The mortician... ;)

Fun Ward Activity!!

FYI the church was organized 185 years ago today...just sayin' :)

Highlights for 4/6/15:

Highlight #1: New Comp. So I said farewell to my comp last Tue and he is now comfortable in his house in Peru (for all that I know). And because of the vacancy I received a new companion.  He's from Honduras, oldest of 4 kids, and YES I'm killing him (killing=the term for when a missionary is on their last change in the field before heading home; i.e. he's on his last change with me, so I'm "killing" him). So I guess I've become the mortician, or at least for last change and this change.

Goodbye to my (now former) comp!!!!

Highlight #2: General Conference. Can I just say WOOOOOOW?!!! That conference was the best conference I have ever listened to, I learned and grew from every single talk. I especially loved all the talks about marriage ;) :P So if you have not had a chance to see conference I challenge you to visit lds.org and watch it (and if you are in a rush of time to just watch 1 talk now, then go back and watch another talk until you've seen them all). I promise that if you will prayerfully and sincerely listen to and write down the promptings and impressions you receive and then take those notes and apply them in your life you will experience more joy, peace, and feelings of love in your life as well as witness the hand of God directing your life. I know it and I know that you can know it if you will accept the challenge.

Going to hear General Conference!

Highlight #3: Semana Santa. The Holy Week. Well, being in a prodominantly Catholic country there were a lot of new and unique traditions I was able to witness this week. One of these traditions that Xela is known for is their processions. What happens is all the catholics in an area go to their local church, hoist a giant and I mean GIANT parade float on their shoulders (this float includes different scenes from the last week of Christ's life), and then walk through the streets of the city "carrying christ's cross." It is a big deal here in Xela and there are many people that come to see and participate in these processions. To see what I mean just search on Google for "xela guatemala semana santa processions" and check out the pictures (Caution: Some of the pictures could be a little graphic, think Vatican City paintings graphic.) Some other traditions include the baking of special breads and the adorning of houses in purple. To say the least, this week has been an informative experience.

Well there you have it, my week in highlights. Hope you are all doing well and are super duper happy and loving life. I pray for you each every night and hope you feel those prayers and the blessings and protective hand of the Lord in your lives.

With much love,
Elder Flake

Views from my porch (above and below).  Beautiful!

Fresh Guate coconut...mmmm.

Just at a member's house goofing around with their drum set. :)