Hallo!!

  My week:

We went to a meeting for new trainers last Tuesday and it was so fun seeing all the ladies from the CCM, including Hermanas A. and T.! We were so excited and were just sitting and talking and catching up and loving each other.

 People I´m teaching the gospel who are progressing:

Family Salines: So we were hoping that we could get the girls baptized this week but it looks like we won´t be able to. They´re timid, and the oldest one, Katherine seems scared and aprehensive and we aren´t quite sure why, so we´ll try to get her alone and ask her tonight. It´s hard when you want to help people, but aren´t sure how. And it´s not just the language barier, it´s that people aren´t very open here, and won´t express themselves. Unless I directly ask "Hermana C., do you want me to change this song, do you like this song?" she won´t say anything. The little ones are so ready, and absolutely darling, but once again, they´re aprehensive and timid anytime we bring up baptism. We went over all the questions with them yesterday, and they knew them all! (with some help.... but still :) )

Francisco: So he´s another security guard for our neighborhood. We´ve seen him a lot, but it was just "good afternoon! How´s it going?" One night we were walking to Plaza, which is the mall slash strip center near our house. It´s cheaper to take a taxi from there, so we normally walk there. But it was about 7ish which is when it´s starting to get dark, so we were walking fast when we saw this guy. Now the rule is to walk the other side of the street from anyone that we see, so we started to cross when someone is heading straight towards us! He said, "Don´t worry, I´m the security guard!" Boy, were we relieved! He offered to walk with us and we talked to him while we walked, and we got a taxi and as we were leaving I handed him a pamphlet and said, "Just read it when you can!" Well, a couple days later we visited him at work, and he told us that he had read it! Wow, normally they haven´t and we just explain the Restoration. So we asked if he had any questions and he said, "Well, what´s the book of mormon?" We were on our way to another appointment, so I handed that to him and told him to read it if he had a chance and we left. We were able to sit down, explain the restoration and the book of mormon but boy, this guy is ready for the gospel. He is the nicest guy and when we´re teaching him people are walking up and tell us "you are so lucky to be friends with this guy!"

The only problem is he works on Sunday, but he doesn´t on Saturday and he´s been working for a year and never has asked for a day off, so he´s going to see if he can change his schedule so that way he can work everyday except Sunday. He also went to Family Home Evening (our ward does FHE) and loved the church and everything about it and is so excited to go to the actual show ;)

 

Here I am with Francisco. He wears these glasses because he´s outside all day and he wanted me to try them on. Pretty cute, don´t cha think? ;)

Marvin: A security guard for another members neighborhood. Haha! So many security guards. We finished dinner at Hermana M.  (I don´t think I´ve mentioned her.. but she calls herself my Abuelita (little grandma) and is always making sure we´re fed and our clothes are washed, so mother, please don´t worry!) and were waiting by the gate to her neighborhood for a taxi. So we´re waiting, and waiting and nothing. So one of the other guards called Marvin, who was having his day off, but lives in the guard station because he lives about 2 hours away. So he walked us home that night and we asked if we could teach him about Jesus and so we visited him one day and taught him  about the plan of salvation. Wow, the first lesson was so tender. He opened up right away and told us about his life and how he has 2 kids that he can´t see very often and how his wife abandoned their family about 2 years ago to go to Spain. He told us that it was a very very hard time for him, but he learned to rely on God a lot through the process and I thought about how he is exactly the kind of person they describe in  Alma 32:6:

 "And now when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him, and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word." 

  Yesterday we had the third lesson with him and he went to church on Sunday and FHE last week. We taught about the word of wisdom, and he told us that he drinks coffee, but said that that would stop immediately because he wanted to do the things that God wants him to do. Such faith! At the end of the lesson I asked if there was anything else he wanted to say. (remember how they are kinda closed with their feelings?) He looks up at us with tears in his eyes and just told us just how grateful he was for us. For the good that we do. He said that he feels so much love from us and felt so much love from the ward when he went to church and FHE and said that he was so grateful that we were there. Wow! I was just sitting there trying so so hard not to hug this man in all of his humility. I felt like a teacher feels at the end of the school year when the student gives them that thank you card, but ten times better because I taught him how he can have eternal life!

(side note: I was trying to take more pictures with investigators, but either forgot, or didn´t have time. When I asked Marvin he said he didn´t want to. I explained it was for my mom, and that made it ten times worse because he said he didn´t want you guys to see him in his work clothes (a t shirt and jeans) but he promised that when he goes to church we can take a picture :)

Here we are rewarding ourselves, which happens occasionally (especially if it´s hot out) with chocolate bananas. They are about 20 cents, and we love them! 

And missionaries can have fun too! The other day it was raining and we were in the office and I was so cold from sitting in a plastic chair! So for language study I suggested that we watched a movie in English with English subtitles (we only do this about once a week) and Hermana C. said, eh okay. Then I asked if we could do it in my bed so we snuggled up with our blankets and watched "Finding Faith in Christ". I´m already such a baby with the weather, can´t wait to turn into a popsicle next year!

 

And last but not least, I went to the temple today! 

It was amazing! The temple was dedicated in March, and is new and gorgeous and everything about it was perfect. We went in and got our clothes and the sisters said we had about an hour before the session started and did we want to do initiatories? It was great, because I haven´t been able to do them since I went to Virginia, and it was all in Spanish! So that was fun too :) Then we went to our session which was so lovely. Guys I love the temple so so much! If I didn´t have a love for it before I certainly do now since we can only go about every 6 months. I stayed in Celestial room just soaking in all of the happiness. I literally don´t think my heart can contain it all which is fine because that means I´ll just give all that I can to these people of Honduras.

I´m alive! I´m well, I´m preaching the gospel, and I love you all! :)