Pics

Really short on time again! Sorry. Why does this always happen? Here are some pics though...

 Quetzaltenango Temple

General Conference and my area

Hola amigos y familiares!

Happy Easter. General Conference was great! It brought to mind the importance of the family, and the true and everlasting happiness that comes from rearing a family in righteousness. It’s sad how many people here do not get married. I know marriage brings happiness. Another topic I thought was emphasized in Conference was Christ´s Atonement. This Easter season, Christ´s sacrifice has become something very real and applicable to me in my own life. I can´t begin to express my gratitude to know that I have a Savior who loves me and can cleanse me from sin. He is a man of sorrows acquainted with grief, my grief. Do I look but not see? Do I hear but not listen? Listening to the music of the gospel will bring us blessings as we follow the Spirit. Hey, if we start now to read a conference talk per week, we will have read every talk before the next conference. What do you think? Anyone want to do that?  It was cool that I was able to watch the Saturday sessions in Spanish and the Sunday sessions in English.

So I made it to my new area! It’s called Las Américas, and the zone is Xela Oueste. It´s REALLY different from Quiché because it’s in the big city. The temple is here though! Super excited about that!  A part of me feels like I´m starting the mission again. There are 20 missionaries in the zone and it´s divided into 2 districts. My companion’s name is Elder Caseres. He is from Honduras and knows very little English. All the better so I can practice my Spanish and he can practice his English. He has about 6 months in the misison and loves to work hard. He´s super funny too!

This week was a little different because of la Semana Santa. Almost everyone was out of town. It´s kind of like Spring Break here. There was literally no one in the streets Friday, except the missionaries and the dogs. We tried visiting a lot of people but they just weren´t home. Although frustrating at times, it was a good week and allowed me the chance to get to know the area and missionaries better. Super excited to work hard and rely on the Lord with me new comp.!

Have a great week! All the best!

Love, Elder Hicken

p.s. I´ll send pictures next week. Great to see the pictures you sent from Chicago, Alabama, and Tennessee. Ouch, looks like Jonathan took quite a fall. But I´m glad he´s ok.  

Gift to the Savior for Easter

Hola amigos y familiares!

How fun to hear about the family road trip. Hope you have a good time. Thanks for letting me know about brother Plante as well. I miss his smile and his jokes. He always knew how to make me laugh, haha.

Sorry I couldn´t write last week.

So excited that the church has put out another initiative called ¨Gracias a que Él vive¨ (at least that´s what it´s called in spanish). 

Check it out at mormon.org! So my companion and I have been thinking of the best way to use this wonderful tool to bring more people to the knowledge of the Restoration of the gospel. One idea is to have an activity in the park. So to get permission from the government, we wrote a letter last week. Must have been ok cuz we got permission! I love miracles. And the city will provide a screen, chairs, and speakers. What a blessing! The activity will be the 10th of April. Our plan is to show the video ¨Gracias a que Él vive¨ as well as a few of the new videos of Jesus Christ´s life.

Neat experience, my companion and I were walking down the street and saw a family carrying eggs into their house. We rushed to help. When all the eggs were inside, we asked if we could share a message. Juan (the dad) said sure. We shared the message of the Restoration and made an appointment just two days later. When we came back we invited them to be baptized and they accepted for the 25th of April! Amazing what can happen when we serve.

Another experience started a few days ago. We were knocking doors and found a woman who told us to come back Sunday in the afternoon. So we did! Unfortunately she wasn´t there but we knocked on her neighbors door and found her there. She told us she had forgotten and came quickly to let us in her house. After talking for a bit we came to know that she had started attending an evangelical church a few years ago. She had always questioned why there were so many churches. We taught her about prophets, the establishment of Christ´s church on the earth and the Restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith. As we gave Joseph Smith´s account of the First Vision, she started to cry. She felt the Spirit. In the end she accepted a baptismal date for the 25th of April. The Lord has truly poured out his blessings. Almost always, it´s when we are on the edge of breaking or giving up that God shows forth his hand. Never give up! Always rely on the Lord!

Yesterday the zone leaders let us know who has changes. Elder Hicken, Elder Rojas, Elder Cruz, Elder Harward, Elder Dixon, Elder Espina and Hna. Rodas. Every companionship had a change. So, I´m going then. I´m going to miss Quiché a lot, the experiences I´ve had, the people I´ve met, the miracles I´ve seen. However, I´m excited for a change. I know the Lord will call me where I need to go.

I´ve reflected a lot about the Atonement of Christ and the role it plays in my life and in the lives of others. Christ has paid for our sins. He has felt the pain we feel physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He has conquered death and permitted life. What are we waiting for? This Easter, I try to make prayer and repentance more a part of my life. And maybe you want to think of what you can give to the Savior of the World and then do it.

Miss you all! Have a great week!

Love, Elder Hicken

I Love to See the Temple

Lisangela's Baptism

Hola familiares y amigos!

Glad to hear the Journey with Joseph performances turned out so well. Sorry you were sick mom but it sounds like dad’s blessing really helped. Hope someone videoed it?! Super cool.

  

Elder Hicken and Lisangela

 

Lisangela got baptized! Her whole family showed up! Lisangela bore her testimony and the Spirit was really strong. Then her grandma gave her testimony as well. I´m so glad I had the opportunity to be part of this special moment in Lisangela´s life and in the lives her family. Earlier that day, Elder Andy and I had bought cake as a surprise for after the baptism. Turns out they had the same idea haha so we had 2 cakes. Yumm!

 

The Family Crew

Unfortunately, we found out this week that Feliciano was married before, more than 8 years ago. His wife had left him and had taken their 2 children. Being really weighed down for a couple years, he found Cristina and they hit it off. They have one child together, Carlitos, but they can´t get married right now until Feliciano gets a divorce. Yeah, kind of a long process. But we´re trying to help them in whatever way we can. We have a lawyer in our branch who is super cool. He´s helping us as well. It depends if the first wife of Feliciano is in favor of a divoce. If so, the process goes super fast. If not, it will take a lot longer. We´ll see how that all turns out.

This past Thursday, our zone went to the temple. It was great! We left early Thursday morning and got a private bus to head down to Xela. I had seen pictures but I couldn´t believe how beautiful it was in person. I know it´s the house of the Lord. Every time I go, I can feel His prescence there. And each time I go, I take away something new. I love learning in the temple. I´m so grateful for temples on the earth today.

Changes are coming up in 2 weeks. Later this week there is a multi-zone conference. Can´t wait! Y´all have a great week!

Love, Elder Hicken

 Una fiesta Guatemalteca
A Party - Guatemala Style

 

Sister Baby

Pineapples here are amazing

Hola familiares y amigos!

Qué tal? That´s awesome you guys got to do family history and then go directly to the temple the next day. So cool! Saw the pics of the Journey with Joseph rehearsal. Jonathan, you’re looking good buddy in your suspenders.

So towards the beginning of the week, we met with hermana Cristina, who was very sick, and we gave her a blessing. After the blessing, she gave us a reference of a family who was passing through a rough time. The son of the mom had passed away just 2 months earlier. We went the next day and found this family. The mom´s name is Katarina and she has 3 children still living, Teresa, Ana, and Gabriel. We shared a message of hope that one day they would see their son and brother again because of Jesus Christ. They loved it. They said that although they felt sad, they felt a lot happier at the end of our visit. We passed by numerous times this week. We invited them to the activities and they came. We invited them to church and they came. We invited them to be baptized and they accepted! Their baptism will be the 28th of March. It’s a miracle! The Lord has blessed us a lot.

Lisangela´s mom was out of town this week but we were still able to meet with Lisangela and her grandma, Hermana Odelia. She is ready. She will be baptized this Saturday!  And her whole family is planning on attending, a lot of whom aren´t members. We’re excited!

We´ve been working a lot with a new family in the ward that recently moved to Quiché. They were inactive for a while but decided to come back to church after a visit from the brothers in the branch. What a difference a visit can make. Now they have come to nearly every activity. And the daughter, Marelyn, who is 19 years old, brought a friend to 2 of the activities and the friend really liked it. We hope to work with her friend starting this week.

Ok I just gotta say the pineapples here are AMAZING! Ok I´m done.

The Branch President gave my comp and I the oportunity to speak in church. My comp. talked about miracles and I talked about revelation. When I was little, I always thought 15 mins. was a long time to fill. Now it´s not enough.

I´m in 3 Nephi chapter 11, of the Book of Mormon.  I’m starting the Savior´s ministry in the Americas. I love the Book of Mormon.

Have a great week!

Elder Hicken

The Book of Mormon is True

Hola familiares y amigos!

We went on divisions with the elders in Chichi this week. We did a lot of contacting and I learned a lot. I interviewed a 9 year old girl for baptism and came to find out that she and her whole family were drinking coffee every day. Crazy. (So glad I never drank coffee)  Unfortunately, we had to postpone the baptism but I know that through the amazing Atonement of Christ and full repentance, the Lord makes it possible for us to change our habits and passions. Another investigator in Chichi, named Caren, knows she has denied Christ for a long time. She wants to do what´s right, and she is! The elders called this morning and told me Caren quit her job because her boss wouldn´t let her go to church on Sundays. I was super excited.

My comp. and I are learning to use our time more wisely. We are dividing our time into intervals that will bring most effective results. President Smith has asked us to spend half our time teaching and the other half finding. Simple right? That way when missionaries find an amazing family and in the end they don´t want to be baptized the missionaries don´t have to start from square one all over again. If one is constantly teaching AND finding, that is a good missionary.

Feliciano and Cristina are our most positive investigators right now. They are wanting to find the truth and ask really good questions. They truly have the desire to change. Still need to be married though. But they are coming to our English classes!

Anyways, I´m reading in Helaman in case you wanted to know! Chapter 12 to be exact. Nephi is such a great example to me of obedience, so quick to remember Heavenly Father and constantly relying on Him amidst all the wickedness around him. I know the Book of Mormon is true. It testifies of Christ. Have a great week!

Love, Elder Hicken