Our 3rd group sent Home

With great sadness and joy we sent home the largest group of missionaries to date. Among the great and noble ones sent home were, Elders Brassfield, Brown, Cozzens, Jonathan Christensen, Eduardo Hernandez, Jensen, Jolly Salazar, Malaga, Bolaños, Recinos, Sturzenegger, Aguilar, Merrill, McCoy, Sisters Anguiano and King. Not forgetting losing our own Assistant to the President Elder Matthew Burnham. These missionaries represented a large portion of our mission's leadership which included Zone leaders and trainers. They worked to the very end as you can see from the picture of Elder Christensen's last baptisms uniting a whole family They will be missed, but the legacy of their labors will be felt for years to come.

We also received new missionaries ready and excited to labor in this, the greatest mission in the world. They are Elders Zuñiga, Greenwood, Luke, Sacalxot, Alvarado, Jimenez, Garcia and Gubler, as well as one new sister, Hermana Rodas.

General Conference Broadcast

What a joy to see so many of the members having the blessing of listening to General Conference via the marvels of technology. Many future missionaries were in attendance as well.

P-day Tortillas

Some of the missionaries thought they would like to try their hand at making tortillas! So last P-day they were given that opportunity. I was really impressed by their abilities, and some needed just a bit more practice at rolling out the perfect tortilla. Yet everyone had a wonderful time savoring their very own freshly made "soft shell taco". Que sabroso!

Blessings of Missionary Work

In the September 2008 Ensign Elder Quentin L. Cook states, "Among the blessing of being a full-time missionary are the lifelong relationships you develop with missionary companions."
More than 36 years ago, we were privileged to serve as full time missionaries in the then, Central American Mission. Many of our companions in the mission were faithful Guatemalans. We felt it appropriate to hold our first ever "Mission Reunion" here in Guatemala in conjunction with General Conference. We hoped to see, after 36 years, some of our dear companions who served with us all those years ago.
To our great pleasure, we had about 6 former companions and their spouses attended, as well as two sons of one of our former companions.
We are of course, older. Yet the spirit as we recalled our experiences in preaching the message of the restored gospel to our brethren in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Panama were inspirational. To know that stakes and temples now replace the rented rooms and Districts that we labored in gave us reason to rejoice together.