Week 20 (May 26, 2014)- I'm really sick

Week 14 in Honduras

Hi guys. I am so sick. Everyone, including the mission nurse, is saying it’s probably dengue. I have no idea but I don’t feel great. I just want to sleeeeeeeep, which is what I have been doing all day today and yesterday. I have a huge fever and it’s been constant all day. It went down one degree from yesterday so I guess that is good.

This past week was good. We taught a lot even though we missed two days because my companion was sick last Wednesday and Thursday. Nothing major happened but it has been really hot here, like unusually hot. my companion was sick with heat exhaustion. Not fun.

I hope you are all well. I think of you all so much. Especially these past two days being home sick I constantly look at my photo book that has pictures of you guys, haha.
One thing that I miss is being sick in the comfort of my own home or in a place that is not so hot haha. When I was sick at the ccm it was the same even though it wasn’t hot. But I just think when I am sick away from home it’s not as good because I don’t have all the familiarity haha.

We were walking home a few minutes ago because the power went out and we thought I wouldn’t get to finish writing and we were using our cell phone as a flashlight and we almost stepped on a HUGE toad it looked like a rock. Haha. But when we got to our house the power came back on so we walked back here to the bishop’s house so I could finish writing haha.

Details sent in a different email:
so i got really sick yesterday and could barely walk or get through church. and it was rough. and the mission nurse says i probably have dengue. so yeah. not fun. ive been sleeping all day and my temperature has been at 39 deg celc all day and yesterday it was 40. so its pretty bad. but we went into town today to get a blood test taken. it was a weird experience. basically it was like in one room with a desk and a lady sitting there. and she didnt wear gloves OR wash her hands first. and it was kind of scary. im scared im going to get some sort of disease. because i dont think she cleaned the needle beforehand, either. i almost cried afterward. but this is honduras so yeah haha. 

Have a good week!
Love, Sam

sent 5/27/2014

enjoying the air from the fan while trying to cool off. super sick.

the moment the power went out when i was emailing. a face of unbelief and exhaustion hahaha.

fan-enjoying in action

Week 19 (May 19, 2014)

Week 13 in Honduras

This week was very busy. We got one new investigator each day, along with our other investigators we have been trying to teach everyone frequently. It has been nice though because it means we are always busy and always doing something, instead of wandering around trying to find someone to listen.

Neither my companion nor I got transferred! We are still companions and still in our same area! We were both happy about it.

Oh, in our town, yusguare...they started paving a road! In the center of town. It’s so exciting and it’s going pretty fast too. It’s funny because there is dog foot prints all over it already haha. They keep fixing it but before it dries another dog walks on the wet part haha.

Frequent questions I get about my time in Honduras:

What kind of food do you eat? Honduranian food. The most common foods eaten here are: beans, rice, and corn tortillas. That is what we usually get from members, also baleadas but not as frequently. I prefer balaedas because they are made with a flour tortilla...yum. Everyone here asks what the common food in America is and I have a really hard time telling them that we don’t eat just the same foods over and over. Then I usually give up and say we all eat spaghetti every day. Haha.

How is your Spanish? It’s good. I learn a little bit more each day. I can understand almost everything people say to me, but talking back is a lot harder. Tenses are easier, Past tense is a struggle. Overall it is good. Sometimes I get really frustrated but then I remember that five months ago I didn’t know a single word of Spanish. I don’t think I could even count to ten in Spanish back then. The bad thing...I think I have almost completely forgot how to speak French.

How is the weather? Very hot! My area is in the south of Honduras and it is hot every day and every night, in fact I think it is just as hot at night as it is in the day. There is usually no clouds haha. And it’s hot when it rains too.

Do you have running water? Nope, not really. We have a pila (big tub like thing in the bathroom) and once every few days we get running water that goes through a pipe and into the pila. And then we use that water until the water comes again. So no showers. Just bucket showers.

How about electricity? Yes yes yes we have that. But it goes out a lot. haha.

What do you do on Pdays? We usually do laundry...by hand which takes forever, clean our house, do an activity with our zone we usually play sports or go hiking, E-MAIL, and buy food. The fun part...feeling the air conditioning at the grocery story. ME GUSTA!

This week was nice; we didn’t have changes, we taught a lot of people, some members fed us at least once a day, and yeah. Good.
I miss you guys a lot and I hope you are doing well. Love you!

Mission Info:
Mission area: yusguare
Mission zone: ciudad Nueva
closest big town: Choluteca
sent 5/19/2014

A Pila full of water

The craziest full moon i've ever seen. Francisco insisted I took like 10 pictures.

My bed with NEW SHEETS. thanks mom. <3

My cat, Crush. He's the cat of the Maldonado family. They said I can adopt him. xD

Week 18 (May 12, 2014)

Week 12 in Honduras

This past week was fun, like always. We did a lot of work and we had a lot of fun.

I feel like this past week we worked really hard and taught a lot and helped a lot of people come closer to the gospel.

Instead of taking about what we did this week, I want to talk about one of the great things about this area and about missionary work.

Luis got baptized last Sunday, which I mentioned last week, but this past week was the week we truly saw a huge change in him. He accompanied us on several lessons with investigators and bore testimony and also helped explain certain concepts. What I like was that they were very simple explanations but gave a lot of insight. As missionaries, sometimes we forget to keep it simple and want to talk a lot about everything. Hearing Luis bears his testimony many times this week and telling stories about his conversion, we had never heard before, was great.  He also started going to institute and has been spending more time with members in the ward. I know that with the help of others in the ward, Luis can continue to grow in his testimony and grow in confidence and find a family in the ward here, but that also depends on the members.

As members of the church I am now realizing how important our role is. Before my mission I absolutely did not think about this relationship, at all. But it really is important for members to embrace new members and even, especially, investigators. Please, if you see an investigator with the missionaries on Sundays, go up and introduce yourself, and get to know that person help them feel welcome and help the investigator see the church as a warm and welcoming place. If that person can find friendship and confidence through the church, they are more likely to progress in their learning, and also progress after their baptism into a strong active member of the church.

I guess what I am saying is that this week I learned a lot about the importance of members and missionary work.

Talking to you guys on Skype last night for mother's day was amazing. And I am so grateful for technology and for the ability I have to video call my family yesterday and in a few months at Christmas.

 I miss you guys!

Sam

Week 17 (May 5, 2014)

Week 11 in Honduras

Hola!

On Monday, before we returned from Tegucigalpa, we helped out at one of the ward buildings. American dentists were there to do dental work for future missionaries around this area of the country! and since we were already there and just waiting around (our ward was there getting work done and they were our ride home) we helped translate. Translating from Spanish to English was easier for me than translating from English to Spanish, it was great practice though. Of all the doctors, doctor AJ really helped me a lot by having me translate for him...even though he already knew how to speak Spanish. Dr AJ I was a new missionary and wanted to help me out by throwing me in the deep end haha. Also, he loves Hawaii and wanted to talk about Hawaii the whole time ha-ha.

The rest of the week, we focused our teachings on temples! Because as a zone, we took all of our investigators to visit the temple! we had activities and lessons prepared for our trip to help them feel the spirit and learn more about the temples and about the gospel. The trip was great, and a success for all the people who went. Our zone had three yellow school busses, full of people! At the temple we had four lessons and rotated in groups around the four sides of the temple for each lesson. Our Mission President, President Hernandez, came and gave a talk and helped motivate all the people who were there.  Overall, I really enjoyed the trip and I know our investigators could feel the strong Spirit and love de nuestro padre celestial on the temple grounds. 5/2

The next day, Saturday 5/3, one of our investigators, Luis, called us early in the morning and said that he wanted to get baptized on Sunday after church. We have been teaching Luis for a long time trying to prepare him to be baptized. He has had a lot of challenges in life and changing his lifestyle has been a long journey for him. But I know he has a strong Spirit and a testimony of the Gospel. We were so happy that he finally felt ready and willing to be baptized. The Baptism went really great! We had it after church yesterday. I gave a talk about the Holy Ghost. I wrote it all out but I didn’t even end up looking at it while giving my talk. Cool. After he was baptized, Luis looked so happy walking out of the water. He bore his testimony afterward and everyone could feel how genuine his testimony was. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to help him progress and learn about the gospel of Jesus Christ. This week was really good.

It rained for the first time on Tuesday! and almost every day afterward. The night we got back from the temple it was raining so hard while we were walking to drop people off at their houses and to our house, by the time we got home we were soaked. Even though it was storming it was hotter than ever. Haha.

I love you guys, and I think of you always! Thanks for always being so supportive and loving!

Love, Sam

Temple with Investigators:

Luis' Baptism:

Haircut this morning:

so ready for this

oops

realizing i made a horrible mistake

I GOT MAIL:

the happiest sam in all the land

Week 16 (April 28, 2014)

Week 10 in Honduras

This past week we have been in Tegucigalpa, my companion had to get her wisdom teeth removed. She had them removed on Tuesday and then for the rest of the week we stayed with a family from her former area. Their house is in the mountains near Tegucigalpa.

Hermana Saldate needed a lot of rest so while she rested, I studied. Lots and lots of studying, it was really nice. Especially having the opportunity to read the scriptures; which is hard to do on a mission, because we hardly ever get free time. In the mornings we usually study specific things so we can be prepared for the day, so just getting to read the scriptures was really nice.

On Friday we went to a chapel here in Tegucigalpa, there was a fleet of American dentists doing dental work for future missionaries. Wards from around this area of the country are coming and getting work done. It was really really cool. We went for a check-up since my companion was having a lot of trouble and pain. It turns out she had dry sockets and they helped her out. It was good because here in Honduras they don’t have a solution for dry sockets. Just wait it out ha-ha. It was really lucky that the American dentists where here when she needed them, she had a much easier time and could talk and eat. We had to stay over the weekend because she has another check up with them today, later this afternoon. Our ward from our area is visiting the dentists today, so we have a ride home! Really convenient!

One of the more interesting and things I enjoyed this week was that we got to use the computer to watch this past conference....in English! I was so grateful for this opportunity! We only got to watch a few talks, but hearing them in English was really great. I just hope I have another opportunity to either listen to the rest or even read the rest.

We also got to watch a little bit of other conferences and talks from the past and one talk I really enjoyed was "safety for the soul" by Jeffery R. Holland. I really enjoyed this and if you have any time, you should go to the lds.org site and watch it.

So instead of giving a day by day update like usual, I’ve decided to just talk about mission life and what I think overall so far of being on a mission:

Before I came on my mission I had no idea what to expect, and I don’t even think I had any expectations. I was just really nervous because I was going to be leaving home and leaving my family and living in a country that I hadn’t heard of before I got my call. And on top of all that I would be learning a different language, not even a language I had studied in school before. Six years of French classes would be useless.

But then I got on a plane on January 8th and flew to Mexico all by myself. And I met some other missionaries in the airport and we all stumbled our way through customs together and stumbled all the way to the CCM together. And then we all stumbled our way through six months of training together. Some of us became best friends. And we learned so much about how to be a missionary and how to speak Spanish.

We felt ready to go out into the real world. So we did. And I flew to Honduras but this time not by myself. I had two companions and we all leaned on each other for help all the way to Honduras. and when we got here we were introduced to a new culture and a new completely different world from the one we had grew up in. and we all realized what we had learned in the CCM was nothing. Then I got a new companion. Who knew so much more Spanish that I did. She seemed comfortable and flawless in life as a missionary.

My first six weeks in Honduras were rough. I didn’t know any Spanish and I couldn’t say much. But I stumbled through our lessons with the people of our area over and over. Slowly, I started to understand conversations. And every day my Spanish has gotten better and better as I just listen intently and try my hardest to understand the culture here. And I was homesick beyond belief and I thought a lot every day about how much I wanted a real shower.
I am just starting my 11th week in Honduras and things are already a lot easier. I can understand almost everything people say to me and I can figure out how to say what I want to say with a limited vocabulary. And most of the time people can understand me. During the days it can be hard to see all the progress I have made, but I know I have made a lot. And I am so much stronger in my knowledge and testimony of the gospel as well.

One thing that teaching others requires, is that you really know what you are teaching, and also that you understand the importance of what you are teaching. Every day I learn more and more and my understanding grows and is tested. But I don’t think nearly as much about how to say things I want to say or about how much I wish I could take a real shower. And somehow, well through el espiritu santo, I am given the strength to teach and to bear testimony of what I know to be true. So overall, I love being a missionary. It is challenging and sometimes complicated, but I love it in a way that it is something that I have never experienced before. And helping others in this way is something I’ve never felt before. And even though I think about home all the time even though I have over a year left, I am excited to experience more and more each day and help other people grow closer to the gospel.

Thanks for being a great example for me in my life and for always encouraging me in everything that I do.

Love, Sam

teguc mountains on fire

the doctors we translated for

translating at all hours of the night (waiting for our ward to leave...they were the last ward done)

Week 15 (April 22, 2014)

Week 9 in Honduras

This past week was kind of busy. We did so much. It was exhausting but also exciting.

On Monday was pday and we went on a hike, but I already talked about that.

On Tuesday we woke up at 4 in the morning to make 500 donuts. I was dead all day from lack of sleep. We, our whole zone, were trying to make money to take investigators to visit the temple. So we made donuts and sold them to members and friends of members. I think we made enough.

On Wednesday we went on a hike with our ward as an activity. It was an activity to help investigators and less active members find friends in the ward. It was really great and a lot of people bonded. The hike was hard but we had a lot of fun. I was really exhausted when we got back and I got kind of sick.

On Thursday we had our zone meeting as usual. And that was nice because we got to be together as districts and as a zone to learn more about being missionaries. It’s always nice. After that my companion and I went back to our area because we had a lunch appointment. And afterward...I got sick. I couldn’t eat for three days. It was really bad. But I am okay now.

On Friday we woke up at 2:15 in the morning. To go to on a temple trip with our ward. The trip was really fun. We all took a bus there and the roads were so windy and the trip there was super fast. Our driver was driving like crazy. We got there as the sun was rising and it was beautiful.

Saturday and Sunday were normal days. Excited! Sunday was Ashley’s birthday! The whole day I was thinking about how excited she must be to finally be sixteen! Haha.

On Monday, yesterday, we woke up early to take the long trip to teguc again. But this time it was because my companion needed to get her wisdom teeth removed. Her bottom ones have been growing in and bothering her a lot. The bus ride took forever and it was super hot. But we got there and were picked up at the bus station by a family from Hermana Saldate's previous area. The family took us to a relative of theirs who is a dentist, to see what was going on and what would need to be done. They confirmed that she needed her teeth removed and that one of them was growing in crooked and that was why it was hurting her so much. After that we went to their house, which is where we are staying while we are here in Tegucigalpa since presidente and hermana Hernandez are not in town, they were super grateful for this family for taking us in.

The power went out for a while and we could see the forest fire that is happening on the mountain near their house and it is so sad but at night with no power, it looked really cool.

This morning, Tuesday, we went to the dentist and my companion’s wisdom teeth were removed. We think we are going to have to be here until Thursday at the least while she recovers. Good thing I brought my English scriptures haha.

So yes this past week was suuuper busy. But it was also really fun and very spiritual.

donut making:

 hiking:

temple:

Teguc. Trip So Far:

Ashley's Birthday:

week 14- extra message

Hi,

I hope your week has been great. I miss you guys and think of you always.

Things here, in Honduras, are good. I am ALWAYS thinking about you guys. And my testimony of families has grown so much. I hope you guys pray and read the scriptures together every day. Even if it is hard to find time. I promise it will bring blessings and help strengthen our family relationships. It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot.

I love you and hope you guys have a great week!

Love, Sam

Week 14 (April 14, 2014)

Week 8 in Honduras

This week was crazy. And it felt super long and super short at the same time. I don’t know how that works out. 

Monday, we went back to our area and worked for the rest of the day. Nothing major. Oh we had family home evening with an inactive family and they didn’t have electricity so it was all in the dark using cell phones as lights. 

On Tuesday we had another service project, we helped a member family haul sand from the river up a huge hill to their house so they can finish building walls for their house.

Wednesday, President and Hermana Hernandez came to our zone. We had a meeting in the morning and learned about some stuff. Haha. They then went to each area to check houses and have interviews. We are probably going to need to switch houses but that’s okay. Our interviews were good too. Since they were at our house we each went and had our interview in the car, air conditioning. Yay. Haha.

Thursday at our zone meeting we had a really good lesson, by our zone leaders, about how to study and how we can help prepare others.

Friday I think this was our one normal day and we did a lot of studying and it was great because we felt really prepared for our lessons and it felt awesome haha. I love it when we can prepare lessons for each person individually. We met a family and the mom was really receptive but the dad wasn’t. In the end the mom and daughter accepted our invitation to be baptized.

Saturday was a reaaaaaally busy day but we got a lot done. Our schedule was so crazy but we visited a lot of people and talked to a lot of people on the streets. Overall we challenged six people and five accepted. It’s okay though because those who did accept seemed like they found us and they were already prepared to hear and accept the gospel. 

Sundays we are always busy because we have to leave super early to wake people up for church. Overall only one of the ten people we visited came to church, but that is okay. We tried not to get discouraged. Church was good. I liked the lesson on repentance and the third hour lesson on family history. 

Aaaaannnnnddd....

Today, Monday, we went HIKING. Legit hiking and it took forever.

The truck ride there in the morning was a real adventure because it kept breaking down and it took forever but it was fun. 

The view at the top was amazingggg. And super pretty. We had a spiritual message, sang a hymn, ate lunch, and played some games and then left. It was super fun.   Mom, you would be proud because I wore pants (“always wear pants to hike”) and I didn’t get cuts on my legs like everyone else, and I brought a lot of water and still had some at the end when we got back down and everyone else was dying of thirst. I shared. It was a fun day.

Overall this week was so busy and I think next week will be just as busy. But it is fun because it seemed like we are working super hard and also doing a lot of fun things as well.  

Love sam

Service Project:

Hiking: