Dear Mom,
Yes, we had district meetings today, spanish is still tough but I think I am getting better, its not so much that I cant speak, its that I cant really understand what the other people are saying, I am still getting an ear, they just speak to fast for my head to translate it all and then I get stuck translating something and I dont hear what else they say. The other MIssionaries say that eventually you dont even translate to english in your head and it is just normal, but I dont really know how I am going to get there yet, I guess it will just happen eventually as I keep working for it. In answer to your question about the package, I still havent gotten it, when I went to the office they said that the past few times they have gone to the post office to get mail, they still hadnt sorted a ton of things, so It is probably there just not sorted. we are going to the office again next week so hopefully it will be there by then. My shoes and clothes are holding up pretty well, I´m not too worried about them right now, but thank you. I live about an hour away from Guatemala city, its not too far, but the best thing about being up here in the mountains, at least the ones here, not the ones in solola, is that the temperature is pretty nice, it doesnt get extremely hot, and it doesnt get very cold at all, its cold for alot of the latinos but its not as cold as it gets in the winter in Alabama, so I havent had many problems. as far as rain I think the rainy season is pretty much over, it rains alot but not in a great amount or for a long time, so not too bad there either. My companion is nice, I dont really know how to describe him, its kind of hard, I dont know too much about him because of the language barrier, so I cant really tell you too much there, hes from honduras, his family is in the church and he is a convert. I dont really know anything else to say, hes patient with me so thats good. The food here is pretty normal to be honest, I havent had anything crazy here, its usually chicken or roast, rice, vegetables, nothing way out of this world. We walk alot, I dont really know how far in a day just alot, we walk everywhere except if its really far away and then we take a bus. My favorite scripture right now is 2 nephi 22 verse 2, I am pretty sure that is it at least. last week president brough told us that he thinks that if our favorite scripture isnt changing at least once a month or something like that then we arent studying correctly because we read the scriptures for needs in a specific time, which made alot of sense to me, I liked it. That is a really cool story with the sea doo, I am glad that you made it out of the situation and were still able to do what you all needed to. And family home evening is nice too, I remember we use to play boggle every so often, it has been a long time. This week has gone by pretty fast to be honest, every day is slow but every week is fast. I had my first division this week with one of the zone leaders, another latino, but he has been here for 17 months and has a really good grip on english, at least as good as the grip i have one spanish, but in reverse, he can understand people speaking it but not speak very well, Its always fascinating to me that when people think of foreign speaking misions they always think about the gift of tongues, and the gift of interpretation always seems to be forgotten or people think they are the same thing, when they arent at all, but thats just something i was thinking about. Anyways, we have a family we are teaching that we are going to invite to be baptized during this week, I think they will say yes as they have been coming to church and seem to enjoy it, we have a few other people we are teaching but nothing significant has happened yet, hopefully soon though. Anyways, I need to start ending this, I´m sorry, I wrote molly a letter last week and sent it when I went to the office so hopefully that should get there soon, I dont have time to write dad, tell him I am sorry, my magic kit stuff is in the suit case that I got from him if molly needs it, I said that in the letter but it could be a while before it gets there, I love you all and hope that you are all having success in everything you are doing.
Love,
Christopher
Monday, August 22, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Elder Pierce with his Mission President M. Joseph Brough and Sister Brough
How exciting! I just got my first communication with Christopher's mission president. It made my day! Here is the photo they sent us. Doesn't Christopher look great?!
Monday, August 15, 2011
El Tejar, Chimaltenango, Guatemala! 8-15-11 Letter to Dad
Dear Dad,
I got my first area and companion, I told mom about them in that letter so you can read it. Tell molly I am sorry i havent been able to write her as much, I am still trying to figure out how to do everything here, its crazy. Brayden is a good kid, I am sure he will be fine with going to a meeting once a month if he has too haha. he is senior patrol leader too. that is interesting, I am sure he probably doesnt mind that one as much though, it isnt as hard, or maybe it is harder now the way John is trying to set it up, if it is it will be good for him, its helpful to have that base of knowledge early in your life. I didnt get a chance to mention to President Brough about that (that President Brough's father knows Papa and Bishop May), I will try to the next time I see him, but I dont think I do until november, so it could be a while. That would be really cool if I got a chance to see Bishop May and Sister may, they both have had a large impact on my life, so it would be nice. I am still learning alot, and I do miss being in the MTC a little but this is also a lot of fun too, so I am just trying to get spanish down, right now I dont have to worry as much because I have my trainer there, but later on in the mission it wont be that way so I have to figure stuff out fast, hopefully by the end of twelve weeks though I will be ready. I love you dad and miss you, I hope that everyone else is doing well too, thank you for your advice, it means alot to me and is helpful.
Love,
Christopher Pierce
I got my first area and companion, I told mom about them in that letter so you can read it. Tell molly I am sorry i havent been able to write her as much, I am still trying to figure out how to do everything here, its crazy. Brayden is a good kid, I am sure he will be fine with going to a meeting once a month if he has too haha. he is senior patrol leader too. that is interesting, I am sure he probably doesnt mind that one as much though, it isnt as hard, or maybe it is harder now the way John is trying to set it up, if it is it will be good for him, its helpful to have that base of knowledge early in your life. I didnt get a chance to mention to President Brough about that (that President Brough's father knows Papa and Bishop May), I will try to the next time I see him, but I dont think I do until november, so it could be a while. That would be really cool if I got a chance to see Bishop May and Sister may, they both have had a large impact on my life, so it would be nice. I am still learning alot, and I do miss being in the MTC a little but this is also a lot of fun too, so I am just trying to get spanish down, right now I dont have to worry as much because I have my trainer there, but later on in the mission it wont be that way so I have to figure stuff out fast, hopefully by the end of twelve weeks though I will be ready. I love you dad and miss you, I hope that everyone else is doing well too, thank you for your advice, it means alot to me and is helpful.
Love,
Christopher Pierce
El Tejar, Chimaltenango, Guatemala! 8-15-11 Letter to Mom
First assignment!
1:07 pm:
Dear Mom,
Sorry I havent had a chance to mail, the way we do it out in the field is a little different, every monday after district meeting we go and email, but tuesday is pday. My first assignment is in Chimaltenango, the area is called the Tejar. My companion (trainer) is named elder Turcios, he is a latino so I can only speak spanish with him, its a little weird but It is going alright. I am really happy with the area that I am in because I wanted to be out of the capital and apparently under the old president new missionaries were only trained in the capital, but I know for sure that only 3 missionaries got to go somewhere outside of it to be trained so I got reallly lucky. My first few days have been really interesting, I know pretty much no spanish to be honest haha, the people outside of training centers speak completely different, even from the ones in the ccm. But I think that I am getting better, I can almost always understand the idea of what is being said, and although it is hard, I am lucky to have a latino trainer because all the older missionaries say that they learned so much faster how to speak spanish than the north americans that have an american companion. I am still trying to get situated to everything here, its different but overall I have liked it, I just dont like not understanding everything that is going on. anyways not too much else has happened, we havent found anyone that is progressing yet so nothing there but we have contacted a ton. I hope that Brayden and Molly´s first day back at school went well, tell them I love them and hope that they are doing awesome, I love you all and miss you and hope that you are doing well.
Love,
Christopher Pierce
1:42 pm:
p.s. I forgot, I havent gotten your package yet, but my companion is the district leader and we are going to the mission office on wednesday, so I am pretty sure I will be able to get all my mail then, I love you
1:43 pm:
I keep on forgetting stuff, I had no idea we were mailing today till we got hear so I couldnt bring my camera and the pictures, I am really sorry, I will do it next week, love you tons
1:07 pm:
Dear Mom,
Sorry I havent had a chance to mail, the way we do it out in the field is a little different, every monday after district meeting we go and email, but tuesday is pday. My first assignment is in Chimaltenango, the area is called the Tejar. My companion (trainer) is named elder Turcios, he is a latino so I can only speak spanish with him, its a little weird but It is going alright. I am really happy with the area that I am in because I wanted to be out of the capital and apparently under the old president new missionaries were only trained in the capital, but I know for sure that only 3 missionaries got to go somewhere outside of it to be trained so I got reallly lucky. My first few days have been really interesting, I know pretty much no spanish to be honest haha, the people outside of training centers speak completely different, even from the ones in the ccm. But I think that I am getting better, I can almost always understand the idea of what is being said, and although it is hard, I am lucky to have a latino trainer because all the older missionaries say that they learned so much faster how to speak spanish than the north americans that have an american companion. I am still trying to get situated to everything here, its different but overall I have liked it, I just dont like not understanding everything that is going on. anyways not too much else has happened, we havent found anyone that is progressing yet so nothing there but we have contacted a ton. I hope that Brayden and Molly´s first day back at school went well, tell them I love them and hope that they are doing awesome, I love you all and miss you and hope that you are doing well.
Love,
Christopher Pierce
1:42 pm:
p.s. I forgot, I havent gotten your package yet, but my companion is the district leader and we are going to the mission office on wednesday, so I am pretty sure I will be able to get all my mail then, I love you
1:43 pm:
I keep on forgetting stuff, I had no idea we were mailing today till we got hear so I couldnt bring my camera and the pictures, I am really sorry, I will do it next week, love you tons
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
August 10, 2011 On his way!
Christopher left the CCM (Missionary Training Center in Guatemala) on Tuesday and went to the mission home. Today, Wednesday, August 10, he is on his way to his first assignment! I wonder where it will be! I can't wait to hear from him. I think his new P-day will be on Mondays. He would LOVE to hear from you!
August 8, 2011
Dear Mom, That is really cool that Kit is going to be going to brazil, I am happy for him, tell him I wish him the best of Luck. I think the package should be there when I get there tomorrow, its been a few weeks right? Yes,I got the email about the tie, I forgot about it. It would be really cool to get to see The Mays when they come down here, whatever happens will happen. I am excited that brayden will be starting seminary, it will be good for him, I thought we talked about that last week though? I have been better for a while now, so thats all good. I got put in a threesome for the past three weeks, its pretty complicated so I dont want to get into the details of it, i have pictures dont worry. Not too much has happened in the past few days, they have all gone by in a blur, I am really excited to get to the mission home tomorrow and do everything and find out where I am going,I am not sure if I get to email again once I know, but I think I do, so that should be good. Thank you for keeping me updated with what is going on there, Also thanks for the patriarchal blessing, I kept forgetting to ask you to send it so I am glad you went ahead and did it. I´m sorry not much has happened so I need to go now, But I love you all and hope that everything is going well, love you!
Love,
Christopher Pierce p.s. I will send my favorite scripture in my next email
Love,
Christopher Pierce p.s. I will send my favorite scripture in my next email
Thursday, August 4, 2011
August 3, 2011 Letter to Dad
Dear Dad, I am pretty excited to be getting out of here and going somewhere new where I wont be sitting in the same place all the time, but I am sure I will start to wish I was back here, in the beginning at least. I really would like to get assigned somewhere out in the country side rather than the city area, I dont know why but I just dont see much interest in the City, and the more interesting areas are out of it, I would like to be on the coast, antigua, or at lake Atittlan for one of my first areas, but I will go where I am told, haha, I dont really have much choice, I just hope that my trainer is a good guy that is easy to get along with. Im not sick anymore so that is a good thing, I have feeling well for about a week now and am glad that it got fixed before I hit the field. Which beach are you going to? I hope you all have fun, it sounds like it will be for sure.
I´ve had alot of time to think out here, and I know that I shouldnt really be focusing on my career or anything, but its hard to keep some things from just popping in from time to time, and the idea of learning programming for computers in college is something that has been appealing to me lately, and I wish I had taken some time to learn more about it before leaving and maybe asking you some stuff too, I´m not positive if I would make a career out of it, but I think it is something I would enjoy doing, And I think it would definitly be useful, I cant remember how many times I´ve needed your help with something computer related, thanks for always being there for that, You are a great Dad.
It is so crazy that brayden and molly are both moving up into the next school levels, Time is flying, I already cant believe that they will be so much older when I get back. I Hope that brayden is getting stronger at football practice, he needs it if he ever wants to catch up with me, I went into the city to go proselyting yesterday, i put the story in the email to mom so you should be able to see it there, I love you a ton dad and miss you, I hope you have fun at the beach!
Love,Christopher
August 3, 2011 Letter to Mom
Dear Mom, Tell Muddie I said thank you, that means alot to me that she does that every day. I am glad that molly is all set up to go to Berry Middle school, she is growing up pretty fast, I dont know any of those teachers, I was never in 6th grade at the middle school. But that is interesting that the person in Helena is her teacher, its a small world. I am really excited for Brayden to start seminary, it will benefit him alot during high school, does he not have early morning football practice though? The late start on wednesdays is definitly alot of fun, I am sure he will enjoy it and should be excited, Im glad that he has someone to carpool with too.
Yesterday we went out into the city to go proselyte, but this time we did it without any latino companions so it was a little intimidating at first, because neither of us knows spanish fluently but when you are in the field at least you know you have a trainer who knows what is going on for the most part. Anyways, it started out a little rough, we tried talking to some people and they didnt even turn their heads to look at us when we said hello, so it was a bit discouraging, but I ended up placing 3 books of mormon which I think was pretty good considering I had to do it all in another language. Other than the trip out though things here have been just about the same, but the time is definitly picking up speed, I only have 6 more days til I go out into the field and I am pretty excited for it. From what I understand, on tuesday morning we are going to be picked up by our mission president and then go to the mission home, So I know I wont be emailing on Wednesday, but I dont know if I will be able to on tuesday if we are leaving in the morning, So its possible I might do it on Monday, but They might not let us do it at all so keep an eye out, I dont know when I will be able to do it. I have been told though that the p day for missions in guatemala is monday so after the CCM I am pretty sure that is when I will be doing all my emailing.
am excited to get out to the mission home and I think that the package you sent should be there when I get there, so I am excited for that too. The language is coming along better here but I feel like I have gotten to the point where I cant really learn too much more here and the only way I will get to the point of being fluent is by being out in the field and constantly having to use it, my progress definitly sped up by coming here instead of staying at the MTC, but I still have other english speakers here everywhere, so it is easy to not use spanish instead. Anyways, I love you all and hope that you are all doing well, I miss you and hope that the new school year transition is easy, both Brayden and Molly are going to the next level so they are going to see some changes in what is usually normal for them, I hope that they can deal with it well and learn to like it, I love you and cant wait to hear from you soon!
Love,
Christopher
Yesterday we went out into the city to go proselyte, but this time we did it without any latino companions so it was a little intimidating at first, because neither of us knows spanish fluently but when you are in the field at least you know you have a trainer who knows what is going on for the most part. Anyways, it started out a little rough, we tried talking to some people and they didnt even turn their heads to look at us when we said hello, so it was a bit discouraging, but I ended up placing 3 books of mormon which I think was pretty good considering I had to do it all in another language. Other than the trip out though things here have been just about the same, but the time is definitly picking up speed, I only have 6 more days til I go out into the field and I am pretty excited for it. From what I understand, on tuesday morning we are going to be picked up by our mission president and then go to the mission home, So I know I wont be emailing on Wednesday, but I dont know if I will be able to on tuesday if we are leaving in the morning, So its possible I might do it on Monday, but They might not let us do it at all so keep an eye out, I dont know when I will be able to do it. I have been told though that the p day for missions in guatemala is monday so after the CCM I am pretty sure that is when I will be doing all my emailing.
am excited to get out to the mission home and I think that the package you sent should be there when I get there, so I am excited for that too. The language is coming along better here but I feel like I have gotten to the point where I cant really learn too much more here and the only way I will get to the point of being fluent is by being out in the field and constantly having to use it, my progress definitly sped up by coming here instead of staying at the MTC, but I still have other english speakers here everywhere, so it is easy to not use spanish instead. Anyways, I love you all and hope that you are all doing well, I miss you and hope that the new school year transition is easy, both Brayden and Molly are going to the next level so they are going to see some changes in what is usually normal for them, I hope that they can deal with it well and learn to like it, I love you and cant wait to hear from you soon!
Love,
Christopher
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Pre-MTC
Before Christopher entered the Missionary Training Center, my brother, Bobby, and his family took him out for breakfast. So nice!!!
Here are a couple photos they took:
Fun cousins, aunt and uncle!
Thank you so much, Bobby and Stacey!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Random Guatemala Info
Interesting fact I read about Guatemala on Wikipedia:
The current average age in Guatemala is 19.4 years old, 18.9 for males and 20 years for females. This is the lowest median age of any country in the Western Hemisphere and comparable to most of central Africa and Afghanistan. This median age is significant in that it is indicative of low life expectancy as a result of disease, underdevelopment and minimal formal education. Further, indications of widespread under reported violence and longer-term social attitudes have curiously perpetuated systemic violence towards women. In addition, drug traffic involvement may co-relate with age demographic mortality in urban areas of Guatemala.
The current average age in Guatemala is 19.4 years old, 18.9 for males and 20 years for females. This is the lowest median age of any country in the Western Hemisphere and comparable to most of central Africa and Afghanistan. This median age is significant in that it is indicative of low life expectancy as a result of disease, underdevelopment and minimal formal education. Further, indications of widespread under reported violence and longer-term social attitudes have curiously perpetuated systemic violence towards women. In addition, drug traffic involvement may co-relate with age demographic mortality in urban areas of Guatemala.
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