Week 18 & 19 No Letters

Week 18 he emailed to schedule the Christmas call and week 19 he called home.

Next Monday there will be a letter.

Week 17 Black Magic Saliva

*Moment of silence for the passing of Elder De Jesus*

Elder Kelvin De Jesus Figueroa

December 2013-December 2015

Son, brother, father, companion, trainer, friend.

´´De modo que los que creen en Dios pueden tener la firme esperanza de un mundo mejor, sí, aun un lugar a la diestra de Dios; y esta esperanza viene por la fe, proporciona un ancla a las almas de los hombres y los hace seguros y firmes, abundando siempre en buenas obras, siendo impulsados a glorificar a Dios.´´ Éter 12:4

And a warm welcome to Elder Ávila, my new companion, from El Salvador. He has 11 months in the mission, and just got moved up to DL, so he and I will be visiting other areas, so I might have some more pictures coming up from different places.

This week on Tuesday we left for Choluteca, where I stayed after dropping off Elder De Jesus, on Wednesday, Elder Ávila come to Choluteca, and we stayed in the house of two missionaries, Elder Clark and his comp, I don´t know his name, he just got here. My favorite thing about Elder Ávila... is that when he arrived, the first thing he asked me, was if I liked Chess. We played, and currently the score is 2-0. I´ve won two, and he has yet to win. I like Chess. But not as much as I like preaching the Gospel.

Since Thursday, he and I have gone to work. In the past couple of days, we have gotten 9 new investigators as well as 3 new familes. Also the familia Sanchez has commenced their work to get married.

In Elder Ávila´s first area, he was comp to the DL and actually visited Orocuina for a baptismal interview. But the girl no longer attends church, so we went to go find her. We found her on Sunday afternoon in a backwoods part of Apacilagua. We met her family and the were very warm and welcoming... A bit too welcoming. The father of the house carried his baby daughter out to meet us and she began to cry a little bit. So he lifted up the back of her shirt and told us to lick our fingers and rub our spit on her back. I thought I misunderstood so I asked Elder Ávila what he meant, and he said that he didn´t understand either. So I asked if we were going to get the baby dirty, and the father said, (in spanish) ´´No, we´re all children of God.´´

... long story short, I wrote my name on her back. Will keep in contact if any black magic happens. She stopped crying though.

This week that comes, the week of Christmas, we won´t have Pday on Monday, but rather on the 24th. I have no information on the Skype call or anything either... So that´s a problem, but I´m sure it´ll all be sorted out. Ojalá.

Something you learn as a missionary, is that you can do a lot more than you thought you could. You just have to live without fear or embarressment. I´ve never had experience as a counselor to a branch president, or as a clerk/secretary, Sunday School, Primary, Seminary, or English Teacher. I´ve never really taught in the Church before the mission, and only gave 3 or 4 talks, including my farewells, yet here I am, doing each one of those things every week. Everyone has potential. Don´t be afraid to give a talk or teach a class, or share a spiritual thought. If I can do it, anyone can. A cheesy phrase that helps a lot of missionaries is this. I´m a child of God, and I fear no man.

Z.L. said 25th is the Skype Call as usual.

week 16 Do Squirrels Lay Eggs

There we were... walking up the street in Nueva Esperanza... when out of the sudden, a wild dog appeared!

-fade to black-

-battle music-

Wild Dog used GROWL!

Elder Anderson`s ATK was lowered!

Elder Anderson used PICK UP A ROCK!

Wild Dog fled!

-0 EXP-

-Nueva Esperanza theme continues-

(!)

Mototaxi Driver Jorge wants to give you a ride!

-accept-

-decline-

(accept!)

10 minutes later...

We Arrived in Apacilagua...

That would take too long to tell the story to be honest...

We went to the house of the family Gomez-Gomez. And the husband wasn`t home. We are pretty tight with this family and she started to make us fried banana chips. Well I think that`s what they are. They`re super good though. And then she received a call from her husband who is a radio personality in the valley. Which isn`t that big of a deal considering how puny our valley is, but still cool. She then called to us in the other room and told us to turn up the radio. About 30 seconds later, the song finished and Hermano Gomez came on to talk. Basically... He gave us a 5 minute shout out. Telling everyone in the valley to talk to the missionaries, and that we were representatives of Jesus Christ and that if you close the doors to us, then you close the doors to Jesus Christ, and then went on forever about how great the Gospel is. Honestly it was the funniest but also coolest thing to get a shoutout like that. Name and everything.

This week we had interviews with the Mission President so Elder De Jesus and I stayed overnight in Choluteca, in the house of Elder Clark and Elder Gonzalez. WHICH MEANS!!! I GOT TO TAKE MY FIRST SHOWER SINCE I LEFT THE MTC. Man, it was so nice, you have no idea, it was great...

Elder De Jesus asked me if Squirrels laid eggs. No to all of you who have wondered, they don`t lay eggs.

This week I kill Elder De Jesus. Mission slang for being his last companion before going home. So I`ll have a new companion by the time I write.

Mono has been going around the mission, and I thought it was the funniest thing ever, until 3 people went home because they were sick for so long... Pray for me to not have mono. OK it`s not funny, but it is a little.

No pics again. Ghetto Cyber.

week 15 YO

SOOO. This week went a little better and a little worse than the week before. Good because we taught a lot of new people and got a lot done. Bad because our attendance was 18. EIGHTEEN. Well everyone is on vacation, but no excuses. And then two of our speakers didn´t show up so I had to give an improve talk... Went decently well considering actually. And bad because most of our new people hid in their houses when we passed... So I guess we don´t have a lot of new people haha.

Today we went to the beach again. Honestly, I don´t want to go to the beach anymore. It´s fun, but, eh. It costs a ton to go, and we only spend a few hours there. But De Jesus is going to die next week, so we went so he could celebrate his second to last Pday.

Going to share something somewhat spiritual, but mostly not. So I PROMISE you, this is still Jake, so you don´t get confused... I was reading Principios del Evangelio and I was reading the chapter about Honradez. AND WELL IT SAID SOMETHING QUITE STRIKING... That is a form of lying to only share a part of the truth, OR to keep quiet and not say anything at all. And as I have pointed out in emails prior, it is a sin to lie. Well... I hope none of you are liars, like maybe, possibly I have been in the past. woops. I repent.

Also Gospel Principles (I think that is how you call it.) is a good read. It´s cool. Also the manual for leaders in the church.

Can´t write much today, because we arrived late to Orocuina and the good cyber was closed, so we´re in the ghetto one and I can´t send pictures and it takes like an hour for the letters to appear after typing. So anyway. Have a good day, love you all. (Except Hunter, cause he didn´t write this week.)

Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission

Colonia Florencia Norte,

Contiguo a Sears entre Boulevard Suyapa y PriceSmart

Edificio Plaza America,3er Piso

AP 556 o 3539

Tegucigalpa M.D.C.

Honduras C.A.

week 14 AGGGhhhHHh

Bad news first, good news second.

This week in Orocuina, 3 girls in our ward decided to leave the church to attend a different one. When we asked why, it was because the other church had more people. Also we aren´t really visiting one of our families very much anymore because they never keep commitments or attend church. They are always reading the scriptures and have questions for us and everything. But learning doesn´t do you any good when you don´t apply. So De Jesus and I decided it was best to use our time more productively.

This week for our district meeting we went to Choluteca like usual, everything was skippy, and we all went to KFC to eat afterward. Missionaries are the kings of combos, and getting the most food from the smallest amount of money, and honestly, I thought I was going to die from KFC-OD. Our Branch President met us outside and we left together to go to Paper and More to buy supplies to decorate the church. We bought the stuff and left the store in the pouring rain. We kept all of the papers and stuff underneath our clothes to try to keep them dry. It didn´t work too well, and I think it just made us look like we were running away with stolen items underneath our clothes. Welp.

On Saturday we had our activity to decorate the church. The Branch President asked me if I knew how to decorate. I replied and said everyone knows how to decorate. He replied saying that no one else in the church did. I felt super bad, but once I got everyone going, they all knew how to decorate more or less. It´s more about creativity than an actual skill, and everyone is creative... more or less.

The church is super pretty now so that´s all good. The problem was that no one came to Church Sunday. We had a very low attendance. And so no one got to see my tree that the members and I made.

Here´s to hoping for a better week.

BAD NEWS. I left fat.

GOOD NEWS. I´ve lost 25 pounds

week 13 3 Month Mark... Kinda?

Today I had a lot of emails to write and respond to so I´m just going to cover my investigators and my Pday.

My investigators that are progressing are Danilo and the Familia Sanchez. Danilo is in his late 30´s and lives with his mom and sister. He´s super eager to listen whenever we come over. But he never says anything, unless he´s just repeating exactly what we just said. Also he prays when we pray. Like if Elder DJ o yo is offering a prayer he will pray at the same time out loud. It´s a little weird. Happens with other people too.

The Fam Sanchez are the best. There´s the dad and the mom, and 3 boys. The mom just had a dream that our church is true and the dad is always excited to have our lessons and attend my english classes. Only one problem. They aren´t married and have to be to get baptized. Nobody is married, and the culture is like that. Nobody wants to get married to... WELL. None of the guys want to. Even after 20 years together. I don´t know why, and neither do they.

TODAY WAS A GOLDEN DAY. We went hiking up in the mountians outside of Choluteca. We hiked a mountain called La Peña. It was a pretty long hike, but the top was flat and had a soccer field. We were going to play football but the wind was waaaay to bad. So my zone asked me to teach them to play touch rugby. And honestly, it made for the best Pday yet. It was way fun. On the way back on the bus I sat next to a man from Nicaragua, he had on his lap a blue book, that looked a little bit like a LDM... or BoM. and so I asked him what he was reading, he happily flipped it over to reveal a New Testament. We talked for a bit and he explained that he didn´t go to any church, he just liked to read the scriptures. So we talked a bit, and I explained the restoration and it just made sense to him. I let him keep the pamphlet and gave him pamphlets for La Evangelio de Jesucristo and The Plan of Salvation for him to read on his trip (he´s going to El Salvador.) It was just a cool little experience so that I can explain to you all what it is to Abrir la Boca, or Open the mouth. 1 down today, 24 more.

So I´ve decided to eat tomatoes with my Avocados. In Love. Also I have refound my love for oatmeal.

Love you all, but not enough to write more today.

Cheque

week 12 Operación Garrobo Caliente

What´s up Wood-Chuck-Chuckers!

Everything here in Orocuina is super good. So your first area in the mission is where you are ´´born´´ or it´s your ´´birthplace´´ and Orocuina is mine. So I guess you could call it my Orocuna. Some of you will get it, others it´ll take time.

So last week was a meeting for the Mission President and the Zone leaders and there were more or less 2 points that I remember being spoken of during Taller de Zona.

1. Abrir la Boca mas. Basically, we should talk with people more in the streets. 25 times a day is the new goal.

2. Operación Garrobo Caliente. Basically obedience to the schedule and the Zone Leaders making surprise visits to areas to check if they are awake on time and if there house is clean and everything.

So we haven´t been having problems with the new goal. We now talk with a town more people, and I guess that means we should find more investigators yeah? Already we have a ton of appts. and hopefully not all of them fall through.

Yesterday, (Sunday) after Church, we took our Branch President, President Chavarria, to go contacting with us. Honestly, it was the best thing I have ever gotten to see. He is a really small 50 year old Honduran guy, and is super goofy. He has no fear. He went up and talked to just about everyone we saw. Everyone. I was talking with a girl (15 or 16) at her door and explaining a pamphlet to her, I asked if her family was home and if we could share a message with them. She said yes, and invited us in to behidn the house, were there were 10 olderish people cutting up bananas to make chips to sell. President Chavarria went on a 10 minute no breather rant about the Book of Mormon. It was the best thing I have ever seen in my life, when he finished, Elder De Jesus just offered them pamphlets and they accepted a bunch and we left. I LOVE P. Chavarria.

Also, funny story, we were contacting in Barreal Límon, and Elder De Jesus was giving a folleto to this girl, probably 20, and she did not stop staring into my eyes the whole time. Elder De Jesus kept talking to her, and she´d just nod or say sí and just stared in my eyes. I have never felt so uncomfortable, it was a piercing gaze and I don´t know what caused it, we have an appointment, but I´m afraid of the eyes.

Operación Garrobo Caliente hasn´t come to Orocuina yet, but we´re ready. Our house is clean, and we´re always up on time. I just feel bad for the Zone Leaders if they come all the way to Orocuina when it´s super far from their area and they´ll have to get up realllll early.

OH WHALE.

Elder Anderson.

week 11

Lying is a sin, I know, I am a missionary. So I will be honest. I really really really really don´t want to write today, but I will make something work.

This week we baptized Dexa, and I was really surprised too because Elder De Jesus cannot pronounce her name. I am kidding, except he really cannot pronounce her name. I am not kidding when I say he has a really thick accent. Nigh impossible to understand. He says Detsa, and she gets really mad. She´s eleven. And always corrects him. In fact, he can´t prounce t´s or s´s or r´s or rr´s very well either. In fact. I don´t know how anyone can understand him. I don´t know how I do. But all is well cause I love him, he is my homie. Dexa is #5 for those of you trying to keep count at home.

Today for Pday, we went to the beach. Yes, I know. I am living the life. Well to be honest it isn´t that nice of a beach, but it´s not like we can swim or anything anyway, it was cool to go still. At a giant fish. Like huge, soooo good. You feel like the biggest tool when you´re a white guy sitting in a hammock, drinking coca cola out of a coconut. I know. Fight me.

I really really enjoy the mission, but more than that, I think we are doing really well here in Orocuina. We´ve been super super busy and I crash hard every night onto the bed.

Basically every meal is the same. Breakfast I have a cup of oatmeal and banana.

Lunch varies, but usually it´s rice, beans, some vegetables and some kind of meat, usually chicken.

And dinner, I eat an avocado. Boy do I love avocados. I don´t even put salt or anything on it. Just a plain avocado. I don´t know why I didn´t eat them before the mission. They´re pretty cheap here, and I think I have fallen in love.

Anyway, I don´t have energy to write anymore. I love you all, you are so cool, if I am ignoring your emails, I am sorry, I don´t mean to. I open up my inbox every Pday with quite a few, and it´s hard to reply to everyone. Just say to me, hey, Elder, respond to me, you haven´t recently, and I´ll send you something nice. Probably an email.

Anyway. The pics are really huge files so I can only send one at a time. Hold your peace.

Stay Gold. I don´t have time to wait for more to download. So I am going to probably change the quality of the photos down a tune so I can send more. ALSO I have no idea what the hand symbol means. Elder De Jesus just wanted us to do it. I am in no way affiliated with any gang. Thank you for considering my disclosure.

Week 10

On the way to Orocuina, eventually you´ll hit El Barranco, and an hour walk later you´ll pass La Plazuela. 10 more minutes and you´ll make it to Orocuina, and La Estacion, which is in the first part of Orocuina. The Station is an intersection and gets its name because it´s the bus stop. We live here.

 If you turn right, you´ll hit the River in 2 minutes, pic included. Across the river, you can go left to Barreal Limon, or right to Nueva Esparanza, NE only has 15 or so huts, and if you continue through NE for 30 minutes on foot, on you left will be a turnoff into another small town Tamarindo, which heads off into the mountains. If you continue straight instead, in another 30 minutes you´ll make your way to Apacilagua, where most of members and investigators live. We pay a truck to come by and pick people up and take them to Church everySunday because it´s pretty far. If you continue through Apacilagua, you can walk 40 minutes to a town called Savannah del Toro, which is pretty dangerous and way out there, we rarely visit.

If you continue left in Orocuina from the Station, you´ll head more into the neighborhoods and town of Orocuina where there are only houses. Our church building is two blocks to the left and a block to the right. It´s a house, but it´s a pretty nice house.

If you continue straight, you´ll head into the markets and more of the businesses of Orocuina, if you continue this direction through Orocuina, and leave Oro, you´ll walk past houses, don´t know what this area is called. But an hour walk through is Gicaro, where our branch president lives.

My first Sacrament meeting in Orocuina, we had an attendance of 28, our second week, an attendance of 37, and this last week, we only had 24, which was kind of a shock because I was really expecting more. So at first, I was super bummed. But what ended up happening is that the truck fell through, and so there was a lot of problems. I was really expecting at least 40.

Our Branch President is Presidente Chavarria. He´s a 50 year old guy that weighs about 30 pounds, he´s super goofy and probably my favorite person on the planet. Elder De Jesus is the counselor and I am the Secretary. The first hour of Church after Sacrament, I teach the teenagers and De Jesus teaches the adults while a sister in the branch teaches the kids. The second hour I teach the kids, De Jesus teaches the Teens, and Pres. teaches the adults. The kids are angels. The teenagers are the bane of my existence.

Our small branch mostly consists of teenage girls. We have 1 young man, and about 15 young men. There are 5 M. Priesthood Holders.

Monday is P-day and is Christmas. Yes Christmas. We go to Cholu and return around 5 to do normal daily stuff like teach, contact, etc.

Tuesday we usually go to the Apacilagua area and teach. Around 3 o clock to 3 30 everyday I teach English, and more non members come than members which is great, also I may not be the best Gospel teacher but I am actually pretty decent at teaching English.

Wednesday we head to La Plazuela and El Barranco to teach the few members that live there and to contact.

Thursdays are Apacilagua again and we teach Seminary.

Friday we head to Plazuela and teach Seminary and then head out to Barreal Limon. Which is FOREVER AWAY ON THE WORST ROAD EVER. And the people of Barreal Limon don´t really care to listen. A lot of less actives live there.

Saturday back to Apacilagua, yeah there is a pattern. Probably cause Apacilagua is amazing and everyone there is great. And alsoSaturday is for meeting with members to get them to go to church on Saturday. OH also Baptisms. I just had Baptism Number 4. Meysel Gissel Castillo Espino. She´s a sweetheart. I also confirmed on Sunday, but boy I do not know enough Spanish to give a blessing! But it went well.

Sunday is church, and is usually good, but this last Sunday, no one really took it seriously and it was more of a social gathering for the branch than actually church, which kind of peeved me, because my lesson I prepared was pretty rad. The kids were angels. Teens blegh.

Honduras is pretty, but I am getting used to the scenery so I took some pics while walking to send you guys before I stop taking pics.

Anyway. If anyone wants to hook a brother/Elder up with some thicker socks, that´d be tight I´ve got monster blisters that are pretty gross. My feet look like they´ve been wading in the river Styx. I hope that made sense. Or Moleskin or whatever. Anyway, if you want a pic of them, no prob. I won´t include the pics here cause they are actually pretty gross.

Week 9

Maybe it would be a better idea to bring my Agenda with me on Prep Day so that I can look back through the week and see what I did so that I can go back to doing the day-by-day-format. I would bring my journal, but by the end of every day, I am far too exhausted to write. I write once a week at the most, and usually not even that. It isn´t that it´s hard. It´s more tiring. It isn´t really difficult, or at least isn´t difficult yet. I want to be here, and for that, the mission is easier. Sure it´s tiring, but physical exhaustion is temporal, and when I wake up in the morning, I´m always refreshed... Anyway, down to the nitty-gritty.

Pretty much every day this week, it rained, but at the beginning of the week, we had a deluge. It started raining early in the afternoon and continued well into the night. Elder De Jesús and I had been contacting in the streets and teaching families in Apacilagua, about a 30 minute walk from our casa. It´s a little higher in the mountain and away and on the other side of the river, so we didn´t quite realize how bad it was until we began to walk home that night.

Just as we were leaving Apacilagua, on the corner of the last street to leave the town is a pulp. (short for pulpería, which is a tiny store to buy basic stuff and snacks, there are a million in every town.) and the woman in this pulp called out to us to tell us the small stream down the road was flooded. We kinda of just brushed it off, but 5 minutes later we arrived at a party of a few cars, cyclists, and mototaxis all looking at what used to be a dry stream bed. It was now about thigh deep to me, and about 20 feet wide and flowing fast downhill. The stream is perpendicular to the road. Eventually a truck pulled ahead of everybody and plowed through. It took a while, and I wasn´t convinced it would make it through, but it did, so Elder De Jesús and I crossed first, and we made it. No one else tried for a while. And I know this, because we had walked pretty far before anyone else passed us.

After crossing through a couple streams and pools in better conditions than before and walked a decently while, we were almost back to Orocuina, but we still had to cross the bridge over the river. It wasn´t an issue because we had a bridge. But the water, which used to sit at least 10 feet below the bridge, was now running into the bridge, and several trees had crashed and were stuck on the bridge.

The inundation for the rest of the week never got that bad. But it rained every day and I am so grateful. It is so much nicer to have this rain than the scorching heat I had when I first got here. I love Orocuina. I love the people and the culture.

It´s incredibly different here, women breastfeed in Sacrament, and every one lives in a hut with a flat screen. Because soccer is everything.

Everything. Today for P day, we played Soccer in an outdoor fast court that we rented for a little over 3 hours. I am exhasted, and I am not very good compared to the Latino Elders. In fact, I am awful compared to the Latino Elders, but playing 5 on 5 is still really fun, and I look forward to the next time we play.

On Saturday we had two more Baptisms, Milton and Rosa, and their families came, this time we went to a church in Cholu because the water was muddy and flowing from all the rain.

The mission is great. Sorry I don´t know what more to write, I will start writing in my journal more often so that I can give you a better review of the week. Anyway, thanks for all writing me, and have a great week.

Week 8

Fairly sure this is week 8, but who knows. It feels like day 8. I don't feel like I have been in the mission for very long. I read that Eryn went to a waterfall, and I was like "Oh tight, me too." Until her video finally downloaded... Then I realized she went to a REAL waterfall and I went to a 99 cent squirt toy. Speaking of loading. This computer place I am at took 15 minutes for me to open my email. 15! So if nothing sends?... well I won't be surprised! But it's a good in the Hood...uras. Puns.

I am not especially in the mood to give a play by play of the week. Mostly because I'm sure it won't be as interesting as my other emails. I understand the implication of my decision. No one is going to write me because of my boring email. WRONG. Since I don't want to say, this day we did this, and that day no one wanted to listen to us. I will tell you the craziest thing that happened to me thus far.

IT ALL BEGAN ON A TUESDAY. Elder De Jesus and I had our appointment to go teach Jose Angel who lives in a different town. I BEGAN THE WALK EXPECTING A NORMAL AFTERNOON. NEVERTHELESS I WILL NEVER FORGET THIS DAY. We walked... and walked... for an hour and a half to Jose's house. We enter and talk, and they offer us dinner. They served us Garobo... If you don't know what Garobo is... google it... If you are too lazy to google it... It's more or less an iguana... And it was delicious to be honest with you, I wouldn't mind having it again. People just kill Garobos in the streets with slingshots. No I'm serious. People just walked out and hit them with rocks and kill them and take 'em home. Kids have competitions to kill Garobo. AND THUS IT SEEMED A NORMAL VISIT. And then the grandma comes in and asks us to give the grandpa a blessing.

We accepted and enterred the room, inside was the Grandpa with a cloth over his foot. Elder De Jesus asked what was wrong, and the Grandma explained something I couldn't understand about what was wrong with the foot. Then she removed the cloth. The inside part/side of his big toe, and his big toe were missing. Half of his foot was gone, and heavily infected. We gave our blessing and the thanked us and left.

We walked most of the way back to town, but on our way was the house of our investigator, Milton, whom we frequently visit. We call out to their house from the gate to talk with them and the call us to the backyard. In the backyard was the family surrounding 3 pigs. A really big one that was laying on its side breathing hard, and two babies feeding. Again, Elder De Jesus asked what'd happened because we could see a fair amount of blood.

A passerby in the street took it upon himself to shoot the pig twice. They then decided that they shoot put it out of its misery. Three of the sons held the mom down and got on top of it, and it began to scream. Like scary scream. The two babies got really excited and the daughter of the house kept them away. Then one of the 3 sons goes and grabs a knife...

WOW. I just realized kids could be reading this. SORRRY. But I don't have time to start over and write a happy story... Anyway... the pig didn't die for quite some time, and I've never seen more blood. It was really kind of sad to watch. But anyway.

On a happy note I had my first baptism on Saturday. Her name is Carin, she's 22, and I baptized her in Combalí. She's really smart, like crazy smart. And asks about everything we teach and I'm not educated in spanish so basically Elder De Jesus talks to her because I don't understand half the time.

On another happy note, on Sundays I bless the sacrament, teach the teenagers the next hour and I TEACH PRIMARY the final hour. It's super cool. Also I am the branch secretary and I do the tithing. Probably cause no one else knows how to use the computer. It's pretty crazy on Sundays. Most of the branch are teenagers so my class is HUGE. Most of them live in Apacilagua, a little town up in the mountain from Orocuina. It's our favorite part of the Area. Everyone there is... excellent. Well. Party on, Wayne.

Week 7??? Possibly.15 hours to save the Earth

Somebody tell me what week it is. I have no idea. ANYWAY. I had 32 emails to read and to respond to, so here goes my attempt to give a global email... in 15 minutes. I see that Hermana Anderson has copied my daily format. So I will do the Hipster thing and do something different. I will say that my time up until the 29th of September was rad, and this is what came next.

The best week yet. We flew from Mexico City to El Salvador and ES to Honduras. In Teguc I was the first one to get through customs and everything and therefore the first to meet the AP`s and President and Hermana Bowler. They are super nice and super great. They showed us a little bit of the city and took us to a Stake Center. There we were given some instruction, and half of us went on splits with the missionaries already there and the other half had orientations for an hour.

I went out with the first group and talked with people. Most people in Honduras are super nice. They`ll listen to you and accept everything you say and take time to talk with you about the church and help you with your Spanish. There`s also people who "know" what faith is. They point in the air a lot and go something like "Siii! Sii! La fe La fe!" I don`t get it. Then there`s people who spit on us and tell us that there church is true. Those people are tight because that is how you learn to understand Spanish when someone isn`t happy. Hahahaha!

I came in and had my boring Orientation, pizza, and then we went back to the Assistant`s house to rest. Then to Dinner with President and Hermana Bowler then bed.

AND then I met Elder De Jesus, my companion. Heis from the Dominican, and is a super cool guy. I just never have any idea what he is saying. His accent is so strong, no one can understand him. No one. But he is a super cool guy, and we get along great. After some meetings on Wednesday, we left for our zone.

In the afternoon of Wednesday, we arrived in Choluteca. It`s in the South of Honduras, it`s pretty cool. There we stayed with Elder McKee and his companion. After that night we left for our area.

OROCUINA. It`s this tiny place in the middle of nowhere. It is super pretty but also super poor. But it is amazing. We live in this tiny room in this plaza. Right next door we have a Pulperia and on the other side, our dueña. Our shower is a bucket, and we have no running water, so to flush, you just pour water down the drain. All in all it`s pretty neat and I don`t mind too much because Orocuina is gorgeous and the people are the nicest people you willever meet in the world.

Besides the people in Pacilagua. Which is village that is about a 20 or 30 minute walk from Orocuina. It is where most of our members live. Mind you there are only like 26 people that attend our branch, and my companion is the 1st counselor and I`m the secretario. For conference we contracted a bus to take our branch to Choluteca. But on Friday he told us he couldn`t. so we walked way out to this place called the Savannah Del Toro.

We left all of our stuff with a member because Savannah DT is supposedly super ghetto. And walked out to contract a bus. We found a guy,and he hooked us up with hisbrand new school bus. Super G`wowww!! All week we had been inviting people to come to conference.

We had a whopping 52 people show up on our bus. Yeah. Crazy right??

Anyway, the fifteen minutes is up, but I got pretty far... I don`t have my camera sorry. I will send pics next week. I love you all. OH I FOUND 2 WHITE HAIRS WHAT. ON MY CHEST AND MY SIDEBURN. BASICALLY I AM DYING.

Cheque

Elder Anderson

mission home letter of arrival

Hola from Tegucigalpa!

We are happpy to tell you that Elder ­­­­­­­­­­­­Andrson has arrived safely in Tegucigalpa. We love him already and look so forward to serving with him for the next two years. We have attached a picture of him taken with us on the day of his arrival.

He has been asssigned a missionary companion who has been selected to serve as a trainer because of his experience and diligence as a missionary. We know your missionary will grow to love him and learn a great deal from him.

We want to assure you that we will be in close contact with your missionary during the coming weeks and months. Our greatest responsibilty is to dutifully care for each young person with which the Lord has entrusted us. If there are ever any concerns for his well being we will be in immediate contact with you and/or his local priesthood leaders.

Thank you for all you have done to prepare your missionary for this wonderful opportunity to serve. We know your family will be greatly blessed as you support him from home.

If questions or concerns should arise at home during your missionary’s service, please feel free to contact us or call the mission office at 504-2239-5587. We also have a blog for parents. The website address is ServingInTegucigalpa.blogspot.com.

President and Hermana Bowler

Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission

week 6

Home safe in Honduras. Love it here. Teguc is pretty awesome. Just went contacting. 

I can't write today, but next Monday I will send a big email. 

Sorry for a disappointing week 6 but others have to write too.

Love you.

Week 5

Aaaaaaand we´re back at you, live from Mexico City, I´m here in the MTC or the CCM, as they call it here, with my companion, THE ELDER ANDERSEN! WOOOOHOOOOOO! A big round of applause for Elder Andersen everybody! No? Ok, cut to commercial...

A lone missionary... With his companion versus the 90 acres of the CCM... Will they survive the next 4-5 days until their departure dates? Tune in next week to Week 6/7 to find out... Depending on whenever I arrive to Honduras and am able to email next.

Anyhoo! This week has been super fun. LET ME GIVE YOU THE PLAY BY PLAY.

Friday... A day that began seemingly like any other... UNTIL! Elder Andersen's alarm goes off! BOOP BOOP BOOP. At 5:50. Yep. 5:50... So after Elder Andersen's funeral later in the day we went to dinner, when it began to pour. And I mean POUR. And the water has absolutely no where to go so the streets were rivers. BUT! Good news is, is that my shoes ACTUALLY ARE WATERPROOF. Who would've known right? So as long as I stay in water beneath the ankle I won't get my feet wet, WOOHOO it's magic.

Saturday I couldn't tell you a darned thing other than that Elder Andersen (whose alarm now goes off at 5:55) went to the TSM building... Thomas S Monson building, the main building here, to do a service project where we cleaned up all the doors while Zone Mom Swept and told her stories. OH I HAVE TO TELL YOU ALL ABOUT ZONE MOM (at the bottom after all the week is done). Anyway we signed district 10A's transfer journals and stuff and took a big Zone picture because the left on Monday for their missions. Couple to Chile, couple to Pocatello, and one to Des Moines.

Sunday, we watched a couple short movies like the church movie about the Stonecutter. 5:55.

Monday was a day of regrets - I ate bad meat. Lots of Classes. 5:55.

Tuesday we had a devotional that was fun. Lots of Classes. 5:55 Alarm again.

Wednesday. OH BOY WEDNESDAY. 5:55 alarm. Yesterday was a day I won't forget. Outside of our classroom, like literally outside of our classroom there is a water dispenser, and everybody goes outside to get water alone, because you can still hear your companion and you can actually see the dispensor from most parts of the room. WELL I GUESS I NEED TO BE MORE OBEDIENT AND STICK WITH MY COMPANION. Because I went and got water, and Hermana Silva sees me and yells "Elder! Where is your companero??" and I told her he was just inside, (Like 5 feet away.) And so she grabs this gauze like cloth and ties Elder Andersen and I together for the next 30 minutes until she told us we could be freed. Yes. We had to go to the bathroom with it on. Anyway, I probably should take my companion with me, but it is the MTC, what is going to happen when we are 5 feet away? I guess it's just a good habit to set before I go out into the field. I like Hermana Silva, but I don't like being tied to my companion with a maximum distance of 4 ish feet of cloth between us... 

Then our afternoon classes came, and Hermano Galicia was teaching us, he taught some Spanish, then we went outside to practice contacting in the MTC and getting referals. I went off with Elder Durham and we were walking past the computer labs to talk to some Latino Elders when we see President Tenorio, President of the MTC, in his garage unpacking his groceries. Immediately I look at Elder Durham and I say, "What are the odds?" and then he said "Nah, we HAVE to." so we run over to Presidente Tenorio and Introduced ourselves as missionaries of La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias... And he gives us the most confused look of his life. Then Elder Durham tells him that we are practicing contacting and getting references, and what was supposed to be a 5 minute activity, turns into this. President Tenorio invites into his home. On the outside it looks like every other house/building in the MTC. On the inside it's actually pretty well furbished, he has nice paintings/pictures on his walls, and he asks us to sit down on his couch in living room with a huge flat screen TV.

He sits down and we begin asking him questions to get to know him to know what to teach. USUALLY, you pretend to have problems or be some one else or a non member. He obviously didn't get the memo. We ask him about his family, he responds as Pres. Tenorio. We ask him about pretty much everything and get to know him pretty well. About his kids, one of which is at BYU, about his 15 grandkids, about his wife, everything. He responds as Pres. Tenorio. Then he says "Wait. Am I supposed to be a non member or member?" And at that point I could only just chuckle. We decided that we needed to get back to our class because it had been a while, so we close with asking him for references. He had 0, hahaha, and so we asked if there was ANYTHING we could help with. And he finally opened up and said "Yes." he told us that he and Hermana Tenorio were starting a diet and so they had to get rid of a few things and guides us to the freezer, where he hands Elder Durham and I two Vanilla Popsicles dipped in chocolate with assorted nuts embedded into the Chocolate. It was Christmas morning. Then he hands us a big bag of regular fruit popsicles and we leave on our way. We walk outside to find our wandering district and teacher looking for us. They were pretty mad until they saw the popsicles.

Today we got up at 5:30. Ate breakfast at 6:30 and went to the Temple to do a session. It was super cool and they didn't give us headphones so everything was in Spanish and we did surprisingly well. There was so much traffic though that we left at 7:15 and did not get back to the MTC until 1:30 at which time we ate lunch and did laundry up until now. I don[t exactly know when next I will write because Pday in the field is on Monday and I leave Tuesday to El Salvador then to Honduras. I'll miss the CCM and my district but I am pumped to get out there.

NOW. Zone mom. Zone Mom left on her mission nearly 8 years ago. In her final week at the Provo MTC she tore her shoulder playing Volleyball. Now she is returned as a missionary to serve as a 29 year old Hermana in Washington. She pretty much HATES all Elders and preaches them the rules that she herself breaks. Zone Mom Patrols the hall going class to class making sure everyone studies... But where is her studying? Oh yeah, she has been preparing for the last 8 years so she "Doesn't need to."  Although I promise you she NEEDS TO STUDY SPANISH WHICH IS SO IRONIC BECAUSE SHE TRIES TO CORRECT EVERYONE ELSE. I don't understand that or her. There's always more to learn. I don't hate zone mom. I just don't get her. I think she's just uncomfortable being 100 years old around a bunch of teenagers. She's a good pianist though and I think it's super cool that she's going on a mission still after a million years of surgery. It's just a little weird just how much she embraces the name "Zone Mom."

And now I bid unto all, farewell. I soon go to play in the field of Volleyball, until my hour hand and minute hand shall again reunite at 6. And I am brought forth triumpant in Volleyball. To play my last time for many years. Amen.

week 4

So you know, I´d really love to send you all a really long email... But if I am going to be completely honest. The days now are a blur, and it feels as if I had just written week 3. So I'll try my best, just know that I love you all.

Thursday after writing, I did laundry with Elder Andersen. If someone leaves their laundry in the machine finished after a long period of time, it's free game to move. There are only 8 washers and 8 dryers in our apartment building and so we have to keep it flowing. I moved an Elder's clothes nicely into a basket and began to wash my clothes. I come back 40 minutes later when my clothes are almost finished, and Elder Causey comes in and sees his clothes in a basket. He yells (mind you it's been 40 minutes at the latest since his clothes FINISHED) "WHO THE HECK MOVED MY CLOTHES, WHYYYYYY WHO DOES THAT?" and everyone in the laundry room just kinda looks at him and says nothing. I raised my hand and told him it was me, and he rolled his eyes, let out the loudest sigh and went to pout in a corner to wait for a washer to wash his whites. Once my clothes are finished washing I immediately moved them to dry. The dryer was full of finished clothes, I walked ever so awkwardly to the corner where Elder Causey was pouting to grab a basket, and then, with him watching, I moved the finished clothes into another basket and started to dry my clothes. He could only stare, and the room just started laughing. I don't know why he was so angry. If he had only been there on time to pick up his clothes (and not 40 minutes late) he wouldn't have to worry about it. Anyway, I guess you just got to have a good attitude. There's a huge difference in people here. There are a lot of us, like a huge majority, that love it here and are having a great time... Then there are those are aren't so happy, and I think they hate it when they see us doing so well when they feel miserable. It goes to show that how you look at the situation really changes everything. I've never been late to switch my laundry, but I seriously doubt I would even care if I found my clothes in a basket. Everyone's got limited time on P day, and everyone has to do laundry.

Friday, I seriously have no recollection of. But I'm sure it was a great day.

Saturday we did TRC and I taught two people from Mexico City. I taught Jocelyn, who was recently converted almost 2 years ago and is now 16, and Itzel, a woman whose boyfriend is a member and she is investigating. We Jocelyn wanted to learn how to prepare for a mission, and just came to TRC mostly to help the Elders with spanish, which was super nice. There's just one issue. Jocelyn has braces, and for that she tends to have a lisp sometimes when she talks. She was incredibly hard to understand and what little of it I caught I had to translate to Elder Andersen. But I could never remember it all because she would go on forever talking and it was crazy. Itzel was very nice and she has been to church a few times and read the LDM so it wasn't really difficult to teach her, I think she is joining the church anyway. But her Spanish seemed really proper, she talked very clearly, still fast but it was easier to understand. At night we watched the cultural celebration for Mexico which was rad. So much more Culture here than in the states. It was a really fun night.

Sunday was the rededication of the Mexico City temple, we got to particpate (via satellite.) here at the CCM. It was a pretty cool experience, I've done it before, but it was cool that all the himnos and talks were in Spanish. (cept Eyring and Holland who were translated into Spanish.) Then we watched a couple movies. John Tanner story and some other movies. I've seem them before and there very good, Movie Night is always fun.

Monday I also have no recollection of, but maybe it was just a mediocre day.

Tuesday was like most days, but we watched Legacy, which was cool I guess. Just another day of studying studying studying, which I actually rather enjoy. THEN IT WAS THE NIGHT BEFORE INDEPENDENCE DAY. So all throughout the night there were guns and fireworks and it was insanely loud and overall it was a really fun night.

Wednesday was yesterday... Still don't remember much. Besides the fact that we had a huge rainstorm. That in itself isn't rare at all here in Mexico City. It rains every night and there's always lightning. But Yesterday there lightning was on the MTC. Lightning would strike and we would hear it instantly and it was deafening. It was a really fun night. I guess the Elders who arrived yesterday might've had someone who shouldn't be here. Chiste.

Today! We went to the temple! And so I had to obtain a recommend because I left it at home, so I had to interview with President Tenorio. He asked me to pray, and to pray in English (no idea why) so I did, and I guess I said in the name of Jesus Christ Amen really fast because he didn't look up when I finished, and I kind of just waited. Just as I was about to say it again though, he peeked up and saw that I had finished. SUUUUPER AWKWARD. And In the middle of writing this, Elder Pisciotta passed our computer lab, so I ran out and took a picture with him that you'll have to send to Zack and Camden's mom, because moms are crazy about pics of their missionaries. (This part is for mom not any of you guys, sorry.) Anyway, have a super week, because I have had a super week. I love all you.

-Elder Anderson