Week 57 - August 29, 2022

Hey, everyone.  This week was busy like every week.  We have lots of new people that we are teaching, as well as an Hermana that's close to taking the step to being baptized, which we are excited about.  My comp is getting better at Spanish each day and is able to help me out in the lessons little by little.  But it's been kind of fun to be able to teach almost the whole lessons by myself because I get to add my testimony so frequently in what I'm teaching and on each topic.  I've been able to really teach more by the Spirit, rather than just teaching a principle with a scripture and preaching the importance of it.  The depth of how I teach has improved a lot, and I've been having to use it a lot.

This week we had Elder Guifra from the Seventy come to our chapel/ meeting room here in Chicorral to see if there is a need for a chapel.  He took into account the chapel, the space, and the land for the future chapel, and said he would pass along the information.  Super exciting news!  Slowly but surely, we are getting closer to the approval for the application!  It has not been an easy process, but it's been so rewarding for myself and the members here.  Last transfer, our average attendance at church was about 21, and now we are getting about 28 each week which is amazing.  Closer and closer.

The next day we had a conference with Elder Guifra and his wife in HueHuetenango.  We had to wake up at 5 to get there by 9.  I also gave the opening prayer in Kiche in front of him, and 60+ other missionaries which was fun for me to flex my Kiche lol.  But he spoke on the importance of being persistent missionaries.  Because when he was younger, the missionaries that were teaching him did not give up on him, even though he thought the church wasn't for him.  But through time, he accepted the gospel and is now part of the Seventy.  For me, this was super cool because in areas that I have served and am serving right now, the people aren't as open to us as they might be in other zones and especially missions.  Trying to teach and change Mayan cultured people is not easy at all.  But it gave me hope that If I stay persistent and keep working hard, that I'll be able to continue bringing more people to Jesus Christ.  I know the Lord will guide me to where I need to be and lead me to those I have been sent here to teach, as long as I am putting myself out there to everyone and working hard. 

At the last second for church yesterday, both me and my comp were asked to speak.  So, I spoke on the obra misional, and how everyone can bring people to the Gospel.  In Alma 29:9&10, it talks about how that I might be able to be "an instrument in the hands of God, to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy."  I shared this scripture and talked about how it's not just speaking to missionaries in these scriptures but to everyone who reads it.  That everyone with a testimony should be using it to bring others unto Christ.  We as missionaries come and go with transfers, bouncing around to new areas, but it's the members that are responsible for the bringing up of Zion, and strengthening their branch in this case.  I told them that there is no greater joy than of this gospel, and they should be doing what they can to bring people to this knowledge and blessings as well.  I have seen and have felt the joy of bringing people to learn more about what I know is true.  Heavenly Father wants all of his children to know the truth, and it's our job to do it.

It somehow gets colder every day here, and rains even more, but the work is so exciting right now and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.  Love you all and email me if you haven't in a while ;)

- Elder Copeland

La Feria

Week 56 - August 22, 2022

 Hey, everyone.  This week has been great and one of the busiest ever.  It started on Tuesday when our mission President told us that if we could get a full chapel this Sunday, that he thinks we can get the go-ahead to build a chapel in Chicorral!!!  So, this week we literally visited and invited every single person in la Carpeta (area book) and had lots of family home evenings with members to invite them to bring people as well.  Every less active, every contact, every member. Everyone we invited.

I wanted to make sure that I did everything in my power to bring as many people to church as possible.  Even if they chose not to, knowing that I did my part to invite and bring them to church is all I can do as a missionary.  So, on Saturday night as I was writing in my journal, I really felt that I worked as hard as I possible could to try and get as many people as possible to church.  The whole week we were outside of the house from 12-7 and rarely had a chance to take a breath.  It was a good feeling knowing I did my part.  Now it was just on them to decide for themselves if they would accept what we offered them. 

Unfortunately, an elderly person died Sunday morning, who was neighbors with two of the member families.  And it's ritual here for all the neighbors and people that knew the person well, to go help with the body and console the family.  So, we were missing about 14 people at church.  But we still had 42 people come, which filled up our little chapel. 

We had over 15 investigators and people come, that we had invited throughout the week!  It was awesome to see all the people we reached out to, show up and learn a little bit more about what we know is true.  It made me think how just in this short week, I was able to do exactly what the mission is all about.  Work hard, invite people to learn, and then teach them what is so important to us.  The Lord definitely blessed us to touch the hearts of people and feel the importance of what we were trying to teach them. 

This upcoming week, Elder Guifra from the Seventy, will be coming to our mission to have a conference.  But our mission President wants to show him our meeting room here in Chicorral and the land that the church has for a chapel, and depending on what Elder Guifra says, he could give us the go-ahead to start the process of putting a chapel here.  So, lots of prayers please that everything will go well and the chapel can get approved.  I think it would be so cool that me and my companions here would be responsible for the construction of a church.  It has been our goal since I opened this area almost four months ago.  To be able to say that I was a part of that process would be so special to me because of how much I love these people.

After church yesterday and a lunch we had with everyone that came, me and my comp stuck around to thank the families who hosted for their hosting.  And I just felt like I was a part of a family here with the members and was another one of their kids.  I love Chicorral and its people.  I love being able to help grow the testimonies of the people, and for them to help me grow mine.  I hope I serve here for the rest of my mission haha. 

But I love you all.  My comp literally only speaks in metaphors and movie quotes, so that's another reason I've tried to be out of the house all day ;).  But it's fun.

 - Elder Copeland

Week 54 and 55 - August 15, 2022

 Wassup, yall. 

It's been a crazy last two weeks.  I'm a father!  I got my brand-new comp this week and it's been wild.  I'm also staying in Chicorral for another transfer, so this will be my 3rd here, which I'm super happy about.

Last week, I had my last week with probably my favorite companion so far with Elder Aguilar from Nicaragua.  It was so hard to say goodbye to him and say goodbye to members with him.  But he's still in Momos Zone and is a district leader now like me, so we are still seeing each other here and there. Actually, both of my other companions are district leaders here in Momos.  So, I keep saying that I taught them everything they know to be DLs lol. 

My new Greenie is Elder Andrus from Utah.  He was 1 of 19 new missionaries to come in.  And next transfer we get 25 more.  So, I'm really pushing my kid to learn Spanish as quick as possible and also how to be a missionary, so that he can be a senior comp asap, which is what my mission president has asked the trainers to do.  So, I sat him down on his first day and asked him how hard he wanted me to push him and help him with his Spanish.  And he said as much as I can... So, I've been really tough with him on his pronunciation and grammar and he's being a champ about taking it.  We study for 4+ hours a day and practice practice practice everything.  Then we go out and use it.  It's been super tiring but so rewarding already. Both he and I gave a talk yesterday in the branch (poor guy, first week and already speaking) and his went super well for his first week.  He definitely has better Spanish than I did when I first got here.  So, I know that me pushing him is helping.  I wish someone would have been tougher with me so that I would have gotten it faster, but I did alright ;).

 Our Mission President has been really pushing for Elders to learn more Kiche in the mission.  And so, he had me share my experience on learning it to the mission at Zone Conf, and then also sent my Kiche book to the mission as well for the new gringos to start learning.  It's pretty cool to know that the book that I made can make a huge impact on the culture of the mission and connecting with more people through Kiche.  My comp has already picked up more words than most other missionaries know haha.

Being with my new comp, I've spent a lot of time reflecting and thinking about when it was my first week in the mission, and when I had no idea what was going on either.  To look back and see how far I've come and the missionary I am now since then is amazing.  My life has completely changed.  My testimony, the love for these people, and my relationship with my Heavenly Father.  When I'm teaching the lessons and helping my comp memorize certain scriptures and phrases, I think back to when my trainer did the same thing to me, and I think about how if my old self at that time could see me now, teaching the same things to a new missionary, how I would be so shocked and wouldn't believe it.  I told my comp that these first couple of weeks will probably be the hardest of your life so far, but I promise down the road you'll look back and be thankful for them, so just enjoy it.  Because I remember when I couldn't understand a word, and members would just look at me and laugh because I couldn't respond.  But the lessons I learned and the pressure it put on me to learn as fast as I did, helped me to become the missionary I am today.  There's no growth until it becomes difficult. 

Have done a lot of thinking and I know all of the blessings that I have been given are from Heavenly Father.  I love my mission and everything that comes with it.  I can't wait to see how much mi hijo grows and learns this transfer, and I hope I can do the best at helping him.

Amazing story this week.  So, our branch president's father (about 75 years old) has been very sick lately.  He, also, can't speak for very long or hear very well.  But after church yesterday, our branch president told me that Izacharias (his name) wanted to talk with me.  So, we sat down with him, and he gathered the strength, and he told us about his life and how he was converted to the church and served as the branch president for a long time before his son was called after his mission.  He told the story of how he used to drink a lot, but one night he was passed out on the side of the road looking up at the stars and prayed to God about where he was in his life and what he needed to do to change it.  The next day his son was born, which is our branch president now.  And Izacharias told us that his son being born the next day, was a message that he needed to raise his son correctly, because he hadn't with his older ones.  Later he found the missionaries, was baptized, served in the branch, stake, then back as president.  And now his son, his family, his best friend and his family are all members.  And their wives have all served missions, too.  All because Hno Izacharias asked for direction from God and wanted to change.  The amount of people that Izacharias has brought unto Jesus Christ and to the church now is one of the best stories I've ever heard.  He has one of the strongest testimonies of anyone I know in Guatemala.  We then gave him and his wife a blessing and talked with them a little longer.  But just to listen to the history and testimony of him was so special.  He was crying and I knew he was hurting, but the Spirit was so strong.  He was saying that God seems to always have a trial for him and his health, but he knows that Heavenly Father never gives us trials that are too hard to get over.  

I know that these are the types of moments that make the mission so worth it.  I love these people and for the opportunity that I have to learn from them and serve them.  I could not be any happier to be where I am, doing what I'm doing.

Love you and miss you all!

Also ended bulking and started cutting, so wait for pictures in 3 months when I'm skinny again👍 195->175

- Elder Copeland

Pic of the Week

Poor Elder Andrus--he was bitten by a spider and had an allergic reaction to it.  He is doing better now.

Week 52 and 53 - August 1, 2022

  XixWok' Elderes

Hey, everyone.  Kash Jap wa semana.  But, it was good. Passed my 1-year mark as a missionary on Wednesday!  All downhill from here...

Some fun stuff from this week is I got fed rainwater, got spit on by a baby after nursing, stepped in a deep mud puddle, had a migraine almost every day, got rained on every day, lessons canceled, family home evenings canceled, and the lights went out while in the shower.  But it could have been worse.  That's what makes the mission so fun. 

The good news is we had lots of investigators come to church and were able to meet some new people that came as well. Our attendance in the ward keeps going up slowly which is great.  We are so close to our goal of having 32+ every week in order to build a chapel. 

Lots of service as well and helping members.  I love the people here so much and hope I stay here for cambio soon. They treat us like their family and have no problem being direct with us and telling us what they think hahah.  But it's all jokes and they love to be around us, and we love to be around them, too.  They make working for them so easy and rewarding.

Already August!  Love you all and choose the right!

Elder Copeland