27 January 2014

Hola family!

This last week I started a new journal. Sometimes I don't write very much because I don't have much time, but thus far I've written every day since I was set apart. Eventually that adds up to filling the journal.

On Thursday we had a two-mission conference with Elder Soares from the presidency of the seventy. It was a really good conference, and I learned a little Portuguese.  He's a native of Brazil who has learned both English and Spanish, but every once in a while his Spanish has a little Portuguese. It reminded me of that time at BYU that I went to a Portuguese fireside by Elder Scott and he threw in some Spanish. Hna Soares speaks English and Portuguese so she gave her talk in English and someone translated to  Spanish. (I really hoped she would give it in Portuguese. Why is it that I am still facing limited mastery of Spanish yet I still want to learn other languages. You would think I could focus on just one for 18 months, right?) On a similar note, there isn't an organ in the stake center in San Pedro, but I still had the crazy desire to play one.

Friday was the baptism for Myra and her daughter Angie. I started teaching them with Hna Trujillo. Once I transferred, Hna Trujillo kept teaching them, but obviously I wasn't going to miss the baptism. It has been really fun to watch Myra change. At first she thought the visits were just for Angie, but now she is there teaching her two little boys and quizzing them about things like the five things we don't use--coffee, tea, tobacco, drugs, alcohol. I was really grateful that Myra decided to get baptized with her daughter. They need the mutual support. It also helps that half of their neighbors are members, so they are in good hands.

Saturday one of our most promising investigators told us that she isn't interested anymore. Sigh. We can't have everything.

We are also teaching a really interesting grandma named Silvia. She lives with her son, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter, who are all members. Really getting her to listen was a small miracle. But now she loves to have us come and visit. We think she was maybe going to come to church Sunday, but there wasn't water in her neighborhood yesterday morning, which probably dampened her desire. Saturday we showed a Mormon Message--President Hinckley's lessons I learned as a young boy. She has been watching General conference for years and loves President Hinckley. We try to flatter some of her likes to stay in her good graces. Once we did a lesson based on the principle in the song about the wise man and the foolish man because she likes that song. Tonight we are going to do a family home evening...probably something about temples and eternal families...hope it goes well.

Yep...that's just about everything from this week. I'm sure you've checked the weather here, but we're in the 80´s and it's only January. Just wait until summer! Of course I think you guys have hit the other extreme with all the cold and snow.

I love you all so much. Have a wonderful week!

Hermana Davis

22 January 2014

Hi Family,

Not much new to report. This morning we went to the changes meeting so that Hna Trujillo could get her new companion. She's from Guatemala, but she had to learn Spanish in the mission because her native language is one of the many indigenous languages of Guatemala.

After changes, we took the new Sister back to Palermo to dump her luggage and then the four of us went out to lunch in the center in Progreso. I am not a big Wendy's person, but every once in a while it's nice to have a taste of my former life.

Also, strange fact. In the past few days every time we sing I have the strongest desire to do the footwork for playing organ. But I promise that in my entire time here I have never seen an organ, nor do I expect to see one!

Tomorrow we'll have a multi-mission meeting in San Pedro with some visiting 70. Starting Friday we'll be back to more or less normal, I think.

Hna Davis

20 January 2014

Dear family,

So this was an interesting week, since I was outside of my area almost all the week. We went on divisions with three sets of sisters.  The idea is to have sisters working in both areas during the division, but sometimes distance and travel makes that unreasonable. So for two of the divisions, both Hna Fuentes and I worked in the area of the other sisters. We are getting pro at traveling.

This morning Hna Trujillo's comp is flying back to her country. She had some health problems and finally she and president decided she should serve closer to her house for a time, where she will have access to the same doctors who helped her before the mission. So ever since yesterday when we dropped her off where she would spend here last night in Honduras, I've been in a trio with Hna Fuentes and Hna Trujillo. And we will be in a trio until the changes meeting Wednesday. President already told Hna Fuentes and me that he has no intention of changing us, and obviously Hna Trujillo needs to stay here to teach her area to a new comp. So it looks like for the first time in my mission I will get to spend three transfers in the same ward! (Albeit splitting the time between two areas in that ward.)

Right now we are working  hard to have a miracle so that we can baptize Ricardo. Ricardo has a lot of family and extended family that are members (some of whom are more active than others, but his immediate family is becoming more active!). Ever since the first lesson he accepted the invitation to be baptized and he has now come to church for over a month without missing. But he needs to get married first. And his future wife is from really far away and her hometown (home pueblo) lost the paperwork that verifies that she exists and is single. The process to reinitiate her paperwork is proving complicated and we will need  a miracle for it to be possible. With almost anyone else, we might have given up already. But the sadness on Ricardo's face when we told him we didn't know when he could get baptized has been enough to keep us trying and praying as much as we can.

I love you all!

Have a great week!

Hermana Davis

13 January 2014

Hello family!

Wow! You have definitely had some cold weather there! It's January here, but the cold weather (if you could ever call it that) is already behind us. Right now it feels more or less like May or June to me. And the sun is already strong. 

This week we did divisions with the other sisters in my ward, so I got to go back to the other side of my area. It was good, but it's interesting how areas stop being yours after you leave them. It was good to visit, but at the same time I felt that that area wasn't where the Lord needed me anymore. 

Saturday we (the missionaries) put on a ward activity. At the entrance we gave everyone paper talents. They could use them to buy things like food or clothing that ward members had donated. When they ran out or if they needed more to buy what they wanted, they had to enter the activity rooms. There they could answer questions about scriptures, identify gospel pictures, or watch Mormon messages. It seemed that everyone enjoyed the activity, both the material and spiritual components. 

Sunday I gave a talk in church. The first time that I've had to give more than a testimony. The good part is that a bunch of youth had just returned from SOY (Strength of Youth, the Central America version of EFY). So they took up a good part of the meeting with testimonies, and I just had to give a five-minute talk instead of a ten-minute talk. I talked about missionary work, but I tried to keep it more of an invitation and less of a mandate. After all, I wasn't much of a missionary before the mission so I don't feel like I can tell the members that they have to go out and teach with us all the time. But believe me it helps when the members identify people we can teach. The long-term goal is to get a temple here in Honduras. But to do that they need to create a couple more stakes. And to create stake they need to divide wards. The ward I am in is the strongest ward I have known in my time here and a prime candidate to divide. (Probably in a two to make three with a neighboring ward.) The main challenge is that most of the members and especially most of the Priesthood leaders live in a tightly clustered area. We need to strengthen the other side of the ward (my area and the other sisters' area) so that it can break off and combine with part of another ward. Very few members have friends or family in our area, but we continue to do what we can. And even though we have few members in our area, I am very grateful for how amazing the members in our ward are. So many of them are willing to do just about anything to help us. It's nice to have a home away from home. 

Love,

Hermana Davis

6 January 2014

Hola family!

Happy New Year! 

So this week I'm writing on a computer that has a floppy drive.

Tuesday night (New Year's Eve) the bishop invited us over for dinner. We did end up staying out a little late and the bishop gave us a ride home. But even still we were just about ready for bed by 11 and we turned the lights off at 11:30. However, sleep wasn't really an option. All over, people were setting off fireworks. Except that most of these fireworks involve a lot on noise and usually little or no light. People have been setting them off ever since we got close to Christmas. But there were a lot of them all evening on the 31st and at midnight it sounded like we were in the middle of a battle. Things calmed down enough that I fell asleep by 12:30 or so but my poor companion didn't fall asleep until three in the morning. Wednesday was a hard day for proselyting because everyone was asleep...all day!

Thursday I went on my first divisions in accordance with my assignment. It was a good chance to learn from other sisters, and I hope I was able to help them at least a little. Mostly we aren't there to overtly train the sisters; we are there to support them and help in what we can.

Saturday and Sunday we worked in our area. It was really good to be back in my own house and in my own bed!

Today we went to a train museum here in Progreso. We got there and they told us that the museum was closed on Mondays. But let me tell you my comp has people skills and she managed to get them to make an exception because Monday is our only day to see what Honduras has to offer.  Then we went to Mister Taco for lunch...hence the picture with the Mexican sombreros.

As far as the work in our area, this week has been a challenge. Many of the people who were progressing have fallen back and the sisters in the other area are having the same problem. This has been a week where we've just had to remember that we can't judge what we are doing by the results that we see.

I love you all lots!

Hna Davis