August 26, 2013

hey mom!

well to be honest this was a fairly quiet week. not too much happened. probably the biggest thing that happened was that we had interviews with president. it was pretty good. we got to the church at i think 9, and he got there at about 9 30. where i`m at there are 2 zones right next to each other, so both zones were there, about 28 missionaries, and we were supposed to all get interviewed that day. so he first said he wanted to talk to the sisters, and while he was doing that we just had a normal district meeting. we finished and he was still with them, and ended up taking 3 hours with just 3 sets of sisters. so lunch got there, good old pizza hut :) and then he tried to cram everyone else in. we didn`t end up leaving the church til about 6 or so that afternoon, and he still hadn`t interviewed about 7. it was good though.

my interview with him was pretty short. he asked me a few little questions, how my family was doing, if they write, and if i write them. i feel bad because i can`t always get to every email, but know that i do read every one of them and i love them. but then i`ll also be home in 2 months so we can all just chat then :) he asked if i had any questions, and i asked him a few things, well i suggested that i would really like to stay here in chorrera to finish my mission. partly because i feel like i`ve bounced around a lot in my mission, and so i would just like to finish here. then i just love it here, chorrera is just awesome, so i`m hoping i get left here. we talked a little bit about going home and stuff, and he said that he wants to go back to how it was with the leaving missionaries, that instead of leaving a week before changes, they go home the day after, which would mean i would go home on the 31st of october instead of the 24th. so as of right now i have no idea what`s gonna happen haha, and someone said that they don`t usually mail out the flight plans until like a month before, so sorry, can`t really help much there :)

yesterday we had to give a talk in church, and i`m still not very good at talking in front of so many people haha. i remember my fairwell talk i could barely stand up haha, now it`s not so bad, but i still don`t like it. i was praying all week so that i could do it well and say the things i needed to, and i think it turned out ok. i don`t know if i`ve mentioned it but the ward just isn`t very excited right now to help with missionary work. like 2 weeks ago the stake president spoke and kinda macheted them cause the numbers were so low despite the fact on how big the ward is. so i kinda tried to talk about that, but in a soft but direct way haha, just like to help them get animated to help with the work. i really do want to leave this area a lot stronger, so hopefully we can see some miracles these coming months.

but sadly i think that about sums it up. we`re having a hard time finding progressing investigators, even though we seem to find a lot of ¨positive¨ people, it`s tough, but we`ll keep at it. things are good, i`m happy, but want to find some success soon. oh by the way i did end up getting the package you guys sent. the magic trick where the 41 cents changes to 31 is great! and i liked the pictures too, thanks for sending it :) and i appreciate all the prayers and fasts on my behalf, i know i couldn`t do this without them. i hope this week goes well, and we`ll talk soon!

much love,

elder paskett

August 19, 2013

hey mom!

that`s good you guys had a good rain storm! we`ve actually had a lot of rain these days, just about every day it`s rained so far. we`ve gotten wet a few times, but it`s all good :) as far as flight plans go, it seems like they usually get sent out like only 5 or 6 weeks before someone finishes. i could maybe get them this change, but i really have no idea. but don`t worry about the day, it`ll be the 24th. they always send the dying elders home a week before the next changes meeting. but if it`s like when i came down here, we left at like 9 or something in the morning, and with the layovers and stuff we didn`t get here until about 10 or 11, so it may be a midnight run for everyone :) i don`t know though, if i learn anything though i`ll let you know. and i still haven`t seen the package. some elders went to the office the other day and i had them ask for it for me, but they said that now they`re only sending out mail on changes day and consejos with president. we have interviews tomorrow so i may get it then, but as of right now i don`t have it.

things were pretty good this week though. yeah i was a little worried and bummed because it wasn`t elder clarke, but it`s been better than i thought. we get along really well, and i`m actually kinda relieved that i can still speak spanish haha. some days i really just want to speak english, but then most of the time i just prefer to speak spanish, and i really need to absorbe it in these last 2 months to just get the best i can, so it`s good. and i imagine he`ll be the one to kill me too. president is joining zones and stuff and where i`m at there are 2 zones right next to each other that used to be the same zone, but president carmack wants bigger zones, so i don`t know what`s gonna happen. i would be ok with ending with elder velez, and i really really want to end here, so if they drop me down or whatever they do, i just want to stay here. i love chorrera, it`s the best. we haven`t had a ton of success, but i just love the people anyway. it`s just awesome.

we did have a couple of cool things happen this week though. so we had gotten a reference last week, his name is edwin, and when we tried to call him he didn`t answer, so we waited a day and then he answered. he was like super pumped when we called and asked if we could come by and see him that night. so of course we went by and he was waiting outside for us, and we went in and started talking to him. he started to tell us that about 1 week prior his wife had left him and he was just super depressed and was looking for help. and he said that he was praying that day for help, and not 5 minutes passed by and then we called! cool huh? so we shared the restoration with him, and he was just like absorbing it all, then we invited him to be baptized and he said yes and he`s just solid! he came to church yesterday, and it was a super good sacrament meeting. they released the bishop, so he and the new one shared their testimonies, the youth speaker was good too, and the stake president spoke too, and it was just super good. at the end edwin`s eyes were all teary and he was just super happy and it was awesome. so we`re pumped. we have to call him to set up another lesson but he seems really positive.

then another day it started to pour pretty bad, and we were kinda just waiting under a tree when from accross the street a lady yelled at us and told us to come wait under her roof so we wouldn`t get wet. so we went over and we started talking to her and we find out she`s a member from way back but hasn`t gone to church forever. we asked if she would like to come back and she said she really would, so we set up another cita. she wasn`t there when we went back haha, but it was still super cool i thought. just like what are the chances that we would be right there when it started to rain, under that exact tree right in front of her house. so we`ll try to start working with her too, her husband isn`t a member, and the attendance lately at church has been really low, so there needs to be some reacctivation.

so it was a pretty good week. i`m worried cause the zone seems to be kinda struggling right now. like they`re working and everything and they`re doing well, but for some reason they`re just not baptizing, and i don`t know why. hopefully we can figure something out there. but other than that i think that`s about it. i`m glad everyone is well, and i hope everyone has an awesome week! thanks for everything!

much love,

elder paskett

August 12, 2013

hey mom!

well so i guess i´ll just get started into changes. so yep my comp left, went to this place called bocas del toro, which is like a 12 hour bus ride. so he left, and i have a new companion now. his name is elder velez from ecuador. he actually started the mission at the same time as me, well a week later, and this is his first change being zl, so it should be interesting. i told the assistants that i really wanted a comp that wants to work, but i don´t think i really got that. he´s fine i guess, but not really the change i wanted. i was so close to getting elder clarke you have no idea haha. he had changes, and my comp too, and then there´s a zone that´s right next to us and one of them had changes too, so it was like so close that he was gonna come here. that´s probably why i´m so bummed cause i sat with elder clarke on the bus on the way to changes, and we were like positive it was gonna happen, so then when it didn´t i was disappointed haha, but oh well.  elder velez is chill enough. he was actually with me in this zone when i was in barrio centro, so we kinda know each other a little bit. he´s a bit of a talker, and has admitted it a few times already to members and people that he´s just not very spiritual, so we´ll see how it goes. i really just wanted someone that wanted to work super hard, ever since my 3rd and 4th change i´ve never been with anyone that just wants to work hard. it´s kinda frustrating. i wanted to end strong and not have to drag my comp along or anything, but i don´t know what´s gonna happen.

at least with my last comp, he was a little dead, so not a lot got done. in the area we don´t really have anything right now. the members don´t really help us out that much, we can barely get food from them. this is my only area that we don´t have lunch, so we have to make lunch in the house, which means a lot of sandwhiches and water, mmmm...haha. the ward is cool, but for some reason they just aren´t very supportive. i know that a ton of activities have been done and family home evenings and everything, but they just don´t get excited, and like i said the time you asked about the members and missionary work, the work here will never go like it should or can if the members don´t get involved. so hopefully my comp has some ideas and we can spark something for the members here.

one super cool thing happened this weekend though. so we had stake conference this weekend, and it was so cool seeing everyone from barrio centro again, i loved that area. but there was this family, familia tejedor, and they were less active when i got there, and so we started visiting them. the little girl was at the age for baptism, so we talked to them about that, and tried to help reactivate them and everything. the mom always expressed desires for a temple marriage, but the dad felt guilty for some past sins. but long story short, the little girl got baptized and they started going every week and the dad got a calling with the young men. so that was super cool. he got the aaronic priesthood when i was there, and yesterday they presented his name to get the (i´m gonna be honest i don´t know how to spell it and i´ve not even gonna try to not look like a fool haha) but anyway the higher priesthood! and as i was talking with the elders in that area last night they said they have a date to go to the temple at the end of the month! i got so pumped when i heard that! it´s things like that that make me say that it´s all worth it, just to know i helped, however little, that a family went to the temple to get sealed. super cool. i really want to see if i can go to the temple with them that day, cause that would just be the best!

so really again it was a quiet week. the stake wanted us to go to the temple with them on friday to help there, and so we spent a good chunk of the day there, and then with changes and my comp saying bye and all that stuff, it wasn´t a super exciting week. this week should hopefully be a little more normal. i´m glad karissa works in a clothes store and gets a discount, cause i imagine trev has most of my clothes, and i really won´t have anything i bring from here haha, so i´ll need a new wardrobe! :) i wish everyone an awesome week this week, and we´ll talk to you soon!

much love,

elder paskett

August 5, 2013

hey mom!

that`s cool that you got things lined up for dad to go paragliding. then me and him can talk about it, since skydiving is kinda sorta the same thing :) and it sounds like it was a fun party. i`m sad i missed the 50th, but i guess i`ll be there for the next one. and don`t worry too much about me staying longer. we had consejos this week and i was talking to the office elders and they said it`s basically too late to change. or more that it`s just a super big headache and they have to talk to guatemala where like the headquarters are and explain it all and stuff, so i`d have to really fight for it. i don`t know, i`m pretty sure i`ll come home in october, but i`ll be sure to let you know if anything changes :)

so yes we have changes this week. i think everywhere else they call them transfers or something, but the word in spanish is "cambios" so everyone just says changes in english haha. but yeah, my comp got the email and it says he`s leaving. so i`ll be staying here and someone else will be coming. i`m really interested in how this is gonna affect the end of my mission too. so like i said we had a meeting with president this week, and he`s making a lot of changes already. he said how he doesn`t want people to be in leadership positions for as long, and doesn`t want them to die as leaders, or like their last change as a zl or something. he wants them to use the things they`ve been teaching the zone and put them in practice and work hard their last few changes. it kinda worries me though, cause i really don`t want another area. i already had it in my head that i was gonna finish here. i`ve gone back to barrio centro, an area that i was in in this zone before, and talked to a few people and it`s all planned for me to die here. but i`m worried i might get changed now. and i`ve already had 8 areas on my mission, which is a lot, and so i really don`t want another one. so i don`t know what`s gonna happen. that also means that elder clarke can`t really be my comp since he already has 3 changes of being zl, so he`ll probably go down this change. who knows, we have changes on wednesday so i`ll let you know how it goes next week :)

i`m excited to get a new comp though. we really just have not worked like i would have liked to this change. i`m really hoping i get someone good that wants to work this change so i can really finish my mission strong. i thought that when i would go up to zl that i would have a comp that both wanted to work and knew how to, but my expectations weren`t met this change. we don`t really have any evidence of work this change. my new comp is gonna get here and we won`t have anything. but hopefully he`ll come in with some ideas so that we can spark the ward and get something going. i like the area, and the members are good, but they`re just a little "dead" and are basically just like "sunday members," so it`s hard. but i think this change`ll be good :)

as far as like stories go, i don`t really have any, sorry. it was a week too quiet. my "kid" is having troubles and that worries me. he`s just been doing some stupid things and i feel bad, like if i didn`t teach him right or something. i know that doesn`t really have a lot to do with it, like he can always do whatever he wants, but i still feel bad. but that`s about it. i hope everything goes well with the family reunion, and the class as well, i`m sure you`ll just do great :) i hope this week is just fantastic, and we`ll talk to you soon!

much love,

elder paskett