SPIRITUAL HIGHS

Hi Mom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and everybody else!!!

Wow what a week.  emotional week, spiritually draining and everything! I was so happy to get a letter from James!  It has been too long dude!  That is awesome that your papers are almost done!   You too Ryan!  Just so you two know, a mission is the most fun you will have.  I don't remember a time on my mission that wasn't fun so far, well besides surgery.  But that is a different story, I was having fun when it happened haha.. My mission means everything to me, I am glad I made this disicion, it changed my life.. I have been here in Miami for 3 1/2 months now and i have had 6 baptisms... the last three were yesterday (Sunday) it was a very emotional and spiritual day...

Now a letter to dad really quick.  All I can really say, is beware of Pride.  haha your son is telling you to beware of pride lol.  Just like in the Joseph Smith movie, sometimes the Lord brings you low, before he can bring you higher. Remember that dad, maybe the Lord is preparing you for something bigger .  The Lord is bringing you lower, to prepare you, teaching you a lesson so to speak, so he can lift you higher...Sorry if i have offended you, but you have to understand, the Lord may have great things planned for you, you don't know what they are but you will find out.. So don't react to something you don't know the result to right?  Good haha that was weird. oki Guilleremo is all good now, he over came his illness.  Everything is nuts here right now.   Oh just send me a bunch of sweets, doesn't matter which ones.  The jam is amazing, send me more! lol oh and Eduardo, our new recent convert, is engaged!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is going to baptize her on the 12 of November!!!!!! and they are already planning for the temple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.... anyway I believe that is all for today, but I love you all and thank you for everything!!! 

Yours Always, even when the pounds are gaining!

Elder Maki

HALLOWEEN ON YOUR MISSION

Not sure what's goin on here but at least he's having fun.

A little halloween spookiness for everyone to enjoy.

I'm not sure what Elders Maki and Bishop are dressed up as, maybe Wendy.

Well this post isn't from a letter of Elder Maki's, but an update on life and stuff.  We just attended a mission farewell of one of Elder Maki's best friends growing up.  It really made us reflect on the kind of boys they were and the kind of men that they have become.  It is so amazing to see how these young turkeys can actually grow up and become such an influence for good in the world.  It is hard to imagine where or what all these 19 year old young men would be doing if it weren't for the preparation and subsequent missionary service.  It really does mould who they are becoming.  As we returned home from the dinner I saw we had a Facebook notification that Cecilia Gonzalez had tagged Elder Maki in some pictures.  After looking at them I new I had to share them.  So here they are in no particular order.

Elder Maki's mother is wondering if he will ever take a serious picture

GOOD-BYE TO ELDER STUBBS

Hola muchachos!!! finalmente hoy es el dia de preperacion! yo lo he esperado por eso! oh sorry you probably dont understand spanish yet huh? ok well,  anyway, my companion is Elder Bishop, from Arizona, transferred from West Palm Beach, and no I am not the leader, he is senior companion still but I lead him around the area.  So this week after the transfer, we doubled our total lessons taught!!! oh mom Kashmil speaks perfect english and Noria knows and understands it, but struggles speaking it.  I miss them dang! ok pues, all is well here, I AM FREEZING!!!! the humidity is gone and it is about 70-ish!! its soooooo cold, hard to think that in a couple months, it will be 60-70 below zero where you are at hahahahahahaha, but I guess it feels refreshing here here right now,,,, dang 6 and a half months out ya! crazy how fast time goes, 

My old companion and trainer Elder Stubbs

Tell James I DO NOT want to see him at my homecoming, but I WILL be at his! Tell him that time goes so quickly.  So i haven't heard about Nathan Sparks call yet, where is he going?  anyway, Our friend Guillermo (Papito-malo) is sick and is on the edge of life right now... we both fear that this may be his last week...but we gave him a blessing so God knows what needs to happen with him...I love the kitchen It is soooooo different.. it looks like a kitchen you would find in a penthouse here! mind you even the penthouses here are about half the size of our family house.,... I love the backpack and the braces are helping me to sleep so i have alot more energy during the day.  what else can i tell you guys... oh we are having tremors here, just teeny weeny ones but alot of them is because of the ships and large carriers go really close to the coast so the waves crash and break on the rocks and the beach and shakes the ground.. I have put over 6000 miles on my bike now and it will keep going up and up.   Oh ya i have a cool picture I am going to send you at some point, it is of my 6 month mark.  it is cool.  Well today we are going fishing, it is the barracuda migration season so we are going to see if we can catch a barracuda, but anyway, there are many fish in the bay today... Oh dad, finally you have gotten your head out of the gutter and gotten a Mac, haha, do some sweet garage band stuff, if i can I am going to send you the songs i have written on the piano that i have on my camera and send them home, they are cool... 

Chowin down on some grubb

Teiler, Que tal jefe? tienes novia? haha tienes una fecha con una mujer o mujeres, tienes animo para servir una mision? bueno, tu eres un buen ejemplo para mi.  Antes de mi mision, no gustiste la iglesia, ahora bien, tienes un gran testimonio de la divinidad del arrepenimiento y el perdon, pues, espero que todo esta bien contigo, y que vaya bien pues.  haha tanslate!

I love you all soooo much,

les amo muchisisisisimo

soy suyos para siempre

Elder Maki

PAPITO-MALO

PICS YAYYYAYAYAY!!!!

This is Guillermo Almeida, a member, Cuban 73 yer old man and he is awesome!

Majesty of the Seas

This cruise ship, is tiny, even though it looks big, the Oasis of the Seas is 7 times bigger.

GOT THE PACKAGE!

Hey everyone!!! I got the package and i am sleeping like a baby with the braces!! the backpack is awesome and the "How-to-use" guide was hilarious!!! so in answer to your questions, transfers is tomorrow (Wednesday) and Elder Stubbs is transferring and I am staying in Miami Beach.  It has been an amazing transfer.  and no I do not get trunky when I say how long i have been out, I left the MTC thinking about the MTC, Missionary Training Center, Now it stands for Make Time Count.  Do not count time, make time count is what my mind set is... 

Almost complete!

the Kitchen looks absolutely amazing!!! i don't even recognize it!!! well mom, you got your dream kitchen now eh?  I am so glad I chose to come on a mission.  It has blessed my life and your lives too.  my work is not finished, i am excited to stay another transfer and find those who are still waiting for me.. the Salsa fue muy muy muy delicioso!! it was very very delicious but, the chips were all smashed up haha.  but oh well.. Everything is well here. it has been raining for the past three days, and when i say cooled off a bit, it is about 75 but it feels really cold right now.  so the other day we went harvesting, and we found a fresh Cuban family, (10 months they have been here) and they are super prepared! they let us in without hesitation and we left the blessing, returned last night, and they were very touched by the blessing.  By the way next transfer is on the 30th of November, every transfer week, P-day is on the Tuesday... so I have some pictures of Papito (guillermo almeida is his real name but we call him Papito-Malo haha) .  Well I love my mission, I love my new life, I love everything!! except the other day... we were helping a member move, and there was a shooting... only 2 streets away.  A Colombian youth was killed in the drive-by and the murderers are still out there, so we are staying careful.  walking with determination and quickly.  don't worry tho, the Lord protects his missionaries.  It is still pretty difficult to find new investigators, but we added three yesterday.  but still,  the people we meet don't want to change, or they are happy, or just threaten to kill us when we talk to them.. scary sometimes but oh well...  It is really an interesting place but we are pressing forward with steadfastness in Christ.... So teiler hows everything? that's awesome how you are getting into bow-hunting, that cool.  hows the hair treating you? lol  oh btw teiler, when we come back here after my mission, you are going to love it here.. you know how warm it is in the sauna at home? ya it gets that warm here.. oh and Dad, loved the how-to-use guide haha it was hilarious, and when we come back here, you are going to loose some weight but sweating it off lol,.. it is nice and cool here now but i still sweat haha..  I am excited to meet my new companion tomorrow, who knows maybe it will be one of the Elders from my MTC district. I am so excited for everything now haha.. .my bike is all good, i have alot more energy during the day because i am sleeping better with the braces... my shoulder isn't as sore, from the backpack... everything is all groovy! but I have some lds.org shopping to do quick, i need some DVD's for teaching , only about 10$ for both of them,,, these are the things I use my card for. but for now, I love you all So much and  i thank you for your prayers and the PICS haha,

Yours always, hmmhmm

Elder Maki

COOLIN DOWN

Hello everyone!! Well the temperature is going down, FINALLY!!! ok so I have not yet received the package :( but I am still waiting, Elder Stubbs has received three packages in the time that i have been waiting for mine haha.  Oh and all is well with my bike, i just took it in to get fixed cost me 8 dollars. Spanish is great, weather is great (with the exception of Saturday it rained all day and i got sick from it }:(    so ya it was a sad week. Our recent converts Noria, Kashmil, and Luz moved back to Massachusetts and it was a sad sad sad goodbye, tears and and more tears.  it was sad... anyway,  my back has been bugging me and my shoulder too but the work goes on.  Our finding hasn't been very well this week, we only had one blessing. but quite a few come-bakcs.  oki doki but other than that... so Grandma and Grandpa sent me a dear Elder this week OH and i got a letter from Elder Cooper!!!!!! it was awesome to read and to see how he is.  so Oh tell people in the family, cousins and all to write me, give them my address.   oh and i gots pictures for you all. ok bueno que mas que mas, there is not much to write about, oh que paso con los fotos de la cocina?! estoy esperando!! ok i will translate, what happened with the pictures of the kitchen, i am waiting. haha ... Hey Teiler whats up? hows school and that stuff? how's the hair? haha, do you have any dates lined up with a girl? or girls lined up for dates or however you do it, haha.  Mom I hope you get better soon,  I too am thankful for my family, and everything I have, I am thankful to be on my mission and to have had the opportunities and experiences that i have had, I am lacking in the snack department haha, i miss Canadian munchies. all this American snacks are weird haha.but the Latino food is amazing, we continue to get food every night from members, and we have found a few less actives and long lost investigators.  So the revelations still come and the language is great! today we had to go to the hospital to visit our crazy Cuban member who tripped and fell in his house he is 73 years old and he completely messed up his face! ouch!!!! broke his nose and gashed his forehead and has two black eyes.  anyway, how is everything on the house, I want some more pictures, the transfer is almost over and it feels like it has been seriously a month that i have been here , but time goes by so quickly, I only have a year and a half left, it is crazy!!!   oh please continue to pray for the success, and pray that i will stay here in Miami Beach haha, i love it here and there are many still waiting for me. I love you all, thank you so much for all that you do for me.

Yours always, dark dark dark!!! wait is it possible to be called dark white chocolate?haha lol

Elder Maki