Monday, March 18, 2013

Wow, so this was a crazy week. Keep your bloomers on folks, you´re in for a ride.

Monday, I went to teguc. normal. We go practically every week. I hate it, but we have to. 

 

Tuesday, I did divisions with a gringo from Idaho. being all my time in the field with Latino´s has killed me being with gringos. I never struggle here with Spanish, and this kid is the same as me....not with Spanish, with the whole has one Spanish grandparent. but, no Spanish. Esparza had to go to Teguc for a dl council with Pres and he had to go with the other dl in our zone, asi que I stayed in our area and worked. We went to our one family that was SUPPOSED to get baptized this week, but we have more details later on. Tthen he went with me to another cita with another family that had been chatting with missionaries in Teguc, they seemed mostly positive, and I think this guy could be the next bp. Anyway, we taught, or I mostly taught, the second half of the plan of salvation- from death to the kingdoms- and the importance of marriage and baptism inside that part. The spirit was so thick you could cut it with a knife. I wouldn´t ever do that, cut the spirit, him being godhead and all, but its a figure of speech. Anywho, you could feel it. They agreed!!!! 30 of this month. Crazy day. I had to go the half hour drive to the Entrada of Yuscaran, its pretty far, once at 7 in the morning and again at 545, but I had to come back both times. Didn´t get much done that day and most of it was done hitching rides in truck beds, and one of the hitches killed a dog with us in the back. Sad day. But it was good, and all worth it, just for making the date with the family.

 

Wednesday. We started to get all of the stuff together for the wedding and the baptism that was going to be this weekend. well, we went to the city hall, and they told us that if we wanted to do the wedding there, we had to turn in a whole bunch of papers that we didn´t really need and wait fifteen days for them to do the lawyer stuff. Well, that wasn´t going to fly, considering the wedding was in three days. or four. Anyways, we ran and visited a lawyer. I wanted to HIT THIS GUY IN THE FACE. The first thing he asks the gringo was ¨Me entiende cuando hablo?¨ (Can you understand me?")  presumptuous little son of a biscuit. Then he has the nerve to ask me if he is talking to fast. I just about lost it, but then I remembered I was a missionary, and with a little sarcasm, said, No se preocupe, yo le digo si esta hablando demasiado rapido. ahorita estoy bien. (No, but I will let you know if you are talking to fast.")  Angry. Anyway, he told us he would need a week and 6000 limps to do it. We immediately knew it wasn´t going to be with him. So that leads us to

Thursday. We had to go to Teguc to drop off the wedding papers. the ZL´s were coming to do the interview, but there was no way we were making it back in time, so they went with the other missionaries here. Well, one of the pair didn´t pass it. For things in the past that she said happened 22 years ago, but our ZL is positive she said last week. So, we have to wait till the 30. The good part is our goal for the month was 5 baptisms and 1 family. We would end with 5 and 2 families. IF they both get married and baptized. the bad part is that it´s the last weekend of the month, and if we lose that, we have to wait till April, and we lose our goal. Do not want that to happen.

Friday....we had district meetings and spent like four hours doing interviews with those elders for baptisms. My comp being DL, we do a lot of interviews. and that area is an hour away, so we didn´t get much done that day either.

Saturday was the cultural night. It was sort of long. pretty cool, and I learned a little bit about Honduras, but it was super long. That took a while because they were apparently only doing it via satellite, so we drove in rented bus the hour to the district center to see it, and then learned it had been on tv. So, we wasted a good part of the day with that.

Today was the temple dedication. WOW. I went fasting, because I feel like we have a lot at stake this month, and I need some help to get stuff done. Holy crap. The spirit was sooooo strong. I couldn´t believe it. It was incredible. I felt the spirit and received some inspiration and help that I had been needing. Being in the mission, and understanding what apostles do, what the priesthood really is, and what temples really make possible, makes having a temple, or temples, so close to home in Utah almost seem like a joke. Like it´s too easy to just go and do stuff, but we never do. Elder Scott said something so profound in last conference that just came to my mind, ¨put to the side those things in your life that don´t really matter, and do something that will have eternal consequences.¨ That is what we do. He also said that if we want to get rid of the influence of the adversary in our lives, we need to get involved with the work for our ancestors, inside and outside the temple. Petey, that would be a great way to prepare for the mission. No, we didn´t speak with an apostle, or shook his hand: I just saw him on the screen. But what the spirit testified to me in those short minutes, and the peace and quiet serenity I felt, let me know that I was in a holy place, even just watching it on satellite.

¨¿Quien subirá al monte de Jehovah? ¿Quien estará en su lugar santo? El limpio de mano y puro de corazón, el que no levanta su alma en vanidad, ni jurado en engaño.¨ Psalms 24:2-3. Its scripture mastery, and I realized that having a scripture memorized and understood are two different things. It means so much more now.

So, it was a nuts week. tomorrow we have to get stuff moving for the weddings, the 30, and find new people, because after we baptize the people we have, we have nobody.

Also, some side notes.

They chose the new pope this week. and when I say they, I mean the other 100 and some cardinals. You should really research How they do the conclave, it´s fascinating. a cardinal said something very interesting. He said that God already has the new pope chosen, now they just have to find him. So different from how the apostles, and by definition Christ, did it. They do it by the spirit, not by voting, like in conclave, which is Latin for with key, fun fact. And another thing. They picked him while we were eating lunch on Thursday, and all the tvs in latino america had that playing. And when they announced the new pope, he came out, and everybody was cheering, and shouting, and yelling. praises of the world, you could say. But compare that to what happens when we have a new prophet. We all just raise our arms to the square. No cheering, no shouting. he doesn´t wear fancy robes or hats, and when he is in the temple, he wears the same clothes as everybody else. Just that he has a different calling than the rest of us. I am so grateful for the many wonderful people in this world of all faiths, but I just realized more and more everyday how much it means to really have the fulness of the gospel.  Because, if we go back to the temple, no matter how hard he tries, the pope will never ever be able to marry somebody for eternity, and yet the temple workers will. It is truly amazing what we have on this earth, and how blessed we are to have it.

The change in SPS will be effective in June. Crazy, huh??°!!?!?!?!?! with so many leaving, it makes sense. When I got to the field, we were at around 170ish. By June, mission Honduras Tegucigalpa will have 250 missionaries. When I got here, there were 11 zones. Now, this next change, there will be....14. and with plans to have about 17 shortly. Everything is just growing and expanding so fast. I can´t believe it.

Petey, Congrats!!!!! I remember that weekend and day with great clarity, and I am still so glad that you were a part of it with me.

My guess.....I am going to take two. Fantasy would be TEGUCIGALPA HONDURAS.

My other guess would be Mexico. Yucatan. Just remember that wherever you go, you have a friend waiting for you. I have already found one of mine. I know you will be sent to the place where the Lord knows you will be best.

I love you all. This work is true. I love every minute of it.

And of course, I love all of you, my family and missionary friends. Work hard, all of you. Never forget why we are here.

Its the most important thing we will do with this time in our lives.

ZACH