Hola Familia,

Im finally in the field! It is so cool to finally be here. On tuesday morning we took a bus out to Ray oo and the trip only took about 3 and a half hours. Sometimes i forget how small Guatemala is. The trip was beautiful. Everything is so green. The only that ruined it was to see all the trash. They don´t have a garbage system here. If your an the road you just throw the garbage out the window and the roads are really gross because of this. Also when your at home you just burn your garbage. This drives me nuts because we are always walking through the smoke of someone´s garbage fire. Anyways the took us to the church at Rayoo were the mission office is and we got to meet the President and Sister Maravilla. He talked to us a while about the mission and the rules here. It was pretty cool because I could understand pretty much all of his spanish. He knows some english but only a little. That night we spent the night in a hotel because there were so many of us. The next morning we had our meeting to recieve our new companions. My new companion is Elder Rigby from Logan Utah. I am greatful to have a Gringo companion but I think my Spanish is going to hurt from it. Elder Rigby is great. He has 10 months in the field and this is his first time being a trainer. I have already learned a lot from him. Our area is Nueva Concepcion. It is in the south by the coast. It is really flat here and really hot. It is one of the hotter areas in the mission. It is not even the hot season. Right now we are in the dry season and it is supposed to stay that way until april. In april is when it gets really hot and then come the rainy season where we are going to be walking up to our waist in water. There is a branch here and we split it with another companionship. There are about 90 active members and probably about 200 inactives. The goal is for in 2 years to make this a ward and for the district to become a stake. We split the town in half with the other elders and our area is about a 30 minute walk from our house. We are looking for a new house because we lose so much time just walking to our area. My legs and feet are pretty sore but it feels good because I know ive acomplised something. The people here are so nice. All the people have talked to are willing to listen to us and help us if we need anything. These people really are a God fearing people. They all love to hear about God and Jesus. Some of the lessons are interesting because during the lesson they will be nodding their head and you are feeling good because you think they are getting it but when you ask them to change their life or to act on what you are teaching them they aren´t willing to do it. You know that you are succeding when you get them to follow through on their commitments. Both me and Elder Rigby are new to the area and we are opening it. We have spent a lot of the past week getting to know the members and the area. We have been able to teach some lessons and work with some investigators though. Last night we taught a lesson to a man whose is the only non member in his family. He was a profesional soccer player and spent some time in the states and family wasn´t that important to him. But now he has a new son that is about 2 years old and it has really changed his life. Family is really important to him now. He has a lot of Elders working with him before but they haven´t had any success getting him baptized. He has been going to church and he is ready for baptism. For our lesson we were going to try to figure out what was keeping him from getting baptized. We taught him about families and the temple and then how baptism and confirmation could bless his family. We challenged him to be baptized and he said yes. It really showed me the power of families and the temple. I am so greatfull to be out here in the mission and and to be doing the Lords work. I have been seeing his blessings in my life. I am so greatful for you and your letters. I got yours michele and I could read it. I love you all so much.

Love,

Elder Thorley