Things are going great...

Hello this week everybody. First of all...I just wanted to say HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!! I hope you all have a good day! Things are going good here in my area.

I have a new companion from Panama. His name is Elder Herrera and he is crazy! But it's a good crazy. So that is fun. He just came from El Salvador so I am trying to teach him English. Please pray that he can learn English soon he really wants to and is struggling. He is really cool though. He cooks for me even though he uses my food without asking haha and he put a pink dread in my hair..for Halloween pictures but I took it out before I left haha but we got costumes to dress up today in the church for pday so it should be fun!

We went to our branch presidents son's baptism and they randomly called me up to lead the baptism..again haha. That was amazing and there were a ton of people there. The branch is finally starting to pick up and grow! We are getting in the 80's 90's and 100's every week which is insane!!

It is starting to cool down here too!! I actually got a cold...haha I don't know how but I got a cold here in Belize...like what in the world...but I'm feeling great now. I am getting my temporary residency finally here in Belize which will last a while after the mission so I can just come back and visit and stay here easy now haha. But that's about all. Things are going great.

We are trying to visit the members more because house knocking doesn't seem to be working too well now...especially because we can't go very far without bikes or anything. But really that's about all...I hope things are going well for you all!! I hope everyone has a great week and a safe Halloween!!! Ah dah go eet sum cahndi now.

New sister from new york. Her first day in Belize

my companion cooked that for me...it was actually really good haha

If we are doing what is right, we will be blessed.

This week was a great week!!! Just there are changes tomorrow and I AM STAYING IN ORANGE WALK!!!! YESSSS!!!! haha but my companion is leaving, he is going to Belize City with one of my best friends Elder Burrell...but I love it here. I will have a companion that will come into Belize for the first time and I will try and teach him English haha.

We had a miracle baptism this Saturday. A cute 9 year old girl who is called Celeste. We didn't do anything for that, I didn't even know her name until Tuesday, but we had a miracle of having a baptism this change. Her dad baptized her which was really special. They have been inactive for quite some time. After the baptism the dad came up to me and said in broken English, "I never thought I would see the day when I would get to baptize my daughter. Thank you so much for all that you guys did. You have changed our lives forever." And I was super confused...all I did was talk to him last Sunday because he told me he wants his daughter baptized but I had no clue who he was. So I told him "Thank you sir but we didn't do anything." And he told me "No, you did so much for me. You know, there is something about seeing you guys just walk down past my house, walking back and forth, that makes one want to get out and do something, and be a better person. Even though you never knocked on my door, just seeing you guys walking by has changed my life." That was a huge testimony to me. If we are doing what is right, we will be blessed. And his 6 year old daughter was so happy yelling "My Sister is gonna baptize!!!" and she stood up on the chair in Sacrament to watch her sister get the Holy ghost and is so excited for her baptism. What a cool experience!

The rest of the week was pretty normal, except the sisters threw stuffed animals at me during a meeting with our branch mission leader who is getting married next month to an American girl who is coming down tomorrow. Also Abner is now the teacher's quorum president!!! Woohoo!!! And I am trying to learn creole now because studying English and Spanish is boring haha no offense and I broke a couple ankles in basketball while I was in Corazal and sent everybody home saying if you lost during sports night, you had to go because it was super late and they didn't want to leave. Cool stuff haha and my comp made me mac and cheese because we finally got gas for the stove. Good week! I hope you all had a great week!!! Take care and do what's right!!!


P.S.  Had to share this because it made me LOL...in Brandon's email to me he said the following:
"I'm still District Leader of 4 girls. Holy cow I am learning a lot haha :P"
I replied, "So what have all these girls taught you?!!!"
His response, "ummmmm...how to listen...how to listen..and listen..and listen...and listen.......and then listen...and then say everything is going to be okay... and listen... and listen.... and be more creative so they aren't bored at District meetings...and then listen....and then listen hahaha :P"

LOVE this boy and all that he is learning about the mission, life, and girls:)

i da go cuz i gon si da ruins!!!

Hey so as the amazing missionary I am I forgot my agenda so I forgot what happened last week...haha but I do remember it was a good week! I did exchanges with Elder Harris and that was super fun!  I practiced baking cakes, we are bringing TONS of kids to church every week and to every single activity, just the parents don't want anything to do with it...Adults here in Belize...haha but everything is going good.

We are going to ruins today again so I am pumped!! AND MY BROTHER IS TURNING 13!!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUDDY!!!!! He is my favorite littlest brother!!

And we have been working hard here in Belize without success and without any hope of success for this change, but we will have a miracle baptism on Saturday I hope!! So it was a less active family but we are going to have the dad baptize the 9 year old daughter. Such a wonderful miracle and experience. Just we have to go teach her everything or try to before Saturday so please pray for us, but I know things will go well.

Thank you so much for all that you all do and I hope you have an amazing week and it stays warm for the most part! but i da go cuz i gon si da ruins!!! (Belize Kriol) -Elder Austin

Kids are such troopers

This week was good. Things are going great here just super normal haha I'm not really even sure what to write. We had interviews and a multizone meeting with the president so that was cool, and I went on a 2 day interchange with Elder Harris and that was really amazing!!! I saw a police motorcycle chase so that was pretty intense..and the Belize school system is on strike and protest...poor kids.

I had some really cool blessings as well but I will share those later. The sister missionaries in my district sure had a good scare with drunk guys... but I hope you all are okay with the Hurricane. That sounded crazy! I hope everyone is doing alright. It has just been hot here although Saturday it rained but we still got 5 kids to church. Kids are such troopers haha. But besides that...ummmm...it's all normal. And keep doing what is right! I will talk to you all next week!!

more pictures from last weeks excursion

I need to eat more healthy...

So I don't have a lot to write this week because I left my book at my house and that's how I remember what happens because everything just flies by so fast and it's all a blur haha. But I am doing great except the fact that I need to eat more healthy, and CONFERENCE WAS SO AMAZING!!!! Holy cow!! Just sorry to all the ladies because Holland Talked in Priesthood conference, haha. But conference was truly amazing and I learned so much from that conference.

I hope everyone is doing okay and that things are going well. I just got back from Lamani which is a ruin and my branch president was the tour guide, president Nefi, and holy cow he explained a ton of it with the Book of Mormon on things that I have never thought about before. It was really sweet and SO PRETTY!!! Just so many mosquitoes haha. It is so cool learning about all these things and I hope that you all keep having an inspired and uplifting week!! Just pray that my companion and I can have success please because out of 100 houses we contacted...we got zero news..haha soooo...but thanks for all that you guys do! And have an amazing week!! I will explain more next week!!!

 This is the road I helped build.

 Pictures on a boat.

Br. Garcia meets with the missionaries weekly.
He sent the following facebook message:

HE A GOOD SON.HE WORK SO GOOD I AM IN CHARCH OF THEM.I AM HAPPY TO WORK WITH YOUR SON SISTER

keep choosing what's right!!!

This week was really nice and I have learned a ton this week. I hope all of you girls who watched Women's conference really learned a lot and felt the spirit! From what I heard it was really nice! I hope you all member or non member can watch a bit of the conference this Saturday and Sunday!! It will be really special and something that you will never regret watching!!! It's just a couple hours that will change your life forever if you pay attention!!

So I have really been learning to follow the spirit and I taught a cool lesson I would like to share because the spirit inspired me during the lesson. We were at the church with a recent convert and we were sitting at the piano. I told him that let's imagine like the white keys represent happiness and the black keys sadness...then I played "How Firm a Foundation" without any flats... and it sounded super minor. But then I told him, now let's add in the sad moments in our lives, and it sounded great if I do say so myself. It was a really cool lesson and although he didn't pay attention at all, it was something that I really enjoyed. Black keys make music too.

Well I really don't have too much to say this week. Wednesday we stayed inside all day because of Independence day...haha crazy. And my recent convert made out with an investigator of the sisters.... sooo.. lots of work to do but hey I think the sisters will baptize her now hahah :P but just fyi flirt to convert is not a good tactic to use haha. But I hope everyone has a good week and keep choosing what's right!!! Take Care!!!

my companion can draw and the sisters can bake...

one of the owners dogs

 a pizza place that won't charge missionaries...I feel so bad going there:(

I drew the temple...haha my companion the others

Do what is right and you will be happy!!!

This week has been good. I got a new companion. He says he is only 6 foot 6 but he looks taller. He is from Washington so things will be good this change. We wreck all these Belizians in basketball now haha it is so fun.

But Today Last year...exactly a year ago I had my first baptism. It is so crazy how my life has been this past year and I love it and I just feel so good! This week has been pretty normal and "normal" I mean drunk guys pulling out machetes on us and stuff, and walking and never sitting the whole day, but this Wednesday there is the Independence day celebration here in Belize and we are not allowed to leave the house or even look out the window...hahaha. but we bought lots of food so we will be okay.

The work here has been going a bit slow now because we have been so busy with other things but it should start to pick back up again. So I had a cool experience with the spirit yesterday. Our mission leader has a disease where sometimes he shakes and passes out on the ground, and we were doing splits. I had a prompting to tell my comp about his disease because he was going to go leave with him on splits, but I just didn't tell him because it doesn't happen a lot. Well it happened when they were together and my comp got freaked out. And the guy passed out and fell in a ditch with water in it. Luckily he is okay..but it was a great lesson for me to learn and helping me to help pick out the voice of spirit. That is probably the thing that I am most working on is trying to be able to talk to and listen to the spirit. Cool stuff.

But everything else is going good. It has been a lot cooler lately thankfully haha. I have been dying of heat..except now in the nights I am freezing with the air conditioning #washingtonpeople but luckily I bought a hoodie :) haha take care!! Have an amazing week!! DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND YOU WILL BE HAPPY!!! Just small day to day battles make sure you win :)

 People I met in Armenia that got married and baptized!!!

(two pictures in left corner)

My drunk friend (grinch shirt)

A youth that went out with me (top, second from left)

Me singing in the bathroom