No Branch President!

Well, to start.. you need to realize how difficult this branch is! haha I love it, but its not easy. 
The members are not pilas at all. There is only about two families that really go to church. The branch president´s family(Mamá) and the District President´s family. We try the best we can every week to help the members get to church, or at least have a real testimony, but its not easy. But our Branch President always did a great job of maintaining order and control in the branch. But guess what? He left! He has to go do a church course in San Pedro Sula, so he just kind of said: Peace Out! And we´re just here like... what?! your going to leave us! So we are in charge of this branch now. We have to direct the services, and well, do everything. Like... everything! But its cool! Its a new adventure!

We had 3 investigators at church! (That doesnt sound like much, I know...in reality its not, but in this area, its alot!) We had one investigator that we are helping get married and helping him with his addictions. We also brought a family!!! Mom and dad, and the kids! SUPER POSITIVE! You know they are positive when they invite you over for homemade baleadas as well! ;) Our investigators are doing great!We´ve been working super hard and its all paing off! Elder Harris and I get along soo well! He is definately one of my best companions! We are always having such a  great time! But guess what...Changes!

I cant believe its been 6 weeks together already! And well, we had interviews with our mission president this week and wow, he is honestly really happy for the work that we have done here in this area and in the zone! President needs my companion to help another zone in Choluteca and is leaving me in charge of Valle Verde! This is barely my first change here!! haha but thats alright! My new companion will be Elder Poquioma from Perú! We have... different personalities. We´ll see how it will work out! I am going to do my best to make the best out of it! I hope he is ready to take on alott of responsibility especially now that there is no branch president! haha We have to make sure our investigators keep progressing as well as keep visiting the member so that they actually keep going to church!! 

This is our little gym that we have in our house! We have THE mission´s American flag, the gringo leader companionship are always in charge for his flag. I´ve had it when I was with Elder Carter as well, but now I have to give to another companionship. Elder Harris and I always used the TRX straps, theyre super awesome and always give us a really good workout!

There really isnt much to do here in Valle Verde, so for Pdays, Elder Harris and I go to the restaurant in front of our house and order some baleadas, and have the best chess games ever! We usually get a crowd of people around and watch! haha (Thank you to the Stoutner family for the chess set! :)

Monkeys!!

Who owns Monkeys?!!! 
So,  we went into this one house and guess what?... It turns out that they have monkeys! What?! 
They were super awesome!

Well this has been a great week! Alot better than last week! Last week was a little hard on us because we worked incredibly hard but not find anyone too positive. But since last monday night nos pusimos las pilas and looked for people! And we have found some INCREDIBLE investigators! Thats about all thats new this week, so Ill talk a little about them.

So first of all, Angela. Like I said, we didnt have much success last week so we said, well, lets try something new. And so we decided to look in the Area Book. Its a book that every area has that is updated by missionaries. Thats where we register all of our investigators that we find, teach, or drop. Well we looked but there wasnt anyone too positive still. But we went way back to older registros and we found a few people and then we went out to look for them. We found most of them but most of them didnt really want anything anymore. But then... there was this certain investigator that took sooo long for us to find! We started in the morning. It took us down a road that we dont usually take to get to this certain area. But as we were going we were asking the people if they know her, and of course, they all gave us different addresses, so it was a little complicated. But we also took so much time finding her because as we asked the people for her, we would also contact them. And guess what, they were almost ALL really positive! It got to the point where we just wanted to find Angela for once and not get caugtht up teaching other people! hahaha just kidding! I know that these amazing people were put in our way for a reason. So that was awesome! So then, we finally show up to her front door. Her door is open and she is there sitting down. Of course she easily lets us in. She is an older lady and is really nice! Well we got to know her more and she tells us that the missionaries used to visit her alot, and she was to the point of being baptized! But then all of a sudden she had to live in Teguz for a while so they lost contact. Well guess what! We´re here now! She says that she truly believes in everything that we teach, and she accepted a baptismal date. But, the problem is that she goes to Teguz like every 15 days. But then we asked where is she living in Teguz, and shes ´por el San Miguel´! Well guess what? Thats the area of the APs fo the mission! And theyre super dope! So I talked to them and they are going to visit her and take her to church while she is in Teguz and while she is here we are going to teach her and teake her to church as well! Ahhhh! I love the mission!

We found this other investigator who we contacted and she was not positive at all. Like, at all. She was very catholic and was giving us those teasing remarks about our church. We knocked on her door and we said that we are representatives of Jesus Christ, and she said nooo, you guys cannot come in because your god is este Juan Smix! (We clarified that he is not our god, and his name is Joseph Smith!haha) But she saw that we didnt want to do any harma and she let us in. She wanted to know more about this Smix person and ´our bible´, we taught her about him and the Book of Mormon, and she changed COMPLETELY! We finished the lesson with her really wanting to read it and know the veracity of it! 

We found this other investigator that we felt that she really needed Christ and this gospel in her life. She has about 9 kids and is with an abusive husband! So we tried to help her understand who she is and that she has a purpose in her life and Wow! She changed completely as well. She really opened up to and she was really positive. We are really excited to see how these investigators progress this week! 

We´ve seen a lot of miracles this week! 

The dogs in Honduras think its cute to sleep in the middle of the road so they can almost get run over...

We got to hang out with Elder Garry and my sipote Elder Guerra today! We rode around in MotorTaxis, which are even scarier than regular taxis...

Big changes in the mission!

This is our Branch President, Liniker. he is 24. He is so awesome! He is Mama´s son also, so we always see each other. He helps us out so much!

Well do you guys remember when I talked about that transmission hat we had from Salt Lake City? Well the whole mission, (and the world) got a bunch of new changes. Such as the Key Indicators, we dont have like 10 anymore, just 4 now! So thats different, but also the missionary schedule changed! We used to get up at 6:30 and do our exercises, now we wake up at 6! We used to leave to go out and work at 10:30, now we leave the house at 9! heres the best part... we used to go back home at 9...now we get back at 8:30! Woohoo! hahaha 

Well there isnt that much new this week, this week has actually been kind of hard on us. We´ve lost a bunch of investigators, but we´ve also found a bunch of new ones! They just kind of come and go here, but we really hold on to the positivie ones. I found out this week that while our President of the mission has been doing interviews with the other zones he´s been mentioning how much the Valle Verde zone has been changing for the better because of the excellent missionaries that are there! That made us feel awesome of course! And it just gave us more motivation to work, because, well im not going to lie it is really hard here. This is probably my hardest area. The people are really different. Not trying to be mean or anything, but it seems like the people here just cant learn. lol. The thing is that they think they know about God, but we ask them who they think God is and they have no response! But because they used to go to a church 20 years ago their hearts are closed and they dont want anything to do with any other religion. We are in a small branch, with only about 20 people that go to church. But its pretty much just 3 families haha! But, we are NOT going to give up! Sometimes, when challenges like these happen, I get really excited... because when I leave this area I know I will be able to say that I did my best to help this area and the branch, and see the results. This is just the beginning!

he cool thing about La Villa is that they have public pilas and water for everyone. The water comes about every 3 days and its never enough, so this little park is always filled with people washing their clothes and dishes, or bathing... lol

                                            Here in the Villa there are ALOT of cowboys riding horses and donkeys!

 Oh! And I totally forget to tell you guys about what happen when I went to the temple! (I just recieved the pictures thats why) But while we were at the temple last change I got to see Jim Fields!! He was working at the front desk and he was super happy to see me! (My family went to go visit them in Utah!) I obviously dont have a picture with him because he was working in the temple.  

When we  were about to leave, I heard someone yell Elder Madero!! And i look towards the parking lot and I see Hermano Suazo!! He was my ward mission leader in Miraflores!! He was soo awesome!! He cared soo much for us! And thats Hermana Vargas, she served in Miraflores as well, and thats some of the Danlí squad!

                                  The cool thing about La Villa is that they sell really good donuts for only 10 lempiras!! :D

We got to see some of the Danlí family at Zone Conference! :´) 

Since we make our own dinners every day, its kind of nice to be able to choose what i eat haha. And most of the time it is something like this. A typical plate back in the AZ house, un burrito de carne molida! :D

9 months!!!!

Hey guys!
 Let me just say.... I am sooo happy!! I love the Villa! It is a really hard area...like, reallly hard. But thats okay, you know why? Because my new companion is the greatest missionary ever! I am learning so much from him! So the fact that this area is hard, really doesnt bug us at all. I cant believe we have been here for two weeks already! Time goes by fast when your echando fuego! We have found a bunch of amazing people, but also lost a lot of awesome investigators...thats just part of the mission. Thats the worst part of the mission, is when we have to `break-up` with investigators. I`ll explain later. Do you guys remember of the story last week of the that investigator where we showed her the baptisms for the dead in her bible? well we went back. Expecting her to be supper positive... but guess what? Nope! She didnt even attend us , her daughter did! She has a 20 year old daughter that read the pamphlet that we left her! And she even prayed!! She says that she partially received an answer, because de repente she felt the desire to keep learning and recieving us. She is SUPER positive! So we taught her about the Book of Mormon so that she can know with all of heart that what we are teaching is true. She was really excited! So we left... we came back 3 days later and guess what... Satan got in the way. She didnt even want to recieve us, but we made our way in. She made up a bunch of excuses, but then after a while she told us the truth... Lately, shes heard alot of negative comments about our church. For some reason, her family, friends, and people in the street just start talking bad about our church to her and she got really confused. The thing is that she really feels that we wouldnt lie to her. But she pretty much broke up with us. It was SOO sad... She would have definately been a CONVERT. Pero ni modo...it was interesting, because she mentioned that some people in the street were telling her how supposably Joseph Smith died, and it kind of confused her. But when we were about to leave, we felt that we just close with our testimonies, and telling her how Joseph Smith really died, and how no matter how easy it would have been to just Lie and say `Haha! Just kidding! I made everything up!` instead of taking the easy way out, he sealed his testimony with his blood, never denying what he knows his true. We can see that she was truly impacted, but this just wasnt her time.
 I was really sad, obviously. But Elder Harris has taught me something important, he says `dont worry, Our Heavenly Father has someone prepared for us, we just have to be ready too and be looking`. Well, we found a BUNCH of better people! I`ll share one of the miracles. So, the first week we taught this guy, really postive. We went for the second cita, he wasnt there, there was his sister. So we are like well... why not? so we teach her outside. She is not positive at all, we were like well, we dont really know why we are here, but we`ll just leave a foyeto. (There is bar right next door) and then, right before we do the closing prayer, this lady comes out of the bar with red hair. She comes over to us and sits with us, (she is friends with the sister) And she says, can I join you guys as you pray? we say Of Course!! So she sits, we pray, and we talk a little bit more with her, she asked US to go teach her, because she really wants to change. Every bolo(drunk) says that... but we felt that she reallly meant it! So we put a cita and we go after a couple days. She used to go to church for months! She knows a lot about the church and was even at the point of getting baptized...but then the missoinarys got changes. She has a lot of addictions that she has to overcome but she is definately a miracle!! She is awesome!! She truly has the desire to change! 

Anyway, being a ZL is awesome! Alot more responsibility, but I like it! haha The APs are happy with our work, Valle Verde is really improving. (It needed help) Valle Verde is kind of that zone that no ones wants to go to. because its in the middle of no where! Legit, middle of no where. No super markets, no restuarants, nothing. There are just a bunch of pueblos. So alot of missionaries think that gives them the excuse not to work haha. But we are doing our best to animate everyone! 

But!! I didnt tell you guys the best news ever!! So I left Paraìso right?... who goes with Elder Guerra? (My kid) well guess what... He is DISTRICT LEADER and TRAINING a new missionary!!! What?!?! He is making history! This supperrr rare, it never happens! My dad, Elder Westberg trained right after his training too.

 We played soccer with Danli today so I talked to Elder Guerra and he is working super hard! And its true because last night when I was talking with the APs, Elder Solares tells me how pilas Elder Guerra is! Im so proud :`) I have a grandson! Elder Alvarado from Costa Rica! Super dope!

And not like im counting... but, I only have NINE months left!! I`m down to the single digits! what?

 I already miss the mission!

The family!

Here are the Mexican Tostadas we made for last weeks Noche do Hogar, Mamà and the fam loved them!

We had a missionary broadcast straight from Salt Lake this week with some big news!!
 But we are going to have zone conference this wednesday and they are going to tell us if the new changes are going to apply here. But we were supposed to watch this transmission in the chapel, but since we are in the middle of no where, the church`s internet was not good enough. So we had to buy a chip from Tigo and buy internet and plug in to one of our members house and we had our whole zone watch it from a small,small laptop! haha

 For dinner, we cook at Mamà`s house everyday! Its awesome! This is the stove :)

Elder Harris making some fried platoon!

This is our Valle Verde house, its pretty much just a concrete box... but its not bad!

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!!!!!!!!