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
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday, July 23, 2010
Elder Tucker's Mission Changes
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
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
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Okay, so I lied...it was ALMOST all settled!
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
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
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