Week 102 (I think?)

 Week 102 of 102 1/2 (8/24-8/30)

Good mawning,

I haven't really been counting time, so I don't know exactly how many weeks I have, but I think that is a fairly good guess.

Anyway, the highlight of this last week was when we got the chance to hear from President Nielsen. He visited El Salvador and spoke with the missionaries in the three missions. We watched the meeting via internet. We had the opportunity to watch all the missionaries over in El Salvador shake hands with him. We also had the opportunity to listen to the counselors from the area presidency. There was a lot of great counsel given and I learned a lot from everything that was said. It is incredible to feel the power and authority that the Apostles have as they testify and teach.

Other than that, we worked hard and did our best to serve the Lord.

Considering this is my last email home, I figure I should share my testimony or something special. So I will, but I will keep it short because I feel like what I say can only show so much. I figure what I am and what I do when I get home will be a more powerful testimony than what I may say here. I know that this is the Lords work. I know that He guides it and leads it. I know that God and Jesus Christ love us and desire our happiness. I know that the gospel is the power of God for salvation, to perfect us and give us happiness in this life and eternal life in the life to come. I know that the truth has been restored once more.

I have enjoyed this time the the Lord has given me to serve Him in Belize and in El Salvador and I will remember it forever.

Elder Vierkant

Semana ciento uno!

Week 101 of 102 1/2 (8/17-8/23)

Wha da go on?

This last week was really awesome! We saw a lot of miracles and blessings from the work we have done and because people had been prepared.

First of all, last Monday we got the opportunity to head way out in our area with the rest of the district to visit the property of one of the members of the ward, who was nice enough to give us food and take on a tour of the jungle. It was a really fun activity and it was awesome to get the chance to appreciate the natural beauty of Belize.

Wednesday was action packed as well. Our zone had interviews with president Hintze. It is always a great privilege to get to talk with president Hintze and I learned a lot from him. After we got the chance to work with Elder Coates, who is one of the assistants in El Salvador. Apparently, they sent the assistants over here to Belize to learn from the way we do missionary work. Elder Coates is a great missionary and we had a ton of fun. We also had a lot of success. We invited everyone to repent and be baptised.

Friday, we did interchanges with other missionaries in Belmopan so we could get some interviews done. I had the opportunity to work with Elder Valverde from Ecuador. We had a great experience and we met a lot of great people. I also had the chance to do an interview. I love interviews because they are always a great spiritual experience.

Speaking of spiritual experiences, another great experience was Justin s baptism on Saturday! It was really awesome to see the change in him from when we first met him to now. It is also awesome to see his increasing willingness to follow Christ. After the baptism the branch had a sports night and we got to play futball for a lee bit. It was a great day.

Sunday was a bit crazy, but in the end Justin got confirmed. After church, we taught an awesome family that has one of the most sincere desires to know if what we teach is true. I really hope to see them progress and to go to the district conference next Sunday.

Anways, awesome week, this week will be great as well.

Elder Vierkant

Gotta love the tan line!!

Semana cien!

Week 100 of 101 (8/10-8/16)

Hello,

I have to keep this short because I don't have much time left to write.

This week was great. I had the opportunity to go down to Dangriga again. I really love it down there. The people are really open and they are really accepting. There are some really great missionaries down there too, which is a bonus. I got the chance to work with Elder Mariano again as well as Elder Haynes, who is new to the zone.

We had a huge blessing this week. Justin, one of our investigators that we had stopped visiting as much. came to church. He decided he wants to get baptized this next weekend, so we are going to help prepare him for that. He is willing to live the gospel principles that we teach him which is awesome.

We had a lot of blessings and miracles this week I love being a missionary. I love helping people change their lives and become happier and better. I love ever moment of it and I am going to take advantage of every moment that I have.

Elder Vierkant

Semana noventa y nueve!

Week 98 of 101 (8/03-8/09)

Hello,

I am trying to start this email without using any generic greetings or introductions, but it is just too hard. I hope you all appreciate irony, because this week was full of it.

The most notable event was Sunday during gospel principles class. Elder Ellis and I were teaching about family responsibilities and were discussing the individual roles in the homes. As we began to teach about the responsibilities of the mother at home, I looked at who was in our class. We, two twenty year old young men, were teaching 6 or 7 experienced mothers the responsibilities of a mother. Oh, I couldn't help but laugh. It definitely made the class much more interesting.

Other things that happened this week: we met a lot of prepared people while contacting referrals and just talking with everyone we met. One of the greatest is Carlos. He lives in a village called Camalote, a pretty far bike ride from where we normally are. We met him contacting and we set a return appointment and invited him to church. Last Sunday we past by to take him to church, but we didn't see him. When we returned to visit him on Wednesday, it turns out he had been waiting for us but he was waiting in a different place than we had expected and had gone out at the wrong time. But he immediately committed himself to go to church again and he decided that he wanted to get baptised! He said that when he makes decisions, he is very strong about it and that was really something that he wanted to do. It is amazing to see how the Lord puts prepared people in your way.

We are doing great and working hard. Elder Ellis got a little bit sick but we still got a lot done, even though we had to stay home a few times.

Uhhh, that's all folks!

Elder Vierkant
 

Semana noventa y ocho!

Week 97 of 101 (7/27-8/02)

Hello!

This week was awesome! And super exhausting! We did a lot of biking around and we talked to a lot of different people.

Our area is a basically a 8 mile stretch along the Western Highway of Belize, and just to get there we have to bike about a mile, all up a gradual hill. This week we were visiting one of the farthest parts of our area because that is where some referrals took us. We found a lot of news, but we were exhausted by the ride. I might be go pro cyclist when I get back. Or I might just loose a lot of weight. Either way.

But we did meet some great people. I felt like we have been finding through the Spirit a lot more this week. For example, yesterday we biked by a house and I got the impression that later on in the day we should go talk to the people that live there. It got pretty late in the day and we were about to leave the villages and head back to Belmopan and we still hadn't gone to contact those people. I told my companion that we really needed to head over there and so we took off towards that part of Roaring Creek (the village we were in.) As we approached the door and started to talk to the kids, the father stepped out and immediately invited us in. We got the opportunity to talk with them and get to know them a bit better. Turns out that they had talked to missionaries before and they are willing to learn more about the message we share. I feel like the Lord has been preparing them and this might be the time where they accept the gospel.

This week I was really impressed on the importance of love in the work of God. "And Faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God qualify him for the work." D&C 4:5 Love and charity are attributes that are required to qualify for the work of the Lord. In other words, if we don't have love or charity, we are not qualified for this work. Love and charity are what give power to the words we speak as we testify of the Atonement to invite the Spirit of God into our meetings. The Atonement is in itself an act of pure love and charity. For that reason, whenever we testify of the Atonement, the Spirit can be felt.

So just know, I love you!

Elder Vierkant

We were cleaning and I found everything red that I could wear and I put it on.

Semana noventa y siete!

Week 96 of 101 (7/20-7/26)

Hello!

So I will get right to it. My new companion is none other than Elder Ellis! Now that was a surprising change, considering we were already companions one change in Santa Elena. It has been really cool to have an old companion again because you can see how much people can change in just a short amount of time. We were only separated for 3 months, but he has become an even better missionary during that short amount of time.

Other things that happened this week: I went on interchanges with Elder Valverde, who is from Ecuador. He just got to Belize from El Salvador. He speaks really good English for having learned it in high school. We had the chance to talk about my first area, Central, because he started his mission there as well. He told me some of the stories that the members had told him about my time there. It was funny to hear the stories from their point of view. It was also great to hear how they are all doing.

This week we spent our time biking out to really far part of our area. It is up hill, 5 or six miles away from our house. It seems to be worth it though because there are some pretty positive investigators there. Also, I think I might have the stamina to be a professional cyclist when I get home. So there's that.

I had a great week this week. I hope everyone is happy.

Jolachik,

Elder Vierkant

Semana noventa y seis!

Week 95 of 101 (7/13-7/19)

Hello,

I learned how to say hello in Mayan this week as well as good-bye, but I have no idea how to spell it, other wise my greeting would have been a lot more interesting.

Anyways, This week went by really fast. We had the opportunity to talk with an investigator that had disappeared a while back. She was suppose to get baptized in May. She lives a fair distance from where we normally work and so we only go when we can set appointments with her over her phone. WE finally got a hold of her and set an appointment with her. When we were actually able to teach her, we found out that she has a strong testimony of the gospel. She accepted baptism and so did her three children. It was really awesome!

We taught Bruce. He is such a great guy! He is really sincere and cares a lot about his family. He really wants to change his life. Humility is such a great attribute, but sometimes it is a little bit hard to find. He has it though. Hopefully he will continue to progress, as well as his daughter.

The zone had some baptisms on Saturday and on Sunday, it was a great opportunity to see more of our Heavenly Fathers children make a promises with their Father in Heaven. It opens up so many opportunities in life. I am so convinced that our ability to make and keep promises and covenants is directly related with our progress in this life and in the Eternity.

This week I realized how many people know that the message we share is true. The Spirit testifies to them. But, they aren't always willing to accept and act on what they learn. As missionaries, we invite people to change and call to repentance, but everyone has their own ability to choose how they act. I know that if we are willing to give our will and promise to do the will of our Father, we will be blessed more than what ever sacrifice that we may have to make.

Finally, marijuana IS bad for you, no matter what people think!

Elder Vierkant

 From the multi-zone with Elder Ochoa