A week full of Joy!

Well... we had another great week here in Sunny San Pedro!

Tuesday Elder Zepeda left :( He is from Tegucigalpa and was only here waiting for his visa to Costa Rica.. but since I am his mom (in mission terms) we made him banana bread and had a party after the zone meeting on Tuesday.. and I finally took a picture with all my sons! So all you that don´t know, on the mission, when you are the sister with the most time you become the mom of all the newbies. So here I am... with a bunch of sons... and they are all a bunch taller than me!

On Wednesday we did divisions and I got to be with the Hermana Lopez from Guatemala, and Justin totally served in her ward. It is crazy how small the world is! Plus, we took pictures with these cool hotel places in the middle of a rich neighborhood here in San Pedro.

Thursday, the Elders were begging for cake again, so we made to good use the cake mix Typhene and Jesse sent me.

Friday, we were in Campana again, and I got to see my awesome Family Huezo again, and this time Maria and Yeimy were there!!! And they made me ahuge pink cake :D and we all signed a picture of the temple of Tegucigalpa, and wrote on the picture, "Iremos al templo Agosto 2015¨We will go to the temple in August 2015!! So excited for them to get ready to go to the temple.

And Saturday... Melissa got baptized!! She was so nervous about sharing her testimony but she shared a beautiful testimony and afterwards she was absolutely GLOWING. The Spirit was so strong. It was a double baptism, the Elders also had a baptism, and it was absolutely beautiful.

Sunday came way too fast (as always). Sundays are always the best! And the best part? The two year old twins that started screaming in the middle of Sacrament meeting and the bishop asked us to take care of the problem. Hahaha only in Honduras :D

And now it is Pday again. These days and weeks and months go by WAY TOO FAST!!! 

Do you know what the best thing in the entire world is?? La Obra misional!! Mission work. It has the most joy, the most happiness... I love it. This week I was reading a little in 3 Nephi 28, where three of the apostles tell Jesus Christ that they don´t want to die, but they want to labor among the children of men until the end of the World. Before, I never understood this chapter. I never understood why someone would want to work....... forever. But this time, I TOTALLY GOT IT. And I was like, Heavenly Father, where is my mission extension?? I want to work forever too!! The apostles got it, and where is mine? I want to be a missionary forever too! Because, hey, it is the best.

I love the gospel. I love Honduras. I love helping other come unto Christ. Obedience is the best way to live.

Love you all!!

Elder Anderson, chantaje, and baptism plans

Well, the most exciting part of the week was that we got to see an APOSTLE! Elder Anderson came here to San Pedro Sula to talk to us. This was a miracle since apostles almost never come to Honduras... So everyone was super excited. It was a little crazy since Elder Anderson knows French and Portugese, so sometimes his Spanish came out a little crazy, but it was super interesting hearing his accent. Elder Anderson talked a lot about the atonement of Jesus Christ, and how we all needed to learn more about it, and help our investigators repent and understand the atonement of Jesus Christ. He invited all of us to memorize 10 scriptures about the atonement of Jesus Christ-- five from the Bible and five from the Book of Mormon. Then he gave a super awesome testimony about Jesus Christ. Truly the apostles, and the prophet, are special witnesses of Jesus Christ. 

Elder Maynes and Elder (ahh! I can't remember his name) Also came and spoke. They both served in the Paraguay/ Uruguay mission back in the day. They also shared a bunch of awesome stories and it was super great seeing all these special people. We even got to shake hands with Elder Anderson! Also great privilige. Even his wife came out here to Honduras! I thought the general authorities were afraid of Honduras since no one ever comes... but maybe they are finally breaking the ice :)

We also had a great week of divisions and I got to visit more areas and meet more new people. Probably the funniest thing happened when I went with Hermana Miller, who is another blonde gringa from Idaho. People were literally staring at us in the streets. It is also probably also because they arein the middle of opening the area and the people still aren't used to seeing sisters. But, lucky for us, we found 12 new people for them to teach. Sometimes it totally rocks being different. 

For this week we are also planning the baptism of Melissa. Yesterday she couldn't come to church because she was sick, but we went to go visit her and give her invitations. She was in complete shock when she saw her invitations. Apparently she hadn't realized how close the date was! After lots of scripture sharing, she said it was okay and she would get baptized this Saturday. My companion also shared an awesome story that Elder Ochoa had shared with us when he came. It is in Acts 8 

 26 And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying,Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goethdown from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.

 27 And he arose and went: and, behold, a man ofEthiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candacequeen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all hertreasure, and had come to Jerusalem for to worship,

 28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias theprophet.

 29 Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and jointhyself to this chariot.

 30 And Philip ran thither to him, and heard him read theprophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thoureadest?

 31 And he said, How can I, except some man shouldguide me? And he desired Philip that he would come upand sit with him.

 32 The place of the scripture which he read was this, Hewas led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumbbefore his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:

 33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: andwho shall declare his generation? for his life is taken fromthe earth.

 34 And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee,of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of someother man?

 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the samescripture, and preached unto him Jesus.

 36 And as they went on their way, they came unto acertain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; whatdoth hinder me to be baptized?

 37 And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart,thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe thatJesus Christ is the Son of God.

 38 And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and theywent down both into the water, both Philip and theeunuch; and he baptized him.

 39 And when they were come up out of the water, theSpirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch sawhim no more: and he went on his way rejoicing.

I love this story, because first, Philip followed the Spirit to find who the Lord had prepared, then he helped the eunech understand the scriptures. After, the eunuch had such a great desire to be baptized, and nothing stopped him from doing it. Then they both left rejoicing, happy for what had happened. 

Such an awesome story. 

This week I also got to go back to my old area en El Bosque. It was super great and I got to give lots of people great big hugs! Also Katie's little brother and Yuber's little sister are getting baptized this week! It is so great to see how the Lord works many miracles through one person and brings more and more people to him.  

Also.. new Spanish word for the week Chantaje. Chantaje is basically telling someone if they don't do something, you won't do something. Well, we had an investigator doing some serios chantaje with us.. so I did some chantaje back.. and we won the chantaje :) He was at church at 8:45 en punto! 

Well I love you all! The church is true.. and missionary work is the most joyful work in the church. 

Pictures!

One with my hija Hermana Roca and I and two awesome friends

Can't kiss boys... but the manuel doesn't say anything about dogs

Eating baleadas with the Elders

And... there is a lot of sun in San Pedro Sula 

FOTOS!

We had another great week! Chikingunya only killed my companion for two days. Luckily for me, we have an awesome members! So I only got stuck in the house for one day :) Mercedes, who was baptized in January, was my comp for an entire day. She is awesome. 

The great news is that Alejandra got baptized! And the service was super beautiful. Another little girl from the ward got baptized as well. Alejandra shared the sweetest testimony in the entire world. The mom of Alejandra and her siblings are all members... but Ale never wanted to get baptized or a be a member. We met her at the baptism of Mercedes and were super excited to visit her.

She shared in her testimony that before she had no desire to be mormon, and didn´t want to be apart of the church... but now she knows that it is true. She said she doesn´t like being cliche but she knows that Book of Mormon is ture and that this is the church of Jesus Christ. Her testimony was so powerful. I just wanted to hug her so big.

We are also super excited for Tony! He is so amazing. He is 22 and he is so receptive and great. He went to the baptism and church yesterday, and when we went to visit him, we asked him how it went and how he felt. He said Ït all felt very true! And of course we were super happy because that is the best answer ever.

I also got picked on to say a talk again! I never escape speaking in an area. This time I only got five minutes though... usually I get 15 or 20... but it is okay. In wards there are a lot more people who want to share. This time I felt inspired to share something different than I have shared in the past. It was more of a call to action talk. To pray, and fast, and ask God to tell you who to share the gospel with to be an instrument in the hands of God. The invitation is out for all of you as well! It is time to pray, to fast, and to ask God who you can share the gospel with.

I know God will answer you. 

Alma 17:9 ¨¨and they fasted much and prayed much that the Lord would grant unto them a portion of his Spirit to go with them, and abide with them, that they might be an instrument in the hands of God to bring, if it were possible, their brethren, the Lamanites, to the knowledge of the truth¨¨

 I hope you all have a great week!!!!!!!!!!!! Share the gospel. 

:D

Welll... the biggest highlight of the week was our muti zone conference with Elder Ochoa!!

Elder Ochoa is just great. 

Some of my favorite things he said:

1. There are thousands of people prepared in every single one of our areas!

2. It is our job to find the chosen of the Lord by opening our mouths and talking to everyone!

3. The baptismal invitation in the first or second lesson is our detector to know if someone is a chosen of the Lord or not.

4. Are we more worried about having lessons or baptisms? If people aren{t progressing, it is time to drop them and find the chosen of the Lord.

5. Angels are preparing the hearts of people to hear our message. 

Alma 13:24  For behold, angels are declaring it unto many at this time in our land; and this is for the purpose of preparing the hearts of the children of men to receive his word at the time of his coming in his glory.

And I love what Elder Ochoa said... how is it that angels usually talk? Through the Spirit, through the Holy Ghost, which every single one of us has. If we too listen to the Holy Ghost we can know who he is preparing. 

He also gave us all a big challenge to baptize every Saturday of our missions. Challenge taken! 

He also said many times we do not see the miracles in our missions because of our lack of faith. He reminded us to use our faith, and to always follow the will of God. 

Embarrasing moment of the conference? My comp and I got called up by Elder Ochoa to do a practice of inviting someone to get baptized. The good thing? He said we did it perfectly! The bad thing? My cold came out and up in front of everyone I almost died of a choke attack and afterwards we had to hunt furiously for purified water right after in the middle of the conference. 

Elder Ochoa also talked about the importance of doing God{s will, and that if we put our lives in the hands of God, he will do things that we could never do for ourselves. 

Basically, Elder Ochoa is the coolest person ever. 

He also told us that sometimes we forget to have faith. We read the stories in the bible and Book of Mormon of people baptizing thousands of people, and we think it is just stories... but it is not stories... we need to have more faith and make these things happen!

For sad news my comp has chickingunya. Chickingunya is a sickness that comes form mosquites. The good news? It has not stopped her from working yet... and since it is my last month... I am serious about using every last moment helping people to come unto Christ :)

I know that Jesus Christ lives and loves us! I know if we have faith in him, he can, and will, make miracles happen in our lives. I know he is preparing the hearts of so many people to come unto him and be baptized! I know if we listen to the still, small voice of the Spirit, it will guide us to what we should, and need to do. I invite all of you to act and help someone by finding a Book of Mormon, writing your testimony in it, and giving it to someone this week to help one of your brothers or sisters come unto Christ.

I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Besos!

It's not every day that the hermanas call someone to leave the bar...

Another week... in the Emerald City!! Not quite the Emerald City... but seriously I love San Pedro Sula. It is the best place ever. Even if there are random rain storms every once in a while :)

This week has been full of crazy adventures.

First thing, super sad... had to say goodbye to two of my best friends in the whole wide world :( It is the hardest thing saying goodbye. Hate it!

But on happy notes... my companion and I got another change together! This makes like a million changes for her in the area, and she will officially "kill me" (be my last companion) But I am super stoked I get to be with this Dominicana another six weeks :D

This week we put a bunch of baptismal dates and we are exited to "echar fuego!" make fire these next few weeks.

The best news ever is that we finally found the familia Barrientos!! So crazy story we were in an area we almost never go to.. and I saw someone I knew so we went to go talk to him. Well he is the son of a family that I knew in my last area, El Bosque, and I met him once at their house. So it was a big surprise seeing him again! We put a time to go back, and they weren't there. We have tried a million times to visit them and they are never home. This week we finally caught them! We visited them once just us, and the second time we went with the amazing Hermana Aguilar (the Relief Society president) and the hermana totally opened up and said how much she missed the church. Well this week the entire family was there at 9:00 on the dot dressed in their beautiful sunday clothes and stayed for all three hours. So great! And after church we went over to celebrate their babies one year birthday party.. and I got to see the whole Family Barrientos again. Also super awesome :)

Also, we did something that we have never done before. We totally called one of our investigators to leave a bar. Yep. Well, it was Saturday night, and we had a lesson with him planned for 6:30. Well, we arrived at 7:00 and he was nowhere to be found. Thanks to some neighbours we had an idea where he was. Well, we went to the billare (which is what it is called here) and there he was, in plain site of the door. After yelping Jose a few times he finally heard us and came out. He promised to leave and we met him at the church. Luckily we caught him before he did anything. Whooo Satan works hard. Haha but good thing we do too :) Afterwards we dropped him safely off with a member so that he could make it to church the next day.

And... yesterday a member made us sopa de caracol. SO DELICIOUS. yum yum yum yum yum. Who knew snails were so delicious?

For the spiritual part of the week, I read an amazing article in a Liahona from about 10 years ago about the Sabbath day. Best article ever! I will have to search for it because it was amazing. The sabbath day must be pretty hard to keep, and pretty important, because out of the ten commandments, it is the only commandment to have FOUR VERSES. And hey, in the old testament, those that weren't found keeping the sabbath day were... struck dead. I think God is pretty serious about Sunday. Sometimes we feel like God is putting on us a bunch of restrictions, but really, we need Sundays to remember God and to feed our Spirit. If we don't use our Sundays properly... well, we may not find ourselves physically dead, but we will be spiritually dead... and spiritually death in the scriptures is what describes Sprit Prison and the Terestial and Telestial Kingdoms.

I will just leave some beautiful quotes from President Kimball. https://www.lds.org/manual/teachings-spencer-w-kimball/chapter-16?lang=eng

"

The Sabbath is a holy day in which to do worthy and holy things. Abstinence from work and recreation is important, but insufficient. The Sabbath calls for constructive thoughts and acts, and if one merely lounges about doing nothing on theSabbath, he is breaking it. To observe it, one will be on his knees in prayer, preparing lessons, studying the gospel, meditating, visiting the ill and distressed, writing letters to missionaries, taking a nap, reading wholesome material, andattending all the meetings of that day at which he is expected.⁸ 

Take time [on the Sabbath] to be together as families to converse with one another, to study the scriptures, to visit friends, relatives, and the sick and lonely. This is also an excellent time to work on your journals and genealogy.⁹ 

To hunt and fish on the Lord’s day is not keeping it holy. To plant or cultivate or harvest crops on the Sabbath is not keeping holy the Lord’s day. To go into the canyons for picnics, to attend games or rodeos or races or shows or otheramusements on that day is not to keep it in holy remembrance." 

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!!