Happy Birthday Hayden!!!!

Hey! 

So, I don't really have much time. We are in Rabinal cuz we went to this cool waterfall place and we had to use internet at this crappy place here and it is super slow and I have been trying to get my birthday song off —Ha ha ha. I finally did!!! Woooohoooo! But —Dad—I didn't get any pictures if you sent some...

But— first thing I have to tell you is—YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST!!!!!! I did get my iPod and it is so awesome! I love it! I also got everything else. You guys are so awesome! Thank you soooo much. 

So, I would send you some pictures from today and some more from yesterday but this place is pretty cruddy so I can´t. It won't work. So I'll just tell you, it's been a pretty good birthday. I opened my package and that was awesome. Then we headed up to the waterfall and we took some sweet pictures! Mom, you probably would have killed me...Ha ha ha... but hey, it's my birthday!!!!!! And then we came here. I am super hungry though. I haven't eaten anything all day! 

So also, I wanted to send you pictures of our branch Christmas party! It was so awesome! I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas party! Me and Elder Monzon were part in two acts for the party and it was super funny! We did a dance performance with the Elders Quorum!!!! Ha ha! It was hilarious! And all these Latinos are teaching me how to dance! Ha ha! But don't worry, we made sure it was permitted and no female was even remotely involved!  

Bad news though, my absolute favorite member of our branch left to Mexico today and he´s not sure if he is going to be coming back. He invited us to his house last night to have dinner one last time with him and his family and he told us that out of all the hundreds of missionaries that he has known, he loves and respects Elder Monzon and me probably the most out of any. He is the one I think I told you about that was branch president in Georgia for like twelve years or something. But he said to make sure to give him my address and everything because he wants to stay in contact. He is an amazing man. He has been such a great example for me! I was almost crying my eyes out when we had to say goodbye to him last night. 

But OK, I better get going. Thank you for telling me about the Christmas party and everything! It was so good to hear that all the good old traditions are still hangin' strong!

Now for a shout out to McKay:

Mack I am super proud of you! You are going to do an awesome job! You will be the happiest you have ever been if you choose to BE OBEDIENT!! And work as hard as you can. And have fun!!! I love you man. Tear it up out  there in NC! 

Ok, I better get going. My times up but I will send some pictures next week. 

Love you all. MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD.....week. 

Talk you you on SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh yeah! I almost forgot! My number is ........ and call at like two or so! I will be waiting! And if I don't answer I had to leave for a lesson. In that case, call back at like 9:30 when I get home. Wooooohooooooo! Love you all!

Con amor,

Elder Welch

A WHOLE lot of news from Hayden this week!

Hi,

 Before I begin I  have great news! The most important news of the day!!!!! Just the other day Elder M. and I put baptismal dates for the 30th of December with two of the kids from the P. Family!!!! Wooooohoooo! Next week I will tell you all about them.

Oh —and here are some photographs that I promised you from last weeks p-day when we went to the waterfall.

The first one is of me on the trail we had to hike to get there. It is a trail that they use to run cattle so it is insanely muddy! That stuff that looks like a huge running muddy river is just strait up mud. It was pretty crazy. We passed some pack horses going up on the way. It was pretty cool. They were in mud up to their bellies. And I didn't bring my boots because I didn't know I needed to and I was the only one without them because they rent them at the trail head but non of them fit me. But I think I came out cleaner than everyone else. I just had to hike very carefully and smart! Ha ha! There is a giant hole that I about fell into (He is talking about the crevice at the bottom of the photo that you can barely see.) I was walking on the trail there above it and one of my feet slipped off the edge and I was on one foot balancing on the edge right above that hole. And it was probably like seven feet deep and the bottom is probably like another five feet of pure mud! I woulda been in a pretty sticky situation. The next ones are of the waterfall!

Then one of me and a baby calf that we found in the village we visited to go to the waterfall that loved to give me kisses!

Me and Elder M.

....and then one of me eating this crazy cooked vegetable thing that I have no idea what it was but we bought from this little girl in the village that was walking around selling them. They were actually super good. It was kinda like a potato but SUPER flavorful. It was called malanga. 

I found this on the Internet about malanga—Malanga is a brown, hairy tuber in the Arum family that is cultivated in many tropical regions around the world. It is closely related to taro root. Like taro, malanga usually is ground into a paste that can be used to make a rich, starchy flour, which can be used in an assortment of foods. In addition to being ground up for flour, the corms also can be sliced and fried, stewed or grilled. The leaves also are used as sources of roughage appearing in stews and in other dishes while they are still young and tender.

Consumers of this tuber describe the flavor as nutty and very earthy. Some people say that it tastes more like an nut than a vegetable. 

Next is the picture of me on Wednesday when I received my huge load of packages! Ha ha! 
I got one from Grandma and Grandpa Murdock. THANK YOU!!! 
....and one from Kris and Lani. THANK YOU TOO!!!! 
....and then three from the fam.

I opened the pre- Christmas one from the fam and the one from Grandma and Grandpa cuz it said Happy Birthday and idk...I wanted to open it! Ha ha! But I am being patient with the others.
I will open the birthday one from the fam on the birthday and the other two on Christmas! 
......unless you want me to do otherwise...
Or in other words— Will you tell me to open them all NOW! Please, Please, Please! 
He has never been very patient in waiting to open gifts!

Ha ha, answering your question... yeah, I love it here in san chomo! It is awesome...once again I still miss Dolores...but this place is growing on me. 

So now I'll just quickly tell you about the day today. It was our Christmas Conference and it was amazing!!! It was one of the BEST p-days EVER! We went to an orphanage! I think that this is really saying something because he has had some pretty amazing p-days if you ask me: exploring ruins, spelunking in caves, finding waterfalls and let's not forget killing Pit Vipers! How I love that THIS was his BEST p-day EVER!

Mom, Hermana Watts says thank you sooooo much for everything. I had no idea that you sent as much as you did. You are amazing. And the kids LOVED everything. Thank you so much! 

I have pictures, I'll send them to you!!! 

Just an update with all of our efforts we were able to send 13 boxes CRAM full of great stuff! I kind of played it down with Hayden and did not say much other than we were working on a "little" project. I did not want to ruin the surprise of the orphanage or for it to sound boastful in anyway. I will write another post with more photos and information later on how it all turned out ....But for now I just want to say THANK YOU to all of Hayden's family and friends who helped. I can not wait to show you how great it turned out! You were such a big part of Hayden's best p-day ever! Thank you!

Anyway, so, first of all, the orphanage is in our area, so we had to wait for everyone and take them there. Then we all sang Christmas songs together with the kids, then we sang Christmas Carols in English for them, then we went and played games with them and then we all got back together and gave out the present bags and got to know the kids more.  Then we all sang Silent Night in Spanish for them, had a prayer and left. 

After we went to this nice hotel in our area and had lunch and then we watched ¨Tangled¨!! That was awesome! Then Hermana and President Watts talked to us, then we all took pictures and then we came here to internet. It was an awesome day! 

Hayden sent only a couple of photos from the orphanage. They are mostly with the dolls that Grandma Stella made while she was sick just before she died. You can tell by the focus of his thoughts and and the few photos that he sent that this meant a lot to him. If you look closely you can see a few of the bears with the headbands and dresses in the background, the jax sacks and the little bags of toys, as well as many of the other toys we sent. Mom, I am not sure if your soccer balls got there in time for this orphanage or not. I know they are doing more than just this zone conference though. I will post more info. and more photos later. I just wanted to explain why Hayden seems to be focused on the little "blanket dolls" It is a very emotional connection for him.

OK, here are some of the pictures from the orphanage. 
The first one is of me with some of Grandma Stella´s dolls. 
(Shhhhh....I stole one) 
Ha ha— just kidding there was one left over so I took it! Ha ha!

  Then there is a picture of me and my group of kids. Paúla, Jackalyn, Nymfa, and Cristina

And ...YES! Marie and Butch I do see all of the cement and pavement.....shoulda sent the sidewalk chalk! I am eating crow right now!Well —I ate crow weeks ago when I knew you were right—I am just admitting it now! ;)

and the next is of another little girl who got one of Grandma Stella's dolls.

The next picture is of me with a little girl that also got one of Grandma's dolls. She fell asleep playing, but I wanted to take a picture with her anyway so I just held it by her.  Ha ha!

The last one is of Luis. He was in my group —just cuz he liked me I guess...Ha ha! Because all of the other girls were friends but he just came and hung out with me!

 I'm going to print off some of the pictures and take them to the orphanage 
and drop them off to the kids. But that activity was awesome!

I also took a bunch of pictures for Hermana Watts because her camera died so she will be sending those to you guys too ...sometime ...so that will be awesome!

OK, so my time is almost up, I'll try and send some more pictures of the orphanage next week and you´ll probably get some from Hermana Watts. and EVERYONE says to tell my parents and family thank you so much for everything you did. Especially the dolls! Everyone thought that was so special!
But anyway, Sorry that was super quick and really vague, but I am out of time.

If there is anything I need to do with the packages tell me now quick! I gotta go!
Once again hoping I would say, "Sure—Open them ALL NOW! :)

I love you all SOOO MUCH and I will talk to you next week!

Con amor,
Elder Welch

While Hayden was online typing his letter his little sister Abby was online as well. The following is a conversation that they had. I thought it was so cute that I included it. Abby's comments are in blue.

Hey hady wady!! Guess who it is???? Haha that's right your favorite sister!!!! hahaha I was just looking at the picture of the cow! He is super cute! Mom said you are gonna get some kinda strange disease or something! hahahaha :P and ya..That's pretty much all that I wanted to say...that and that I LOVE YOUR STINKING GUTS!!! Mom told me to tell you that I made some of the stuff for the orphanages and that it makes me super happy that they liked them! haha:)

Ha ha! Thanks Abby!!!!! I love you!!!!! They sure did love it! And don't worry. The cow was newly borne. It hasn't had enough time to contract any crazy Guatemalan disease yet —I don't think! Ha ha! Just kidding— but he was super cool and he loved me! He loved for me to pet behind his ears and under his chin!

Haha sounds more like a dog than a cow to me!!!! haha jk I'm jealous he sounds so cute!!! And uhhhh....how newly born??? Haha jk I wasn't worried...just mom;) Jk she was just teasin':D Haha that is so cool!!! Did you get any pictures of the teddy bears we made?

You made those?! Holy moly! They all LOVED those!!!!! I did but I will send them next week!!! Gotta go Abs, I love you! Bye!

I just thought some of the fam would enjoy that as much as I did! I will post more on the orphanage project as I get photos! Again thanks for all of your help! As you can tell it made a bunch of children and one special Elder- Sooo— happy! CA

A family in Mopan is getting baptized!!! And the members in SJ are AMAZING!!

So—my health is just fine! I had some sort of allergy the other day and was stuffed up for like a day, day and a half, but other than that I am doing just fine. 


It´s cold here too, but I'm sure you´ve got me beat. I seriously don't know what I'm going to do when I get home! Me and Elder M. sleep in sweats and hoodies and socks and all bundled up and everything! The last two days have actually not been too bad but they say it gets a lot worse for Christmas, so we´ll see....I sure do miss the snow though! I tell my comp all the time, if I am this cold, there should be snow. And if I am this cold, I should be snowboarding!!! Ha ha ha! But anyway, this place really does remind me of home. 


Today we went to a waterfall that was kinda like Bridal Veil. It is supposedly the tallest waterfall in all of Central America...it definitely was not as big as it sounds....it may or may not have been a little taller than Bridal Veil...but it was super fun. Me and my comp and Elder Chavez hiked like clear up close to the waterfall and stuff. They all rented rubber boots but they didn't have any in my size and I didn't know we needed them so I did not bring my own, so I was slippin' all over the place jumping from rock to rock. I thought for sure I was going in! But it was super fun. 


I have pictures to send but my stupid card isn't working here again for some reason so I can't send any pictures nor save any on there to print off. Which really stinks, cuz I got the pictures of Grant and Avery!!!! CONGRATS BRYAN AND WHITNEY!!!! Woo-hoo! I'm an uncle twice over! Ha ha ha! But —Oh my holy crud! You might all call me crazy but if I might put my two cents in, he looks just like Grandpa Murdock!!!!!! In one of those pictures you sent me it was like I was looking at a mini Grandpa Murdock sleeping in Bryan's arms! Ha ha ha! Alright, and I'll try and see whats up with my card so I can get it up and running again. 


So, I'm not gonna lie...when you told me about those dolls from Grandma Stella you got me. First time I think I´ve cried at Internet time! That is so perfect. Thank you so much. And tell Grandma Murdock thank you so much for the soccer balls she sent. The kids will love them so much! Oh! And that just reminded me of the kids from Mopan! I keep calling Elder Plata to see how they are doing and just the other day I got some amazing news!!! One of the families accepted a baptismal date!!!!!! They are getting married on the ninth of this month and then they are going to get baptized and the whole branch is pitching in to do like a whole big wedding with a luncheon and everything!!! That makes me super happy! The other families though haven´t yet. Idk, but Elder Plata told me they are having a little bit of a harder time. But we´ll see...


And you asked about me and my new comp too. We are getting along super well! He is an awesome guy! He wants to be a graphic designer and he says that he wants to come stay with us for a while and study in Utah, so I hope that if that actually goes through that's cool with you guys...haha. But idk. He is way awesome though. We are way good friends. We´ve gotta work a little on the obedience factor once again though, but everything´s going well. 


Alright, I better get going though...sorry I don't have too much to report this week. We are working with this family though that has been inactive for like 17 years and they have four kids that are all older now that never got baptized but they have some problems that they have had with a member in the branch. I´ll try and maybe find a story to tell ya about them next week. 


Oh and the members here are AMAZING! They are so awesome. Especially the first councilor of the branch presidency. He is such a good guy and I have already learned so much from him. Me and Elder M. are going to sing the "Little Toy Trains" song with him and his wife in the branch Christmas party! Ha ha! He is from Mexico but lived and studied in the states for like seven years or something and knows English pretty well...he is way cool.


But alright, I gotta go, sorry I didn't send this for a while. The Internet went out for a while so I just kept typing. 


And I will be getting pouch here pretty soon because today the zone leaders just left to the capitol for concilio so we´ll see if the packages get up here. If not, it might not be until changes. But that's totally fine. It doesn't really matter when I get it, just that it actually makes it here!  Oh and OF COURSE I did not leave my food in Dolores! Ha ha— I used my extra backpack solely for that purpose! It was super full of just my Thanksgiving food! I haven´t cooked it all yet though. Elder M. and I hardly eat in the house because the members don't even let us! They are always giving us food! But I'm getting it eaten little by little. Thanks! It is the best!


Alright, but for real now— I gotta go. I love you all so much! 


And mom, tell everyone thank you so much for everything. It really means so much to me. And tell them that I love them so much.  LOVE YOU!!!!! 


Talk to ya next week.


Elder Welch

I am in San Jeronimo....and I am a bit baggy! But not in a bad way!

Hey! Wut up eddybody!?

So, first of all, I got sent to an area called San Jeronimo. It is in la zona Verapaz in Baja Verapaz. 

I´m not gonna lie. I don´t know what I am going to do when I get back home to Utah. I AM FREEZING! —jaja—(Hayden is officially SPANISH! He has changed from Ha! Ha! to Ja! Ja!...) Just kidding not like way bad but it is seriously cold here.

It was so crazy when I first got here. San Jeronimo is in this valley like up in the mountains so when I came, first I went to Coban to meet my comp, Elder M., then we stayed the night there at the Coban ZL´s house and then we hopped on a bus at like five thirty in the morning. So me and my comp were cruising in this bus through the mountains and I was already super baggy after being in Coban cuz it was cold and everyone was like wearing jackets and like winter clothes and for me, that's home, not the mission...

It just got worst when we were driving because the mountains just started looking more and more like the ones from home! The drive was seriously like I was driving up Cascade, but with a paved road! And then, after I thought it couldn´t get any worse, we pull through the canyon and I can see down into the valley of San Jeronimo and it looked EXACTLY like Heber!!! It was so crazy! It's been a baggy little while! Haha not like in a bad way. This place just reminds me a ton of home. The mountains are ¨igualitas¨!

And then we got to this members house and he goes and puts on Christmas music in English and Bryan´s ¨Little Toy Trains¨ song comes on! That was way funny. 

But really I am loving it here. It is a HUGE difference from Dolores and I miss that place SOOO much! But it's really nice here.

It is still only a branch here but it functions like a ward. The members are really united and amazing! We have already recieved a ton of references and they go with us to the lessons and everything! They are really awesome. And my comp said that his last change here they only went to the grocery store one time because they never cooked. The members fed them every day. The only thing that we have made ourselves in the house is cereal in the morning for breakfast! But I really think im going to enjoy it here.

Me and my comp are getting along. He is from Perú! I just told Jordan that too. Ha! ha! (OK— maybe still only half Spanish :) but he´s not from his mission so that sucks but it's still cool. So anyway, it's kinda crazy though. This will be a good change— I think. I sure do miss Dolores though. Soooo much!

My district leader is Elder Godfrey. He goes home this change. My zone leaders are Elder Norton and Elder Contrerez. Elder Contrerez goes home this change too. Oh yeah, my companion has 20 months in the mission so he´s pretty old too. The zone leaders are in our district too so it's going to be kinda crazy. Like half the district is going to peace outta here this change!

Oh yeah, and mom, the soup was SUPER good! I wanted to stay there for Christmas cuz if I did I was going to get to prepare and make soup with six chickens so I could learn how to do it really well! But it's OK. I'm sure I'll get another chance before the mish is over.  (Do you get the feeling he keeps reassuring himself that he is OK? It was a tough change for him. Please keep him in your prayers. I have heard that this new area is one of the most beautiful and safe areas in Guatemala. I hope that he learns to love it there. He will! ....Now I am reassureing myself! :) 

And that is so true about Elder Holland! It was so crazy! Who told you about that?! Cuz I only talked to like two people about that but they noticed it too! It was so crazy! He started out his talk speaking Spanish and it was obviously written and he was just reading it and even at that it was a little splotchy and then at the end of his talk he started speaking again, reading once again, but then all of a sudden it was just like something clicked and he started baring his testimony like he had been speaking Spanish for years and it was super good and then after that part of his testimony he like clicked back out of it! It was crazy!!!

Alright, well, I better get going. I love you all so much! Thank you for everything! Especially the pictures! The few I could see I loved! A ton! If I get some taken this week I'll try and send some. I love you! Talk to ya´ll next week!

Con amor,

Elder Welch

It was one of my best weeks in Dolores!

K —So,

First of all...I have a change! I am SOOOOO sad! But these are some  pictures of this Sunday! It was District  conference and it was a broadcast from Utah of Elder Holland and Pres. Uchdorf.  And EVERYONE from Mopan came! It was so amazing! It was one of my best weeks in Dolores! It was the  best!

I got a picture of me and a few of the kids in the field outside of the church.

The only one I could get of the adults and stuff was when they were in the bus getting ready to head back. The first one of me in the bus with them Elder  Payne took. But he didn't take it how I wanted it so I had to take another one and I had to get all of them to smile cuz NOBODY did on the first one! Ha ha! But that is only about half of them. I couldn't get a  picture of the rest.

And the only chance I had to tell them I was leaving was right then when they were  leaving. I almost bursted into tears! When the bus took off one of the moms stuck her hand out to shake my hand and tell me thank you and goodbye and was almost crying and then as the bus was pulling off all of the little kids stuck their hands out to shake my hand and were yelling ¨Adios Elder Welch ¨  and ¨Elder Welch! No se vaya!¨  I seriously about lost it. And then they called last night and said they might all make the trip to Dolores tomorrow to say goodbye to me  before I leave. At seven or eight in the morning!!! They are  amazing! I love them so much and I am going to miss them a ton! But they are all going to get baptized. I am sure of it. And they are going to help the branch out so much! I love this place more than anything! I don't wanna leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 I think I threw in the picture of our district —minus Hna B. She didn't want to be in the picture!?

These are a  bunch of  pictures of me saying goodbye to  people.

A sister from the ward named E. and her family

D. and her daughters

The district president President C.

 Hermana O. and her grandson. 
She was like my Dolores grandma Ha!ha!
She actually kinda' reminded me of Grandma Ginge. 
Her grandson is A.
That is us with our ¨magic rings¨ Ha! ha!

 I showed him  a few of the magic tricks I remembered from Taylor and he thought I was a straight up magician! And I told him my ring gave me more  power and he got a ring for his graduation so I told him I made it a magic ring and taught him some tricks.

This is one of him doing the card slide trick thing that I taught him. Ha! Ha! He loved it! It was so funny!

And then the other one is a baby duck at one of the houses in Mopan. There was a whole batch of them!  So I had one of the little kids  catch one for me and I took a picture! I thought  Abby would like that!

Alright so these are of me at E´s house. She is the one that  I sent the picture of me and her and her  family when it was all dark. She  invited us over to lunch and she was making chicken soup and she had me catch and kill the chicken and taught me how to clean it and everything!  It was super cool!I didnt get any more  pictures of it though because my camera died.

 

 Well, I gotta go now. I will let you all know where I end up next week! Who knows?!  Hope it's somewhere awesome again! Ha! Ha!  I love you all so much! Thank you so much for everything! 

Tell everyone I say hi!

Love,

Elder Welch

I LOVE the people of Dolores!

Mom,

I wanted to send you a bunch of pictures so I am not going to be able to write much again. But when I am done I'll answer your questions:

Pictures from Last Week's Family Night

 These are from a bon fire that we had. 

We have family night with this family almost every Monday night. 

 

 The kids of this family, the G. Family, 

make up the majority of the leaders of the organizations in the branch. 

They are the best.

 OK, so these are from today. 

This is of the inside of the cave we went to that had all this ancient Mayan stuff.
 It is called Najtunich —if you want to try to look it up—they are like two hours from Poptún, close to San Luis . It's pretty cool. 

That is the gate that they locked the cave up with
so you can't get through to the really cool stuff
—cuz ppl destroyed some of it apparently.

Me and Hermana B. We are Darth Maul candle fighting! Ha ha! 

This is like an actual ancient carved out chair. The first picture looks cooler
but I sent the second one so you could see the chair better.

 

That is a legit Tarzan vine that I am actually swinging on!
That was the best ever!!! Ha ha! 

.....and the two hour ride back in the back of the truck! Ha ha!

The next one is for Abby.
I thought she would love the baby chick!
Tell her hi for me and that I love her SOOOOOOOOOOO much!
...and I never got a chance to thank her for the note that she sent me. Tell her thank you soo much and it was my favorite! It helped me out a whole lot and made me super happy!!!.

Then the next one is this GIANT caterpiller that we found in our house the other week!

And then the other two are of one of the tarantulas
that we found in a corn field a couple weeks ago.

This is the second one we found.
The first climbed up the pant leg of one of the kids that was with us
 and he had to grab it in his pants in a wad
and then take his pants off and shake it out! Ha ha ha!

These ones are of a service project 

we did in Mopan a few weeks ago.

The first few are of the jalón ride up.

The kids went with us to help.

And yes, that is cow crap im standing in! Ha ha ha. 

I have no idea what I'm laughing at but I really liked this picture. Me with my machete eating my cañon. (sugar cane) That is what that plant is behind me. It is the best. Whenever we go and work in the fields we just chop down a stick of caña and suck on it while we work!

Now, Mom to answer your questions.

I loved  my packages! Everything was the best, the laundry bag is PERFECT! And the food is incredible. Everything got here including the cheese—and the jar was unbroken.

As far as the weather, it's not cold anymore.

As far as books or stuff you can send.... other study material isn't allowed. But thanks! If it's like stuff to teach —like that that would be awesome! Can you get Queq´chi stuff?! I dont think that I am going to be speaking it too much— but today I talked a little with our guides in Najtunich with the little that I knew. I love it SO much! It would be cool if I got sent where I could learn it and speak it!......Yeah, but they usually don't send you up if you already have as much time out as I do...but that would be awesome. And like if you could send little things like examples that would make things easier to teach so they can understand that would be awesome! Because it is for sure a lot easier for a lot of the people to learn if they can see it.  

Changes aren't this Wednesday but next — I have no idea what's going on this change. I think it might be a crazy one either way...   

You know me mom......I am not OK......Not great....... OF COURSE...... I AM  AWESOME!!!!!!!!

And last but not least: 

YOU BETTER SEND ME PICTURES OF THAT BABY!!!!   

LOVE YOU MOM!!!! I GOTTA GO! I will try to send more pictures again next week! 

I love you all!!! 

Talk to you next week,

Elder Welch