Week 6, Pueblo Nuevo Viñas

Elder Walbom left the Missionary Training Center in Guatemala last Tuesday and we received an email from his Mission President which said, “I am thrilled to welcome your wonderful son to the Guatemala City Mission. It lifts our spirits when we greet the new missionaries and see their combination of faith, wonder, and youthful exuberance. My quiet interview with your son filled me with gratitude for the faith, righteous desires, and testimony he has developed over months and years of preparation.”

Elder Walbom related the following to us regarding his interview, “I bore my testimony to the [Mission] President. He wrote down ‘powerful testimony of Jesus Christ’ and told me that he had a prompting and inspiration while I talked, of who my companion should be, and sent me on my way an hour later.” He has 2 companions for the next 6 weeks, both of whom are Latino. 

We found out that the new mission is not just Guatemala City and actually goes all the way to the El Salvador border. Elder Walbom was sent to Pueblo Nuevo Viña, which is a small town in the mountains that is mostly without crime and relatively peaceful. No speed limits or rules of the road exist. There are lots of chickens and stray dogs running around. Elder Walbom said he was shocked at the living conditions in the town and has never seen such poverty and squalor in his life! There is only a small branch of the church there.

All 3 missionaries are new to the town.  They have a new apartment that was totally empty when they arrived.  There were no lights or running water and they didn’t get to eat that evening because they had nothing to cook with.  There were no beds or furniture until late the first night.  He said he never knew how good he had it and that it is hard to live in these conditions, even though they live better than most people in Guatemala. The owner of their apartment has a dog named Coco that is super nice and loves them, and jumps on them whenever they enter the gate. Elder Walbom said, “I say 'puppy' in a Spanish accent and every Latino laughs.”

On the bus ride home from a Zone Conference Elder Walbom had his first experience sharing the gospel.  “He was Catholic and I talked to him a bit and bore my testimony of Christ and the church and then asked if he would like to know more and he said his family would be interested so I got his pueblo address.” The 4 other missionaries on the bus congratulated him because he had a successful first contact and only asked for help translating twice.

Elder Walbom said this is the hardest thing he has ever done and asked us all to pray for him. He said he wants to enjoy it in Guatemala and focus on the good stuff, but it’s difficult when he is daydreaming about carpet and air conditioning. “At least I have my Zucaritas” (Frosted Flakes in Central America).