week 33 aqui

Title - I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor

Changes Changes Changes

For everyone but my companion and me. I´ll be staying another 6 weeks in Guapinol with Elder Olivares.

I didn´t end up going to the beach, but that´s probably a good thing. No one was in town so it was a pretty slow week of work.

This week I got to baptize Lizzi, the daughter of Joel and Mariana, I still need them to get married, but they seemed rather excited after her baptism. I also got the majority of her family to accompany us to Monjarás for the baptism. 7 Investigators showed up. Which is waaay good considering that our attendance in Sacrament last week was a whopping 31 for the Semana Santa.

After the wedding my companion and I helped the sister missionaries prepare for a wedding the next day. I also decided to never help with weddings again, nor will I ever be involved in the planning of any wedding. (Joel and Mariana exception.)

After we decorated the cultural hall, we left the chapel around 9. We arrived at a quick dinner appointment when the branch president asked Elder Olivares for the keys to the church. He searched his pockets and realized that he had lost them. So four of us Elders and the hermanas searched the streets for Monjaras until 10:40 when we gave up. We found them luckily in the morning, which was good, because Elder Olivares was on the verge of tears the holy night, thinking that he would have to pay for the replacement of the lock system in the church. (He lost the master key to a magnetic lock system or however you say it.) Basically the key that opens EVERY door in the church. It was actually a pretty funny night, but incredibly stressful.

I think this next change will be filled with success.

Elder Anderson

week 32 Semana Santa

First off, sorry I didn´t write yesterday. I was in the cyber waiting writing waiting, but first it was full, then right when I was about to write, the power went out. And in the course of writing this email, the power has gone out 4 times. SO I WILL BE BRIEF. SORRY. I promise I will write more next week, and I will try to go to Cholu to a better - 5 times - cyber. It´s really frustrating.

Anyway, this week, a lot of our investigators with baptismal dates decided that they didn´t want to have baptismal dates... nor be investigators, so that´s cool. But I am going to baptize Lizzi this week, and I am almost 60% sure that it is actually going to happen, so that is the light of my week. ALSO yesterday I received the letters with the pictures of the family and peeps, pretty much made me the happiest person in the world, shared the pictures with everyone. Maybe it made me baggy/trunky, but that´s not the worst thing in the world.

This last Sunday was the beginning of Semana Santa, Holy Week... And first off, that name is a lie. It´s spring break, and it is NOT holy. Our attendance in church plummeted to a whopping 25, and everybody is gone to the beach. There is no one to teach or talk to, as they are all enjoying the beach, or taking advantage of the opportunity to sell in the beach. As the beach lies in my area, I have thought about maybe asking for permission to contact it to maybe get references or do something, but at the same time, I am not so sure the beach on spring break is the best place for a missionary to be!

As of this last week, I am the Guapinol Jump Rope champion, who holds the most time... jumping rope. Grammar. But anyway, I am a pro, and all the kids in the village ask us to jump rope with them. When I walk down the main road they all come running to come see me and it´s super funny. And through that, now all the adults love me and everyone lets us into their homes to teach, (and each shrimp.) I really like Guapinol - 6 times -, next week is changes, but I don´t think I will leave, nor do I want to.

7 times

Well, I give up. I love - 8 times - you all and I will just have to go to a better town another week. Sorry for lack of pics, don´t hate me.

WITH LOTS OF LOVE AND A HUGE HUG FOR EVERYONE,

Elder Jacob Joseph Anderson

week 31 Punta Raton

This week we had interviews and mine went well. I really don´t have a whole lot to say, neither do I have pictures to send. I guess I´ll just let you all know that I am healthy and that I am happy, and here is my crazy story and high light for the week.

This week the sea level soared. The ocean was in town and flooded a couple houses, will send pics when I get them from Elder Olivares next week. It was pretty fun and cool to teach in that condition... Until our leaders told us to teach in the part of town where it wasn´t flooded. It has been like that for 3 days now, so I haven´t visited my investigators there for a while. Makes me kind of peeved, but it´s all right.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I had divisions with Elder Lindsay from Colorado. He has one change less than me in the mission. We wanted to do something fun but still within the rules, so we decided to go ask the branch president if we could hire a bus to bring people to church from a beach in his area called Punta Raton. We got permission and went that day and contacted the town. It was a pretty cool day. We got to see the islands, and we could look at one end and see El Salvador and look at the other and see Nicaragua.

Still happy still healthy, love you all.

Elder Anderson

week 30 Stay Puft Marshmallow Man

This week I got cussed out, met Elder Alonso, destroyed my hand, and baptized in the Pacific Ocean.

This week we (as usual) visited Luz, the lady with the star grill on her teeth. We showed up, made smoothies together, began our lesson, everything chill and normal when a guy started yelling. I just kind of ignored it and kept going. Then Elder Olivares tapped my shoulder and I looked at the man, realizing that it was at me that he was yelling. I look back at Olivares and he was red angry, he looked at me and said, ´´let´s not fight.´´ and I replied ´´I wasn´t thinking about it.´´ and so we stood up, and as soon as I did, the man started walking back when he realized how big I was. (I am a GIANT in Honduras.) We said we would leave and quietly pickup our stuff, but our backpacks were in the kitchen, FURTHER into the house. So I had to walk towards the man and he starts whacking out thinking we were going to fight, and then let loose a torment of curse words about my mom when he saw I was just grabbing my backpack... I asked Luz who the guy was and she said it was her husband. Then Olivares asked what was wrong and she said that is just the way he is...

So I guess we won´t be baptizing Luz anytime soon.

This week we also had a conference with Elder Alonso. It went well. We got shaved, but also pretty animated.

So Saturday we went to the nicest beach in Guapinol to baptize. I climbed up some rocks to change into my baptismal clothing that is WAY too big, but what I didn´t realize is that there are pieces of glass and clams embedded in the rocks and I completely tore up my left hand. (please send more 1 or 2 more long sleeze shirts that are smaller and a pair of white pants smaller.)

Then I baptized Yimi (Jimmy) my homebody in the pic. And 6 or 7 of our investigators showed up and now are all pumped for baptism. HOW GREAT IS IT TO BE A MISSIONARY YAHOOOOOOOO.

Yesterday, I woke up and walked out my front door to find a puppy. He was cut up pretty bad, had missing fur, weird growths, but was pretty cute. I was pretty mad someone had left him on our front porch, so we took him in and fed him milk, then I took him out to the pila and took out all of the fleas and ants and stuff that were picking at his cuts, and then I took him to a member. He is my new best friend.

Love you guys.