Feliz Navidad!

First of all, Feliz Navidad! This was a weird Christmas but definitely a good one that I will never forget.

Martes: we taught a lady that told us she doesnt celebrate christmas but she wouldnt give us a reason why not so that was strange. Also, everyone here I swear knows the bible way better than I do and they know everything they're supposed to do, like pray and read the scriptures and keep the commandments, but they don't do it! Blows my mind, like God is waiting to give them blessings, they just have to do what they are supposed to do! 

Also on Martes I had THE MOST HEAVENLY TAMALES OF MY LIIIIFE. They were actually spicy, the masa wasn't dry, the chicken inside was perfectly seasoned and cooked, I was in heaven. And this lady fed us tamales after my comp super macheted them and told them they were living in fornication since they weren't legally married. yeah. And later that day we had fried plantanas with mantequilla and I thought mantequilla was supposed to be butter but this stuff was like a cream cheese/sour cream stuff and it was sooooo good. And the drink we had with it was made with avena which is basically oatmeal but I thought it was just really good horchata at first. 

Sorry guys I feel like all I talk about it food but it's one of my favorite things so yeah. sorry. 

Miércoles: Christmas Eve.

So we went to Hna Rosita's para prestar servicio at like 7. But I swear the woman just wanted to talk but it was fine cus she gave us cake and the best lime tea I've had in my life, the woman grows magical limes in her back yard I swear. She finally let us help her sweep up her huge back yard for like 45 minutes and it was around 9 when her husband came home and insisted we have some chicken asada with tortillas so basically we ate more than we served.

 The whole week before and after christmas is super loud because there's all these kids running around setting of fireworks, and by kids, I mean little kids. little kids with explosives. A family invited us and the elders over for christmas eve, which was really nice. One of the girls goes to our church, she'

 s 23 and super nice and she has a 4 year old daughter that drew a picture of Hna Calpa and me. 

Jueves: Christmas day

So christmas day I put on my little christmas socks my mom sent me and sat down by the tree with my christmas orange. Gave myself a new toothbrush which was super sweet of me. Tried to play some christmas music but I think my music player is broken, I only get mariachi music from the radio setting. Made some little pancakes and pretended they were aebleskivers. 

We had a baptism at the river and we got to go this time! It was so awesome and I cant think of a better christmas present to the Savior than a commitment to follow him. We brought one of our investigators with us, she has a baptismal date and I really hope she follows through, she's so amazing and she even separated from her boyfriend because he didn't want to get married, she's awesome. 

Viernes: we helped someone move, ran out of bread so I made two pancakes so that I could have a pbj. Also, a lot of Catholics think the apostle Peter is still on the earth? We talked to a guy that got baptized a few years ago but he's stopped going to church. We asked him how he felt when he was baptized and he said he didn't feel anything. That made me so sad. 

Sabado: will forever be remembered as the day I ate 6 baleadas and almost died. These people do not take no for an answer when it comes to food. 

Domingo: the only investigators we brought to church were two little girls but they were great. They saw all the other kids getting treats from their moms so I found two jolly ranchers in my bag and I felt like a weird old lady but oh well. After church 6 of the young men and women from our little church went with us to talk to the less active members and it was so great. 

Merry Christmas! This is an awesome season, go tell your mother you love her

montón de amor, Hermana Nelson  

!Buenaaaas!

so this week...

Lunes: I watched 3 muchachas struggle for 10 minutes in the store trying to get a shirt down that I could have easily reached. It wasn't until right before they got it down did I realize that I probably should have helped. Basically, almost everyone is short here. It's adorable

Martes: I watched an investigator pick lint out of his belly button. A lady thought I was from Australia #Iwish 

Miércoles: We painted Hna Ana Rosa's house basically lime green. #latinamerica She fed us lunch and you know you'd think that I would be eating a lot of spicy food here but Hondurans aren't really into that. Like literally I put hot sauce on everything when I was in Mexico but here, I use like a little bit and they're all woaaahh hermana le gusta chili??? And I was like...yeah. 

Thought I saw another white person while we were shopping, it was a mannequin. Also, some muchachito was like, "that's a big girl" about me in spanish and I just laughed like dude I'm riiight here, I can understand you.

Jueves: we left at 5 in the madrugada to Lima (not in Peru, in Honduras, silly) for a multi zone conference. It's basically where groups of missionaries from different parts of our mission get together and we just have a day where we listen to our Mission president and his wife talk and we get to share a little discurso and our testimonios. It was super bien! We talked about the Living Christ and it was so awesome being with all the other missionaries and I got to see Elder Glines from my district in the CCM so that was awesome as well. 

After the conf Hna Calpa and I took a couple of buses to Por Venir and we spent some time with the sisters there. okay so you guys keep telling me to talk about the things that are different before I get used to them. So the money exchange here, creo que it's 12 lempiras to a dollar. So when we went out to dinner with the hermanas in Por Venir, I had two meat-filled empenadas with all sorts of vegetables on top and a salsa for 20 lempiras. I knowwww right? 

But seriously guys I'm going to try not to come home fat, but if I do, just give me a couple months, don't make fun of me, and I promise I'll get back into shape. 

Oh and when we stayed with the sisters in Por Venir all four of us shared two beds que masiso! 

Viernes: we went to migración so that hna Calpa could renew her residency. It's way more humid in San Pedro Sula, I'm so glad I'm in Morazan because my face was melting off. We went to burger king so that was different. 

Sabado: we got a call in the morning and after Hna Calpa said "vamos a matar pollos!" and i was like que? So anyway we go to Hno Ody's and apparently he needs help killing his chickens. I didn't have to physically kill any of them thank goodness but I did get to pluck all the feathers and get blood, feathers, and chicken crap all over my falda so yayyy. 

Domingo:  was nice and we had so many kids come to church, Jesus really means it when he says he wants us to be like little children, they're so meek and willing to learn I love it. 

Today, we went on a hike with the elders and it was gorgeous and fun and I took a ton of pics. (mom and dad your homework is to go on my drop box and pick out pictures for my blog pretty pls) The power went out in Morazan so that's why we're writing a little later. Im excited to see my family in a couple of days!

Much love from morazan!

Morazan

A walk into "town" on p-day

So my trainer, mi mamá, is Hermana Calpa. She's from Colombia, I'm going to "kill" her in about three months (translation:she goes home from her mission in 3 months) AND SHE IS AN ANGEL. I really wish I spoke spanish better because she's so nice and she always talks about how she's only ever had gringas for companions and I know she wishes she had someone to talk to. And I was sick when she picked me up but she was always checking on me to see if I needed to go back to the apartment to rest, or if I needed medicine or anything. AND SHE MAKES ME PANCAKES. like literally if I don't have pancakes for breakfast, chances are I'll have them for dinner at 8 because that's when we get home from teaching investigators and members. We basically never eat dinner at people's houses which I'm okay with because I don't want to take their food and I also don't want to get sick. 

       We did have a late lunch at a member's house and I was super excited to try it, it was sopa de res. So it's basically beef soup but there's guineos in it, which is the name for bananas while they're still green. So the soup was super tasty and the guineos reminded me of bread fruit because it's kind of just starch. And I was super sick the next day but oh well. Also the other night we bought dinner at a little shack that was totally up to code, tajadas con pollo, and the fried guineo slices were fresh and the chicken was fried and I actually had an appetite, unlike the time I had the same in Lima. So I ate the whole thing and I didn't get sick the next day and I felt like a greasy champ. 

       God definitely knew what he was doing when he sent me to Honduras, I have officially retired my princess costume, We teach lessons sitting on dirt floors because some people don't own any chiars, kids just pop a squat anywhere, if they need to relieve themselves, dogs and cats are everywhere but they are basically there to help with gabage, our apartment is a palace because we have running water inside instead of outside. I know I'll see a lot more in the next 17 months, but as of right now, I don't turn my nose up at anything. Why should I?

view from the front window

  The only thing separating me from any of these amazing people is circumstance. I don't know why I've been so blessed since I haven't worked for anything I have. But I haven't felt any resentment, these people are so loving and nice. They just ask my companion what happened to the other white girl, my companion says "se fue", and they're just like, aw that's too bad, we really liked Hermana Bacon. But then they kiss me on the cheek and say "bienvenidos". 

Did I mention everyone is super nice? Walking home last night a whole group of guys yelled that they loved me but I feel like maybe that's the only English they know.

View of Morazan from our balcony

       So my first sunday was nice, we don't really have a bishop, we're an extension of the Santa Rita ward so we don't have a branch president either. Mi papá, Elder Ashton, basically runs the show. Our services are in Hermana Ana Rosa's back yard and I think I already mentioned that the class for the kids is in a shed. Oh and I'm the choir pianist. So that's nice. I got to talk to Elder Ashton a couple times yesterday and it was the first conversation I had in English for a while so it was a little weird. He said I had to try the baleadas here, apparently they're better than the ones in Lima or something. 

       

 I'm excited to talk to you all on christmas and if you wanted to know, we almost always write from 2 to 4 on our preparation days. I don't know why we don't later in the day but that's what Hna Calpa likes and I literally follow her around like a lost puppy and she translates everything for me from honduran slang to slow, proper spanish. I love her. Anyways, see you guys in like holy cow 11 days! I don't know what is going to happen if I'm going to call or skype, or what time of day.... we'll see! 

montón de amor!           your girl Hermana Nelson

In Country

Here's a picture of me in the CCM where it kind of looks like christmas! With the honduran flag above me! But anyways, mexico is weak sauce, I'm in Honduras now and I've been here for 3 days so I'm basically a pro and fluent in spanish now. ha. Half of my district from the CCM was in the same mission as I was so we all traveled together which was nice. Our mission president, his wife, and two sets of missionaries met us at the airport and they got us Wendys which was super nice of them but I was still feeling kind of sick so I didn't really get to appreciate my last mostly american and safe meal. 

My comp from the CCM, Hna Haight and I got to go with the sister missionaries and after we got dropped off at the apartment to put away our luggage, we went on our first bus ride. It wasn't even a bus, it was like a van with a bus load of people crammed inside and a remix of Sweet dreams are made of this, blasting in our ears and with people stopping the bus trying to sell plastic baggies of juice and fried banana slices. It was awesome. Haight and I were just like omg we're in Honduras! But we didn't really get anything else done that day, we actually spent most of our time waiting at a different bus stop, apparently transportation is a bit sketch. We eventually got to dinner at a member's home at around 7pm and it was a huge plate of fried banana slices, some diced onions and vegetables salsa, and fried chicken. And horchata, which I was stoked about and it was super bien. 

Apparently most of the missionaries in the San Pedro Sula Este mission went to the Guatemala mtc, so there was a bigger group of about 14 that came in from there on tuesday. Then we had our actual orientation and we did a super contact which basically means we get paired with an experienced missionary and we go out and try to talk to people. Except for in Honduras, we dont knock on doors, we just stand outside and yel BUENAS, BUENAS TARDES, and if people want to talk to us they come to the door. So that was fun. 

Today was transfer day, so we waited a really long time at the appartment for our ride and then we took all of our luggage to the church and had a transfer meeting. There were some missionaries who were leaving and they didn't look too haggard so hopefully i wont get too ratchet. Okay so when my mission president told me about my first area, he started out by asking if I knew what was smaller congregation than a branch in the church. I was just like ummmm i don't know I thought that since a branch was smaller than a ward in the church, nothing else is smaller. Then he goes and tells me that I'm going to be serving in Morazán, and that all they have there is called an extension, which is a smaller congregation than a branch. And they don't have a building, they meet in a house, sometimes in the backyard, and the sunday school classes for the kids is in a shed. so needless to say, I'm stoked! So I've spent basically all day trying to get to Morazán and it's been super rainy and I've had to transfer a lot of buses and it was confuzing but I eventually got to mi mamá, or my trainer, and she's super nice. Our house is surprisingly really nice. I mean, we have a bucket instead of a shower head but I can dig it, and heads up if you're ever in honduras, don't flush the toilet paper. you're supposed to throw it in the trash can next to you. And don't even use the water to brush your teeth, luckily it's pretty easy to buy bottled water. And before we left, we were all issued legit bottles with filters built in. 

I don't have any pictures of Honduras right now because I'm afraid to have my camera with me porque ladrones pero hopefully I will on monday when I hopefully write again! Much love from HONDURAS!

Hermana Nelson has arrived in Honduras

8 December Arrival in Honduras

Ready to move on to Honduras . . .

The new district that we got in our zone last week was 12 elders so as Sister Training leaders, we didn't have to do anything. I mean we got them some Milches at the tienda but that's it. Yesterday we got another district and there's two sisters, but we're leaving on monday so idk how much we're going to be able to help them... 

I think I'm ready to leave the CCM, but my spanish could definitely be better and I'm definitely going to miss some people. Our roommates are super sweet, Hermana Landes is my fav, she's my height and always borrows my clothes which is fine because I swear I brought way too many. I always get so many complements and people freak out when I say that my mom made them. It's awesome. 

This week my companion and I got assigned one more investigator this week than the rest of our district because they said our spanish was really good. I think they just mean my companion but we're a package deal so it's whatever. We were realllly excited at first though because we thought it was going to be a real person instead of an instructor pretending to be an investigator. But it was Hermano Gomez which is good since he's a little harder on us than the other instructors. 

Today is our last preparation day in the CCM and we started off with a ton of sand volleyball which was good but the Elders got mad when we were late because we're trying to pack and do laundry... I thought about getting my hair cut but I don't think I will. I literally straighten it multiple times a week because my hair is crazy frizzy and wont calm down. We just got our flight schedule and we're leaving at 6am monday morning. Half of our district is going to Tegucigalpa a day after we leave for San Pedro Sula and they're already sad. We also received heavy duty water bottles that should filter out all of the stuff that's going to try and kill us in Honduras. Hermana Oram says she want's a few parasites though, so she can get real skinny on the mish. So there's that. Hopefully a picture or two later, much love!

Hermana Nelson

El Dia del Pavo!

Hope you guys had a great thanksgiving! 

We got to listen to a live devotional where David A. Bednar spoke and it was mostly a Q&A where people were given phones and they texted their questions to his iPad. He and his wife are so cute. And I felt so thankful to be in the CCM during thanksgiving and other devotionals because it is especially for us. As far as I know, they are rarely recorded and we aren´t allowed to record them personally and send them home. Which is a shame because all they things they say are so amazing. I also feel like they can be more real with us because they aren´t as worried about hurting people's feelings. 

We actually had a pretty good thanksgiving lunch, the turkey was a little pink but the mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie were on point. 

I really missed my momma's cooking though, it's been two years in a row now!  

The rest of the day we just tried to play volleyball but there are too many people here and it was really frustrating because we had to sub in and play for the court a couple of times and we switched courts like four times looking for a good game. Over the course of the day I got some good kills and some good serves so it was okay and I got to play with Elder Stephens before he leaves to Ecuador on Monday.

I'm auditioning to sing during the last sunday devotional so pray for me! I think I´m singing Jesus Once of Humble birth in Spanish with Elder Ngungtau and Elder Ames so hopefully it'll be good. 

We only have one more full week in the CCM and I don´t feel ready for Honduras at all but it's whatever because I got Jesus and I'll have a trainer and I'll probably buy a machete.

Besos!

Hermana Nelson

The Coin of Shame

So our 4 day english fast only lasted like 2 full days and then after that it was half days. It's not that it's too entirely difficult, it just got really reaaallly boring. We missed our Elders, they were so silent because they hardly know enough spanish to have conversations. But I definitely think it was a good exercise. I don't know if I told you but for every time we spoke english, we added a minute to the time at the end of the day holding a peso against the wall with our nose. I did not like the coin of shame. 

Saturday, my comp and I taught our first real live person! She was just baptized 2 months ago and we were told she would have lots of questions, but she ended up just talking to us for a really long time about her testimony and how she thought it was great that we give up a year and a half of our youth to teach others. I seriously loved her so much even though I had just met her, I almost started crying at the end of the lesson just because I'm so excited to teach really people who need Jesus in their lives even though it sounds cheesy, I am so excited. And I really want to get better at spanish so that I can understand every word they say. I was surprised at how much i could understand from a native speaker talking at a normal speed, but there is still a lot I don't know. 

Sunday was the first day of our English fast, so only spanish all day except companionship study and gym time. And there's no gym time on Sunday so basically it was the longest Sunday OF MY LIFE. And during said eternal Sunday, my comp and I were pulled aside by the branch presidency and taken into a room where they asked us if we were 100 percent obedient because they said we might be in trouble but that they weren't sure. So we were freaking out thinking back in our heads if there was any time that we had broken the rules or done something wrong. I finally said, Pres Suaste, we aren't perfect, but when we do mess up, we talk about it with each other, we repent, and we strive to be better. And then sneaky Suaste was like good that's what we thought, we want you two to be the new sister training leaders! Which is like the female equivalent to zone leader apparently. So basically we were like well dang. But it's really easy, we just have to go to leadership meetings some times and pick out the hymns for sunday and assign people to sing. I don't think we will be getting a new district to train until next week because they don't want missionaries to try to travel to their missions so close to Christmas. 

On Monday my companion and I taught our first lesson without writing it out, and I thought it went well. It's important to be flexible during lessons and able to change the topic to fit the needs of the person you're teaching. Our instructors always remind us that we're here to teach people, not lessons. I get along okay with my spanish, sometimes I say the wrong thing. You gotta be careful ya know. One time I said that through Jesus Christ we can be free from our fishes because in spanish sins are pecados and fishes are pescados. So basically I'm killin it with the spanish game. 

Oh and as a district, we are getting crazy good at volleyball, it's probably because we play it every day and today we played for like two hours straight. It's great except my district calls me out when i "baby giraffe" it because apparently there's a verb now for my awkward volleyball playing. 

Yesterday I had tamales for breakfast and dinner and I'm not complaining. My companion and I assigned the Elders to sing Soy un Hijo de Dios in sacrament but I think I'm going to need to get on them to practice because they're nervous the poor things. We had really great devotionals this week, one from David A. Bednar was amazing and he told the missionaries, "when you don't think you can do this, you're right" and at first I'm like aww man but if you think about it, sure Ive been called to serve and do all this stuff, but I'm not alone, people forget that ALL of your strength can include that of the Lord's, and he wants you to succeed, not fail. We just have to come follow Jesus until you can walk with him I guess. Love you have a good week!

Hot Tamale Train!

I love my district so so so so much, we are a family. I´ve only known these kids for 14 days and I can sincerely say that I love every single one of them. We spend all day together in class struggling with Español and then choose to sit together at meals just because we enjoy each other´s company. Everyone comments on how close we are and how much we´ve improved together. There´s also been comments on how loud we get though, but to be fair, we get a lot of studying done between bouts of highly competitive pictionary and hacky sack.

       Last week, right after I finished emailing, I was talking to Elder Mckee from my district (there´s only ocho of us total) and he asked me what kind of car I had at home. I told him I had an old Volkswagen and I told me he had a ´73 bug. I was like alright sweet that´s cool we´re both bug lovers. But he´s from Vegas and I usually don´t usually play that ¨Do you know....?¨ game but I was like what the heck so I told him my uncle owns a Volkswagen shop in kind of Northern Las Vegas and it used to be owned by my grandpa. So Mckee asked what it was called, I said the BeetleBarn and he was like DOES YOUR GRANDPA LIVE JUST DOWN THE STREET? AND I WAS LIKE YES HE TOTALLY DOES. And that´s when he asks me if my grandpa MAKES BUCKETS and I just about died. So apparently little Elder Mckee has been going down to the Beetle Barn for years and he´s met Uncle Justin and he´s actually been inside and around my grandparents house like six times and he has been in grandpas bucket room in all its glory. So the plan is that he´s going to pick me up from my grandparent´s house in December and we´re going to drive up to Elder Gline´s wedding in St. George together because I´m pretty sure that as a district, we´re going to be besties forever. 

     This morning at 8 we got to go to the Mexico City Temple, which was gorgeous and in the middle of craziness so it kind of reminded me of LA. The temple is closed right now, but we got to go to the visitor center and take pictures so it was a good morning. Also I´ve had two different types of tamales here in Mexico and my favorite wasn´t wrapped in a corn husk, it looked like it was wrapped in banana leaves or something, but it was absolutely delicious. Life in the CCM is fantastic, it´s a little monotonous, but I love it and we all kind of dread going to Honduras because it´s so nice in our little mexican embassy. We play volleyball almost every day so most of the time I´m in heaven. My district has gotten really good, and the one person who isn´t too hot is so nice she agrees to play every time we ask. Which is awesome because her Companion played club and she always sets me. I hope we can play today but I think our Elders have committed to a game of cage soccer so we´ll see if we have time between that and doing laundry. Oh and this week I got to hear spanish in a Maori accent because one of the elders leaving the CCM was from New Zealand #voiceofanangel. Sorry I didn´t take 

The Tie

notes with me to the computer lab so that I could remember what to write! I´m pretty sure I´m giving a talk next sunday since every other Hermana in my district gave one last sunday. I´m excited though, I love speaking in Spanish. Also, our branch presidency is so nice, even though we get a little crazy sometimes. Like the other day, they walked into the room and the Hermanas were all studying but the Elders were off running around the campus pointing at things and saying the spanish word, which they call ¨studying,´ so the branch president wasn´t too happy. He checked on us again later and the Elders were actually in the classroom, but they were looking at all the ties they brought to trade for tie day friday (all the elders get together and trade ties exciting I know) and I learned how to tie my first tie! And then Elder Mckee taught me how to tie this really cool knot. Don´t worry, I took a picture! Other than that, pretty normal week, study study study until my brain feels like pudding. I love it though, I love learning spanish and I love this gospel! I was studying yesterday in TALL, which is a program we use to help us learn spanish that's relevant to our lessons, and I listened to the Halo reach soundtrack the whole time, most epic studying of my life. I think I´m going to try and steal some of the music of that computer, there was some Vocal Point songs that were on point. Anyway, until next thursday, lots of amor and kisses from your fav Hermana! 

I'm here!

I made it to Mexico safely even though I sat next to a crying baby the entire time! Everything was fine as soon as I found some fellow missionaries. If they can do it, I can too. (Typing with a spanish keyboard is weird.) 

It´s also weird to think that more than a week ago I boarded a plane from Bakersfield and promptly fell asleep on the stranger next to me. I definitely didn´t like walking around the Phoenix airport with no phone but I did feel better once I met up with a group of missionaries. I just had to look for a bunch of baby faces in suits. I probably shouldn´t add this but it was a wake up call to missionary mode when the very first Elder I talked to was a six foot gorgeous volleyball player from LA. Are you kidding me... Anyway I met an Hermana (sister missionary) going to Honduras that was sitting next to me on the flight. Different missions of course. Driving through Mexico City on the way to the CCM (Centro De Capacitacion Misional) was so interesting. The city looks so cluttered and run down but at the same time it´s so colorful and full of life. 
At the end of the day I met my companion and we compared gollum impersonations so I think we're going to get along okay. But seriously, I have the best district and the best companion so I'm not even homesick, I dont miss you guys at all. I joke. 

I think my Spanish is coming along okay, I've been told that my accent is good. Its just difficult to make things stick. I love love LOVE singing hymns in Spanish, however. And on Sunday, I was so proud because my whole district got up and talked about their testimony in Spanish. It was a really good feeling even though I brought a note card up with me to help. My companion has more years of Spanish under her belt and so she is definitely better at the language than I am. I am not gonna lie - we're awesome! She is super patient in helping me learn. 

It´s definitely not easy, it´s exhausting. But I´ve learned that the work isn´t easy because salvation isn´t easy. Early morning to late at night it´s just awesome being here in the CCM with people that have the same beliefs that I do. Even church schools aren´t like this, we´re like special ops over here. I wasn´t sure if I could do this until I saw the huddle of missionaries in the airport, and when I got to know my district a little better. We keep saying that we´re a familia but it´s actually true, we rely on each other and help each other, laugh with each other and cried with each other. (our Elders are softies to be sure)

On November first, Dia de los Muertos, we got to see niños trick or treating from our window as we were getting ready to teach our investigator. We taught five lessons total. The spirit that we felt in that room every day during our lesson was real. It was definitely intimidating teaching a native Spanish speaker though. That's when I really relied on my companion to find the right words to say. 

Hasta la vista baby

I'm off to serve Jesus Christ in San Pedro Sula Honduras, and let me tell you I am so nervous excited I might puke. Hopefully, I will be writing my parents every week and they will be posting any new and

exciting experiences on this blog. We'll have to see how it goes!