from where they are now. So that means that I`m going to get my wish. I`m going to finish my mission, my last change, here in San Carlos Sija,with Elder Bergquist, doing what I do best, reactivating, retaining,and converting the "chosen people of Guatemala" to the Everlasting Gospel of Christ. =) I`m very happy about that, as you can tell! =)I`m going to celebrate Christmas, New Years, and my 21st Birthday herewith my companions, the Perez Family, and all the people I`ve come to love so much here in Sija. The hard part will be to leave this all behind when my time is up, but I will leave a legacy of service and love behind and many will remember the Tucker name with love and respect for years to come here in San Carlos Sija. =) I love you, Family. I`m so grateful every day that I have you. I ask Heavenly Father, on my knees, day and night, that He helps you and protects you. I know you do the same for me. Can`t wait to show you how much I love you in person. Just do me a favor and save a little of the Christmas chocolate for me, okay?! =P A bag of Peanut Butter M&M`sand a half pound Symphony Milk Chocolate bar would be awesome "welcome home presents"! ;)

Love Always,-Elder Preston William Tucker

Christmas lunch and Delayed emails!

2010-12-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

Dear Family,
First I´ve got to apologize for the tardiness of my email. I´m sure you all assumed that something catastrophic happened and that I´m either dead or maimed in some way, but I´m not, I´m just fine. Hahaha It´s just that lately the Mission´s Schedule has been switched around so bad that I haven´t had the opportunity to write my family until now this week. On Monday, the mission had its Christmas Lunch all together in a big convention center. They served us a “gourmet” lunch and everyone that had mail waiting for them received it, all wrapped in Christmas wrapping. I didn´t receive anything…I was a Little upset about that. Something has been happening lately with my mail…I haven´t gotten a scrap for about 4 months. But I´ve decided that that´s just fine. I´ve only got a month and a half left until I get to speak with all of you in person, so I´m really not upset about receiving written communication any more. Plus, I think it would kinda be cool to receive envelopes and letters once I´m home that were supposed to get to me in the mission. =P Anyways, after the Christmas lunch there was no time to get online and write, so they told us that our P-Day would be on Tuesday instead. Then they spring it on us Monday night that on Tuesday there was going to be another sports activity on P-Day and that if we didn´t want to go, we didn´t have to, but in order to use Internet in the morning we were going to have to organize it with my district and write somewhere within my district´s boundaries. That made a mess for sure! But eventually I get it all organized for my district that we would use Internet together in the sisters’ area. However, the internet that we went to was rather crappy and it didn´t have enough machines for all of us to use at the same time. So my companion and I went looking for another Internet close by. In route, we found Sister Pierce and Sister Redden, the Mission nurses who are both part of my district, and they were setting up a stand in the local market to preach to everyone about the Gospel. It turned out that the Sisters had been praying me there, praying that I would come help them and teach them how to make their contacting more effective and make their market stand activity work. I had done something similar in Momostenango with Elder Kahawaii every Wednesday in the central park, so I knew what to do. I showed the Sisters how to effectively contact, and when I looked at them after my demonstration they had their jaws on the floor and their eyes as big as dinner plates. Hahahah It was awesome! So Elder B and I said goodbye to the Sisters and kept looking for a good Internet. We found a good one, but all the computers were occupied, so we were out of luck. So that´s why I didn´t get to write yesterday either… I´m sorry if anyone freaked out or was let down, but now I´m online, making sure I get a good email sent for this week. =) I hope everyone had a wonderful week and is exercising faith and doing their best to do better every day.
This last week was full of meetings and traveling and NOT being in my area, and I fear that this week too is going to be exactly the same, so I probably won’t have a lot to report about the work we do in my area. However, in the time that we HAVE had, we have tried our best to find the inactive and less active members of the Branch and start serving them. President Lorenzana and President Cifuentes, the Xela Stake President, have assigned Elder Bergquist and I to focus on the reactivation and the retention of members so we can increase the attendance at church and strengthen those that have already been baptized. Elder Solis and Elder Barrios have been assigned to focus on finding and baptizing new investigators. So that´s why you haven´t really heard much about new investigators or baptisms. But you will hear a lot, I hope, about reactivated and truly converted members. =) Of course, there will be some members of the inactive families that have not been baptized yet, and we will baptize them, but it wont be because we knock doors for hours on end. Haha I feel really wonderful about this new direction in our area because this is what I have been good at for my whole mission! And I love teaching Elder B all about the most important parts of the mission work and the important lessons that he will learn throughout his time here in Guatemala. I´m finally leaving behind a great legacy, finally making the people want to remember the Tucker name with love and gratitude. It feels wonderful! And the best part is that it wont end the moment I´m released…it´ll never end. What I´ve learned in the mission will become a way of life. Service, love, friendship, and charity. It´ll be who I am for everyone that cares to accept me. =) I´m not gunna be nosey, I´m not going to be a nuisance, I´m just always going to offer my help, knowledge, and love…especially for our family members! I want my whole family to be strong, blessed, and obedient to the Lord´s Plan. So I´m gunna do everything you allow me to do to achieve that goal. =D
Alright, I´m out of time and I´ve got to get moving for the day. Wish us luck in finding and reactivating all the lost sheep and we can find! We´re going to be fasting for these families and I´ll tell you their names as we find them. For now, pray for Esgar Reyes, so that he can feel the need to be baptized and complete his family. =) And pray that the Gil (pronounced “hill”) Ramirez family feels the need to return to the Church together as a BIG}, already baptized family! =)
I love you all and miss you so much. I´m not counting down the days, but I´m aware that I only have 8 weeks left. That´s such a small amount of time…I´m almost done. I´m coming home with honor and blessings and plans for my future…it´s gunna be awesome!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker
P.S. President Lorenzana said something last night during our meeting that made me think that he´s not going to change anyone in the zone this change that´s coming up in two weeks. So, it´s possible that the Lord will allow me to finish my mission and my legacy here in San Carlos Sija with Elder Bergquist. Please pray that this will happen…that would be the best Christmas present I could receive in the mission. That´s how I want to end, helping the people I love with the companion that I Love as well. Emotionally, it would be easier for me to leave the mission if I change to a different area with a different companion because then I wouldn´t have established connections and relationships to say goodbye to…but the Lord never said things would be easy…he just said that they would be worth it. =) I love you all and hope to have good news next week about how the work is advancing. Have a wonderful week.

Thanksgiving week in the mish!

2010-11-29T09:02:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Family,

I love you! Just thought you should know. =)

I missed you all very much this week and I thought about you all day on Thanksgiving. I didn´t have time to write a letter to you all for Thanksgiving, expressing my gratitude for everything you are and do for me as your son, brother, nephew, cousin, grandchild, and boyfriend...but I kept reviewing all day in my heart just how GOOD I´ve got it in life because my family is so awesome! =D Truly I was selected for great, powerful blessings in this life. That means I gotta work extra hard to keep those blessings flowin. =) I missed out on the Thanksgiving dinner this year. My zone did an activity, but really it was just weekly planning and Wendy´s. Not gunna lie, it was a good treat for us all, but it just wasn´t anything compared to a true Tucker Family Thanksgiving. haha

This week not a lot has happened. We´ve found investigators, we´ve left investigators behind, the cycle continues...Elder B and I are still goin strong and we´re becoming better friends every day. Elder Solis was worried about his mom all week, and unfortunately she is still sick and has not entered surgery yet...but we´ll keep praying for her and everything will be okay. Elder Barrios had an interview with President Lorenzana and seems to have gotten over the majority of his homesickness and desires to end his mission early. So everything here is going well. My old District Leader, Elder Chamle, was assigned along with his companion to a special travelling team of missionaries to help support and teach the missionaries all over the mission, so I was appointed to the vacant post. So now I´m the District Leader of 4 sisters and 6 elders. It´s nothing new and I´ve got the necessary experience to make the responsibility seem routine, so it´s nothing big, but it was a surprise, nonetheless. I´m thinking that because they put me in as a DL, I´ll stay in San Carlos Sija next change and finish my mission there. ´That´s what I would love to do...but I don´t know for sure what will happen in 2 weeks when the ealry change comes.

My super experience of the week was last Monday after we got done emailing. All the of the zones here in Xela were invited to a chapel to play sport together for the whole afternoon. My back was hurting for harvesting corn all week, so I didn´t play, but I definitely enjoyed the day. What I really wanted was the chance to have a short interview with President, so I asked for a little of his time and he said we would talk. I´ve been repenting daily lately and I know very well now where I stand with the Lord, but I hadn´t had personal time with President Lorenzana for almost 4 months now, so I had a doubt in my heart. I wanted to ask President how he sees me as a missionary now, in comparison with when I switched missions. I had sent him a text the week before, but because of his attendance to a Seminary for Mission Presidents in Guatemala City, he couldn´t answer me. So last Monday I asked for his time. Eventually, because the sister missionaries were hoggin all President´s attention, I had to wait for 3 hours to get 2 minutes with him. But in those two minutes President Lorenzana changed my mission yet again! He answered my question and blew my mind at the same time. He said that when I came to Xela Mission, he saw an incredible potential in me that I didn´t know about. He had told me about this before, but after being a ZL with Elder Kahawaii, he told me that he felt like I had hid that potential and that I didn´t want to progress or grow. That was that last thing I heard from him 4 months ago. So I asked him on Monday if anything had changed. This is what he said: (forgive the grammar, this is my best attempt as directly translating his words) "Elder Tucker, I feel like you´ve finally pulled that potential out of wherever you were hiding it, you came to know what you´re TRUELY capable of, and you´ve begun to fulfill that GIGANTIC spiritual and temporal potential that I saw in you the first time I saw you." Then he said "I call you an "Uncalled AP" because I could have called you to be my Asistant...and you would have done great things in that position. However, I didn´t call you because the Spirit whispered to me that you would develop and grow MUCH more personally and spiritually if I allowed you to stay in the field, teaching, and converting companions, members and investigators alike! So I obeyed and I didn´t call you as an AP, and you know what?! The Lord was right!" Then he finished with, "Elder Tucker, you DID IT! You achieved it! you´ve converted yourselves and you´ve gained the power to convert anyone that will truly listen to your Spirit and your voice. You have GAINED your Honor! If you called me tomorrow and told me that you felt like it was time for you to go home and finish you mission...I would send you without thinking twice...because you did it, you truly achieved honor and glory in you mission. Thank you. I love you. We´ll have a formal interview soon."

That was my experience with my Mission President, one the men I most respect in this entire world. The man that helped me repent and change my life around, the man that taught me how to really use the Atonement every day of my life, that man feels like I have already gained my Honor and that I can go home with my head held high, offering an acceptable sacrifice to the Lord. That was one of the most important moments of my life, hearing that come from President Lorenzana´s mouth. Mom, Dad, Hope, Family...I DID IT! I´m going to finish and come home having won our family Honor and the gratitude of hundred of converts that I had left in my wake. I truly thank the Lord for my mission and know that I will never truly understand the worth of my service until I enter into my Father´s Kingdom and see the faces of all those I helped gain their conversions to the only and True Gospel of Christ.=)

I finish my email saying that I love you all and if it weren´t for you and your influence in my life, I would have never gotten to where I am. =) Thank you, I love you, and I´m comin home soon! =D

Love Always,
-Preston William Tucker

Good Week, Almost There!

2010-11-22T08:20:00.000-08:00

My Dear, Wonderful Family...sigh...I miss you!haha

Hey everyone!
So, it`s Monday again and I get to check off another week. It was a wonderful week full of service and learning and bonding with Elder Bergquist and finding new investigators. I had a LOT of fun, ate a LOT of good food with good people, and suffered through a LOT of body aches for the most wonderful cause in the world. Here is San Carlos Sija, everyone plants and harvests corn all year, every year. If you were to ride a bus from Xela towards Sija, most of what you would see are big houses made of cinder block (just like the rest of Guatemala!) and rolling corn fields everywhere! From the business man that commutes to Xela every day, to the humble farmer, EVERYONE has corn to harvest. So...what my companions and I did almost all week was to help our members and investigators with their harvests, lighten the load as much as we could, and use the spare time we gave them to teach the Gospel. It was so much fun for me, I love hard labor...hahaha Dad...stop laughing! =P Seriously, I loved learning how to do everything by hand and I loved helping everyone through true charitable service. Not gunna lie though...the body aches weren`t fun. haha By Thursday I was hurting pretty bad...the whole left side of my back was super sore and I had to go to bed early a couple nights just because I couldn`t stay sitting up any longer. =) It hurt so good! We learned how to cut the corn stalk, pull off the corn cobs, shuck the corn, and I already knew how to take the dried corn kernels off the cob, cook them, mill them, and turn it all into tortillas...the life blood of the Guatemalan people. The words for all those actions in Spanish are, in order, cortar la caña, desgajar la masorca, pelar el maiz, desgranar, cocer el nixtamal, moler la masa, y echar las tortillas! haha I`m really not sure if most of those words exist in real, academic Spanish, but they exist here, so I felt like sharing. Besides all the service, all four of us had very good luck in finding new investigators this week! In one day, Elder B and I were able to find TEN new investigators...that`s something that I`ve only done ONCE before in my mission, and it felt very good to dedicate a whole afternoon to finding instead of hitting constant dead ends. The only bad part was that no one could come to Church and start progressing towards baptism this Sunday...I guess we`ll just pay for better results for this Sunday.

This week we will be making sure that the investigators we found last week are worth our time and want to progress and complete their commitments, and at the same time we will be contacting and finding more new investigators to fill the "possible baptism pool". I hope it`s obvious to everyone at home that even though I only have 10 weeks left in the mission, that I`m trying hard to work hard, serve hard, and love hard until the very end. Yes, I`m very excited about everything that I will be enjoying and experiencing at home, but I`m staying focused on blessing the people and teaching my companion so he can be a very successful, intelligent, spiritual mission for the next two year. I feel great. =)As for the news you shared with me today, I`m very glad that even though winter has set in and everybody is ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays to get here, everyone is trying to stay busy and happy. Never forget to keep up on the family prayers and family Scripture study, because that will be the source from which we all draw on for the energy to carry on. I have come to know this week that the true worth of my mission does not lie in how many people I contacted, taught, or baptized. The true worth of my mission is found in the number of families I have blessed with my testimony of the truth and the efficiency with which I shared the Teachings of Christ with those families. I have, to date, only 13 baptisms, and probably will not have many more before I come home, but...after reflecting on the worth and impact that my mission has had on the people whom I have been called to serve...I have realized something very important. A dear friend and member of the San Carlos Sija Branch explained this to me yesterday during Sunday School... In two years I may not have had many baptisms or seen grand signs and miracles or healed many sick...but because I did my best to teach anyone that would listen, especially the inactive and less active members and families of the Church, I have gained hundreds of CONVERTS! I have helped all those that never really achieved a true testimony of the Church and the Gospel, I have helped them to understand, ask for, and obtain TRUE conversion to their Savior and His Church.

Looking back...I cant remember all the names...unfortunately, time robbed me of that (my own fault for not writing a journal, i know)... but I know that I can count several hundreds of converts that I have helped come unto Christ. Our missionary objective, as stated in Preach My Gospel, does not just say "Invite all those who don`t know Christ or His Gospel to com unto Christ." No, the missionary objective says "Invite all people to come unto Christ" and that is what I have done for almost two years...and I have succeeded! =D I`m going to work my hardest for these last two months so I can come home tired, but strong...but now I know that my offering is acceptable before my Brother and Savior. =) I can come home honorable, knowing that I did the Lord`s work, I was obedient to His voice, and I myself became truly converted to His Gospel in the process! =D Just a couple quick things before I finish and write to other people... Elder Solis` mom`s name is Sonia Arevalo and she goes into surgery on Wednesday. I don`t know what for, but I know that she is weak and needs prayers in order to pull through. Elder Barrios is having a very hard time staying in the mission and says often that he wants to go home. He has almost 10 months in the mission and is a great missionary, but has lost sight of why he his hear...or, like me, the reasons for him being here are being obscured by Satan and his evil influence. I don`t know what will happen to him, he wants to speak to President about it today...I`ll let you know what happens. Elder Bergquist is doing VERY well. He learns fast, and gets along with anyone. He is funny, smart, and genuine, just like Josh Timothy...actually he makes me miss Josh a lot. =P But I`m glad I got a companion like him towards the end of my mission. The Lopez family went to the coast this week and we haven´t heard anything from them. You can also pray for the Diaz, Vicente, and De Leon families. =) They need to have the desire to receive us, come to church, and progress.I love you all and miss you constantly. Nothing special will happen for me for Thanksgiving, but I want everyone to eat as much as they possibly can, in my honor...maybe I`ll be able to taste it if you eat enough. ;)Love Always,-Elder Preston William Tucker

Change Week!

2010-11-15T08:34:00.001-08:00

Hey Family! I love you! This week has been a very...FULL week for me here in San Carlos Sija. This week was a change week, but luckily I did not suffer many changes at all. I was REALLY anxious about these changes because I feel wonderful in my area and my companion Elder Solis and I are able to get along excellently and we teach with power and authority and the power of Spirit unto repentance. However, not everything was destined to stay the same for me. Luckily, the Lord did not change my situation completely. Here`s what happened: instead of taking both of usout of San Carlos Sija, the Presidente decided to send two MORE missionaries to our branch to help baptize and grow the branch together, the four of us. Elder Solis and I were separated and then given one new elder each. Elder Solis is now with Elder Barrios, an Elder that I served with in Momos West zone when I was a zone leader over there. My new companion is Elder Bergquist (the "g" is silent, it`s pronounced "Ber-quist"). He is in his second change in the mission and he is learning VERY quickly. He reminds me of me when I started the mission...hahaha just kidding, I`m not that arrogant. =P

But seriously, Elder B is awesome. He always has the desire to work and learn, but he`s laid back like me so we basically have fun ALL the time. We are NOT planning on dividing the area geographically, just because it would make it super hard to get everything done that needs to be done for the branch. So, we will be working separately, but together at the same time. We will find our own investigators, but plan for them all together. We will visit members separately, but serve them together. We feel really good about this plan because we`ve tried it out since Wednesday and it`s worked wonderfully. Elder B and I have a new family that we are teaching, the Family Lopez (Wilson, Alicia, and their three small kids). Elders Solis and Barrios are doing well as well. And the best part is that we all still have time to visit the members, serve them, strengthen them, and teach them to Gospel. We`re also living together, the four of us. It makes the schedule a little complicated, but it makes study and down time SUPER fun. =) As you can probably tell, I`m loving the way things are going for me right now. I`m very grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has given me to be with Elder Bergquist because there are still a lot of holes in his training that I can fill. He is attentive and fun and always willing to listen. He asks me good, productive questions and is always willing to spek in Spanish so he can get better quickly. I have the opportunity with his to recount experiences from my WHOLE mission and then teach him the deep life-lessons that I learned throughout my time here in Guatemala. It`s helping me to realize the deep and lasting value of my mission as a whole and the importance of passing on knowledge from generation to generation so that, as time goes by, the Church and WE as God`s children become stronger an wiser with each passing year.

Elder B is from Weiser, Idaho and has 4 older brothers and one older sister and one younger brother. His dad and his older brothers have all served missions and they love and support him always. He`s got a pure heart like Josh Timothy does and he`s just fun to be around. He`s maybe not as dorky as I am, but he`s definitely as genuine and gentle. We`re a good companionship and I have faith that we`ll achieve wonderful things this change. The only other weird part of my week was that I was told that this change will be shortened by a week. So, instead of us have 6 weeks to work, it`ll be just 5. I think the Church is doing this throughout the world so that the missionaries can get home in time for Christmas with their families and have time to register on time for Spring semester in school. This doesn`t effect my departure date at all, so don`t freak out. =P It just means that my last change will be 7 weeks long. Well, Family, I love you and I miss you. I use our stories and experiences every day in our teaching and other can relate to and understand the trials we have and the blessings we receive as members of Christ`s True Church. I love the testimony that my family has and the effort that they make to be constant in keeping the commandments and serve our Lord and Savior. I`ve expressed many facets of my testimony in these last few weeks, so I believe anyone that reads my letters and blog know at least the surface of my now deep, immovable testimony of the Truth. =) I love my mission, I appreciate ALL the trials and challenges that it`s thrown at me. I realize the depth and value of my mission and know that it will be a source of blessing and wisdom in my life forevermore. Can`t wait until I can tell you all about it in person. =D 11 weeks! Love Always,-Elder Preston William Tucker

Two Changes Left!‏

2010-11-08T14:47:00.000-08:00

Good Morning Family,

Today marks day 1 of my second to last change in the mission. You received my flight plans this week, which I`m sure was a little bit of a shock for Mom and Dad, but also a big source of happiness and anxiousness. Trust me, it is for me too. I`m trying my hardest to keep my head in the game and focus on the mission and the goals I still have to complete before my time is up. I remember several of my good friends in the mission that turned SUPER baggy in their last couple of changes and it made it really hard for their companions to stay focused too. Elder Solis will soon have 9 complete months in the mission, and I don`t want to make him suffer the same that I did with my "old, dying companions." He is such a good friend and companion to me, I really appreciate everything that he is and does for me. I try my best to impart my knowledge and experience to him as he faces some of the same challenges that I did early in my mission, and I believe that we have a special ability to help each other. Elder Solis is another of those people that I feel like I knew in the Pre-Existence, the people I knew I would meet and have the opportunity to help and love during my mortal life. I have a special request this week from my parents and Whitney too, if she`d like to participate. My request is that your first priority this week be writing a special email to Elder Solis, telling him anything that you`d like to say to him, and then make your second priority writing me an email for the week. I`d also like my family to say a few special prayers for Elder Solis to help him in the rest of his mission, prayers for his sick, single mother, so that she can regain her health and strength, prayers for his sisters and their families, so that Elder Solis` nieces can grow in good homes and so that his sisters can make ends meet. I really share a strong love for this companion, and I`d like my family to be able to feel the spirit of service through prayers sent his way. Thank you, if you accept my request. =) His email address es elvis.arnoldo.arevalo@myldsmail.net.

This week the only big bit of news that I feel inspired to share is that Elder Don R. Clark of the First Quorum of the Seventy, the President of the Area Presidency of Central America, came on a mission tour of Guatemala Quetzaltenango Mission. Thus, we had special conferences throughout the mission directed and taught by Elder Clark himself. In the Xela Mission there has occurred a big change in that most of the old missionaries have left for home and that mission is now FULL of new missionaries, most of them being North American. So, there is a unique challenge in the mission. Many of the missionaries dont know Spanish well enough to express themselves, there aren`t many experienced missionaries to be able to teach them quickly, so they must learn on their own, and most of the new missionaries are being trained by other new missionaries that only have a change or two in the field. So Elder Clark`s teachings and comments were mostly directed towards the new missionaries, but they helped us all. He talked a lot about basic principles that will help missionaries both North American and Latino have successful missions. He spoke about the importance of learning and speaking Spanish. He spoke of the importance of loving our companions and loving the people. He spoke of the importance of opening our mouths and talking to everyone.and at least sharing our testimonies. I took many notes and learned many things through the Spirit that will help me complete my mission with success. He also taught us how to measure the success and value of our missions...and I was elated to finally know of a surety that my mission has been EXTREMELY successful in its own right. I`ll be able to explain more once I`m home, but for now I know that my mission is valuable and acceptable to the Lord because first I, myself, became truly converted the the Restored Gospel of Christ, I came to know my Savior and love Him completely, and I came to understand and use the Atonement in my daily life. Second, I know my mission was successful because I loved the people and I served them with my whole heart, and they loved me in return. I cannot remember many families that didn`t have a true love and respect for Preston William Tucker and the Tucker Family by the time I was change out of the area. Most of those that I truly helped were members. I baptized a few, I reactivated many, and I taught them all through the Spirit. So, in summary, I have come to know for myself the value of my mission and the eternal significance that it has in my life in the lives of many of our brothers and sisters in this world. That was the value that Elder Clark`s conference had for me. I love my mission and the challenges that it presented me with all because I grew and changed and progressed. In about 12 weeks I will be able to step on the plane and leave Guatemala knowing that I`m coming home having become the man that Heavenly Father planned for me to become up to this point in my life. I`m excited to continue progressing and helping those around me, especially my family, and I know that because I have these desires, my mission will never truly end. =) I love my Family and I love my Father in Heaven even more for blessing me so completely and deeply in my honorable full-time mission. =)

Until next week...I love you. I`ll tell you all about the changes if we receive any, but let`s keep our fingers crossed that everything stays the way it is for me for at least one change more. =) Oh, also, I had forgotten to mention...for the first time in my mission a leader of my branch, a member of the branch presidency, and a high counselor all told me that they requested that the Stake President request of President Lorenzana that I and my companion stay in our area together. That was a good sign, I think. =P

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. Mom, Dad, Hope, Whitney...try not to get TOO baggy or trunky now that I can almost count my remaining weeks on my two hands. ;P Love you!

Good Results After a Good Week!‏

2010-11-01T15:29:00.000-07:00

Hey Family and Friends!This last week was the fifth week of this change, so it was a week in which we NEEDED to show results in the branch if we want things to stay the way that they are in our area. Elder Solis and I would like to be together until I end me mission, and in order to make that even possible, we needed to work hard and show results to our leaders in church attendance, finding new investigators, teaching lessons, and all the little tasks and datos (statistics) that are asked of modern day missionaries. So...my companion and I and the branch presidency all of us put our shoulders to the wheel and worked hard this week. We had fun in the process, of course, but we got a lot of stuff done at the same time. We worked especially hard trying to find mew investigators and to reactivate inactive and less active members all around San Carlos Sija. Here are the results of our labor: we found 8 new investigators, three families, but all of them ended up letting us know one way or the other that they aren`t interested in changing their lives and accepting the gospel (but that`s okay, we continue pushing forward), we visited MANY inactive and less active families to solve their problems with gospel and priesthood power, and we visited almost ALL of the active families to support them, teach them, and prepare them to receive the lost sheep back into the fold. Yesterday the church attendance jumped from 63 total last week with 5 in actives and 5 recent converts to 79 total this week with 9 in actives, and 10 less actives, and the same 5 recent converts! =D How awesome it THAT! It was a miracle and we were extremely grateful for the blessings we received. As a result also, several families of inactive families have accepted our offer to reteach them the missionary lessons and help them accomplish a true and lasting testimony of the True Church. The San Carlos Sija branch wasn`t to become the San Carlos Sija Ward so this is exactly the things that it needs...for the lost sheep to come home and the offended sheep to trust the shepherd, forgive the past, and come back to the true fold. =) We`re feeling really positive about the possibility that next change Elder Solis and I will be able to stay together in our area and continue working to achieve even more success than we have so far. =)The best thing I could ask for when it comes to the support everyone at home could give us would be for you all to keep in mind the goals of our branch in San Carlos Sija, and pray and fast for the families that I will be telling you all about in the coming weeks (that is IF I get to stay in this area =P) Here are the goals that the branch needs to achieve to turn into a ward: we need to up the church attendance to 125 every week steady, we need to have 25 worthy holders of the Higher Priesthood, and also 25 full tithe payers. Those are the basics...we can do it, I know we can. It`ll be rough and it`ll take a LOT of work, but I know that if I stay in Sija until I come back home...my companion and I can at least get us most of the way there. =) All through the Spirit of course...we`ll only be instruments in the Lord`s hands...but we`ll be the ones putting in the footwork at least. =P Okay, so if you want to support us, pray that we can continue to progress and achieve those goals. Also, two families that need our prayers are the Aguilar Family (4, young mom and dad and two tiny children) and the Hill Ramirez Family (older mom and dad and 10 children and their families). The Devil worked hard on those families to bring them down and take them into the "forbidden paths", so we gotta have the Spirit strong with us to bring them back. We can do it, nothing is impossible with the Lord`s help. =PFamily, I love you...just wanted you to know that.I loved all the news about Halloween...not gunna lie...I missed it last night. But that`s okay...no big deal. Just a couple more holidays to watch pass by, and then you`ll never be able to get rid of me. haha No, seriously, it`s okay. We`re gunna have a Thanksgiving dinner Guatemala style with a family of members just for me. =P They love me in this area. =) And I love them. Christmas will be great because it`ll mark one more month until I`m 21. and New years will literally be a blast here with all the fireworks and the whole city blowing up at midnight. So I`m not getting baggy cuz of the holidays, don`t worry. Just know that I`m enjoying my mission, I`m being good, I continue learning from the Spirit and the scriptures, and I love my family to the end of time!

Love Eternally,-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. When Thanksgiving comes around, I would really love it if you all took pictures together and send them to me. I`ll get jealous of the food, but most of all I`ll just enjoy seeing the smiling faces of my beloved family. I love you guys!

Good Results After A Good Week!

2010-11-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hey Family and Friends!

This last week was the fifth week of this change, so it was a week in which we NEEDED to show results in the branch if we want things to stay the way that they are in our area. Elder Solis and I would like to be together until I end me mission, and in order to make that even possible, we needed to work hard and show results to our leaders in church attendance, finding new investigators, teaching lessons, and all the little tasks and datos that are asked of modern day missionaries. So...my companion and I and the branch presidency all of us put our shoulders to the wheel and worked hard this week. We had fun in the process, of course, but we got a lot of stuff done at the same time. We worked especially hard trying to find mew investigators and to reactivate inactive and less active members all around San Carlos Sija. Here are the results of our labor: we found 8 new investigators, three families, but all of them ended up letting us know one way or the other that they aren`t interested in changing their lives and accepting the gospel (but that`s okay, we continue pushing forward), we visited MANY inactive and less active families to solve their problems with gospel and priesthood power, and we visited almost ALL of the active families to support them, teach them, and prepare them to receive the lost sheep back into the fold. Yesterday the church attendance jumped from 63 total last week with 5 inactives and 5 recent converts to 79 total this week with 9 inactives, and 10 less actives, and the same 5 recent converts! =D How awesome it THAT! It was a miracle and we were extremely grateful for the blessings we received. As a result also, several families of inactive families have accepted our offer to reteach them the missionary lessons and help them accomplish a true and lasting testimony of the True Church. The San Carlos Sija branch wasn`t to become the San Carlos Sija Ward so this is exactly the things that it needs...for the lost sheep to come home and the offended sheep to trust the shepherd, forgive the past, and come back to the true fold. =) We`re feeling really positive about the possibility that next change Elder Solis and I will be able to stay together in our area and continue working to achieve even more success than we have so far. =)

The best thing I could ask for when it comes to the support everyone at home could give us would be for you all to keep in mind the goals of our branch in San Carlos Sija, and pray and fast for the families that I will be telling you all about in the coming weeks (that is IF I get to stay in this area =P) Here are the goals that the branch needs to achieve to turn into a ward: we need to up the church attendance to 125 every week steady, we need to have 25 worthy holders of the Higher Priesthood, and also 25 full tithe payers. Those are the basics...we can do it, I know we can. It`ll be rough and it`ll take a LOT of work, but I know that if I stay in Sija until I come back home...my companion and I can at least get us most of the way there. =) All through the Spirit of course...we`ll only be instruments in the Lord`s hands...but we`ll be the ones putting in the footwork at least. =P Okay, so if you want to support us, pray that we can continue to progress and achieve those goals. Also, two families that need our prayers are the Aguilar Family (4, young mom and dad and two tiny children) and the Hill Ramirez Family (older mom and dad and 10 children and their families). The Devil worked hard on those families to bring them down and take them into the "forbidden paths", so we gotta have the Spirit strong with us to bring them back. We can do it, nothing is impossible with the Lord`s help. =P

Family, I love you...just wanted you to know that.

I loved all the news about Halloween...not gunna lie...I missed it last night. But that`s okay...no big deal. Just a couple more holidays to watch pass by, and then you`ll never be able to get rid of me. haha No, seriously, it`s okay. We`re gunna have a Thanksgiving dinner Guatemala style with a family of members just for me. =P They love me in this area. =) And I love them. Christmas will be great because it`ll mark one more month until I`m 21. and New years will literally be a blast here with all the fireworks and the whole city blowing up at midnight. So I`m not getting baggy cuz of the holidays, don`t worry. Just know that I`m enjoying my mission, I`m being good, I continue learning from the Spirit and the scriptures, and I love my family to the end of time!

Love Eternally,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. When Thanksgiving comes around, I would really love it if you all took pictures together and send them to me. I`ll get jealous of the food, but most of all I`ll just enjoy seeing the smiling faces of my beloved family. I love you guys!

Happy Birthday Mom!!!‏

2010-10-25T14:59:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Happy Birthday Mom! I´m not gunna say the number, because in your email you made it very obvious that you aren´t too happy about it. hahaha Mom, don´t worry about it at all. You´re still the super fun, ultra loving, mega service-oriented, selfless Mom that I´ve known my entire life. You´re one of the greatest sources of learning, love, and comfort that I have in my Life and you need to know that your son loves you more than you will ever know or understand...at least until we´re all exalted in the Celestial Kingdom. hahaha Anyways, Mom, happy birthday...enjoy it, and have fun tomorrow night with all your sisters and Grandma. Give Grandma Welling a huge hug and kiss from me and let her know that she´s on my mind. Also, apologize for me for slacking so bad on writing letters during my mission...there really just isn´t enough time to write everyone in between in the work and the fun of the mission.

This week was a good one. Elder Solis and I worked hard to visit the members and get to know more of them. It kinda sucks that it´s taken this long to get the support of the Branch Presidency and get them to help us find our way around the area. Our area is huge and a little mountainous, so it´s a little hard to know who lives where and where to go to find them. Definitely don´t want to get lost in the mountains of Guatemala and never get back home. haha When we visit members, we try to talk with them about every aspect of their lives...temporal and spiritual, so that we can measure exactly where they´re al individually and as family in their progress. Once we´ve measure where thay´re at, we can begin to select lessons from the scriptures to teach them, left their spirits, inspire them, and get them working towards better lives and a stronger branch in San Corlos Sija. Our church attendance stayed about the same as last week, but a ton more less active and inactive members came this week, which shows big progress. We still don´t have many investigators, but that´s okay because our job for now it to get this branch back on its feet. On Saturday Elder Solis and I had a wonderful meeting with the Branch Presidency and they basically gave us an idea of the overall state of the branch and the requirements of the Church for our branch to eventually become a ward. It´s a long road ahead of us, but we´re hoping to install a turbo charger in the engine to get things progressing a lot faster. We´re doing well. This week will be full of work activating members and finding partial families (families in the which not everyone has been baptized yet). We got the good news yesterday that there is a partial family of 13 people (only 6 baptized) that wants to come back to the Church and just needs our teaching and help to get there. I´m hoping to have a lot of good things to look forward to in the progress of the branch of San Carlos Sija. I´ll keep you all posted.

Dad, you made reference to the fact that maybe I have been holding back emotions and thoughts about my missionary experience from you guys and that it´s difficult for you as a father to know what my experience has been like. I just want to tell you that I´m 100% sincere in my emails and letters, although I admit to holding back certain emotions and experiences that may have been a source of worry or concern for you and Mom and the rest of the family. I´ve held certain things back only because I don´t need to focus on them and they really wouldn´t HELP my family at all. You also said that I continually have expressed my growing testimony about certain aspects of the Gospel and that you feel my growth and love for the Gospel. You´ve also expressed that you finally feel like I´ve become a man and that I´ve turned out almost exactly the way that you and Mom hoped I would. Dad, that IS my mission. I have not baptized hundreds, nor even 20, but I have changed lives and allowed my testimony to be filled and stretched and grown my experiences. I have experienced a true, eternal, powerful personal conversion and I will never fall away. I have become the man that the Lord needs me to be to achieve the many great and wonderful works and heights that He has planned for me. I have come to know my Savior and my Father. I understand their Love and I understand the power and the purpose of the Atonement. I still have MUCH to learn and a TON of room to grow, but I´ve made HUGE progress and I know HOW to get to where I´m going now. Dad, that IS my mission. You will be happy with what the Lord is about to give back to you in the form of your only Son. I caution you all, however, about one thing. Once I´m home...be careful about what questions you ask me, because I will NOT linger on the emotions and experiences that brought me down. So, if you ask a question and I don´t have an answer for you once I´m home, don´t worry, just focus on the wonders that were worked in me and marvel at what I´ve become by passing through the hands of the Master. Sound like a deal? I´ll answer almost ALL of your questions, just don´t ask questions that won´t have uplifting answers. I´ve learned to fight the negative and focus on the positive in my life. I will continue that course and I will bring anyone that is will to come along with me on the journey! =)

Love Eternally,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Enjoying the Mission!‏

2010-10-18T09:38:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

I`m glad that everyone thinks that this time in my mission should be my "golden age", using all the talents, lessons, and scriptures that I`ve learned thus far in the mission, because that`s exactly how I feel about this time in my mission too. I`m in a beautiful area with a wonderful companion around very kind people, although still blinded by apostasy and pride. haha I`m loving my mission and enjoying every day, even though it`s constantly in the back of my mind that I get closer to home with every passing day. I`m so glad that my family is still doing wonderfully with providing me with the news of the family, whether it be good or bad (even though I`m sure that you`ve been sugar-coating everything just a little bit for me whole mission, but that`s okay cuz I don`t mind the sweet outer layer haha). Yes, Dad, I`m well aware of the upcoming birthdays and holidays in the family and amd actually rather pleased by the fact that Mom and Grandma`s birthdays both fall on a P-Day for me. It should be a great email for them next week. I thank everyone for trying their very best to get along, even though we should all be able to realize that everyone stumbles and falls down every once in a while. The Gospel Plan in that we just keep getting back up, brushing ourselves off, and trying harder to do better the next day. That`s actually what my companion and I are trying our hardest to do right now for our branch.

Right now we realize full well that we will NOT be able to baptize in this branch until it has been strengthened, purified, and lifted up on the shoulders of the Strong One. We`re trying our best to find the members of the branch (no one has taken the time to take us around our big area and show us who lives where...that`s a stumbling block for right now) and then to gauge their situation spiritually and temporally. We need to know what`s going on in each family so that we can tailor our teaching to THEM and be able to lift them up on the wings of mercy. I feel like I can answer almost any Gospel related question that anyone ever asks me now, as long as it doesn`t involve Bible-bashing...I don`t do that...anymore. hahaha It`s a great feeling because the members here are all relatively new and have lots of questions and doubts. For example, yesterday we spent the entire afternoon reading the book of mormon out loud with members and answering the questions and doubt that the reading inspired. It was a great experience and I LOVE reading that book! Honestly, the Bible hold little value for me just because the Book of Mormon is so INCREDIBLE! haha I`m going to blow you all away with my BoM knowledge once I get home and involved in family scripture study! hahaha Be prepared. Well.l i don`t have any specifics to give you all about this week because the truth is that just about everything we did to gain investigators failed. But this week will be better, I promise.

I love you all and think about you often. You`re my favortie people on the planet, and the Lord knows how thankful I am for each and every one of my family members. I hope that once I get home, you all can either ask me questions that you have in your heart, resolve your doubts through my help and the Spirit, or allow me to teach you what I`ve learned by the Lord`s hand so we can lift our family up to it`s rightfu place among the Strong of the Church and the World. I have faith that our family could be GREAT in the eyes of all those that see and know of our righteous example. We just gotta work hard TOGETHER to get to that point and be humble enough to help all those that stand in need around us. I want to use what I`ve learned to HELP my family, never by force, but by love always. I hope that you all can be prepared and willing to accept or ask for that help once I`m back. Again, I love you all and I want you to know that I love you ALMOST as much as our Father does. Christ is our Savior, and will heal us if we come to Him humbly and ready to learn.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

October always goes by FAST!‏

2010-10-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

Hey My WONDERFUL Family!

I miss you all so much today. It´s a beautiful day here in Xela and I could just imagine, as I looked at the park outside the Internet cafe, all five of us just walking together in the city or the park, enjoying each other´s company and presence. It´s a wonderful feeling, knowing that that daydream will soon come true. However, I am still working hard to be a good missionary and to raise these Guatemalan people up to a higher spiritual level so they can enjoy the blessings of true family relationships as well. I think that my goal in this area will be, of course, to baptize those that I can, but also to meet, teach, and measure all the members that I possibly can. Then, after getting to know their spirits, Elder Solis and I will work to elevate each member to a higher level of spirituality and personal progression so they can start really enjoying the Gospel plan. =) I´m talking about helping them prepare to receive Patriarchal Blessings (thank you, by the way, for sending the copy that I requested over the Internet) and entering the Temple for the first time and also receiving their endowments. Our efforts will also stretch into the realm of helping members be relieved of their Church Disciplinary actions through ¨good behavior¨ so to speak. It´s sad to know that some members´bad choices have crippled them spiritually, but it gives me how and purpose while I´m in their homes with them. I know that my testimony and the Gospel I teach will help pick them up, dust them off, and show them the right path. It´ll be a fun ride here in San Carlos Sija!This week we started a new class for anyone that wants to attend. We call it ¨Que Quieren Aprender¨ which means ¨what do you want to learn?¨ Basically, we show up, allow anyone to ask Gospel-related questions, and then my companion and I study the answers, and answer them in the class time. Afterwards, we play soccer and just have fun. It´s a great activity and it´s helping me learn a LOT about what the Mission has taught ME in specifically.Also, we´re thinking about starting an English class for anyone that wants to come, and a class to teach the members how to prepare lessons and sacrament talks. Really, in this area, we will NOT have success in baptisms until the members are back on their feet and again progressing towards becoming a strong ward, instead of being a weak branch.Okay, no for the personal part. This email will be dedicated to Mom. So anyone that isn´t interested in hearing about how much I love and appreciate my Mother...you can stop reading here.

hahaha Mom,I love you more than any other person in this world. (Sorry, Dad, Hope, and Whitney, but Mom´s got ya beat just by a tad ;P) You´ve done so MUCH for me in my life and I recognize the lessons you taught me throughout my youth by word and example. Here in my new area there is a woman that treats my companion and I like her own children. She takes care of us well and I know that she cares about us, but she also is hurting on the inside and hasn´t found the way to true happiness through the Gospel yet. She feels lost at times, alone, scared, and under appreciated. My companion and I both care for Sister Irma Perez very much, so we took the time after a meal to teach her and her family about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Mother, I would like to express to you that you taught me more about the Atonement than any teacher or companion ever has...because of the love and selfless service you have ALWAYS shown our family, and especially to ME. I KNOW how my Savior and Redeemer loves me, because I´ve experienced YOUR love, Mom.
You picked me up, cleaned my scrapes, and kissed me all better every time I fell down. You´ve fed me and cared for me every hour of every day of my life, only thinking of MY well-being, without regard to your own. You serve me without thought of receiving thanks (although you ALWAYS taught me to the grateful in everything I do) and by doing so, you have taught me what true service really is. I know WHY my Savior came to earth, why he suffered and died for me, why he was resurrected for ME...because of my Mother´s love. Paula Welling Tucker...I love you more than I could ever express and I want you to know that you Son is who is he is because his Father in Heaven loved him so much that he blessed him to be born to YOU. Without you in my life, Mom, I would be nothing. But WITH you in my life, Mom, I am EVERYTHING the Lord ever planned for me to be. YOU did that Mom, side-by-side with Dad, you two worked a miracle that I will forever be grateful for. So Mom, smile, laugh, and feel the Spirit testify of the truth of my words. KNOW that your worth is GREAT in the sight of God, and just as GREAT in the sight of your firstborn, loving Son. I love you, Mom. In the hard times, when you want to give up, remember that I love you. Say a prayer, thank your Father in Heaven for your blessings AND your trials, and allow the Spirit to pick you up and push you forward. I constantly look forward to the moment that I step off the plane and take you into my arms and whisper, ¨I love you Mom...I´m home.¨ Paula, your Son loves you and appreciates you, as does your family. Be grateful and prayerful, and never forget that you are a divine Daughter of God!

Love Always-
Elder Preston William Tucker

GOOD Changes! Sooo happy!‏

2010-10-04T13:42:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

I love you!

This week was change week and I´m sure that ALL of you, because of my short email last week, are anxious to hear about what happened, where I´m at, and who I´m with. Well...I´m still in Los Riscos and STILL with Elder Kahawaii...JUST KIDDING!!! That is exactly what I feared would happen. I wasn´t dreading it or anything like that, but to be honest, I was suffering spiritually for those two changes that I was with him. I tried so hard to change things. I served him without looking for thanks, I prayed often for strength and guidance and help, I studied the Scriptures to find answers, and I even fasted to help things workout. Apparently it wasn´t meant to work out because hardly anything changed between us and last week we both received changes. I want you ALL to know that I am EXTREMELY happy with the changes that I received. I will finally be free and able to develop EXACTLY what the Lord has planned for the rest of my mission in these coming changes. So here´s they are, my changes for at least this change cycle:

Companion: Elder Solis (yes, the Elder Solis that I spent 3 days with in Momostenango right after I switched to Xela mission)
Zona: Xela (I´m part of the Central Xela zone, so we have all our meetings and P-Days in the beautiful city of Quetzaltenango!)
Area: San Carlos Sija (pronounced "see-hah")
Responsibility: Normal, Good Old-Fashioned Missionary!!! =D

Okay, so I´m with Elder Solis and we´re already best friends! I spent three days with him when I changed to Xela mission while they were trying to figure out my changes and where I would stay. In those three days we became great friends! We served, worked, talked, and had fun! Now we´re permanent companions here in BEAUTIFUL San Carlos Sija! My it is wonderful. Everyone calls it the "mini-Momos" because it´s nestled into the mountains around the city of Xela. It´s mostly rolling hills and a couple tall mountains, but not anywhere near as rugged as Momostenango is. Walking pretty much anywhere will be easier than it was in Momos, being there really prepared me to be able to fully-enjoy my new area I think! =) The people are very nice and everyone is willing to say "hello" to you in the street. It´s a cleaner town than Momos is and the streets are clear and well paved (with paving stones like puzzle pieces). There is only one market day a week, so the streets stay pretty clean all day every day! I´t has been raining since I got here, but today it is beautiful and sunny so I can enjoy the green hills and the colorful buildings. The only member family that I have been able to meet so far is wonderful and kind! They are the Perez Family and their names are Efraín (Dad), Irma (Mom), Marcony (Oldest Son, 24), Ingrid (Oldest Daughter, 21), Claudia (Youngest Daughter, 20), and Kevin (Youngest Son, 9). They have lots of problems in their lives and need strongter testimonies and to participate in the repentance process so they can become strong enough to overcome their challenges, so we see they on a daily basis to teach and inspire them to change. So far, we´ve had a lot of very spiritual lessons with their family and they´ve begun a significant change in their lives. They treat us as Elders like their own family members and Hermano Efraín calls me "nenón" which is basically really caringly calling me his very large son (baby boy)! haha He also calls me "hombre blanco" which is just calling me "white man". haha They are wonderful and feed us good, home-cooked food. I´m very happy and filled with the spirit when I´m around them. I love them very deeply already. They are all either doctors or studying to be doctors, so we have very intelligent conversations too, and you ALL know that I love that! =D I need you to pray for them so that they can have the strength to learn the Atonement and prepare to repent and receiving their Patriarchal Blessings. =) That was a bit of inspiration we had in last night´s lesson with them after Conference. We found out that no one in the Perez Family has their patriarchal blessings, so we want to help them prepare to receive that road map for their lives. Thank you for your consideration for their sakes.

We´ve (Elder Solia) and I have had wonderful luck with finding investigators in the last few days too! Good, prepared investigators that don't have major challenges or roadblock in their way of being baptized. Namely, we have found Margarita, a wife of a less active member, with their two small children. She needs to receive an answer to her prayer of whether or not the Church is true. We´ve also found a young couple with a 11 month old baby. Their names are Edward (22) and Brenda (20). I contacted them in the bus going to Xela, and they were very interested in learning more. We will need your prayers and help so we can find their house and teach them more of the Gospel and the Restoration. They seem very positive candidates for baptism. That would be my first complete family! I want that sooo bad and I´m going to work to acheive it. We also met Sergio yesterday in the bus home. He is a long-haired, rugged looking man that lived in California for 24 years. He has a small son and maybe more family. They live close to the Perez Family. We want to teach him in his home and get him to the church. He would be wonderful Priesthood. =)

Okay, well, to answer Dad´s questions, I used my last two months trying my hardest to overcome a bad companionship through fasting, effort, and prayer. I learned MANY lessons that will serve me well in the mission and in life in general. I finally learned how to be happy in ANY situation, no matter HOW uncomfortable or dreary. My secret to achieving this is wonderful and I will share it with my family once I´m home. I know that Elder Kahawaii and I could have done MUCH more if we would have been able to BOTH be humble and willing to work to achieve unity, but that was not the case. However, I grew a TON with him and my companionship with him definitely has prepared me to approach challenges in a different, more Christ-like way. The only challenge that I can´t ever change is the consequences that come from the way other choose to use their free agency. The next four months will FLY by, but I will be working as hard as I can to achieve everything possible. I will serve my Mission President, my companion, and my Lord. Look forward to a lot of fun, spiritual stories to come and good news. I feel free, strong, full of love, and I´m ready to finish strong. My goal now is to fill myself so full of love that it will become impossible for people not to allow us to teach them and help them come unto Christ through the Holy Ghost. Charity...I want to be FULL of charity, that is my goal. Be irresistible through pure love. =D I will achieve it!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. I LOVED General Conference too. I took 5 pages of notes and learned MUCH. I also had a wonderful sensation for one of the first times in my life. The sensation was comfort and love from my Father when He lets me know, through a general authority´s message, that I am keeping the commandments and He is happy with my performance in a certain area of his Gospel Plan. However, I will never allow that feeling to inspire overly-proud feelings, I will always focus on what more I can learn and what I lack so I can become better constantly.

P.P.S. The other night, Elder Solis and I were talking in the house after a VERY spiritual lesson. He bore his testimony to me and then proceeded to tell me about everything he had come to know and learn about ME, who I am as a person. His testimony and words penetrated me to the core and helped me to know that I have become almost exactly what the Lord wants me to be as a Man and Son. I can´t describe everything Elder Solis told me, but just know that I AM who the Lord wants me to be and ALL of you will be inevitably impressed by the change the Spirit has effected in me as Preston William Tucker. I love you. I make these changes for YOU. I make these changes for Him. I am who I need to be to eventually return to my Father, WITH my family, to dwell in His Kingdom!

Change Week!‏

2010-09-27T11:27:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Oh man, this week has been LONG! but that`s okay, cuz it`s over now. haha A lot of stuff happened that I can`t explain in an email and it was just really disorganized. I hate the last week of the change...it always seems like everything slows down to almost a stop or everything falls apart in the zone. Sigh...it`s okay though, this week is change week and I think my situation is about to get a lot better...we`ll see.

We now receive changes on Tuesdays and we meet our new comps and areas on Wednesday. Next week I`ll be able to tell you all about what happened next Monday.

Oh man, I just gotta call and It sounds like I gotta get off the computer. This is NOT cool. I don`t get time to send you much at all...This is one of the reasons I don`t like being a zone leader on Mondays...I have to send ALL the data that EVERYONE asks for and I haven`t received very much, if ANY support from my companion. Oh well...

I`m sorry this email is so depressing...I promise I`m fine and I`m happy. My week went well and we have taught some very good investigators. Rosaura is progressing slowly, might get baptized on the 9th of October. We are now teaching a man named Josè and he is progressing rapidly, just like Benanrdo Poncio did in July. Also a new family came out as a reference and we might have a little success there too. I`ll let you know next week if I stay in my area or what happens. I`m so sorry for the lack of stories and basically lack of email, but I can`t do anything more this week. Forgive me please.

I love you all and am SO proud of you! You`re all doing wonderfully and staying strong in the Gospel. I love my Family eternally!!!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. I`m excited that you`re going to be able to finish the Book of Mormon together by February. I`m just finishing it again in Spanish and then I`ll dedicate myself to English until I`m home. I`m starting Ether today. =)

P.P.S. Hope, AWESOME job with the soccer and swim. SOOOO excited to see you perform once I`m home.

Good Week For Emails!!! =D

2010-09-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!!!
Oh my...I knew it was going to be a good week for emails...but I had no idea HOW good!!! Seriously I think this weeks emails were my favorites of 2010! So much has happened in the last week at home and I just love hearing about it. It`s so wonderful to hear just line after line of GREAT news! Oh man...I feel exhausted from smiling so hard and feeling so happy and blessed. hehe This is the best feeling of the week: knowing that my family loves me, thinks about me constantly, and is strong in the Gospel, loving their Father and Savior. No lie, THE best feeling ever...so far! =P

This week was a regular week with not a lot going on. I had my last divisions with the other areas and elders in my zone and everything went according to plan. I was able to really feel the Spirit speaking through me as I taught the younger missionaries in my zone just how to be an effective, faithful missionary. I was able to share experiences from home and the mission to answer their doubts, questions, and challenges. I was able to use the Scriptures and Preach My Gospel to teach and instruct them through the Spirit. I was also asked by one of them to bear my testimony to him about exactly WHY the Church (and the Lord) needs us as 19 year old on a two year mission. I was amazed by my own response. It was possibly the most fervent testimony that I`ve ever given of the Mission Work. It made me feel very good to know for sure that I KNOW why I`m here, why the Lord sends us, and how the mission eternally effects our lives for the better. I am comfortable as a missionary and I know that no matter what, whether I`m baptizing or just teaching and contacting a ton, I am still completing my purpose as a missionary of the Lord. I try my best to teach the Gospel as simply as I possibly can so anyone can understand. I try to use good examples and parables so that my teaching reflects that of the Savior`s. I try to bear my testimony in every opportunity that the Lord gives me and then leave it to the free agency of my brothers and sisters to accept the message I bear or not. I now understand that I will never fully comprehend the scope of what I`ve done in the mission. How many seeds I`ve planted...how many lives I`ve helped the Spirit to change...how many of our brothers and sisters will eventually receive salvation because I opened my mouth. But I know that I`m doing what the Lord called me to do and I glory in my God! =)

The highlight of this week was something that I might catch a lot of flack for from all of you at home, but it`s my email, so I`m gunna tell whatever stories I want. haha Just kidding. Unfortunately I haven`t been in my area much this week because of the divisions. Also, unfortunately, most of the investigators that our zone has right now are NOT the "chosen of the Lord." We`ve learned that Satan is constantly trying to beguile us and put investigators in our ways that we may think will progress, but are really just distractions and decoys for now. We are instructed to gather the chosen, and the zone is having a hard time finding them right now, but that`s what I`m here for, to help the other missionaries sort through the masses and start spending their time effectively with those that WILL be baptized. So, because this week wasn`t great for teaching, my story and highlight has to do with FOOD! =) One of the elders in my zone taught me this week how to make banana bread and deep fried SCONES! So, last night, Elder Kahawaii and I (we are no wonderful friends and understand and work with each other well now, hallaluya!) made a batch of scone batter! IT was incredibly tasty and we thoroughly enjoyed them! To the point that, by the end of the batch, we were sick of scones and felt like we went to sleep with dough bellies! haha we played card games and listened to gospel music after we planned and while we ate and we just had a good time. I`m excited to share my meager, but tasty cooking skills when I get home. =P

I`m so happy and pumped to hear all about how wonderful and stressful and challenging things are at home. We only really grow stronger when we`re pushed to our limits, ya know. =D Something I`ve learned in the mission. Good thing to know huh? I`m just happy that everyone is trying the best and hardest to overcome their challenges and trials and is doing it all with a wonderful attitude of service and love. THAT`S the family I know and LOVE! Just always keep in mind that I`m gunna be home soon, so you`re all gunna have to pick up the pace to keep up with me! hehehe Just kidding, I`ll probably have a lot of slack to pick up in comparison to my hard working family, but I`m ready for the challenge.

This next week is changes, but I`m almost sure that I wont have a change. Elder Suazo, my old companion and no assistant to Presidente Lorenzana, came by to work in the Zone this week and sat down with Elder Kahawaii and I and told us about how President has been feeling about our companionship and past trials. He was going to take us both out as Zone Leaders and put us in a new area TOGETHER, but as normal missionaries. President (AND the Lord) sees our companionship as a crucial training for our future marriages and think that if we were unable to overcome our differences and become an effective companionship, we may eventually fail in some trial in our marriages. Therefore, He has shown faith in us and has told us that we will be staying together for Elder Kahawaii`s last change, still as zone leaders and still here in Momos Oeste. I`m excited for the opportunity. I know that it`s a tough area and baptisms don`t come easy, but we`ll work hard to lift the zone. I wasn`t at all excited to "kill" another missionary, but I think it`ll be okay to be Elder Kahawaii`s last companion. If we DO receive changes, that`s fine too. I`ll do what the Lord wants me to do.

Okay, I gotta write another small email before my time is up, so I`m gunna say goodbye. I love you all and THANK you for your emails and news this week. It was wonderful! Stay strong and remember to write next week. =)

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Good Week, Fun Stuff!‏

2010-09-13T09:50:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

haha YES! Finally! haha I got mail from BOTH parents and a special someone as well! haha Good week for emails...I knew I was going to need it. First of all, I want to thank you for fasting for me. I know that the purpose of the fast was a little superficial for most people, but for me it was needed. However, just because I say that I needed help to keep from being "baggy" doesn`t mean that I`m a super baggy monster. haha It just means that I love my family, I see things that often remind me of you all during my days, and I`m conscious of the decreasing time that I have left in the mission. Family, I AM ENJOYING MY MISSION, okay? hahahaha I`m fine...I just need a little help every once in a while to shake off the feeling home getting closer. I`m trying very hard to focus on my responsibilities as a Zone Leader and to help lift my companionship and zone to a new level at the same time. The great news is that most of the zone is feeling good and having a good time. Even better news is that my companionship with Elder Kahawaii is getting much better. Last night, in fact, we went to bed late because we were up talking and laughing about just normal things that friend talk about. I have two weeks left in this change (wow that went by pretty fast huh?) and I`m ready to enjoy every day.

This week our plans are to have divisions with the companionships in our zone and to teach them abut the training that we as Zone Leaders received. There are also a couple elders that need help figuring our how to work better in their area. Elder Kahawaii will be going out to the areas and I will be staying in Los Riscos. We will also be trying new ideas and methods to find new investigators and receiving more, better references. Rosaura is doing well, however, it seems like her baptismal date may have to be pushed back a week or two. She thought her doctor`s appointment to check and see if she can be submersed in the water was on the 17th of this month. It now seems like that appointment is for NEXT week, so we may have to baptize her in two weeks on Sunday or close to that date. I`ll keep you all posted. Our last lesson with her went well and she has expressed that she wants to be baptized and also that she believes the Book of Mormon to be the word of God. It was a good experience. Now we`re just teaching her about the Restored Church and she`ll be praying to know if Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Pray that she recognizes her answer, cause we all know that she WILL get an answer if she listens.

This week the highlight was a new activity that Elder Kahawaii and I did on Wednesday. Here in Momostenango, market day is on Sunday and Wednesday. That means that on those two days the streets are packed and there are people everywhere. We went to the central park of the city and set up a table with pamphlets, books of mormon, and pictures of the gospel. A TON of people were interested in listen to us. We split up and were able to teach FOURTEEN lessons in one day and we gained 8 new investigators. We`re going to do it again this week, I just hope it turns out as successful as last week. Unfortunately, Elder Kahawaii cut open his knuckle over the weekend, so we had to get him to Xela to get stitched up, so that cut into the time that we had to go look for the people we taught in the park. I`ll do better about that this week.

Overall, the work is going well, but not SUPER. At least, not yet. I have two more weeks in this change and then just 3 changes left until I`m home. Pray that I`ll be sensitive to the Spirit and that we will find "the chosen ones" and I`ll be fine. I love you all and love your news and emails and letters. Stay strong, pray hard, and play your hardest.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Last good-byes from the Central Mission.

2010-09-07T00:11:00.000-07:00

What a GOOD Week! =D‏

2010-09-06T09:28:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Okay, so I`m gonna have to make this email really quick, so I`m typing like a madman! Please excuse any spelling errors or grammar mistakes! haha

This week has been AWESOME! So I kinda hinted before that the Church has come up with a new way to train missionaries to use Preach My Gospel. This week our Mission President gave all the Zone Leaders in the Xela Mission a 3-day training session on the new curriculum and it was AMAZING! Nothing changed in the actual book of PMG, but the focus that they place on the way to apply it changed quite a bit. I`ll just explain it quickly right now because I`m almost out of time, but later I`ll be talking more about it because I have to train my zone on it and it`ll become a big part of my mission for the rest of my time. The focus is no longer on just teaching the material by the Spirit, it is now about teach the material by the Spirit to the INDIVIDUALS that we teach. We are now being taught how to focus our teachings on EVERY spiritual need that our investigators may have and learning what to teach and when to teach it and HOW to teach it all by Revelation and the impressions of the Spirit. We are to seek revelation through prayer WITH our investigators. If they aren`t learning to pray personally and develop their personal relationship with Heavenly Father, they wont progress like they need to. We are encouraged the break away from using the Bible to convince our investigators of the truth of our message. Instead we are to seek revelation and guidance and teaching aid through the Book of Mormon AS MUCH as possible. If we can, we are encouraged to teach the lessons almost completely using just the BoM! It`s awesome, I`m so stoked for that part. We are also taught now to become transparent missionaries, which means that we set our desires, expectations, thoughts, feelings, and impressions ALL in the open in front of our investigators. Before we teach we are now taught to give a small summary of what we want to teach and what the investigators could learn. We are to do everything we can to inspire TRUST and openness between us and our investigators. This whole program would take a long time to explain to you, but just know that I love it, I learned it, and I use it and it give AWESOME results. For example, last night...

=D
Last night I had possibly one of the most beautiful experiences of my mission and possible my whole life! We went to teach a reference of our Ward Mission Leader. The reference was his sister-in-law who had recently almost lost her life when her appendix gave her problems. She wants to return to God, as she had begun to believe that He doesn`t exist. She has been Catholic her whole life, but married a member of the Church and has a small son with him. They are happily married and she loves her family. However, she had begun to lose her relationship with god and wanted to come back to him. We summarized the goals of our teachings and how she could achieve HER goals of coming to Christ by learning from us and the Spirit. She opened up almost immediately after SHE began with a prayer. She wept as she told us her experience with coming close to death and leaving everything she loves behind. Elder Crapo (I was on divisions with one of our district leaders at the time) and I immediately began to ask inspired questions, teach by the Spirit, and follow Rosaura's (the investigator`s) needs. It was a BEAUTIFUL experience. We taught the first half of the lesson called The Gospel of Jesus Christ and we taught Faith, Repentance, and Baptism. She payed attention and answered all of our questions openly. I then committed her to baptism on the 18th of this month. She accepted with a full heart and pure intent. The only obstacle is that her doctor has to approve her to be able to submerse herself in water. Her next doctor`s appointment is on the 17th (how perfect is that?). I will be fasting and praying for her doctor to approve the submersion so she can be baptized.
After the lesson was over and we had prayed to end it, all of the sudden the sky outside LIGHTED UP with a beautiful orange-red light and we all rush outside to see what it was. It had been raining a little during the lesson and the sun was setting over the mountains. The sunset side of the sky was clear and lit up with BEAUTIFUL light and color, and to the East, the rain clouds were going away and there in front of them was not one, but TWO, a DOUBLE rainbow! It was INCREDIBLE! haha I made a joke and said "It seems like SOMEBODY is definitely happy about your decision!" Everyone laughed and smiled and agreed. IT was AWESOME! haha

Alright, i`m out of time and my fingers hurt from typing so fast. I love you all and hope that you can continue to progress and love and live your lives the way that Heavenly Father would have us do. I love my Family and I and eternally grateful for them in my life. You all give me so much strength and I am excited to face each week because I know you all support and love me. Thank you...forever.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. Please pray for Rosaura (Rose-ow-rah). She will need help and support to get her through the waters of baptism and gain a full and lasting conversion to the True Gospel. With our Father`s help and our prayers that will be MORE than a possibility. =D I love you ALL!

Another Week Down!

2010-08-30T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Guess who? You`re favorite missionary son/brother/cousin/nephew/grandchild/best friend! Reporting in straight from Guatemala in a really weird, dorky mood this morning.

I don`t have a lot to report this week besides the fact that my Zone Leader responsibilities took me out of my area and away from finding and teaching almost this entire week. It was all for a good purpose though. See, when Preach my Gospel came out, they had a district of real elders and real sisters make videos illustrating the separate principles that PMG teaches missionaries. The videos were good, but they lacked focus and...the comfortable feeling of real life situations, I think. Anyways, recently (or, I guess the Church has been working on it for a while) the Church came out with a new set of videos for Preach My Gospel instruction called "The District 2". The First Presidency decided to make the new videos to illustrate and teach the fundamental principles that a missionary can/should learn from PMG in a simpler, realer, and more direct way. So this last Wednesday, the whole Xela Mission had a conference in which President Lorenzana and his assistants explained the separate parts and teachings of the new curriculum. It was a great conference and everybody learned a lot. I took great notes that I`ll have to share with you when I`m home. The normal missionaries went back to their areas afterwards, but ALL the Zone Leaders had to stay behind, sleep in a hotel, and then return to the Mission house for further instruction the next day. It was an AWESOME training that President gave us that second day and I learned things that will help me become the Man God wants me to be FASTER and EASIER. The principles that I`m learning now will help me achieve success for the rest of my life. I`m really excited to share what I`ve learned more fully once I`m home, but for now know that I`m really enjoying what the Lord is teaching me lately! We`re not having a lot of success in our area, but that might be fixed soon...not sure...it sounds like President Lorenzana has plans to take the mission`s leaders out of their areas to train them personally for quite a bit of time in the coming weeks. I`ll keep you all posted on how it goes.

I didn`t get emails from family today, so I`m assuming that all is well in the Tucker and Welling clans. That`s one thing I`ve learned...never to really freak out about anything anymore. I guess it`s understanding the concept of "no news is good news" SOMETIMES...not ALL the time. =P I hope that Brooke and Kate enjoyed their honeymoons and that they`re really getting buckled down into newly married life with their spouses. I`m really excited by the fact that every day brings my friends and I closer to being reunited again so we can all glory in our Lord and the experiences he gave us in the mish. I love my Family and my Friends...your prayers and love and thoughts support me day by day and the people around me can feel you love through the happiness you all bring me. I`m so grateful for the Gospel plan that joins me to you all in an Eternal chain, especially if we`re obedient to the will of the Lord. I love the Plan of Salvation...it brings me comfort in the hardest part of mortal life. I understand the power of my Maker and trust him and pour out my soul to him often. I`m developing a better relationship with the Spirit and am learning the depend on him when the good ideas run dry and when the heart needs uplifting. I love and know my Savior, and He loves and knows me. I testify that His Church is TRUE and the Gospel has been restored for us in these later days. I work hard to share my testimony and make it stronger so I can bear my family up for ALWAYS. I`ll talk to you all and see you soon.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Very Fast Week, Not Much to Report‏

2010-08-23T09:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

I love you all!

This week your emails were all long and full of great emotion and news! I enjoyed them very much. They didn`t leave me much time to write my own email, but that`s okay this week because not a lot happened! haha Sorry to say, but this week's email will not have much news about the mission work.

This last week was change week. Our changes are now done on Wednesdays. So on Tuesday night, the assistants told us who was going, who was staying, and who was training. Luckily, due to the wonderful change between Elder Kahawaii and I, we stayed together for another change. Our relationship has gotten 10 times better since last Monday. I would rather not go into details about what happened to make us have a the problems we did, because the important part is that the Lord helped us both to ask for forgiveness and to move on with more hope and love in our companionship. I finally feel like he and I are becoming good friends. You all know from my past experiences that I always do better in my companionship when my companion is my friend as well. A couple of elders left the zone and the elders that came into the zone are rather new and inexperienced. That`s okay though, we`re looking to really elevate the level of our zone`s spirituality and faith this change and we needed new blood. Unfortunately, this month the zone only has 2 baptisms so far, but next month we have hope and faith that we will achieve more than ever before.

This week I was a little baggy because it seemed like EVERYTHING I learned or heard was geared towards life AFTER the mission and eternal marriage. haha Kate got married this week, my baby cousin is now on her own, that thought kinda got me a couple of times this week. Congrats Kate! Be smart and always look to the Lord in all your challenges. You`re intelligent, beautiful, and talented. I know that if you pray and listen, the Lord will guide you to happiness always. Also, Brooke got married this weekend as well! Awesome, Brooke, I wish I could`ve been there to cheer for you. I know how far you`ve come and how wonderful it is that you were married for time and all eternity to the love of your life, Chad. Congratulations, even though you`ve never met me and don`t know too much about me, I`m very proud of you and wish you all the best in your new life with Chad. Prayer, as you know, always helps in any situation, but now you have the right to use the Temple blessings to solve any problem that you may come across in this life. Attend the temple often with your husband, and everything will turn out exactly the way the Lord meant it to. I have a giant testimony of the importance of the Temple and I wish for ALL of my loved ones to eventually enjoy the covenants and blessings that we can receive there! I appreciate every day the Love of the Father for His Children and how He made that Love manifest through the Eternal Blessings of His Holy House.

Hope, I`m so excited for you this week! You started SIXTH GRADE! Holy crap...you`re so huge now! I seriously feel like I`m missing out on your whole life sometimes...haha but that`s okay because I`m sure that you`re going to talk my ears off about EVERYTHING that has happened in the last two years. I want you to know that both Mom and Dad give me SHINING reports of how well you are doing in EVERYTHING you choose to involve yourself in. School, swim, soccer, and family! You`re doing wonderful and I am so grateful for your obedience! I have a couple little bits of advice for you, though, as you start this new part of your life. Hope, you`re growing up so fast, and as you grow up, more responsibility and good choices will be expected of you. I know that you are learning very fast about who you are, what our family believes and stands for, and who you need to be so that Heavenly Father can always watch over you, protect you, and guide you. You need to know now, Hope, that prayer should now become one of the most important parts of your day. When you pray in the morning, when you eat, and when you sleep, ALWAYS be grateful for the blessings that Heavenly Father gives you. Always ASK for the help and blessings that you NEED in life and I promise you that Heavenly Father will listen and answer your prayers. This is a lesson that I didn`t learn at your age...unfortunately, I waited to learn it until I got on my mission. Hope, I bare you my testimony that if you try REALLY hard to be the BEST 11 year old Hopester you can be...Heavenly Father will be happy and He will bless our family. Hope, in your new school, try your VERY best to find and make new GOOD friends that SUPPORT you and love you for who you are. Do not change who you are so that other people will like you, it`s NEVER worth it. Be yourself and love the people that show you love. Serve your friends and help them. When we serve others, they are more likely to want to serve us as well. When you help others, they will return the favor IF they are real friends. Always remember who you are! I know that Mom and Dad say that all the time, but it`s TRUE and it HELPS! If you remember that you are a Daughter of God and that He loves you and expects you to be your best self...you will hardly ever give into temptation or make wrong choices. I love you Hope, you`re my favorite little sister EVER! =P Be obedient and love our parents!

Okay, that`s about it for this week. I know that I didn`t talk much about my week, and I`m sorry. This week might be full of a few wonderful events that I`ll be VERY excited to write and email about next week. I don`t want to spoil the surprise, so I`m not going to say much more. I need your prayers this week so that my companion and I can have the desire and the inspiration necessary to find the chosen investigators of God. We don`t have many people that are very positive, so pray that we will know when and who to teach this week so that more of our brothers and sisters can share the blessings of the Gospel with our AWESOME family! I love you all and I`m very proud of you. I love it when you share your feelings like you all did this week and I want you to know that I appreciate every effort you all make in the RIGHT direction, the direction of the Gospel Plan. It`s a True Plan, it`s a Perfect Plan. Follow it, and you`ll find Happiness, I testify!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

New Pictures!

2010-08-17T14:46:00.000-07:00

Last Week of the Change‏

2010-08-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

Hey Family,

Okay, I had a LOT to do this week before I could start this email so I`m just letting you all know that it`s going to be short and sweet. I loved all the email that I got and the news that everyone is being challenged but is enduring those challenges well is very uplifting to me. It helps me feel like my missionary efforts are being felt at home. I know that lately everyone has been having very abrupt and life-shifting changes, but I want you to know that keeping in mind all the scriptoral promises that we have IF we Endure to the End will help any of us get through even the HARDEST changes in life.

This week I had a good start. On Tuesday I had my interview with President and I think I was in there with him for over an hour and a half! We talked about ALL the things that I had on my mind and heart. I unloaded on him and he unloaded on me. I learned much about the progress that I`ve made ever since I changed missions and the progress that I still have to be made. I learn how, spiritually, I can beat bad habits and how the Savior can help me with even the smallest things. I also spoke to President about my future in the mission and my future in home-life. I do not know where I will be going in the changes that will be made tomorrow OR with whom I may be placed, but I am pretty sure that I will be receiving a change.

This week my companion and I had a rather large misunderstanding and Elder Kahawaii ended up giving me a complete silent-treatment for 3 full days. He never told me what I had done wrong or if he was offended or angry. He literally spoke less than 10 words to me in a period of 72 hours. However, I do not want ANYONE to think badly of him because I`ve said this. We have now worked out our differences and are fine as friends and companions, but it was a long three days of learning for me. As missionaries without unity we were unable to achieve practically anything, which taught me that alone...when I`m supposed to depend on someone else, especially the Savior, I cannot accomplish anything. It also taught me the importance of communication and free expression of feelings and ideas. Also, as the silence continued, I learned to turn my Heavenly Father immediately in prayer and supplication. I prayed for strength, for understanding, and for love. I prayed for my companion as well, unselfishly. I also learned to turn immediately to self-reflection to figure out WHAT or IF I had done wrong. I learned much about myself this week, but all of those lessons just built upon the lessons I`ve already learned in the mission thus far. And I learned probably the most valuable lesson of my entire Xela mission so far. Mom, and Dad, this will mean more to you two than anyone else, but I have learned HOW I can complete one of the most important promises that I was given in my Patriarchal Blessing. I have learned how to be happy in all situations and how I can live with a joyful heart. My soul overflows with gratitude as I think about this invaluable lesson that came to my through the Spirit and through trial and prayer. Although this misunderstanding could ave ruined MANY things, including my companionship and friendship with Elder Kahawaii, I did not let it. The Lord and His Spirit helped us through it all and now we came out on top, with Satan crying and lamenting down below.

On a much higher note, I also was able to develop something that will help me for the rest of my LIFE when it comes to my Spiritual Progression. In my interview, President told me that he does not want me to wait to learn from HIM, but to learn from the Spirit and then just confirm with him the lessons that I learn. The Spirit taught me how to make better use of my scriptures as a missionary and revealed to me a system of how to mark my Scriptures that will bless my life and the life of my family and those I teach for Eternity. Unfortunately, you all will have to wait until I`m home to see what I`ve done, but I know that most of you will be able to see the true value of what I`ve discovered. I showed the system to President on Sunday, as he was there for our District Conference in the Zone, and he actually asked me to scan and send him a copy of my system, as he saw that it was useful and he hinted that he might want to institute my system in the entire mission very soon. =)

Okay, these were the largest events of my week. It was a big one! I have no idea what this week will hold for me, but I will let you all know next Monday. I love you. I`m proud of all of you. I wish you all luck and strength. Know where to find it, through Prayer. Use the tools Heavenly Father has given you. Trust in Him, and He will guide you to happiness. I testify of these things.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. I attached a couple of my photos from the last few months, but there will be many more on the way. I have not sent my memory card yet because I haven`t had the chance to pass by a post office in a very long time. I may have the opportunity soon, I don`t know. Enjoy!

A Week Outside My Area...‏

2010-08-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

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

This Festival is Driving Me Crazy!‏

2010-08-02T08:53:00.001-07:00

Hey Family!

I love you! =)

So this week was slow...not alot to report, sorry. The thing is that here in the city of Momostenango, every year there is a festival that comes to town called the "Feria." Schools shut down, the already narrow streets become clogged with venders` stands, carnival games, pizza sellers, and a whole other list of weird and interesting things to see and buy. The crappy part is that it lasts for 15 DAYS! So...all this week the streets have been full of people from all over Guatemala selling, buying, walking VERY slowly, and not being interested in learning about the Gospel because we can never get them to stay in their houses long enough to listen to a lesson. We had a whole MOUNTAIN of contacting opportunities, but the ones that were positive either did not live anywhere close to here, or they aren`t going to be in their houses to receive us until the Festival goes away. Hopefully it will be gone by the end of this week...hopefully. haha I`m just excited to get into making all of our plans work for us. We have a whole bunch of villages in our area and we need to start working there a lot more in order to find people to baptize. The people that live in the villages speak mostly Quiche, the local dialect, and hardly any of them can read, write, or have even gotten a more than 3 years of formal schooling. It presents both a challenge and a great opportunity. Teaching these people will be a good training for me to learn how to teach my future children I think...who knows what lessons I`ll take away from this area. One thing is for sure...if I had not sufficiently humbled myself before in my mission, these people will teach me how to be truely humble in every sense of the word.

Anyways, I`ll get right to answering questions this week! =) Happy day, right?! Right.
Mom, Dad, and Hope...I`m doin just fine! =) I like my area, even though it`s tough to find and teach and baptize here. I like my companion; he teaches me new things every day by his example. The only thing that we lack is a little communication and sharing of responsibilities. I guess I just keep expecting him to do the normal things that zone leaders do without asking, and then things fall through. I`m also, at the same time, trying not to micro-manage him OR the zone. I`m just trying to be good at my job without being a tyrant I guess. hahaha
Unfortunately, we haven`t had baptisms this week or last week. It`s because when I got here, we baptized the only two positive investigators in the area and now our investigator pools are almost dry. The responsibilities of a zone leader have NOT been making it easy to strengthen my area or my ward lately, but once the Festival goes away, things will get easier to plan and manage. I`ll let you know when we start finding more investigators so you can pray for them by name. One person that you CAN pray for is a 15 year old boy named Egil Ixtocayac (Eh-hill Ish-co-tah-yac). My companion and I have both given him blessings people his family came on their own to the Church to ask for one. He has some form of epilepsy. In the blessings I was inspired to give him the promise of complete healing for some reason, of course as he and his family show faith in the Lord by keeping his commandments. Pray for him...if our blessing works, that could be a whole family baptized very soon! =)
My next change date will be in two weeks, around the 16th of August. Yes, the change cycle is still a 6 week change cycle. The transitions that we`ve had to make in the zone have all gone smoothly and we`ve been struggling to find new investigators, but things are getting better. The Festival effects ALL the areas because everyone has come to Momos to sell their good and make money for their families, so once that goes away, things will calm down everywhere I think. And right now, due to the Festival...we`ve been teaching around 10 to 15 lessons a week. But soon we will be able to dig in and maybe get up to 25 - 35 lessons a week with a few baptisms mixed inbetween. =P

Okay, this letter has a lot of information in it for everyone to enjoy, so I`m going to end a little early. I hope everyone enjoys the picture I`m trying to paint of my mountainous, humble, VERY traditional area. I enjoy it here, and I`m learning a little more every day. I`m trying to come closer to my Savior and I think my efforts are being noticed on High. =) I`m happy and I`m not counting down the days. I know how much work I have left to do, and I`m willing to do it. I do it happily, and I`m trying to do what my Patriarchal Blessing tells me to. I`m trying to be grateful in all that I do and say and to always be happy with a joyful heart. I know that it`s been reflecting in my latest letters and emails, so I hope everyone at home is content as well. I love you all.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

I love my Family more than Ever!‏

2010-07-26T10:26:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Oh my heck...so much and so little has happened this week that I`m not sure if this email is going to be long, or short, or even sufficient to express myself. So please...be patient and just love what I have to say. =P

First of all, my opportunity to talk to my family again for a couple hours was my FAVORITE part of this week. I got to talk to my parents, figure a couple important hings out, and just feel the comforting spirit of PW, Paula, and Hope Tucker just sink into my heart once again. Not going to lie, I`m pretty excited to see my family once again. I know that I have MUCH to do before I`m done here in Guatemala, but I also know that the Lord is helping me to not feel the time as it passes by. You all were right, it feels like July was less than a week long and that my homecoming rapidly approaches. I want you all to know that I`m going to do my very best for you all, myself, and my God to finish my mission with Pride, Honor, and Love.

Our zone experienced a few emergency changes this week. Don`t freak out anyone...this time the changes didn`t touch me. They shut down an area in my zone that is literally IN THE MIDDLE of NOWHERE. The Elders were sent to the new zone of Momostenango North. One of them will be a Zone Leader, and the other will finish his mission with a very young companion. One other elder will be leaving our zone, but we are all content with the future of the Lord`s Work in our zone. This month, we broke the record of monthly baptisms in the zone. In July we have baptized and confirmed 19 people and the previous record was only 11 in one month. I`m very excited to see what we can do with August and how much success I personally will receive from the Hnad of my Lord.

Elder Kahawaii and I are doing good together. Some days we don`t talk much, but I learn from his example a lot and he teaches me when I ask for his instruction. He has been a Zone Leader for a long time and has wonderful ideas that he shares and I modify. We want to make a weekly schedule of activities for our ward so that the members have at least one activity to attend every day, at least one for each Church Organization. (for example, Wednesday for young men, Thursday for relief society,etc.)

I`m SOOO happy to hear ALL about the weekend that my Family and Whitney`s family were able to spend together. Everyone felt a constant flow of Love, Comfort, and Spirit and I know that my Family is on it`s way to Eternal Exaltation. Mom and Dad, I`m so proud of you for being yourselves and for making an AWESOME first impression. Tracie and Whitney, I`m so glad that you two could feel at home in MY home and that you thoroughly enjoyed you restful weekend. It was awesome for me to hear that you all worked and played hard. That`s what my family does best and that way of life helps me every day here in the mission. I am constantly learning more, even though some days I learn more than others. More than anything the Lord is helping me to refine myself. I am finally allowing myself, as President Lorenzana puts it, to pass through the furnace of affiliction and the refiner`s fire. I now know that I will leave this mission having become the man that Heavenly Father made me to be. I may not reach my baptism goals, but I know that I will have no regrets and my past will be behind me and my Future before me.

Thank you, Family for being so wonderful. I know that I was chosen and blessed by my Father to be born to THIS family in THIS time and to serve THIS mission. I am Eternally grateful for the blessings I receive daily and for the strength I receive from His hand EVERY time that I kneel to ask in Humility and Love. I have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and I am learning to use the power of that Atonement in my daily life. I still have MUCH to do, as my Patriarchal Blessing states, but I know that I`ll be able to do everything and Anything with the help of MY God. =) I am happy, full of Light and Joy...finally. =D

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Elder Tucker's Mission Changes

2010-07-23T21:10:00.000-07:00

I think a lot of people are confused with all the changes Preston has been going through. So here is a list of the changes he has made starting in the Central mission in May through the Quetzaltenango Mission in July.

May and June (6 weeks):
Area: La Nueva Conception
Mission: Central
Position: District Leader
Companion: Elder Segundo

2 weeks of June:
Area: La Nueva Conception
Mission: Rentalhuleu
Position: Zone Leader
Companion: Elder Guevara

3 days of June:
Area: Santa Ana, Momostenango
Mission: Quetzaltenango aka Xela (Pronounced:Shayla)
Position: Companion of a District Leader
Companion: Elder Solis

6 days of July:
Area: Garibaldia, Xela Oeste
Mission: Quetzaltenango
Position: Zone Leader
Companions: Elder Olsen and Elder Burton

1 week of July:
Area: Totonicapán, in the city of Momostenango
Mission: Quetzaltenango
Position: Zone Leader
Companion: Elder Suazo

Remainder of July:
Area: Totonicapán, in the city of Momostenango
Mission: Quetzaltenango
Position: Zone Leader
Companion: Elder Kahawaii

Okay, so I lied...it was ALMOST all settled!‏

2010-07-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Family and Beloved Friends!

This week, I`m sorry to report, has been ANOTHER week with changes in my mission. Last week, when I emailed, I thought I was finally able to say that my changes were settled and that I was finally in ONE place, with ONE companion, and that that would stay the same for a while...I was wrong. hahaha It just goes to show that the Will of the Lord changes rapidly and without warning sometimes. So here`s what happened THIS week:

Last Tuesday night, Elder Suazo and I were visiting and teaching one of our recent converts, Carlos Velasquez, who was baptized last Saturday, the 10th of July. When we were able to leave the appointment, at about 7PM, we received a call from the mission offices and Elder Suazo was told that he had emergency changes and that he needed to pack his bags and be ready to take them to the Mission Conference that we had planned for the next day, Wednesday. That, needless to say, ruined a few of our plans and we had to spend the night saying goodbye to the members and picking up dirty, half-washed laundry, and packing up Elder Suazo`s bags.
The next day, the entire mission congregated in Xela for the conference and we got there without any problems. The one thing that was bugging me was that I couldn`t figure out why the Lord would take another companion away from me just as I was starting to get to know him and I still didn`t know my new area very well AT ALL. I was worried that I wasn`t going to be able to live up to the responsibility of directing a zone that I hardly knew, in a Mission that is completely new to me as well. Another thing that was a little unsettling as well is that I didn`t know who was going to be my new companion. I didn`t find out until AFTER the conference. I was just stressing a little too much...that`s all. I think you all can understand. haha Four areas, 6 companions, all in 5 weeks. Sigh...who knows WHEN I`ll be settled in for a while without anymore changes. But it`s okay, I`m finally feeling confident in what I`m doing as a Zone Leader, as a companion, and as a missionary in the Guatemala Xela Mission.
My new companion is Elder Kahawaii. He is 22 years old, from the island of Oahu in Hawaii, and is of Samoan heritage. He plays the guitar, thinks deep, and takes control of situations so that we can all be efficient and have fun at the same time. He`s a high-flying Eagle and he`s helping me to fly high by his side. I have a TON to learn from him, but I have faith that I will be able to learn exactly what the Lord wants me to learn from Elder Kahawaii before he separates us and sends me on yet another crazy adventure.

Last night, I had the opportunity to call my parents (with my Mission President`s authorization) and talk to them all about the changes that I`ve been going through. I finally feel like everyone is content and informed in my immediate family about what`s going on in my mission. Now, my next responsibility with regards to my family will be to write a really good letter by hand and send my next 300 new mission pictures home for everyone to enjoy. =) This area is beautiful, mountainous, and has a comfortable climate for me. I enjoy my days here and I have the privilege to go to bed tired every night. =P Coming up in the next couple of weeks is a MASSIVE festival here in Momostenango. The indigenous people of the city say that is should last about 15 days. We`ll see if we can get ANY effective work done, or if the party will just make everything impossible. I`m just really hoping that President Lorenzana doesn`t tell us to stay inside the house the whole time so that we`re not in any danger. I`m not going to lie, I would love to enjoy the extra time to study to Scriptures and become a better teacher of the Gospel, but being inside ALL DAY LONG is not my idea of a fun time here in the Mission.

Now I`ve gotta get offline, but know that I love you all and I`m putting ALL my effort into being obedient, efficient, and powerful as a tool in our Master`s skilled hands. Again, I ask you all to study, ponder, and pray this week to increase your spirituality and come closer unto Christ. I love my Family, and my greatest desire would be to see all of us together, united, in the True and Eternal Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Finally All is Settled!‏

2010-07-13T12:40:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Oh man, I love you all so much! Yesterday killed me, knowing that I was not going to be able to get an email out to my family until today. The thing is, and I´m sorry that it´s been like this, with all the changes that I´ve been going through it´s been really hard to have a set day and time when I get to email you all. However, I think that I´m finally settled in for a while. Here´s what my changes are and how things are going:

I have been officially, and irrevocably changed to the Guatemala Quetzaltenango (Xela)] Mission and my mission president is now, and will be until I end my mission, President Lorenzana from Honduras. He and his family will end their mission in June of 2011 and I´ll be going home in March. My new release date, as far as I know for right now, will be March 17, 2011. My final and permanent changes are that I´ve been called as a Zone Leader over a small zone in the mountains of the Guatemalan department of Totonicapán, in the city of Momostenango. My Zone´s name is Momostenango Oeste (West Momos) and my new companion is Elder Suazo. He is a 23 yea old Elder from Honduras (I love it because I always seem to get along REALLY well with Elders, and people ion general, from Honduras). He was born in the Church, and has a great testimony. He has both of his parents and he is the oldest of three (one younger sister, 20, and a younger brother, 9 years old). He is organized, observant, easy to get along with, intelligent, and always willing to teach and help me become a better leader in my new position. Our zone is small, 10 elders including my companion and I, and 2 sisters. The land that we cover is vast and it is hard to get good transport to and from all of the areas, but we make it work. It´s beautiful here and in the memory card that I´m going to send soon, you´ll see quite a few photos of my surroundings. The only bad thing about this place is that it is a little isolated. We have a post office, but I´ve heard that it´s really unreliable. What that means is that I´m probably going to have to write letters, get them addressed and everything, but then wait until I get to go into the city of Xela to send them from a more reliable post office. Okay, so please...be patient with my letters and communication. =) Thanks. I´m really enjoying my time here, although it has still been a little scatterbrained. This week we will be having a Conference with the whole Xela Mission in the city of Xela on Wednesday, After that we will probably have interviews with President Lorenzana on Friday for the Momos zones. After this week is over, things should get back to normal and I will be able to really get to work.

Here, in my area, we work a lot with a very simple kind of people, a culture that is very hard-working, but a little on the slow, non-intelligent side. They are extremely traditional and a lot of families still carry on Mayan traditions. For example, women are very low on the social hierarchy. A woman has to receive permission from her husband for just about everything that she does outside of the house. I don´t agree with it, but I´m not going to be able to change centuries of tradition in just a few short months. I´m just going to do my very best to do my work, teach and animate my zone, and enjoy the success that the Lord has saved up for us. So far this month, the Zone has 13 baptisms and we are shooting to break the record big time and achieve 20. My companion and I baptized a 16 year old young man named Carlos Velasquez last Saturday and it was a great experience. Little by little we are bringing the Gospel into the hearts of his family along with him. We are hoping to be able to baptize his little brother soon as well. The only other investigator that is positive and getting ready for baptism is Bernardo Poncio. He is a wonderfully humble man that is just trying to change his own life, follow Christ, and do what´s right. He is probably the most humble investigator that I´ve had so far. I love him and his desire to learn more about the true Gospel of Christ. He loves the Book of Mormon and knows firmly that it is the word of God. He will be getting baptized this Saturday and I will take pictures to send with next weeks email, just remind me to attach them, please.

My biggest challenges in this change will be to adapt my teaching style to fit the culture and intellectual level of this people. I know how to serve them, I know how to speak with them. I know how to study, edify myself, and instruct others. But I will need you faith, hope, and prayers directed to my and my companion´s FINDING of the chosen people of the Lord. Apparently, this land and city has been visited SEVERAL times by Apostles and has been blessed by them with HUGE promises. Our work will just be finding and teaching this humble people and sifting out the wheat from the tares.

I love this work, I´m ready and willing to endure to the end, the end is in sight, but my eyes are set on the task at hand. I love my family, my future, and my Savior, but I also love this people, their needs and desires, and teaching them the Restore Gospel. I have a testimony that I am here for a reason and that I wont stop looking until I´ve completed my time here and have achieved my purpose. Study deeply, pray fervently, hope always. Ask, and ye SHALL receive, is my prayer and testimony for MY eternal family.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Jealousy but with Happiness!

2010-07-05T10:25:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Holy cow, this week has felt like a month! It feels like forever since last Tuesday when I emailed last! but that`s okay, I`m finally at the computer and I can tell you all about my experiences! But first,. let it be known that I`m jealous that you all are having awesome summer fun, but at the same time I`m very happy with the changes that are happening in my mission right now. I feel like the next 8 months will go fast, but they will be filled with wonderful, rapid personal growth and lots of success in the Lord`s work. I`m not promising news of tons of baptisms every month, but I am promising that I`m finally on the fast track to becoming the man that Heavenly Father MADE me to be! I have divine potential, even in THIS life, and I`m determined to reach it!

Okay, so to explain my current situation, I`m now no longer with Elder Solis in Momostenango, in the mountains. Right now, at this very moment, I am in the city of Quetzaltenango (Xela) and I am in a trio of Zone Leaders. Our zone is called Xela Oeste (West Xela) and our area is called Garibaldia (don`t ask about the pronunciation, please =P). Our area is big, but small at the same time. It`s big in the fact that it is part of the very large, sprawling city of Xela and because of the population density in this part of the city. Basically, there are a lot of people living in a very small space. My companions are Elder Olsen, who is three days away from going home to Idaho, and Elder Burton, who is from Tennessee and has 10 months in the mission. They are both hilarious and very easy to get along with. Elder Olsen is ready to go home, but has been REALLY working hard to keep up his high work ethic to the very last day of his mission. He is doing wonderfully and is showing me a great example of how I need to think and work as a leader and a missionary until the end of my mission. Elder Olsen is tall, skinny, and down right funny! He is a missionary that is FULL of the desire to work for the Lord and bring glory to His name by setting a good example to everyone around him. I really feel that President Lorenzana put me with these two elders for a reason, and that reason was to learn how happy, healthy, inspired missionaries SHOULD work in the Mission Field. It worked. I feel inspired and ready for the next adventure that the Lord has to throw at me.

Before I tell you all about my next and final change in this crazy period of transition from Central Mission to Retalhuleu Mission to Quetzaltenango Mission, I want to share a couple experiences that I`ve had in the last couple days with Elder Olsen and Elder Burton. Here, in this area, working with the members and asking for references does NOT give much fruit, so most of what we`ve done to find new investigators is pure foot work, contacting in the street and door to door. We`ve gone on divisions almost every day in order to teach lessons and find new people to teach at the same time. During one of these divisions I was with Elder Olsen, and we had no plans for a couple hours. This happened yesterday, by the way. So...we start walking and listening to the Spirit. As we were walking down a busy street, towards a different part of the area that we hadn`t contacted before, we both turned our heads to look down a dead end street off to the left. We both kept walking about three more steps, but then we stopped together. We both just looked at each other and started walking into the dead end. We went all the way to the end of the street and knocked on the door of the last house on the left. Long story short, we ended up teaching a family of 5 people, all of baptismal age, and they opened themselves up to the message because of the GOOD example of the Saints they had met and seen in their normal, everyday lives. When we started teaching, this family did not have ONE trace of happiness on their faces...but once we prayed and left, they were all smiling and excited for the next time that Elder Burton and his new companion will come to teach them more. It was a miracle. The rest of the day was great, but that experience was the cherry on top of the cake. One other experience was that we had a baptism on Saturday of a 14 year old kid named Josue. His home is broke and invaded by the influence of tobacco and alcohol, but he has stayed strong. Satan was NOT happy about Josue`s baptism. When we got to the church to fill the baptismal font, a HUGE storm started over the city. The lights went out, the water pump stopped working, the plug of the font stopped holding water, and the signed permission of Josue`s mother got lost. However, we were determined to get this kid baptized. We prayed and worked and eventually, Josue got baptized, confirmed, and was given the Priesthood on Sunday. It was a great faith builder.

Okay, so I`m almost out of time (sorry again Whit...=( ), but I have enough time to tell you all about what`s now going to happen to me. On Wednesday, I will receive my final change: my new area, my zone, and my permanent companion. President Lorenzana told me many things in an interview that I had with him when Elder Solis dropped me off, but the important part for my change was that he told what he wanted me to do and learn in the months to come. President said that he wants me to be a Zone Leader for a while because HE, as a Zone Leader in his mission, learned all the important lessons that have helped his stay close to the Lord, listen to the Spirit, and have a success life with regards to worldly success. So, he gave me an option, I could either stay with Elder Burton once Elder Olsen goes home, and stay in Xela Oeste zone...or I could go back to Momostenango and help President organize and start a NEW zone in that city. I chose to go open the new Zone. So that means, just one more time, a new companion, a new area, a new culture, and a new ZONE! haha But i`ll be there for at least a month and a half...so no more moving around for a while. =P Also, I had heard a lot of the missionaries in the Retalhuleu Mission AND the Xela Mission say to me that President Lorenzana wants to and will make me his Assistant soon. I didn`t want to go on pure rumor, so in my interview with President, I got bold and asked him what His plans are for me and my mission. I asked him a direct question and I got a direct answer. President asked me why I asked and I told him that I had felt the same and I would LOVE to be his Assistant. He told me in return that he and the Lord feel the same. He says he wants me to receive learning and training as a Zone Leader, and then he will probably call me to be his Assistant within 3 months. I`m very excited for that opportunity, but I`m patient and excited to learn what the Lord has to teach me.

Lots happening, lots of jealousy about YOUR summers, but LOTS of happiness on my end of the world. =)

I love you, I miss you (but not so much anymore that I`m distracted), and I promise that my next few months in the mission will be the most fun, important, and exciting of my entire mission so far. Please read the Scriptures, pray OFTEN to Heavenly Father for help and guidance, and LISTEN to the Spirit when he tells you the Lord`s will.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. I know that I probably didn`t answer all your questions...but you gotta understand now...only 1 hour to read and write all the feelings of my heart and tell you all about my experiences is NOT enough time to make everyone happy...I just hope that this email has painted a better picture for you about how my mission is going and how I`m doing personally. I`m not stressed, but patient and excited. I`m in love with my Family, and I`m in love with the Lord`s work now. Be happy and be comforted, for all is well. =)

Sorry, but things are still up in the air for now!‏

2010-06-29T12:21:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

I`m so sorry, but today I`m not able to send you much more than a "Hello" and "I love you!" I`m now in the Quetzaltenango Mission and everything is great. However, President Lorenzana sent me with a temporary companion for two days while he finds a new companion for Elder Solis (my temporary companion). In a few days I should finally be settled with a permanent companion and a new Zone and Area. The area that I`ve been sent to for these few days is BEAUTIFUL! It`s called Santa Ana, and it`s in the Zone Momostenango. Supposedly, a while back, this Zone was a "punishment zone," but I think it`s awesome! We just had a Zone Meeting and I got to know the Elders and Sisters in the Zone a lot better. I can feel the Comfort of the Spirit so strong here, it`s amazing. I`m hoping that President might send me back here someday, maybe for the last couple months of my mission...that would be cool! I`ll take lots of pictures of this area and my new area when I get there, as well as pictures of my companions. I`m ready to send another full memory card of photos, I just have to write a letter to go along with it. I`m sorry I don`t have much time or news yet, but next week I should have a LOT to say, okay? I love you all and think about my ever-growing appreciation for my Eternal Family every day. Please, this week, direct your prayers to my making a smooth transition into my new situation and also for the Zone Momostenango to be able to use their Zone Mission Plan to perfection and gain Success and Humility in the month of June. Search the scriptures, Ponder their application and meaning in your lives, and Pray for the testimony and strength to DO the Lord`s Will when He reveals it to you. I will be striving these next few months to do the same and to learn exactly HOW the Spirit speaks with ME as a unique child of our Heavenly Father. That`s my goal, please help me achieve it, because I know that with the help of my Eternal Family, anything is possible for Preston William Tucker

Love Eternally,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Suprise! Suprise!

2010-06-23T17:51:00.000-07:00

Hey Mom, Dad!

I`m emailing really quick today to get you my new mission address. You`ll notice something weird though...the mission address is in Quetzaltenango... hahahaha Yeah, that`s the Surprise!!! Instead of keeping my original calling change to the new mission of Mission Guatemala Retalhuleu, I`m being changed AGAIN to the Mission Guatemala Quetzaltenango!

When i had my personal interview with President Lorenzana, Mission President of the Quetzaltenago Mission, I asked him if he had had a hard time assigning me when he received the large group of missionaries to assign from the Central Mission. He said that he has actually not asked the Lord specifically about MY assignment. I asked him if he would please ask the Lord, on my behalf, where I actually belong. I didn`t want to lose the connection and comfortable feeling that I felt as soon as I met President Lorenzana and his Quetzaltenango missionaries. I wanted to know for sure if I was supposed to belong to the NEW mission, or if I was supposed to belong to the long-established Quetzaltenango Mission.

Well, yesterday I had the opportunity after a Zone Leader`s Council to have a short interview with President. I asked him what the Lord had to say about my case. He asked me what I had felt in the last few days, and I told him. He then said, "the Lord feels as you feel. You`re coming with me to the Xela Mission (sometimes the Quetzaltenango Mission i called "Xela", pronounced "Shayla", because that`s the indigenous name for that city), and you`ll finish you mission with me."

So yeah! The surprise is that my mission calling has changed...yet AGAIN! I will now serve in the Mission Guatemala Quetzaltenango for the rest of my time and will be coming home on the 15th of March, 2011.

My new mission address is:

Elder Preston William Tucker
Misiòn Guatemala Quetzaltenango
5a. Calle 14-35, Zona 3 Oficina 105
Apartado Postal 206
Quetzaltenango, Guatemala C.A.

Alright, well that`s all I have time to write today. I`ll write you more about the changes I`m going to receive when I get Internet time next Monday. I love you all and hope that this week the Lord answers my constant prayers and helps you in your individual challenges and triumphs!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Possibly the Fullest Week of my Life!

2010-06-21T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Holy cow...where do I start?! This week has been so full that I feel like I met my new companion like 3 months ago and that we`ve been working non-stop for a month to get things organized. The thing is that the area that changed missions, the actual land area, was organized into a Church District, with two Mission Districts and 10 missionaries. Now District Tiquisate is still a Church District, but is now a Mission Zone. This means that this entire week we have been super involved in receiving trainings, organization, interviews, and preparation for when the new Mission President gets here. We want to get everything done so that when he comes in a week from today that he will be immediately able to work hard with all his training and strength. I`m not going to lie...for me it`s been stressful. BUT, and this is a King Size BUT, I have gone to bed every night feelings tired, satisfied, and ready to face the next day. The only thing that I haven`t liked at all is being so "out of the loop" with all the plans. We are having to make plans and attend meetings at the drop of a hat and at times we were doing things from hour to hour instead of day to day. Anyone that has ever experienced the sensation of organizing and managing a large group`of people knows that that is a very stressful situation. When a missionary can`t plan in advance...usually things get a little stressful for that missionary eventually. hahaha But it`s OKAY! I`m OKAY! I really enjoyed my week, and even though being a Zone Leader is tough, it`s satisfying. Our priority this week will be to keep organizing and planning, and then (in two weeks) our focus will be to dig in and WORK! Needless to say...I`m tired, but I`m having fun.

One of the really cool things that I`ve gotten to experience this week has been to travel all over a new part of Guatemala, even though traveling in buses and never getting to drive myself anywhere does get a Little annoying. I`ve visited three major cities: Mazatenango, Retalhuleu, and Quetzaltenango! They are all very beautiful, but also VERY different from the capital city of Guatemala. They are smaller, more level (without skyscrapers), and very twisty-turny. haha If you asked me to find my way around them, just from the small visits that I`ve had...I KNOW that I wouldn`t be able to. But everything was a great experience. The only bad part was that I never really got a lot of chances to take good pictures. I know that I still have plenty of time left to take pictures, but it would`ve been cool to have a few more memories of my first times in those cities.

Also, this week I had my first interview with President Lorenzana, a man that I`m sure that I KNEW in the Pre-Existence. President Lorenzana is the Mission President of the Quetzaltenango Mission and is a man that is FILLED with love and knowledge. He was a Gospel Teacher for over 15 years of his life and has an excellent knowledge and mastery of the scriptures and their principles and lessons. haha Just off-handily, during a lesson to the missionaries, he taught us that the plagues in Egypt was a type of Christ. At first I didn`t understand, but then he explained that "only after the death of His Firstborn could Pharoah let the House of Isreal go from their temporal AND physical bondage" and then I understood the connection. President Lorenzana teaches by inspiration and he understands the communication of the Holy Ghost more than any other teacher I have had in the mission. He is teaching me by example and is helping me to know who Heaven Father made me to be. haha Do you all remember how it frustrated me that my interviews with President Baldwin were all shorter than 5 minutes? Yeah, well my interview with President Lorenzana was over 30 minutes!!! It was incredible. He told us beforehand, "if any one of you have old sins that you have not repented for, tell me in your interviews and we will work through them once and for all!" So I did...I confessed everything and I know now that I`m as clean now, as a missionary, as I was when I was baptized as an 8 year old. I finally have the assurance that I am completely worthy for God`s work and ALL the blessings that He has to give me from here on out. Besides confessing and working through sins, I told President Lorenzana all about my family and my Eternal Love for them. He loves you as well. He feels like him and I must have been special, VERY close friends before this life because of the connection and familiarity he felt during our interview. I love that man, it makes me sad that I might not be under his direction in another week, but I know that we will see each other again soon.

Okay, now to answer questions: I don`t have my mission address yet, that`s why I can`t give it. You`ll all have it as soon as I do, okay? Patience is a virtue that I`M learning too! =)

My companion`s name is Franklin Guevara Vasquez. He is 20 years old (February 16th, 1990) and he is from El Salvador. He speaks Spanish and English because he went to a bilingual University and had to learn it to get good grades and a good job. He is a computer tech, through and through, and plays around on the computer through all the settings and systems as if it were all child's play. He operated his own business before the mission and is very smart. He is full of knowledge, but is also self-admittedly prideful. He`s working on that. He has 3 younger brothers, and no sisters. His parents are married in the Temple and His Father has served most of his life as a Bishop, Stake President, and IN Stake Presidencies. Elder Guevara has huge potential, and I learn from him every day. He has almost 10 months in the mission and has been a Zone Leader for 3 months now.

What I`m going through right now...I just need help to keep taking things as they come. We haven`t been able to do ANY normal missionary work this week because of how busy we`ve been with other stuff, but when it starts to calm down, I`ll let you all know.

I know that everyone is really interested in all the details of everything that is going on with the change in missions, but to tell the truth, I just don`t have enough time to ever communicate EVERYTHING here in the mission. Once I`m home, I`m sure I`ll be able to tell you ALL about it, but right now I can handle a couple specific questions each email. =P I love you all and hope that you enjoyed this email. The last tid-bit of news that I can share right now, before I end this email, is that I confirmed with President Lorenzana that with the new change cycle of the new mission, the Church will be sending me home three weeks earlier than planned. I believe that makes my departure date the 15th of March, 2011! I love you all, enjoy your week, work hard, and pray harder!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Wow oh wow! How many changes can my Family take?!‏

2010-06-14T11:27:00.000-07:00

I love my Family!

Today I needed EXACTLY what I got from my family: support, excitement, and LOVE! Seriously, the last three days have been the most impactful days of my entire mission! So much has changed and is still changing that I`m not exactly sure how to feel about it all. I`m just doing my very best to not feel overwhelmed and just trying to learn as quickly as possible so that I don`t make a fool out of myself. Okay, so here`s what all changed this last weekend: I changed missions from Guatemala City Central Mission to Guatemala Retalhuleu (in English it`s pronounced reh-tal-who-lay-ooo) Mission, I changed companions from Elder Segundo to Elder Guevara (he was transferred from Quetzaltenango Mission to the new mission as well, and is 20 years old, from El Salvador, and comes from a strong, Gospel centered family), and my assignment. I am still in my old area of La Nueva Concepcion, but I`m not sure how much longer I`ll be there because my new assignment might make me change areas. My new assignment is...duh, duh, duh, DA!...Zone Leader! The two districts that transferred from Central Mission have been made into a small Zone, which means that we are now independent of Central Mission and will be giving reports directly to the new Mission President when he gets here. I say "when he gets here" because he is still receiving HIS training and will come to Guatemala to take over the new mission in about 2 weeks. This means that all the missionaries that transferred to the new mission Retalhuleu are going to be under the direction of President Lorenzana of the Quetzaltenango Mission. President Lorenzana is a wonderful man and I had an immediate connection with him. He said to me that he considers it a loss for him to not be receiving me into his mission and also to be transferring my new companion to the new mission. He said many wonderful things to me, but I unfortunately did not get the opportunity to have a personal interview with him. The way that I found out that I was going to be a Zone Leader was kinda funny too because President Lorenzana, in the middle of talking to EVERYONE that was transferring, points at me and said something like this "Elder Tucker, don`t worry, I`m going to explain everything that is going to happen to your district in due time and the transition will not be all on your shoulders...OH, by the way, you`ve been called to be the new Zone Leader! Congratulations!" hahahaha I about peed my pants in that moment! I got really nervous and started to think immediately about what that meant for me, my friends in my district, our areas, and my MISSION entirely! Needless to say, that meeting was an INTENSE one for me.

I was sad to be leaving a few of my friends behind in Central Mission, but more excited to be starting a new one with a clean slate and TONS of new opportunities and challenges. I was also sad to say goodbye to Elder Segundo. He stayed within my Zone, but we`re no longer Companions. However, my new companion is excellent. He is dynamic, intelligent, knowledgeable and many other wonderful things. He also only has 9 months in the mission...he went up the ladder CRAZY fast. I`ll tell you more about him soon. But yeah, a lot of things are still up in the air until President Maravilla gets here and takes over. Now, under President Lorenzana, we have a whole bunch of new rules, but the strictness will help us form up and be obedient. This really is the GRAND opportunity to change my mission, and I plan on taking full advantage of it. Even just as of yesterday, a TON of things changed for me! But it`s all good.

I don`t have enough time to tell everyone about everything that happened to me in this change, but I`ll be telling the story a week at a time. I love all of you, just please keep doing your best personally and praying for to be able to do the same! I know that my family and my loved ones are all passing through many challenges, but I know that through study, prayer, and faith...TOGETHER we can come out on top!

Love Eternally,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

"You`re changing missions?!" "Yeah!" "No way!" "YES WAY!!!"

2010-06-13T07:06:00.000-07:00

HEY EVERYONE!!

I`m freaking out today because today I leave my area on a trip to Sololà and then to Quetzaltenango where I will receive instructions about how the future of my mission and my life is going to change!

E. Douglas - "Good morning Elder Tucker, how are you this morning?"

Me - "I`m doing great Elder Douglas, how about you? Hey, do you have any news for me?"

E. Douglas - "Actually, yes I do Elder Tucker. Elder Tucker, you and your companion and 8 other missionaries have been selected by inspiration and careful consideration to assist in the opening and furthering of the Lord`s work in the new Guatemala, Retalhuleu Mission!

"Me - (inside my head) " YESSSSSSS!!!!!" =D

Here`s what`s going to happen to me, as far as I know. As of tomorrow, Friday, June 11th, 2010, I no longer pertain to the Guatemala City Central Mission. Today, my whole district of 6 missionaries, and the district of Patulul of 4 missionaries, will gather at my house to make a good Latin lunch, and then we will take our scriptures, our backpacks, and clothes for 2 days, and then travel by bus to the Capital. We will sleep in the mission`s bunk house over night, and in the morning we will all leave (with the rest of the Central Mission missionaries that will be going to Quetzaltenango Mission) in route to the city of Sololà. Once there in Sololà, we will participate in a so-called "reuniòn de despedida" and receive more instructions on what is going to happen to us, our area, and our investigators with the changes to the other two missions. Friday night, supposedly, they are going to put us all in a hotel for the night, and then the next day we will meet with Presidente Lorenzana, the Quetzaltenango Mission President, and he will give us all the training and information that we need to smoothly make the transition to the new mission.

I am SO excited that the Lord has seen fit to give me this opportunity to leave behind challenges that I`ve already overcome, and face a whole new part of this beautiful country of Guatemala full of the NEW challenges of being part of the beginning of a brand new Mission in the Work of the Lord. My hopes and dreams have been completed with respect to the course I wanted my mission to take, and I see before me the ability and the opportunity to leave behind a Legacy for the missionaries that come after me and my own children that will want to know whether or not serving the Lord is worth the effort and time. My answer to their question will be a resounding "YES!" because I have been able to bless my family, myself, and people that I never knew (and probably would never have met) before I had this beautiful experience.

Okay, so this involves a couple changes in OUR plans. What I have heard is that the new mission will follow the change cycle of the Quetzaltenango Mission, which is three weeks different from the Central Mission. This means that I may return to my area for just three weeks more with my companion, and then receive changes to fulfill any number of different responsibilities in the new mission. This also means that it`s possible that the new Mission President, Presidente Maravilla, will offer to either extend or cut short my mission by at least three weeks. I want my family to know that I will NOT accept an extension. If they offer to cut my mission a little shorter, while still allowing me to come home with full honors, I will take that option. Therefor, if they cut my mission by three weeks, my new Homecoming date will be for the 15th of March, 2011. Exciting huh? That means that, once the normal change cycle starts in Retalhuleu Mission, I will only have 6 changes left until I come home. Possibly just two areas and a couple companions more, and then I`m home! I`m so excited for the possibilities that face me for the last couple months on my mission, and I`m sure my family is too. I miss you and love you terribly. It physical hurts, still being far away from you, but every day brings me close to coming home with honor in my arms and blessings for our future. =) Please continue to pray for me, that the Lord with protect me and guide me, that I will know what to do and what to say at all times and in all places to finish my mission as a "Special Witness of Christ."

I do not know when I will get to email again, so for now, please be patient to hear more news. I love you!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, June 7, 2010

2010-06-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

I love you!

Okay, so this week I got three emails from the people I love most in the world, and they all were full of wonderful news and beautiful encouragement. Thank you! I needed that, as always, but mostly it was just a HUGE "upper" for me today to hear you all being happy, busy, and productive. Oh, and Loving, did I mention you were all very loving this week? Yeah, that was awesome. However, I`m not going to rant and rave about your emails today, Dad says I`ve gotta answer questions. =P

First of all, I`ve gotta explain something, and I`m going to try to be as brief and clear as I can be. Everyone...I might be changing missions soon! I might become part of a new Guatemalan mission called Retalhuleu, or I might be transferred to the Quetzaltenango mission. The Guatemala City Central Mission is giving up 43 missionaries to help form the new Guatemalan mission Retalhuleu. Ten missionaries will go to the new mission, and 33 will go to the Quetzaltenango mission that has been around for a LONG time. I`m so excited for the new opportunities that this possibility represents for me. I would be in a new mission as one of the first missionaries to serve there, with a new Mission President, and with a whole range of new challenges and positions to fill. I really hope that I change missions. Not because I don`t like MY mission, but just because of all the awesome stories that I would be able to tell I if I were to serve in TWO different missions with two completely distinct groups of missionaries. Anyways, I wont know exactly what`s going to happen to me until Saturday. They`ll tell us on Wednesday if we change missions, but I wont know until Saturday exactly WHERE I`m going and WHAT I`ll be doing there. It should be extremely interesting! Pray for me to have my dreams come true! hahaha!

Oh, also, what this means...If I`m going to change missions...I`ll probably leave my area behind and be assigned somewhere else with a new companion and new responsibilities...so don`t focus your thoughts and prayers too much on Nueva Concepcion right now...just that I`ll be guided and protected where ever I get sent in the coming days. Thanks!

Okay this last week was not eventful at all because there wasn`t really anything out of the normal routine to do. We gave a lot of service, and taught a few good lessons, but that`s about it. On Saturday, our branch basically restarted their Mutual program and we had a great turn-out. About 15 people showed up, of all ages, and everyone had a good time and were spiritually uplifted. Our class was small this week, but many people came to church. Our attendance was about 60, but a lot of them went to their normal classes because they didn`t know that we were going to have a class yesterday. After the second hour, we gathered the Priesthood and Relief Society classes together and had a big class to explain the programs we are trying to reinstate and the changes that might come to the area. I`m a little worried that la Nueva Concepcion might get left without missionaries for a while, so we prepared and instructed the members on their coming responsibilities. If the missionaries leave, they will be on their own and they will HAVE to do their visits in order to keep the branch on it`s path to growing strength. I`m worried, but I know that the Lord will guide and protect the branch, its members, and its leaders if they are listening to the Spirit.

DANG it...I`ve already run out of time...I have no idea where the time went today...but maybe, due to the changes I`ll be facing soon, I`ll get to email you all again later this week. We`ll see. I love you all! Keep praying for us, we need your help always.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, May 31, 2010

2010-05-31T22:24:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

kay, first of all...nobody panic...I´m alive, okay? haha Seriously, everyone freaked out this week. Where´s the faith?! Just kidding, I know that volcanic eruptions and hurricanes and mudslides are all very scary things. But everyone needs to know that where my companion and I live, there were hardly any of the terrible effects of the natural disasters from this week. I live in a little city called La Nueva Concepcion, which is comfortably situated about 15 miles away from the nearest beach and about 30 miles away from the nearest active volcano. I realize that volcanoes and hurricanes penetrate a lot further inland than those small distances, but where I´m at we are relatively very safe.

One of the most interesting things about these disasters is that about 7 weeks ago, in my last Zone Conference in the Capital, all the missionaries received copies of a new emergency plan for the Guatemalan missions as well as the rest of Central America. The plans facets included a plan for floods, earthquakes, civil revolutions (riots and civil war), and volcanic eruptions. The plans tell us exactly what to do and who to contact whenever something that falls under those categories happens or we personally witness it. When we got home that night, I read the plan all the way through and I knew exactly what I needed to do two weeks ago when there was a riot against the police right here in Nueva Concepcion. Also, if I had been in my last area this change, I would have been right there, very close to the volcano that erupted four days ago. Volcán Pacaya was actually part of my area back in Santa Elena Barillas. Family...everyone...the Lord is protecting me in very obvious ways. He took me as far away as possible from the volcano in the last change I experienced. He put me in the very secure place in the coast so that the hurricane would not hurt me either. I don´t know why...but the Lord is making sure that I am very safe and that nothing terrible happens. haha Maybe it´s for the sake of all of YOU guys, so you don´t freak out too bad! hahaha Just kidding, it was awesome to know how well informed my family and loved ones are about the occurrences here in Guatemala and that your prayers are always with me. Thank you for you prayers and support, all is well!

When the storm hit, we just used our common sense (mostly) and stayed safely inside our homes. Everyone in my district was smart and safe, and we just waited on the instructions from the "higher-ups." The Area Presidency of Central America suspended Sunday services yesterday too, all the way across Central America. The chapels were opened as refuges for the homeless and those who needed first aid. That sucked though because my entire district had investigators come to the chapels, just to find out that there wasn´t any meetings yesterday...but it´s okay, this Sunday will be better.

We missionaries don´t read the news very often, so we don´t get hugely informed on all this stuff, but I do get tidbits here and there. So far, with the disasters, there are just a ton of people without homes...not a very high death toll or injured list. Any death is sad, but with natural disasters of this magnitude, it´s amazing that the numbers are so few. We will be doing a lot of service, trying to get things back to normal with members and non members too, but things should calm down very fast. Today it is sunny, hot, and humid...all good signs for the weather...but all mean we´re back to sweating our guts out. That´s okay though, i´d rather sweat than drown! ;P

The Bear Lake weekends sound awesome...I´m jealous, but I love hearing about them, so don´t spare me. Dutch oven sounds good too...I miss Mom´s cooking WAY bad. haha Mom, think you could teach Whitney a few of your signature dishes? ;P

I´m happy that everyone is enjoying their activities. That´s really cool that Grandpa Welling had a reunion to look forward to and that Mom is getting really close to ending her year. Hope, sorry your summer is so short this year, but you´ll be happy about having a longer summer when I get home. Dad...keep working hard! I want you to be really well situated with your team by the time I get home. I can´t wait to see what you´ve built.

This week I have Zone Conference on Wednesday, so I´m hoping to get a bunch of mail and Mom´s care package this week. Next week I´ll let you know how it goes. Also, next week, on Wednesday the 9th, I´ll finally know whether or not I´m being changed to the new Guatemalan mission that they´re creating this July. I´m very excited for that opportunity. If I do things all right, I´ll be able to say that I was not only one of the first missionaries in a new mission, but also one of the "founding fathers," or the most successful missionaries it will ever see as well. I know I have the potential to do it, I´m just not sure yet whether or not I´ll get the chance.

Okay, this email is getting really long and I´ve gotta get going. I love you all, you´re all such a comfort to me. Keep saying your prayers, reading your scriptures, and doing your FHE. Your prayers and thoughts help me. You all are the reason I want to return with honor. I want to honor my friends that believed in me, I want to honor my wonderful family, and I want to honor my God.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, May 24, 2010

2010-05-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

So, everyone is sick of the cold weather huh? Well, come down to my area in La Nueva Concepcion, that`ll introduce you to summer REAL fast! No, actually, it`s really not too hot in my area right now. In other areas of my district, yeah, it`s hot, but in mine it wasn`t too bad this week. This week has been crazy...interesting...great, all at the same time. First of all, I miss my family. My second summer away from home is starting, and I`m going to miss out on a little bit of laid back, comfy summer fun. It`s okay though, Heavenly Father knows my heart and is making the time seem to go faster now. I have been conscious of the fact that my mission is coming closer to an end. Sometimes, with some missionaries, that makes them sad and they don`t want the time to go fast, but with me it`s okay. I just know that every passing day brings me closer and closer back to my beautiful, eternal family. You`re all awesome, and I love you with all my heart.

This week started out very weird. We had a normal district meeting, I was able to write home and everything, but once we got back to our area, I started feelings REALLY odd. At about 5PM, a riot broke out in Nueva Concepcion, the people against the police because the police let a vehicular homicide killer go after he paid off the local government. It started as we were headed to an appointment, and all the sudden we saw a wall of fully armored and weaponized police protecting the police station, so we decided it would be better to go back home and be safe. It was something I thought I would never see, people with rocks, pipes, homemade bombs, and angry faces ready to revolt against "the Man." haha And then about 5 thousand people were just riding around on their motorcycles, being spectators to the riot, it was interesting. So we went home, called the Assistants, and they told us to stay in for the night. We lost the appointment, but yesterday we made up for it in spades, and I`ll tell you about that in the next paragraph. Anyways, that night, my body got really tired, really fast. I didn`t know what was wrong with me, so I laid down. About 30 minutes later, I touched my forehead, and I was burning! I soon got really delirious and started saying stupid things to my companion. I checked my temperature and it was at 102.5 F. I took some meds, went to bed, and decided that if I still had a fever the next day, we wouldn't go to the beach with the Zone. The next morning, I woke up at 4:30AM, my bed and pillow was soaked with sweat, and I had a temp of 103 F! We stayed in all day and my fever fluctuated between 102 to 103.5 F until 7PM. We called the nurse, got some good meds, my companion gave me a blessing, and then slowly my fever disappeared. It was so weird how quickly it hit, and how quickly it left. Power of the Priesthood, all I`ve got to say! So after that, my body was exhausted, but we still tried to have a good week. The highlight was the weekend, and I`ll tell you about it now.

On Saturday, I did two baptismal interviews for Tiquisate, one of the areas of my District, for two REALLY smart, really hilarious kids named Graciela and Josè. They blew me away with how well they knew the commandments, it was awesome. The rising generation is going to be cool to see. After that we went back to our area and helped a family of recent converts, the Cortez family, set up their property for their daughters "quice años" party. In Latin culture, when a girl reaches 15 years of age, she leaves behind childhood and becomes a woman in their society. So it`s like a "sweet 16" party in North America, but bigger. They killed a cow to feed all the people BBQ, for heaven`s sake! haha It was a LOT of good food! There is a little bit of ceremony involved too, but I÷m not going to explain it. The only bad part was that the 1st Counselor of the Branch Presidency got up and gave the girl a Priesthood Blessing in front of cameras and 300÷ people. That was dumb...but whatever, that÷s Latin America. A lot of very untrained Priesthood, that÷s where us North Americans come in to teach them... hahaha Well, Sunday was another good day. My companion spoke in Sacrament and there were a couple other good talks...STRAIGHT out of the March Liahona! hahaha Funny stuff. Now that I read the Liahona cover to cover every months, it`s funny to me to see where the themes for lessons and talks come from...straight from Church magazines. They were good lessons though, and we all enjoyed. Our class GREW this week, but we still didn`t have investigators there. We had 10 students this week, a lot of new ones too, from all ages and genders. It was fun! We get them all to participate and it`s an excellent practice for my companion and I. This week we WILL have investigators in that class though, and maybe we`ll have to use the Sacrament Chapel to fit everyone! hehe =) After church, we had a couple visits, but one AWESOME lesson. The Orellana Family are all members, besides their dad. He`s an eternal investigator, but they`re my specialty! =P The rain came down HARD as soon as we started teaching, but we just decided to yell and scream the lesson over the rain! We talked about families, and how the gospel blesses them, and how we have prophets to guide us and teach us, and how God has made it possible for families to be together forever. The commitment we gave, focusing on the dad was "Will you, as the Orellana Family, do EVERYTHING possible to make sure your family can be sealed in the Temple as soon as possible?" And guess what...? They all accepted the commitment with enthusiasm! Whitney, you÷ll appreciate this phrase more than anyone that reads it, but I want my family to know that this family is the REASON that I am in this area right now. I will baptize this man and complete his family, then next year they will be sealed in the Temple for all Eternity.

That was my week. My companion and I are still getting along awesomely. We`re both excited for what is to come for us. Keep praying for us, but now pray for the Orellana (pronounced Or ay ana) family specifically! I love you all, and will write again today answering your questions, but my time for now is up. I have about a half an hour to use later today, so wait for my other email. Dad, be a good guy and post this email REAL quick! ;P

Love Always,
Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, May 17, 2010

2010-05-17T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!
...and all my wonderful friends that follow my blog so religiously and razz my Dad about posting my emails!
hahaha! It blows me away that my parents keep telling me about how bad they get whomped on by everyone when my weekly email doesn`t get posted. It`s hilarious because when we started the blog...I had no idea that it was going to be popular between anyone besides my immediate family. But, I guess I have a following now! haha My own little Elder Preston Tucker fan club...don`t worry...I`m not getting a big head about it or anything...it`s just cool to me that I`m so loved! Thank you! =)

I would have loved to call some of you last Monday as well as my family, it would be great to hear your voices and learn the news in your lives and families, but fortunately, my call to my family was extremely satisfactory and I went to bed that night a VERY content missionary! haha I was probably the Happiest 20 year old man in the whole world after my phone call that night! I love my family! Dad, I want to thank you for appreciating for deeply and explaining for completely the happiness that my family experienced through our call. Sharing your feelings and your pride in me was probably the best thing you could`ve done this week to lift my spirits, give me the desire to move forward, and to serve with my heart, might, mind, and strength. This week will be great, our whole district is focused on finding new ways to use the coastal culture to our advantage and find a whole bunch of new investigators. The coast is completely different from the city, and I would love to explain exactly how it is different, but that will take a lot of time. I`ll give it to your little by little in the emails, but I`m experiencing it first-hand, so it`s a little bit easier for me to "get it" than it is for you all by just reading. First of all, (and this came from the workshop Elder Avilez, one of the elders in my district, gave today in our district meeting) in the coast, everyone has belonged to a church before or at least has grown up christian. Everyone has their own opinion, although not everyone likes to express it out loud. There are people that will just talk your ear off and not let you talk, just so they don`t have to listen to you and allow you to finish your contact. There are people who are just into living their own lives and that will not want to listen at all because of their supposed "to do list." And then, there are those people that just don`t want to say anything...and then we just sit there, awkwardly waiting for them to say something in response to our questions. And then, there are the "escogidos," the people chosen and prepared by Heavenly Father to receive us with humble hearts and true intent. We`re going to find those people, it`ll be great.

So that`s the coast. I learned a lot this week, and I will continue learning, but I`m liking every day and continuing to grow. My companion and I are really good friends and we always get along. My district and I respect each other and we all get along. In our Zone, there are a ton of different personality types and educational levels, so it`s hard to get everyone united, but we all understand our purpose as missionaries and I believe we`re all doing our best to DO our best. Tomorrow, supposedly, we`re going to beach as a Zone. I`ll take my camera and everything, but I`m not sure what a bunch of missionaries will be able to do at the beach...we can`t swim...so that`s gunna suck, but it should be fun. Maybe we`ll play volleyball...that might be fun! The only bad part though is that for my companion and I it`s going to cost an ARM and a LEG in transport costs...our area is the furthest away from the Zone Leaders area and it`s going to cost even more to get the beach from Santa Lucia. Grrr...I guess I`ll just fast for a couple days instead of spend money on food. haha Basically I`ll starve. hahaha Just kidding Mom, and Grandma, and Whitney...don`t freak out! haha I was kidding...I`m not gunna starve. I`ll be fine. I`m happy and I`m healthy. I have no idea if I`m still losing more weight or not. We`ll have to see soon. But...I`m not gunna lie, as the body fat melts away...in the mirror, I`m looking better and better. Tomorrow I`m actually going to start an exercise program so that I`m not just doing pushups, but so I can be working out everything I know how to. I`m just afraid that I`ll do it wrong and I`ll end up with problems...I guess I`ll just take it really slow...I`ve got time. =)

Okay, I`m so excited about all the awesome stuff that is going on at home. You guys all say that nothing special is going on, but to me, it`s all awesome. Mom is almost done with school, go go go! You`re almost done, then you get to enjoy the summer! haha So excited for you. Dad is still working like a dog, and that`s good for him. Just keep your immune system up please, and take a little time to watch out for your health as well. I love you. Hope, is just being amazing, keep up the good work. I`m excited as well as I realize that things in my extended family are more or less happy as well. I haven`t gotten a whole lot of news or letters from anyone, but what I do get, I cherish.

To finish up, I`ll tell you about the biggest success of this last week. (Sorry I didn`t answer all your questions Dad, I`ll print out this email and send a letter home about my "management abilities." ) This week, instead of attending Sunday School or teaching Gospel Principles class, my companion and started teaching the missionary lessons during Church services...to members! =) They gave us a small classroom, and said good luck. 8 members showed up, participated well, and learned a LOT! It was awesome. Our goal is to "RE-convert" the members, get their fire back from when they got baptized. It`ll be a success and I think we`ll need a bigger classroom! =P Next week, we`ll have investigators in the class as well...it`ll be great.

Alright, time`s up. I`ll write a handwritten letter to my family this week, so I can answer your questions. I love you all. Stay strong, have fun as summer begins, and know that Elder Tucker loves you!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, May 10, 2010

2010-05-11T17:41:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

I´ve got a ton to report this week, even though hardly any of it is about investigators. This week has been completely full of changing plans and getting to know a new companion, area, and branch in a relentlessly hot part of my mission. haha Seriously, I have been sweating my guts out...but, interestingly enough, I don´t feel very dirty or gross due to the sweat...on the contrary, I actually feel energy, I feel clean. haha I feel like in the Capital I was comfortable with the climate, our accommodations in our apartments, and our work pace. But the whole time I was there I felt like I was breathing thick, polluted air, that it was somehow getting to me and making me weaker. Here, in the coast, I feel like sweating so much has cleaned me out, has gotten rid of a lot of the bad effects of being in the Capital for so long, and has given me a completely new opportunity to serve the Lord in a completely new way.

Here´s the news about my companion, area, and branch...and get ready because from an observer´s point of view...it´s not all good. My companion, Elder Segundo, and I get along really well! He´s a little bit of a smart-aleck when it comes to answering to authority (like President Baldwin, and strict Senior Companions), but with me he is just intelligent, fun, and laid-back. I don´t think I´ll have any problems with him the whole time we´re together. When it´s time to rest, we have fun. When it´s time to plan, we plan well. When it´s time to work...I think I´ll have good support from him and we´ll be able to work well together. I think that a whole bunch of rumors have just been spread about him because he likes to challenge authority figures when they attack his "way of life." Anyone who knows about the "Colors Test" knows that that´s exactly how a Yellow reacts to a demanding Red. haha If no one else besides my parents got that...that´s okay, haha don´t worry about it. Now, my area...is HUGE! We don´t have a map that shows all of it, so I´m just going to have to ask for a lot of help from the leaders and get to know it by "feel" rather than by sight. However, where we live is just a HUGE rectangular city that has a couple central points and a whole ton of same-sized properties with a whole bunch of different-sized houses on them. The streets are wide and made of concrete, which makes everything seem more open, calm, and organized...I like that a TON! Everyone zips around town on their motorcycles and it´s all a bunch of activity of motors, buying, selling, moving, and shaking in the center of La Nueva Concepción. It has two markets, and there is a huge supply of fresh fruits, new foods, and a lot of really fun looking products. haha Everyone has shade trees in front of their houses and almost everyone has a few hammocks hanging out front to escape the heat and have a good, long nap! In our house, we don´t have a hammock, but we DO have two big fans that help us beat the heat, so we have them going full blast on us all night so we can sleep without sweating to death! haha I´m thinking about buying a hammock...but I´m not sure if I´ll do it now, or more towards the time when I´m closer to coming home...it´s just that it takes up a TON of space in a luggage bag. About the branch...it´s dying! haha Don´t be alarmed, the process CAN be reversed...and I´m just the guy to do it. I told the leadership right up front...I´m not going to be your leader, but I´ll be your servant and I´ll help you organize, revitalize, and gospelize this branch. They have had 6 hard months of inactivation and little to no baptisms, so it´s almost like I have a clean slate, a new canvas, ready to paint a new masterpiece. If I ever had a grand opportunity to leave my mark on an area in my mission, it´s right now. If we give our all and we have the Spirit with us...maybe in a few months I will have wonderful things, news of life and growth to share with you. I feel positive, I feel the desire to help these people, and I already know that they will love me when I show them what I can really do, with the Lord on my side.

I´m out of time for today, but I´ll be calling home tonight. I love you all and I will keep you posted on the changes that we´re going to see in this branch. Pray for us, and I know the Lord will send his support and his angels to bear us up and direct us to success.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Wednesday, May 5, 2010

2010-05-08T08:15:00.000-07:00

Hey Family! (yes, all of you)

This week has been completely nuts for me! Nothing happened like I thought it would. My little missionary world got turned completely upside down and I`m not sure how exactly I feel about it. First of all, I`m going to tell you about the changes I received, but then I`m not exactly sure what I`ll say next...so be prepared.

Okay, so everyone that has been reading my blog and/or knows anything about Guatemala City Central Mission knows that my mission has three basic areas, or climates. We have the Capital, the Mountains, and the Coast. I have been in the Capital for basically my whole mission, receiving a variety of different opportunities and responsibilities. I`ve really grown up physically, mentally, emotionally,, and spiritually in the Capital, but I guess it was finally the Lord`s will to change all that. Elder Garcia, my mission son, was left behind in Santa Elena Barillas, while I received a change. I did NOT train again, but I`m still a District Leader. About 2 weeks ago, in my interview with President Baldwin, I told him that I wanted a new challenge, that of learning a Guatemalan Indian dialect. I did NOT receive that blessing/opportunity, unfortunately. I wasn`t even sent to a different part of the Capital or the Mountains...I got exactly what I didn`t want to happen until the end of my mission...I got sent to Zone Santa Lucia, Area La Nueva Concepciòn...as my new companion Elder Segundo called it..."the Hell of the Mission Central"...the Coast. I`ll explain why I didn`t want to get sent to the coast until the end of my mission. I wanted, in my last few changes in the mission field, to go to the coast and sweat off all the rest of my excess weight, right before I get home. I guess the Lord wants me skinnier NOW, and not later. I was way disappointed that President didn`t send me to learn a new language, BUT after reading your emails, I know why I`ve been sent here earlier than I planned. Mom and Dad, you`re right...the Lord has blessed me with the gift to learn and speak Spanish fluently...and I wanted to learn a new language, which probably would have started me back at zero as an efficient missionary. Now is the time for me to stop trying to progress personally, and start helping OTHERS to progress.

I`ve been secretly fearing the point in my mission when I would have to "forget myself" completely, and work completely unselfishly. In my mission, I have always served others, but I`ve also been making a conscious effort to serve myself as well. I`ve been working hard in my studies to know the scriptures, know the doctrine, and deepen my profound testimony. I`m feeling like this change was Heavenly Father`s way of telling my to stop what I was doing before, and to get to know serving "the least of these" His brethren. I feel a little bad for what I was doing before...however I know that I didn`t leave regretful service in my wake. My faith in unshakable now, I will never fall away from this Gospel or Christ`s path, that much I personally know. However, now I will learn to give my all in the teaching and service of others. I feel like I`m confessing a long hidden secret to you now, and I`m hoping that it doesn`t come as a huge surprise, but I`m also hoping that you`ll forgive me and support me in the challenges that lay before me.

Here in the Coast, I will sweat my butt off (I already am...I hope I don't eventually disappear), I will probably experience debilitating sickness, and I will pass through even more difficulty and trial than I already have in my mission thus far. But I will eventually leave this Coast carrying my "sheaves" upon my back, knowing that I know how to be a successful missionary. I do not know whether or not I will baptize many or few or none here, but I do know that there are thousands (or maybe just hundreds ;P) of lives that can possibly be changed for the better by my testimony. I will continue to study and grow in my testimony, but it will be through sharing it with everyone that will listen to me that I believe I will grow the most.

I feel like the emails that I received today were all huge admonitions for me to change, focus, and work. I plan to follow your directions and advice, now humbled and submissive before the Lord. I`m sorry if anything that I have written or said in my letters up until now has worried any of you or made you upset at me for my lack of "forgetting myself-ness." I want my family, my friends, and my future wife and children to have marked, holy pride in the example that I gave them through my missionary service. I don`t want to have regrets...I fear them and I know they would ruin the memory of my mission. So I guess...if any of you feel forgotten or neglected from this day forward...I can only say I`m sorry...others need my help until I can finally come home.

My companion, Elder Segundo, entered the mission field with me a year ago. I`ve taken time these last three days to get to know who he is, and not pay much attention to the stories that other elders seem so eager to share about him. I know that he is here for the right reason, to serve others, but I also know that we might have some struggles ahead of us with respect to how we continue serving the Lord (in what method and how hard). Please, be willing to pray for me to know, through the Spirit, not only how I can help investigators and members, but how I can help Elder Segundo progress and become the man and missionary he is supposed to be. Right now, our area does not have any progressing investigators, but that will change soon. Pray that we can find men, Priesthood. In the Zone Santa Lucia, we are working in a District, not a Stake. All of our congregations are Branches, not Wards. We need to find, teach, and baptize LEADERS. We need strong, intelligent people to come to the Church here so we can continue to establish Zion in this part of Guatemala. That`s what I need from home this week, and all the weeks that I`m here in the Coast.

Also, Mom, in my next care package...I need new, cheap flip flops, a few pairs of Missionary Mall socks (yes, please specifically buy Missionary Mall socks), and a few pairs of garments. The mission office does not have any more garments, and because mine have been washed by hand against concrete and rocks for the last year, they are starting to disintegrate. I need to replace a few pair. Please send what you can.

About Mother`s Day, we will be calling on Monday, the 10th. I will call you in the night time, about 8PM. I`m not sure what the cost will be, but I will talk to other Elders to find out what the best way to do it is. I`m excited to talk to my family, but I`m more excited that it will be just one less call until I`m home. After next Monday, my last call will be on Christmas. How cool is that huh?

Alright, well I`m out of time for this week. I`ll be writing again on Monday, just about mission stuff and what we were able to do in the next few days, so then on the call I can give more stories and specifics about other parts of my mission. I love you all and have sent faith and love in the mail which should be getting to many of you soon. Be faithful, try hard to live the Gospel, and read the Scriptures.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, April 26, 2010

2010-04-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

It was fun today to just get a couple of short sweet emails from Mom and Dad, and then a long one from Whitney! It was a good day for email. I`m not saying that I just want short and sweet from home and then long and informative from Whitney and friends...I`m not saying that at all. I just really liked the fact that even though my parents were short on time and news this week, they still make the effort to email me and, as Dad put it, ¨not let me down.¨ It means a lot to me now, and it will mean even more in the future months, that my family does not get casual about writing me and sending me news. I`ve seen it happen with a lot of missionaries that are about to go home, that their families get bored or just think ¨he/she is almost home, so it doesn`t matter that much anymore¨ and then stop writing or stop giving them good news. These missionaries, unfortunately, get really sad, disheartened, and anxious to be home when this happens. I don`t want that to happen in the Tucker family! Until I send my own sons and daughters on their missions...our family probably wont have another missionary...so make it count now so we don't regret it later, okay?! haha I know that my family wont let me down, I know that you`re the best family in the world for me. I love you deeply and I have you in my thoughts constantly.

Talking about having you in my thoughts constantly...HAPPY 11TH BIRTHDAY HOPE TUCKER!!!! I love you Sis...I miss you a ton, and I know that I`m still not home, but I wanted you to know that I`m thinking about you and wishing you a VERY happy birthday. Enjoy this next year, because once I get home...you`ll have to deal with your big brother again and also have to share Mom and Dad`s attention! Eww, huh? ;P Oh...and you might be sharing Mom and Dad`s attention between THREE people when I get home...you, Me, AND Whitney! hehe I`m guessing that you already know about Whitney, Hope, but I wrote you a letter last week and told you a little about her at the end. Maybe, by the time you guys get this email, you`ll have already gotten the letter...I don`t know. But Hope, Whitney is way interested in you and wishes you a very happy birthday too! She is always telling me how much she wants to get to know you and then go swimming to show you that she`s got some ¨fish skills¨ in the water as well. haha I know that you two will be best friends soon, so I wont say much more, but you, my Awesome Swimmer Sister, already have a growing fan section and we all love you deeply. Whenever I see a little girl here in Guatemala, she reminds me of you. Especially if she`s loud and obnoxious! ;P Just kidding. =P I love you so much. Have a good birthday tomorrow, and be obedient to Mom and Dad. I`m so happy that you`re doing so good in school and I wish you luck in your last weeks as well. Soon you`ll be a Sixth Grader! The big fish! Just be sure that you stay obedient to our parents, your teachers, and be nice to EVERYONE...not just your friends. You`re an awesome sister, i love you.

Okay, not much news from the mission this week, other than the fact that just about all of us had plain, old, bad luck! Our numbers didn`t drop badly...but our commitment to meeting our new district goals didn`t give much fruit. Oh well...we`ll do better this week. Today, during our regular District Counsel meeting, I had everyone kneel down, say a group prayer, and then leave the chapel for 20 minutes to go contacting in different parts of Sister Mascareño`s and Sister Campos` area to get them some appointments and references. It was actually a really effective teaching experience and we were able to help those sisters out a lot to start their week. This whole change they have had a BAD challenge with finding new investigators (their area is TINY), so we needed to do something different in order to get things going again. On Wednesday we will be doing an ¨area attack¨ as well down there to help them out. We`re hoping to pump life into all of our areas before some of us have to leave...we`ll see what happens. I actually have no feelings about what`s going to happen to me this change...however, if I stay in my area...I might not be very happy. I need to get out of there! and I really want to learn a dialect. We`ll see...sigh... =P I might train again though...supposedly there is a group of 23 new Latin missionaries coming in this change. haha Maybe President is going to make me a Trainer again...that might be fun...I`ll make the best of any situation the Lord throws at me. I have to, otherwise...these next few months aren`t going to be very fun. I`m already having a little trouble not feeling the weight of the rest of my mission on my shoulders...I need idea from RM`s in the family of how I can keep going strong in these next 11 months. Please, answer my call for help?! haha

Dad, this week I would love you to tell me all about the possibility that I might have of a spot working on your team next summer. I`m gunna need cash, and before I get home, I want to know what I would be getting myself into. Seriously, I`m not baggy by asking this, I just think it would be cool to know and think about every once in a while when I daydream about my future after we get home at night. Hours per week, hourly pay, opportunities for working in the same job when I go back to Phoenix, I wanna know all about what it would be like. Also...I want to know your thoughts on me not trying to buy a car right away...instead, buying a bike after you teach me how to ride. Tell me about what comes to your mind when you think about that.
Mom, I wanna know how your ¨end of year¨ crunch is going and all about what you`re dealing with at school. It`s very possible that when I get home, I`m going to want to spend a lot of time with you to help you finish your school year with as little stress as possible! I want to be involved and maybe even be a part of your classes. I definitely DO NOT want to be that RM that sits around the house all day, waiting for his family to get home so that he`s not bored and lonely anymore. haha could you do that for me this week? Also...remember the assignment I gave you in the Christmas phone call? The one about finding and buying all the formal pictures of the Temples and putting them together in a picture book? I have been wondering how you`ve been doing on that and if it`s even possible for you to do. Let me know! and I`m totally stoked that you`re sending me your ¨bullet¨...I really need it...music is very important to my relaxing time. =P Also...I finally ran out of Orbit gum! Send me lots of Wintermint and Cinnamint, please?! I love you!

Alright...right before I came to write this email, we took a bunch of pictures of our house here in Santa Elena Barillas, and I`ve attached them to this email. I hope they all get through to you. Enjoy! I love you all

This next week, I will probably be writing on Wednesday again, because of changes. I`m sorry...but that`s just the way it is. Send me lots of love and keep my spirits high. =) I know you`re all awesome and you love me and I really appreciate every time you tell me so.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. Okay, I`ve been waiting for about 20 minutes, trying to send this email with the attached pictures...but it`s too big to send...so I`m just going to send them another day. I love you all!

2010-04-24T10:27:00.000-07:00

Email - Received Wednesday, April 21, 2010

2010-04-24T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

I`ve been missing you all so bad this week and a half...seriously, it`s getting out of hand. I miss my immediate Family, of course, but now I`m thinking about almost all of you as well. I think about my grandparents and how they`re doing physically and emotionally. I think about my aunts and uncles and how they are with handling our awesome extended family. I think about my cousins and how I would love to be helping them out both physically and spiritually in this crucial time when we`re all trying to grow up and start families. I think about a few of you more than others, but that`s only because the letters you send me keep me focused, informed, and conscious of you. I`ve really tried this change to write lots of letters. I write at night, when all of our reports and phone calls are done. I write in the morning, before study. And I write on P-Day so that I can really focus on writing in an organized way, responding to all your questions and needs. This week I wrote to Hope, Aunt Metzie, Amanda Dixon, Josh TImothy, and (of course) Whitney Robbins. They were all good letters and I felt accomplished when I got them all in the mail. I`m going to try to write a long letter to Jason this week and I`m going to venture into the unknown and write Whitney`s parents for the first time. They`re getting jealous of all the awesome communication that Whitney is having with Mom and Dad, so I better get on the ball and even up the score. Anyways, so I`m trying to really communicate with my family and friends, let them know that I love them and that they are still the most important people in the whole world to me. It`s with all YOU guys that I`ll get to spend the Eternities with, if we live worthy. I want to be with all of you in happiness and peace, but that will only come if we are constantly and actively helping each other to be a little better and climb a little higher every day! I know that my family has a strength that not even THEY have realized yet, and before I get home (through my letters) I intend to make everyone aware. Then, when I`m finally home, I intend on doing everything I can, everything you all invite me to do, do make sure we use our strength and come together on a whole new level. Sound like a good plan? I think so..especially because that`s God`s plan in a nutshell. =) I love my family!

Alright...this week was crazy off the wall with schedules and changing plans. First of all, interviews with President Baldwin were supposed to be two weeks ago...we had them on Monday instead. That`s why I`m having to write on a Wednesday this week...again. Ugh...sometimes having a leadership position in the mission is just a huge hassle...but I magnify my calling and that`s all the Lord really expects on me. So we got that done on Monday. I let my President know that Elder Garcia is ready for a new companion or a new area. I also told President that I have been having the feeling that I need a new challenge in the mission...the challenge of learning another language! =) In just Guatemala City Central Mission, the indigenous people speak almost 21 of the 28 native dialects that are spoken all throughout Guatemala. In the mountain Zones of our mission, there are three in particular that missionaries can learn to expand their ability to teach more people, because there are some native people that don`t speak Spanish at all. I told President in my interview that, because I was able to learn Spanish so quickly...I would love the opportunity to learn a dialect...while I still have the right to the Gift of Tongues. So...soon we`ll see what happens there...if President decides to send me to the mountains...I wont be training anymore, but I might still have a leadership position. Also, if I pick up the new language really quickly...it`s possible that I could stay in the mountains for the rest of my mission...tri-lingual missionaries are REALLY valuable assets in this mission. So that was Interviews. What was even more out of the ordinary was the fact that we had Zone Conference last Friday, before Interviews. We learned a lot about how to better teach the Commandments (Lesson 4 in Preach My Gospel) to members, recent converts, and our investigators. Also, President Baldwin gave a workshop about Tithing and how specifically it effects the Central American people. These people have the Apostolic Promise that they will always BE poor and they will always STAY poor...as long as they DON`T pay their Tithing. We felt the emphasis to teach everyone about Tithing and to increase our efforts as missionaries to teach them how to pay it. We`ll see if I can make that another focus of the rest of my mission...besides the glory and blessings of the Temple for families. And then, to top off all the chaos and traveling, our Zone was allowed this week to go to Antigua Guatemala for a P-Day activity.

It was my second time and I really enjoyed the opportunity I had to take it slow this time and see a few sites that I hadn`t seen before. I went to a Catholic ruin or an extremely old monastery and also a museum of Jade, the most precious possession of the Mayan people. It was way cool and I took a few cool pictures that I will be sending in a month or two. Also, with my friend Elder Domgaard, I went to Monoloco (the crazy cool restaurant/sports bar) and ordered that enormous plate of nachos again...but this time I didn`t conquer them entirely... hahaha If I would`ve had time...I could`ve finished them off, but when I got about 85% done...my Zone Leaders said that the bus was waiting and we had to go. Elder Domgaard and I just paid the check and took the rest of our nachos in a box to go. Later, I shared the rest with my companion. It was overall a good day and I got some pretty cool souvenirs. My favorite of everything that I got is a statue, craved from bone, of a family. I attached photos of it so everyone can see. It shows a father, a mother, and a tiny baby that are all hugging together. To me it struck me hard as exactly the way that I want my future family to be. It symbolized love, unity, and power for me...those are the exact thoughts that came to my mind as I thought about whether or not I was going to buy it. In the end, the price didn`t really matter to me, but I took it home and will look at it every day and renew my goal to make my future family in love, unity, and Priesthood power.

So those were the crazy event of my week...sometimes I just really want to be a normal missionary, without any assignments, so I can just focus all my time on serving the people I`m assigned to and NOT be running around arranging and rearranging the business and meetings of the mission. I guess that part of my mission might be behind me, but I hope to have that simplicity again soon. We`ll see what happens in Changes. Changes are coming up on the 3rd of May. If I stay in my area, it will be my 4th change in Santa Elena Barillas. To be honest, I would like to go to a new area, but I don`t really have a say in that. If my companion changes, I`ll be with my 7th mission companion. Again, I don`t have a say in what happens, but whoever I`m with, I`ll make the best out of my situation. So there ya go: next week I`ll get to email on Monday, and then a week later I`ll have to wait until Wednesday again. That`s my life...for now. hahaha

Okay, not for the personal stuff! =) I`m very happy that everyone is busy and that they all have a lot on their plates. I can testify with all my heart that Satan works the hardest on idle minds and hearts...so stay on your feet and go, go, go until you can rest on the Lord`s Day. However, don`t lose the opportunity that you have, like me, to slow down in the night time...tell you family that you love them...enjoy good food...and prepare your minds and hearts for the next days. The mind that goes the sleep running a million miles an hour is always just as tired in the morning as it was the night before. And you can quote me on that! =) So, Mom...make a list, take it slow, and it`ll all get done in good time. Dad...make list, delegate to your team, manage your jobs with prayer, and always allow the Lord to help you have good judgement. Hope...you`re off track, just help Mom out and play your guts out. haha Oh, and make sure you get ready for 6th grade! That`s crazy that you`re so old now...I`ve missed seeing you grow up.

Mom, it sounds like crunch-time has come for your second year at Syracuse. You`re awesome, just keep going. Take everything in stride and don`t try to do too much at the same time, okay? Don`t burn yourself out...you know nobody likes it when you do. When you have a little bit of time at night, I`m sure that Whitney would be more than happy to give you advice on how to start organizing, converting, and digitally scrapbooking your photos. She`s creative...just like you, so you`ll do wonders together. haha I love that my Mom and my Whitney have instantly become best friends that they laugh and joke and teach each other cool things. Now I`ve just got to hurry home so that I don`t miss out on too much of the fun! By the way...Whitney told me that you guys, my Parents, have invited her to go to Bear Lake this summer...without me! How rude...hahaha Seriously? That`s torture! haha Do it if you can, that sounds like a freaking ton of fun, but I`m gunna be SO jealous of Whitney...gets to enjoy my family way before I get too... hehe I`m not really scandalized...I just thought it was hilarious when i found out.

Dad! It`s good to hear from you again! haha Just kidding, giving you a hard time. I totally understand what`s been going on for you and I know that you`re doing your best to put your priorities in order. I`m a priority...but not until after business is taken care of and our Family is doing well. By the way,. thank you for finally bringing me completely up to speed on the family news. I am not worried in the least about what`s going on because I know that the Lord has blessed my family before to help us stay afloat, and he`ll do it again because I`m willing to stay in Guatemala and put my trust in Him. Oh, and speaking of staying ¨afloat¨, you`ve made choices that have made me extremely thankful and happy! haha I can`t tell you how disappointed I would be if we had to give up that special part of our lives to correct our past mistakes. I know that you know what I`m talking about, so I just wanted to sum up my feelings by telling you ¨Thank you, Dad!¨ And YOU...haha you need to cool down with the name calling between you and Whitney! haha This is why watching/knowing all about sports and tournaments and players and teams goes too far sometimes. haha Probably the same reason I never really put in the effort to know all that stuff...who knows if I`ll be into it when I get home. haha Oh, and just an FYI, Dad, when I get home...the priority for you and I will be having those ¨future conversations¨ that have been waiting so long for me, and you teaching me how to ride the motorcycle! I`m thinking that my best option when I get home will be getting a bike, waiting until I`m done with school, and then getting MY first car. What do you think? Thanks...I always love the opportunities that I have to learn from you. Oh, and keep me posted on the possibility that I`ll be a part of your Ebay team for the summer when I get home. I love you to the moon and back.

Okay, so this email is officially WAY too long and I still have one more person to email! ;P So I`m going to leave you all to enjoy the pictures and little bits of news from me this week and I`ll write again on Monday. I love you all with all my heart and think about you all the time. I share my love for you with our investigators and that helps them want the love that the Gospel inspires. Let`s all try hard to share and show our love this week so that Elder Tucker isn`t being a liar when he testifies that my family is strong and loving through the beauties of the gospel! =)

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. Bad news...my little speakers (the ¨bullet¨) finally broke. haha They still charge up good and play sound, but their range is shot and the sound only comes out of one speaker now. I don`t know if they still make them anymore, but I was wondering if you would send me some new ones in the next care package? Also, Elder Garcia wanted to thank you for sending the Peanut Butter M&M`s and the Swedish Fish! North American candy is always a huge hit with the Latinos! =P

Email - Received Monday, April 12, 2010

2010-04-15T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

This week went by really slow and REALLY fast at the same time. I wrote a few letters and was sending them every other day as I wrote them, so it felt like the week went by really slow because I kept thinking...it`s going to take sooo long for the letters to get home...I don't know how to explain it, it was weird. Also `the week went really fast because I studied a ton and we worked hard. We`re still not having much luck with filling our ¨new investigator tanks¨, but we`re working with faith, and that`s what is going to eventually pay off big time. We`re hoping for 15 new investigators this week! That means a LOT of contacting. But that`s okay, we`ve got the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, and our testimonies to help us out, so I know it`s possible. I don't have some great spiritual lesson to share this week, but I do have a HUGE testimony that we can find courage, love, and joy in the Scriptures! I love the Book of Mormon. I think I`m going to read it cover to cover over, and over, and OVER again throughout my life until I`ve got it almost memorized! haha Imagine how beneficial that will be for my family and my future kids if, when they have a problem or a question I can just rail off an example from the Book of Mormon with the accompanying scriptures. It`ll be awesome. It`s just such a fun Book to read if your really understand it and it`s simple, clear message: That Jesus IS the Christ, that he loves and teaches ALL of his people, and that he has restored His Church for our benefit today. I love you family, and BECAUSE I love you, I want you all to study in the Book of Mormon. In it`s pages you WILL find help for ANY situation or problem you have in your life currently or that you will EVER have in the future.

Okay, so the first bit of news that I got from Mom was about the accident and it totally hit me up-side the head. I wasn`t scared, I wasn`t anxious, I was just a little worried about how everyone is doing and what`s up with the Yukon. I know now that Mom and Hope are just fine, which puts me at ease. But that sucks about the Yukon! I know that Dad really loved that truck and that it was possibly the most comfortable boating SUV in the world. haha! That`s awesome that Grandma and Grandpa were willing to lend the Dodge for a while, just let me know what you guys decide to do about a replacement. Sorry, it just interests me. Keep me informed. haha Also, I was way stoked to hear that even though there was an accident, that Mom and Hope got to Arizona and were able to fully enjoy their week in AZ. I love our AZ friends with all my heart and I love the fact that all my childhood friends are all serving faithfully in full-time missions like me. Of course, I`m a little further along in the time, but I know that the mission will helps us all in our unique ways to turn ourselves from boys into the men that Heavenly Father wants us to be. I was way excited to hear about John Sheen completing a year at ASU and being on the volleyball team. That`ll be awesome to go to his games when I`m home! haha He`s further than I am in school now...SO weird! haha It was also very interesting and surprising to hear that the Sipes family is moving up to Utah. Obviously, Jason is going to stay in Payson, but I hope that Momma Sipes and Dirk move in close to Syracuse so I can still visit a lot during breaks.
Mom, hahaha you`re so hilarious, you ALWAYS get called to Girls Camp committee cuz you`re just such a dang good cook and planner! It always made me jealous when you and Dad went off the Girls Camp with your planned menu and I was never allowed to come with...I guess for obvious reasons. hahaha! Soon Hope will get to go to Girls Camp too, that`s weird... =P I`m extremely happy that Dad is completely immersed in his job, but it`s even better that he`s keeping his cool and love at Home. Awe...Daddy`s growing up! lol =P Just kidding Dad, don`t hurt me. ;) Holy crap! I was WAY excited to hear about Katie coming down to DATC! However, I never knew she was going to be into Web Design. She`s a wonderful artist, so she`ll do awesome with the design aspect of everything. It`ll be awesome to have her around a lot more when I get Home. I love that girl! =P I love you Kate, you`re awesome!
Hahaha Mom, you know me too well! Well...I guess you ARE my mother. =P You totally knew that I would want an update on how the communication was going with Whitney, so thank you for satisfying that need. I`m so excited that you all are having such a good time getting to know each other and that you`re all just so impressed with each other. haha You`re right, and I totally have to be a little prideful in this facet of my personality...I DEFINITELY have good taste! ;P Keep talking, keep communicating, get to know each other, and hey!...loosen up! haha You don`t always have to be so formal about what you`re talking about. Be yourselves, be fun! haha Now you`ve introduced yourselves, now just BE yourselves! =P I love you all, my family is just so FUN! =D I miss you all every day and look forward to the day when I`m home once again. BUT I am working hard, we NEED a boost in this area, especially if this branch wants to become a ward ANYTIME soon.
Our district, together, has put together a set of goals that we believe will help us all have better work ethics, better numbers, and more success in preaching the gospel. We put three goals down: 1) We want to use the hours from 10AM to 1 PM to contact at least 7 families or individuals, go to lunch, and then from 2PM to 9PM, between appointments and during ¨finding¨ activities we will do another 7 good contacts. We desperately need more investigators and now we`re all fed up with the slow pace of our work so far. We`re really going to put our shoulders to the wheel and get this done! 2) We are all going to have a Book of Mormon in our hands as we walk in to street and we are going to use it in all of our contacts. and 3) Every time a full hour of plans falls through, we will all be using 15 minutes of that hour to contact, looking for more teaching opportunities. So yeah, those are our goals. We feel good about them, so I`m hoping you all like them too. Also, the only piece of real news from my area that I have to share is that we put a baptismal goal with Luis Hernandez for the 1st of May. He has stopped drinking alcohol, he is quiting smoking tobacco and marijuana, and he is going to stop drinking coffee. Pray for him, and pray for us, so that we will be able to teach him everything he needs to keep the commandments we teach and to be able to be baptized on the 1st.

Alright, well I`m out of time. I love you all. I think about you often, and I know that YOUR efforts help me here in Guatemala. Read the Scriptures. Say your Prayers. Have Family Home Evenings together. I know you can ALL do it. Living the Gospel is not hard...it`s actually the easiest way to live in this filthy world. Try it out...you`ll be surprised how little changes in lifestyle effect your lives in huge ways.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, April 5, 2010

2010-04-07T05:18:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Holy cow, Spring Break is here already?! Don`t get me wrong, I`m stoked about it, but it`s just kinda unreal right now that I`m half-way home. I`ve got so many mixed feelings about that. I love the mission, but my soul longs for home. I love the people I serve, but my heart aches for the presence of my family and friends. I love Guatemala, but the United States of America will always be my home base, where I`m safe and I`ve won the game. (Sorry about the random baseball analogy, I was just going with the flow of that thought process =P) Hump Day has come and gone, but today is special too. Today is the 5th of April, 2010. In exactly one year from RIGHT NOW, I will be home again, having finally completed an honorable, full-time mission in the service of my Lord and Savior. I long for that day, but I make sure I enjoy the days that I have left as they pass. This last week I`ve made a lot of goals for my last year of the mission. To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, I have not been as obedient as I know I could be. I`ve had more fun than I ever thought I could have in a religious mission, but possibly at the cost of teaching opportunities and important moments of personal growth. However, this 180th General Conference has taught me much and basically set my sights back on the right targets and the righteous methods of how I can achieve them. I don`t want to miss another opportunity. I want to be obedient. I want to help all the people that I can in the next 365 days. I want to leave my Final Interview with President Baldwin, KNOWING that I did what the Lord sent me to do, and that I was a bright, sharp, and unstained instrument in His hands. The best part of all this though...is that I KNOW I can do it. It`s never going to be easy, but it will ALWAYS be worth it. I`ve learned that here in Guatemala, I`ve learned that from the Lord.

Okay, so this week was another week of weird schedules, WAY too much time in buses, and lots of time outside of my area. I`m not sure how I feel about this area anymore because lately it just seems like I spend more time traveling than I do teaching. Every time that Elder Garcia and I have to leave out area to go to meetings, interviews, doctor`s appointments, or to take care of any other necessity of my district, it costs us at LEAST 8 Quetzales (1 US Dollar) round trip. On the budget of a Guatemalan missionary, even with a District Leader Transport Bonus, that`s a lot of dough and these buses suck my wallet dry EVERY month. It`s okay though, I`ve learned to always have a missionary copy of the Book of Mormon in my hand or in my backpack (in English OR in Spanish) so that I can read, learn, and be fed by the words of Christ and His prophets. I finished my first time through the Utchi project on the 31st of March, marking in red the references to Christ. It was an awesome experience and I learned an incredible amount about the examples of the prophets and how they apply to my life. I`ve also reaffirmed my love for the Book of Mormon and have come to an even better understanding of WHY it is the Keystone of our religion, as Joseph Smith, Jr. always told. Almost as a side-effect of my reading, I`ve become better at remembering where BoM scriptures are located and scriptures now randomly come to my mind when they apply to a situation throughout the day. It was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone seeking to know more about Christ`s doctrine and the Love that Heavenly Father has for His children. I`ve started my second run through, but this time I`m going very slowly. I have other responsibilities and goals to accomplish before I can focus completely on a project again. I wanted to share my testimony to my whole family in this email, both immediate family AND extended family, that I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God.

This whole time I have been reading the Bible through for the first time in my life and have come to a very certain conclusion from what I have read in both books. The Bible gives the Law, which was extremely important the spiritual and temporal well-being of the House of Israel at that time in history. However, there where VERY few of the House of Israel that understood the meaning of the Law, that it was always pointing forward to the future, when Christ would come, fulfill the ends of the Law, and introduce the law of Mercy through faith in and on the name of Jesus Christ. Although this lack of understanding was widespread among the House of Israel IN Israel, the prophets of the Book of Mormon knew from the beginning the meaning of the Law and then taught that understanding to their people, the Nephites and the Lamanites. I love reading the Book of Mormon because the teaching is simple, it is clear, and it all testifies of Christ. I love teaching from it because that`s exactly what the world needs. The world has been saturated for thousands of years with the Bible, it`s errors, and have thus become hard in their hearts. By reading, understanding, and teaching from the Book of Mormon, we find those ¨chosen ones of the Lord¨ that are ready to soften their hearts once again and really become disciples of Christ. I`ve come to know that this is true. I want my family to know that it is true as well. Read. Ponder. Pray. And then, I promise each and every one of you that read these words, that when you have done these things with diligence and full intent of heart to KNOW the Truth, Heavenly Father will send the Holy Ghost to testify of the truth and divinity of His Son in and through the pages of the Book of Mormon. Other, better men have testified of these things, but I`m your son...your brother...your cousin...your nephew...your grandchild. Take my promise and put it to the test. I dare you to. ;P In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. This Conference I took 5 full pages of notes. I`ll keep them safe and I`ll be sure to share them with you when I get home.

P.P.S. I got your package this week, along with a package from Whitney as well, and I absolutely loved my Easter treats and surprises. I love you all. You know me so well. You take care of my, even when I`m more than 2000 miles away, and for that I`m eternally grateful. I love you. =)

Email - Received Monday, March 29, 2009

2010-04-04T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

So guess what?! Because my district has grown, we now cannot all use Internet to email all at the same time. That`s why this email is getting sent on Monday...but later, at night. Our regular Internet cafe only has 6 machines, but it`s an awesome connection, so I don't want to go find another one. They tell me that I have to try to find another one because President Baldwin wants all the districts to use email together so that everyone can keep eyes on their companions, so that we`re not breaking the rules. I agree with the not being on other websites thing, but...it`s just such a good connection...so rare in a 2nd World Country. haha Anyways, so that`s why I`m writing late.

Now, with respect to the title of this email...yeah, it`s time for me to buckle down and get to work. This week was a week full of learning from the scriptures and repentance for me. I really have not been working like I should...we need to do better. So my companion and I are going by the book, from here on out. I`ve heard that some missionaries that are sticklers for following every rule...have a secret that they don't like to reveal. They say that when you`re 100% obedient...the time goes by EVEN FASTER. So the rumor is that the most obedient missionaries not only have the most success...but also never have to think about when they`re going home because they`re too busy to think about being ¨baggy¨. I want that to happen to me...I want to get on the plane and not know where all the time went. I want to just be able to say ¨...I guess all the time just went into baptizing my last 50 people in my second year¨ haha Or...something like that. I know that I might not have enough time to baptize THAT many, but I know that if I`m more obedient from here on out...the time WILL fly, I WILL baptize, and when I get home I WILL not know where the last year of my mission went. Pray for me...I`m gunna need it. =)

Okay, I don`t mean to depress anyone at home (or anyone in California, because I`m SO gunna win the race AND the prize ;P) but...I`ve kinda blown the Book of Mormon away... Today I`m in Ether 8...almost done with my first time through for the Utchi project! =D Yeah, I`m kinda happy about it. I`ve also found, up to the first chapter of Ether, over 4,000 references to Christ. It`s kinda awesome, but just kinda! =P My next time through, with blue pencil marking doctrines, I will be reading and marking slower (just to give a certain someone time to catch up ;P) but I was impressed with myself when I realized what I had accomplished. I`m not boasting, but...like Ammon, I WILL boast of my Lord and His goodness. I LOVE the Book of Mormon. It`s my favorite book of scripture. Even more so than that ¨deep doctrine¨ of the Pearl of Great Price. I love how simply it teaches us, how clear the examples are, and just really HOW MUCH of a Testament to Christ it really is. =P I`ll finish before my year mark, and I`ll reap the blessings of my efforts in abundance. (Fun Fact: I was sick on Wednesday, we didn`t go out teaching, but I was able to read the ENTIRE Book of Alma in ONE day! Cool huh?)

Alright, now for the personal part of the email! =) Yeah man...this week has been full of ¨Aha!¨ moments for me. The fact that my friends are all hitting milestones in the mission is so cool to me. I always find myself thinking about Jordan more than anyone, because he went first. He`s already on his way home! And it`s fun to think about how Josh and Trav are doing with their Spanish skills. Remember how they always used to talk gibberish and say it was Spanish...yeah, well now they`ll actually know what they`re saying for once. ;P Mom! I`m SO FREAKING...holy crap...THAT`S AMAZING! I`m so excited for your achievements with your workout plan, you diligence, and your new-found strength! I`m so happy that you`re happy Mom. I know it`s hard to not want it all RIGHT NOW, but now we both understand that wonderful rewards come to all those that work and wait for them. I`m getting fitter every day too. I`m finally fully committed to following my Perfect Pushup routines religiously. It pays off! I`m going to be lean, and mean, and not necessarily skinny, but very, VERY strong! I`m so excited for you to see me! =P It`ll be awesome to go boating and show off to everyone our new bods! haha I love you Mom, you always make me happy. You and Dad are my best friends. =) Your Arizona trip sounds fun, and I`m sure that Julie would love to see you. I just cant wait for Hope`s 12th birthday. THAT Arizona trip is gunna rock! and Dad, they ARE building three new temples in AZ. One of them will be getting dedicated THIS year too! =P They are in Gila Valley, Gilbert, and Phoenix! Speaking of temples...holy crap, Reggie`s getting married?! Wow...I must be getting old... haha No, that`s so cool! I`m way excited for him. I just think it`s kinda fun that he`s gunna beat Eric. =P Your conference weekend with Grandma and Grandpa Welling sounds fun, and Grandma`s turkeys are always delicious. =) But you got it wrong...I come home on the 5th of April...AFTER General Conference weekend of Spring 2011. I`ll have FIVE General Conferences under my belt when I get home. I asked President if he would be willing to send me home exactly on my 2 year mark, the 1st (a Friday), so that I could be home for that Conference, but he said no. That`s okay, because I realized that I get to give my Homecoming talk the next week while everyone is still on fire from Conference. =P It`ll be fun! Also, FYI, here they broadcast it in the Stake Centers, just like in the States, but it`s in Spanish. Sometimes, they sent up a room for English speakers, but not always. We`ll get going with our branch next week and watching all together. It`ll be cool, and I`ll be sure to take notes. The only thing I wont like: I miss the real voices of the General Authorities. That`s all. =P

Dad, to answer your questions real fast... the Elder Lopez currently in my district is not one of the two I lived with. The older Elder Lopez went home a week ago after finishing his two years, and the other Elder Lopez is still in Amatitlan, my last Zone. This one is a little newer than me, but not by much. My new district and I have fun together and I believe, if we all work as hard as we can...we`ll put up big numbers this change. =P

Alright, well I`m out of time. I love you all. I`m still working on hand-writing letters. I`ll get those sent soon. I haven`t gotten your packages yet, but I will be going into the Office on Wednesday, so I`m hoping they`ll all be there to pick up and enjoy! hehe I`m so excited! Let everyone know that I love them, I miss them, and I look at their pictures every now and then with an ear to ear smile on my face. I LOVE MY FAMILY! =P

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Wednesday, March 24, 2010

2010-03-28T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Family!

Sorry to write again on a Wednesday unexpectedly, but that`s the life of a leader in the mission. I seriously have not realized, until now, that it is because I`m a District Leader that my schedule is so abnormal all the time. However, the abnormality of the schedule this week was due to a rather...normal reason. This week was a change week and I`ve begun my 8th change in the mission. My District saw quite a few changes, but luckily Elder Garcia and I are still together. I was so bummed 9 month ago when they took my Trainer (Elder Molina) from me after just one change. I was happy that President Baldwin spared that experience from effecting Elder Garcia`s mission. Now I`ll have the next 6 weeks to fill in all the holes left in the training that Elder Garcia received at my hands. We`ve talked about it a lot, we have set good goals for obedience and work ethic, and we are excited about the opportunities that these next 6 weeks will bring. However, in my District the changes were big ones. Both Elder Rodriguez and Sister Cruz (Trainers and Senior Companions) were changed out and sent to new areas. Neither of them is training again. Sister Cruz only has two changes left until she goes home to California, and I was sad to see her go. Her and I had a very special friendship and were always able to be our true selves around each other. Her ¨daughter¨, Sister Mascareño was also sad to see her go, and I will need to make sure that she keeps her chin up and her heart in the Lord`s hands. ha ha Interestingly, no one was sad to see Elder Rodriguez go...he was one of those elders that takes everything too far and complains about every little pain. However, he worked like a draft horse, set a good example for his ¨son´, Elder Chavez, and his work ethic will be missed. Sister Campos came in to be with Sister Mascareño, Elder Lopez came in to be with Elder Chavez, and then they divided the Elders`s area of Villa Canales and put a new pair of Sisters there to open it. Their names are Sister Ramos (she entered the field with my same group) and Sister Rojas (a new Sister from El Salvador). So now District Santa Elena Barillas has four Elders (of which, I have to most time in the mission) and four Sisters. Sister Campos has about 4 months more than I do, so I`m not officially the oldest in my District, but it`s interesting to know how many ¨young¨ missionaries they have put under my stewardship. I know how to be a District Leader well now, after two changes of practice, and I have confidence that I will be able to inspire my District with the scriptures and personal testimony and, more than anything, the help of my Lord. Now lets just keep our fingers crossed and a prayer in our hearts that nothing horribly difficult happens so that everything will go smoothly and we will be able to focus well on being a hard-working, spiritual district.

Speaking of ways to be spiritual, I have a cool bit of news to share with everyone. President and Sister Baldwin have introduced a new project in the mission that dates back to the missions of Elders Cook and Holland of the Twelve. Those two participated in a similar project and still benefit from the lessons and blessings it gave them so many years ago. The project has to do with the Book of Mormon, a red and blue marking pencil, and a Mayan hieroglyphic symbol, nothing more and nothing less. =P The project is called ¨Utchi¨, which is the name of the Mayan hieroglyphic symbol. The symbol is translated to mean ¨And it came to pass...¨ and is of Hebrew origin. The fact that archaeologists have found this symbol here, in Central America, is physical proof of the movement of groups of people (and their literary and language structure) from Jerusalem to the Americas. In simple words, it proves that Ancient America was influenced by the Ancient Holy Land. The Church`s explanation: see the Book of Mormon to learn HOW it happened. =P So here`s the project: Each missionary in the mission was given a soft-cover copy of the Book of Mormon in his or her native language, and we will all be reading them cover to cover...twice...in the period of 6 changes (8-9 months). This first time through, we are marking with red pencil ALL the references to Christ (his names and pronouns that refer to Him) that we can find. The second time through, we will mark with blue pencil all of the doctrines and principles of the Gospel that we can find. Interestingly enough, I had already started a similar project of my own (reading the Book of Mormon cover to cover, marking all the scriptures that called my attention or that help me personally to be a more Christ-like person, and then sending the marked up book Home...to all of you! =P) about 2 months ago, but I`ve replaced it with ¨Utchi¨ now because it involves a prize! =P After the first time through, marking with red, Sister Baldwin will give us a figure of the symbol ¨Utchi¨ to put on our desks and take home as a memory of what we accomplished as a mission. It`s gunna be awesome, and I`ll show it to you all when I get home. Of course, I will finish my personal project later and send that book home as well so that my Family can benefit from my studies in the mission. But what do you think? I think the new project is awesome and I`m already blasting through the first time through. I`m in Mosiah 20 and we just started two weeks ago. =) I`ve shared the project with a few friends in other missions and they are all excited to do it too. FUN FACT! Elder Cook and Elder Holland say that when they go to prepare talks for General Conference, they still use their red and blue marked, soft-cover copy of the Book of Mormon to find and explain the Principles of the Gospel that they teach us over the pulpit. =)

Alright, well that was the business part of the email. Now for the personal part. HOPE TUCKER!!!! I am SO FREAKING PROUD OF YOU!!!! I must have the most naturally talented swimmer of a little sister ever. You`re totally going to the Olympics. It`s only your second year going to state and you qualified for SEVEN EVENTS! Holy crap...that`s cool! Then you passed preliminaries for FIVE EVENTS! Dang girl...you can swim! and then you FREAKING METALED in TWO EVENTS! I`m....speechless. You blow me away Hope, I`m just sorry that I wasn't there to see it. However, like Mom and Dad said in their emails, in two years I WILL be at State and I`ll be there to see you do even better than this year! I`m so happy for you. I love that you have a passion for swimming because it is a sport that will bless you and our family for your whole life. It will keep you healthy, fit, and happy. As long as you can keep everything going well at school, you`re on an excellent track for your very bright future! =P That`s all...sorry, I kinda freaked out there...and sorry Mom, for saying ¨freak¨ so much...it`s kinda a habit of Mission Central missionaries and it`ll take a long time to break the habit when I get home...I`m just apologizing in advance. =P Mom...sigh...you sold you bike... ha ha I`m not going to lie, I had hopes that you were going to keep it and then sell it to me when I got home so I could have transportation in the 2011 summer and so that I could learn to ride with the Tucker Clan. =) It`s okay though, I`ll get home, work hard, make money, and get me what I need anyways. And Dad, as long as you have your bike, you`ll still be able to teach me how to ride with the big boys. I`m excited about that, if you couldn`t tell. Dad, I`m so glad that you are putting so much effort into your new job, building you team, and trying hard to safe me a spot on that team for when I get home. I would love to work with you again, and I promise that when you meet me once again, after I get home, you`ll want me working for you as soon as possible. ;P Dad, I already do realize the opportunity that lays before me. I have a year left to show the Lord exactly what I`m made of and do everything I can to Return with Honor. Time...is just time now. I have a year behind me, and a year ahead. I have faith Father...I understand it more than you give me credit for. I know that my Family is WELL taken care of and that all the blessings that Heavenly Father has prepared for me will be waiting for me, if I work for them diligently, at the end of the airport terminal on the 5th of April, 2011. I believe in Christ, I believe in His power to exalt me in the Heavens and bless me here on Earth, but more than anything I BELIEVE Christ. I know he can do all the things he has said he will do for me. I know with all my soul that He IS who He says He is. I know these things of a surety, but I have faith as well to back all that ¨knowledge¨ up. I understand the Laws of Justice and Mercy, and I constantly seek to allow Mercy to justify me and satisfy the payment that I constantly owe to Justice. I trust in my Heavenly Father, and I trust in my Brother, and I trust in my Earthly Family. I know these things to be true, and I apply them more and more each day. Therefore, let thine heart be at peace, my Father, rest thy soul of its anxiety for thy child and allow thyself to be embraced in the arms of his Love and Honor. ha ha A personal, scripturized phrase from me to you Pops. I hope you liked it.

Well, I`m out of time for this week. i should be able to email on Monday, the 29th. If not, please still write BEFORE Sunday night and wait patiently for my reply. I love you all dearly and will have you in my prayers and in my heart all day, every day.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Wednesday, March 10, 2010

2010-03-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

I love you!
So sorry that we couldn`t write on Monday, again, but I have absolutely NO control over the schedule of President Baldwin. haha When he wants to have a meeting, we have to change or completely clear our schedules to fit his desires. Last week it was Interviews. This week it was a Trainers Meeting. So here I am finally, writing on Wednesday, and I would like to ask a special forgiveness from Grandma Welling...I know she gets a little crazy when Dad doesn`t post my emails on time. ;P

Okay, so I`m going to share first a few things that happened in my week, and then try to answer all of Dad`s questions and fill you all in on a few more aspects of my mission.

This week...was an emotional rollercoaster. First of all, my district had three baptisms two Sundays ago. This last Sunday, we had 5 more. It`s awesome being a leader when the members of your team that you direct have success and are all happy and content. The sisters, Hna. Cruz and Hna. Mascareño, had two baptisms, both young men, soon to be Priesthood holders. The elders, Elder Rodriguez and Elder Chavez, had six baptisms. In our area we are still waiting on our three baptisms, but I`ll have good news about Adrian and his family soon. =) We`re all working hard and enjoying success, but we still have a lot of room to grow as a district and as individuals. That`s the good news! Now, here`s the bad news. One of our former investigators, a member of a part-member family of all girls, died this week. We have been praying and fasting for Ana Marìa for about two weeks now (we even sent her hand.written letters to get her spirits up), but I guess that Heavenly Father needed her back Home. She passed peacefully, I believe. She was on the mend, making plans to get baptized, get married to a return missionary, or serve her own full-time mission, all for when she would come back home, but I guess she had to go. It was a tough experience for me, not because Ana Marìa died (I already knew exactly where she was, that she was at peace, and that she`s ready the moment she`s able to be baptized and confirmed), but because of the completely overwhelming presence of the Catholic Church in all the proceedings of her funeral. True, she was a baptized Catholic, but her whole family are members of the True Church. Nevertheless, the entire community swarmed the scene with their crosses, and their pantings of heaven and hell, and their repeated prayers, and their incessant tears and yells. We, as elders, helped the family, we taught them, we comforted them, but we could not guard them from centuries of conditioning and practice of an entire community in the erroneous traditions of a false Church. It made me angry...but I hid my anger behind a prayer in my heart. No one, besides the family of Ana Marìa, wanted to hear us. No one wanted to hear about the Atonement or the fact that our souls will rest in paradise if we prepare ourselves well. No one wanted to listen to the Restored Gospel...they just wanted to keep walking blindly in their old ways, and not open their eyes to see the real and true Light. This was hard for me to take...but I took it. I will be dedicating Ana Marìa`s grave next Sunday as a sacred place of rest for her until the Second Coming, and I`ll find comfort in that. I love my family and wanted to thank you all for helping me to grow in the knowledge about the True Gospel, the True Church, and the True Atonement and Redemption through our older brother Jesus Christ. I will always be eternally grateful to my family for the part you all played in MY progress to the point of when Death has no sting for me, just comfort and hope and joy. =) Please pray that the Familia Mancilla will be comforted and that they will find hope in the Gospel, to dry their tears and endure to the end.

Alright, I don't have a lot of time left (I kinda went off rambling...sorry) but I`ll try to answer a few of your questions now. My relationship with President Baldwin HAS grown a lot in these last two changes as a District Leader and now as a Trainer. I have had more opportunity to get to know how he really is and to let him know who I am too. He is almost always serious, but can have his fun moments as well. I still don't feel like he is a Dad-figure for me, but maybe eventually he will get there...He directs the mission well, and I now have a testimony that his decisions and our changes are truly inspired by God. He is not what I was expecting, nor what I was truly wanting in a Mission President, but he is a good man, and teaches me well. I have not heard anything more about the new mission, besides the fact that it will probably begin functioning in June or July of this year. I still have a suspicion that the new mission will take experienced missionaries as a Trainers for the new missionaries in the new mission, which means I could possibly change missions, but its definitely NOT a sure thing. Our Sunday services are from 9AM to 12PM and we only have one branch to direct and teach. Every fourth Sunday is set apart for the Mission Work and we are asked to talk every time. I`m given a talk on ¨Every Member a Missionary¨, and my next subject (self-chosen) will be one ¨Love¨. Unfortunately, I do not have the measurements that Hilton took for m y suit, but He says that it will be ready by next Tuesday! I went in to him yesterday for the final adjustments...and I must say...it`s going to be HOT! haha It`s an awesome, pin-striped black Kashmir wool suit, with two pairs of pants to match, and the Guatemalan Flag sewn in as the liner in my jacket. It`ll be one of a kind and it will only cost about 1100 Quetzales, about $130. It`s gunna make me look good...DANG good! haha I`m excited. I`m still skinny and this change I`ve actually been receiving a lot of comments that I look even thinner than I did a couple months ago. =) Now I`m going to try and bulk up with muscle, and keep trimming the fat. =) Perfect Pushups...here I come. We cook for ourselves for all three meals and I`m learning many dishes, both familiar and native to Guatemala. =) Yesterday I learned how to make ¨shukos¨, basically a hot dog, Guatemalan style. =) It`s fun. That`s what we`ve been doing for P-Day this change. We pick a dish we want to make, we learn how to make it, and then we make and eat it on Tuesdays. =) And finally, Hermana Xiomara Zumeta washes our laundry, BY HAND, dries it, irons it, and folds it, then gives it back to us in TWO DAYS after we hand it off. Isn`t that AMAZING, without not one machine in the process. =) Alright, did that cover all your questions for today? Keep them coming.

Alright, I`m out of time. I`ll write again on Monday. I love you all. Keep your chins up, your views always set on Heaven, and I`ll do the same knowing my Family is on it`s way to ETERNAL GLORY! =D

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Wednesday, March 3, 2010

2010-03-07T09:02:00.000-08:00

Hey Family! (especially Mom and Dad and Hope)

Haha! At least now I know that my family understands the meaning of ¨true repentance¨! Puchica! (that`s a Guatemalan word that means ¨wow¨ and other exclamations) I was very happy...grinning from ear to ear actually...just now to read and reread the emails that I got this week. You guys are pretty cool...and when you forget to do something, you make up for it in Spades! =) I felt extremely supported and loved to hear the news and come to know that I`m missed by family and friends alike throughout all the circles of society I`ve been a part of. Music, school, dating, family, sports...I loved being a part of it all, and right now it`s paying off big time. I miss my old ward, and the way things used to be, but I know that the Lord has blessed my family infinitely and that I will have SO many more opportunities in my near future to enjoy life and give love and support to all those that love and support me. I want you all to know that you have been on my mind alot lately, especially this week, and I have said many prayers in my heart for your sakes. Dad, I absolutely LOVE to hear about how your job, your success, and your love for the Gospel and our Family is progressing. I think that your news was my favorite this week for many very important reasons. Mom, I LOVE hearing the updates from you. I think you`d be an excellent news anchor if you had to be. You give it to me straight, with love, and you don't leave much to the imagination. All very important things for me, as you already know. Hope...your talk made me laugh, smile, and cry. I miss you so much...I can`t describe it, but I CAN say that I love you. You`re the best little sister a missionary could ask for. And just do me a favor, and don't freak out when Mom accidently splashs water on my letters to you. There are many more to come. I think you and I will always be very close and I will always support you and give you help and counsel whenever you need me.

Alright, so the gospel lesson that I`m learning recently is PATIENCE! Training is tough, in all the ways that I never thought of before I recieved this assignment. I love it, it`s so fun, but it`s very frustrating and hard at times. Usually all the best things in life are the ones that start out hard, but end up having the highest value. Elder Garcia will be a wonderful missionary, and he IS learning, but I think he`s having trouble with growing up. He doesn`t want to leave his behaviors behind and has a hard time learning life lessons. He did not have a great relationship with his family before the mission, so I`m guessing that lack of a support system contributes a lot to my responsibilities now, but I`m grateful for the opportunity and I love Elder Garcia with my whole heart. Dad, your counsel helps me immensely, that which you gave me before the mission and that which you`re giving me now. haha I actually DO feel like a dad when I`m teaching Elder Garcia. I have to teach him mission lessons, as well as life lessons, and I feel like its preparing me for when I myself have my own family...weird, but I like it a lot. =) Things in our area are...progressing, but slowly. Pray for us, I know you always do, but we need it always. I dont have a lot of time left, but I wanted to say thank you, like always. I showed my thanks in different ways too this week. Dad, you have a personal letter coming to you, in response to the first one you wrote a couple months ago. Sorry it took so long. The Family in general too will receive a letter that can be shared with all, and taped to it are not one but TWO microSD cards with pictures inside. Sorry I waited another 6 months to send them, but they have over 300 pictures all together, so I hope you`ll enjoy! =)

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. Thanks for the news about Meg and Josh, that made me happy to know that they are happy and doing very well. Give Meg and Brandon my congratulations and let them know that it filled my heart to the brim to hear that they will be ¨Happily Ever After¨ soon. I love that woman, she changed my life, and now she too will enjoy the blessings of the Temple with the man that she`ll love forever. That brings me peace and lots of very deep joy. =D And as for Josh, I`m working on writing him a letter and will get that sent soon as well. It made me DANG happy to hear about his responsibilities and mine reflecting each other over the miles. I know he`ll do an awesome job! I miss that man... =)

P.P.S. Mom, for the package, I need you to start looking for a voice recorder, the kind that records on little cassettes that a missionary can easily send through the mail. Elder Ostler did that with his girlfriend, and it was an incredible blessing for him. I want to start recording for my family, and there`s another special someone that I want to send my voice too as well. =P I`ll tell you more about her another day. ;P So I need the voice recorder, blank tapes, AND it would be really cool if you sent me a digital card reader for USB ports. I`ve seen them and their awesome. You put in your SD memory card, and then plug the USB end into the computer, then it reads it like a normal USB flash drive. Then I`ll be able to send pictures with emails and also store my pictures more easily too. I`m sure you all would enjoy that, and I dont have the USB cord for my camera, so this is the solution. Also...for Hope, but also for the whole family, I found a pirated copy of Harry Potter 6, the new one, and it`s completely movie theater quality. I bought it and want to send it, but I first would like to know if you`re okay with that. Hope, I know when you read this you`ll be saying ¨YES YES YES!¨, but I need Mom and Dad`s permission first, okay? Alright, so let me now.

P.P.P.S. I ordered my suit, got my measurements taken, and will probably have my brand new, cashmire wool, super awesome suit with two pairs of pants to match...soon. In like two or three weeks I`ll get it. =) It`s going to be one of a kind and even the Tailor is excited to see it finished. =) I`ll be paying him soon, and thank you for sending money for m e to do this. It`ll be money WELL spent. =D

Love you!

Email - Received Monday, February 22, 2010

2010-02-23T14:27:00.000-08:00

Hey Family,

Okay, the first thing I have to do in this email is ask for forgiveness because I still have not written and sent the hand-written letter I said that I was going to send last week. I know you all want more, newer pictures and a little note from me, so this week I`ll make that a priority. However, I did also want to ask what`s going on at home because today...I didn`t get any email from practically anyone. I got one from the server for MyLDSMail.net and one, very funny email from my dear friend Caitlyn Stringham. Caitlyn...you`re awesome. I know I don't write back often because I write to the blog, but I want you to know how much I appreciate your emails, When I see your name in my inbox I know I`m going to smile big when I read it. You`re awesome, and I hope you know that I`m rooting for you in all your activities and responsibilities from the 2000 mile away sideline. Anyways, if something happened at home, or for some reason I`m not getting your emails, Mom and Dad, I need to know so that I can fix it! I can`t stand waiting all week for email hour and then not getting the boost I need from my home. I love you so much, and I`m only able to keep going because I know that Heavenly Father and my Eternal Family loves me and keeps me informed. Let me know, okay. If you have to, call President Baldwin so we can get this taken care of. It`s a requirement that we write to our families each week, so I need to be able to at least complete that requirement. (Although, the email privilege is always a pleasure for me to complete.)

Alright, so this week was fairly successful. We found a family and a few investigators here and there. In total we found 7. The family is a dad and his two young sons. Their family is separated, but not divorced. The dad`s name is Adrian, and he has a 11 year old son names Alejandro, and an 8 year old son named Alvaro. Those three accepted a baptismal date for the 7th of March in our first visit, but we haven`t been able to teach them since Tuesday. Please pray that we will be able to teach and prepare them so they don't have the push back their date! Also, we may have a couple new families through member referrals this week, which makes us excited. I`ll let you know how they go. Elder Garcia and I are really trying to elevate our spirituality and our drive so that we can fill our tanks with investigators and start finding the ¨chosen ones¨. We teach to less active and new members a lot and we are helping them all get the basic gospel habits started in their homes (scripture study, family prayer, and tithing). However, it is more important for us to be teaching investigators, so that`s our focus now. Find, teach, prepare, baptize, confirm, teach, temple, exaltation. Yup, that`s what we do. =) Elder Garcia is learning very well and very quickly. He does not have the best relationship with his family, which is something I`m hoping to help him correct. He needs to learn about putting priorities in order and being more precise in his words and testimony. He is a good learner, listens well, and I`m glad that my first ¨son¨ is someone that i can trust to be a good missionary. =) Who knows how many times I will train, but at least my first-born is a good kid. ;P

Okay, well I didn`t get any news from home today, so I don't have much to respond to. I hope all is well with Dad`s job, Mom`s classes, and Hope`s schooling. Grandma and Grandpa Welling, I miss you a ton! I wish I were there with you, helping to shovel your driveway out of the snow, but just thinking about you makes me happy. Grandma and Grandpa Tucker, I love you so much. I miss Grandpa`s big hugs and Grandma`s good advice. I`ll be home throughout the summer when I get back, so `think I`ll be able to help out and visit with you more often than before. it`ll be great! To all my aunts and uncles, I love you and am eternally grateful for your support and love. Any letter or news bite I get from you is very appreciated and I just love hearing that my family is good well. Also, if you have problems or difficulties, let me know so I can pray for you. I have a testimony that Heavenly Father might just be listening a little more closely to His missionaries that he does to normal members, so I`ll send our petitions up on high! =) To all my cousins, dang I miss you all! I realized how little I was able to visit everyone before the mission because of my out of state schooling, but when I get home, I`m not going to let that get in the way of having healthy relationships with as many of you as I can. =) I love you all and hope you have a good week as well. I miss you every day and pray for you often. To eternity and back, I love you.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, February 15, 2010

2010-02-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

Wow, holy cow, so this week was very interesting. Being a trainer is different than any other experience that I`ve had so far in my mission. Elder Garcia is a good companion, full of energy, drive, and desire. We always say that the new missionaries still have the MTC fire burnin' hot. Well...at least I say that. It`s tough though because our area has quite a few challenges that I did not know about until this week. I was surprised, shocked, and a little dishearted to know that there are problems in the leadership of the branch, between members and their families, and a basic overall disrespect and distrust between non-members and the missionaries. It seems like about a year and a half ago, in Santa Elena Barillas, a pair of elders were assigned to the area and just spent their time doing incredibly stupid, disrespectful, and incriminating things. Mom, Dad, you`ll understand this more than anyone, that when someone gains a reputation in a small community, that reputation sticks for a VERY long time. So it seems like Elder Garcia and I will be responsible for breaking down barriers and building back up the good reputation that the Church of Christ should have all over the world. For these reasons, it has been tough to receive any references from the members. Member references are the most effective way to get people baptized because 750 of 1000 get baptized if they are references given by the members, whereas 1 in every 1000 doors knocked gets a person or family baptized. All of you can now see the importance of what we both say and do as members to help our friends and family come unto Christ. If WE dont work, the MISSIONARIES wont be able to really work either. So please, when you can, and when the Spirit inspires, help the missionaries out, talk to a friend about the Gospel, and give their names, addresses, and information to the missionaries so we`ll get to be a great big, happy family in the Eternities.

Okay, so that`s all I`ve got to say about my area, but I`ll have much more to report next week. We`re going to work hard this week and reap the blessings of a LOT of prayer.

Alright, well I love you all. I have a tough week ahead of me, but I know that you all support and love me and that your prayers will not let me get down. The Lord will guide us and we will have success following our efforts. Thank you for being the best family in the world. I miss you and look at your pictures (miss you all) often. But I`m not baggy, just very excited and happy about our future together. Tell Mom that I`m extremely proud of her. Tell Dad that I`m with him full speed ahead. And tell Hope that I`m putting a hand-written letter just for her in the mail tomorrow. And that I love her. Thanks!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Wednesday, February 10, 2010

2010-02-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

Okay, so I don't have much time to write, and as soon as I tell you what happened with changes, you`ll understand why. So I got the phone call on Saturday night telling me the changes for my district, and my companionship had to change. Elder Ostler went off to Villa Nueva, my first zone, with a latino campanion, and I miss him VERY much. I stayed in Santa Elena Barillas, and received a new companion, but that wasn`t all. If that was all, it would have been a very calm change...but no. I was told that I had ANOTHER interview, my third in a row. President Baldwin called me in and told me the news. I had a change of assignment...not only was I to stay being District Leader, but I am going to train as well this change! Oh Holy Crap... that`s what went through my mind...but maybe with a different word...just kidding! So yeah, I`m a District Leader, Trainer, Missionary with just under a year in the mission. I`m kinda freaking out. I need your prayers, and your love, and Dad, if you ever trained, I need your advice. =) But I`m positive. I met my first ¨son¨ yesterday and we had a very good night getting to know him and teaching him his first lessons about the area and the mission. His name is Elder Garcia, he is 19 years old, turns 20 in August, and is from Honduras! I love people from honduras, for some reason I always get along well with most of them. =) It should be a good change!

Alright, well I don't have much more time. I also wanted to share the news that President Baldwin revealed to us in the changes. There will now be FIVE missions in Guatemala! They are creating, organizing, and calling new missionaries to the Guatemala Retahuleu Mission. I don't know...we`re kinda joking around that President might change a few mission calls and send some Central missionaries to train and be some of the first missionaries to complete their missions in the new mission...but I think it might happen. Just keep in mind...it might be a new bit of news that might come in the coming months...or it might all be fiction. I have no idea yet. =P Also, this week we are having Stake conference and Elder Anderson of the Twelve is coming especially just for our stake to speak to us. We think it might have something to do with calling the new mission president for the new Guatemalan mission. But, yet again, it might all be smoke in the wind.

Alright, I`m so sorry, but for the rest of the week, this is all you`re getting. I had to help my new companion set up his email and get used to emailing President and his family each week. Another thing was that I had to complete my District Leader responsibilities. But I love you, I love you all! I miss you and think about you often. Pray for us, our area, and our success. I know that your efforts help ours and ours help the Lord.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

P.S. Makayla, I hope you had a wonderful B-Day for your Sweet 16. Stay safe and do very well in school. And about those boys that you say like you...be careful, cuz boys are dumb and they don't know what they are doing half the time they think they`re being attractive. haha Just dont break too many hearts. I know you`ll be good, but I have to say it anyways, be good. =) Love you, and I love your Family. I miss you all and will see you in about a year. =P

Email - Received, Monday, February 1, 2010

2010-02-08T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

Sigh...I`m so happy whenever email time rolls around again! =) I love emailing you guys. Receiving and reading your emails makes me smile and laugh, and sometimes almost cry, but I still love it every time. Thanks for keeping me up on the exciting news of our family`s life. I`m so excited for you Dad, in your new endeavor with this VMC/eBay job. You communicate very well through your emails the love and excitement you feel to be doing what you love. I know that you`re very good in a high-pressure, dynamic environment and work and I`m excited every week to hear that you continue to deepen your liking for this new (and hopefully permanent until retirement) job. Know that your son is proud of you and is rooting for you with the loud, gruff, wonderful Tucker voice that I inherited from you! =) Mom, I`m very proud of you too. you dont talk about it much now, but I know that you`re still completing the commitment that you made to yourself to improve your health and strengthen your body. I`m realizing more and more as my body continues to change in the mission that taking care of and strengthening our mortal bodies really is a strict commandment that the Lord has given us and wants us to keep. Heavenly Father did not create any of us in the beginning with inabilities. He sent us here with bodies that have divine potential, and it is OUR responsibility to find and develop that potential to fulfill the measure of our creation. Mom, keep going, you`re doing awesome! I want to be just as surprised to see the changes in your body, health, and energy as you all will be to see my new, stronger, slimmer body that the Lord has blessed me with. Hope, I love you. I miss you every day. I wish I would have been with you in all your meets and celebrations and projects this year, but I have not been able to. I just want you to know that I think about you often and I`m excited and thankful that you are going to be my sister forever! I love you all.

This week I dont have a ton of news about the work. Elder Ostler and I have been very sick and afflicted this week with the whole gamut of symptoms and sicknesses. On Wednesday I had a fever of 101 degrees and was delirious to the point that I told Elder Ostler not to believe anything I said! =P He gave me a blessing and the next day I was on the mend. Elder Ostler was sick at the beginning and end of the week, but is thankfully much, much better. We are now, both of us, at 100% and ready to face the last week of the change. We were, however, luckily and miraculously healthy for my birthday. We went to the ruins of Mixco Viejo and had a good time with about half of our zone. They aren`t ruins like you would think they would be, all scarred, destroyed, and burned from war and time. They are actually very orderly, neat, and clean. They sit on the tops of a couple mountains and overlook many green valleys and jungles. It would look very beautiful in the springtime, but when we went, the grass was a little burnt by the sun and the trees have lost their leaves. I took many pictures and will be sending them home in a letter that I will be writing by hand and sending this week. Be excited, I`ve taken cool pictures this change.

Next week will be changes, and I dont know what to expect. I hope that Elder Ostler and I receive one more change together, but I dont know if that wish will be granted. I am not ready to train a new missionary. I still have many, many faults and have not nearly the amount of understanding and knowledge of Preach My Gospel that I will need to give a new missionary a good start to the next two years. I feel comfortable now, as a District Leader, but still feel very unready for a new change or increase in my assignments. Elder Ostler has been making jokes as well that they are going to make me Branch President of Santa Elena Barillas as well. District Leader, Trainer, and Branch President would be completely overwhelming all at once...please pray for me! I`ll need the help.

Thank you all so much for sharing insights and scriptures from your classes and lessons that you`ve enjoyed. I dont have anything specifically to share with you today, but I do have an acheivement to share. On Sunday, the 31st of January, I completed reading the Book of Mormon again...but in Spanish this time! =) I feel like I will receive many blessings in understanding and language from this accomplishment and that I have something very big to be proud of from this last week. I hope that you all can now, at least, pick up the Book of Mormon in English and give it a whirl cover to cover. ;P

Alright, now I`m out of time. This week Elder Ostler is going to help remind me about all the letters I want to write and send to my loved ones, so I feel pretty confident in telling you that you can expect a cool little envelope in the mail with a memory card in about two weeks. I love you all and miss you daily.

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, January 25, 2010

2010-01-25T15:07:00.000-08:00

Hey Family and Friends!

Okay, so I`m kinda freaking out a little about this coming week because I am turning the big TWO-ZERO! I`m so old... hahaha Not really, but that`s how I feel. I realize that I`m not a child at all anymore: not in body, not in spirit, not in intellect. I`m happily participating in the grand plan of our Heavenly Father called ¨Progress!¨ I do not know if this next year of my life will see huge changes or small adjustments, but I am very excited to find out. I feel a little sad that my family will not see me at all for my entire 20th year, but at the same time I`m happy because you all will get most of my 21st, which in some ways is more important. I feel like I`m growing up, in the mission, and in my spirituality. My testimony has changed from being passive, but powerful, to active and potent! I feel like I can communicate and plant the seeds of testimony in others now; something that I will need desperately as a father and husband in a few years. I feel like people, even here in Guatemala, see, hear, or learn of me and respect me as an adult. I know that I can make my own GOOD decisions now and that if I went out on my own into the world, I would find success on all levels. I feel good. I feel strong. And I feel loved! =)

This week has been full of many ups and downs. We were finally able to complete the mission goal of finding three new families in one week. We found the Marta, and her three kids, Antonia, and her whole family, and William, his wife and little daughter as well. Your fasting, prayers, and love has paid off, yet again. Good job Family, you`re a rockstar! =) We were able to work well with a couple members, although we did not receive any references this week. We need to visit more of the inactive and less active members so that we can strengthen the branch from the ground up. We will not be able to retain the families we baptize until we are able to fill the chapel with priesthood and testimony. Also, we will need your prayers to help us have the opportunities and ability to organize the branch into an effective tool in the mission work in Santa Elena Barilla. I feel like I will be here for a while, so we better buckle down and help nourish this part of the Lord`s vinyard. Also, a bit of news that our only present baptismal date with a 19 year old boy named Selvin Caserez got pushed to the 7th of February because he needs help keeping the Word of Wisdom. Please pray for him, as we work to help him enter the waters...

This week Elder Ostler and I, and our whole zone for that matter, will be celebrating my birthday with a really cool activity. Okay, well, to be honest, it has nothing to do with my birthday and everything to do with having a cool experience as a zone, but...we`re going to see some Mayan Ruins! =D Can you tell I`m excited?! We`re going to a place called Mixco Viejo (Old Mixco) which, as the Zone Leaders have told me, is a big archeological site with beautiful ruins that we can take pictures of and climb! Expect cool pictures! ;P By the way, that reminds me that I will be writing a letter with a memory card in it soon, so get excited for that as well. =) After we get home from the ruins, we`ll be bushed, and what better way for Elder Ostler and I to relax than...to COOK?! =) We`re going to cook a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting and have some Symphony chocolate on the side!!! =D How well does my family know me?! I got your birthday package this week when we had interviews and when I opened it, I was very...oh how shall we say...HAPPY! Although (sorry for the frequent side-bar, rabbit trails in my thought process) Mom, you should probably pack my packages a little less tightly from here on out... My christmas package was awesome, but everything was covered in peppermint and chocolate because the Peppermint Bark tub opened during the trip to get to me. This package...was even a little bit more messy! haha =P Mom...I`m in a country who`s biggest export is CANE SUGAR...so it probably wasn`t necessary to send a BOX of sugar in a package full of new clothes and fun games... hahahaha! We thought it was hilarious and a bit sad that when I picked up my package, it was leaking sugar from the coners! At the buss stop, where I was sitting, underneath there was a two inch hill of spilled sugar before I noticed it again. and when we got home...I opened the package and had to shake the other half pound of sugar out of my totally awesome pj`s and pretty much every single package and letter that was sent in that box. It was hilarious, but a little sad at the same time. So yeah, Mom, just take that into consideration next time please! I love you! =) I loved all the gifts, cards, and pictures I received. You all made my week!

Okay, so just a few results of what I have done with my birthday package so far: I made the Fantastic Flake Candy and shared with Elder Ostler, and he fell in love with it. We shared some with our favorite members, and they loved it. and I still have enough to do it SEVERAL more times! =) Oh! and I did all this, while wearing my new pj`s and t-shirt! You guys scored this birthday. But only one thing wasn`t perfect...the ring is a size 11 and my fingers are probably more like 12`s... sorry. =( Maybe I`ll give it as a gift to a baptism in these next months. How about that? =)

Alright, so I`m out of time for this week. Love you all! Thank you for your birthday wishes and prayers. I`ll keep you posted on our progress and if you would, pray that Elder Ostler and I get another change together so that we can baptize a ton of cool new families. =)

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received, Monday, January 18, 2010

2010-01-25T15:00:00.000-08:00

Mother, Father, and my dear sister, Hope...

Sometimes, when I am reading your emails, letters, reliving our phone calls, or just thinking about you during the day and night...I think and feel that I could not possibily be more proud of or in love with my Eternal Family than I am in those moments. Today, that pride and love went up a few notches...enough to make me cry with gratitude, laugh with joy, and make my heart ache with love for my Heavenly Father for blessing me to a degree that I cannot understand. Sometimes I wish I already knew the language that we will speak in the Celestial Kingdom, so that I could finally completely express my feelings in the way I know that my soul would like to express them. Ya know, some missionaries have girlfriends that love them, some have fat bank accounts waiting for them, or a fast car sitting in the garage waiting for their return...but I dont really want any of those things right now...would you like to know why? Because I have an infinitely loving Heavenly Father who has blessed me with an eternal family that I am EXCITED to spend eternity with. Some could call me prideful about my feelings towards my family, but I know that Ammon felt the exact same way after he completed his mission among the Lamanites. It`s righteous, eternal pride that I enjoy because of you. You make me so happy...I can`t explain it fully, but it`s so awesome that it hurts to be far away! If I had not received the blessing of increased understanding, I would hate this hurt that I feel inside...but I love it because I know that it`s there. I love you. I love you infinitely because I`ve been blessed with a partial understanding of the love that Heavenly Father already had for my family before the world even existed. This is amazing...and I can only hope that my emails reflect a little of what I am feeling in these very moments...it`s truly incredible. =)

I am grateful that you, my parents, do not spare me details of what is going on at home. Of course, I would like to be there, experiencing it right along side of you, but I feel like I have enough information through the blessings that is my hour of email time each week. Some families slack off as their missionary`s time goes on, but you have not, and I hope that you never will. Those families explain less, have no variety, and are basically just waiting out the time until their missionary is home. You are not one of those families, and for that fact, I am grateful.

Now, to tell you a little bit about the blessings I received this week. I now feel adequate to fulfill my assignment. I feel like the Lord truly did call me to be a District Leader at this time and that I am doing His will and allowing Him to speak to His missionaries through me. The sister missionaries started the change with challenges, big ones, but are now working hard in harmony. The elders started with sickness, but are now healthy and being shining stars of hard work (35 lessons this week for those two). Elder Ostler and I love being together and are slowly learning the potential that this area has waiting for us to tap. We found two new families this week that are very positive and are thinking about Baptismal Dates for the end of the month of January. Salvin, our current and next baptism is ready, humble, and waiting to enter the Waters. Tonight we are going to watch The Testaments with the two new families of last week and a new family of this current week in the house of a member family. I`m very excited about this activity and I believe that we will see the fruits of the Lord`s labor soon. Also, I was contacted by a man on the bus who wanted to know why I was in a white shirt and tie. We will be teaching his family this week as well. All of these families are small, but humble and ready for the Gospel. Your efforts, family, have brought them to me, not it`s our efforts that will bring them to the Lord.

I`m out of time, but I love you. I could continue writing for hours, but that`s against the rules. I hope to see more wonderful news next week and every week to come. Keep praying, keep fasting, and keep reading. Dad, I`m proud of you. You`re going to be AWESOME in this new job! I know you will. Dad, thanks for being my Dad! Mom, keep working, you`re the best teacher I know! Guess what? You know what... Hope, I cannot express how freaking proud I am of you and your swimming! I SO want to be there, cheering you on, but it sounds like you do your best, even whille I`m far away. I love you TONS!

Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, January 11, 2010

2010-01-11T12:31:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone!

So today I haven`t received any letters or emails from family so it`s going to be kind of difficult to respond to your news and questions. So, i guess I will just describe a bunch about my new area and companion. This week was full of disappointments and challenges, but we got through it. As such, I won't be talking much about my week of work, because there hardly was any. Dont worry though, this week will be MUCH MUCH different. We have great goals and the desire sufficient to meet them. Elder Ostler is wonderful and after two weeks, I already feel like he is become or has become one of my best friends. I just keep getting reminded of always being told that in the mission you make the friends that yòu`ll have for the rest of your life. I`m very happy about the campanions that I`ve met and had the chance to get to know, and I feel like the Lord had a lot of blessings in store for me in the companion department even before I started my mission.

Elder Ostler is from Herriman, I`m not sure how close to David and his family, but probably pretty close. He comes from a family of 5 and has a 25 year old brother and a 20 year old sister. They are borh married and Elder Ostler has his first nephew/neice on the way from his older brother. Elder Ostler is 19 and his birthday is on August 15th. He loves cars, movies, cars, music, cars, his family, his girlfriend and...did I mention cars? =P We talk a lot, sharing stories and laughing about good jokes and movie lines we remember. I`m (in mission language) his step-father, which is kind of weird for me. That means that I am his second companion and still have a few things to teach him about how to be a good misionary. He struggles with studying and Spanish, but i think we`re going to have good success with overcoming his challenges this change. I already hope to have two changes with him, but that might not happen, as I am now a district leader in a Training Zone...which means that it`s very possible that I might train next change...not ready OR excited for that. =/ Elder Ostler wants to go to BYU and be a Chemical Engineer as well, but has not started college yet. We talk a lot about our futures and what he would like to do with his career. He likes that I talked a lot with my parents about my future and my ¨plan¨ because it is helping him work his out too. His girlfriend lives in Riverton, but is a student at BYU. She is a sophomore there, and is completely and totally in love with Elder Ostler. Luckily, they aren`t one of those disgustingly cutesy couples, but he still talks about her a LOT. haha I`ve talked a lot too, and Elder Ostler has started praying that I will find a ¨super hot, fun, pefect wife¨ after the mision so we can all get together and wakeboard, snowboard, and just be sexy together! =P Also, he`s helping me start and keep to an excersize routine, which is helping my self-esteem and is also going to make me come home as a slim, ripped up, muscley beast! =) It`s gunna be awesome!

Alright, about Santa Elena Barillas. Where we live is the actual village of Santa Elena Barillas, but it is surrounded by many other ¨aldeas¨, which just means villages. Santa Elena is situated close to the top of a mountain, and as such receives a cool climate but a TON of cold wind. For the last three days we have had almost constant, cold wind and it`s been great and terrible at the same time. In the night, sometimes the wind wakes us up and makes us grumpy, but sometimes it is soothing to hear. In the morning, it makes the house freezing cold and makes it hard to get out of bed. During the day, at times it`s hard tot talk because the wind is so fast that it carries our voices away, and at times it`s even hard to stand up straight because of the nessecity to fight the wind to stay standing. The people are nice, but simple. I believe teaching new investigators here will be like teaching children, which I love so it`ll be great. The members are warm hearted, and surprizingly very informed about the scriptures and the doctrine of the church. The one aspect that I believe that we`ll have trouble with is organization and leadership. I will be praying a lot for help and revelation to help this branch turn itself into a ward soon! =)

Alright, my time is up. I`ll write more next week. I love you all with all my heart and soul!

Love Always,

-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Monday, January 4, 2010

2010-01-04T10:45:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

Loved hearing a little bit about your week. I found myself missing you all a ton as I reflected on all the fun things that you all might and were doing over the Holiday Week for New Years. Elder Ostler and I have had a wonderful week as well, but definitely not full of fun relaxing activities. We DID, however, have the opportunity to spend New Year`s Eve with a very large family of very fun members from the Branch. Familia León took care of us with a good dinner, good company, and a good opportunity to get to know who and how they are. Daniel León is our Branch Mission Leader and was very interested in getting to know me and my hopes and dreams for my time in Santa Elena. His wife and three kids are hilarious and kept us entertained all night. He lives in a huge (by comparison) house, but also lives there with his parents, brother (and his wife and family), and sister and her husband and family. So you can imagine that it was a great party. Again, at 12AM a TON of fireworks went off and Santa Elena Barillas looked like it was burning. =P The only thing that I did not like about the festivities was that a LOT of men got very drunk and for the next two days were shooting their pistols randomly in the air. When the shooting started we had to stay in the house to stay safe, but eventually everything quieted down and we were able to go out proselyting again. This area is very different than any other I have seen and I will explain why soon. Just know that I am happy, and a little overwhelmed about my assignment, but I still have lots of faith that the Lord will make me sufficient to fill my post. =)

Santa Elena Barillas is a village that is about halfway up a mountain on the south side of the Capital City of Guatemala. As such, it is the high point of our area and where we will have our new apartment. Our area in total consists of about 5 more villages that are all separated by about 2 miles each, but with extreme altitude changes. It`s going to be tough to plan intelligently in this area, but I think that eventually we will figure it out. The people in this area are a lot more simple than those of my last area, but they still have just as much heart and love. I will have to deal with different spiritual problems here than anywhere else I have ever lived, but I feeling I`m prepared to meet that challenge. The leaders want very badly to have enough success in this area to make the branch into a full-fledged ward, so I obviously want to help them do it. It`s just that...at this point...I`m not sure how I`m going to do it.

Most of the geographic area of Santa Elena Barillas is covered in plantations of coffee and pineapple and sugarcane. It`s pretty cool and I`ve already seen some amazing views that I`m going to take pictures of and send home soon. I really think you all would enjoy visiting this area and I hope that one day we``ll have the chance. Right now, I`m running out of time again because I had to take care of more district stuff today, but I will write more in the emails to come. If you have specific questions, ask me. =) But don't ask about the apartment yet...because we`re moving today...it seems like President wants to make me into the missionary house moving specialist or something similar. =P Should be a nice change because our current house is a little drafty and dark. I`ll tell you more about it next week.

We don't have a lot of investigators here right now, but this week we will be finding a lot, so never fear. We need your prayers and we need your love. Thank you for being good examples to me and for keeping me very up to date with your news and special events. Hope, I`m extremely proud of your performance in swim and ever time I get good news about your times improving and you taking first and second place in events makes me smile huge and say ¨YES!!!¨ right out loud. Dad, that was SO mean that you went shooting with the Provost boys and I wasn`t their to slaughter the pigeons with you. I miss shooting REALLY bad and I will definitely want to go as soon as I get home. 1000 shells?? pfff...more like 2000 please! =) Mom, I`m so glad that you`ve enjoyed your vacations and have chosen to spend them nourishing your relationships with Hope, Metzie, Grandma, and the rest of the very important people in our lives. I gained a lot of wonderful experiences to share with my investigators, just because you are always an AWESOME example of service to me! I love you all, take care, write down your goals, and keep looking at them and working until you complete them. =)

Pospero Año y Felicidad,
Have an Excellent beginning of the new year and Happiness for everyone!
-Elder Preston William Tucker

Email - Received Wednesday, December 30, 2009

2010-01-01T08:03:00.000-08:00

Hey Family!

To start off, I`m sorry to say this but I only have 10 minutes to write today. In a minute you`ll understand why. I also wanted to ask for your forgiveness for writing on Wednesday, but...I had changes...BIG changes!

This last Saturday We received the phone call from Elder Gomez that I was to have a change of companion, area, and that I had an interview with President Baldwinat 9AM on Monday morning. Elder Alvarez stayed in La Sonora, but we were ble to share many very tender and meaningful Christmas experiences with each other. He truely was a very good friend and a good missionary. He is shy at times, and with new people has a hard time expressing himself, but I love him dearly and have seen his true potential. I packed my bags with tears in my eyes and visited many of the wonderful members of the Sonora Ward before I had to go to the capital and receive all my new changes. Here they are:

I was moved to a new area in a different Zone.
My area is call Santa Elena Barillas and my Zone is called Villa Hermosa.
I received a new North American companion named Elder Ostler.
He is from Herriman, UT and is in his second change of the mission.
In Mission Language that makes me his Step-Father... (2nd companion) I thought it would be a lot longer time until I would be a step-father!
I was also called, in my interview, to a new assignment...
I am still a Senior Companion, but now I`m also a...duh duh duh DUH!...
District Leader of the District Santa Elena Barillas! =S I`m very nervous, I am very overwhelmed, and I have complete faith that the Lord will make me sufficient to fulfill my calling.
Weird huh...?

I felt very empty to leave my old area, as I had become a wonderful friend and brother and teacher to many in La Sonora and had a companion that loved me and I love him. However, I was able to go out to the streets with Elder Ostler and get to know several leaders and hey members of our BRANCH (luckily i wasn`t called to be Branch President), so now I am very excited about the work that we will be able to do if we put our shoulders to the wheel together.

Next week I will have more to tell, and more time to tell it in, but for now I have to go. Please send simple emails next week, with news, questions, and love, so that I will have to time to respond with lots of detail and the speicific answers to all of your specific questions. I love you all. I have missed you all terribly. But I throw my mind and heart into the work so that I will see you all soon and have the opportunity to share this beautiful experience with you all as well as with the people of Guatemala!

With All My Love Always,
-Elder Preston William Tucker