Avacado Pancakes?

Lunes:  We finally got permission to go to Progreso (like 20 min away) but our district leader had to talk to the zone leaders and they had to talk to the assistants of the president and my companion was like why don't they just call up President Monson as well and see if it's okay.
We went there so my companion could get an eye exam and then we "popped some tags" and thrift shopping is crazy here like there's these huge bins and un barbaridad de gente and every so often one of the workers comes out with a bucket of clothes that they took from the back and they start throwing the clothes and everyones like pushing and fighting for the clothes that they're tossing in the air. Hermana Hernandez and I were just like... wut. And they aren't even new! All the clothes are second hand.
Afterwards we went and got Wendy's

Martes: This day we worked. And it was the Tuesday before transfers. Like I've never done that before, usually we're running around in despedidas. (Farewell parties)

But we did have one in the evening. I tried pigs feet for the first time! I was confused because I didn't know what part I should eat, it all looked like fat, I couldnt find the meat. Hermana Mendoza and Elder Marin were leaving so we smashed empty eggs on their heads. 

Miércoles: ¨Si Dios me hubiese mandado hacer todas las cosas, yo podría hacerlas.¨ 1Nefi 17:50

"And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them."

¨Years ago, one of our sons asked me why it wasn`t a good idea to try alcohol or tobacco to see what they were like.. I replied that if he wanted to try something out, he ought to go to a barnyard and eat a little manure.

He recoiled in horror. 'ooh, that`s gross.' he reacted

'I'm glad you think so,' I said, 'but why don't you just try it out so you will know for yourself?' 

'while you're proposing to try one thing that you know is not good for you, why don't you apply that principle to some others?¨ Elder Dallin H. Oaks is a boss.

I think I might be getting a cavity. Today was transfers but nothing changed for me. My companion and I are getting along well but I still feel like I disappoint her sometimes. Like I know we're supposed to be equal in this companionship but I'm pretty sure she's doing more work than I do still. Oops. 

When we were contacting we found the owner of the big ol bus that we washed at the car wash and he and his friend were really friendly. Turns out that the both of them are bus drivers and they've been contracted various times by the church here for different activities and when I asked them what they knew about the church one of them said I'm not going to talk about what I've heard from other people, but I'll tell you what I've seen. These Mormons are punctual, respectful, and they mean what they say. And later on in the lesson my comp asked if they had ever asked themselves why they worked so much with the church and the missionaries. And they just sat there thinking and the friend was like now that I think about it, it's been for a reason. 

Jueves: So I made avocado pancakes...they didn't turn out so good but I feel like I got something going there, like it's something that I could eventually fine tune. 

We're in the cosecha of avocados, before it was an abundance of mangos but now it's avacados. So now people just keep giving us avocados and they keep going bad because we cant eat them fast enough. But it's a good problem to have if you ask me. 

Viernes: When we entered Villa Esther the guard there shook my hand but then leaned in for a kiss and I was just paralyzed there like ahhhhh it was this big stubbly man face and he kissed me on the cheek. It was awk. 

He tried to kiss my companion too but she was quicker than I was and said that she was sweaty so dont kiss her. 

Sábado:

We have sinned. We have broken the wise words of wisdom. No but really someone gave us iced tea today and we drank it. Like I was so thirsty and it was so hot I didn't even notice until I was like half way done and I think, you know, this tastes a lot like tea.

Domingo: I wore my birthday dress to church and my birthday shoes! 

I had to change them afterwards though, they were giving me blisters. 

We had hamburgers and french fries for lunch. I feel like honduras should just give up with the hamburgers already. They're good but.....

We had two little families come to church and we were so happy to see them!

It's been a really good week, we've been teaching so much and finding new people I haven't hardly had any time to write.


Oh and it's my birthday tomorrow! I'll be 20 so I guess I won't have all this teen angst anymore. 
It'll be different than all my other birthdays because right now I'm giving all my time and energy to other people, and it feels so much more fulfilling like that :)

love you!     Hermana Nelson

BLOGITO

                                                                                                                                 20 JULY 2015

Lunes: ¨The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue -- it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know.¨

¨This life is the time to prepare to meet God. We are a happy, joyous people. We appreciate a good sense of humor and treasure unstructured time with friends and family. But we need to recognize that there is a seriousness of purpose that must undergird our approach to life and all our choices.¨Quentin L. Cook

We watched 'Meet the Mormons' and 'Suits on the Loose' with some of the other hermanas in the zone. 

Martes: District meeting. I taught the English class and made everyone do 'head-shoulders-knees-and-toes'. 

Miercoles: Hey, I just realized (due to a question in my spanish grammar textbook) that a year ago today I recieved my mission call. But now that I think about it that's just the assignment date I got no idea what day I actually recieved/opened it. Oh well.

We did divisions today but it's different here because in Morazán everyone was in the same area but today my companion left for Progreso (15min away) and the training leader stayed here with me. But like everytime that we do divisions, every appointment fell. It was peachy though we just did some tracting instead. 

Jueves: We were walking down the street and this truck stops and gives us a bag of these little branches and little fruits. Apparently they're called 'momones' and I took a picture so you can meet the momones. They have like this green hard shell and then you peel it and it's this white little fruit and they're pretty tasty. But there's hardly any comida to it. Its like the sun flower seeds of fruit. 

Viernes: 1 Nefi 5:20 ¨Y sucediò que hasta este punto mi padre y yo habíamos guardado los mandamientos que el señor nos había mandado.¨

Met a lady with a fake leg and I played with her pet cat. She told us about how her 16 year old son got shot and killed last year. But she says she doesn't feel too sad because she knows that he had a good life and that she had always taken good care of him. She showed us his picture and it was just so sad because I've talked to so many moms that are so concerned about their teenage sons because it's hard to keep them out of the gangs. 

Sàbado: We had a super contacto all the way out in Santiago. We had to leave the mission boundaries to get there and after we were all gathered together we divided and conquered. 

We talked to this one lady and invited her church and she was like "I can't go I stubbed my toe today so there's no way I'm going to be able to make it." Uh huh. 

For lunch we had fried chicken, rice, and this potato salad with avocado and beans and tortillas. 

In the evening we had a dinner with the former bishop and all the missionaries and there was this salsa called chimichurry and it was on the grilled chicken and it smelled juuuuust like what we would put on the french bread when we bbq at home and it made me kind of homesick haha like it's crazy how easily smells blast you back home. 

Domingo: This family that we've been working with came to church! And they stayed the whole time! They have this little girl that is so so so precious and cute and she was running around in the sunday school class and ran into the corner of the table! And the whole room gasped and held their breath but she didnt even cry! 

It was all good.

We went to a bbq after church, carne asada, chorizo asado, frijoles, queso, aguacate, tortillas y fresco de sandia. It was suuuuper good. 

Annd yeah I'm out of time so love you mommy byeeee

CarWash Gratis

Wendys

Lunes: I was reading about the church members that traveled miles and miles across the plains on foot with no more supplies or protection than a handcart company provided. And this quote was very interesting to me...
 ¨I was in that company and my wife was in it... we suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? 

We came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities...

The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privelege to pay.¨

Is that the way that we usually look at our trials?

For pday we had a ¨bbq¨ with ¨hotdogs¨ and poor Elder Curtis was sick with Dengue but still made a cake. 

Martes: Zone meeting 

Miércoles: Medical care in Hondy me llega. We had to go get an x-ray and it was just 300 lempiras and a zap and we dipped. Like no waiting at all and no messy medical insurance.

Jueves: Remember the part in the Bible about Martha serving everyone and Mary is just sitting there and Martha is like ummmm excuse me master can you tell Mary to get up and help me or something? Well I never really thought too much of it just like okay we learn from this that we should chill and that spiritual things are important. But I liked this quote ¨Martha´s primary mistake on this occasion seems to have been focusing on herself - even as she was serving others. It is not enough to simply serve the Lord and our fellow men. We must learn to lose ourselves in the process of serving and seek the Lord's will to guide our desires and motives as well as our actions¨

We were in the city for doctors appointments and we went to a real live mall and ate in a real food court and there were so many options for food but my companion wanted Wendy's and I didn't want to stress her out by ordering from somewhere else since it was pretty crowded. But dang it they had a Zara and I wanted to
go shopping SO bad.

Sábado: We did a carwash as a way to meet new people to teach! 

We only ended up with six references at the end of it all and every single one of them was in our area #score

Oh and we washed like a huge school bus and took people for tours of the chapel while they were getting their cars washed. 

I think it was a good idea. A lot of people have seen our church building but have never been inside and I'm pretty sure it's the prettiest building in existence here in La Lima.

  All empty!

Domingo: That Hondy moment when you don't have enough purified water to take your vitamins. I had to go borrow from the neighbors.

But today I heard news! Morazan, my last area, is finally becoming a branch! Like an official congregation! It's been years in the making but I'm so proud of all the people in that pueblo and all of the growth that they've had.

I always hoped that I would be able to see the day that they would become a legit Branch of the church but at least I got to hear about it while I was still in the mission :)

Gringas!

Lunes: This scripture is one of my new favorites; Alma 58:40 ¨Mas he aqui, han recibido muchas heridas no obstante, permanecen firmes en esa libertad con la que Dios los he hecho libres; y son diligentes en acordarse del señor su Dios obedecer sus estatutos y sus juicios y sus mandamientos continuamente; y su fe es fuerte en las profecìas concernientes a lo que està por venir.¨

Translation for those of us who don't read spanish (40 But behold, they have received many wounds; nevertheless they stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has made them free; and they are strict to remember the Lord their God from day to day; yea, they do observe to keep his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments continually; and their faith is strong in the prophecies concerning that which is to come.)

Martes: I talked to this one elder that's new in my district and he told me that he's gained 70 pounds in the mission. It's a real struggle with this stress and la comida llena de grasa. President Klein was having a meeting for just the leaders but he let hermana Haight and I mooch some warm dinner rolls and bottles of water. He's always so nice. 

At the end of the day we went into Lima to this spot on the side of the road in front of the muni, and it's just this stand run by dudes. And they cook! and they cook de miedo! We all ordered gringas, which made me laugh but they were SO GOOD. I honestly wasn't even sure what I was eating because it was dark, around eight o clock. And I was just sitting there thinking if there was an actual dream job food discoverer journalist time, it would be right then. Four dudes just outside of one of the most homocidal cities in the world, with their baseball caps and jeans, just making some straightup crazy delicious cathrachan comfort food. 

¨ ¿Os imagináis que podríais sentaros en vuestras hamacas y que, debido a la imensa bondad de Dios, vosotros podraíais no hacer nada y él os librarías?

He aqui, si habéis supuesto esto, lo habéis hecho en vano¨Alma 60:11 

Translation:  "Behold, could ye suppose that ye could sit upon your thrones, and because of the exceeding goodness of God ye could do nothing and he would deliver you? Behold, if ye have supposed this ye have supposed in vain."

Mièrcoles:  Started off the day contacting and it's weird how as a missionary, people just look at you and decide to open up and tell their life story and their deepest problems and like we don't even ask! How often, in your first conversation with someone, do you hear ¨well my husband just left me and my kids are working because I can't afford to pay for their schooling and right now I just feel like a failure in life.¨?

Like literally they see the nametag and even though they usually don't accept our message they recognize us as people that can help. It's weird. 

oh and it's mango season here so I thought I would show you what we got going here mango wise. They are huge and delicious.

Jueves: We contacted this house and this ooooooooooold lady with long white hair and a dressing gown just stood there looking at us and said nothing. Just shook a skinny knarled finger slowly back and forth. So we took that as a no and dipped.

Viernes: Went to lunch at a less active family`s house. It was chuleta and rice and refried beans and avocado with mango juice that she made as well it was all really good. She showed me photos of when she was younger and I asked if she had photos of her wedding and she tells me that she tore them all up during a fight that they had. and I was just like...oh...

Fourth of July! ´murica. "hardwork n beans". No but seriously we worked really hard in the morning. We volunteered in this construction site and I got to shovel a bunch of rubble and even make some because they let me use the hammer on part of a cinder block wall. Felt like Miley. I like working, you don't have to think or worry about anything. Just shovel. 

We visited Leonidus and he's gone one day with out drinking coffee. So claps for Leonidus. 

We also visited this really old guy that told us about the evil spirits that he keeps having to chase out of the house with his cane.

Hna Haight asked me to call her and sing her the national anthem so I did. 

Domingo: We got fam Murillo to go to church! Little mauricio looked so cute I just wanted a picture with/of him but his mom always wanted to be in it too. 

haha. 

One of our investigators that we've been (or maybe I've just been) frustrated with lately because he doesn't seem to be progressing, came to church!  and he stayed all three hours!  And he's from that one barrio that I told you about how nobody has ever been baptized from there! 

We also had a lesson with this gorgeous future pediatrician and she was so sweet I thought she was just being nice when we contacted her and she said we could come back. But we had a lesson with her and she was listening and had good questions and when I let her keep the book of mormon we showed her, she was like great! "I was going to ask you where I could buy one!" It soooo nice to have a lesson with someone that acts like they actually want you there.

That's all I got. And being here in Hondy I've grown to appreciate a lot our nice roads in the states, our good education systems, and the saftey we enjoy, that we can usually trust our policeman and that we can be outside at 8 o clock at night and not feel too scared. Our country isn't the best but we can at least appreciate what's good. If you don't appreciate what's good, what's the point of having more good that you're just not going to appreciate either right? 

Cartoons & Pancakes

                                                                                                                                                   29 June 2015

Lunes: we went on splits with some other hermanas and I was with the a boliviana but she had a different accent because she was from la paz instead of cochabamba like my other companion. I was nervous because I'm still not too familiar with my area and even worse when it's dark but it went okay.

That night there was 8 hermanas in total in our tiny apartment. Because we're close to the church building where they have all the mission activities, we get to be the hotel for all the missionaries that have to travel a long time.

Martes:  You know I would be perfectly fine with mosquitos taking lil sips of my blood but the itchy poison that they leave in return is completely unnecessary and frankly quite rude.

Oh and my first district meeting with my new district. 

We had an lesson with a mom and a daughter from two different religions talking at the same time and my companion already had a bad headache so it really didnt help at all with their differing and unfounded ideas.

Miércoles: We had 7 lessons today even though my companion still had a really bad headache all day :/ 

We visited an abuelita with the mouth of a sailor. 

We also went contactiong and I noticed that I'm getting to be kind of pushy haha.

After lunch and language we visited my 85 year old "guider" Miguel and he said he'll only get baptized if ¨lo haga la gringa¨ I was like okay lets do this! 

But we might have to break up with him, he's not progressing.

Jueves: At lunch at a member's house we learned the history of gang activity in our area and how there's hardly any gangsters left because this one family had enough and started killing off all of them and there was like this gang family war and that's why there's hardly any more gang activity in La Paz!

Viernes: Service project. We mowed a lawn. Well, we chopped it. With machetes. It was a huge lawn but the work was super fast with so many elders, we have a ton of elders in our zone. 

After that it was just a really frustrating and disappointing day that I'd rather not revisit mentally.

Sàbado: We started out the day right with a healthy bowl of tracting in the neighborhood that gives me the creeps because it's like an eerie 50`s movie set with cookie cutter houses in bright colors and wide, strangely clean streets. 

And nobody outside.

So we were going house to house and not having much luck and wishing that we could be inside watching saturday cartoons and eating pancakes as well. We get to this one house and we're calling ¨BUENAS¨ and nobody is coming out and the neighbor's dog starts barking like mad and I'm like frick we are for sure not contacting that house and I see the owner and he ushered us inside but I thought it was just to get his dog to shut up. But turns out he's super friendly and he attended the church for a good while and LIKED IT, but didnt like that everyone pressured him so much to be baptized. But he was interested in what we had to say and wanted us to come back when his wife was home so that she could hear too. They've been married (yes actually married it's a miracle here) five years and have a little girl.

After we left the house I prayed and thanked God. I felt like He knew that I had a rough friday so He put us in the path of a kind person that gave us water and pens, which was a little unusual but hey I'm always losing my pens.

Domingo: The hermanas that lived downstairs called me so that I could take out the tarantula that was in their bathroom. So I grabbed it in an inside out plastic bag but I forgot to take a picture! it was a real life tarantula furry legs and everything like I've never seen one of those in the wild before hahha.

Church was good, a family that we've been inviting forever finally came!

Sop de Heiba

Lunes: I played volleyball with the elders and then we had sopa de heiba? idk I took pictures. But it was really good! The crab barely had any meat I think it's just there for looks.

This week there was many tender mercies but I've only shared a couple here....

But I testify of the fact that if we look for the Lord's hand in our lives, we will find it. 

Cuidase mucho te quiero mucho y ya