More pictures from Week 4 P-Day

=]

shopping

i should've bought this headband =[
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Semana 4 (Otra Vez)

Hola todos!

This week was really good. I feel like it was a little bit longer than the other weeks for some reason. But that is probably because it was fullll of stuff.

This past week we had divisions and I stayed in my area with the sister training leader Hna M. She was great and actually taught me a lot. Including a detailed descriptive lesson on the difference between the two different past tenses used in spanish. 

We also had Zone Conference with all the zones here in the city. It was great to hear encouraging words from Presidente Bowler. I learned a lot about obedience, which was great because obedience is one of the things I realized is important in humility. I also learned a lot about teaching by the spirit, especially in asking inspired questions. This is something I need some practice with. I hope that I can become great at teaching by the spirit. I know that the more humble I am the more I will be guided and helped while teaching. 

We talked to a lot of people on the streets with week and had the help of a few ward missionaries. It was nice to go out and work with people from the ward. 

We are working a lot with members here which is supposed to encourage them to take part in missionary work and give us people to contact. This helps us a lot with teaching more than finding. I hope that we can help members feel the spirit during our lessons with them and that they have more of a desire to do their part en la obra misional. 

Honduras is a hot as ever. I'm happy that this summer I am not in the south. what a blessing. haha. 

Spanish update: it's coming along. I'm praying a lot for the gift of tongues. Sometimes I feel like the words just come easily even when I don't understand how I'm saying them and I know that's a real blessing. But other times I'm stumbling all over trying to form my thoughts into words. 

Today (p-day) with our zone, we visited a town called Valle de Angeles and went hiking to a waterfall. It was really fun and reminded me of all those hikes we would go on in hawaii. Then we looked around the town in a few shops. It's a really big tourist destination apparently. I saw a few americans. o=

I hope everyone is having a great summmer!

Love, Sam

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Week 3 (Otra Vez)

Hello!

This past week went by so fast! I hope that all the weeks go by as fast as this one.

Andrea, our investigator was baptized on saturday. We have been teaching her ever since I arrived in the mission (she had one lesson before I came to this area). She has been the perfect investigator, always reading, asking questions, and praying. We had a lesson with a member present and he testified about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the spirit was so strong that she started to cry and told us that she was ready to be baptized. She already had a baptism date but it was a very spiritual experience for us all. I am so happy that I was able to be part of her journey.

I'm starting my fourth week this week and I hope that I can continue to grow and progress as a missionary. I feel like I am learning a lot about what it means to be the best missionary I can. This week I realized that a part of that means being more humble. As I humble myself I will be able to love others more and be more receptive to the feelings and needs of those we are teaching. 

My Spanish is progressing little by little. I think it definitely helps that I am with a companion who does not speak English. Which means I am constantly improving my grammar in every way from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed. No dreams in Spanish yet, though. I feel like I'm in a transition period where I am stumbling with Espanol but also feels weird to speak in English. 

I am looking forward to receiving mail from all of you soon (haha)!

Love, Sam

Week 2 (Otra Vez)

This week was good. I had a lot of ups and downs but I always got through my challenges (mostly language related) with prayer and my desire to keep serving and become a better missionary. 

We had two opportunities to go to the temple this week.

I had a wonderful spiritual experience in the temple that renewed my faith to serve and that verified that I am where I am supposed to be. Sometimes it can be hard to forget home life and my family and my own hobbies and desires and to just serve the lord with complete faith. But I received that guidance and assurance that I can do this and that I will be happy and successful if I just serve con todo mi corazon, alma, mente, y fuerza. I am grateful to have had that experience at the beginning of my mission because I know it will help me throughout my time here in Honduras and give me strength when I need it most. 

We went to the temple for a second time the next day (saturday) but just to feel the spirit outside the temple with our investigator, Melchor. He was supposed to be baptized this upcoming saturday but he is having a few difficulties that are holding him back. The spirit was strong as we sat and prayed for guidance with our investigators and I know that even if Melchor doesn't get baptized right away, he will always have that spiritual experience to lead him to the right decisions. 

I hope you are all doing well and that your summer is great.
SEND ME LETTERS IN THE MAIL PLEASE.

<3 sam

Week 1 (Otra Vez)

HELLO!

my first week back in Honduras has been really good. My flight from Boston to Honduras was relatively quick. My bags got lost on the way here and it took a day to get them back. that was the only bad thing haha.

I got to see Hermana Bleak and Hermana Young at cambios on wednesday. it was really nice to see them but also it made it a little bit hard  because i am just getting here and they are going home.

The homesickness is crazy hard, but i've been homesick since before I even left home so it didn't take me by surprise. My companion is from South America and does not speak English so I've definitely just been dropped into a pot of new culture. I know that it is a blessing because I'm going to be improving my spanish so much since I'm pretty much learning spanish all over again. My companion is Hermana Cadima and she's from Bolivia. She is super nice and is in her final change. She is leaving in about a month. 

My new area is Miraflores which is in the Guaymuras Zone (my old zone!) and is in the city I am glad that i a in the city during the summer instead of the south where i know its crazy hot right now.

My area is really nice. i'm still getting used to not opening an area (since all my other areas I opened with my companion). it's different because everyone loves my companion and her previous companion and is still trying to get to know me and determine whether they like me or not (haha). I'm just trying to remember my way around everywhere. 

I like my area a lot and am glad that I made the choice to come back and finish serving my mission. I know that it's going to be hard work but that it will be a great time.

 

An intermission

Well. As many of you know, I'm home and I've been home for a few months. I had to come home from my mission early and that happened this past August. It has been a few months, so I've had time to process and gained confidence in myself since then. It was a very hard thing to do, coming home early; but it was right. I did the right thing for myself. I am not going to get into any details, but just say that coming home has been an opportunity for me to grow so much more and learn to love the gospel and myself so much more. It has been an opportunity for me to understand my worth and my importance. And how I can become better through the gospel, especially through the atonement and understanding that god loves all his children and wants us to be happy. I know that the savior died for all of us and so that we will always have him as a crutch to catch us when we need him most. I am so grateful for the seven months I served and look forward to finishing the final 11 in the future. But for now, i am taking it one day at a time.

Week 32 (August 11th-17th) in pictures

Week 26 in Honduras

good morning: so happy for morning study lol

mi cometido: memorize if you are serving in honduras

we ordered pizza for lunch before our trip to the temple

enjoying pizza while we study

we ate the whole thing

at the temple with our investigator Roger

companions

:)

a storm was coming

tegucigalpa honduras temple

Week 31 (August 4th-10th): Changes!

Week 25 in Honduras

Hola, this past week was another good week in Honduras. 

We had changes on wednesday and... I am in a new area with a new companion!

companion: Hna Castellanos (from Guatemala)

area: Guaymuras (a neighborhood in Tegucigalpa)

So the day before changes was a big day. We went and met with all our investigators (as many as we could, anyway. Taught a few lessons, and packed up all our stuff. Both my companion and I had changes (they're putting Elders in Yusguare). After all that we went to a baptism for the other hermanas and then we came back to get our stuff and move it to their house, where we spent the night because it would be easier to get to the bus for changes in the morning. Leaving all our investigators and all the members was a bit sad because I've been in Yusguare for a long time, ever since I arrived in Honduras. But I know that the new Elders who are there will do great. At changes I got to see Hna. Saldate and Hermana Bleak! it was great. 

My new companion came to Honduras at the same time as me but I have four more weeks than her in the mission because I was in the CCM for six weeks and she was there for only two. But we are pretty much equal and it's been really fun because we are both learning together.

This new area is very different from my first area. the people are different and the lifestyle is different too. but the work is the same. The missionaries before us in this area were Elders, so my companion and I are both new to this area and are opening it to Hermanas. It has been a week of getting lost and talking to everyone. one person we talked to on our first day, Roger, lives right in front of the church and we started teaching him and invited him to be baptized and he said YES, but only if he feels comfortable and ready by the date we challenged him for. He said that he wants to make sure he has quit smoking for good before he gives us a definite yes. We can really see his desire to learn and understand the Gospel. He wants to know for himself and that is the best.

Tegucigalpa is very fast paced and everyone is always busy and is almost never home, which is the opposite of Yusguare. but it is nice because everyone so far has been willing to make an appointment for another day. Our area is full of college students because there is a University really close. So it is hard to coordinate times to meet with a lot of people because they are at school, at work, or studying with their time. But we have been handing out a lot of folletos to people and inviting them to church. haha. it's better than nothing, I guess. But this new area is super fun. I am really enjoying it.

Everyone says Tegucigalpa is hot, but coming from the south, it has been really nice. and its actually cold at night!

it has been a good first week here in the city and my companion and i have been getting along really well. We have a lot of similarities and we are always talking about video games haha. 

love you!

(prep yourself for a lot of pictures)

clockwise: with Ana and Waleska on my last day in Yusguare, all packed, on our way to Teguc

My first and second companions (they are now companions with each other)

HERMANA BLEAK!

My new companion and me

in our new area of Guyamuras

we found mcdonalds

happy to be writing home (DO YOU SEE THE HARRY POTTER POSTER?!)

clockwise: first morning in Guyamuras, a present my companion made me on my 7th month anniversary, our study room, writing home, a cool poster, and us with ronald mcdonald

Week 30 (July 28th- August 3rd & 4th)

Week 24 in Honduras

This past week was hard (but good) work. We talked and talked and taught and taught and walked and walked. But it was good. We met with some new people and have been also visiting inactive members and animating them into seeing the blessings of the gospel. 

It's hotter than ever here in Honduras but it is okay because everyone likes to give us soda. haha. 

I got sick on saturday night and still, i am feeling sick. but it is not as bad as the last time, this time it is just a cold. but it wasnt fun yesterday because the power was out all day and we had to stay home and I had a fever of 38.5 (idk what that is in Fahrenheit) but the house was super hot and yeah. no me gusta. but I am feeling a little bit better today, which is good. 

We went with our zone to play futbol. I watched while everyone else played, since I am still a bit sick. But it was nice because this is probably my last pday with this zone, and I have been with them so long. So it was nice to spend the day all together. After futbol we went to get some pictures printed for Marbin and Ana, and then we all went and ate at Pizza Hut! 

We are going to have changes this Wednesday, and i am almost 100 percent sure that I will be going to a new area and getting a new companion. but we will see. I definitely will miss all our investigators and all the members here in this area, especially since i have been here for so long, but its okay. I know that this is a part (important part) of missionary life. And I know that my new area will be great and that the missionaries who come to Yusguare will continue to help the people here.

love, sam

happy to be leaving the house after being so sick

driving the moto-taxi (jk, i was just pretending)

the Yusguare missionaries

these guys are my best friends in the mission (both from Mexico). they help me with spanish and i help them with english (they just passed the language exam needed in order to be eligible to attend BYU! congrats to them!).

Week 29 (July 21th- July 27th)

Week 23 in Honduras

Hello!

For P-Day on monday we went and played Futbol with our zone in Choluteca at the stake center and it was really fun. It can be kind of frustrating playing with all the Elders because they are SO competitive (even though as missionaries, we aren't supposed to play competitively or keep score), but a few Elders and my companion, me, and two other hermanas from our zone played a side game that was much more relaxed and it was really fun! After we were all done, we realized the power was out and someone had closed the gate (which is electric to open if you don't have the key) and no we did not have the key so we were trapped inside! So we climbed the wall! haha

We also had divisions this week. I went to the other area in Yusguare with the sister trainer and one of the hermanas from that area. it was great to experience a new area and new people. and I had a lot of fun. divisions is something that I actually really enjoy. Their area is pretty similar to our area but it gave me an opportunity to get to know the members from the ward who live over there since we never go over there. Since their area is part of the same ward as ours, I knew pretty much all the members who we stopped by. That evening we had a Noche de Hogar at a member family's house and watched the Story of John Tanner movie and everyone there seemed to really love it. 

This week we had one baptism! The baptism was for our investigator, Marbin (pronounced like 'Marvin'. Marbin's wife is a member and all of her family are members and he has met with many many many missionaries in the past, but finally felt like he was ready to be baptized! And he really had a desire. 

The day of the baptism there was no power and when we did finally have power we filled up the font as much as we could but it wasn't very much water at all... just to about the knees. and Marbin is really tall so we didn't know what we were going to do. about 30 minutes before the baptism everyone started showing up and we were just like, "uhhhh theres pretty much no water" (and the water pump wasn't working again). So Marbin, the bishop, and Alan (his brother in law) started filling up the font bucket by bucket from an unknown water source (I think there is a well or something inside the shed they have at the back of the church haha). It was really amazing to see Marbin filling up the font for his own baptism, and you could truly tell that he wanted the baptism to happen and was making sure it would happen. it was great. 

The baptism was amazing and the spirit was so strong. All of Marbin's wife's family was there and he was baptized by the Bishop and he has such a strong support system in the church already. I know that his testimony and his faith is only going to grow in the future. 

And today... we are writing from the house of the Bishop. She wrote first (and I read Jesus the Christ) and then I wrote for about 5 minutes and then the power went out! we waited an hour and then went home. and right as we walked into our door, the power came back. haha. So we walked back to the Bishop's house so I can finish writing!

Anyway, miss you guys so much!

climbing the wall, the coolest tie, making baleadas during divisions, and me

Marbin and his family and us

The power went out again that night

k00l