Monday, September 7, 2015

Isaias and Floridalma's Wedding

Great to hear things are going well back home. Wow, Joseph tried out for the BYU Rugby team. Cool. Sounds like a fun experience.

Well, it’s been raining a lot here. In the morning, the sky is gorgeous, no clouds and sunny. I love that we have a perfect view of the temple and volcano. But it’s so deceiving. One second it's sunny and the next it's pouring rain. If I`ve learned anything from Guatemalan weather its ALWAYS bring a rain jacket or umbrella.

National voting day was yesterday. Kind of a crazy experience. There were a ton of people bright and early standing in line to vote. Depending on your residency, there is a certain area assigned for each individual to vote. Some of the people we knew, hadn`t updated there address, so they had to travel hours away to be able to vote. Anyway, President Smith sent out a message that all missionaries had to be in their homes at 4:30PM so as not to have any problems with the riots. He also had us buy a months worth of beans, eggs and water in case any of us needed to stay indoors. Yummy! Be prepared. During the few extra hours of time we had, Elder Flores and I were able to get a head start on a new book we recently bought from the distribution center. It’s called, ¨A History of the Church.¨ Super cool! I already have learned a lot of things I didn`t know before about the Smith family and the prophet himself. We also ate pizza we had ordered the night before jaja.

We met with René this past week and our ward mission leader came too. René had read the intro, Joseph Smith`s testimony, and up to the fourth chapter in 1 Nephi. Awesome! He`s really smart! When we asked about it, he gave us a whole run down of the Restoration. We watched the video of the First Vision and encouraged him to keep reading and praying to prepare for his baptismal date. His progress is very exciting.

The wedding was great, a really neat spiritual experience for me! My companion and I got there a little early to help set things up, balloons, chairs, tables to move, food to prepare, etc. Couldn’t believe how many people came. The bride and groom had invited A LOT of family and friends and when the actual ceremony started, there wasn’t even enough room for everybody to fit, so a lot of people had to stand outside! But it was o.k. Then for the ceremony, the members of the church had a special musical number. Time was also given for family and friends to say a few words. Then the lawyer got to do his thing. He sure read a lot, seemed like a thousand pages. Finally Isaias and Floridalma were pronounced husband and wife. My comp. and I got to be witnesses jaja But my favorite part of the wedding was after all the people had congratulated the new couple, Floridalma said with tears in her eyes the gratitude she felt for the message we had taught her and for helping them get married. Really special.

I know marriage is ordained of God. He loves his children. I know He sent His son to die for us. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that He guides His true church in these latter days. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know the church and the priesthood were restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. What an honor and privileged to be a part of this glorious work!

Have a great week! All the best!

Elder Hicken
 the ward mission leader
 elderes de garibaldi

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