Feliz Navidad and One Year Mark on the Mission

 

¡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

Pescado on P-Day

¡Buenas!

Another week in the mission field. This change is going by way fast.

We started out the week giving service on our P-day in the morning to N and her mom Judith so that she will first give permission for N to get baptized and secondly to start receiving the lessons again. As part of our plan, we also watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" on Wednesday night in the church to help her know a little bit more of Joseph Smith, who he was, and how he lived. We challenged her that night to baptism and she said yes. We asked her what she lacks and she told us she needs to pray about it. We asked N as well and she basically said she´s already ready. We still haven´t received permission because she was gone the rest of the week, but hopefully she will give it before the next fecha bautismal in January.

We have started working a little bit more in San Francisco and will start to work in San Antonio the following week. They are municipalidades but are relatively far from the capilla so we haven´t worked as much out there. We still aren´t going to spend a whole lot of time, but at least one day in SF and another day in SA so that we can get the work going out there. We have had some successful contacting efforts in SF this past week. We have found this "golden family", but I don´t want to jinx it (the adversary always puts obstacles in the way). They are married, the husband read and understand the folleto and the necessidad of the Restoration. We challenged them to be baptized and instead of telling us "I´ve already been baptized" he instead phrased it this way mas o menos: "Yes, but I´ve already been baptized, but is it possible to be baptized again?"...we explained to him the importance of priesthood authority again showing him a fake 10 Lempiras and he then accepted to be baptized. He is super pilas, knows the bible well, and most importantly, they are married!!! We´ll see how it goes.

We have an old investigator named Ithat was pilas but for some reason we haven´t taught him in more than 6 weeks. We called him the week before but he was busy. This Tuesday at 9:35 during daily planning, he called us and we set up a cita. We challenged him to be baptized in January and he went to church on Sunday. Hopefully he can stay animated and we will see how it goes.

We went to Lago Yojoa today and ate pescado frito con tajadas. Yum. I don´t know why, but I really like pescado frito. We ate lunch at a restuarant right by the water. Fun day.

Well, that´s all I have. I can´t wait to talk to you guys this Thursday!!! Cheque leque!

--Elder Lund

Río Lindo, Zona Yojoa 12/15/14 - 12/22/14

Loving Zone Conference

Another week in the mission field. I now have less than a year to go in my mission. (I still don´t complete a year until the 27th) It was a very humbling thought. There is still a lot to do and even more to become.

We had our Zone Conference on Tuesday of this week. I love Zone Conferences. I always feel good after them. We talked a lot about "Él es la Dádiva" as well as important aspects in missionary work. The day of the Zone Conference was also the day when I hit the "one year to go" mark. After the conference and in a long bus ride back to Yojoa, I felt good and reanimated to be patient and do the Lord´s will.

Nevertheless, after the conference we still had some difficulties in our area. Our baptism for this upcoming week will likely fall because the mom, a former investigator, is not giving permission. We are doing what we can. We fasted, gave service this morning, and we are going to watch the Joseph Smith movie this Wednesday so that her heart will soften.

We had some good lessons and finding experiences as well, but nothing out of the ordinary. We had an interesting VAP last night (visita con amor y poder). Last night, things were falling so we visited with a less-active member. When we showed up, he was already bien bolo and his wife was cooking dinner. We asked if we could watch the "Joy to the World" DVD, not to teach Laboriano because his mind wasn´t all there, but to invite the spirit. It was a good visit. A little funny at times because he would say things and try to imitate singing like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, but it animated him and the wife and the child.

Well, that´s all I have this week. Cheque!

--Elder Lund

Río Lindo, Zona Yojoa 12/8/14 - 12/15/14

He is the Gift--El es la Dadiva

 

¡Buenas!

This week had its ups...it had its downs...but overall decent week here in Río Lindo.

We had a good week with the church initiative "Él es la Dádiva" o sea, "He is the Gift." To be honest, the first day we started all the contacts were pretty terrible. The people really did not seem that interested. However, as the week went on, we began to see more success. We still contacted a bunch of people who just were not that interested, but we also found those who are open to the message. As a result, we have 18 new investigators just from this initiative. We will see how much they progress, but it´s a start.

On the other hand, we had some trouble with progressing investigators this week. One of our most pilas investigators left for Ceiba last week and still hasn´t come back. She was "supposed" to be back Wednesday, then Saturday, and then Sunday in the noche, but still nothing. N and O didn´t come to church, again. E and her family didn´t come to church, again. We have 3 "regalitos" - kids from a less active family who haven´t been baptized - that said they would come but didn´t come. Others we invited didn´t come.

The internet in this country , well, at least here in Río Lindo, is slow. I don´t even know if I can make a comparison. It is just super slow. We tried watching the Christmas Devotional last night in the capilla. We invited a less active family and the 3 regalitos. We got to the church and the internet wouldn´t load the video from lds.org Thankfully we had "El es la Dadiva" downloaded so we watched that.

I received Grandma And Grandpa Jones' package last week. Thank you for everything.

Cheque...

-Elder Lund

Río Lindo, Zona Yojoa 12/1/14 - 12/8/14

Training

Buenas!

Up until now, I was just an uncle to Elder P (the grandson of my trainer Elder P (who finished his mission this change..."RIP"), the son of my "brother" Elder M). The time has come, however, to have a child of my own. In other words, I´m training. We had changes this past Wednesday. I was expecting one more change with Elder C, but he got sent as comp mayor to F and I´m staying here.

Elder G is my "hijo" en la misión. He´s from Chiapas México. He´s 23 and already graduated from the university with a degree in communications. It was a little hectic getting to changes. The Zone Leaders told us to leave by 6:30, but we left even earlier just in case. However, the first mini-bus that came had literally no room and my comp´s suitcases didn´t fit so we had to wait for the next one that didn´t come until 7:00. The worst part was later after la puente de río chamalecon until a little before la terminal de buses. There was a little "choque" because of the rain and the traffic was horrible. It took us nearly 2 hours to move 4-5 km...we were late to the training meeting. Others who had left after us got there earlier because they were able to take a different route through chamalecon but by that time we were already in the middle of everything and the "only way out was through" which took forever. Oh well.

Training is fun but it´s a little tough sometimes. It´s different than just being comp mayor because they aren´t totally comfortable with teaching the lessons, but he´s improving and getting more comfortable with contacting as well. It was a little tough to teach because of gradutation parties...students are finishing up school in December instead of May-June as in the states. Many were busy and didn´t have time for us to teach. Many citas fell again this past week and contacting was a little tough, but the beat goes on. We set a baptismal date for the 27th of December for our investigator K. She is 26 and has 2 kids. She lives with her mom who is a member. Her husband, a gringo believe it or not, died a couple years ago in a car accident. She is pretty excited and her mom is helping a lot. She is about 90% solid to get baptized on this date, but as always, problems will surely come. We will keep working nevertheless. Several other experiences, some good contacts, dedicating a house with several referencias, but setting the fecha was the highlight of the week.

We did a deep clean of the casa for P-day today. It´s always nice to have clean living quarters. Easier to come home to after a long day, easier to relax, and easier to feel the spirit for sure.

I´ll end with a quote that I saw last night while we were eating dinner with la Familia G. Have a good week everyone!

"El éxito en la vida no se mide por lo que logras, sino por los obstaculos que superas" - #dedicated #luchando #lamisión

-Elder Lund

Río Lindo, Zona Yojoa 11/24/14 - 12/1/14

Progress and You Never Know What You Will Find in Honduras--A Scout Shirt From the East Coast

¡Buenas!

Well, the last week of the change went better than previous weeks. We started out the week well with several fechas bautismales, and a handful of regular desafíos bautismales. There were still some days where a lot of citas were falling, but we made the best of it. We also had a good turnout at church. 101 asistencia and 4 investigators (plus two more references/nuevos that a member brought for the seminary "graduation")...not bad. Looking at the datos right now, we had investigators coming to church así starting with week 1 and ending with week 6 - 1, 3, 1, 6, 2, 6.

Well, we didn´t have any baptisms this change. A little frustrating. I thought we would get at least 2, but the two I was hoping for (O and L) need some more time. O is still reading in the Book of Mormon to be sure it´s true. He believes it is, or at least he says he believes, but he needs more time to study it more to be sure. L seems to be losing hope. She is the mother of a recent convert who has a restaurant and has difficulties attending church. Her employee recently quit and she doesn´t trust the new worker so she has to stay and work during church. She says she likes everything we teach but she lacks something to finally keep that commitment to attend church and eventually be baptized.

However, we do have several investigators who are progressing nicely and are potential baptisms for this upcoming change. Nand Y, daughter and granddaughter of O, are very interested and understand the message of the Restoration. They are waiting for an answer.

M and C are also progressing well. C came for the second time to church this past Sunday and really enjoyed it. M can´t go because he works on Sundays at least for right now. He may get a change in schedule sometime in the near future. They were really open to all the lessons we taught this week, are beginning to pray, and accepted to live the Word of Wisdom. They still need to get married, but they know and will be making plans in the near future.

We have many others. Well, that´s all I have this week. Enjoy your Thanksgiving! I don´t believe it is celebrated here because I haven´t heard anything about it. To be honest, I actually kind of forgot about it until I read your emails haha.

-Elder Lund

Río Lindo, Zona Yojoa 11/17/14 - 11/24/14

Fumigators

 

¡Buenas!

We had a lot of fallen citas and investigators with fecha who will not be getting baptized anytime soon. We have had hopes for P, a nine year old in a less-active family, who was progressing a lot. One day, however, the mom told us she wants nothing to do with the church. We asked her what was up and she told us again she wants nothing to do with the church. The family has been less active for a long time. Rumor has it that the family baptized only to receive financial help. When the food stopped, they stopped going to church. The family has also talked with the daughter and she will not be getting baptized until we can reactivate the family which will not likely be anytime soon. Other fechas fell as well. 

Another story to show how the week went. We were having a really great "Restauración" lesson and when we started teaching about the Book of Mormon, fumigators came to fumigate the house for mosquitos. Fumigators from the municipalidad have been coming around the colonias to do this, but somehow they happened to come at this time. We had to leave the house immediately and couldn´t finish the lesson with compromisos or even a prayer. Kind of frustrating.

Despite the week we had, I was somehow still happy. The refiner´s fire has helped me be more patient. The gratitude journal has also helped a lot. Even though I was a little bummed with the fumigation lesson, I was still grateful for the really good first part of the lesson that we had. Because the spirit was present in the principio, we should be able to finish the lesson and hopefully this family will be future members.

Although O has been struggling to progress, we finally got him a Libro de Mormón grande so that he can read. We started teaching his daughter and granddaughter as well. The granddaughter has already gone to church the past two weeks and is enjoying the lessons a lot. These will be 3 really good baptisms the next change if they can keep progressing.

We went to the tourist site Pulapansak today. There is a decent sized waterfall. We took pictures and had a good time together. I will send some photos in a bit.

We heard that the New York Times published an article on Joseph Smith this week. The local newspaper had published a little something as well and the branch president showed us the article. Maybe that´s why our investigators were a little less teachable this week, but things will cool off.

That´s all I have...cheque leque!

-Elder Lund

Río Lindo, Zona Yojoa 11/10/14 - 11/17/14