photos from zone conference de octubre

im right in the middle

foto loco (im giving pres. b bunny ears)
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Week 16

19 octubre - 25 octuber 2015

hello family!

I have been doing much better this past week. I saw two different doctors. I am getting better slowly. I have been told that I have mononcleosis. And one of the doctors said that my symptoms aren't as strong as the other missionaries who have it right now and that I should get betting better quicker than them because I've had it before. So that is a plus. But I feel soooo exhausted all the time. i am trying my absolute hardest.

This past week we had zone conference (when all the zones in the city have a conference with presidente bowler) and it was great. I learned a lot and received a lot of personal inspiration. I feel more animated to work my hardest and do all i can to be the missionary that the Lord wants me to be. 

As a result of the conference, as a zone we have a goal to talk with and teach at least one principle of the gospel with at least 15 people a day. My companion and I have seen so many blessings as a result of accomplishing this daily goal. We have an agenda full of appointments with future investigators this week. This truly is a blessing because we have been praying and asking for guidance of how to find more people. then we received the answer in the conference and now we are seeing real progress. 

I am trying to work my hardest everyday and to see the good in each day. As I put into practice my studies and what I learn from leaders, I am improving everyday. 

In language study, I have been studying to be able to summarize chapters in the Book of Mormon; which means I am basically improving a lot in my knowledge of Book of Mormon stories and also in using the past tenses of Spanish (which has been my weakness with Spanish) Right now I am studying 3 Nephi 11. It's such a powerful chapter and I´m happy that now I can more or less explain in detail the whole chapter in Spanish. 

I miss you guys so much. I hope that you have a great halloween. Save me some candy!

<3 Sam

we stopped to take pictures of the moon

the moon

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trip to the hospital - drawing blood

this is carol i teach her piano for 30 minutes every thursday and in return we get dinner. =) yesterday during sacrament meeting she played hijos del senor venid for the opening hymn!!!

lots of resting

we ate dinner on the sidewalk outside of the church yesterday.

watching the zone play soccer today

watching the zone play futbol

<3

Week 15 of The Mission: Part 2

This past week was a good week like usual. I tried my hardest and felt like I learned a lot. Now that I have over ten months as a missionary I am trying to learn more about how to teach better and worrying less about the language. I worry a lot about whether or not I am speaking spanish well enough but I've found out that as I study the gospel and as I try to focus on learning to help our investigators, I am also improving in Spanish. Oh, and one thing that helps is that we have a new schedule and it includes an hour of language study every morning, so i think that is also helping a ton.

My companion and I this past week (and this week) have been working hard to visit with members more often. We were in a meeting with the ward mission leader and we talked about ways that we could start getting more references from members. My companion and I feel like as we meet and share small messages and serve the members of the ward, we will start to gain more of their confidence. they will start to see us as true representatives of Jesus Christ and will trust us enough to talk about the Gospel with people they know. I hope it all works out because working through references is so much more efficient than working on our own. 

I miss home a ton but the time here is going by really fast for me so I know that means that I will be home before I know it. I am trying hard to enjoy my mission while I can and to learn from all my experiences. 

I love you guys a ton. Please write me every week and send me letters in the mail all the time and I promise I will do the same. 

<3 Sam

we had divisions this past week and I went to Esperanza with Hermana M. it rained really hard and my shoes got drenched but it was fun. I was feverish (as per usual) in and out the whole day and by the time we got home my body was extremely exhausted. I didn't really tell Hna. M because I didn't want to ruin the day or all the appointments they had planned. But it was a GOOD day. Esperanza is a great area!

walking down a road in our area.

excited to teach about the plan of salvation.

this is our house. we live through the black door and up the stairs.

Today we went to a P-Day activity with most of the Hermanas who are serving in the city. it was a pajama party. We played a game where we had to guess who we are. it took me about 5 rounds to figure out that i was ariel. =]

group foto. (I'm wearing my space camp shirt =D)

ponce y jaques

in a taxi back to our zone with the hermanas from guamuras (one of my old areas)
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=]

week 14 i think

hi family.

I am still sick so I am not going to write much information, again. sorry. 

This past week was eventful. The ward had an activity everyday of the week and it was great because we had four investigators attend several of them. We are working hard and trying to gain the confidence of the members so that the will be more willing to give us references. missionary work is so much easier with the help of the ward members. (hint hint)

I'm working hard and trying my best. 

love you guys tons. send me letters and packages always pls.

drying my socks. it literally took two days for these socks to dry because it has been raining and there was just so much moisture in the air haha.

=]

check it out. theres a mission blog now. im not allowed to visit it but you guys are. servingintegucigalpa.blogspot.com

we had to go to the officina today we we took advantage and took pictures. i am sick which is why i look sick.

mision honduras tegucigalpa.
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week 13

This week was good. I'm really exhausted because i have been sick since Friday. So i might not write too much this week. I am happy to be here in the mission and to be doing missionary work.

This past weekend was general conference and I thought it was great. We went to all the sessions and I even got to see three of the four in English! The kind stake leaders set up an "english" room for all the people who wanted to watch in english (aka just all the american missionaries in our zone). Sunday morning we watched in Spanish in our ward building because one of our investigators joined us (A)!!! She enjoyed the conference and had so many questions which is amazing. I really hope she gets baptized =]

A not about being sick: It was so intense because I was feeling awful all weekend and I knew I had a fever but just kept working because there really is no time to stop when there's so much work to do (and I reallllly didn't want to miss ANY of conference. On Sunday it got super bad in the evening session and I pretty much just slept through most of the session (well I was going in and out). I ended up waiting until the session ended and we were home and then took my temperature, called the infermera, and ended up sleeping the rest of the evening. 

Weather: its been raining like crazy. the roads are rivers. and then sometimes theres no rain and no clouds and its hot as ever haha

Language: still learning. Spanish is pretty easy but its the pronunciation that i struggle with. I have a very american accent and its horrible haha.

Well, my week was really normal. a lot of walking around and a lot of teaching about the restoration and about the book of mormon and the plan of salvation and the gospel of jesus christ. also a lot of teaching people how to pray. =]

love you guys! 

send me letters.

its always raining and by the time we get home it looks like i jumped in a pool.

walking home

about 15 minutes before we took this picture the water was three times as high

feverish at 38.5 deg. celc

this morning watching the zone play futbol - sat out because of a fever. trying to keep my strength so we can work later.
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Here's a picture of my talk I gave yesterday in sacrament meeting. a big suprise to those who can read and understand it jhaha

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<3

week 12 otra vez

hello family

i miss you all. thank you for all the wonderful emails. i am so happy to hear that all is well at home. 

All is well here in Miraflores. I'm working hard and trying my best. It has been raining like crazy but no importa! The work continues. My umbrella doesn't work in the rain here; it's way too small. I need a new one, and my shoes get soaking wet the second I walk out of the house. I should've brought rainboots....and a raincoat. haha. it is fun, though. Such a classic mission experience, walking around in the rain looking for people to teach.

We had an investigator (A)in church on Sunday (!!!!) and she really enjoyed it. She said she is definitely coming back next week (for conference!) and that she is curious about going to institute! it was a good Sunday. 

Yesterday we also gave talks during sacrament meeting (me, my companion, and the two elders who are in our ward) we all talked about "la obra misional" (missionary work). I was so nervous, I had three pages of notes but only ended up reading about a page of it. I felt like while I was reading I was stumbling over my words and so half way through I just spoke from my heart and it was so much easier to speak. Everyone said that during my talk my accent was great and that it was amazing. haha. so i guess I'll trust them. For the intermediate him us missionaries sang the first verse of llamados a servir (called to serve) and then for the second and third all the return missionaries stood up and sang with us. It was cool.

I miss you all! please send me long detailed emails! oh, and packages/letters in the mail!

-Sam

heres a picture of me in our house. i just really like the outfit i wore that day haha. (I should start a missionary fashion blog because i have a picture of my outfits for almost everyday because we don't have a mirror so i just take a picture every morning to make sure i look decent haha)

My companion and Me

A picture of me awkwardly playing futbol this morning (Note: space camp shirt)

My Zone Leaders (Elder L and Elder R) and Me 

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Week 11 (44?)

Hola Familia,

This past week went by really fast (relatively of course, because a week is a week).

My companion and I have been working hard in every way. On Monday we had a noche de hogar (family home evening) with a family in the ward. this husband is a retrun missionary and in the bishopric. he shared some mission experiences and helped us feel really encouraged to try our hardest. it was a great way to start out the week. 

On Friday we had interviews with the mission president and it was really good. I received a lot of guidance and support. I feel more confident in my ability to train, to work hard, and to be happy. Oh, also during the interview I found out that my release date in June 7, 2016 (if anyone was wondering exactly when I'll be going home. --- about 8 more months)

Weather update: It hasn't been tooo hot and it has been raining a little more than usual. :)

Spanish update: Improving. A lot of ups and a few downs. I am a lot more confident than I was two and a half months ago, though. =]

sept 14 - sept 20

this past week we worked a lot with members and tried/succeeded in finding a lot of new possible investigators. I feel good about all the effort we put into the work.

for my experience this week I want to share about a lesson we had with one investigator, A. First of all, I think it is important to say that A always reads the folletos (pamphlets?) and always has questions, which is a good sign that she will progress. So in our first lesson, we taught the Restoration and challenged her to read the Book of Mormon. Our second visit was on, I think, Thursday, and we started out by verifying that she read and prayed. We asked if she had received an answer about the Book of Mormon. In this crucial moment I was silently praying and anxious about the answer. There were a few quiet seconds and then she replied, "I do believe that there were prophets here in the Americas and that they prophesied of Jesus Christ." (AHHHHH). and then she explained that she did believe their wrote the book of Mormon and that it is true. Then during the lesson we were reading scriptures as we taught the plan of salvation and at one point we were going to read a scripture and she turned to the page and had already highlighted the verses (because she had read the pamphlet before the lesson and even looked up the scriptures!)

It was such a great moment. the spirit was so strong. I know that as a missionary, as i am obedient and Humble I will be guided and helped in knowing where to go, who to talk to, and what to say. We had walked by As house hundreds of times but one day we felt like we should knock on her door and because we followed the spirit we were able to find someone who was prepared to listen and accept the message we share. Honestly I feel humbled to know that the Lord has enough confidence in me to find those who are prepared and that we are all blessed as we follow the guidance of the spirit. 

Thank you for all the support and love! I really appreciate it!

love, Sam

I lost my Agenda so I had to make my own for a day.

I got a new bed (finally!!).

Tigre, the cat of a family in the ward.

Today watching the zone play volleyball.
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Week 10 (Week 43?) Sept 7 - Sept 13 2015

Hola.
Como estan todos?

Esta Semana pasada fue muy interesante. trabajabamos mucho, y también descansabamos mucho. me enferme en miercoles, jueves, y viernes, entonces fue un poco dificil a trabajar con un fiebre alto. pero estoy bien ahora. Pero tuvimos la ayuda del senor bastante, porque tenemos muchas nuevas investigadores, y tambien tenemos 4 investigadores con fetcha bautismales. espero que vamos a tener muchas bautismos en el mes de octubre.

I love you all very much. I think about home and about my family all the time. This past week my companion and I worked very hard to improve our teaching and finding methods. We talked to a lot of people on the street and challenged a lot of people to be baptized. As a result, we have a lot of new investigators, future investigators, and we have four investigators with baptism dates. I hope that those who are preparing for baptism continue to feel the importance of the gospel and the church and that they are able to meet the requirements of baptism. 

This week I was sick with a fever for three days. We did everything we could to lower it, showers, sitting in front of the fan, staying hydrated, fever reducing medicine, but i was just so exhausted and feverish. We weren't able to work as hard as normal, and for one day we were in the house all day. I am now much better and able to work like normal.

weather update: hot as ever here in teguc. it rained on and off yesterday. which was really nice. i forgot to use sunscreen for about a week but i have started using it again. 

This past week we were in a lesson with an Investigator, M, teaching The Plan of Salvation. The spirit was so strong and we asked her if she had read the assignment we had left in the Book of Mormon. She said she had. Then, we asked her if she had prayed about it and she said she did. First of all, the fact that we have gotten to this point where an investigator has read and prayed without constant reminders and help is a blessing on its own. She said that she didn't think she received an answer so we asked her how she expects to receive her answer. She told us that she wasn't quite she but that she expected it in the form of a dream. We taught her about the the holy ghost speaks to us and that there are many different ways we can feel an answer, but for most people it is through feels of peace, warmth, happiness, etc. She said that now that she knows what to look for in an answer she will pray again. She then asked us how WE had come to realized the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. So my companion and I both shared our stories of reading and praying about the Book of Mormon. I don't know how to explain how we felt in this lesson. I truly know and have a testimony of teaching by the spirit. I was able to understand and ask inspired questions that were able to help M think about the importance of prayer, the book of Mormon, and the plan of salvation and how each were relevant to her own life. I know that I cannot do this work without faith or without the help of the lord. I know that as I teach by the spirit the words I need to say are not entirely my own, that I am being guided and helped in order to help others who are truly trying to become closer to heavenly father. I also know that in order to receive this help I need to be faithful and obedient.

Thanks for the constant support as I am here serving in Honduras. I really do appreciate it!

Love you, 

Sam

Favorite scripture of the week: 2 Nefi 25:26

TURTLE

This picture was taken when I had a fever of 38.5 C and was sitting in our apartment trying not to be miserable.

The only picture I took today. This morning watching the others play basketball.
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Semana 9 (Otra Vez) / Semana 42?)

This past week was very interesting. A lot of normal missionary stuff happened and a few un-normal stuff happened too.

On tuesday morning around 2AM I woke up with a sharp pain in my right knee. I couldn't move my leg at all because of the pain. The pain didn't go away all morning and we left to work as normal but I only made it to lunch before I had to call the mission nurse. I spent most the the day in the house resting. Two days later we went to the doctor and she said I have tendonitis. So right now I am taking medicine for it and it it still hurts by this saturday I will have to go back to the doctor. 

So for the rest of the past week we have been trying to do work close together (appointments closer together) so that I don't have to walk as far or as fast. It has been pretty good but a few days were a little bit hard.

Spanish update: good. slowly but surely I am still progressing. I understand more every day and am able to say a little bit more every day as well. 

Weather update: hot. it rained a few days ago and my companion and I didn't have umbrellas or anything. one member made us ponchos out of garbage bags so we wouldn't get too wet. haha. 

We are still working hard and teaching and finding. my quest to become more humble continues. Although, it has slowed down a little bit. this is because as a mission, we are studying about ten topics in the guia para el estudio de las escrituras, which doesn't exist in the english book of mormon. We are studying a lot about family history and how to teach everyone about the gospel through talking about family history. it it really great and my testimony is growing a lot as i study the assigned topics. 

One experience from this week: We were having a small lesson with a member after we ate lunch at her house. My companion and I hadn't planned the lesson so we weren't sure what direction it would go in. After the prayer and introduction and all, I decided to ask the sister to recount a spiritual experience she'd had in her week. Her eyes lit up and she told us that since she had been praying for a few days that someone would come to her house and ask her about a spiritual experience she had had that past week. She said she wasn't sure who would come and answer her prayer but that she really needed someone to talk to.  She told us of her experience and about how her testimony in family history and temple work had grown. To me, my testimony of following the promptings of the spirit grew. I wasn't sure what I was going to say when we started the lesson. But because I followed the spirit, I was able to ask an inspired question. A question that this sister had been waiting for. I know that as I continue to have faith and as I am obedient and strong, I will always receive the help I need in order to help others. 

i love you all. 

write me letters. write me emails. all the time please. 

love, sam

(the night we walked around in trash bags because of the rain)

Watching the zone play soccer all morning  (I wrote you all letters so expect those in about a month)

(One hermana has this tiny little book of mormon and i would really love it if someone could buy me one and send it to me. i think they sell them on the lds store website)

we all ate pizza for lunch. i honestly dont know how much more little ceasers pizza i can eat.

Listening to one of our zone leaders tell jokes as we eat.

emailing!
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