Valle Verde!!

Well... changes came! And I have changes! 
I had to say goodbye to El Paraíso, which was heartbreaking. But I was also pretty excited. 
Im glad to get to know more of Honduras. New areas and new people, more experiences. This experience is going to be so much fun. On Sunday night I recieved a call from our Mission President telling me that I will have a special assignment, I will be going to Valle Verde, a hard area. But I will be really happy about my new companion. We will be working together as Zone Leaders! That means we will have to look after more missionaries, working hard and setting the example,and let me tell you guys....its awesome! I love this assignment!

Valle Verde is actually close to Danlí. Not really close, but the closest to any other zone. So theres the city Teguz in the center, then Valle Verde in the middle of no where, then if you keep going there is the city of Danlí. There are no supermarkets, nothing more than just small mercados. It gets pretty hot here, but nothing like the south. haha!

 I am in the area of La Villa de San Fransisco. Its like a town like Paraíso, but not as well developed. But you guys know me, I love small towns than big cities! So I reallly like this area so far. We are in a branch. The branch is really small.

 The average assistance is 24 a week... so yeah, theres some work to be done! Last year, there was only ONE baptism in this area.....one!! 

So we´ll what we can do about that. My companion is Elder Harris!! Elder Harris is awesome! He actually grew up in Arizona! But the key points of his life has lived in Utah so hes considered a Utahnian? He wrestled for about 10 years! what!! He studied in BYU as well! We get along reallly well. More than anything, we are really helping each other alot on being the best missionaries that we can be, being obedient con exactitud and working hard. We only have about a week together but we have already seen a bunch of miracles! Obviously, its hard to baptize here, but we´ve already met alot of great investigators the first week! Oh! I really want to share this awesome experience: This one night we were contacting at around 8:45 and we knocked on this certain door where this cipota opens the door and then we talk with the mom, they let us in. We get to know them and they are awesome! Yes they go to a church, but the good thing is that she isnt too brainwashed lol. But she does know the bible really well! So long story short, I really felt like I needed to ask whether or not she had any questions or any doubts about something that shes heard about the Mormons. She said No, but we asked again and again. Then she said Welllll, Yes. I have a friend whos mormon who was telling me about something you guys do, baptisms for the dead? Yes!! She trusted us to ask us this! Huge step forward! So then we teach this as basic as we can, but we felt like she didnt totally beleive us. She thinks that this is something that we are making up as Mormons, so we had no other choice but to show her that this is found in her bible! So we got 1 Corintios 15:29. So we had her read it, and it was really funny because as she was reading outloud she stopped when she read... ¨Por que, pues, se bautizan por los.......muertos?¨ And then she looks up at us, with the look of ¨How´d you do that?¨ She said, out of all of the years that Ive been going to church, no one has ever showed me this. And then we challenged and everything and happy ever after! She is a really amazing investigator now! 

The awesome thing about this area is that we are being taken care of! We are being taken care of by Mamá! We have a Zone mother! More than anything shes our mother! :) haha There is this member that loves us! We call her Mamá. 

She gives us lunch everyday and washes our clothes. for dinner, she lets us use her kitchen and we cook our food!

 I love it, I get to control what I eat now haha! (Mexican food everyday;)

Tonight we have a noche de hogar there, and we are going to cook Tostadas! 

 That first house that you can see is our house! Its pretty nice. Bucket showers everyday but, ive seen worse! haha

This the Villa branch building, as well as the Valle Verde District Center.

There are no taxis here, only Motortaxis. They are like 3 wheeled vehicles. Theyre wierd. And always overcharge!

 These donkeys are following me everywhere!!! haha

 Just like El Paraíso is the home of coffee, here in the Villa it is the home of Sugar Cane! These huge trucks are always passing all day, as you can see, theyre hauling sugar cane.

This is Mamá and I, at my second house! 

  

Mamá and Elder Harris.

We went to the Temple today!!

                                                           El Templo de Honduras!!

 We went to the Temple today!! It was such an amazing experience! I love this temple so much. Who wouldnt love going to the temple with their family right?
 Well this zone that i´m with right, we are all family. Like I truly mean it. I will upload more temple pictures next week.

                                                                    This is the Paraíso squad!

 There is this new place in Danlí called Coco Baleadas and they make reallly good baleadas! Theyre HUGE! 

                                                                 These are the tamales in Honduras! 
They are really common during this season. They are kinnnnd of like the ones from Mexico, but a little different. First of all they are not spicy which is really sad... They are even wrapped in a different leaf thing. They have the rice already included! Thats a bonus!!!!!  Like... who likes to eat their tamale and then eat your rice on the side?
 why not at the same time?
 But the bad thing is that you´ll usually find a small bone from the meat inside as well. Its really common. Probably the worst thing I have tried on the mission, was in the south, a really awesome poor family gave us food. I literally eat WHATEVER people give me, and if they ask me, it is the best food ive ever had in my life! haha but.... this one time, this hermana gave us tamales that tasted like pure clorox. Yes, clorox. But we ate it with a smile on our faces and she WATCHED us eat it. Once we were finishing up she said Oh! Elders, I tried a tamale and didnt like it because it tasted like clorox, you guys dont have to eat it if you dont want to..... righttt, thats why she waited until we were already done eating it! hahaha 
what happens is that some people wash their pans with bleach and the smells sticks

                                                        "WHY IS THERE A PALOMA ON MY HEAD??????"

Feliz New Year!!!!!!

Hey guys! First of all, Happy New year!!!!!!

 Hey guys!  I cant believe it is already new year! The year that I go home..... Wow!!!!
Time goes by way too fast. Well I need to send a bunch of pictures that I havent sent yet.
 New years week was a blast in El Paraíso!
 There were fireworks everywhere all of the time! It got kind of annoying after a while. 
 In  teguz last year, I couldnt sleep until like 1 in the morning because of the fireworks. But they were the hand fireworks. The little ones that you blow up in the streets but make alot of noise. 
Here... they bring out the big boys. I couldnt sleep at midnight during New Years because of fireworks, but the ones that blow up in the sky! It was awesome! And there was some that were exploding right by our house! Well actually, Im just going to upload all of the pictures and let the do the talking! haha

Our mission leader Elias and the family gave us a really good New Years lunch after church!

For P-Day we decided to do a surprise activity for the hermanas! 
When they got to church we divided them into teams and gave them a piece of paper. It was a clue.
 We did an EPIC SCAVENGER HUNT at the church! It was so much fun! 
We didnt participate obviously but helping others have the time of the life is so much more worth it.

This one day our dinner appointment got canceled so Elder Guerra and I decided to cook! 
I taught him how to cook MEXICAN TACOS!! 

                                                                             They were sooo good!!!!!!!! 

Feliz Christmas!

I dont even know where to start! I cannot believe it is already christmas again!! Remember exactly a year ago I was saying the same thing! haha So many things have happened during these days, sadly enough, I am going to have to summarize a little bit.

First of all, we baptized Cynthia!! Whattt?! She is another truly amazing convert! The whole story with her is a witness that everything truly happens for a reason! The baptism went great! Everything went smoothly! She was soo happy! She is 17 and is really, really animated to go on a mission! 

Second, let me tell you guys a little story first... maybe some on know, maybe some of you dont, (my parents love telling everyone about it) well, about two years ago one of the donkeys that we have bit my finger. It was a very embarrasing moment because you know that donkeys are not agressive at all... and everyone always asks: why was your finger in his mouth?! What happen was that my family went to Utah for a weekend and left me home alone, and I convinced my parents that I could take care of the ranch on my own for a weekend. Well during that month ive been trying to break our donkeys so that we can ride them right? Well the night they left, i was finishing up that breaking session with the donkey for the day and i was giving him his prize and feeding him food, then oops! There are huge teeth around my finger!! hahaha Well heres the thing, in El Paraíso, there are donkeys that just walk around. Literally. Just lingering around, eating some grass here, some there, everywhere! And it freaks me out. Sometimes we have to go through a road and theres a donkey there...we usually just take the long way around! haha well this certain time I wanted to take a picture with one of the donkeys and it became one of those PERFECT TIMING moments! Check out the donkey picture below! lol

Third, we had an epic christmas conference has a mission! Pretty much the whole mission go together and we had a spiritual conference together and we had time to bond, play some sports and catch up with some old friends! It was so much fun! Then we all got little gifts thanks to some families that donated them up in the states! Thank you so much!! 

Fourth, speaking of presents, during the conference they started handing out packages for the missionaries, I was very surprised when I heard my name!! I got a package from the Jones family, and then, after a while, I hear my name again!! WHAT?! Thank you soooo much to the Jones family and my family for the awesome packages!! It means so much to me!! :)

Fifth, well today is PDay, so like always, we were together as a zone. The elders got together and came up with this idea, that we give the hermanas an awesome gift! We´ll cook for them! As well as do a Secret Santa gift exchange! Which was incredibly fun!! I had Hermana Benson. She is a new missionary so I bought a cool honduras shirt and because there is a shirt printing place here in paraíso, (who is also an investigator) I got a good deal and I was able to write Benson on the back of the shirt! It was awesome! 

This morning we got together and we made really good waffles! And we usually split the costs of the food, but this time, we didnt charge them so they were super happy! It was a really great start to christmas!

Alright that is it for now, but I am SOO excited to talk to my family tomorrow!! I cant wait! 

Amazing Experiences This Week!

Well this has been an awesome week! 
The best part about it were the awesome experiences that we had! Ok so i´ll start with one...

So on the mission we have this goal, the Abrir La Boca goal. We are supposed to contact 24 people a day, thats including having lessons with invesitigators and lessons with members. Its usually a challenge to cumplir. So this one night, it was almost time to go home and we wanted to do that last 24 abirir la boca right? So we do it! We contact this one house with the door closed. Annnnnnnndddd.....that outcome that you think is going to happen, that perfect missionary story that everyone always talks about...doesnt happen. We meet this nice older guy whose name is Felix with his wife. They let us in and let us share a message with them, they were not positive at all. We wanted to hurry up and leave honestly haha. But then once we got up we asked if there is anything we can do for them...lavar la pila, lavar ropa o trastes, lavar el perro, cocinar, o como sea! (that usually makes them laugh!) but then the mom says well, you guys can talk with my son, he is going through a really hard time. And we look at the back corner of the house and we see this man that you can tell has been crying. So we said Yes of course! So we put a cita with him. We go back the next day and he is really positive! He just went through a divorce and his kids kicked him out of his house. We felt like we had to teach him about the Book of Mormon, he said he is really excited to read it. We go back after a few days and he read about 10 chapters! what?? He says he is obvisouly still curious about the veracity of the book which is understandable. We taught him about the Restoration and how he can know if all of this is true, and he says that it all makes sense! Which is what i always say and why i love this gospel! IT ALL MAKES SENSE! While we were testifiying of the truth of the church, he really opened up to us and says that hes learned that everything happens for a reason, he really believes that us showing up that very night was meant to be, he really needs help and he really hopes that we are the ones that can help him. I know we are. He left for a 15-day vacation but he says he is really exciting for reading more! and of course, praying.

Next story! 

So I have to explain some things first, three weeks ago, apart from our usual investigators, there was this investigator that went to church that wasnt someone we invited, but some other member. But she lives far!  She went two weeks in a row, but then stopped. While she was at church we wanted to visit her but she would always say that she lives too far and its really hard to get there, but she´ll just keep going to church. The thing is that she stopped going to church! She hasnt gone for like 2 weeks or something. So this particular day we dont have much planned, we are just kind of walking around talking with people but no one is positive. I honestly didnt have much motivation, not because I was tired or anything, I just had pereza... but I think for a reason! We were walking past the bus terminal and I remember looking at a bus, thats says Los Llanos-El Paraiso. I had a feeling that we should go to LosLlanos to look for that invesitigator and help her go to church again. (Lets take a little pause here: Los Llanos is an area farthest from El Paraiso, only way to get there is on bus for 10 minutes. We have nooo idea whats over there, the people only say that its just mountain and not many houses, and there is no cell phone reception over there so we cant just call). But we had the motivation to go over there and everything will work out. Resume) So we get on the bus and we go to see what happens! The bus drops us off, and we start walking to what people told us should get us to some houses. Contacting along the way we meet a bunch of cool new people! Just like Morristown, everyone pretty much knows each other. So they tell us about some members that live hasta ayaaaaaa! far! So we go! Luckily enough, theyre there! Well just the daughter, which is really all we needed because she was the one who invited Ingrid, the invesitigator who went to church. So we go there and she says: Wow! What are you guys doing here?? We tell her we are looking for Ingrid, and she says, its far....are you ready? We say ready for what? She says To go! Ill take you guys there! We have to down that road pass the river ad go up that mountain. So we got really lucky she was so willing to help us! We start walking and we get to the river, when we see that there are some parts where there was running water my comp and I turn around and start picking up rocks to be gentlemens so that the hermana doesnt have to get wet. We grab the rocks and when we turn around shes already on the other side.......... that was embarrasing haha! 

So we finalllly show up to the house, praying she is even home! and guess what? Shes home!!! So we talk with her and hse is super happy we were there! We taught and she is super positive and we animated her to keep going to church and she was so willing! The fact taht we made it all the way out there really made her realize that isnt just another person. We were out there most of the day but it was all worth it! We were sooo happy we followed the prompting to go on this adventure when we felt it! But did I mention we missed the last bus that takes us back to El Paraiso?.........

Anywayyyy... another story! 

So we have this investigator that I told you guys about before who is super positive! Her name is Cynthia. So heres the thing, shes been reading the book of mormon and has been praying, she feels like she has recieved an answer to her prayers and she really wants to get baptized. Theres one problem, she is 16 and her mom does not let her for some unknown reason. No one really even knows who the mom is because she just works and then hides herself in the back of house! So it is really difficult to talk to her! I keep telling Cynthia that I really want to talk to her mom, I dont have pena, Ive done it a lot of times. But each time, she just kinds of says Ummm... I dont want my mom to get mad, so i dont think its a very good idea. This has been happening for about 2 weeks. Members have been trying to help us and talk with the mom and she keeps saying no. Even family have told her but still no. But then one day, while doing divisions with Elder Garry, I felt the need to go to Cynthia´s and do the baptismal interview, even without the baptismal permission of the mom. We find Cynthia at the house and we do the interview, she passes! Now here the really cool part... During the baptism interview, the grandma came to me and said, Hey when you guys are done, can you give me a prayer? (She said it while tapping on her head, meaning she wants a blessing, and then she went to the back room) So I say Of course! We get done with the interview and then we Cynthia, Well your grandma wants a blessing, and it is the perfect excuse to go see your mom while we are at it! So Cynthia leads to the back room where the granma and mom are, of course the mom is REALLLY surprised. And we state our business fast, saying we are here to help her mom. We give the grandma a nice blessing and then we just kind of sit there and break the ice with the mom, after while of course, we talk about the baptism. We talk to her about what baptism really is and why it is of great importance. We had really nice talk with her, which is was a little hard trying to gain her confidence at first. So then we took out the baptism registro and and said, Look everything is ready, your daughter has the desire and she is prepared, all we need is your signature, and....she accepted!! Not only that but she wants to go to the baptism!! 

We left there and Elder Garry and I were just in shock how everything just worked out perfectly! Once again, I can see the Gods plans are always better than ours, we always need to be ready to follow them when the time comes. Doing the interview, then the grandma saying that she needed a blessing, was part of Gods plan, I know it!

I´m Staying!!

I am staying in El Paraíso for another change!

Well first, the big news of the day: I am staying in El Paraíso for another change!(6 weeks) Woohoo!!! 
 I love it here! And I am so happy that I will be here for christmas and for new years! Its gonna be a blast! 
The best part is that I am still with my kid! He is awesome! We are always having the greatest time! Literally one of the best people Ive met on the mission! Elder Guerra baptized for his first time! His name is Luis Fernando! He is super cool and super pilas! His whole family from Teguz came down for the baptism! 

Today for P'day we played Soccer at the really cool field in Danli with some elders from the Valle Verde zone. 
So much fun! There isnt that much new for this week, but we are super excited for this week knowing that we are not getting changed! 
Now we are off to go buy some christmas lights....