Nov. 9

The weeks are starting to fly by!! 

Hosted an activity the other night for the youth, and challenged them to bring a friend....

we ended up with like 40 something people

we watched A movie called the testaments, had refreshments, and afterwards played soccer

biggggg crowd showed up for that! Big hair!

chilling in the hammock with a snow cone

Clothes hanging up to dry since i had to hand wash them this week -_-

The kid I baptized the other week has a mom who is a member and a dad who isn't.  we are working to get the parents a legit marriage (it's expensive to get married, they have a ceremony but it isn't legal)  so he can get baptized also!

A youth that we have a baptism for tomorrow was kind of a spires for me.  He is in a part member family, and never really seemed all that interested in the lessons or anything whenever we taught.  However not too long ago we had a lesson with just him, and invited him to be baptized, and he said yes. He has been coming to church, and all the activities, and kinda surprised me. You never know who's paying attention. It's cool to see how people can change like that.

I'm off to do some Noche De hogars 

aka FHE with some peeps  see ya guys later

 

 

 

 

Nov. 2

Nov. 2

This week was a tough one in regards to my stomach. My stomach has been very odd,  its been upset, and then it gets worse with really any honduranian food.... I'm  just genuinely sick of it because its always the same oily greasy stuff.

so i finally found a place with root beer and some other goodies and went a little cray cray

Before

After

 

 

Finished off the last of our food on some chocolate pancakes

Hosted more futbol

Consists of playing with the youth, the youth inviting friends, and then having a lesson

this week we are gonna watch the restoration movie before hand, with baliadas, and then play 

Took the youth to BK also,  hooked them up with some americano 

Some dude teaching us how he fishes. this dock used to be longer but long ago it collapsed 

 

you can see the foundations out there

and this dude just fishes off of whats left. this dock was sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The buses here are so fun just old ghetto school buses rigged with tons of lights, horns, and speakers

inside is just bumping with music!

 

that is  the name of the hotel by the beach,  if you want to see where i was geographically, plug it into google maps you can see it

this week I learned the importance of teaching with love and patience!

the two newbies (I'm in a trio) didn't have a lot of patience or love for one of our long time investigators, and ended up just trying to bail out.  We had a youth with us so I told them Id stay and teach.... so I did.  Until that point they didn't even let me talk, our investigator Alejandria  was frustrated, and i was just trying to get us back on track.   It all just kinda flowed out perfectly though.... I'm getting better with my Spanish, but I still have my days.  We had the lesson, and reviewed the Book of Mormon.  She has had tons of lessons, wants to be baptized, but hasn't received a confirmation yet through prayer... This youth and I taught her all about the Book of Mormon again, answered all of her questions, and then some.....

We just had a great lesson, only the youth and with me completely in charge and I didn't struggle at all with my Spanish. I don't recall making any noticeable mistakes.  At the end Alejandria just told me about how grateful she is that I can speak.... she was like the first person I meet, and complemented me on how much I've changed.  That was pretty sweet. It was rather interesting because the other two can teach better than I can, and they know more scriptures, they can do it all better. But without the love and patience it was an awful lesson. I'm no longer in that trio anymore. I'm good. 

my area is sweet, its just so incredibly hot here, there is like no relief from it ..just dripping in sweat everyday 

 

 

Learning how to sharpen my machete: disobedient companions..not really, they are for service when we need em, we chopped this dudes grass the other day with machetes. It takes forever but no lawn mowers here. 

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!