Lives Changed

You know what? It’s not very easy trying to keep up with a blog while travelling. Parts of me wish that I could just be completely disconnected from everything and have no worries about anything but myself and what I’m going to do each day. During my travels I have met many people who have done just that and my eyes have been opened to the selfish nature of such desires. I have seen many people just traveling to visit everything, much like the guy I met yesterday traveling by motorcycle around the world. I have met people that have left their own countries just to escape the cares of the world, like the guy I met who only wants to surf and make nothing of himself. I have seen wasted lives time and time again and pray that I might be wiser now in my desires to better myself and the world. It’s true that there is something appealing about certain lifestyles we see, and we each have lifestyles we see and sometimes wish we lived. I will witness to you that the only lifestyles worth emulating are ones that are not self-serving. A life is meant to be used to help others in some way. Remember, this does not mean you need to give up your life to one of servitude, but rather merely that in whatever you choose to do, do it with all your heart and soul and be the best you can. In your life serve others in any way you are capable of. This may mean just being the friend someone needs or just plain having a happy outlook on life. I hope to find ways in my everyday exchanges with people to change lives and bring peace into people’s hearts. In this section of my journey I was blessed to see fruits of a labor long since past. I was honored to be held as a prime source in the complete change of the lives of individuals. I have seen firsthand what I meant to many people whom I had assumed had forgotten me after eleven or twelve years of no communication.
I crossed the border into Guatemala and my heart began to race as I began to recognize buildings, objects, familiar stores and outfits. For my first couple of nights I was blessed with the opportunity to stay in the CCM (Centro de Capacitacion de Misioneros or MTC in English), which is located right next to the Guatemala City Temple. When entering the CCM there were missionaries everywhere teaching one another and practicing their new language. The Spirit that was present amongst so many of the Lord’s willful servants sacrificing time and money was almost tangible. I had planned to only stay one night, but my dear friend Astrid was not able to make it to pick me up until Saturday so I stayed an additional day. Well it just so happened that that Saturday was my birthday.
I began my birthday the way I think one should always begin it. I offered my services in the temple by participating in a session. You can’t start off a day in a better manner. Immediately after exiting the temple and then packing my bags, I was met at the gate by a friend I hadn’t seen in eleven years. Her name is Astrid Figueroa and she was only fifteen years old when I met and taught her and her mother Telma. She later was baptized and continues with a testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel. The face had changed, but the smile remained the same, thank goodness because otherwise I wouldn’t have recognized her. After catching up a bit, we were picked up by one of her friends, Irene, who had a car and then we went on to meet up with other friends of theirs, Angel, Max, and Selvin. Irene was funny since after she saw my photo without a beard she was constantly trying to get me to shave. The other three gentlemen are essentially kindred spirits of mine. They are extremely outdoorsy and are continually climbing volcanoes, and we just seemed to get along famously from the start. I loved those guys instantly and I know I will be seeing them again. We celebrated my birthday by visiting downtown first of all with just Astrid, Irene, Angel and I. As we were standing there in the crowds, a man suddenly came running at full speed right in front of me. It didn’t register that he was a thief until I saw the young lady running after him a second later. There was nothing we could have done because of the speed of that man’s flight. Had she yelled in advance I might have been able to do something. In fact I found and continue to find myself frustrated that she did not say anything. I have also thought many times on the instance since then and wondered if there was something I could have done that I didn’t. The answer always comes out the same, that there was nothing I could’ve done. It’s funny how that works though. If I find myself with these thoughts about something so simple, how difficult it must be for those who find themselves in similar situations, but with more dire outcomes. I can see how someone might blame themselves for something, even if there is no fault to claim.
The evening of my birthday was spent with all of my newfound friends and one old friend around a little table singing happy birthday and blowing out a match placed on a donut for my birthday cake. I couldn’t have planned a better birthday! Mostly because I just don’t plan, but also because it was more perfect than I had hoped. The only thing missing was family and all of my other close friends. No gift is greater than the memories we make with the ones we love.
On Sunday I returned to the very first wards I served in on my mission. Though many didn’t recognize me with my bearded face, and many others had moved away, but once the connection was made there was joy all around. The bishop of one of the wards shared what he knew of my very first baptism. The young man’s name I will not disclose, but I will share a summary of his story. At a young age he was caught up in one of the more dangerous gangs in the Americas and during that time had murdered at least three individuals. I never knew that boy. The man I met was a seventeen year old who, upon hearing the truth had grasped hold so tightly his hands would never be pried away. Because of the seriousness of the sins he had committed, permission to be baptized was withheld for a long time. When I was there, we managed to push hard enough and the permission came from the first presidency to allow the baptism. Remember that he was a young adult when I met him, but he was as the people of the scriptures who laid down their weapons and became even more righteous than those who had had the truth all of their lives. Even as a young man he was respected as if he was one of the “village elders” so to speak. When he spoke, the room went silent and all listened. Anyway, when I asked the bishop about this young man, the bishop said with a smile that the young man had served a mission and went on to marry a returned missionary in the temple and they had moved to the states where they currently reside. Can you imagine the joy that filled my heart and even now fills it as I write this? “If it so be that ye should labor all your days and bring but one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy” Truly it is great!
Tears were shed with others who had grown to mean so much to me in those days as we had our brief encounters that Sunday. Sometimes it is hard to see how much we meant or mean to someone until we see them years later and from a different view.
Astrid and I went out to the coast that night to Santa Lucia Cotzumalguapa, to her home where we met with Telma, her mother. I stayed in their humble home for much of the time I was in Guatemala. You know, there are many who live in humble circumstances, but they themselves are far from being humble. This is not the case with Telma and Astrid. Though the house is completely made of tin with a dirt floor and holds one room with two beds and a table in the middle, I found myself with better service than a five star hotel. The shower was with a bucket and the outhouse was a hole in the ground, but I had all of the comforts I need. Throughout the week I was able to visit the Quetzaltenango Temple and each one of the areas I had served in during my mission, many of which no longer pertain to that mission. The main thing I noticed physically about the different locations is that Guatemala, over the past ten years has cleaned up tremendously. The streets are no longer filled with mangy dogs and not nearly as much garbage. Indeed I did not even see one dog in certain streets where before there was a dog every ten feet. Health standards have improved so much in so many ways. There is still difficulty in trying to change the mentality of many of the indigenous pueblos, but with time this will happen. I found that many of those I had taught and baptized were no longer in the places I had left them, but I was able to stay with my last baptism, who has since served as a branch president and is currently in the high council. In fact as I walked in and surprised them, they were with the sister missionaries discussing investigators. Wow! His brother and family, who had also been baptized, continue faithfully in the branch as well. Words cannot express how blessed I feel to have been able to see the fruits of labors of years past.
I think this visit to Guatemala was mostly for my own benefit, to help me realize that our efforts do not go unnoticed and in fact as we change the life of one person, it indeed will have a direct effect on the lives of many. I was told, by a complete stranger, after baring my testimony that first Sunday in Guatemala, that I may never know the effect the testimony of a missionary who had once served in that ward, would have on both the members who remember him and the members who have yet to meet him. He thanked me and said that my testimony has already changed the spirit of the ward to one more desirous to serve. As I contemplated that thought, I know that the truth of the matter is that our testimonies, no matter who they are from or where they are born, should have that effect on all who hear them.