2011 June 20

2011 June 20

Hey Guys!

Haha, funny story about the shoes... I don´t have the pictures and I will tell you why later but I won´t be able to get those to you until the next week...

But first and MOST exciting news is that I had EMERGENCY CHANGES TODAY! I am back in Huehuetenango but in a different stake that is called Brasilia in an area called Chantla. My nuevo companion is named Elder Cuellar and he seems like a great guy. I only just met him this morning but he´s cool. Something really cool about him is that his Dad is the guy who made all of the doors for the Quetzaltenango temple! He also has a brother serving a mission in Peru who is coming home in November. And he reported on the same day as me to the MTC on September 8th but since he is Latino he didn´t have to learn Spanish so he has been out in the actual field for a change longer than me. And he speaks almost perfect English. On the 2 hour ride from Xela to Huehue, we talked almost the whole entire way here in English. I am getting some good vibes from him so I think that this will be a great change.

It was kind of sad to hear on Sunday night (last night) that I had changes because we had just gained some of the momentum and the members were just starting to really, really trust us and giving us golden references that were more or less begging to be baptized and almost all of the menos activos that we were working with were finally coming to church and everyone was trusting in my Spanish ability and there were a couple whisperings of me replacing the guy who plays piano for Sacrament meeting and I was loving it. But God is a great, smart guy and 2 Nefi 2:25 (everything is done following the wisdom of him who knoweth all things (that might be false doctrine because that was me translating from Spanish to English)). But I am doing well. AND SO because of all of this craziness that has happened in the last 15 hours, it was just about impossible to take a picture of the shoes like you wanted... sorry. :(

And the Baptism and Marriage of Cruz didn’t happen because the lawyer of the mission lost the papers and without papers, you cannot get married. They said that they think that the lawyer will be able to get them married in two Saturdays. So we will see how that goes. Ojalá that everything works out well but I won´t really find out until the middle of July. I will let you guys know when I know, though!

And I am so intensely excited for my hymnbook that you sent me! I was doing some sight reading yesterday and I was playing all of the songs with only 2 or 0 sharps at 1/4 time with awkward stops and, get this, with BOTH HANDS! So, at this rate, I will be a pro by the time I get back to the states in a little more than a year. WHOA! Let´s just analyze what I just said: I am coming home in LESS THAN A LITTLE BIT MORE THAN A YEAR! I could not even imagine having 6 months in the mission 9 months ago but here I am, 9 months old in the mission, and I am starting to be able to comprehend that my time here in the mission is completely limited! I will only have a little bit more time left in my life for the rest of my life to serve the lord 100% of the time every single day and experience his power and love for his children every single day. If I end up having the opportunity to go on a mission later, it will not even be as good as this one because I will have kids and other issues to worry about. THIS IS THE ONLY TIME IN MY LIFE LIKE THIS! Can you just grasp that for a second?! If you can, you are better than grasping things than me, because I still can´t believe. I was reviewing notes that I took from firesides in the CCM with Bishop Burton came a little while ago (when I had just entered in Las Rosas) and it was said that you will know if you are a good missionary if the day that you leave for your house is one of the saddest days of my life. I think that I am going o be a wreck when I leave. You guys are going to pick me up with tears in my eyes in the airport and I am going to lie and say "I am just so happy to see you guys" when, really, I will still be crying for having left Guatemala.

Hey, I am sorry to end the letter on such a depressing note but I have to go and I still have to send a letter to the president. But make a special effort to read the Book of Mormon every single today. It will bless your lives than you guys know. I love Jesus Christ and I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I love you guys! Have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Froelich

2011 June 13

Date: Monday, June 13, 2011, 9:21 AM Notes from pics Nathan sent:

More of the Birthday party. It was Elder Barboza´s birthday on Tuesday but we celebrated it on Monday with the cake and frosting mix and sprinkles that you sent me for my birthday back in February. The mix was for cupcakes but we used it for cake so the cake ended up sticking to the pan. It was really awesome, though!

2011 June 13

Ha ha, or my last letter was like the end of the book "The Giver." It really didn´t have anything to do with anything and it just leaves you frustrated for a sequel that never comes. (Lucky for you the sequel to my last letter is this one :-) ). AND I sent you guys about a million different videos and pictures for this week so, hopefully, that kind of compensates...

And this week was awesome! We had transfers on Wednesday and Barboza and I are going to be together for another 6 weeks (or that is the theory but I think that things might get a little bit crazy with cambios and everything since President Lorenzana is going to be going home sometime this month and our new president, President Bautista, is coming in). So that was pretty awesome to find out that we are going to be together for another 6 weeks because he has been my favorite companion and I am going to stay in Las Rosas for another change as well. When I finish this change, I will have had 6.5 months in this area. Ha ha, I have already spent more than half of my mission in this area but it´s all good. It´s a good area and everything.

The most notable thing that is scheduled to happen this week is that Hna Cruz and Hno Rogelio are finally getting married this Saturday! The papers are all finally coming in and the assistants (Ronfeldt) said that he would be able to get them married with the mission abogado this coming Saturday! And then with Luz Esperanza and her daughter, it looks like they are not doing too well because they randomly come up with stuff to do every single Sunday so they can´t come to church and they are more or less avoiding us. So, right now, they are not our official investigators anymore. But I guess that right now wasn´t their time. I think that they will be baptized later, though. This week was good, though--it seemed really long because of cambios but it was good.

On Saturday, I held English classes (because out of the 4 missionaries in our ward, I am the only gringo) and some non-members even came!! So that was awesome.

There is a recent convert in our ward who is having financial problems and he was an illegal immigrant to the states before so he knows a little bit of English and he told me that he was going to leave Guatemala and walk across Mexico to go to the States even though he has already been deported twice and if he gets caught again in the states, he is going to go to jail for 20 years. So I pulled out some scriptures and taught him a little bit and convinced him not to. And that was really great because it means that I am changing lives because he had two children and a wife that he would not have seen for 20 years if I hadn´t talked to him. The really miraculous thing about it is that our meeting up with him was really, really random but it was exactly what he needed because, if not, he would already be on his way to the states (and a 20 year jail sentence (sp?)) right now.

Anyway, I have to go again... But have a great week!

Happy Birthday to you and to Dad and tell Dad happy Father´s Day! And Michaela told me that Jarrod Call is reporting on Fathers day too so that´s cool

Anyway, I have to go

Love, Elder Froelich

2011 June 6

2011 June 6 PM

Hey guys!

I am starting to notice more and more what everybody says--That the more time that you have on your mission, the faster the time passes. I don´t even feel like it has been a week. When I first got into the MTC in Provo, they all told us, "Until the first Sunday, everything is going to take forever. Just get to the first Sunday and then everything starts going by faster." That was so true. And then I have also heard "once you hit a year, everything just starts going by extremely quickly but once you hit a year and a half, it is gone." When I was companions with Elder Sigler in my first transfer, he would always say "Wow, this week really went by fast" and I was always like "Speak for yourself, dude." But I for sure know what he meant now.

And I have a theory about why it feels like time goes by faster as you get older, but I for sure don´t have enough time to describe all of the facts and everything that kind of proves my theory. So I will save it for another time! But congrats on being 51 next week! On Wednesday, I am going to complete 9 months on the mission! So that´s kind of a birthday as well.... :)

And my district meeting was good. My companion even had the opportunity to give the lesson and for like 2 days after that, he was way obedient but after a little while, he got back to the way that he was before. But it´s all good. I have developed so much more patience and love and all of those things that you need for marriage. Shoot -my wife is going to be one lucky woman. :)

I´m sorry--I really don´t know what happens to all of my internet time. but I have to go.

So have a great week!

I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Froelich