Week 83 Corozal, Belize-February 27, 2017

I think I may die in Corozal

Hey guys! Changes came in last night...And were crazy! So Elder Rasmussen and I are gonna be staying together for a 3rd change! I'm starting to think that it could be possible that I end my mission right here in Corozal! That would be awesome! There are practically no changes in the entire zone either. Just one new sister is coming in to take the place of Sister Leyva who is ending her mission. Sister Leyva came to the mission with me from the MTC! So that's weird to think about...anyway, this past week was great. We had some great visits. Marsela and her kids are doin great. They weren't able to come to church yesterday and her son, Duane, was really upset about it haha. He ended up cheating the system and came by himself for the last like hour and a half. He's a stud! We have been seeing miracles here. We contacted an old investigator who decided to stop visiting with the missionaries because she got a job that made her work Sundays and she knew she couldn't get baptized without going to church. She was as sad as the missionaries were about it. But! When we saw her she told us she had lost that job! Sad, but it could be a blessing in disguise now that she will be able to go to church! She seemed pretty happy to know that she can visit with us more now. Lots of work to do here though. These next 6 weeks are going to fly by for sure. I hope you all have a great week too! Love you!

Elder Abilez

Walking the streets of Corozal

Week 82 Corozal, Belize-February 20, 2017

I just realized I didn't work that much this week...

Hey! This past week was great! Like I said up there we really didn't work all that much...but it isn't because we are lazy I promise. Tuesday I had my little doctor's appointment and that all went well. We stayed the whole rest of the day in the AP's house until our meeting in the evening then we stayed the night. The next day, Wednesday, we had our Multizone and interviews with President and Sister Adams. I love them! Sister Adams is just the sweetest lady ever and President Adams is one of the most devoted and faithful men I have ever met. And he's so busy all the time! It's amazing how he gets all of his work done. So that all went pretty late and we didn't get back to Corozal until about 9:30 at night so just in time to get home late haha. Thursday, Friday and Saturday we had normal days of work finally. Sunday we had District Conference in Belize City so it was back to an early morning bus with the branch to get down to Belize and then head back later in the afternoon. But the conference was really great! I think one of the best parts of this last week though was the activity we had on Friday. It was an activity all about Family History and the branch president and his sister-in-law taught about the importance of family history and how to use FamilySearch. It was awesome! There were a couple of inactive members that came and they even opened accounts! The Spirit of Elijah! I even got to take a look at my own profile (which I have never used) and saw how much work has been done in my family thanks to my awesome grandparents of course. It was cool! It gave me a desire to pick up family history when i get back home. i hope there are some of you guys that also love family history! alright well this next week will be back to a normal schedule. no events or activities going on. it'll be nice to have things back to normal for a little while. Well I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Abilez

Week 81 Corozal, Belize-February 13, 2017

I Love to see the temple, I'm going there someday

Hello! this past week was BUSY! Literally nonstop this week. From birthday P Day on Monday to the CLM meeting in Belize City on Tuesday, Sister Leyva's birthday Wednesday and having to prepare the activity and zone conference, last second interchanges on thursday for a baptismal interview, activity on Friday, and then a baptism on Saturday. So so so so busy! But it was an awesome week! The activity we had on Friday was a big success! The point of the activity was to teach some people (investigators) about what is the temple and then motivate others (the members) to prepare to go. After the activity there were some members that said that they felt excited to go to the temple again soon or work on their family history to bring names! Really really cool. This next week we will have a follow up activity to teach people about family history and how to do it. should be cool. Then, on Saturday we had a baptism for Darnell Perez! He is actually the son of a member but because he's 9 the baptism falls under the mission's jurisdiction. Still he's a super cool and funny kid and we visit his family often. The service was really great too. This next week we will be really busy with a multizone, interviews, meetings, and the activity. I actually have to go to the doctor tomorrow for a small procedure on my foot (I'm fine) and will probably have to rest a couple of days. It seems kinda overwhelming to have to sit out when there is so much to do and we have so many people to teach but it'll work out. Our investigators are doing good and theyre all really excited to keep learning. everything is good right now! Alright well I hope you all have a great week this week! Tell my Mom happy birthday on Thursday and give her a hug because I wont be there to do it! Next year though...okay I love you all bye!

Elder Abilez

Choo Choo

Corozal Sunset

Sunset selfie

Corozal Bay

Check out this sweet bus!

Temple of the Sun God

View from the top

Other temple

Overlooking the Ruins of Altun Ha

Happy group picture

The birthday betrayal...

Feeling 22 on Altun Ha!

The sisters made me the poster

Dinner and cake with the Tun Family

Also with danny

Darnell's baptism!

Week 80 Corozal, Belize-February 6, 2017

I Don't Know About You, But I'm Feeling 22 (2 parts)

Hey! This week was amazing! Especially yesterday in church! We're about to go out to Altun Ha with the zone so i dont have time to write right now. But! I will be back in the afternoon. For now, thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! Cant wait to tell you how everything is going! Love you! Bye for now!

Elder Abilez

Hey! I'm back! Okay just had an awesome PDay with the zone and with the Belize City Zone. Altun Ha was awesome! I will send pictures of course. My birthday has been great so far! Again, thank you all for the birthday wishes, I love you! Okay, so this week was really really great. Mostly I just wanna talk about a few things from the past few days. So we received a reference from the missionaries in Cayo to give to the missionaries in Orange Walk. It was for a man named Nelson and his girlfriend Mati who were really really interested in the gospel and had moved to Orange Walk. But! We got a call Friday morning from the missionaries in Orange Walk telling us they had actually moved to Corozal! They live in a far away village called Libertad but we moved a lot of plans around, called them, and went out to meet them as fast as we could. And they're awesome! Beautiful couple right here. Nelson actually grew up in West Covina so it was cool talkin with him and getting to know him. We had interchanges with Elder Rigby and Elder Daly this past week as well. I got the chance to work with Elder Rigby (who is from my MTC group) and it was an awesome couple of days work. Best part of the week though? Sunday. Best Sunday I think I have ever had. And I have had some pretty awesome Sundays especially on the mission. We got a member to help us bring Nelson and Mati to church and they absolutely loved it! Nelson even bore his testimony! It was his first time in church! Really really great testimony too. Also, Marsela and her kids were able to make it and they all LOVED the church! Theyre all so excited to come back and get involved. Also, right as the meeting was beginning people suddenly started flooding into the chapel! We had to open the overflow section! All 4 of us missionaries were just nonstop smiling as we saw so many investigators and less actives just flow into the chapel. Highest attendance I've seen in Corozal and I've never seen so many investigators in one branch at once. And, this coming week we are having an activity teaching about the temple to get members motivated and also to teach investigators. Luckily, this past weekend there was a temple trip for the branch so all the members, youth and adults, were bearing their testimonies about the temple and how great the gospel is because of the promises we receive in the temple. The Spirit was so unbelievably strong. It was the perfect meeting. Elder Rasmussen and I are still talking about how great it was. This may sound strange to you all these things that I'm saying (it's hard to fully understand an experience like this without experiencing it for yourself), and I dont wanna come across like we were the ones who caused all of these great things to happen, but I do know that the Lord has begun to really pour out blessings upon us and upon this area. I dont know what we have done to deserve such blessings but I honestly cannot attribute it to anything else but simply the love of the Lord for us and all His children. Honestly I can't fully express that day in words.In the end all I want to say is that being a missionary is amazing. Honestly amazing. I know it was hard to accept for a while having to wait to come out here for purposes beyond my control and see that all my friends and loved ones were already moving on in their lives, but I just cant be thankful enough to be a missionary. I never would have had these exact experiences if i hadnt come out when i did. I will cherish these moments forever. They are experiences and blessings and joys that are only possible through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm grateful that I am a member of this church and can continue this work even after the nametag comes off. And I am grateful for all of you and your love and support always. I hope you have an amazing week! I know you will! Love you!
Elder Abilez

Week 79 Corozal,Belize-January 30, 2017

I would walk 500 miles

Hey wad gwan? This past week was great! We did a LOT of walking around. This week was special because we had a worldwide missionary broadcast from the missionary department of the church. Really really awesome broadcast. I learned a lot that is gonna help me personally as a missionary and help the work move forward. There were also some pretty big changes made with how we do work so it has been cool so far to use those changes and see the results. This week we were blessed a lot even though the work was tough. I dont know if I mentioned but last week we ran into a couple who was on vacation from California here. They're the Johnsons. The husband is a member of the church though a little less active. Last week they had invited us to dinner and this week we ran into them again and they invited us again on Friday! They are an awesome and really loving family. I'll send some pictures! We had a lot of investigators in church this week which was a huge miracle. We had a great visit with Marsela this week but unfortunately she wasnt able to come to church last minute. She was sad about it too though and will definitely go this week. Shes doing great! Alright well lots of things are comin up so we are going to constantly be busy. Thanks for all your love and support always! Have a great week!

Elder Abilez

That's Chetumal, Mexico

We went to a place called Consejo Shores on PDay

Candid laughing picture with the Johnsons trying to make the timer

Week 78 Corozal, Belize-January 23, 2017

Birthdays and Changes

Hello friends and family! This last week was a busy one! So on Tuesday we had the changes meeting and the whole zone got changed except for Elder Rasmussen and I. Crazy! We ended up having to stay the whole rest of the day in Belize City because we had a meeting with the District Presidency in the evening. It was cool to be able to work in the city for a bit. We went on divisions with the missionaries there and I went out with Elder Rodriguez. He was born in the Dominican Republic but grew up in the Bronx. He's a fairly new missionary but he knows his stuff already and is a great guy. The meeting with the Presidency was great because we were able to go over the progress of the branches in our zone and make plans with the leaders as to how to help out the church there. President Ochoa (the District President) is an awesome guy and an amazing, dedicated leader. I really respect him a lot. The rest of the week was more or less normal. Saturday was Elder Rasmussen's 20th birthday! We had a small celebration with the district so it was fun. The sisters had a baptism Saturday afternoon as well. Sunday we hit our official 18 month mark! I finished a sister missionary mission haha! There were huge changes made in our branch presidency here in Corozal as well. The leadership is really strong here so we are excited to get down and work with these men and are really feeling positive that the branch is going to start growing a lot. Alright now a nice tender mercy experience. So Saturday we actually were excited not only for the baptism and for my companion's birthday, but also we had just about the entire day full with set appointments with investigators. We were so ready to have to run around town just to make it to all these appointments. What it came down to is that every single appointment was falling through throughout the day. Every single one. We got to around 6 pm without a single lesson or anything done. And we even left in the morning to work that day. But we kept going. Finally we went to the house of a new investigator we recently found and she was home! And it was an absolutely amazing lesson. Her name is Marsela and she has been prepared to receive this message! She even told us at the end of the lesson (and this is the first lesson) that she already feels that what we were teaching is true. That hardly ever happens! So huge tender mercy after literally walking for miles back and forth across town just to have all of our plans fall apart. Our joy was great with just that one soul that was brought closer to our Heavenly Father. I can testify of that. Missionary work is hard but the most satisfying thing I have ever done! I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Abilez

Saying goodbye to Elder Chavez

Selfie with birthday boy Razzmatazz

Week 77 Corozal, Belize-January 16, 2017

Picture Day! (Everyone's favorite day at school)

Hey! So I didnt write last week and so this week i had extra emails to read! Sorry! And now i have lots of pictures and hopefully a video to send! Youll love them! Changes are tomorrow and Elder Rasmussen and I will be staying together! We're both happy about it. Right now we are teaching some really great people and have some great activities comin up. Pray for our investigators please! Some are soooo close! Adriel, Oswaldo, Annie, Somong, just to name a few. Theyre seriously awesome I wish I had more time to tell you all about them. Okay love you all lots have a great week!


Elder Abilez

rolling passenger in my interchange with Elder Ostler

Simmons. Best BBQ in Belize

Welcome to Corozal!

Grabbin lunch with Elder Rigby and Elder Ostler

The New River to Lamanai

Elder Austin didn't get the selfie memo

MONKEY

Abandoned rehab center (next to the rum factory)

Can you spot the bats?

Even spotted a crocodile

It was a nice boat ride

Ceviche for lunch

Jaguar Temple

The Jaguar

Views from the top of the temple: Down Below

Views from the top of the temple: the New River

Ye Elders of Corozal

It's not just a boulder. It's a rock!

The High Temple

About to climb the High Temple

Views from the High Temple

Companionship High Temple Unity

Singing the Lion King song...

The Mask Temple

Twinning

Howler Monkeys came to visit

Stone slab carving (of Quetzal-coatl)

Found another large spider pokemon

One serious worldwide money collection