BAPTISM, CLEAN OF THEIR SINS, ELDER QUIROS AND HIS LANDING, FOOTBALL, FOOD, AND FAMILY, THROWING UP, LETTER FROM MOM, #HOWBADDOYOUWANTIT?

BAPTISM
We were blessed to have another baptism this week of Z---------.  His family are almost all members and my companion baptized him.  But the cool thing is the pila (battery?) is outside.  Never seen anything like it.   

CLEAN OF THEIR SINS
We are doing great.  We have a lot of people who are going to church and have the opportunity to be clean of their sins.  BTW, we have changes this next week.  Fijo (fixed) that I'm staying here in my area, but idk if I'll be with Elder Quiros or what. 

ELDER QUIROS AND HIS LANDING
Funny story...we were in a bus and we jumped out the back but when Elder Quiros was leaving, the bus went and he landed on his butt, haha.  Pretty funny.  

FOOTBALL, FOOD, AND FAMILY
On Thanksgiving, we worked like normal, but a member that works for UPS gave us a Mini-Thanksgiving dinner.    So we ate a little bit of chicken and rice and tortillas with him and his family and it was awesome.  I remember all the football, food, and family on Thanksgiving at home.  Three of my greatest loves, hahaha.   

THROWING UP
It's getting a little rainy here, too.  Yeah, well I didn't get a cold but I was throwing up, haha.  Hay que pagar el precio para bautizar (you have to pay the price to baptize). 

LETTER FROM MOM

"There was a great talk today in sacrament meeting. The topic was something I needed to hear.   It was discussing complacency and how when things are good, it's easy to come to a stand-still in the gospel.  He talked about how if we are standing still, even while holding to the rod, we have the chance that we might just let go.  He gave a list of Spiritual Inhibitors.  1. Lack of desire, ie:  set alarm for 5 am to exercise.  Hit the snooze.  You want to exercise but have lack of desire to get up early.  2.  Dwell in the past.  Don't relive your glory days, you will miss what is going on while you are living your life.  3.  Lack of gospel application, skimming our scriptures, not studying.  4.  Lack of time.  Good, better, and best.  Here are the enablers.  1.  Action, 2.  Creation:  Writing a song and publishing it.  It's a powerful tool to enable spiritual growth.  Bringing something into existence that didn't exist before.  3.  Sacrifice.  Act promptly on inspiration.  Loved this perspective."  Letter from Mom

Response to letter:  No, it's true.  One of the assistants said that sometimes we are sleep walking.  It's true.  It's what I've noticed is one of my weaknesses is to get comfortable and be more relaxed.  But we can't do that.  We need to always be moving and ready do, change, and get better.

#HOWBADDOYOUWANTIT?

Oh yeah, a miracle this week is we received permission to go to a gym by our house.  So now my companion and I wake up at 4:50 a.m. to go workout.#howbaddoyouwantit? 

Le Amo usted es la mejor! (I love you you are the best!)

Elder Sweat

FOOTBALL APPLIES IN THE MISSION, TRUST MORE IN THE LORD, THE STORMIN' MORMON

FOOTBALL APPLIES IN THE MISSION
Yeah, so we were able to baptize a kid named G--------.  He's great.  We had to do it twice because of a name switch, but it's all good.  Satan was trying to stop the baptism, haha, serious.  We have a heater for the water here, cuz it's pretty cold, and it exploded.  We had the name switch, but when we trust in God everything is going to be okay.  When I baptized I literally lifted him out of the water to get him out of the cold as fast as possible, haha.  Football applies in the mission. 

TRUST MORE IN THE LORD
I always like divisions becasue I always learn something new from the Zone Leaders. To trust more in the Lord and work with the members is something that I'm doing more to help us and we are seeing the results.  

THE STORMIN' MORMON
A friend wrote me about something super cool.  He said, "By the way, I told our coaches about you (and) showed them your (football) highlight tape a couple days ago, they call you The Stormin' Mormon! haha."  Who knows?  God provides for his children when we do the right things. Never close a door. 

Hope the familiy is awesome and growing spiritually, too!!!!  Love you all so much!!!!

Les Amo

Elder Sweat

November 15, 2016----GOT TO KEEP THE FAITH, EVERYTHING IS REALLY GOING TO BE OKAY, IT'S AWESOME AND TRUE

November 15, 2016 

The hike the week before.

GOT TO KEEP THE FAITH

We are doing great right now.  We have a baptism scheduled for this week and we have been working with a family that is super awesome and they went to church and they told us the church was perfect haha.  Lots of miracles this past week.  It's awesome. Got to keep the fe (faith) to see the miracles. I'm grateful I'm here, too haha.  Amo la mision (he loves the mission)  I'm learning to really appreciate work and service.  Sometimes it's hard, but feels great afterwards.  

We ate tortillas and guacamole and platanos (bananas) roasted in the fire with corn on the cob.  They just throw it the fire-ashes and it's cooks the elote (Mexican corn).  

EVERYTHING IS REALLY GOING TO BE OKAY

Well, tell the family that all is well here. We need to enjoy the moments when we are suffering, too because everything is really going to be okay.  The gospel is true.  It brings lots of joy, knowledge, and peace to our lives and what I like most is it helps us change to cumplir nuestro potencial que nuestro Padre Celestial tiene preparado para nosotros ( fulfill our potential that our Heavenly Father has in store for us). Sorry, I couldn't think of it in english, but I think you will understand haha. 

The hike the week before.

IT'S AWESOME AND TRUE

"...think of how you felt when for the first time you believed and understood that you are truly a child of God; that Jesus Christ willingly suffered for your sins so that you may be clean again; that priesthood power is real and can bind you to your loved ones for time and for all eternity; that there is a living prophet on the earth today. Isn’t that wonderful and amazing?

Considering all of this, how could it ever be possible that we of all people would not be excited about attending our Church worship services? Or get tired of reading the holy scriptures? I suppose this could be possible only if our hearts were past feeling to experience gratitude and awe for the sacred and sublime gifts God has granted us. Life-changing truths are before our eyes and at our fingertips, but sometimes we sleepwalk on the path of discipleship. Too often we let ourselves be distracted by the imperfections of our fellow members instead of following the example of our Master. We tread a path covered with diamonds, but we can scarcely distinguish them from ordinary pebbles." - President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, 2016 October General Conference (quote Dad sent)

Really felt the spirit reading this quote.  It is awesome and true.  Hope the family is awesome.  I love them all so much.  Another thing I'm learning, haha, is el amor (to love).

P.S.  On divisions I walked like 9 kilometros (kilometers) (5.9 miles) because there wasn't a bus haha. Blessings!!!!

Les Amo

Elder Sweat

NOVEMBER 8, 2016---PERFECT, SACRAMENT, ENGLISH, 4 POUNDS OF MEAT

NOVEMBER 8, 2016

Top of mountain flower power.

PERFECT
I am actually very happy that I made the decision to serve a mission.  I want to change and help this area grow and have people that are converted. The assistants told us everyone of us is perfect for area in this moment. Pretty cool to think about. Means we got to work hard and find out why we are in our areas.  

SACRAMENT
I have blessed the sacrament the last 2 Sundays here.  I enjoy it because I don't have the opportunity to do it very much.  Teaching is fun.  If I get back and have to teach I think I'm going to teach in Spanish, haha. 

ENGLISH
I was talking to President Markham on the phone and he said, "Elder Sweat, you can talk to me in English."   And so I started to and couldn't remember a word and he was like, "Don't worry!" haha. I think something that I need to do here is really help all my companions learn English.  I feel a strong impression to do so so that's what I want to do.  

After the mountain climb.

4 POUNDS OF MEAT
We climbed a mountain for p-day and we ate 4 pounds of meat, hahah.  Super awesome and full.  Churrasco (beef or grilled meat).  I'm also doing better on exercise and getting stronger otra vez (again) little by little. I love you so much!  Sigue adelante (keep going)!

P.S.  We really need to appreciate all of it, the Bible,  The Book of Mormon, the atonement, everything.

Les Amo

Elder Sweat 

Happiness is all in the mente hombre (mind man).

November 1, 2016---LETTER FROM PRESIDENT MARKHAM, COWBOYS, SOUP, MIRACLE

November 1, 2016

Elder Sweat y Elder Quiros en Patzicia!!!

LETTER FROM PRESIDENT MARKHAM

Dear family of Elder Dietrich Bowman Sweat,

It is with love that we inform you that Elder Sweat, has been called to serve as a District Leader in the Guatemala Guatemala City Central Mission.  This is a responsibility and opportunity to lead missionaries by example.

As a District Leader, Elder Sweat will be required to hold a weekly training meaning and assist in the mission training program as directed by the mission president. He is expected to be an example to all of the missionaries in his district. We know that he will fulfill this responsibility with honor.

We thank Elder Sweat for his desire to serve the Lord and keep his commitment as outlined in his call from the First Presidency.

Yours Faithfully,

Melvin G. Markham
Mission President

COWBOYS
There are a bunch of cowboys here, haha. It's kind of like Idaho but more mountains.  I haven't been able to go to Tecpan yet but we will this week.  Most of the people here can speak spanish and don't respond in the native language.  But I at least want to learn a little Kaqchikel.

SOUP
It was like 60 degrees this last week, so super different ha.   The food is lots of soups with a thing called wiskil which is kind of like squash.  It's pretty good.  Lots of chicken, too.  It's definitely a new experience and hard but I know that we are going to have success here.  We can do it.

MIRACLE Letter to Presidente Markham--We had a miracle because the Presidente de Rama (branch president) had a noche de hogar con nosotros y sus consejeros y familias (home evening with us and his counsielors and the families).  We taught caridad (charity) and afterwards Pres. Escobar stood up and like did a sermon, haha. But it was awesome because he was saying that he has the trust in us and wants the they can all bring one menos activo (less active) and one investgador to the church to be converted baptized by the end of this year. Really was special b/c we now have the trust of the obizbado and we are really going to work together to help lots of people change.

P.S.  I dont know if I told you but Elder Quiros enterd the field with me so pretty cool.

Les Amo Mucho
Elder Sweat