¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!
Wow, what a week. Noche buena, la Navidad, Skype, and I officially hit the year mark in the mission.
First
off, the 24th. We started out Christmas even giving service to the
first counselor in the branch, Santiago Castillo. We washed the laminas
of his roof and painted them. It was good but a little sketchy at times.
With normal roofs you can just walk anywhere, but with the aluminum
sheets (laminas), you can only walk on the studs where the nails are
because they won´t support the weight. Anyways, it was good service and
we taught a quick lesson to his friend that had dropped off some tools.
We continued contacting (basically, the 23rd, 24th, and 25th we just contacted with #ÉleslaDádiva)
and ended up giving out 112 during those three days. We had a lesson
with some part-member families and finished the night with the branch
president and his family. We had to be in the house early, so we decided
to have our own little party in the house with just us 4 missionaries.
We made carne asada with arroz, frijoles, papas, aguacate (avocado) and
7up. It was really good, but unfortunately we bought way too much. 5 lbs
of meat when we only ate almost 2 lbs, 2 lbs of rice when we only ate
1, etc. We had leftovers the next day. I also opened up my presents that
night since we were having festivities that night. Thanks for all the
presents! It was a Good night. It was tough to get to sleep because of fireworks
the entire night. The fireworks here are way louder and one "la bomba"
literally sounds like a bomb is going off. SUPER LOUD! It hurts our ears
even when we were inside the house.
Next on
the list, la Navidad and Skype. We had weekly planning and when we
finished to go to lunch, there was hardly anyone in the streets. After
lunch, we contacted with #Dádiva and
spent some time with members. We tried skyping at 4 with a member
family but it was not working, super slow internet, so we decided to
contact and go to another family at 6 or 7. The ZLs had actually left
where we were at and went to the other family, the relief society
president. Good skype sesh with all of you guys. Love you. Good talking
with you despite the so-so internet.
Friday we gave service and had some nice lessons.
Last but not least, I hit the one year mark on Saturday
the 27th. We had a pretty good day. It was filled with ups and downs,
but that´s the norm. We were going to go to a restaurant "La Atocha" to
buy pizza, but we ultimately decided to just eat with the members for
that night. I didn´t burn a tie or a shirt. What a waste. I´m going to
give it away to someone here in Honduras who needs it for a mission or a
convert. Crazy how fast time goes by.
We had a good Sunday
as well. Only one person came to church, but we had a really good
lesson with N, her mom J, and her grandpa. J had
heard some material about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and had
serious doubts. She stopped listening to us and wouldn´t give permission
for N to get baptized. We took action, as I said last week, giving
service, watching the Joseph Smith movie, and last night we had a good
Lección 3 with her. We challenged the mom to be baptized the 7th of
Febuary and she said yes if she´s ready. We then asked permission for
N if she´s ready by the 7th (she pretty much already is) and she
said yes. We then finished the lesson and watched the Joseph Smith movie
with O because he didn´t go to the activity when we watched it.
Good day.
Well, that´s all I have. From what
I´ve heard, it´s all downhill from here after the year mark. The first
year for me went by super fast so I can´t even imagine the second. Still
a lot to do, a lot to serve, and a lot to become.
Cheque.
--Elder Lund
Río Lindo, Zona Yojoa 12/22/14 - 12/29/14