September 17, 2015

First things first-I've lost a ton of weight. Every one asks me what I've got. The good news is that I'm on the up and up and really eating a ton. I'm coming back.

Loved the pictures too! I love seeing how good everyone's doing. Might make me a little homesick, but I don't mind.

I've got some sweet pictures coming, if elder Sandoval comes through for me and sends me the pictures. We went to a waterfall today for a double zone pday. Another great part about being zl is that I have a ton of friends in my zone. My area is called Las Colinas. It's pure mountain. All of la Ceiba is nice and flat with the exception of our area.

 

one more. I drank from the river today. We were really high up and there's nothing above to contaminate, so we'll see if I get sick or not. Wish me luck.

 

And fall...I'm drenched in sweat as we speak. I love winter in florida so much. Deer season and football games and crisp air.

I'm also so proud of everybody-sarah at byu, kate exercising and socializing and doing the whole violin thing, Curtis working out and fishing, sterling playing football, you all are keeping it real. Tell Curtis to not be dumb.

How serious is this Jared thing? ship her up to BYU and she finds the first kid from st. Johns she can. Sounds like a good kid to me though, I'm in favor. Tell me more about him. I want her to send me pictures, send me what she's posting on instagram!

And Curtis, tell me more about the fishing. What gear are you using? Tell me about the tackle, where you were fishing, everything! Taking good care of my gear? Put it to good use but take care of it! Wash and lubricate!

So Devin's getting married huh? That's awesome. What does his mom say about his reactivation and temple marriage? Or has she been pretty silent?

And BYU...that's awesome. This would be the year they start doing well! Thanks for keeping me posted, its like I was there...kinda.

So, here's my update. Honduras is still doing its best to kill me, it's the little things that build up and wear on ya. Like waking up every day covered in bug bites, all kinds of skin rashes from the heat, not to mention my extreme weight loss. A mouse crawled on me last night, and I had one of those "what the heck am I doing here on a sweaty mattress in Honduras" moments and then remember how the same thing happened to me hiking the appalachain trail last year and how we did that for pure enjoyment. Perspective.

But yeah, the zone leader life is pretty cool-I love doing divisions and being able to work with the missionaries. This week we went with a companionship in an area that struggles a little bit and has an elder that's going home in a week. We show up to their house on a surprise visit because my comp is on a huge power trip, and they're all sitting around in their garments at three in the afternoon lounging around in their filthy apartment. Got a good laugh out of that one, they had a quality "oh s__t" moment. We went our separate ways and worked, got everybody moving again. The best part though is that I was able to make friends with them, gain their confidence, show them I wasn't here to wring them out or quote the white bible to them, and then, at the end of the day, we were able to talk real openly about what's going on, what they need to improve on, and they themselves put goals and plans to carry it out. I'm all about being obedient, but when someone's not being obedient, they already know they're in the wrong, the spirit takes care of that-they just need a little a little love and motivation to do the right thing.

Little favorite scripture for the week, 1 kings 18:20-If The Lord be God, then follow him. Loosely quoted, but there you have it. It's simple. If something is right, do it.

Honduras is really growing on me more and more every day. The members here are stellar. They fellowship our investigators, feed us, and actually work. Our missionary leader is great, we have a good relationship with the members, and they practically jump on our investigators to make sure they're comfortable.

The other night we had a baptism and a talent night, and at one point an old member gets up and just starts preaching with the microphone in hand, it looked like an evangelical revival meeting. Just starts preaching pure apostasy. After hearing so much of it in the mission, it doesn't even bother me anymore, I kinda just sit back and enjoy it. Enjoy the awkwardness. The old members know he's off base and the new members aren't gonna remember it. Just gotta roll with it. There was also a young woman that got up and did a musical number in a little short dress that was definitely not church appropriate, but hey, Honduras. Just gotta roll with it.

Also this week has been making me think about the freedoms we enjoy, and how one such freedom is the freedom to live without fear. Fear rules here. We live in a house surrounded by a concrete wall with razor wire above, bars on the windows, bars on the doors, completely sealed in. People are afraid to go outside at night. Had a real disappointing experience the other night when we asked a grown man with a car to take a pair of investigators home-women, with babies-and he said no, because he can't put his life in danger driving up to where they live. I got real mad at that one. Like, what, you want that they walk back alone? We walk those same streets every night. If that had happened back in the states there would have been an army of men in pickup trucks and guns in the gun racks volunteering to make sure they got back to the house all right.

And another thing I've been thinking about this week is how effective Mormonism is-there are so many good people of other faiths, people that are doing the best they can and will no doubt inherit a place in the celestial kingdom, but...no other system can teach and guide us with practical, moral principles like ours can. It can't teach about the family because for them the family ends at death. It can't teach about morality because the pastors are all living in fornication. It can't teach about life eternal because life eternal is to know God and his son, Jesus Christ, and to them God, Christ, and the spirit are one being, a spirit, without form or figure. I love evangelicals but I abhor their doctrine.

Oh, and our young men's quorum this week was a trip! First of all, its awesome, because we filled a room (and we actually have a room-and a chapel-and a ward, a huge improvement!) but they just have no filter. We heard a little discussion about the skin color of the lamanites and how ugly they were and how the lord made them dark and ugly so the white, pure nephites wouldn't be tempted to mix their seed-I got uncomfortable, and all the 5'8 dark skinned men in the room are nodding, like "this is good stuff!". We also touched on the subject of wet dreams, and how masturbation is just as bad as abortion. Another moment of sitting back and enjoying the interesting parts of a new church in a third world country, love it.

Also, my comp drives me up the wall. He's the most prideful person I've ever known. He's all about numbers, loves to machete people, can't feel the spirit with him, teaches like a robot, not real honest, and if I've got an idea (even if he was about to say the same thing) he's got a better one and a page from the mission manual to tell me why I'm wrong and he's right. He gets on a high calling people out for issues of obedience but he doesn't do the right thing himself. He was joking the other day about me introducing him to my sister, and I just thought how it would be a cold day in hell before I ever let him talk to any relative of mine. And I've got no idea how to love him! Even with Villegas, the most difficult comp anyone could ever have, we still had a warm relationship and there was love and we had our good moments. Anyway. Enough griping.

The mission is great, I'm trying my best to cope with my comp, but I love our investigators and I could not be happier with them and the ward. Also, our cook is the best-real, good food, and lots of it. She likes me because I always eat all of her food, and I eat it well. She only makes us lunch but we have dinners every now and then.

also, love you all, love reading about your lives, and I miss you all! Wish I had more time but for the forseable future my times gonna be quite a bit shorter. Bye now!