Hey guys hope everyone is good!

Its rained about everyday here, and when it rains it floods.....

Gets almost to my knees which is crazy!

Had pizza a couple times this week.... a relief from all the beans and rice and whatnot!

Had a basketball tournament today, and a little barbecue to raise money to get a couple married out here (no pics tho...)

been a crazy week... here's some pics from my area!

I spend too much money on choco bananas lol.  All the food and drinks here are pretty cheap, but when it comes to stuff like appliances and stuff made in the states and other countries its a lot more expensive. Like I got a haircut today for 40 lemp which is like 2 dollars, but a poncho was 170.  My haircut today, which was 40 lempiras,  which is less than 2 dollars.

here is some pics of my barbershop lol.  Its got one chair in the middle and a big mirror lol.... but I'm not complaining.... cheapest haircut I've ever gotten

The other day I saw a lady give CPR to a chicken that had been hit by a car..... weirdest thing ever..... the chicken was totally limp and dead, then it would randomly just spazz out... I was so confused but just couldn't stop watching this old lady give CPR to the flippin chicken laugh out loud...Well it was at the house of our cook, and the next day we had chicken. 

Here's our bathroom, it doesn't look that great, but before we didn't have a toilet lid, and the toilet seat wasn't screwed on so we got a new one today.  There wasn't a shower curtain.... there was a plastic bag that originally held a mattress and was thrown over the shower pole... and it was all black and dirty.... so its a lot better now! yeah it was pretty freaking nasty

idk why i didnt go buy this stuff sooner...oh wait yes i do.... I'm poor lol 

nah... but with 3 people splitting the cost its a lot cheaper

i do gotta withdraw some personal money though because that ate up a good chunk of my allowance 

We found a family in Imvasion.... and with all the rain it becomes a lake basically.... all the houses are on stilts somewhat.  Anyways I had two pairs of rain boots, but we have 3 elders....  so I went ahead and talked with the mother, since we were supposed to have a lesson next door... but they weren't there. So she said she would let us in, so we carried the other elder through the water lol and this water was like near my knees. It was all worth it... we taught about the family and the spirit just testified to her and she started crying and invited us for another lesson..... Which we had to again carry the elder over the water for the 2nd lesson lol.

 

hope everyone is doing good!

Hey guys hows everyone doing!

Well turns out I'm not that great at Futbol, and worked up a pretty serious sweat playing with some muchachos the other night!  It was good fun though, and I eventually scored haha... i got plenty of time to get better though!

Here's a collection of some photos from the week:
Baliadas.... pretty simple, but super good

the secret is the cheese... here its super different... almost like goat cheese 

but baliadas are super good

just some kiddos

This next pic shouldnt suprise anyone haha!!

He uses it to drive tourists around, he says he talks with lots of gringos! It was pretty easy to start talking to him.... although he doesn't like his cruiser much lol 

I whipped up a mad breakfast of chocolate pancakes and bacon! It's a little difficult when all the instructions and ingredients are in spanish but it wasnt too bad. I helped out my companion to his first experience with bacon this morning and chocolate pancakes haha

During a lesson, in an area thats right next to the beach, this kid drew this in the sand which was cool! 

 Spanish, its pretty good, although my comp keeps scheduling english lessons with this lady, and realistically its a pain to teach english.  Its super complicated and I don't even understand all the rules, plus I don't know enough Spanish to explain! I'd rather use my language study time for Spanish but its all good. All in all the spanish is getting better so its a lot more easy for me to stay focused in lessons and classes on Sunday's. We had an event in the church

a kinda walk through activity about the plan of salvation.  We set up different rooms to represent the different kingdoms of glory, and I was designated to be Jesus. I had a couple lines

but in the end, I was waiting in the room, that was made to be all white... representing the Celestial kingdom, and I watched all the kids pour in and kind of had a glimpse of what the Lord experiences, and what he wants us all to achieve.  It was pretty peaceful.

Well, we got 2 baptismal dates for this couple that I really like, which is good!  However they are not truly married, a lot of people here are married, but not legally married since it costs a good bit of money. So we are working to get them married, as well as the husband of a part member family.  We are also going to have a baptism for the kid that drew the Elder Dover in the sand.  He's 10 years old, and he's pretty cool and likes me a lot. 

Well, since leaving home I've watched tons of different mormon videos.  One of them was on the last Sunday at the mtc.... basically my last day.  The video was about Joseph Smith, but focused on the growth and expansion of the church through early missionaries....And really it kinda hit me at that moment that I'm doing the same thing as them.  Im out here, expanding the church in a place far from home.  Its been a great experience so far, having investigators come unto christ.... but I've also gained a testimony in the importance of going to church. 

Its amazing how many people get baptize, just to not come to church within the next year.

However, I have seen a difference in people that struggle in general with life, and how much better 
they seem when they come to church the following week. 

Anyways hope everyones doing good!

Pictures don't do justice to how beautiful the mtns are

Be grateful for everything you guys have.... being out here has really made me grateful for all I have

Its difficult to be out here at times... lack of clean water, sometimes no running water, no power.... cold showers out of a bucket.... haha its an experience for sure, but it makes me all the more grateful for the things I have back at home!

hope everyone is doing well!

Hey all, hope everyone is well!

For those that watched, I hope you enjoyed General Conference!  All was good with conference.... raided some pulperias for oreos and juice before hand. But I liked the talk on how our church is lead by wisdom, men that have had experiences and have more faith than physical capabilities. Our investigator Alajandria came to conference! 

This week i found some sugar cane!

We had a cane about 4 feet tall, and cut it up and shared it with some families!

Sugar Cane is super good, you just kinda knaw on it and suck on it and it has a really sweet flavor to it!

I found a pulperia down the street that buys bulk dunkin donuts, and then resells em..... freak yeah

Did an improve basketball tournament with my other White friends, and some latinos.  By no means am i good, but latinos give a whole new definition to good... it was pretty fun to play

they challenged us to soccer next week haha

I'm determined to contact this house but they are never there! Build on common interests!

Pretty crazy how different, but amazing it is out here

by no means do i have all the luxuries i had at home, and it can be a challenge sometimes, but man its awesome to be out here and experience life like this! 

Language is good, so long as i pay attention i can comprehend whats going on pretty well!  Some people talk really fast, and I get more confused with them, but its going pretty well in general.

We had a multizone meeting this week in the city.  A bunch of us had to get up at 3 am and take a 4 hour bus ride into the city.  It was a nice coach bus so i slept well, and then we had to take a tiny van to the church.... 7 lempieras isn't a bad deal.  The vans and stuff here are crazy, they keep the doors open, and have a guy that hangs outside the van... if he sees someone on the side of the road he screams at em to see if they are going the same place..... if so the van slams on the breaks (highway or not) and pulls over while the dude on the side jumps off, and litterally pushes people in as the van somewhat stops, but its only like 30 cents so its all good lol!

Had my first baptismal service

the bishop baptized her since she has back issues.

The baptism in general was awesome!

She speaks Mesiquto so she doesn't say much, but at the end she got up and thanked the lord for sending my companion and I to her, and started tearing up, so that was great!

it has been a wet week here

we have been getting poured on

yeah, when it rains here, it pours like crazy 

everything gets flooded because there is a lack of drainage

We had a couple of investigators come to church yesterday.  A lot of people in my area are less active members.  lots of em.  Its odd how people just cant commit to coming to church.  We have had numerous people with baptism dates that had to get pushed back because they just don't come to church.  By no means is it always easy to come to church early in the morning, or to go to seminary, but Salvation is never easy. The Lord Bled, suffered, and died so that we might be saved.  Its important that we always take advantage of the Gospel that we have! It may not always be easy, but we can always receive blessings when we stay active. 

this was breakfast the other day. Breakfast is typically pretty random

Fruit

chocolate muffin

cookie

toast with peanut butter

carrot bread that we always buy from one member

apply juice 

speaking of veggies, the lady that feeds us can basically make the in n out burger sauce

she puts it on lettuce and tomatoes, tastes like in n out...... all i need is a patty 

i teach my comp English like everyday, and he wants to only speak English in the house, but that's about it

but hey, i went to burger king today which was awesome

however, everything there is about 1/3 smaller than it is in the states.... 

one of the families here has pigs in their patio lol 

 

 

we buy bagged water here.... 2 limp

 

the Spanish is going well

this week I've had a few investigators tell me out of the blue, that its getting a lot better, and one family said they like that i can actually have normal conversations now, not just church vocab!!

 

 
 

Lychee fruit