TRANSFER TIME

Goodbye beloved MT VERNON ~

Hello mighty MONROE...

New address:
Elder Sean Marco Juárez
610 W Elizabeth Street #7
Monroe, WA 98272


Bless you for finding a moment to send a "hello" and making Sean's day!

Go ahead and Google Monroe...


http://maps.google.com/maps?q=610+W+Elizabeth+Street+Monroe,+WA+98272


The stunning photo of Sean and Aiden was captured by Sister Wendy Engle (Aiden's mom - surrogate MOM to Elders - and wonderful email lifeline to Provo MOM)!! What will Elder Juárez and Cherie do without her in Monroe???

Dig that polyester suit from the missionfield "Segunda"*

* (Mexican Spanish for thrift store)

Querida familia,

Well, first, apologies for the lack of news the past three weeks or so. I have a few letters started that need to get finished. Mom would know what I’m talking about. ;) So, in order to guarantee completion, and a speedy delivery, Wendy Engel offered her services on my behalf. I’d speak, she’d type, and you’d know I’m still alive and well. :)

TRANSFER 7

Elder Herrin and I were excited but surprised to hear we’d be staying another transfer. The recent trend has been a max of three transfers in one area, so we assumed one of us would be leaving and another Elder coming in to learn the ropes for this area. Since we’re both staying, (making three transfers here in Mt. Vernon for the both of us,) we instead assume one of us will be here for four transfers, (= 6 months) which seems like a long time to be in one place—a quarter of your mission! But, it’s just what the President told us he would do— keep us in areas for 6-8 months. So, how do I feel about it? Fantastic! I’ve loved it here. It’s been hard to believe that Elder Herrin and I got here back at the beginning of April! It’s almost scary how quickly time has been moving; already another transfer gone, with seemingly not much accomplished.

I received a letter from Elder Yeo recently that reminded me a lot of the “vision” I had in the MTC of the missionary I wanted to be. I could tell he was “living the life,” (in my opinion,) or embracing the unique opportunity we have on a mission to forget worrying about ourselves and to get lost in the service of others. It was exactly where I wanted to be and I took it as the Lord’s way of reminding me where I could be, (spiritually speaking,) and what I could be doing if I simply chose to. I realized if Elder Herrin and I didn’t pick up the ball that I would wake up one morning with six months left, realizing my mission had just passed me by. I don’t want to feel that it all just happened to me. So, Elder Herrin and I have donned our white shirts and cool ties and decided to really put our shoulders to the wheel. Unfortunately, we are still far from actually giving it our all, but we’re getting better! :) We’re definitely being blessed for our renewed commitment and have had amazing success! We have 3 with a baptismal date already, and one of them is the mom of a family we hope to baptize this transfer! There’s SO much work to be done here, so many people with so much potential. All we really need to do is start teaching—not even finding! The field is already there, all ready to harvest.

Elder Herrin and I are getting along fantastically, we’re able to speak to each other in Spanish, and we are unified in working hard—the situation couldn’t be more perfect. It is SO fun to see the Lord provide as we show we have “a desire to serve God,” and his children. Life is beautiful.

9 MONTHS

The recent changes in the district included an Elder Ellingson (who came out with me, but was in a different MTC district,) being made our district leader. So, it’s been fun reminiscing with him. He’s also training, which has only increased how much we’ve reflected on how we were way back then, but not that long ago! Por ejemplo, we remembered how, as a greenie, we’d count down the hours to the end of each day. You’d think “okay, only 2 hours until dinner…” or “it’s 7:00, just two hours, I can make it two hours…” :) It seemed so grueling back then, but now it’s no big deal at all!

I think the 9 month reality hit me hardest the other day when I realized I’d been speaking and learning Spanish not just for 6 months, which for some reason, I was used to saying, but I’d been speaking it 9 months! That’s a good long time. I should be pretty good right now. Y ya puedo hablar el español muy fácilmente, sin pensando mucho, pero si hablo muy rápido, todavía lo sale de mi boca un poco embarrado. No he estudiado con la misma intensidad como el principio, cuando vine aquí a Mt. Vernon. Pronto continuaré estudiando, “resolviendo las torceduras,” y corrigiendo los errorcitos pequeñitos en mis estudios. Estoy contento con el cuanto ya sé, y mi progreso hasta ahora. También sé que no estoy fluente. ¡Gracias por la información sobre vos! Pensaba que me hayan decido que no era diferencia de conjugar entre vos y tú.

NOTETOFAM: Interestingly enough, I guess we weren’t given the TALL book. I assumed it was the red Spanish Phrases and Grammar book. Para que sepan, I was given the standard works in Spanish, the yellowish textbook, the handy-dandy red book, and a Bantam Spanish Dictionary, (the same, in fact, that I received from you in the package. :) I was referring to the Langenscheidt Spanish Dictionary that’s thicker than the bantam one, as opposed to the pocket-sized version. My comp. has the pocket-sized one, I was using the larger one checked out from the library.) I’ll be putting in the request for that TALL book, though.

I’m so glad to hear you’re all doing well at home! Though I can’t really do much for you here, (except simply be here,) I want you to know that I am very much grateful for what you’ve been doing for me, be it letters, drawings, photos, or prayers! :)

¡Les quiero mucho!

Love, Elder Sean.

9 MONTH MILESTONE TODAY!

We miss you badly, Elder Sean-Boy... but we're pleased beyond measure with the joy you've found in serving.

This picture was taken a week ago at CJ's baptism, and sent to me by email from precious Wendy Engle of Mount Vernon, WA ("Foster" Mom to CJ - friend and caretaker of the missionaries!) Bless you WENDY.

Carry on, carry on, carry ON!

PART I: THE EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER

HEY YOU GUYS!! I think I've finally gotten a taste of the emotional roller coaster this mission can be. This past week has been so much fun! I learned once again I don't have to let myself get caught up in someone else's choice of feelings.

I was on exchanges with Elder Farris, our district leader on Saturday. We were talking as we drove to contact a few refferrals and he was sharing some practical wisdom with me. "Some missionaries just get so cuaght up in things that they don't have fun. They let it get to them so much that they get so down and depressed about it. Some of us just need a reality check. Yeah, it's hard, but life is hard. Just pick yourself up and keep going. Don't stress about it if you don't have to." I don't know what part of what he said was what hit me like a ton of bricks, but suddenly I realized some of the challenges Elder Herrin has are just because of how he is. I've been stressing and worrying about so much, I've been drowning in not only my problems, but everone else's too. Elder Farris pulled me up out of the water and suddenly I could breathe again.

The next day was so calm inside my head. It was such a good day. Despite a bad day Elder Herrin might have been having or whatever might have been going on around me, I was happy and was happy to these around me. If something went wrong, no sweat, just roll with it, make the most of it and move on.

I had to adjust my attitude to accommodate and work with Elder Herrin's attitude. It was no big deal, I just should have done it a long time ago. It goes along with something else Elder Farris said: "If there's anything I've learned on my mission, it's that peope are SO different." I've come to realize the same thing. Thus, just because the way I did things worked with Elder Mose, doesn't mean they'll work with every companion. So, I've finally been able to adjust and find what works with Elder Herrin. It's cool to see how much I've learned about getting along with different types of people. Though it may seem like they are the ones who need to change for you to get along with them. There's actually a way to be happy no matter who you're wokring around by adjusting yourself.

...

PART II: THE SUMMER CONFERENCE

This past Wednesday (June 18) was our mission's "Summer Conference". All 7 zones got together for lunch and a sports tournament-type thing. Each zone had two teams that played the other zones' teams at ultimate frisbee, volleyball, and kick ball.

Every year, each zone makes shirts for their teams. I ended up being the one to design them and figure out a cheap way to produce 17 for the whole zone. They told me they wanted to play off the "M" of the logo for Monster Energy drinks. (Some background: Energy drinks like Monster, Rockstar, Red bull, etc. have been popular among most athletic of missionaries since I was with Elder Cole. They've never really appealed to me, but apparently they became so popular that it came to our President's attention. In the last Zone Conference, he asked the mission to stay away from them as much as possible, though, he didn't ban all caffeine/energy drinks, but advised us to be respectful if it is something that would offend other members/investigators.)

With permission, I ended up working on them for a "couple 3" (Washingtonian for "a couple" or "3") days. The design was no sweat--figuring out how to put it on the shirts, was.

We first tried a stencil and spray paint, but it didn't adhere at all. The member at whose house we worked was an artist, so we tried some acrylic paints he had and successfully produced a bright green Monster "M".

The whole process was so much fun for me, it was like being at home again designing wedding announcements, except the whole time I was dying to hage the Mac with all its time-saving programs. Instead, I did it the old-fashioned way and went with Microsoft Paint/freehand. They came out looking fantastic. The stencil/painting process was a pain in the neck, (literally), because it involved pinning down and dabbing paint onto 17 shirts, so it was also time-consuming. BUT, they looked awesome and the zone loved them.

At summer conference the senior couples ended up voting on their favorite shirt, and our zone won! I was very satisfied with myself and at the same time was extremely grateful that I'd been given that talent from the Lord, for the blessing of others' lives.

The rest of Summer Conference was really fun. I said hi to Elder Cole and his new greenie, Elder Cordada. Our team went undefeated too! We were 5-0, but two other teams were 4-0, (when it came down to the championships.) The two 4-0 teams played each other and we played the winning team. It was the first team we'd played and had beaten before 7-3. Somehow, they ended up killing us in the finals 1-5. It was pretty disappointing, but I went home happy, 'cause even if we didn't play the best, we sure looked the best! :)

PART III: BEN WANTED TO BURN THE BOOK OF MORMON

I had a cool experience last night. We met with Ben again, for the fourth time or so. In the last appointment, he'd explained to us that it was funny that we were trying to convert him, because he was trying to convert us! We had only ever answered his questions or defended the faith (instead of teaching lessons) as we'd met with him, so we decided unless he was willing to make and keep commitments, that we were going to drop[ him. We really loved the kid, and wanted to clarify the misconceptions about the church, but we were also wasting the time we could be spending teaching someone who was ready to learn.

We said a prayer in the car (he excused himself the second time we met with him, when we asked if we could say a prayer) and met him on his front porch again. He showed us the new book he'd gotten from the Christian bookstore (The Facts on Mormonism or algo así,) and how it had references for all the quotes, etc.

He then asked to see my BoM, (he wanted to read some verse that proved it wasn't true.) As I handed ti to him, I asked what happened to the copy we gave him. He kind of smiled but ashamedly stammered "W-well, the real reason I wanted the Book of Mormon is so that I could burn it." He apologized and said he didn't want to offend us but he didn't want to lie either. At first I was really hurt - or wanted to be - but I wasn't, (or I didn't let it show that I was.) I calmly told him that was fine, he had the right to do whatever he wanted with it, it was a free country and he could do as he chose.

I calmly and honestly asked him why he did it. He explained that he hated the devil and that he hated anything that was meant to draw people away from the true word of God, or in other words, he hated all cults (anything that is not part of the orthodox Christian church.) He hated the Koran, he hated the Watchtower, etc. But he just ended up ripping up the Book of Mormon. Still, he apologized, telling us that he didn't hate us, he just hated those false doctrines.

We proceeded and mostly just sat there as he read quotes in the books he had about how Joseph Smith was an occultist and had revelations by looking at a seer stone inside of a hat (quoted by "Dr. Whitmer"); how we are polytheistic because we believe that "God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are all Gods" (-McKonkie); how we believe we can become gods, how we don't believe in the creation of matter from nothing, how Joseph Smith was a polygamist (even though we explained to him that David and Solomon were too,) how we believe the Bible is "unreliable," (I quoted the 8th Article of Faith) and on and on. In all of it we occasionally would explain how things the book said were not true, but mostly we said, "Well, I know Joseph Smith was a prophet from the witness I received from God." He simply couldn't grasp how we could believe that when there was all this evidence in his hands to the contrary. He hadn't read the BoM, but all these scholars had, and they had so much proof that it wasn't true. I told him I'd take God's word over a man's any day. If God told me he was a prophet, he was a prophet. I went back to what I'd said before. The comforter of Holy Ghost was sent to teach us all things, and in Galatians it said the fruits of the spirit were love, joy, peace, etc. The same feelings I felt when I prayed about the BoM. He tried to explain what the real meaning of that scripture was. I explained it was what it was. We know through our feelings. He told me we shouldn't trust our feelings becaue we can lust after a woman and feel good, even though it was a sin. I told him it was a physical feeling, not a spiritual one.

We honestly and sincerely tried to explain it to him, not in a contentious way. He told us he wasn't trying to say we were wrong, but that the doctrine of the Mormon church was wrong. I pulled out my ministerial certificate and explained to him that I was a representative of that church, called by a living prophet of God and given power and authority to teach what really was the doctrine of our church, the true doctrine of Jesus Christ.

I finally said to him, "Ben, we really appreciate everything you've done to try and help us. We're glad that you're seeking the truth, but everything you've said hasn't changed the way we feel or the things we know. I know the Book of Mormon is true. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet and that we have a living prophet on the earth today. I know that you can also know these things for yourself if you go and ask God. I know he will tell you through the spirit, just as he told me. I know I have more authority to say that than any of these scholars. I know that even though you may have not converted us and saved us, I know he is happy with your efforts to choose the right and to help us. I also know you should at least read the Book of Mormon for yourself, because you will be held accountable for the things that are in it. Our time is valuable and we'd love to keep visiting you, but there are others who want to listen."

He looked like we'd just told him he failed some test. I knew he really was trying to help us, but he'd been blinded by the "craftiness of men". As I testified to him it came with such clarity and power as I'd never felt before. The words came out on their own. I wasn't even thinking about what I was saying or what I was going to say. I didn't have any doubts that what I was saying was true. I didn't have to double check, "wait, is this right?" Though I felt bad that Ben hadn't listened to the Spirit that I know was there when Elder Herrin and I tetified, we had done what we were called to do. We had reaised a warning voice.

It was an amazing experience. I realized there are a lot of pretty good arguments against our church. I don't know them all, I don't know all the answers to them, but I know I received an answer back when I prayed about the BoM. I knew I probably would have been shaken pretty badly if it weren't for the trust in God that I have, and the continual witness of the Holy Ghost that these things are true. I knew all the facts, reasons and explanations in the world wouldn't have been enough to convince Ben the Church was true. The only way he could know for himself would be by going to the source--asking God in prayer. Until he could humble himself enough to do that, he would never truly know.

So my beloved brothers, sisters and parents: If you ever wonder or have any doubts or questions, ask and you shall receive. And it doesn't matter how weak we may think we are, when it comes to preaching the gospel, the Lord will make up for what you lack.

Hopefully this helps oneof you. :) Either way, I love you, "the church is true, the book is blue, and God is a Mormon". ;)

LOVE, ELDER SEAN

!FELIZ DIA DE PAPAS! (PADRES?)

Wow, it's been a crazy week. This transfer in particular has been quite the growing period of my mission. Almost like going through my greenie transfer again. It's kind of like I've been going through the fundamental, foundational (?) skills one by one and revising them-or checking them for accuracy. It's been a proving ground. The biggest impurities are being removed. Yet I'm not exactly sure what recent events cause me to feel that way--it's weird. I guess you'd have to be inside my head to understand :).

I had a great week! It was my turn at senior companion again. I've been working on goals. (I'm not sure if I mentioned in the last letter,) and using them as motivatino. For the most part, when we set goals they're mostly empty numbers. We decide during our nightly planning sessions - how many of each key indicator we can get the next day. But we never, (or I never), look at them again the next day. So I've been trying to go about the days saying to myself "okay, we gotta get two lessons with a member present." Then, if plans fall through, by loking, praying and having faith, teach a lesson with a member present somewhere else. ?Comprende? It was fun, and better yet, we had the best numbers we've had in a long time! It was cool.

Now, this week, (Mon-Sun) It's been a lot harder. We have a District Leader that goes home in two weeks, so he and his companion will come over and hang out at our apartment. It ends up being one of those situations where we jr. comps sit there, talking, wondering when we're going to leave for exchanges, almost killing time. You can drop hints and come out and ask "when are we leaving?" but we're at his mercy. (To a point) It stinks 'cause he's a fun guy and was a fantastic missionary, but he's opting for being "dead" his last transfer. His comp and my comp are 18 mo. and 15 mo. so they don't mind a break. It's just a new set of challenges for me to superar. :)

I'm still having a great time. I LOVE Mt. Vernon. We have more and more Spanish work! In the midst of some fo the gloom, there will be a ray of light! Nothing will be happening and then suddenly we'll find someone who will almost be expecting us. There are really cool experiences that'll happen every once in a while.

The other day Elder Farris (the district leader) showed us some people we could talk to that he had taught. I went with him to talk to one of them. It turned out they had moved, but the lady that lived there turned out to be a nurse at a dementia hospital. One of her patients was LDS and would always get frustrated while reading the Ensign. So this woman would explain to her (the patient) what was going on. So she told Elder Farris & I that she wanted to be able to explain things more clearly and had some questions of her own. She asked if we could please come back, though, since she had just gotten off work and had some things to do. Elder Farris and I walked away both with a strong Spiritual confirmation that we were in the right place at the right time.

CJ, who we've been working with is super-solid. His baptism was postponed though so his sister could come. We're excited for him though, because we know the gospel will have a big impact on his family. During the lesson we put him on-date, Elder Herrin later told me he "saw" his parents being baptized in the future! It was powerful.

Lots of our recent new investigators seem really promising too! I'm really excited. And we're only going to be working harder. If there's anything this recent adversity has caused, it's a greater desire in Elder Herrin & I to work harder.

My favorite thing has been maintaining a 'cheery countenance' no matter what the situation. It's fun, but harder than I thought--especially to really mean it. :) I think of Jessica Barry's effervecense, and try to emulate. :)

SPANISH: it's coming along, slow & steady. Speaking comes without too much effort. I don't have to think in English first, as much. Whenever I read though, I find myself feeling like I'm looking at a blurry picture. In order to get all the depth and clarity, I ahve to translate it in my head. It's the verb tenses that get me. Even when understanding someone else. When I speak, I can say it in the right tense, no problem. Subjunctive is still a challenge to work into my speech, but pase a paso, no?

One other thing (with Spanish)... well, I'll include it on a sticky.*

Meanwhile, THE GREAT ROOM LOOKS AMAZING! So do the new stove & fridge! I LOVE it! It's going to be fun to see in all its real-life glory. :) MUCHISIMAS GRACIAS FOR THE FOTOS!

Well, best-beloveds, I hope you're enjoying a relaxing summer. Please keep filling me in on the happenings at home, and I promise I'll have lots more to tell you proxima semana.

WITH LOVE AND SOME WASHINGTON RAIN (IN JUNE!),

ELDER SEAN

So I noticed in letters from Mom & Melinda a different way of accenting commands than I'm used to. I was wondering if it was a Guatemala thing or just a principle/rule I haven't learned yet.

*EXAMPLES:
Cuidate------Cuidate
hacelo------hacelo
dejalos------dejalos
no te preocupes------...preocupes
asegurate------asegurate
segui------sigue
They keep popping up so I assumed it wasn't a mistake. But I'm confused, so if you could, ayudame (ayudame?) Thanks!