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.