"Your World is in Your Head"

Lunes 11 de Abril

"Dont strive to be better than others, strive to be your best self."

Today was a pretty dumb pdayyy. I let a mexican take my money, had chicken fries at BK, and bought some more knock-off raybans because mine broke. 

Martes 12

"No temas, sino habla y no calles, porque yo estoy contigo, y ninguno te podrá hacer mal, porque yo tengo mucho pueplo en esta ciudad." Hechos 18:9-10

"being busy doesn't necessarily mean you are being productive"

We went to a zone meeting and it was alright. I have a new "son" though! he's a chicano from Arizona.

But the day was not the best tbh, we left the house late and Victor macheted us for being late, Walter wasn't home, the guy we contacted wouldn't let us leave he talked so much, we showed up half an hour late for our appointment with Hortensia and her brother told us that she left because we didnt show up.

I think we might have missed our chance.

Lixa told us later that she wanted to get baptized the 30th. So we'll see how that goes.

Miércoles 13 de Abril:

"do you understand that if you are not doing what the Lord would have you do, you cannot believe in yourself; you cannot believe that you are worthy to recieve God's help and guidance in your life?"

"you may permit the Lord to change your nature if you give yourself to HIm and to His work. He cannot work on what he does not have, and He cannot have you, unless you give yourself to Him."

At lunch today the mountain of rice had little pieces of carrot in it so that was exciting.

We went to the sister training leader's house and I did divisions with my old companion and she told me that Byron and Isis from my area in La Paz got baptized last October!!!!!!!!!

I still remember the day that we contacted him like it was just last week. I still remember that last lesson that we had with them right before I was sent home like it was just yesterday. He said he wanted an eternal family and that the only way was through this gospel. Ahhhhh I want to go see them so bad! 

We went to a ward activity in las Acacias and I spent basically the whole time white girl talking with a returned missionary that served in Phoenix. She is so cute. We talked about how we missed spinach and Sonic. 

Jueves 14:

"Your world is in your head: Get your head right and heart will follow, and you will be right"

"Some of us have great runways already built for us. If you have one, take off! But if you don't have one, realize it is your responisibility to grab a shovel! Build one for yourself, and all those who will follow you." Amelia Earhart

Viernes 15:

"A great swimmer once said when asked his secret of success:'I kick when I don't want to kick, and I stroke when I don't want to stroke'"

Sábado 16: 

"If thou art sorrowful, call on the Lord the God with supplication, that your souls may be joyful" D&C 136:19

I just finished reading all of the Doctrine and Covenants for the first time in my life isn't that embarrassing.

Valeria's baptism was today! And everything turned out okay! 

Domingo 17:

So the bishop calls us at 8:30 and asks us if we can talk in sacrament meeting. Just us two. And he also asked us not to tell anyone that he called us 30 min before church to asign us to talk. 

So we came in clutch for him.

And the chorister wasn't there so I ended up directing all of the music. So it was like the Sister Nelson show.

But it was really cool because someone came up to me afterwards and thanked me for encouraging the members to do missionary work and then asked for our number so that we could go visit his wife who isn't a member! yas!

Lunes 18:

We had a special Pday of sister missionaries and it was cute. I always love seeing President and Hermana Klein even though I feel bad for them because nobody can pronounce their name right. and I got to see my old companion which made me sooooooo happy. Also we went to walmart, it smells the same in honduras as it does in the states I swear it was so weird. 

"Wow, Jesus never told me he had another testament!"

Lunes 4 de abril:

1 pedro 3:15

moroni 7:41

Volleyball by the beach this pdayy. We decided to just walk along the beach from our house in order to get to the park where the elders were all going to meet. The beach here makes me baggy bc it's all rocky like cali and I tried so hard not to get wet but the water came up and got me #aintnobodygottimefodat so ive officially had my toesies in the carribean! 

Martes 5 de abril:

"And when he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase" D&C 117:13

today fue meh. I still feel kind of disoriented here. We had the best pastelitos de pollo and the most disappointing topogigios.

Miercoles 6 de abril

Acts 5:38-39

There was this little girl that kept talking to me in the "tu" form and told me "que grande eres wuirra" I was just like excuse me? im a misionera. she said "que grande eres misionera".

you can't win.

busy little guys!

Jueves 7 de abril:

"El Hijo del Hombre ha descendido debajo de todo ello ¿Eres tú major que él? 

Today I had the most exhausting lesson of my life. I was getting so annoyed but my comp was so cool she's awesome like seriously I was starting to get so sassy but it's just that this guy would not shut up he was just ranting. And always interrupting very rudely.

All the things he was saying were things we already knew because they're in the bible and we've read the bible. 

But we're trying to tell him about something he didn't know and he wouldnt let us.

He said that the bible doesn't say that we should have prophets and apostles today. He also condemned me for using makeup and wearing earrings. 

At the end we talked to him about the Book of Mormon and he said

"wow, Jesus never told me he had another testament!" 

if he studies the Book of Mormon as much as the bible he could learn and understand so much. I hope he does.

Viernes 8 de Abril

we started the day off contacting our neighbors and they said we are so much nicer than the other missionaries that have lived here. So that was pretty cool.

We only got 1 lesson out of it though before we went to interviews with Pres Klein.

It was super short, 15 min but it helped a lot.

Sábado 9 de Abril 

Today we contacted in barrio Ingles, en el callejón Nueva York.

Things are really turning around here and im so excited! the number of people preparing for baptism and the number of people progressing and the number of new people we've found has doubled since I got here.  yeah!

Domingo 10 de Abril:

Our chapel is gorgeous! and we had 3 investigators come to church! hopefully more next week.

I taught the gospel principles class about Faith in jesus christ and I highly suggest studying
Hebrews 11, it has so many great examples of faith. And I finished the class explaining that although we all have faith in christ, he has faith in us too, that we can accomplish any needful thing. That we can, even in this mortal life, discover our divine potential. My favorite part about teaching to be honest is asking questions, because when people open up and share their experiences, it's amazing.
I literally have soooo many experiences to tell but I have no time :( but this was me trying to catch up on my posts sorrrryyyy

Easter Eggs!?

highlights of the past 3 weeks:
Martes 22 de Marzo: 
We visited Christopher and I asked him for a plastic bag to keep my books dry from the rain and he goes to the big fridge and takes out a bag and I couldn't help but notice a boot in there too and other random things. I asked him about it and he explained that the fridge doesn't work anymore so they keep things in there. oh.

Miercoles 23 de Marzo:

We had a lesson with Estefani and she sad "solo debe de haber una iglesia, pero que sea la verdadera"

so trueeee. 

We saw an opossum (taquacin) while we were contacting, it was super big, apparently they eat chickens. 

President and his wife came to our house (humble apartment) to give hna Dardón her last shot. 

It was weird because they wanted to see our dishes and stuff and when I showed them our plates and bowls and cups they were like omg are you serious and Hna Klein was taking pictures and I'm like wut why this is normal. I guess they're a little ratchet, But functional.

Jueves 24 de Marzo:

We went to mister tacos and had a surprise birthday "party" for Elder Vasquez complete with chocolate cake and spiderman party hats.

We visited Hna Soto and she fed us rosquillas en miel. this is a typical dessert during Easter time. It'd been a whole year since I had eaten it but I remembered the trauma as soon as I took the first bite. I couldnt finish it. I felt so defeated.

It's just SO SO sweet and then the wierd cheese and the yucca it's just too much. 

Domingo 27 de Marzo:

My daughter and I colored easter eggs because #gringotraditions have you ever tried explaining easter eggs to someone? She asked me what do we do with the eggs after we had colored them and I was like umm. 

E. Hansen texted me and told me I had transfers :(

Miramar

Lunes 28 de Marzo:

We went to the gym for the last time and my trainer Christian was like what you're leaving and I was like yeah and he was like well at least you learned a little bit hahah. The poor guy, I was such a sheep the whole time.

We baked brownies with Giselle and Janice but there wasn't enough time to bake all the way and their oven is whack.

Miercoles 30 de marzo:

Transfers were cray. 

But I did get to see Hna Haight, and that made my ❤ happy. But I also saw her get into a cab and leave which broke me heart a little. 

She's finishing her mission this transfer. 

But here in Miramar we can see the ocean from our front door but I'm more excited about the fact that our apartment has 2 bathrooms.

We have a cook here, not too excited about that. Ton of rice, beans, meat, and a piece of guineo.

Jueves 31 de Marzo:

we have a cocinera here. I already mentioned that right? I guess I'm just deva. but her kids are great. one told me in english, "sister nelson, you are GORGEOUS" 

Viernes 1 de abril:

There's a stray dog fight outside of our apartment rn. theyre so louddddd

We've had 8 lessons every day the three days that I've been here. I still feel like we need to do more. 

Contact more. Like with hna Dardon we hardly ever had empty spaces in our planner. But here she's like welllllll let's go visit this person at this time and see if they're home. Like that's not super effective. 

But I met the ward mission leader today and he's great. I want to improve this area so bad.

My companion told me today that she doesn't like animals and she doesn't like English. so thats a thing.......

our cook fed us "salad" today (cabbage and mayonaise) and potatoes and a little bit of chicken and a ton of white rice. 

Sabado 2 de Abril

Walking to the chapel in the morning this guy on his porch randomly popped up and shouted "GOOD MORNING LADY!" these people practicing their english on me and scaring my comp half to death. 

But conference was great! I was in the gringo room with a ton of elders and I took so many notes it's ridiculous.

Domingo 3 de Abril:

Elder Adams said "the next general conference I'll be in my pjs eating cinnamon rolls"

amen

Neapolitan Tan?

Martes 8 de marzo

An jiesietibunu itarala eien

That means I love you a lot and I hope you feel the same in Garifuna.

The black people here have their own communities and language, I’ve never visited but I want to learn more and also learn how to make the coconut bread they bake because it is amaaaazing.

Miercoles 9 de marzo:

We had a zone conference today, I realized that I need to be more loving and respectful with people of other religions.

I need to be more patient and supportive as well.

Jueves 10 de marzo:

"But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the faithful and to the evil."

Luke 6:35

This guy stopped to talk to us on the street and to show us where he used to have worms in his mosquito bites but that the worms are dead now. He knows this because they have stopped moving around and the bites have stopped bleeding so much.

We asked Manuel how he was doing with his scripture reading, he told us he hasn’t read for two weeks because bowing his head to read the scriptures in his lap hurts his neck #speechless #alrightythen

Viernes 11 de Marzo

Gym. Tan. Laundry. No but for reals we went to the gym and then spent the next 3 hours outside painting the fences in Pelican resort. I got a little sun burnt while we were painting so now there's some neapolitan action going on on my leg.

All tourist attractions are getting ready for "semana santa" and even though the word santa means holy, this time of year is hot as hell and it's when people have the most parties and craziness.

When we got done painting, the señora gave us sopa marinera which is a soup with a coconut milk base and has shrimp, fish (bones and fins and erthang) guineo, platano maduro, ayote, caracol, and other veggies.

Sabado 12 de marzo

Hasta San Pedro Sula so that my daughter could get her second round of the rabies vaccine. We had plans to go to the city mall since it's right next door to the mission office but President wanted to take us to his favorite bakery, who can say no to that??

So after ordering everything that looked tasty, we ended up with a table full of goodies and from there we cut everything up so that we could all try a little bit of everything. It was an absolute treat!

On the bus ride home I made friends with some backpackers from England, New York, and Brazil, respectively. They were so cool! And the Brasilian forgave me for when I joked that Portugues is like lazy spanish- I had no idea he was Brazilian because he is basically white with light brown hair. oops! I felt so bad. But they said that I should definitely look into it when I get done with my mission. 

We only got 3 lessons today, visiting with hna Soto was especially interesting, idk how but we ended up talking about marriage and she told us about one of her coworkers that spent 22 years in a verbally and physically abusive relationship. He spent a lot of his time at home getting drunk and whenever he would vomit he would point to it and say "do you see that? That's like you, you're nothing but vomit" and other times "you see the broom? This broom is more attractive than you are" Over the years she found herself hating that broom.

And the thing is that Hna Soto, during all that time envied their relationship because he would come and drop her off at work every day with a kiss or a squeeze of the hand and he would send her flowers all the time.

Hna Soto went on to say that perhaps some people marry the person that they think they want instead of the person that God wants for them.

It was an interesting conversation.

Domingo 13 de Marzo

We met the "wife" of Jesus de Nazareth, she doesn’t want to get married but she wants to get baptized. But she doesn’t want to separate from Jesus either because she wants her kids to have their dad. Quite a pickle.

"creo que todavia queda por hacer una lucha eficaz" Mosiah 7:18

"Dare to be Ourselves"

Martes 1 de Marzo

"Behold all ye that kindle fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire and in the sparks which ye have kindled¨  2 Nephi 7:11, Isaiah 50:11

My companion taught the english class in our meeting today and the game we played was so hard my team lost and I'm the only gringo here.

Calling to verify appointments today we had several people tell us, no don’t worry about it, this is your number right? we'll call you. Nobody who's said that to me has ever called :(

I made the most delicious grilled pepper jack cheese turkey avocado sandwiches in the world and we ate them with papaya #culinarygenius

we are so dead and sore from the gym I just want to sleep so I think I will

Miércoles 2 de marzo

"Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and hath had compassion on thee.”  Mark 5:19 

Today coincidentally ended up being leg day and also the day we went to go visit Alejandra in Campo Hervir, we almost died hiking up the mountainside buttttt before that we found a house that sells corn tortillas, not tortillas made with maseca (it's big difference for me and I was very excited).

We bought some and were all ready to go make lunch when Hermana Castillo calls and invites us for lunch! We got a little lost but in the end we got there and they fed us fried fish, fried platano slices, and salad and omg the most HEAVENLY pineapple juice.

We're sitting there eating and talking and the hermana tells me about how her nieta is serving in California on her mission and I'm like how nice California is huge but I ask in what part and she says she doesn’t remember but goes on to say she was a gymnast. And I was like okay nooooooo way.

Because I didn't talk to many missionaries while I was home but I did talk to one girl who said she had family in Tela and turns out I know hermana Castillos grand daughter!

neat, right? Well anyway, this lady is just so nice and even gave us a bag with apples and juice and cookies (I have shamefully eaten almost all of said cookies)

Jueves 3 de marzo 

I wanted to sleep all day I was so tired. so tired.

Dardón is getting tired of hearing about how much I dislike planning and Thursdays. I'm like a missionary version of Garfield that hates Thursdays and only sleeps and eats baleadas.

Here in Tela we have a sizeable homeless population. It's sad, we also have a lot of bolos, drunks, that we see a lot because well, they're always in the street and we always happen to be in the street. }Today we walked by one that was having a very serious discussion with a dog sitting on the side of the road, asking the dog why he moved to the United States without telling him first. The dog looked him dead in the eyes and said nothing #heartless

Viernes 4 de marzo

Mark 8:24 but they lost the “Ent" wives

Today my comp got bitten by a stray dog, our phone got wet and started malfunctioning, but it was barely a nip so she's fine and I put the phone in rice and its all good.

Sabado 5 de marzo

"Let's dare to be ourselves, for we do that better than anyone else can" Shirley Briggs

We went to the clinic to see if hna Dardón needed any vaccinations for her dog bite but they said that since she has her tetanus shot, she's fine. #makesnosense 

We only ended up with 4 lessons today and we ran out of text messages and we got caught in the rain without umbrellas.

Domingo 6 de marzo:

dyc 84:47 "y todo aquel que escucha la voz del Espíritu, viene a Dios, sí, el Padre"

So we got a new investigator today and his name is Jesús de Nazaret. I know. I snorted/laughed when he told me and felt super bad afterwards and asked for forgiveness a ton a ton. 

Lunes 7 de marzo:

Pdayyyyyy we started off with very little time in the gym and then we ran over to

Hotel Maya Vista to have breakfast with president and his wife. The other sister missionaries came too, but a half an hour late....

But it was really nice of them to invite us to breakfast. Dardón and I shared an order of crepes and an omelete, not as good as my mom's #baggy

After that, President drove us to Telamar and we went to Pelican Resort and we all made sand castles! Well my companion and I actually just made a creepy face in the sand.

For lunch we got to try this ceviche made with clams (almejas) not clam chowder from the splash but I'll take it.

Nice Photo Hermana!!!

"Act or acted upon?"

Lunes 22 de Febrero:

"Charity. The highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection; the pure love of Christ."

"Meditar siempre en estas preguntas: (always meditate on these questions)

'During your mission will you allow your fears to get the better of you? 

Will you only give a portion of your potential to the work before you?'" Dieter F Uchtdorf

We waited for two hours to go to Progreso with some other missionaries just to get off the bus at KFC, eat there with another pair of missionaries, and get back on the bus.

But on the ride back Elder Lucero started talking to the guy in the seat next to him and a lady a few seats ahead was listening in so he invited her to come sit closer and join the conversation. He then turns to me and says "you are going to help me teach this lesson okay?" And I was so nervous because he's suuuper good at teaching and explaining and I'm...not the best pero ahi voy. But it ended up being a really good lesson and I learned a lot. I learned that I need to go slower in the lessons because the majority of people we teach....aren't extremely educated.

Martes: 

"Work hard, be strong, change lives" HH

I miss Mel a lot lately. I'm so proud of her for getting one of the 20 spots in the nursing program though! Sometimes I wish I was cool enough to study medicine.

Hoy pusimos una cita 30 años in advance. (we set an appointment 30 years in advance) He said that when he's 50 he'll change and start to follow Jesus Christ.

We were playing with a puppy during one of our lessons and Dardón and I about died laughing at the face it made when we picked it up. You had to be there.

We were also talking about the way we feel about puppies is the way some people feel about babies. Weird right? Puppies are usually way cuter in my humble opinion.

During our district meeting all the Latinos (I'm the only white missionary in Tela) went wild for my english class, I did a game by request of Elder Vasquez but what they don't know is that it was the exact same game that I used about 2 months ago, but nobody that was there today was in Tela back then. how am I already the person with the most time in the area?? I'm also the oldest by way of time in the mission. jeeez. 

We ended up passing by the same street a ton of times today and this drunk guy kept asking for a kiss or something to remember me by so I walked over and gave him a pamphlet #adioslepido

And the owner of the pulperia at the corner motioned for us to come over and gave us some juice because he said we looked tired from walking in the sun. #pitypoints #score

Miércoles: 

"Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man" Matt 14:11

We came home at 8:15pm today because there were rumors of a "toque de queda" Like the gang 18 declared it or something. Our appointment fell anyway so it was like alright I guess we'll turn in tonight, I wanted to contact 2 more houses though just to get a nice even 10 lessons but whatever. 

The reason we laughed today was this guy Mario that we contacted. He started talking about his heart surgery and all of a sudden he lifts up his shirt to show us the scars and was talking to us for like 5 min with his shirt lifted up all scarred and chubby and hairy and we were trying SO HARD not to laugh at him but he goes on to say he has scars on his legs too and moves his hand over to his pants and we were both like no! no! It was awful we could not keep a straight face it was torture. 

Also, I straight up walked up and contacted a whole family outside their house, I would have never done that before, but I'm changing.

We had our first dinner at a member's home whaaaaat. only 77 days in the branch nada mas. I kinda missed comida catracha

Jueves: 

"Anakin- long necked, a giant race. Settled near Hebron but also met with further north"

-bible dictionary

22 more weekly plannings -_- 

For lunch we had breakfast tacos, I'm a culinary genius. I shot a video of the experience.

The reason we laughed today was a chicken flying out of nowhere right in front of us in campo hervir #ibelieveicanfly

We contacted another person who turned out to be a member turned Jehovas Witness. Still wondering what the JWs got that we don't.

Viernes: 

Matt 18:11-12

I can testify that looking for lost sheep in the mountains is hard work. Especially if the sheep do not want to be found.

2 Nephi 2:14       Am I a thing that acts or a thing that is acted upon?

I was freezing most of the day, wading through water up to my knees at times, but today was a good day!

We found the Israelite guy again it was good talking to him and we had a good lesson in the evening before the power went out.

                                                                                                   Sabado:

Yolanda's husband explained to us that scientists made mosquitos with diseases in order to inflict pain upon the human race.

While we were eating lunch some guys came to put in a metal door with a screen so that we can have air coming in without letting in all of the scientifically engineered mosquitos in.

In the house we have set a new rule that we have to speak english, which honestly I think I forget to follow more than my companion does. 

But i've already noticed a difference in her english and even outside of the house she'll talk in english especially if we don't want people to overhear us. It's very entertaining to say the least.

Domingo:

1 Corinthians 15:58

It was sunny so more people came to church!

This was the week, not too entertaining but today we started out with 2 hours in the gym and then went to go eat at Hotel Maya Vista and this time we brought our cameras! the view was gorgeous to say the least. and the food was exquisite, but a little expensive. the papaya juice that I ordered was basically blended papaya, delish. And the salad and the spaghetti both came with many sea creatures. I would definitely take my family to go eat there if we ever went to Honduras ;P