So flat Bret is the impostor Bret or the ima-poster Bret. get it? I'm punny.

Hi!

We got to go to the temple this week in Xela. The temple there is super cool, especially the baptismal font. It was nice to go back to the temple when I haven't been there for 6 months, it reminded me of home (especially because it is the first place I have been in Guatemala that has carpet). It was also super cool to do a session in Spanish. They also gave us brownies afterwards when we ate in the temples cafeteria (which is a miracle in itself). We did divisions this week a for two days in a row because one day a missionary in our district was sick and another day because my companion wanted to do divisions. My companion is ready to go home, it isn't the funnest thing in the world to kill a companion, it can get pretty hard. I know Joey did it twice at  the start of his mission too.  I will ask him about it. I also got to teach math and how to multiply, divide, add, and subtract fractions to one of the members. we didn't have a lot of success this week though, mostly because a bunch of our investigators weren't at their houses when we passed by.  Flat Bret looks cool.  I don't know if I have grown that much but my pants are tighter and maybe shorter  Didn't Dad gain like 30 pounds on his mission?  Maybe I will catch up to him.  I got into the Arc and the Atonement. it is pretty cool, but I find it weird how sometimes God is viewed (especially  when you just focus on the wrath of God.)  Tell Dad thanks for sending me that stuff to study.   I didn't get to the people of LIMHI, but I know there is something there about how God has to follow through with all that He says and that is why the people had to suffer from being captives. I  will get into that this week and we can write more about it.  Thanks.

So flat Bret is the impostor Bret or the ima-poster Bret.  get it?  I'm punny.

Love, Bret

Christine and Flat Bret  He is the first guest to arrive for the wedding!
We will love having him hang out at the house til Bret's return!

I then had a tug-of-war with the bull, as i tried to pull me around and kick me, but I WAS VICTORIOUS.

We had a baptism this week for a little girl whose mom is a member, but her dad is not. we had to fight a little to get the family to agree to get her baptized, and when they finally accepted, we did it that day (it was a Saturday) because we feared to wait a week. We also had a big activity Saturday so we knew that a bunch of members would already be there. At the activity there were a bunch of less actives and investigators, which was good because they got to witness a baptism. The Bishop was a little mad at us because we did a baptism within 3 hours of knowing that we could have a baptism in the same day. I understand why he was upset, I wish we could have had more time to get things set up, but if i had to do it again, i would not have changed anything.

 After the interview we went to the bishops house to see if they had clothes for her to wear for her baptism and we found the wife running around. We asked her what was going on and if she needed help. it turned out that her bull had escaped and she was trying to get it back. we ended up running up and down the mountain with giant sticks to catch the bull. It had a small rope around its neck and when Migalina (the bishops wife) went to grab it while it was running but ended up pushing the rope and it landed in my hands. I then had a tug-of-war with the bull, as i tried to pull me around and kick me, but I WAS VICTORIOUS. We were able to tie it to a tree so it couldn't run, then we got the clothes for the baptism.

   We have found some pretty positive people this past little while but they are slowly becoming less positive, but I think it is just because we haven't had the opportunities to talk to them because they are not at their houses, but when there is Faith there is Hope.

   We were working on an activity for the ward to get all there pictures and set up a presentation to present all the families. It took awhile because it is hard to catch an entire family together, but we ended up getting around 30 families. The activity was pretty successful.

   We did service for B-----this week. People cook on a plancha here (it is a giant metal table with a fire under it) so wood is super important to families that don't live in a bigger city so we help bring wood up mountains to chop it. It seems as though the only wood that our investigators can use is the wood at the bottom of the mountain that they live on top of.

   My companion is good, he is just ready to go home (he only has 17 days left) so I don't blame him.

   I had interviews with the president this week so I was able to see him this week. He just asked me the same few questions ¿How is your health? - good. ¿How much time do you have on the mission? - 6 months (I can't believe that I already have 6 months) ¿How's your family? - good (I explained that my mom (Susan) is pregnant and my older sister is about to get married). He then said "Hmmmmmmm,!" Well your mom is on facebook a lot and  comments '¡There is my son!' ¿Which Mom is that?" - I don't know that could be either one. That was the interview in a nutshell.

   I think I will stay in my area for one more change because when he asked me how much time I have been in San Antonio he didn't believe me when I told him my whole mission. But he also told my Companion that I was going to be companion A next change. It confused us a little because we thought that I was already companion A.

   That is cool that Sam got his call, When does he leave for the MTC?

Love,

 Bret

His tortilla

Note from Christine-  I sent Bret a picture of Doug, Millie and her friend Erin at Chipotle-  He responded to the photo with this-

 "I will go eat my tortilla and beans"  He added a photo of his tortilla.  

Bret's words- "The most terrifying creature in Guatemala.  And a bull standing next to him."

Our pet bird

If that doesn't count as a guess then I guess whatever Dad guesses, he is always right.

Happy birthday a few days ago Christine!   You still look younger than anyone else because you are short.  That is super cool that Sam is getting his call. I thinks Sam will go somewhere in Asia, I don't know where though. If that doesn't count as a guess then I guess whatever Dad guesses, he is always right. This week we had people hide and lie to us a lot.  So funny! That is always a bummer but you get cool stories to tell like how you found a girl hiding under a pila or when you got to see someone fall because they are running down a hill. The mission is awesome, there is always something good. My Spanish is better (especially now that I have a latino companion), but it is kinda hard to tell when it improves. You don't stop and think "WOW, my Spanish has improved a lot since yesterday" Just something that has happpened to you in the past will happen again, but this time you just handle it better than the last time. It just doesn't improve at a noticeable rate (even though it does improve pretty quickly). My new companion is really cool, and is a very direct to our investigators so they know what we expect and want and he will call them out if they make up an excuse for why they cant do something. I am learning a lot from him. He is almost dying though so sometimes he just gets excited about leaving. the only investigators we have that we think we can baptize this month is B----and E-----. B----- is really cool and his wife was recently baptized and when we put a date for baptism he says that he will be baptized but he doesnt know when, so he wont let us put a date. E----- has gone to church with us, we just never know she wasn't a member. She is ready to be baptized, i just think we need to get her family more excited about baptism or it might prevent her from being baptized. Right now I am not studying anything in specific. I just usually study as needed for my investigators or recent converts.If not, I study from preach my gospel to help me find scriptures to use while I am teaching and because our mission president really wants us to know it and gives us random Predicad Mi Envangelio quizzes. There aren't any families that I enjoy being with as there are families that I like because they help us with whatever no matter what sacrifice they have to take. They are the the people who grow my testimony that missionary work is just as much  the members responsibility as it is the missionaries. I don't see a lot of birds, Only the pigeons on top of our house. I have heard that most of the birds are more north like the Quetzales and other famous Guatemalan birds. It is not as cold now, which is nice, but I think the rain is starting to come back so I am happy about that. I like the rain. That is a super bummer about Wendell. the only question now is what cat are we going to get to replace her? (Jerome is not the replacement cat!)
Love ,
Bret

I don't have a lot of time to write so I will send a bunch of photos instead.

Bummer that you are sick!  How is everyone doing at school?  How is  Joey and Jenna and Millie?  Also how is Sam.  Is he liking lacrosse?  I don't have a lot of time to write so I will send a bunch of photos instead. Talk to you next week.

Love Bret

People do not appreciate cats here like they should. ¡QUE TRISTE!

We had changes this week and my companion left, so I have a new companion now.

 His Name is Elder Amador, he is from Honduras, he is a great missionary, and he only has one change left in the mission, so I am going to kill him. It is official now though that I am the veteran in the Zone now. It is kinda strange to think that I am a veteran of something when I only have like 5 months in the mission. With my new companion, we work a lot harder, which is good; it helps me sleep better at night. I am excited about the Super bowl, but no one really knows about the super bowl except for the missionaries from Texas. None of the Latinos (missionary or not) even know what the super bowl is. I don’t need anything, but thanks. I have been Kiss deprived for about two weeks now. It is nice to know that more are on their way. It is cool that you had a cat scavenger hunt, I have those a lot here in Guatemala too. I hear a cat meow and I stop for a second to look for it. No one here understands that the prize of the game is a cat (if you can find it). People do not appreciate cats here like they should. ¡QUE TRISTE!

Bret