#notsogenius

Miercoles: Conferencia Mundial de misioneros.

the first one in more than a decade. It was really good. We learned a lot. I particularly enjoyed when elder Bednar told us to not get in the way of missionary work. And also to not let our obedience be a barrier to our teaching. 

I still don't really get why we had this conference all of a sudden. But it was nice.

And Hermana Haight, Elder Crosgrove, Glines and I were all in the same place! That hasn't happened since april of last year I think...

Jueves: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may become the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye?" Matthew 5:44-46

This morning I thought something was weird/different about the kitchen counter and then I realized it's because there weren't any ants on it.

Today felt weird. Maybe because Elder Andrew from our district went home today for his back so we were unknowingly in mourning.

Idk if it was all the appointments falling or what. I was super excited to meet with this lady named Dinora but we ended up getting there like a half hour late. But it's because this señora was asking our advice. And when we got to her house at first she regañoed us for not showing up for our appt Tuesday (we were traveling from progreso!) >Yeah so she was not happy with us. But she felt so bad that she hadn't read, which was refreshing because most people dont think too much about keeping the commitments they make to read or come to church.

Viernes: "Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich"

"No hablé paz a tu mente en cuanto al asunto? 

¿Qué mayor testimonio puedes tener que de Dios?" D&C 6:23

translation: 

"Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can you have than from God?"

On a completely unrelated note; I really miss listening to the "1975"

Another unrelated note, my tuna salad sandwiches have evolved to a whole new level. As in I put chili lime flavored peanuts in and also leftover chili (pickled onions, carrots, and jalapeños) I told my comp that I'm a genius and she agrees. 

Okay so now its 8:30pm and I'm making soup for our lunch tomorrow but the jalapeños that I put in were super strong so now our noses are running just from the smell #notsogenius Also right now it's a vegetarian taco soup; Chloe Reid would be so proud.

Today felt soooooo long, just like an extension of yesterday or something.

Highlight of the day: when we got coconut topogigios, even though I almost choked and died on the flakes of coconut while this guy basically contacted US on the street. He taught me how to say beautiful woman in mesquito, "maere pankira" which is like a dialect of the black people here. That and Garifuna but I want to learn those languages too that would be so cool and then we could get some Books of Mormon going in that language too. 

Sábado:

So I didn't know that the angel that appeared to Zacharias in the temple to tell him about baby John the baptist was Elijah. But I guess it makes sense bc John was filled with the spirit of Elijah.

We asked this guy if he'd like to read the Book of Mormon because he kept going on about how important it was to read "the word" and he was like nah i dont understand the letters right now. So you cant read? no I just dont really understand the letters. 

what.

We waited all morning in the house for this guy to come and fix the bathroom door in the apt because it doesn't really close and you can imagine how that would be a lil awk. So we chilled playing Uno and drinking hot chocolate because its been cold lately! Shout out to my aunts for sending it, perfect timing! I added cinnamon and it was super tasty. 

Then later for lunch we had the taco soup I made last night and even though there was no beef I think it turned out bomb. And perf too for the weather.

I love it. I didn't sweat at all outside today. Not once! 

Domingo: "su llamamiento le da autoridad: el guardar los convenios le da poder"

Last night was so cold I slept in a hoodie, my thickest sweats, and the long socks my aunts sent me, and wrapped myself up in my fitted sheet.

Today they're organizing a new stake! We're watching it in Tela so the audio isn't the best. I'm not sure what the name of our stake is....

I didnt catch the name of the new stake president either....

We had a lesson with Marci in the evening, she was baptized very young but hasn't gone to church in ages. We can tell that she wants her children to go to church though because it's best to raise children in gospel principles. 

I felt the spirit testifying of what my companion told her though it was a short but powerful lesson. We shared Helaman 5:12 and told her that no matter what direction the world tempts her to go, she should fight to build upon the teacings of Christ, because he is our rock. 

Helaman 5:12 

"And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

Fun fact of the week, calves, like that part of your leg? Some people in latin america call them camotes, which means sweet potatoes.

My sweet potatoes are sore. 

Love you mommyyyyyy have a good week 

"if ye love me, read my blog"

Martes 12 de Enero:

Well we have a DVD player now so we're chilling listening to 'Cumorah's Hill'. I wish I had other music...

The time went by super fast today, we were running from falling appointment to other falling appointment.
It kinda sucked tbh. 

At dinner the people at the table next to us were leaving and the guy tells me, "your spanish is really good, you have a good accent" I really needed to hear that!
I've been fasting and praying for help with Spanish and then I get hna Dardón and she's like Cipriano helping me figure out where in my mouth I need to form the sounds. 
Thank you Jesús! 

Also we had our first district meeting and I gave my first capacitación (training session) and I realized I was like the oldest (time wise) WHAAAAT??!

Miercoles: "He aquí, él creó a Adán, y por Adán vino la caída del hombre, y por causa de la caída del hombre, vino Jesucristo, sí, el padre y el Hijo, y a causa de Jesucristo vino la redención del hombre" Mormón #claridad
translation:  “Behold, he created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the redemption of man.” Mormon 9:12

This was like the third time we've gone to look for a reference that we recieved but instead of talking to the creepy guy rubbing his belly button that's usually there, we got to talk to an illiterate mother of 6, she's gone to our church a couple of times but is baptized in a different church because it's "closer to her house"

We went back to the apartment and my sous chef and I made lunch, just potatos, sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions chopped up and cooked in a little bit of oil (I put in a little too much actually #catracha) it took longer than I expected to chop everything and even longer for it all to cook nicely and we had beans on the side for proteins sake and two slices of whole wheat bread. 

Sometimes I get a little annoyed that she's been asking what we're making for lunch every day so far but I hope that eventually she'll have ideas and contribute but for now I'm getting practice being a mom cleaning up after her and cooking for her haha.

Oh and frick our mission president showed up out of nowhere and took my companion and I to dinner at Hotel Maya Vista, its up on this tiny hill but the view is breathtaking. And he absolutely spoiled us! We ordered appetizers and entrees and climbed up to the tippy top while we were waiting for the food. First of all they started us with bread like a normal restaurant and the brucheta that we ordered and then came the shrimp in curry (salads first obvi) long story short it was realllly tasty. The fresh watermelon juice that I ordered had lime juice on the side in a shot glass #appearanceofevil

But seriously it was SO nice and SO relaxing and I just looked out over the ledge and breathed in and thought about how much I loved my companion and how much I loved my mission president and how much I would've missed out on if I hadn't come back.

Jueves: 

"porque has visto tu debilidad, serás fortalecido, aun hasta sentarte en el lugar que he preparado en las mansiones de mi Padre." Ëter 12:37

Translation: Ether 12:37 “because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father.”

I followed a prompting from the spirit today! We passed by this blue house on our own street where we live and I was like no, we have to go back and talk to them, and yeah the missionaries visited their mom before but we met her daughters who are basically our age and I was so nervous my spanish was terrible but I think they want us to come tuesdays and thursdays everyweek! Which is sick!

I finished the Book of Mormon in spanish for the fourth time today!  

The Lord really is so merciful and patient with us and with our shortcomings. No huge impressions or anything on finishing it, just a peaceful understanding that it really is the word of God.

Viernes: I just realized that I could hypothetically open up probably the first tattoo parlor in Honduras. Just saying. They dont have any here.

Also, one of our neighbors was setting off fireworks at 7:00 am. Who does that?????

Sábado: We had interviews with the president and it always leaves me with a ton to think about. He gave me my death date though, August 4th. He said it was really difficult to think of us going home after him because "they're mine" so I'll be having two mission presidents. It's sad to think about so I don't. 

Domingo: I know I probably won't be thinking this by March but right now I feel like I wouldn't mind having 3 transfers with Dardón here in Tela. 

Today at church nobody we invited came. Until we were all in sunday school and then this guy shows up that we barely contacted and just in passing invited him to church. You really never know!

Hoy:

Today was rainy and cloudy and it made me miss the central coast! 

We went to get tacos with the elders from tela mar. One of them studied medicine for five years before deciding to go on a mission. Its interesting to hear about the opportunities people pass up to come here. 

okay so thats the update.

Love you mommy, and to everyone else "if ye love me, read my blog"

adioooooooooos

New Arrivals

Martes 5 de enero

We had a meeting just for the trainers and then president went to go pick up the new babies at the airport and then when they all showed up I was halfway hoping I'd get the girl from california but when I saw Hermana Dardon, this adorable little Guatemalan, I just KNEW she was mine, and turns out she was! Also turns out their luggage didnt come with them so the poor things were stuck without clothes and erthang. So we stayed in progreso overnight so that we could go pick up the luggage at the bus stop in the morning. 

What?

Miercoles

We got to the bus stop bright and early and poco a poco all the missionaries that had transfers came, but also all the missionaries finishing their missions. So that was sad but also happy but baggy (trunky) as well haha.

We ended up waiting like 2 hours for the luggage to come. But we finally got to our area and my new companion seems to be adapting okay. 

okay nevermind I have no time to write about the rest of the week but it's been crazy!

But I gave a talk in church on sunday and our mission president made a surprise visit too! and my companion and I gave the gospel principles class and it went great, she came ready to go, I barely have to train her at all.

Editors Note: Short Blog again -  It seems Hermana Nelson has too many email contacts to make each P-day.

Y'all Live in a Sauna!

Martes 29 de diciembre

We passed by this little building that said they offered massages and a sauna. Why go to a sauna when you could just sit outside in a towel and sweat. Yall live in a sauna.

I tried to explain burritos to my companion idk if she understood just how amazing they are  "its basically everything you could ever want wrapped in a flour tortilla"

Miercoles 30 de diciembre:

Today I asked a recent convert if she knew who Joseph Smith was and she said "El hijo de Dios" and I was like uhh and then tried to explain to her what a prophet was and we finish and i ask her to say a prayer before we leace. And she almost says in the name of Jose Smith, Amen and my comp and I were like ahhhhh what did I just do?!?!?!? I just confused this poor lady for life. 

In the evening we all headed with the 5 ladies that always do everything for Relief S
ociety to the hospital and handed out juice and sandwiches and sang christmas carols. That was all fine and dandy in the waiting room but then we went to the pediatric ward and seeing all the niños in there for the holidays was so sad. we sang away in a manger. 

Jueves 31 de diciembre: 

We keep finding less active members when we're contacting! 

Also this area is so small that we're afraid of accidentally contacting it all.

So we just basically contacted all day because its New Years and all that but in the night time there were some pretty sick

so I dont have any more time to write but this was a crazy week I hope I can write more later but we'll have to see....I dont think so.

But today was the best pday Haight and Crosgrove came to visit well their whole zone actually and we played tackle football and then played with water balloons and then out for lunch. it was prime, and a nice distraction because holidays are kind of hard in the mission-