1/21/2013

                                   

 Hey hey hey!!!!! Guess what I’m in freaking Guatemala!!!! Man oh man it is awesome here!!! So we like go off the plane, and then literally got in ghetto old school bus that took us to the mission president’s house! It’s more of an apartment but anyway, ya then we had a few intro meetings and stuff and met president Watts and his wife for just a minute! But that was cool! Then we had some more meetings about just the rules and standards and things to do, you know the usual, then they were like ok we are sending you into the city to work! And we are like "yeah sweet"!! And so we got back in the bus and we went to a different part of the city! We got to some missionaries tiny little house thing and ya we dropped our bags off and ate some food, then they let us take a sweet 3 hour nap! cause none of us had really slept on the plane or really sense 6:30 the previous morning! So ya then we got up and split up with a bunch of missionaries that were in that district!! And we went out and taught for a couple hours!!From about 5:30-8:30 Wed. it was sweet!! I taught some investigators and it’s just so so cool! Then we went back, and crashed!!! But the next morning (Thurs) we got up and went back over to the building that the president lives in.  We had some more mtgs. and we had interviews with him and his wife!! They are super super sweet people I love a lot!!! Then they gave us our assignments!!!!!! IM IN SAN CRISTOBAL, VERAPAZ!!!!!!  So then we got our bags and heading to this big meeting that was being held!!!! It was awesome Elder Christofferson, of the 12 was there!!!!! (PS I know my spelling is sucking hard, but there is a lot to tell you and not a lot of time!! :/ ) It was an awesome meeting! There were elders there from 3 missions, Guatemala city north, south, and center, but like one of the missions had the city in their zone, so like it wasn´t like all the missionaries from all three, but there was a ton of missionaries there! And the whole thing was in Spanish! I guess Elder Christofferson speaks Spanish!! And he does soo good too!! ya so that was awesome!!! and then literally right after the meeting about 5:30, me, my companion and this hermana (Sister) and another elder who had been here for a while jumped in a cab with our bags and headed to the city of Coban! the hermana and the other elder were serving in Coban, and my old companion Elder Brindle is in my same Zone of Verapaz, but a different area about 2 hours South east  of my area, anyway, so we all get to the bus station and you know its kinda hectic the whole time! haha but we get there and then it’s a 5 hour bus ride to Coban so from 6-11pm Thursday we were in this bus driving to Coban, and there is no chance of sleeping cuz its all windy and twisting, and you trying to stay in your seat with all you got, but it was fun, then the buss drops us off and we walk down the street and find the house of the ZL’s in Coban, and the hermana gets taken to the Hermanas house, then we like crash!!! Thursday about 11:30! Whew, oh and I meet my trainer! His name is Elder Gutierrez so ya he is awesome and we talked a little! But then the next morning we pack up and I throw my stuff in the back of this little red pickup truck, and we get in and take the about 30 minute drive to San Cristobal and ya we get to our house and I unpack and stuff ya! So let’s see, oh ya the little lady that picked us up, we call her "Hermanita" no se porque but ya we live like in this side section of her house, and she does laundry for us and cooks for us at times! But she is super super nice! But she is not a member! The missionaries have worked with her a little, but we will get her there!! :) Ya then we have been teaching and stuff ever sense!! it’s awesome !!!
 Ok let’s start with the people!! They are super short!!!!! Ya but they are super sweet everyone says hi and are always smiling really nice! The people in San Cristobal are I hear about 80% indigenous, and a ton speak Quechi but no missionaries speak that here, only in the Polochque do the speak Quechi! But I hear that missionaries who go here have a really good chance of going to the Polochque and speaking Quechi, I think that would be sweet!"!!
The country is gorgeous!!! Guatemala city is super hectic and crazy and not very jungley, but man people drive like maniacs here, its nuts!!! But they are good at driving crazy!!! haha and ya but out here in Verapaz its Jungle!!!! Man is it gorgeous!!!! Mountains and trees and forest and ya it’s like exactly what you would think of when you think of Guatemala!!!!! We have a tiny little branch and there were about 45 people there this week! 5 were our investigators!!!
The food is good!!!! Lots of beans and eggs!!! and tortillas!! with everything!! But my stomach hasn’t been upset so that’s good!!! we make breakfast and dinner, but we will either have hermanita make lunch for us or go somewhere, the plate of food I’ll send a picture of cost us 15 Quetzals  (8 Quetzals to 1 dollar).  and we are not supposed to drink the water, but we get 5 gallon jugs of pure water, and it’s good to drink and ya, but to wash dishes and stuff they just have this big cement thing with 3 sinks basically, it holds water in the middle (not pure water just tap water) an then on the left you clean stuff by splashing water on it and scrubbing it, then you put it in the  right one to let it dry! Sanitary right!!!
The weather is ok! I guess it varies a lot on where you are! Up in the Peten its like 100degrees all year long and humid! But here it is kind of chilly actually! And they have this thing called "chipi chipi" which is like this constant light mist rain! like seriously every day, almost all day! But it’s not bad!! 
ya there will be more in my next letter, but you can send letters and stuff to the pouch thing through Dear elder or send it to the mission office their address is: 
Mission Guatemala Norte
Apartado Postal 951-A
Guatemala, Guatemala C.A.
and they will then get the stuff to me somehow!!! :)

um oh I can probably open pictures on these computers now so you can send pictures via email! If you want

1/4/2013

Hey hey hey! How is everyone!
It’s just another week here at the MTC!! there wasn't very much new this week, just studying, praying, working, reading, practicing, and lots of repeating those things!! It’s a blast but man it is so exhausting! I’m so so tired all the time! Ha-ha but that’s life :) This week we got to host the new missionaries that came in on Wednesday! So you have the car pull up at the curb, you grab their bags, then have them give there last quick goodbyes, then you take them into the main building to get their tags and all the misc. stuff they need. Then you take them and drop their bags off at their dorm, then go with them to get books, and study materials, then you drop them off at their class! It brings back a bunch of memories of my first day! It seems like it was just yesterday! But ya, the first day was nuts, like our teacher only talked in Spanish! And he talked so fast and I was like freak this is going to be a long long 9 weeks! But man oh man it has flown by! But ya, we hosted like 380 kids (there is a lot of hosts - I only hosted 2 kids) but next week is the first huge wave of kids! There should be nearly 900 kids coming in! It is going to be 100% insane! So we will for sure be hosting them too, and I’m sure I’ll be hosting for a lot of the day Wednesday! Ha-ha
But ya, our teaching is getting so much better we can confidently go and teach and meet people and the language is coming pretty good! But that’s as far as here! In 10 days I’ll be in Guatemala! And it’s gonna be nuts!!!! Like for real! I’m excited to not be able to understand anything! And to just be blown away! But I’m gonna try as hard as I can to talk to everyone and to get to know every one! And to teach everyone about this AMAZING gospel!!!! Gosh I’m so so so excited! Ah!
But ya, other than that nothing too exciting here!! I love you all! And hope your all doing amazing!!!!

ps my p-day next week is Saturday! And I’ll let you know then what time I’m gonna be at the air port and all that stuff!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!

ELDER KUMPF!!

12/27/2012

Hey hey how are you guys!!! I’m doing great the MTC is just flying bye... like seriously it seems like just yesterday was p-day! I’m getting more and more excited for the field everyday! But it also makes me more and more nervous and anxious to learn every single thing I can! But like they had us in the 6 week learning program, so we have finished all of our learning up, and now we are just reviewing for the last 3 weeks! Ya we are teaching a lot, and doing a lot of studying! But ya! I love it! My companion got kind of sick feeling last night! And he threw up a bunch of times last night! :/ bummer but its good it was p-day today so we just stayed in the room and he/ me got another few hours of sleep! Which I am so so grateful for!! But yeah he is feeling a little better now, and we are down in the laundry room writing, but yup, hmmm what to write about.... it’s been snowing here for the past week off and on we probably got about a foot total! So it’s fun! We usually have a little snow ball fight on our way to gym and stuff! Ha-ha and my companion is from Kentucky, so he is like oh crap its sooooooooooo cold!!!! so the other day we were looking in the free boxes (free boxes are these sweet bins on every floor were people that are leaving put things that they are no longer gonna need, or don't have room to take with them, so its everything from candy to shoes to gym shorts, they are awesome!!) and so we found this huge winter coat in one! So he wears it everywhere!! I’ll send you a picture!
But ya Christmas was awesome!!!! I kept the tradition of building a fort on Christmas Eve going!! We made a sweet one!! and invited some other kids that were in our zone over, (next day we found out sleep over’s are a no no :/ oops! but it’s all good :) but ya I’m just working real hard trying to be the best I can be so when I get out to the field I’m as ready to go as I can be!!!

Oh and ya I’d like it if you tell me more about what’s going on! I don’t get trunky or home sick or anything so no worries, but ya I love hearing about what’s going on with you guys!!
I’m so pumped to get the pics of the bouldering wall! Are you guys gonna put some texture on it as well?
That’s awesome Raleane got her call! She is gonna be a boss missionary!!

And ya there isn’t really anything I need! Like I’m definitely the most prepared one here. Hahah like it still makes me giggle how much stuff I have, like the other guys in my room who are all going to Guatemala don't have nearly as much stuff as I do, so we will see how they fair and how I fair! But better over then under prepared! But as of now there is nothing I can think of that I need! Thanks though!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

12/25/2012

Hey everyone one! Surprise surprise! So we found out this morning that we get to email home! So that’s awesome! ya, oh and on Sunday I got assigned to be the new district leader, so I’ll be DL till we leave! pretty exciting, but not that big of a deal!

But ya, so today we had a morning devotional! and guess who came!!!! Elder Russell M. Nelson! ya it was awesome! Gosh the spirit here is so so Strong! It is kind of annoying because sometimes you still have some of those kids that haven't quite grown up yet, so they get a little rowdy and annoying! Especially around Christmas! But, my zone and district is so strong and awesome!!!! Gosh I love them so so much! Last night we had a nativity scene that a bunch of missionary's put on! It was cute and a little funny but more it just got the spirit so so strong!

anyways! I just want to bear my testimony to you guys about how much I love the Lord! and how truly truly grateful that we can celebrate his life! He brings me so so much joy, and I’m so so grateful for his life, because it’s through His atonement that I can return to live with my family again! I love Him and am so so grateful to have the time here to focus on the true meaning of Christmas! I love life so much! and am just so super excited to bring the joy I have to people in Guatemala!

I have been out for 41 days!!!!! It doesn’t seem like that long at all but sheez! that’s a long time! and I have loved every single minute of it!!!

I leave you to read in the Book of Mormon, Mosiah 3:19!!!!

Love you all!!! Merry Christmas!!!

12/21/2012

Merry Christmas!

Playing 4 Square!

Big Muscles!

Well the world hasn't ended yet! :/ so I guess that’s cool! Hahaha :)

Anyway, so I’m still just living up life here at the MTC! It’s hard to write about stuff cuz we kind of do the same stuff everyday! But ya, this week I started eating salads for lunch and dinner! (Kenny would be so proud!) cuz I started getting fat from all the awesome food they have, like I weigh 170! :/ but I started working out harder in gym too! Cuz gym here is really fun and for the first few weeks I just played 4 square!  And while it gets pretty intense here at the MTC it’s not exactly the greatest work out! Haha so I’m going to try to start working out harder!:) But I’m not going to lie I got pretty stinking good at 4 square!  We even made a mini four square thing in our dorm hall and played with a bouncy ball! ~Outrageous fun!~ but ya I love it!

The temple is closed from December 15- the end of the year so we didn't think we were going to be able to go today, but then our district got assigned to help clean the temple!  So at like noon we head up there and get to clean for like 3 hours! I’m so super excited for that!!!! And ya but other than that not too much!  It’s cold here! I’m really glad I brought that p- coat! But I’ll probably end up packaging it up with some other stuff to send home when I leave!

As far as my pretend investigators are going, they are hard! Haha I have asked them both to be baptized but they haven't accepted the invitation yet!  We are still teaching and inviting! Just trying to get them to come closer to Christ! It’s so fun like studying and planning and always things of them! Always thinking of what they need and how I can help them! One of them is really hard cuz we only have 15 minutes to teach him, and he is playing an investigator that is a teenager, who doesn't believe in god! And it’s not like he doesn't believe, he has set his mind that there is no god, and he doesn't need any help! And while he still lets us come over and teach, he kicks us out right at 15 min, and it’s so hard to teach him and get him to have enough of a desire to ask god if he is there, and commit him to do it! Cuz we will get him to where he says he would like to pray to ask god if he is there, then he is like, oh but I don’t know how to pray, and I have to go, so bye, then he kicks us out! It’s frustrating! But humbling!!! Hahah but ya we’re still working on him! There is no giving up! hahah

As far as dad’s questions!!!

-One thing I wish I was more prepared in before I went to the MTC was....
My scripture knowledge! Like I know the basics but I wish I had more scriptures memorized or could at least remember where Scriptures are! I honestly have the worst memory ever! I cannot remember where scriptures are, or even what we learned last week! It’s frustrating! but I guess it’s just means I have to work on it a lot more!

-Mission Prep I would teach...
~How to really really study the Scriptures!
~How to fully use PMG (Preach My Gospel)! I thought it only had the lessons! But it has everything you could ever need to know! From how to study, to Christ like attributes, to how to plan and use time effectively! There is a whole other 11 chapters besides the lessons that are just gold!!!!
~ And probably the things they should do, is have personal experiences that they can think back on and relate to the gospel! Have a love for the scriptures! and just learn how to do things for them self! Cuz here and in life, no one gives you the answers! it is all up to you! you have to have that desire to learn and grow! otherwise you won’t go anywhere!

-The thing I have have liked most about the MTC is spirit that is here! There is a super special feeling here, and you know it’s from the 2 or 3 thousand souls here that are all constantly trying to become more like Christ!! It’s amazing!
The thing I like the least is how little time we have to prepare... I don’t know what happens, but you never feel like you have enough time to prepare for your investigators, but you make the most of your time, and then rely on the spirit to help you with the rest!

Thanks for the Christmas ornaments! I have been opening one a day and hanging them on the little tree you sent me! I love them! they are all so stinking cool!!!!!!

I love you all so so so much!!!!!!!!! talk to you next week!!!

12/14/2012

Hey hey hey! so this week was another fantastic week! Time is starting to fly here! Today is day 31 of my mish! They have a saying around here that is 100% true they say a day feels like a week, and a week feels like a day! Like man the days are long and hard but you blink and all the sudden another week has flown by! But i love it! It is hard, hard, hard, but every second is worth it! Everyday I always want a couple more hours to study (16 hours a day just is not quite enough!), but its all good! We still have our "progressing investigators" (the teachers who act like people they taught on their missions) Their names are "Eloyda" and "Marcos".  We treat them like our real investigators, and its awesome to study plan and them teach them. We usually teach one of them a day, and we have had about 4 lessons with each of them! It's honestly really humbling! hahaha,  cuz man you realize first off how little Spanish you know, and second how hard it is teach the gospel! We are not allowed to bring any cheat cards or note books,  just us and our Spanish books of Mormon! But we are learning and getting better! the Spanish is coming pretty good! I can understand probably 90 % of what anyone says (if they talk slow.... :) ) and i can usually talk pretty well.  I just need to work on my conjugation! but, its all good! Ya we have a bunch of amazing teachers here! We have our two main teachers Hermano Ralphs (who plays Marcos the investigator) and Hermana Dayna (who plays Eloyda the investigator) They are amazing at teaching us Spanish, and building up our spirits! They keep it pretty realistic with the investigators too.  They never break role in our lessons, and after our lessons they don't give us feedback.  It's up to us to figure out what we did good, what we need to work on, and what we need to teach next! I love planning studying and preparing, always with our investigators in mind, always thinking about how we can help them come closer to Christ! We have been doing alot of other stuff too,  I have the "missionary Purpose" memorised in Spanish, and English, and the First Vision memorized in Spanish and English! Last night we got more homework, we have to have Doctrine and Covenants section 4 memorized in a week! BRING IT!!!!! haha but yeah!
 Thanks for all the letters you guys send! They are awesome! And thanks for all the food and treats you send they are awesome! My companions really appreciate them! hahaha anyway, I love you guys lots! Be safe!

12/7/2012

Hey! how's it going!
So this week has flown by! man time is just flying! its already been 3 almost 4 weeks! im super excited! its a blast here! we are just working hard and studying hard and praying hard! its tough tough tough! but yous all manageable with the lords help! yeah idk not too much to write about this week! :/ just another week in the CCM! (Spanish for MTC) Spanish is so fun! its awesome to be learning and talking and hearing so much! my Spanish has really grown exponentially! but were getting more into all the different conjugations things! and that's killing me! especially cuz the dumb US education system teaches you nothing about like present or preterit, or imperfect of future tense so just getting my head to think of a word, then think of it in spanish, then think of the tense it needs to be in then conjugating it, then trying to pronounce it! its hard! and exhausting by about 8:30 everyday my brain just kinda goes dead, and i cant talk in Spanish or even English! hahaha but we are starting HSI "habla su idioma"! which is "speak your language" which means we can only answer our teachers in class in Spanish! and we have to try to talk in Spanish as much as possible! i like it! its so fun trying to sling together some Spanish words that halfway make sense! and only talking to my companion and other people in Spanish! and it helps your language grow and it makes it way way easier to speak!
but yeah thats about it! just speaking spanish and teaching the gospel! thats what its all about!

love all you guys!!!