"And after this we'll all go to Heaven, and that'll be better"

Jueves 12 de mayo:

just: "believe in yourself"

Heather Haight called me an hour before she was supposed to go to the airport. 

I got surprised when she started being all sweet and sentimental and I wanted to say nice things back but I'm really awk with that kind of stuff. 

But I really do miss her a lot. The whole time I've been in Honduras, even though I didn't see her that many times, I always knew she was there.

Elder Sandoval called me in the evening to see how I was holding up, I guess it was pretty emotional in the airport when he and the other secretaries dropped her off. 

Yumari (a young lady in the ward) stayed in the house with me most of the day and I got to rest because fr fr I had a fever which I feel like is doubly worse here where it's already like the whole country has a fever #faltacowbell 

But I went on one appointment with Cruz, he's the best. but then I had to go rest.

Viernes 13 de mayo:

"todo pecado se debe pagar, y sea por nosotros mismos, o por Cristo"

In the morning we visited Delsy and she was super sick so we charlared for a bit and then cleaned up her kitchen because it was a mess.

But I really just wanted to clean the whole house. I think she’s a bit of a hoarder.... just a bit.

Church Cultural Night. Very interesting..

Elder Adam's ward did a play that reminded me of being in high school, and Hermana Rojas was there recording it all like a proud mom on her samsung galaxy. 

It was basically like a talent show, but most of the acts were dancing acts. But duuuuuuuuuude some of these Hondurans have hips, especially this one little black girl, she was killin it.

Oh and in one of the acts they played cotton-eye joe and danced like "Americans"  and dressed up as pioneers and Elder Irlenborn and Adams got up and danced and I was so embarrassed for my culture but did I turn red or was it just ma sunburn? #theworldmayneverknow

Sábado 14 de mayo:

"Por lo cual te aconsejo que avives el fuego del don de Dios que está en ti por la imposisión de manos.

Porque no nos ha dado Dios espíritu de cobardía, sino de poder, de amor, y de dominio propio." 

2 timothy 1:6-7 }

Translation:

6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.

 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

"Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may ALSO obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory #majorglory 2 tim 2:10

"Procura con diligencia presentarte ante Dios aprobado, como obrero que no tiene de que avergonzarse, que expone bien la palabra de verdad." 2 tim 2:15

Translation: 15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

I lost my planner my life is overrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

I feel so lost.

I can't even imagine how my planner feels.

We went to a BBQ for a girl with back problems or something like that. It was a fundraiser. So we get there, pick up the food and we're at the park by the beach so I thought we were going to eat there at the park...like a picnic...but my companions didn't want to like I was trying to be social and nice and they were like no. So yeah.
have I mentioned that I'm in a trio now??? Im in a trio. 

It's.....different. 

 So anyway I was annoyed so I called Elder Lucero and he and E. Kelly sang me the song he wrote which helped, and then he told me I need to stop being sassy and realize that the person that's going to learn the most from this, the person who's going to grow the most, is me. 

And it's true. So we went back to the house and ate lunch and I was nice and making them laugh and stuff again.

Domingo 15 de Mayo:

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Hebrews 11:6

So Braulio was the only investigator in our gospel principles class #fail 

I feel like we're hitting a bit of a rough patch in our area to be honest.

Lunes 16 de Mayo:

We did nothing today but it's chill. We went and got Pizza Hut but nobody ordered pizza, but it was awesome because by the time I got my lasagna bites, everyone else was already done eating.

I ordered the exact same thing that Rojas did but mine came like 20 min later....

Pizza Hut is like a sit down restaurant with waiters here btw.

Martes 17 de Mayo:

Zone meeting. so uh. I was all nervous about the capacitación that I was going to give and I had it all planned out but we ended up not having a lot of time so I cut it short. But I think it went well! I talked about how we should focus on teaching people, not just teaching lessons.

Elder Gillins also informed me that we have 78 days left in the mission hahah.

We contacted this lady in the afternoon that used to be in the military and she was super cool and gave us cupcakes! 

We also set a baptismal date with Leticia and Ezequiel, they just need to get married first! 

Miércoles 18 de Mayo:

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen , ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not; yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: : Reviving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:7-9

I love contacting because you have the funniest experiences. Like we knocked on this one door and then I looked up and I see a sign smack dab in the center of their door that says "In the name of God we ask to not be bothered in our faith" #oops 

So after waiting a little bit I took a picture and ran away.

Jueves 19 de Mayo:

"and some have compassion, making a difference" Jude 1:22

"And when I saw him,

I fell at his feet as dead.

And he laid his right hand upon me,

saying unto me,

Fear not;

I am the first and the last"

 Revelation 1:17

Topos de coco con leche condensada! 

We had 3 appointments with different cynthias planned for today and 2 fell through :/

"And after this we'll all go to Heaven, and that'll be better" Elder Gozart 

Viernes 20 de Mayo:

20 de mayo 2015 a 20 de mayo 2016 day whaaaat! I just finished filling the journal I bought a year ago. This is probably the most accurately recorded year of my life.

This is my time hop.

elder Goszart asked me last night if I was going to let my family read it, but I told him that with my blog, they pretty much already have.. well... those who've taken the time to read it ;)

"Por tanto has guardad la palabra de mi paciencia, yo también te guardaré de la hora de la tentacion"  Apocalipsis 3 :10 

translation: 
Revelation 3:10

10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.

Celebrate What Is!

Martes 3 de Mayo

"If you want lady luck in your life, open a door for her to enter"

Miércoles 4 de Mayo:

"If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit." Galations 5:25

We visited with Delsy and she has so much to deal with in her house with her teenage daughter and her young son and her husband that's never home. She told us, "I'm tired of fighting so now...I just don't"

I told her that the Lord prompted us to knock on her door for a reason, and if she wants things to start changing, she needs to listen to us and do what the Lord instructs her to do from here on out.

Sometimes I think of the commitments that we extend as the instructions that Elisha gave to Naaman in the Old Testament. Elisha told him to dunk himself in the water 7 times and he would be healed. 

They don't understand how reading a book or praying or going to a church is going to help them, but if they just trusted and got into the water, and if they dont give up even when they don't see results on the 5th or 6th dunk, they can be healed. They can be helped. 

Jueves 5 de Mayo:

Santo: sagrado, de carácter divino, o puro moral y espiritualmente. Lo contrario a lo santo es lo común o lo profano.
Translation: Holy, holy, divine nature, or morally and spiritually pure. The opposite of holy is common or profane.

"Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand" 

2 Corinthians 1:24

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair" 2 Corinthians 4:8

"There are no mistakes, no coincidences. All events are blessings given to us to learn from." Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

12 more weekly planning sessions to go!

Viernes 7 de Mayo:

"De modo que si alguno está en cristo, nueva criatura es; las cosas viejas pasaron; he aquí todos son hechas nuevas." 2 Corinthians 5:17
Translation: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold all things have become new"

"Fallings part of the game. It's like my dad always says 'no matter how good you are, the ice is still slippery.'"
Michelle Kwan

I never understood what "love unfeigned" meant until..spanish "amor no fingido" fingido is like imaginary or fake, made up. I always thought it meant unconditional love or something. But it's not. 

A drunk American contacted us today. He was so sad. But he said we were angels and that we could help him. 

He also wanted us to pass by for him to go to church but we were (mostly my companion) like uhh you know where it is, you can find your way there.

Sábado 7 de Mayo

"Joyful people live their lives finding ways to celebrate what is and not what could have been" Jane Jayroe

We only had 7 lessons today idk what's happening.

Oh and it was so embarrassing. I realized as soon as we sat down with Carlos Baraona that we had asked Hno Ayala to come to the lesson with us but I'd forgotten to call.

So we decided there was nothing we could do (my comp was like what do you mean, like didn't even react when I told her you know??)

but after the closing prayer he shows up!

So I asked him to share his testimony and it was actually really beautiful.

Domingo 8 de mayo:
"Can ye be angry, and not sin? Let not the sun go down on your wrath" Ephesians 4:26

Okay so like NONE of the people we invited came to church today, maybe bc it was mother's day. But I taght the gospel principles class and we talked about the sacrament. This one guy vsisited and was like in the middle of the class "I'm so sorry for interrupting but what do I have to do to be baptized?? those are the kind of questions I like to hear :)

The biannual Legion of doom conference went well. very well.

Lunes 9 de Mayo

"you can't change that which you can't accept"

We went to Utila! President and hna Klein surprised us by coming, and it was good that they did because they showed us one of the coolest spots on the island "The Jade Seahorse"

Basically, Utila is full of a ton of artsy hippie ppl that have wayyyy too much time on their hands between deep sea dives and hula hoop dancing on the beach. It kind of reminded me of the community in Yosemite. 

But i really want to take Elise and Melissa to see the jade seahorse. it's so cool! I cant even describe it! 

We were in never never land basically

Martes 10 de mayo:

I have another "crying too much" headache. I had to say goodbye to Heather Haight after spending my whole mission with her being always just a phone call or silly text away.

She said she couldn't have done it without me and I told her I didnt know if I could do it without her. Then on the bus it was like the saddest line up of songs ever. 

I havent heard that song "Lonely Day" by System of a Down in FOREVER and it was playing on the bus. followed by some Coldplay and some Aril Lavigne.

I'm so glad I had hna Rojas with me because she just patted me on the head while I cried and cried and cried on her shoulder in the bus. 

Miércoles 11 de mayo:

A man passed by and gave us free topogigios in the morning and that's how we started off my companions birthday! 

well actually, we started off with some bomb pancakes by yours truly and I gave her that polka dot apron because she is learning to cook and I haven't used it yet so I thought it would be a nice gift, thanks mom!

We contacted in Los Maestros and this lady told us no because they're "christians"... I tried to explain how we're christians too but they had the TV going and a very yappy dog. But she said that she already understood what we preach, but she's christian. And as we were walking away she said about her obnoxious dog "he's christian too, that's why he's barking so much" Exuuuuse me? If you were reallllly "Christian" then you would know that being rude is not a "christ-like" attribute. But neither is getting offended so I guess I'll just get over it hahah.

Dear John

Martes 26 de Abril:
We spent all day in San Pedro Sula but this time all the people in the office are my friends so it was pretty fun.

Mièrcoles 27 de Abril:

I've never taken so many buses and taxis in my whole life than I have in these past 3 days.

We went to go pick up some x-ray results for my companion (her knee and hip hurt really bad so please keep her in your prayers!)

Dear John was playing in the waiting room.

We hung out in the mission office a lot too.

E. Rosales showed me how to enter baptismal records on the computer and put me to work as a secretary haha.

Jueves 28 de Abril 2016

Regarding the original 12 apostles: "Before their selection as apostles they had all become close disciples of the Lord; they believed in Him...and yet it is doubtful that any of them fully understood the real significance of the Savior's work." 

note: I love the chapter headings of the Song of Solomon.

It's just like...I'm so done with this garbage. "he sings of love and devotion" 

"Beloved ones are praised and described"

"A song describing the beauty of his beloved"

"Their song of love and affection continues" 

"They still sing of love"

Their song of love continues......"

Today I made a pun in spanish! 

Okay it was that funny or exciting but we were buying topogigios and they were "de mora" so I said "Yo quiero uno de mora, pero no demore" and my comp laughed #punfun

We went to this park by the beach and had a little lesson with Cynthia. 

Cynthia was baptized in the church when she was 8. But since then, her parents have stopped attending and now they go to the Catholic church.

Recently Cynthia has started coming back to church and I admire how much she wants to learn

she told us, "I want to be able to have the confidence that you have, to be able to say ' I know that this is the truth' She had so many good questions and took notes, it was so nice :) 

Viernes 29 de Abril

Avocado topogigios! peel the avocaaaado 

Today didn't turn out as great as I thought it would. We had a lesson with Nisa and she is just SO nice its confusing like I still can't figure out if she's for real.

Sabado 30 de Abril

Heppeh burfdai Nikolai!

"No man speaking by the spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed; and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit"

1Cor 12:3

"Antes bien, los miembros del cuerpo que parecen más débiles son los más necesarios" 1 Corinthians 12:12

The baptism started an hour late but it started! The most important thing is that it happened, right? Lixa is so cute and I'm so proud of her for taking this important step in changing her life.

Domingo 1 de Mayo

Sassy fast sunday

"El Padre eterno del cielo conoce nuestro estado; y él obra con vosotros de acuerdo con su justicia y misericordia." Mormon 6

Translation: The eternal Father in heaven knows our state; and he doeth with you according to his justice and mercy.

We got to church super early so I played the prelude music again, I like practicing even though it's frustrating because I feel like I should be better but..like..I'm not.

Carlos came to church and brought a friend! 

But he had to leave early.

Church tbh is depressing sometimes because I hope that so many people that we've invited are going to come and they don't and then you're stuck there for 3 more hours thinking about how they didn't come and there's no snacks and it's tiring. 

For lunch, my comp made Papa la Huancaína and it is actually pretty simple and very tasty, remind me to make it when I get home! 

Lunes 2 de mayo

We on da bus #buslyfe

Patience is a skill, perseverance an art

Martes 19 de Abril 2016

"Just...Be true and faithful in your head and in your heart, not just in your behavior."

"Trust Him that He will make of you immeasurably more, than you will ever, ever, in all eternity, make of yourself. He will create of you a masterpiece. You will create of you only a smudge."

"Listening requires the use of our hearts as well as our ears" 

"y al que no endurece su corazòn le es dada la mayor parte de la palabra, hasta que le es consedid conocer los misterios de Dios al grado de conocerlos por completo." Alma 12:10

"And if men come unto me I will show them their weaknesses." Ether 12:27

Do we sometimes resist drawing near unto Christ because we don't want to see all of our weaknesses? I feel like sometimes maybe I do. His light is so bright it illuminates all imperfections. But that's what we need. We cannot overcome a weakness and keep it hidden at the same time. It does not work that way.

So we're chilling in a lesson today and this old lady just barges in and is like buenas noches then comes further in the house to talk to Daisy who was cooking in the kitchen and basically starts shouting "Usted ya no quiere la virgen!  ya cree en otra virgen!" and then goes on and on. 

Like basically she was a concerned neighbor coming by to see if it was really true that Daisy doesn't
believe in the Virgin Mary. Daisy calmly told her that she still believed in the virgin and the old lady left....what...

A different old lady asked us: "do que viene el estres? usteded que lean tanta la biblia" Idk where in the bible it explains the causes of stress...

Tonight I made smoothies with our new blender! pb and banana :) #licuados4life

Mièrcoles 20 de Abril:

"you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this we call `failure` is not a falling down, but staying down"

"Què, pues, diremos? continuáramos en el pecado para que abunde la gracia? De ninguna manera! 

Porque los que hemos muerto al pecado, como viviremos aùn en èl?" Romanos 6:1-2

Today while we were contacting a pigeon crapped on my forehead #laungida but the lady felt bad for me so she let us in and we were able to have a lesson and let me wash the bird poop off of my face and hands. 

Then we go and visit Lixa, she says she's going to break up with her bf so that's good, but she was frying fish, we left the lesson smelling/reeking of fish. 

We got to the ward activity and Hna Marlen spilled banana soda all over my backpack and my skirt

#birdpoopfishbananasodacombo

I finished the day talking to Hermana Haight on the phone for an hour and a half even though I intended to talk to her for like 10 minutes to tell her about the pigeon because I knew she would get a laugh out of that :p

I'm going to miss her when she's gone :(

Jueves 21 de Abril:

"Patience is a skill, perseverance an art"

We contacted a house today, like we do almost every day. But this time I had an ulterior motive: 

Pet all the doggies. They had 5 and 3 had the prettiest blue eyes and two were huskies! 

Actually, one of them was a husky rottweiler mix and he was so huge and so fluffy I wanted to dieeeee

Viernes 22 de Abril:

And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demostration of the Spirit and of power:   That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God" 

Corinthians 2:3-5

This lady told us today that her husband works at pipsahut. pipsahut. pipsa. peeeepsa.

he works at PIZZAHUT

Sàbado 23 de Abril:

"A sense of humor, like a true friend, sees you through bad times"

So we contacted this lady

 "Hola! Im hermana Nelson!"

 "And I'm Hermana Rojas"

"I'm catholic"

"Awesome! Do you have a name, catholic?"

okay so maybe im a little sassy.

Later on she says "There's only two religions that I do not like: the mormons and the JW's"

"Hna, we're mormons"

she basically ignores me and says

"Because the mormons don't respect marriage, they have 3 or 4 wives.

And the JWs don't even believe in God...they just believe in that Joseph Smith guy!"

oh. ok. right. makes sense.

Domingo 24 de Abril:

"The richness of the human experience would lose something of rewarding joy if there were no limitations to overcome" Hellen Keller

Today in sacrament meeting I decided to play some prelude music I kind of suck but oh well.

And then I ended up directing the music in the meeting.

I just wanted sunday to be over tbh because it was getting in the way of me seeing Hna Haight tomorrow hahah.

All the Sisters!!

Lunes 25 de Abril:

"Sometimes the most forceful statement you can make is to remain silent."

We woke up at 4:30 today, I went to sleep at like 12 last night because I needed to finish the atalaya I remodeled 4 Haight. 

So we traveled to Tela for a different pday of just the sister missonaries and basically I got special permission to go there so that I could see Hermana Haight before she leaves. 

So we finally get to Tela and my old neighbors there told me how much they missed me when I saw them so that was sweet :) 

"The more we serve our fellow men in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls. 

We become substantive as we serve others --- indeed, it is easier to "find ourselves" because there is so much more of us to find" D Todd Christofferson.