If There is No Devil Within, The Devil Outside Can Do Us No Harm

Hey Everyone,

Another amazing week as missionaries!  To start off for P-Day we went to Xunantunich or "Stone Lady".  I have no idea why it's named Stone Lady but it was way cool.  This Mayan Ruin was a lot bigger than the last one we went to.  This one was 13 stories tall!  We were able to climb over it all!  So there is some photos of a box with nothing in it.  We found it in the visitor's center and we started taking a bunch of pictures and acting like something really cool was inside it.  Everyone started coming over to see what was inside but there was nothing, so we made up some story about what it was and why they couldn't see it.  Everyone thought it was funny when they figured it out.  While we were up at the top of the one ruin we talked to some backpackers from England that were very interested in the missionaries.  This ruin is one of the more well known ones that we can go to.

We had a very cool missionary devotional that was for all the missionaries in all the world.  One of my favorite things they talked about was that as missionaries it is our job to bring the Holy Ghost unto the hearts of our investigators but it is their job to let the Holy Ghost into their heart.  So Elder Freeman and I have been trying to put that into practice for our lesson and helping them understand the Spirit.  I have also been studying the 12 Step Program and one of the quotes they use is "If there is no devil within, the devil outside can do us no harm".

We were able to bring two people to church and they seemed to like it.  We had some more that were planning on coming but couldn't make it.  We met two people this week who we are teaching and one is named "Mirium of God" and the other "Smll" (and yes, his name contains no vowels).  The work has been good lately and we have met many very cool people.  We went to an investigators house and we were able to make Pupusas.  My first one in the picture looks like a two year old made it but the other ones were actually nice and round.  We have an investigator that speaks a language called Gibbrige which is just a made up language.  We've learned a little bit and it's pretty cool. 

Elder Freeman also hit his six month mark and burnt his tie; and no I never burned one.

Mucho Love, Elder Stiles

QUESTIONS:

Do you live in a house or an apartment?  We live in a pretty big house.

Has it been hard to adjust to the hot weather again? It has actually been really cold so its been quite easy. (He's talking 70's & 80s' - sounds rough)

Do you get to speak Spanish sometimes?  Yeah, sometimes we get to speak Spanish!

Does Elder Tejeda speak English? Elder Tejeda speaks pretty good English. He studies pretty hard.

What is your Bishop like?  Our Branch President is cool. We haven't seen him around much but he does a lot of work in the branch!

Do you have any people that you are teaching?  We have a couple that we are teaching that are progressing towards baptism but we will see later how it all works out!

Do you still have a lot of work to do on Sundays, like teaching, blessing the Sacrament, etc?  No, this branch is actually pretty good. We had 118 in church last week.

How were the ruins you went to last Monday? The ruins were super cool!  We were able to go to one that was 13 stories tall!

How was the Missionary Conference?  The Missionary Conference was cool! I explained it in my letter.

Did your Branch Mission Leader close his bar after he was baptized?  Yeah, he decided that he didn't want to drink anymore and that he wanted to change his life!  We are actually going over there today to go have a BBQ.

When you got back to El Salvador did President Hintze say anything to you about whether or not your mission would be extended because you were home for two months?  I'm not sure because I haven't been able to talk to him since!  I'll talk to him tomorrow! Tomorrow Elder Cook is coming to speak to us missionaries and to the country of Belize!

(Click on Photos To Enlarge)

Xunantunich

Empty Box we took pictures of

On the road to Xunantunich

Our House

Elder Freeman burning his tie at 6 months

Making Pupusas

Chocolate Pizza

Cahal Pech

Hey Everyone,

Well this week was super cool!  first of all on our P-Day we were able to go to Cahal Pech which is  Mayan Ruin that is like a five minute walk from our house.  It's not the biggest but it was way cool.  We got to go through the rooms and climb all the way to the top.  Some of the rooms they had were where they buried their kings.  San Ignacio is one of the most popular places for people to visit because there is so much to do here with the Ruins so close.

The people in our district are super cool.  My companion and me live in the same house as the Zone Leaders who are Elder Tejeda from the Dominican Republic and Elder Hansen who is from Missouri.  Our area is very hilly so we get tired pretty fast.  We have been working really hard talking to everyone.  We have finally found two kids that are interested in coming to church that we should be able to baptize before we leave.  President Hintze say that we should only be here for five weeks until we get to go to a different area. 

The Alicos, who are one pair of Senior Couples, are here with us and they are the best.  They found me a pillow which they drove all around Belize to find.  Apparently not much use for pillows here.  I was just sleeping on my airplane pillow for the past week. 

We've been getting to know our area better and better each day.  Our area used to be part of the sisters' area so they showed us some investigators and some short cuts through the jungle.  We also finally got a Branch Mission Leader so we went over to his bar that he closed down and painted the inside so he can turn it into a Chinese Restaurant.  Every Saturday they do  a market down below San Ignacio where they sell clothes, food and souvenirs.  So we went and got pupusas which were 4x as expensive as normal.  All in all it was a very good week.  There were 26 news people found here in a week which is the most the zone Leaders have seen in while (Note from Angie: Not really sure what that last sentence meant except maybe there were a lot of media around because of the reporter that was found murdered in his area.)

The plan is to go to another Mayan Ruin today which is about ten minutes away.  This week we will be having a World Wide Missionary Conference so it should be pretty interesting!  Elder Freeman is loving Belize!  Even though he can't understand Kriol... But I love my companion!  He is Awesome!

With Love, Elder Stiles

QUESTIONS:
Is it any different in your mission then it was before?  The only thing that's different is the new people here in Belize.

What was the first thing you ate in El Salvador?  The first thing I ate in El Salvador was Wendys.

Does your testimony feel any stronger after being home?  I do feel like it's better because I have a better appreciation for the mission and the work we do.

Does your new house have air conditioning?  NO, our house does not have air conditioning.
How long has Elder Freeman been out in the mission?  He has been out for 5 and one half months.

What is his first name?  His first name is Parker.

What is something interesting you learned about him?  He won state for swimming which is pretty cool!

(click on photos to enlarge)

Restaurant we ate at.

Houses of Belize

Actual Homes in Belize

The church building

Shortcut through the jungle

Making the Bar into a Chinese Restaurant