E-mail received 7/26/2010

We received a fairly short e-mail this week and much of it had to do with family stuff which I don't think most of you would care about.  But I didn't want to skip a week, so here is the rest of the e-mail:

Oh man this week was crazy! We received amazing and inspired training from our missionary leaders and I'm super excited to put it to the test in the field and reap the great harvest about to unfold. The training really focused on simplifying things. We as missionaries talk too much and we need to focus on really what our purpose is: to invite! We try too hard to tell them information and not hard enough to help them receive the restored gospel through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. Unfortunately because of the long training we didn't do much work in our area this week.

 

On the massive upside, we had a baptism! One of the greatest yet! The baptism was so well attended that the relief society room was standing room only. It was super hot and stuffy but that just added to the spirit which also filled the air. Even greater was almost all of our investigators attended too and a lot of nonemembers and they all could feel the Spirit there. We're expecting to have an amazing week this week.

 

Well last week of the transfer and we're finishing it strong by setting a lot of people with baptismal dates and hitting the streets hard. I hope you all have as great a week as we will and know that my prayers go with you.

 

-Elder Guinto

E-mail received 7/19/2010

I didn't forget the zipcode I just simply don't know it. I don't know if WA is the same way but in NJ they have a different zipcode almost every ten or fifteen miles. I figured you guys could look that up somehow. If not I can probably get it. I got the pictures dad sent. Katelyn's boyfriend looks like a decent guy. But I still have to meet him in person before anything drastic happens. And no dating local guys! That goes for Maleah too. If they're not members they're not for you! Trust me on that one.

 

That's cool that a bunch of the Utah family is coming to visit! Tell them all I said hi and I love em. A couple update requests. How's Tyrie and Paige doing? Also how about Mike and Kelson? Have they had dinner at our house lately? How's Kim doing too now that she's all graduated?

 

Sounds like you guys have just been going a hundred miles an hour and even crazier that we're more than half way through the summer already. This transfer is going by so fast!

 

There's not much more to update you guys on this week because I didn't spend much of this week in my area. I had to go on exchanges with all the district members so I spent a day in each of their areas training them. One day back in Paterson, one day in Passaic, and then one day in the Englewood area. Next week I'll probably also have to go on an exchange into West New York (which is actually in NJ). I also did an interview this week in New City, NY which was pretty cool to be out of New Jersey for a little while. We ate at this cool restaurant called Five Guys and you'll see a charge on my card for that because we've been having problems with our MSF card but that's all getting solved. We're also going to buy ties today so you'll see a small one for that today too.

 

The mission is going through a big changing period and so this week is going to be insane. I have a four day mission leader training conference that I have to go to Morristown tuesday through friday so I won't be really working in my area that much this week. It's really kind of a riot because of all the things that we have to get done this week in preparation for one of our investigator's baptisms this Sunday. But the Lord will provide for us. Also since we've had the problem with our MSF (Missionary Support Fund) we have to wait until wednesday to buy food and we're totally out! Fortunately the members are great here and we should run into any problems.

 

I'm holding pretty steady at 198.4 so that should make you guys happy. It was funny I was sitting on the couch this morning and I realized I haven't weighed that little since I was like 10 or 11! It'll be so funny to see the looks on everyone's faces when I come home.

 

Well I'm sure I'll have a lot to talk about next week with all the training that we're going to get. It's going to be a nightmare scheduling around it all but I have faith that it'll all be worth it. The brethren also released new training videos for us to use so we're getting a lot of new material.

 

I hope you guys have a great week and hope you have a chance to relax a little bit. Let me know if there's anything that I can do for you guys on my end.

 

-Elder Guinto

E-mail received 7/12/2010

Man sounds like busy busy busy. Sounds like Katelyn's friend is pretty cool but I still have to meet him!

Also I'm probably going to buy athletic shoes pretty soon because the ones I have have a lot of holes in them. I beat them up pretty bad because I exercise a lot. I'm going to try and wait till my year mark to get them though. If they have them anywhere could you keep your eyes peeled for a sale on adidas sambas milleniums. They're an indoor soccer shoe and Elder Coffin swears by them. I was thinking about indoor soccer shoes anyway because they're light and really durable and he said they lasted him like four years so if you could keep your eyes out for any good deals  that would be stellar. He said they retail at about 65$ but if you could find them for 20$ or 30$ that would be super cool.

The mailing address of our house is 23 Laurel Ave. Dumont, NJ. I guess the Mathuseks would just get it in the mail and then give it to us. That would be good for letters and stuff but packages would probably be better off sent to the office. I'm not always sure when we'll get mail because zone conferences are now going to be held on an even less frequent basis but zone leader council is held at the beginning of every month so that would probably be a safe area of opportunity.

Man that's so crazy that Elder Oaks is going to be speaking in Olympia! And I'm missing it! He is such a powerful speaker. I love how he always seems to talk about the order of God in his talks. You guys better take diligent notes!

News from here, it has cooled down, thankfully. Now it's only in the 90's instead of over 100. It continues to be super humid but all in all pretty nice.

This last week we had the mission merge. It was really cool to meet all the new missionaries and see how things were changing. Our zone was the only zone to stay completely the same as before, which was pretty cool because that means president likes us the way we are.

Unfortunately we weren't able to get as much work done this week as we wanted to because of the all day mission conference and then also we got stranded in Paterson when we went for interviews and decided to go to the Pepboys there because we had gotten an oil change order and they ended up finding something wrong with our tires and we were stuck there for five hours.

However we had an alright week. A lot of the people in our ward are leaving for summer vacations and students coming home for the summer. It's a crazy time for the families here as well.

In our interviews we found out that I'm more than likely going to stay with Elder Coffin for the next transfer as well so I'll be the one that sends him home. Also I got the go so that we can teach people in Spanish in our area now.

We're working with some really choice people here in Emerson and so many are just ready and prepared to receive the Gospel.

We love it here and we love you guys for being valiant in writing and sending your love and support. Everyone have a great week and remember to read your scriptures!

-Elder Guinto

E-mail received 7/6/2010

Wow sounds like you guys have had an exciting time. I feel a little bit for your heat concerns. We're going through a massive heat wave here with 104 temperatures and 100% humidity. It is HOT! But we love working still. Yeah the sizes are right because that's what I'm wearing now. 32" waist, medium sized shirt, and I'm officially down to 198.4 lbs. Elder Coffin and I eat really, really healthy and I exercise a lot so I'm building a lot of lean muscle and losing a lot of fat so I'm losing the super healthy way. We're on an all natural diet. Which pretty much means we're not looking so much at the calories but at the ingredients. Rule of thumb being if we didn't make it, or it wasn't hand made, we generally don't eat it or if it is bought already made the less ingredients the better. It's working out pretty well.

 

Tell Katelyn that I still have to approve! Just because he's the nicest guy she's ever met doesn't mean he's the nicest guy I've ever met! No sister of mine is going out with just another dude. That goes for Maleah too. How did Katelyn do on the ACT by the way?

 

My companion, Elder Coffin, is kind of from all over the West U.S. He was born in Texas then moved to Seattle when he was 2, then moved to Tucson, Arizona when he was 14, then moved to Hawaii when he was 19, then came here. He considers himself from Arizona pretty much though. He's on his second to last transfer so about 22 months out. There's a large possibility that I won't be his last companion though because this is his 3rd transfer in the area and they've previously moved him around after only 2. Also the mission is considering making this a Spanglish ward which means either he'll get transferred and I'll get a Spanish companion or I'll switch to the Spanish program, so we'll see what the future holds I guess.

 

We had a great week this week! Our baptismal candidates are holding strong to their commitments and we're having a great time. One of our people, who's getting baptised on the 25th of July, is so excited and organized she's already got pretty much the whole program mapped out and has already asked all the people who're going to participate to do things! She's so prepared it's crazy!

 

The members in this ward are amazing, although the primary wrench in my physical improvement goals. I don't think we've gone a single day without getting food from one of the members and/or getting a member present at a lesson with an investigator. We do a lot of work with them and it's really great. There's a lot of Filipino and Hispanic people in our ward. It's pretty multicultural.

 

What Emerson Ward is most famous for is being the home of the Mathusek family. The Mathuseks are the most prominent member family in New Jersey. They have at least a member of their family in a leadership position in every stake in New Jersey! They are the rock foundation of the NJ Saints. Very strong and extremely active in missionary work and they started here in Emerson. Half the ward is Mathuseks! They are the best family! They all love and support each other and they all get together often. They really have what our family, extended, used to have: a great family unity. They invited us, among many others, to come to their 4th of July BBQ and it was amazing to see the joy and happiness in their celebration. I really see in their family what I hope to have in my future family. They really are a family to each other first and then to others.

Also an important note is we live with them. Unlike previous apartments that I've had, which have been our own apartment rented for us, we live in the home of Warren & Claudia Mathusek in their basement. It's really nice! I was so taken aback when I expected to pull up to an apartment and we pulled up to a house!

 

Emerson is definitely the most beautiful area that I've ever worked in. It's also a very wealthy area but there are people who are searching here too. I'm really happy in this area. I continue to talk in Spanish, A LOT. We have two investigators who speak Spanish and several families who speak Spanish. I still can't speak it very well but I understand everything. I really wish I could speak tagalog though! Bergenfield is almost all Filipinos and one of our investigators is from the Philippines, but she speaks perfect English.

 

We receive mail twice a transfer now. We'll be getting it tomorrow before they switch over to the new system. It'll be every zone conference and every zone meeting I think. So it'll be just about every two or three weeks. I think it's good though because now we can all focus a little more and really organize well because we only get supplies (i.e. copies of the Book of Mormon, pamphlets, Pass-Along Cards, etc.) once a month!

 

The mission combines tomorrow and we're super excited! We're getting, I think, 33 new missionaries from the South mission and their being fully integrated right away. Also this sunday I'm going to the Spanglish Ward in Englewood while their testing our ward for the possible switch over to Spanglish so this should be an exciting week for us. I know it's going to be a hot one!

 

I hope you guys have a great week and keep on reading your scriptures!

 

-Elder Guinto

 

P.S. just so you get a feel of how rich this area is I've ridden in a porsche three times already! Along with an audi and a mercedes! Crazy!

E-mail received 6/28/2010 - New area, Emerson, NJ

Man sounds like you guys are crazy busy. Ugh. I can't believe Katelyn's actually dating people. Bleh. Oh by the way my new companion Elder Coffin thinks she's cute and he's way better than anyone else. My new area is AWESOME! I'm now serving in Emerson, NJ the greatest area ever!! I'm completely in love with this place already! It's super rich country (again) but the ward here is awesome. The members are super supportive of missionaries and missionary work. The only problem is they feed us like crazy! I've already gained five pounds here! Oh by the way there's a scale in our apartment now and I found out I lost twenty more pounds while I was in Fairlawn so I was down to 200 but now I'm 205 because of the darn supportive members! They're awesome though. We really work through them and this area is on fire! We have two people set with baptismal dates here, one of them we set yesterday, and they're awesome! There's a town called Bergenfield in our area which is like totally filled with Filipino people and everyone in the ward is excited for me because I'm Filipino. I'm told I'm going to baptize like crazy in that area just because of my heritage. My district is HUGE. I'm the district leader of a five companionship district. That's a pretty big jump from a two companionship district. But it's really cool. One of the companionships is a Spanish area so I might have to give interviews in spanish! I've had a lot of opportunity to use all the Spanish that I learned in Paterson. I talked with the father of one of the members, who is a Jehovah Witness, for like 35 minutes of just straight Spanish because he couldn't speak English. It was pretty cool to see that I could carry on an intelligent conversation in another language. We talked about all kinds of stuff but mostly about how we have to make the Gospel a bigger part of our lives. It was pretty cool. Elder Coffin is basically a carbon copy of me. We have the same humor, the same eating habits, he loves to sing. It's going to be an awesome transfer. It's just like being on my mission with Jaron basically. We eat extremely healthy, when we're not being fed by the members at least. We eat a lot of strange things too which are really healthy like aloe vera leaves and ginger root tea. The aloe vera leaves don't really taste like anything but it's basically like eating a lugie. But apparently they're super good for your muscles and joints. The ginger root tea, which we brew ourselves from fresh ingredients, is an amazing drink. I'll have to show it to you guys when I get home but it's super good for your heart and intestines and it just feels amazing to drink. I'm looking forward to a quite prosperous transfer but I have to somehow find a way to get eating under control because I'm eating way too much here. I'm getting kinda pudgie. Man we've had some really cool teaching miracles here though. I'm definitely starting to learn how to effectively do member work here and also we're seeing a lot of success in bringing people to the waters of baptism. I really feel like I'm finally seeing success and finally really, REALLY enjoying doing the work. The past few transfers of just seeing minimal success have really made it kind of drag but I read a great talk in the June Ensign that really just got me inspired about what I needed to change. It's called, "Don't Be In A Hurry." I highly recommend it! It made me realize that Heavenly Father wants us to be dedicated but he also wants us to have joy. There needs to be a balance in the work that we do. We were sent here to have joy, while dedicated service will most certainly bring that, if we get to lost in the things that we need to do or feel like we need to do and don't give time to breathe or grow we aren't giving Heavenly Father room to bless us. While we should always be diligent we should always make sure we don't overburden ourselves and thus dullen our spiritual sensitivity. I feel like I'm finally enjoying my mission. While I'm not really here to enjoy it, I'm here to reap and labor but now I feel like I'm really getting everything I can out of it. Work, work, work, work with really no fruit isn't efficient useful work at all. You guys should read the talk but remember there must be a balance we can't be all play and no work either. Then nothing gets accomplished and you feel like a failure. I really feel like I'm establishing a balance here that will last my whole mission and I'm really happy to be serving here in Emerson. I hope you guys have a great rest of your vacation and I can't wait to hear from you next week.

-Elder Guinto

P.S. The mail system is changing. We're now only going to get mail twice a transfer. Just a heads up. Also, when I was at the temple, apparently something has changed with the way garment distribution goes so I could only get 7 pairs of garments and I couldn't get drilux bottoms. So it would be really cool if you guys could get me maybe 2-3 more sets of garments in the drilux. tops are medium and the bottom is a 32" waist.

Kyle's latest pictures

Finally got around to uploading Kyle's pictures.  Not sure who everyone is or the reason behind some of the them, but hope you enjoy them anyway.  We'll all have to get the low down when he gets back.

Enjoy!  Latest Mission Pics - June 2010

E-mail received 6/21/2010

First order of business. WHO'S J M?! I don't believe I authorized any of this dating business. If any guy wants to ask my sisters out they have to submit it in triplicate straight to me and I will evaluate their worthiness to venture upon such action! Man! Nobody follows protocol anymore.

 

That's good that you got the pictures. The taco was just some food that we had that Elder De La Cruz made and it was the day that the camera came and so I was just testing the waters. And yes I would like it if you would print out the pictures. Also I would like that copy of the ensign. I think it's too late for me to order a ensign edition.

 

Man, so many things are going on! People leaving on missions, graduating, dating, vacations. The SOAR banquet was pretty formal if I remember correctly but you can really wear whatever you want. Tell Katelyn not to waste time and BE SOCIAL! I didn't get my scholarship based on academics! If she can make a good impression on the counselors and especially in the interview at the end she can definitely get a lot of benefits from it.

 

We had an extremely eventful week ourselves. The temple trip was definitely one of the highlights. We got up at 3:30 in the morning to catch the bus into the City and we just barely caught it! It was like a peruvian Andes mountain bus though and my butt hurt after riding on it. We went to the empire state building (Elder Calderoni & De La Cruz refused to leave New York before going there) so we have a lot of cool pictures for you guys. It was really great to be there. It's amazing how that really is a hallowed place in the midst of a world of tribulation. It's about 20 blocks from times square on a really busy intersection and as soon as the doors close behind you it's perfect silence. Also we happened to go on the same day as the departing missionaries so we got to go through a session with them and with President and Sister Bahr. Also someone from the Osment (not sure if he meant Osmond) family was there! It was pretty cool but the best part was the revelation received there. I had some pretty specific questions and Heavenly Father really gave me the answers. All the work we did after that day was incredibly successful.

 

We found a lot of amazing new investigators this week. One was this great Jamaican family who are just ready to get in the water! They've been looking for a church with a prophet called of God to lead them! They're amazing and so open and prepared to receive the Gospel. Another new investigator that we found this week was a referral from a member. He invited us to his daughter's birthday party because he knew there was someone who would be there who he wanted to introduce us to. We met him and he was a great open guy. He's had interest to investigate the church before but his wife had decided against it. He's been going through some rough times internally because he's really hard on himself and really concerned about how his parenting will effect his children. He really had a deep concern for them and really struggles with what the right thing to do is and whether or not he's being a good father. we taught him about how God can give us those answers and most of all help our families to be more united, protected, and blessed and happy through living a Gospel centered life. Most of all we emphasized that his Father in Heaven loves him and that the greatest source of joy will be found in seeing our children grow in truthfulness and light and that blessing comes through the Gospel. When we left he said he felt like a whole great big burden had just been lifted off him in the little time we were able to speak to him and he was super stoked to visit with us again! Member referrals are the best!

 

It's pretty sad though because now that we're seeing this huge success and our area is on the cusp of exploding we're being doubled out! Yepp that's right, we found out this morning that both Elder Calderoni and I are being transferred and our area's probably becoming a zone leader area. It's kind of sad and disappointing that we got doubled in and are now being doubled out, especially when we're finally seeing people who are about to get baptized, but I know it's all for a purpose and that the Lord has a plan for it all. Elder Calderoni and I have really learned the importance and power of forgetting ourselves and going to work. When we have in our hearts, really deep in our hearts, that this isn't our work so much as the Lord's work, He prospers the area and we are able to see many great blessings. In contrast the moment we start saying things such as "our investigators" "our dates" "our baptisms" and really start applying what are progress in others to ourselves, progress seems to drastically halt. The Lord upholds His work, not ours. His work is never frustrated (D&C 3:3) and so we shouldn't be either if we have an eye single to the glory of God and a heart ready to do good where ever we are called. 

 

I'm still a district leader and I'm happy and excited to see how the Lord will use me to bless the lives of people in another area of the mission. This next transfer will be a little different because on July 7 we're having mini transfers because the mission is growing to get half of the Cherry Hill Mission. We're getting 29 other missionaries and we're going to be fully integrating them immediately. It's going to be an exciting and, what I anticipate, a very fast moving summer for us in the New Jersey Morristown Mission and we look forward to it with great determination! 

 

I hope you all have a blessed day and remember that the Lord has a plan for each of you. I like one of the quotes that Dad sent me which in essence says that time truly has little effect on where we go in life, it's what we do in life which determines where we will be when that time comes. We will be the same age 13 years from now, the only difference we can make in that is whether we became what we wanted to be in that time and if what we want to become is truly the most we can be, fulfilling every measure of our potential.

 

-Elder Guinto

 

P.S. Hey dad do you know how to make puto(that colored rice cupcake thing that filipinos eat)? I had it at a Filipino party and I loved it! I remember having it at other filipino parties. If not if you could look up a recipe and see if I could make it because it's super good! I'm going to try and stop by the Filipino store here and see if they have it but that would be cool if I could make it.