Christmas!

Quetzaltenango, Guatemala temple

"I recognize that, on occasion, some of our most fervent prayers may seem to go unanswered. We wonder, 'Why?' I know that feeling! I know the fears and tears of such moments. But I also know that our prayers are never ignored. Our faith is never unappreciated. I know that an all-wise Heavenly Father's perspective is much broader than is ours. While we know of our mortal problems and pain, He knows of our immortal progress and potential. if we pray to know His will and submit ourselves to it with patience and courage, heavenly healing can take place in His own way and time." --Russell M. Nelson, "Jesus Christ--the Master Healer"

Highlights for 28/12/15:

Highlight #1: Christmas. Zone Activity. This week we had a wonderful zone activity to celebrate Christmas :) We had an awesome white elephant activity and had a lot of fun! Then we played some Christmas-related games! Afterwards we had a flash to the past moment and crushed a santa piñata...then like when we were younger we all rushed the fallen candy!!!! :) Then we had some Christmas-y cream-filled doughnuts. :)

Highlight #2: Christmas. Multi-Zone Conference. Then on Wed we had an awesome, festive Multi-Zone Conference. We got together with about half the mission (the other half was the day before) and had a very spiritually uplifting conference. We were able to watch the movie Ephraim's Rescue. It was VERY good, I would recommend it to EVERYONE! :) Then we had an amazing honeyed ham lunch!!! :) And THEN received a christmas present from Pres and his wife! :) It was a great way to begin Christmas :)

Highlight #3: Christmas. CHRISTMAS! But the highlight of them all this week was Navidad! I GOT TO CALL MY FAMILY. But you all already knew that...that's the problem writing only on Mondays and you all having FB accounts and seeing the pics already. Also we had some AMAZING members and investigators who invited us to participate with them in their Christmas activities :) GOT TO LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!! :)

Here's my little Christmas tree and decorations in my apartment! 

Were there enough Christmas highlights? Well....ONE MORE

Highlight #4: Christmas. Food. There's the food highlight that is required EVERY week! :) This week for the second time in my mission I had the privilege of eating a BUNCH of Guatemalan Christmas food! Examples? Paches. Tamales. Chuchitos. ETC. They are soooooo good! The hard thing now is finding the ingredients when I get home to prepare them!!! :) But hey! There's gotta be some Guatemalan food supply store in the states somewhere, right??

Well, I love you all and hope your week was FANTASTIC! I think about and pray for you all each individually every night and pray for your salud, proteccion, y felicidad. I am soo grateful to be on the Lord's errand! There isn't a better place I could be right now, even though it is hard, it is also very rewarding! :) Keep on praying! Keep up the scripture reading! And if you still have time, because there is always time, do a little bit of service for those around you! :) Keep on smiling! Laugh! And take in life, because it is truly amazing!

With Love and Prayers,

Elder Flake

Christmas Eve

Note from mom: On Christmas Eve I received these pictures on Facebook from a member in the area Elder Flake is serving. She made a delicious Christmas feast for the elders and helped them celebrate this wonderful time of year. I thought I'd include some of the photos...

I'll Be Home for (Next) Christmas...

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" --2 Nephi 19:6

Highlights for 21/12/15:

Highlight #1: Miracles. This week has been a week of changes, amazing changes. Changes in me, changes in the work, changes definately for the better. As some may know I had been struggling some here in my area. But this week all that changed, maybe just an early little Christmas miracle. Me and my companion were able to have some great success this week. We found some really amazing families and had some great success. But all this led to my Highlight #2...

Highlight #2: More Miracles. "I have often said one of the greatest secrets of missionary work is work! If a missionary works, he will get the Spirit; if he gets the Spirit, he will teach by the Spirit; and if he teaches by the Spirit, he will touch the hearts of the people and he will be happy. There will be no homesickness. no worrying about families, for all time and talents and interests are centered on the work of the ministry. Work, work, work--there is no satisfactory substitute, especially in missionary work." (Pres. Ezra Taft Benson) I CAN TESTIFY THAT THIS STATEMENT IS SPOT ON! As you can see with Highlight #1, the success has begun...but my "more miracles" was finding more happiness this week than I have felt in a while. I am happier, healthier, and more positive :) LOVE LIFE!

Highlight #3: Christmas Activity. This week we had our Ward Christmas Party, and it was SICK! The Ward here has an amazing tradition, they have a Ward Talent Show and for the admission people bring things to donate for the second half of the Ward Christmas Party. The second half is then the following Sunday in the afternoon they make Christmas Gift Baskets for families in need in the ward boundaries. I know that they may not be able to get to EVERYBODY that needs or deserves a visit. But it is a pretty wicked awesome! But another wicked awesome thing that happened was WE (THE 4 ELDERS) did an act in the Talent Show...all I have to say is that we had a LOT of fun with it! :) As elders we had to fill our call and teach something so we focused on the definition of "talent" as in an act that is cool and a Bible era piece of money. IT WAS A BLAST!!! :)

I would like to end with the invitation and testimony Pres. Uchtdorf ended his Christmas Devotional talk this year. He said, "May we, this Christmas season, remember our generous Heavenly Father and give profound and heartfelt thanks to our Almighty God, who has given all of His children wings to fly. This is my humble and sincere prayer and my heartfelt blessing to all at this Christmas time and always..." MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! I love you all! :)

With Love and Prayers,
Elder Flake

Another First Week of Change

"And behold, he said unto them: Behold, I give unto you a sign; for five years more cometh, and behold, then cometh the Son of God to redeem all those who shall believe on his name. And behold, this will I give unto you for a sign at the time of his coming; for behold, there shall be great lights in heaven, insomuch that in the night before he cometh there shall be no darkness, insomuch that it shall appear unto man as if it was day. And behold, there shall a new star arise, such as one as ye never have beheld; and this also shall be a sign unto you."
--Helaman 14:2-3,5

Christmas Nativity at the Quetzaltenango Temple

Highlight #1: Fam Wundram. I got to meet someone who is in the Liahona and Ensign!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOHOOOO! There was an article about the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple this year that featured a few families who's lives were changed by the temple open house. The family I got to know was one of these featured families!!! They are awesome! We were able to discuss their conversion, baptisms, and temple sealing extensively and it really fortified my testimony! They are the story about the father being a member but in-active when one of the people working on their house expressed that he was a member, re-igniting the flame in the father. They subsequently attended the temple open house and his youngest son requested a visit from the missionaries. A little bit later after many missionary visits the Hermano had the opportunity to baptize each member of his family!! HOW COOL IS THAT!!! :) I was pretty pumped :) Click here if you want to read the article.

Highlight #2: Investigators. We have been working with many great Guatemaltecas and in this the amazing Christmas season, the miracles that began one quiet night in Bethlehem have not ceased to change the world. We have many wonderful individuals I get to spend my time bringing to Christ. I am so grateful for God's blessing this Christmas season to be one of His representatives spreading the buenas nuevas of His restored gospel. A gospel that has existed since the creation of man, passed from prophet to prophet, from God to His representatives, to the babe in Bethlehem, and has been restored once again to the earth through a chosen servant of God! What better message could someone bring to you and your family at this special time of the year, a message of Love, Peace, Joy, Salvation? I am so grateful this Christmas season for my Father's gift to us all, the gift of His obedient Son, a little babe in Bethlehem, my Savior, your Savior, my Brother.

Highlight #3: Christmas!! :) No comment needed. Christmas is Christmas. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! :)

For some great Christmas stories check out this page Prophets and Apostles Share Christmas Memories: It contains Christmas stories from Pres Monson and some of the Twelve :) Enjoy!

With Love and Prayers,
Elder Flake

My Zone with Elder Ochoa and Pres.&Sis Smith

Celebrate the Days of Christmas

On christmas.mormon.org under the "12 days of social" heading there are wonderful performances and stories that really bring the spirit of Christ into Christmas. Here's a few of them...

Faith...Belief in ACTION

What would life be like if Jesus Christ were never born?

#ASaviorIsBorn

This week in the life of your missionary...

Can you spy the tip of the temple??

December????!!!!!

One of our awesome investigators and friend

We are being taken care of :)

"Here then is a great truth. In the pain, the agony, and the heroic endeavors of life, we pass through a refiner's fire, and the insignificant and the unimportant in our lives can melt away like dross and make our faith bright, intact, and strong." --James E Faust, "The Refiner's Fire"

Highlights for 7/12/15:

Highlight #1: Multi-Zone. This week we had a multi-zone conference with a Elder Ochoa of the First Quorum of the Seventy and counselor in our Area Presidency. I do not have enough time or space to write everything that I learned! But to give a quick overview. Think General Conference but even MORE specifically JUST FOR YOU. Now you are sitting listening to this talk for 7 hours (I know that's a lot, but I honestly didn't feel it). Now add to all that that then you talk one on one with them. And now you are pretty close to what I experienced on Friday. May I just say, that man has FAITH in all sense of the word. To explain one experience, briefly and not getting into some of the sacred and personal things...Pres. Smith was at the pulpit speaking, like middle of his time speaking, when Elder Ochoa stood up and walked out. Didn't think much of it. A little while later he came back in with a member from my ward and returned to his seat on the stand. When the time was turned over to him he took the stand and his next words changed, my, life. He explained that as he was sitting there listening to Pres Smith the spirit told him that there was somebody close he need to talk to. So what does he do? He got up immediately and walked out. Just outside the door he realized that he didn't know where he needed to go...so he prayed and asked the Lord for guidance and a companion. Just then the hermano from my ward walked out of one of the rooms and Elder Ochoa asked if he would be willing to be his companion for a little bit. Then they left and knocked on the first door outside the church building...the family didn't have time. So they asked the family if one of their neighbors was as nice as them and received a reference. When they knocked on that door a woman answered who has been suffering from many health issues restricting her ability to walk and move. Elder Ochoa explained that Christ had sent them and offered her a blessing. After which the woman stood up, did some twisting, and walked around. There is more but I'll leave it there, you get the idea. Needless to say, IN TUNE WITH THE SPIRIT?!?!? I can now never again say that I have never seen miracles happen. Christ's called servants have His power, His direction, and perform His miracles TODAY! I know it! Sorry to be short about it, there is SOOO much more, but for another time :)

Highlight #2: Christmas Devotional. What a sweet devotional we had last night from the First Presidency!!!!!! May I just say I am NOW in the Christmas spirit. And even better, we had an investigator attend with us!!! If you missed the devotional, for whatever reason or didn't know it was happening, go to LDS.org and watch it! Elder Bednar's talk was awesome. And how cool to have an apostle confirm the importance of what we have been doing every year as part of our family's Nativity Night....Samuel the Lamanite's prophecy!!! :) It was just fun for me to think about the last years and acting out the Nativity from the Book of Mormon as well as the Bible!!! :)

Well, once again another week of learning and growing has come and gone...and I'm writing yet another email home...I only have a very limited number of these left...AHH! I know that this is the work of the Lord. He directs and protects us in this His work. He is working right alongside us, each and every day! There is really nothing in this world that could replace the experiences and lessons that are had on a mission for the Lord. I love and pray for you each, I hope you can feel the love and the prayers :)

With Love and Prayers,
Elder Flake

Helping a member decorate for Christmas

Feliz Navidad!