What did you have for Christmas dinner last night? We ate in
the house nothing was open.That's too
bad, what did you fix?I fixed ham and
cheese croissants.For yourself or you
and your comp?Just for me, my comp ate
a baleada.Did you have baleada’s in the
fridge, or did he make them?We bought
them in a drive through.Did the other
elders have invites to Christmas dinner?Yes the other elders had Christmas dinner invites in wards, but nobody
from our ward invited us.
For p-day went shopping and we didn’t do anything else we have done
everything in SPS.Today we ate at
Orange Burger it was really good.
Is there any interesting scheduled for this week? No we just
have to find some new missionary housing for the missionaries in Villanueva
because the landlord just kicked us out because her family is going to live in
the apartment.Did she give you some
notice about the apartment?No not
really, 5 days notice.So she wants you
out by the first of the month before rent is due?Yes, but I had already started the payment
for next month.We talked her into the
10th of January and not the 1st.The elders should find a new apartment, but
they called me and said they found one that cost 8000 HNL a month when the
budget is 2300 HNL.They were thinking
sweet apartment it probably had AC.They
have AC in their current apartment.
Well my time is up for today; I have some things to do. Love you all
it was fun to Skype with you yesterday. Have a good New Years and don’t blow
many things up with fireworks.
How are you feeling?Is your
fever gone and the knee looking? Well as far as the health goes I am doing
great there are no real problems right now the only thing I have left is a
small cough but any day that should go away. The fever lasted until Monday
morning and then it hasn't come back and it won’t come back. The knee looks
good but sometimes it hurts a little but it is no big deal. Is your knee
totally clear with no redness?Yes my
knee isn’t red or hot any more.
Has sister D. been taking good care of you? Yes she takes real
good care of all the missionaries.
How was stake conference? Did you get to meet elder
D.?Yes stake conference was good
but it wasn't so good because I felt sick the whole time. We had a mission
meeting with D. and it was interesting he has high expectations that are
applicable in the perfect situation, it would be easier in business because you
can control the influencing factors, in the mission, you can only do your part
and if the other side of the equation does not do its part, you can’t force
them to do anything.
I show your package arrived and did you open it? The package got
here but I haven't opened it I was going to wait until Christmas to open it.
What was the spiritual experience of the week? It is a very long
story for the spiritual experience, it all started like two weeks ago some
missionaries went and looked at a new house because we told them to start
looking because their house cost too much and they found a house.The zone leaders went there they too
approved it and well we said ok, I even went to the house and looked at it, it seemed fine. I got all the papers filled out and made a check and deposited it
in the owners account and I told them that we would come and help them move in.
Yesterday we went at 2 in the afternoon to move them and we got them moved but
in the process we saw that there were a few younger chicas that lived next door
and we decided to get to know the neighbors, from this point on I didn’t feel
good about the house.When I say next
door, I mean in the apartment next door and well it was just a bad idea to put
missionaries there. So we left and we when like 6 blocks and then I called
President and explained it to him, he said “well then do what you need to do”,
so we moved the missionaries back to their old house but before we moved them
back we took hold of the opportunity to make the landlord think we didn’t want
the house and I ended up bartering the price lower and changing a few things in
the contract. She was charging us 4500 HNL a month, 500 HNL were to pay the
lights and water, if they went over they had to pay the difference, they have
only gone over 2 times in years so I figured that the dueno was pocketing
money. I said we would pay light and water separately. We also talked her down
700 HNL to 3300 HNL it was really fun to barter with the lady in charge and
then win my argument. So we got a good deal and will be there for the next
year. But it was interesting to feel the difference in the spirit before we had
moved them back to their old house and after we moved them back. I know that
they are in the house they should be in because the spirit was strong.
What did you do for p-day? We went shopping in the most Americanized
store here in SPS and I bought bread mustard and ham and cheese, it is just
like a US super market. I bought Cure 81
Ham and Provolone cheese and will be making some good hot sandwiches with
this.How much was the ham and cheese
is that store in one of the malls?No
its is a huge store lets put it this way they even had the Indian sweet chili
sauce that we like. The ham was like 5 bucks a pound sliced and the cheese was
like 3 a pound.
What are your plans for Christmas? Has a family invited you to
their home? We have no plans for Christmas but I am sure that something will
come up.We have to go to the airport
the 23rd and I need to go to Yojoa once or twice this week.
I am out of time right now but love you all and talk to you all
later sorry, I haven't sent an email for everyone that has helped me out and
given me things for Christmas but make sure to tell them all thanks for me. I
really am thankful for all that they do for me. I just haven had time I have
been busy all day.
Have you gotten the truck fixed?No but I have permission and funds to do it by the church; there just
hasn't been time.Won't they give you a
loaner car for a day?No they wont but I
am hoping that they give us our new truck and then we get the old one
repaired.Are you getting another
vehicle?We will get a new truck soon.
This week we will start the process to get it. We will hit 90000 kilometers in
the old one. How much is gas a liter?I
don’t know, all I know is it cost about 1000 HNL to fill the truck.We drive a lot; I had to fill up the truck 10
times last month. For example, on Friday I woke up at 4 50 AM we left at 5 and
we drove 1 and a half hours to Yojoa to pick up a missionary and we took him to
the airport more than 3 hours driving time.Why don't they take the bus to SPS and then you take them to the
airport?There isn’t a bus at this time
in the morning and its what President told us to do.
My time is up, and I have to go really soon. I love you all and hope
that you all have a good Christmas and don't buy too much. Make sure to have
fun. I look forward to talking with you all this week I imagine on the 25.
Ok, I don’t have much time to email just like 10 minutes and then we
have to go to Stake conference with Elder Duncan. I went to the hospital
because I have had a super high fever for about 2 or 3 days and I had infection
in my knee which started a few weeks ago.Is that the same place you had infection in the knee before?Yes it was in the same exact place.We might have that looked at when you get
home.That might be a good idea; I have
no idea how the infection started there. Did it puss out like at home?It did the same exact thing.They said I was really dehydrated, so they
gave me a 1 liter saline IV, it was huge it took like 3 hours to get it all in,
and then at the end they mixed the antibiotic with the solution to get it into
my system. The blood tests showed that the infection was mostly if not
completely gone but they gave me the other antibiotic in just to make sure it
was completely gone and wouldn't come back. I am still sick with a fever
because I also have a viral sickness and I have a runny nose and sore throat
and a high fever from this. But I should get better soon; well at least I hope
I will be better fast.I was in the ER
for 5 hours it was super boring. Do you want to hear my blood pressure today it
was 151/80.Were they worried about the
blood pressure?No they said it was
fine.Sister D. came to the hospital
with me.What would you guess it cost,
and remember I went to the best hospital in Honduras?It was close to 2,543.29 Lempiras (114
dollars) that is including everything: the doctor, the IV and the antibiotics. Well I have to go, talk to you maybe later
today.
What was the spiritual experience of the week? I think it has had to
have been one thing that I have been trying to change during this week I have
been trying not to get as frustrated with the landlords while they are calling
me because sometimes they wont even listen to you and they wont give you time
to talk, when this happens sometimes I have to hang up. But I feel that I am
lasting a longer time without getting frustrated, sometimes though the guards
in this country really irritate me because they get mad at you for doing
nothing and they wont let us in to go to our appointments sometimes. Also I get
frustrated in the airport because they wont let anyone wait in the check in
line that isn’t flying so I have to wait in the boonies until it gets to the
point that they want to charge them for the extra bag and then I have to walk
over there, why can’t I wait in the line.So from now on, I will have my passport and I will say I am just here to
buy a ticket so they can’t say anything. There are about the only things that
frustrate me. But these things are small but I know with the Lords help I will
be able to overcome or suppress these frustrations. What are the landlords complaining about?Why their money isn’t in their account and
that’s during November, technically I have until the 5th of December to deposit
it, and they all called before this day, which is was frustrating.All I know is that the payments would have
gotten there 3 days earlier if the church had posted a notice saying that no payments
would be approved during thanksgiving time.The Landlords signed a contract so they can’t say anything.All the time but I just tell them read your
contract, or I already have paid you.Many of the landlords will call and say the payment hasn't arrived
because they don't think to check who all of their payments have been from.
How many investigators came to church last week? 1 Investigator came
to church last week and we didn't even know that it was our investigator but
now we do and we will be visiting him and his family.
What was a challenge of the week? Well the biggest challenge of the
week was when the East mission called me and told me that their truck was in
the dealership for maintenance and well they couldn't pay at the end and
couldn't get their car out, they called me and asked me if I had 20000 lempiras
(900 $) in cash, I told them no. Their card was rejected and their mission
president was not in town and couldn't pay for it so I had to pay for it. It
was difficult because I wanted to pay with a check, and well I had to get the
check certified and that was a process, but I now know how to get a check
certified here in this country.It
requires 3 signatures from president D. Well I got it done and paid so
they could get their car out for the weekend, they were happy and I learned
something new.
What did you do for p day? Well we painted some in a house and
we went to a store like home depot and we bought two new faucets and a sink so
that my worker for the day could install it in a house that I have been
repairing. We ate lunch at baleadas express and we are now writing.
Are you getting more comfortable with your responsibilities? I think
so, I am starting to understand how to do everything but sometimes there is
just not enough time do all that I need to do.
What is happening with the apartment fire?Got the bid done to get it fixed, it was 7000
lempiras (315 $), so we will have it repaired.
How is your companion?He is
doing well, sometimes he is a little crazy and he sleeps all over.He’s is an old man because he is 27.27 is not old, is he a convert?No he is not a convert?He studied and graduated first before going
on a mission.
Did you get a new AP?Yes, he
came yesterday.His name is Elder W. from Idaho.
Tell us about a spiritual experience you had this week? My most
spiritual experience of this last week was really Sunday to see people come to
church for the first time and actually have some progressing investigators, 3
people came to church so we will help them come along and get prepared to be
baptized.
Did you go to any areas outside of SPS? No this week I stayed in SPS
there was no need to leave.
Have you found time to get the truck fixed? No it is really hard to
find the time needed to get the truck fixed because they all tell you three
days because they prep it paint it and cure it. But here shortly I should find
the time to get it done.
Did you have Thanksgiving dinner with the family from Arizona? My
thanksgiving was really good if you want to see here is a picture of the people
we ate with. Family M. invited us over to eat with them they are a very
cool American family. Uno M. is in the purple shirt in the background. We
ate well and we got to know the other family that is siting on the couch he is
the U.S consulate, I’m not sure if that word exists in English. We ate the
normal thanksgiving food turkey, ham, stuffing and vegetables and there were
many deserts one of them being pumpkin pie.It was very good and I left feeling very full.
Is this the week for new AP’s, or is it next week with transfers? No
we will get a new AP the Sunday before changes so in a few weeks.
How is your health? Are you having any symptoms from that
amoeba? No i am fine I haven't had any problems I have a little rash but it
will go away really fast.
What did you do for p-day? We went to Omoa, which is known as the home of the San Fernando Fort, built by the
Spanish in the late 1700’s. Construction of "Castillo de San
Fernando" began in 1759, in order to protect against the many attempts of
foreign invasion and pervasive attacks by pirates.For lunch we ate
really well, Elder J. from Colorado and I ordered a big plate and split
it.It was good but it was kind of hard
to eat.So did you drive to the beach
today why did you go there?We went
there because that's where everyone else wanted to go I didn't drive there.All of the office elders went.
Well I got an interesting call on Saturday morning and some
missionaries told me how they had cooked on a grill some meat for thanksgiving,
they put the coals out and went to bed, a few hours later they heard some weird
sounds so they went up to their porch and their couch was on fire. This was the
weirdest thing that happened, here is a picture.Are your responsible for the couch?I would say no because it wasn't in the
contract. We never put things like that in the contract because we don't want
to be responsible for them.It's a good
thing the houses are made of cinder block and wood or something worse could
have happened to the missionaries.Yes it
is a good thing it burned a hole in the roof and the firefighters had to go and
put it out. I am not sure how it started it could have been a outlet that was
behind the couch that shorted out or it could have been the grill because it
happened 2 hours after they had put water on the ashes.Will the landlord kick them out?No I don’t think he will kick us out now.
Well I hope not, because the house is 8 hours from where I am, and I don’t want
to travel that far.That has now been
confirmed; I just finished talking with them.They didn't put the ashes out totally. Are you responsible to pay for the damages in
the repairs to the apartment?Yes I will
have to pay it all.
Ok well sorry I don’t have much time but I now have to go have a
good week. Love you all.What's
happening today that you're running behind?I am running behind like an hour. Yes that and I have to go to the
terminal to send a package to Tegucigalpa and also I want to go to office depot.