District Leader - Thumb Frustrations

mOnday- We woke up this morning and got ready and left to Xela, we had our interviews with President, I was kind of mad that they were after we knew about changes, but I went with it, anyways they went pretty good it was really fast, I wanted to talk more but its all good, he called me as District leader! Awesome! Well I already know what to do, because pretty much all of my comps were district leaders also! We then went to wendy's to eat, that was so so so good… I don't think you guys realize how good it is to eat somewhere like that when you havent forever haha. We came back and the senior missionaries of our mission came and got my suitcases and took them to the office because of my thumb! We then wrote our fams, and after I went and visited a bunch of members and my convert before I left!

Tuesday -Today we got up at 4ish and took a bus to Xela, got have way with the hermans from the other area, and the bus stopped and told us to get off… we were kind of worried and we needed to be to changes early! They said that their were manifestations going on and we called our President and he just said to start walking, because they close off all the streets and wont let anybody pass, so we started and we walked about 40 min and got to a place where the roads were open and took a bus from there! We arrived, and there were tons of missionaries missing cause of all the roads closed! We waited and once everyone got there, we started, I got a new comp his name is Elder Avila!! He is from Honduras and yeah has about 4 months in the mish!! But we are going to MOMOS!!!!!!!!Yay!! Im so excited to go and work there!! We got my suitcases and were about to leave when President called us back in, he told us well the ones that needed to travel that we couldn't today because of everything thats been going on! So there was like 40 of us, he said we couldnt work in Xela because that's too many working haha, so he said we get a second P day!!! But we wont get one next week, but we will be able to write our parents next week, anyways we were so excited, he got us a hotel and we put our stuff in there and then left, we all went bowling!! Then after played a ton of games of pool! Then went and ate at this amazing burger place and later went into Walmart and Mega Paca to look around and buy things! We then went with a member from Xela and she fed 8 of us dinner, then we came back to the Hotel and played Uno, we had a meeting on what we were going to do, there was going to be buses in the morning for each area, they said the area that Im in and another area close to me have to leave at 2:30 in the morning!! I almost cried haha, we then went to sleep at like 11:30!!

Wednesday- Today we got up at like 2, we only got like 2-3 hours of sleep, then we got on the bus which was packed with elders going to Momos, we sat in the back of this van on our suitcases and road about an hour and half to the center of Momos, we all stayed in the Zone leaders house, there are like 14 pads they have, we rolled those out and all got blankets and were out, we got up at 6:30 and did our devocional together then we got all our stuff ready and left to go see if there was money in the bank! There was no money!!! Everyone was out! We came back and made breakfast together, then my comp and I went to go print out family names for my comps convert! We came back and got our stuff and left to a bus, there was this tiny bus that we took up to our area, our area is like 40 min from here! We got to our area and had to drag our stuff down to our house, it was kind far, and its dirt road… We got to the church and the church is tiny!! We live behind it in this little like bunker thing haha. We just have one room for our beds and study desks and the other is the shower and kitchen! Its tiny but it will do!! We put our stuff down and had to go help these other elders carry their stuff down here cause there bus couldnt make it up a dirt hill, cause its been raining a ton and it was very muddy! We got to our house and made lunch, because there isn't a lot of members here and dont have enough to feed us, so we made lunch with 6 eggs haha, later we left and visited some people, we found this one lady and taught her about the book of mormon, it went really good the spirit was really strong in that lesson! We then came back and got ready to go into a Tuj, it went good they are a lot different from Nahuala my last area, here you lay on your back in this tiny little cave thing and it gets super hot!! It was fun with all the elders haha, its freezing here at nights! But one of our comps was outside and saw this huge cockroach outside like as long as a normal pencil, huge!! We burned it with fire haha!!

Thursday- today we got up and were freezing cold, we got ready and went out to the center of Momos to get money out, we got the money and came back! When we came back my comp and I went to this investigators house to do some service, we got there and had to carry huge buckets of dirt to his cornfield and fill it up, I only have my one hand but I got it done haha. We were going to teach him a little bit after but, he asked if we wanted some coffee, and we were like we cant drink it, then he asked for some tea, and again said that haha, then his wife gave us this water straight from the well…. We were like oh thanks hermana, and they were staring right us we both took two sips then, when they werent looking chucked it behind us and were like oh we got to go.. Haha. We then visited a couple people at night, and watched some investigators and members play soccer, then came inside and got ready for bed.

Friday Today we got up and got ready and went to that same guy as yesterday to help him carry more buckets of dirt to his corn, my hand is done its so beat up haha, I only if I had two hands, we then came back and showered and left we walked like an hour away to this place called Tunayac, its a branch of like 13 people, they have a church but its closed because there isnt enough members and priesthood, but we want to change that! We visited a couple people there and it went really good, we trying to activate some members, the way to tunayac is basically like walking through pure mountains, you know when you go camping, just Imagine living like that your whole life, thats basically what they do but barely have anything! We then went to this recent converts house to have dinner, she has 8 kids and they are so cute and funny, we had dinner and then came back to the house and got ready for bed.

Saturday- Today we got up early and got ready we met this member at like 5[30 and we got in this little van and there was no seats so we just had to sit on the ground and he drove and picked up some recent converts, they had family names and we were going to the temple to do baptisms and help them. We drove to Xela in the crazy bus ride haha, we got there and entered it was such a beautiful experience to see them do baptisms for the first time, they loved it and were so happy!! We then got breakfast in the temple, later the members had to do some errands and we had to get back so we just took a big public bus, and that took awhile because they stopped a ton, we got back and ate lunch at our house, we then left to go visit some people we walked like an hour to an appt and they weren't even home…. We then knocked on a couple doors over there! Later we came back and visited with a member to end the night off! We were about to go to sleep when we saw this giant thing on the ceiling, it was a huge spider like as big as my hand!! It was huge, we hit it down and it went crazy, we jumped on our beds and freaked out haha, we then found it and killed it… thankfully haha, I hate spiders.

Sunday- today we got up and got ready then left to church, we got to church and set up the chairs, it started and we only really had like 25 people come, it was testimony meeting, and I got up and introduced myself and then gave my testimony in Kiche it went really well the spirit was so strong. After church everybody was like you know kiche? And I was like a little haha, we then had a meeting with the ward council, it went good, we are going to do some activities coming up. We then ended our fast and ate some lunch, then went with a member to go visit a bunch of members in this far place called Tunayac and we rode in the back of his pickup, we visited a ton of in active members and it went really good, we want to open this branch Tunayac so that the people dont have to walk all the way to Santa Ana, it was a great day though, full of holy spirit!

Monday Today I had a meeting and I had to be in Momos last night, but nobody told me, so we got up at 4 and left to go wait for a miracle that a bus would pass by, we waited an hour and nothing, we had to be in momos by 5[30, I said a little prayer and right after a bus came by!!! What a miracle!! We took it and went down, We had to do divisions and I went to Xela with the zone leaders and district leaders, we got there and this guy from the mission program came and gave us a talk, it pure revelation, he didnt have a paper or anything, he would just say go to this scripture and we then talked about them, our president made a lot of goals with us, we have some things we need to follow and he said we would baptize 200 souls a month, we talked a ton about Eye of Faith, this means we can faith about things that will be accomplished in the future, he talked about our President having visions of our mission, and that we could see them too, if we had faith and prayed for guidance, anyways that goal he made, is a ton, but I think we can work to meet that goal!! After the meeting we got lunch, and he continued after, after the whole meeting, we got new phones, they are still the tiny ones, but they are a new company, we then came back to momos, and had to sleep at zone leaders house because there werent any buses that left to our areas, there was like 12 elders sleeping in the same room haha.

Tuesday We got up and my comp and I took a bus to our area, and got showered and changed, then came back to Momos, we had a big Zone meeting where we were going to share about what we learned yesterday in the meeting! So we shared and took parts to explain, it went really good, the spirit was so strong and the whole zone loved the goal and everything that we shared! After that we all went to the only restaurant in momos, and ate as a zone because in all our areas, there is literally nothing! So that went really good, then we have divisions with the zone leaders, Im with Elder Schopp, he is from Oregon, but it was a great night, we found two great families that are really positive!! We then did some studies and he helped me with what I can do with my area!!

OVerall this week and a half have been great!!! I will get to write today for an hour, so thats good, but I love Momos, my area is so awesome, we have to use our filter water bottles to drink anything, because nothing is filtered, but Im loving it here, and cant wait to work hard here so that we can get this branch reopened and help all the members here! I love serving the lord and these awesome experiences, Im experiencing!! I love all you guys so much, and miss you guys!!

Elder Montoya