Blooming Flowers in the Meadow

Xela!  Can you see the temple in the distance (just right of center)?!?!  It's so beautiful!

Well the work is going great and we are continuing to have success! :) But I've got some great stories to tell and memories made! :) So are you just dying for my highlights????? I know that you guys can't sleep at night, just wondering what's been happenin' with me, right?!?! ;) Haha :)

Highlights for 3-8 de Marzo, 2015:

Highlight #1: Division. This week I had my first division in my new zone! It was fantastic!! :) My companion went with another missionary to a different area for the day and I stayed here and taught with my district leader.  He is from Seattle. It was fun to be with an English speaker again, just to be able to talk about the states a little bit :) :) I loved it! Also I learned a lot about how to be a more effective teacher, new techniques, style of teaching, etc :) It was a lot of fun and we got a lot of work done! I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! :)

I love teaching and serving the people here!

Highlight #2: Super Pilus New Investigators (with a bonus). This last Monday one of our members invited us to attend their Family Home Evening with some of their neighbors and friends. So we went and had a great lesson about the Atonement. Then the mom of the family (the mom of the 6 sisters that live in the house with their own families, so the grandma) invited these friends to go with them to the temple on Tue, to visit and feel the Spirit there and the family accepted. THE MEMBERS HERE ARE SOOOO AWESOME!!! Afterwards we were talking to the friends about when we could stop by and visit them at their home and they told us we could stop by whenever to teach them this week. So one day one of our appointments fell through right next to their house, so we decided to stop by :) They literally dropped everything they were doing to come and talk to us! The first thing the mom (this family consists of a woman, her aunt, and her son) asked us when we sat down was (and this is almost a literal quote), "Other than being baptized, what else must I do to prepare and be able to enter the temple because I really want to go inside?" UMMMMMMM, well, that's why we're here :) Haha :) So we began answer all the questions we could from the temple recommend to baptism to clarifying questions from the Book of Mormon.  This people in this family are the "Blooming Flowers in the meadow." We also started talking about their family and it came up that they were housing a student from the states....from Minnesota!!! What a small world! So I talked to him a little bit, he's from Shakopee and is here in Guate for 5 weeks focusing just on learning Spanish. He works on the oil fields of North Dakota and has many seasonal employees from Honduras that don't speak English. So his hope is to learn Spanish well enough that he can teach them about all the equipment and help them learn more about the construction and oil business so that they can find better jobs and have more opportunities. How cool is that!!?!?! :) So I thought that our visit with this family was pretty successful and enjoyable! :)

Highlight #3: Saw God's hand caring for His children. (I actually see this every day.)  This week I witnessed the miracle of healing by the power of the priesthood and by faith.

These experiences as well as others have caused me to really realize and recognize the hand of the Lord in His work and my life specifically. He knows exactly what I need to become the man and son of God that He knows and needs me to be. I know that He has prepared (most likely before I was born) an experience called my mission specifically for me. Prepared people, experiences, and events that He knew would help shape and better me. This work is soo amazing and honestly a lot of fun (usually)! :) I love my Savior and brother Jesus Christ and know that this is His work. I know that He has a hand in my life and the lives of those I interact with (including you guys'). I know that some day I will kneel at His feet and thank him for this experience and the love and mercy He shows me. This gospel is so amazing and perfect and I know that it is only through living by its teachings with sincere hearts and real intent, following the Spirit and the commandments, that we can and will become like God. I know that this is His church and that He is at its head guiding and directing. I love you all and more importantly He loves you, eternally. Have confidence and faith in Him, I know that life will not always be easy and sometimes bad things happen, but He knows what will make you celestial and like Him. Trust in Him, Have faith in Him.

With love and prayers,
Your missionary, friend, son, and brother,
Elder Flake

haha!  It's true, but I love being a missionary!