Week 47 La Jutsoa

How are you feeling?  I have had stomach pains.  Are you feeling better with the antibiotics?  Well I am not taking anything right now I am still waiting for our mission doctor in Guatemala to tell the nurse what I am going to take.  A nurse Dad works with was a mission nurse in Guatemala and she said it is probably an amoeba. What did the tests show?  The tests say that I have Endolimax nana, a parasite.  Do you still have stomach cramps I was told you should be taking flagil?  No I don’t have stomach cramps but sometimes it hurts when I walk. Are you feeling strong enough, have you lost any more weight?  No I haven’t lost any more weight.  Are you being more careful about the water and using the UV filter? I am just drinking more bags of water. Even the water that we had bought in the big 5-gallon jug had something in it. I just refuse any water that is offered to me now, but sometimes this week I have had a coke with ice that is from bad water, but I will try and get better at not drinking bad water, but it’s everywhere.

How was your week?  My week was good but it was a little long. We had a lot of work but we got to go to Choloma every day Monday through Friday and on Friday afternoon we went to San Pedro because my comp had a doctor’s appointment with a neurologist.   

What your spiritual experience?  The most spiritual experience this week was seeing the fruits of our labors in church. We had 7 investigators in church this week and we really felt good to see them there. It is always hard because here they don’t just have hymn books so we have to share and have members share. We had a family of 5 and 2 other girls who are cousins and they liked the church. I just feel good to see that what we are doing actually has an effect. It was weird because only 17 of the people in church were active members from La Jutosa and the rest were investigators, missionaries, or people from Choloma. The attendance was 35 people in total.  

What did you do for your birthday, happy birthday!!!  Nothing special. Today we played soccer and we ate at pizza hut.  Will you have a cake?  My comp gave me some cup cakes like the hostess ones so that counts.   Did the other elders recognize your birthday?  Yes also one of the other elders had his birthday on Friday.   What about dinner in SPS?  On Saturday we went out to eat for my birthday. We ended up going to the same place that we ate with dad, Garden Bistro. I charged it to my credit card it was like 700 Limps.  Did you have Steak Diane?  Yes that is what I ate.  What did your companion have for dinner at the restaurant?  My comp bought a sandwich. Why didn't he have steak?  I don’t know, he paid for his meal, I tried to pay for it but he wouldn’t let me. 

You probably didn't have time to go to the mountains and cut firewood this week.  No we didn’t go to the mountain to cut firewood but I did get to split some firewood.  Who did you split it for?  Juan de Dios the grandpa of all of our investigators. 

Is next week transfers?  Changes aren’t this week but the next week on Monday we will find out and on Wednesday are the changes.  What are your feelings on transfers?  I think I will stay here.  Yes if you are having success he will keep it going.  We should see success especially next transfer because there are a lot of investigators progressing.   We should see success because there is going to be home teaches here soon and it should go good.  Well any association with the other members is more that there is right now.  Are there any possible priesthood holders to baptize?  There’s like 7 priesthood holders in the branch. Do you have any baptism dates?  We have 4 people with dates.  Are you still looking for a river spot to baptize?  No we are just going to the nearest ward building with a font. 

This is what president said about the dates for return:

 A couple of quick thoughts about your release date: August 18, 2016 is the date when your group of missionaries will go home, and it coordinates with August 16th when the new missionaries arrive. That's why we have set dates, so that missionaries leave when others come, and we don't have to close areas or put people in threesomes, etc. The Brethren give mission presidents the ability to adjust release dates either 30 days before or 30 days after your two-year anniversary date, largely to coordinate the dates of arriving and departing missionaries. Because you arrived at the MTC on September 3, 2014, the Brethren permit me to send you home as early as August 4, 2016 or as late as October 3, 2016. If I try to do anything earlier or later than that window, you and I have to write letters and seek a special exception from the General Authorities. Frankly, since you don't start orientation until August 25th, I hope you will consider the challenges that leaving early causes for your next mission president (I will be gone by then), and go home with the rest of your group on August 18th. However, if it really causes you and your family inconvenience, then go home on August 4th. To ask for a date earlier than that becomes a challenge. What do you think on the date, the 18th is no time to transition for you and us as a family?  We will see what we decide. I don’t know if I need a lot of time but we will see. I will just have to buy a computer and that’s about it. We are the selfish ones because you would never be home to see us.  Yes I would be home because at least I would live reasonably close not airplane distance. 

How are the new mattresses?  The new mattresses are super stiff and hard, it has been really hard to sleep on them. 

We are dying with the humidity here in South Carolina, so we feel for you and the heat.  OH it isn’t even hot there I would have to use a coat if I was there.  It’s really hot here, it burns to walk and there is always sweat on everything.

We went to the Myrtle Beach boardwalk and pier last night, it is sad to see the people have no direction in their life, and think that partying is everything.  You should see that here, there’s so many drunks all of the time, even on Monday and Tuesday that should be impossible.

But thanks for the time you have talked to me but I am out of time now. Love you all and tell everyone hello for me. 

Week 46 La Jutosa

For p-day we went to the beach and we played volleyball, it was pretty fun. Although I got sunburned I liked it.   We came back and ate at Wendy’s and we are now writing. 

How was the teaching this week? Are you having success? We have two sisters that are progressing very well they came to church last week and they loved it. They didn’t come this week because there was a drunk outside of their door all night bothering them, so they didn’t sleep all night long so they slept in. But they are very good there always reading thinking and praying, they are 22 and 24 years old and they really want to know if what we have taught is true. They have a baptism date for the 8th of August and will be ready by then. 

What was the spiritual experience of the week? I think that the most spiritual experience this week was talking in church. I have had to talk 3 times here and I have had to talk on missionary work, it has gotten really hard not to talk on the same things over and over again. So I was feeling sick and I had to write my talk so I sat down an just said a prayer and thought for like 2 hours on what I was going to talk about and I decided I was going to talk about home teaching because that doesn’t exist here and it is something that the branch needs to grow. I just felt the spirit telling me what I should talk on. The talk went good and I gave it and I know that it was what I should talk about. 

Are the parents of the boy you baptized interested in the church? The parents aren’t interested in the church he only has a mom and all of his brothers are from different men. I. is always happy. We have been working with his sister and she has potential to get baptized, she just needs to come to church a few more times. The mom sells cable subscriptions and she works on Sundays, she makes commission and has to charge the people, Sunday is when all of the people are in there houses so she says she cant come to church. 

Did you eat any new food this week? This week I ate no new food I almost didn’t want to eat at all. I have had a super bad stomachache and diarrhea for a while and then I got a fever on Saturday and Sunday so I am taking some pills now.   I think I will have to get a test to see if I have parasites or an infection. So I am just staying hydrated and I will start the tests tomorrow because they take 3 days of tests I have to give them a sample every day and they will tell me what I have.  Do you have to travel down to Choloma for the tests?  I think I will go to San Pedro for the tests.  Please make sure and drink plenty of water.  I am drinking some stuff I had to buy in the pharmacy and a Jumex type drink that is good to hydrate.  I am taking 2 pills ones an antibiotic with digestive enzymes and the other I’m not sure.  Did you get it from a pharmacist?  No the mission nurse told me what to buy. Is the mission nurse Hermana M.?  She is the next mission nurse the one right now is Hna R.  Do you still have a fever?  No I have been taking acetaminophen; I don’t know what it is in English.   How long does it take to get you San Pedro?  It takes like 30 minutes to get from Choloma to SPS.

Your companion has a picture of a bucket with water in a shower, is that the water that comes out of the tap?  Yes that was water from the tap and sometimes I gut stuck drinking that water in some people’s house.  Grandma says tell them you are fasting. Yeah well they don’t tell you what you’re drinking until after.

Did you do any service this week?  No I don’t think so. But this week we are going to go into the mountains and get firewood. 

Did you ever help the man with his bees?  No I don’t want to play with bees.  Its crazy, 1 liter of honey here costs 60 limps or 3 dollars.  Yes its super cheap here and it smells good, it’s not packaged very well though they just clean out alcohol bottles and re-use them because they’re cleaner. 

We might get the inside of our house painted and we will get some new hose valves for the kitchen and shower.  Today was the first real picture we have seen of that house, those ceilings are high, is your bedroom in the same room as your kitchen.  No we have 2 bedrooms 1 bathroom a kitchen and a dining room.  So do you still have to sleep in the same bedroom?  Yes we have to sleep in the same bedroom.

Do you ever sleep in your hammock?  No I sleep on the bed. I have had a really old mattress so I called the mission secretary and told him we needed new ones. We should get new mattresses this Wednesday. I felt like I was sleeping over the  Grand Canyon.  The mattress has the biggest divot I have ever seen in a mattress.  It bows like 6 inches in the middle, and it hurts my back.  Do you have fleas in the beds?  No I don't think so, if we do I don't know.  I have only found one tick on my arm one time, but no fleas.  

It has been a really interesting week and it has been a struggle in many ways from being sick to not having light in the house sometimes at night.  This week it only went out once, but it seems to go out on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. Its not like it just goes out an hour, it was out all night and when we woke up still nothing, when we left the house still no power.  Other than that it has been a good week, just trying to stay animated here is a little hard but I can deal with it.  That’s all my time is up.   Don’t forget about the Volkswagen in all of you not spare time. 

Week 45 La Jutosa

Did you have the dual baptism this week? No we only ended up baptizing one person this week. But it was a dual baptism in a sense because we had 2 baptisms, one that was just for the branch and the other that was for the mission. I had the opportunity to baptize A. I. C. E. it was a very cool experience because he is only 9, but he is super responsible. No one in his family makes him do anything but he will come to church without anyone.   He will stay home if his family goes out of town just to go to church and this is something very cool about him. He was so happy and I felt very happy to see him as the newest member of the branch.

Tell us about some of the food you ate this week. This week I think that one of our investigators gave us pork liver or kidney from a pig that she had killed in the mountain it was terrible, but we choked it down. Other than that we have just eaten normal things. 

Were you able to do any service this week? Yes one day we went and chopped or weeded with machetes and it was pretty fun. I like weeding, it is pretty fun because I use the machete to do everything and I just end up having to pick up the weeds after. After, the family gave us pizza that they had made in a wood oven and it was really good for pizza in Honduras. 

What did you do for p-day? For p-day we just cleaned a little in the house and then we came down to Choloma, ate at burger king and we then went ant got with other elders. One of the elders only has 5 days left so it was his last p-day and we just went to pizza hut and well we split a big pizza combo. It was good. 

Did your companion go see the doctor? No he didn’t go to see the doctor but we will see because he is going to start to run out of the pills that the doctor had him taking to prevent the migraines. I think that my fungus had finally gone away and the treatment that I was on will end here in 2 more days. 

Have you talked to the mission president about coming home a little early for school? I have, he keeps saying that he will send me my return date but it hasn’t happened yet so I just emailed him to remind him.   Hopefully next week I will know and then we will be able to see if I need to come home early. 

What was your spiritual experience for the week?  I think that the most spiritual experience of the week was starting to see progress in new investigators this Sunday, because there were 3 in the sacrament meeting and they are smart and can progress if they receive an answer to their prayers. It is very interesting because here the people don’t try and combat the Book of Mormon and say that it is impossible because you can’t add to the Bible, but they accept it and just say thanks that is something that I really didn’t know. I know that the Lord has Elder P. and me here for a purpose and I really think that we are doing something good because we are starting to meet some more of our goals. 

Is that an avocado in the picture?  Yes that’s an avocado from the tree above our house. That thing fell and hit the roof and it scared us really bad because it was loud.  Were you able to eat it?  We gave it to our lunch cook and well it kind of bit us in the butt because she has started to give us a lot more avocado.

Well I ran out of money as I always do when I have to buy shampoo, its crazy because it happens to everyone there’s not money if you buy shampoo. Well I bought lotion, shampoo and body wash. It cost me over 25 bucks. 

We camped like 3 nights this week because the power went out so we have to come back to the house but there’s nothing to do and nothing to eat so we just watched meet the Mormons and we went to bed.  Did you do any cooking this week?  no there almost wasn’t ever power to do anything and I don’t want to cook on a fire.   They’re building a hydroelectric dam above our house and below they’re building a big coal fueled power plant. 

What is the picture with your companion swings over the river?  We looked for a spot in the river to baptize and we didn’t find any good places and this was while we were looking, he wanted a picture on the swing over the water.  So where did you baptize.  In a ward building called La Ceden it is in Choloma on the way to Puerto. We used the bus to get there and the branch president took all the people there in his pickup truck.

But thanks for talking with me, hope that you will have a good week. I hope that we will begin to see more progress here in the big snail that what La Jutosa means so love you all and be safe. 

Week 44 La Jutosa

Wow well the time passes by so fast that it can’t almost be 10 months but it is. It is really fun to be with a white companion because you can actually talk about things that you have in common because all of the Latinos don’t understand much about our lives. 

What did you do for p-day? We decided that we wanted to go to the beach so we went to the beach and it was really fun. We just played catch with a little foam football and just sat under a cabana and well we thought that they were going to charge us because they usually do and one of the guys we found there comes up to us and we asked him if he was going to charge us and he said heck no I am the owner of all this. What did you eat for lunch at the beach?   We ate Wendy’s they have a new burger with onion rings, bacon and bbq sauce.

What was your spiritual experience for the week? I think that the spiritual experience this week was realizing that next week we can have a baptism in La Jutosa it should be very fun and rewarding.  We had a lot of lessons with I, he turned 9 this week and we are going to baptize him this week. But I have just been feeling that everything that we have been doing isn’t a waste because we can finally see progress. We should have a joint baptism because one of the 8 year olds from the branch will be getting baptized on the same day. 

Do you have any baptism dates? This week on the 11^th I. he is 9 years old. 

Next week 18 M. and 16 Sister D.

How many people were at church on Sunday and how many investigators did you have? We had 35 people in church and 1 of them was our investigator Ismael. 

Tell us a funny thing that happened this week. Funniest thing that happened this week was when I was walking in the street and well there was a dog that started to follow me and I turned around and there were like 3 dogs and the next thing I knew my heel was in the dogs mouth he bit me. I was a little mad because the dog bit me without reason he didn’t even bark but he only got my shoe and he tore a little bit on the back of my shoe. I am good and I am happy that he only bit me there and not on my thigh. Did the owner of the dog say anything? Did he call him off?  No the dog just bit me and the owner really didn’t do anything he just made a sound and I kept on walking.   Where was your companion?  My companion was right next to me. How is your shoe? My shoes are fine, it just left a gouge in the leather but they will last the rest of my mission. 

How is your fungus? Its getting better but there is still a little bit left. But I am sick of taking the pills and creams for it.

What are you studying this week? I am still reading in 1 Nephi I have been using a study book and well the most interesting part I read was when Nephi began to ask leman and Lemuel if they had inquired of God and they say no and well believe that God won’t contest their prayers. This is one of the problems that I see in almost every one of the investigators is that they really don’t believe that God will respond to their prayers. 

How is your companionship going? It’s going really well, we have a lot of fun all of the time. The hardest part this week was the fast because it was long and we did it from breakfast to dinner and not lunch to lunch. My comp was a little irritated during the whole fast because he was hungry, which was pretty funny. 

Are people watching the women's FIFA’s world’s cup soccer this week? No I have not seen it. 

What we did for the 4th of July. First of all we cooked crepes in the morning and they turned out really good, there are some pictures but I will send one in a second. And then we went out and taught and then in the night we had a grilling party with a family of members we cooked hotdogs with cheese in them and buns mustard and relish. Well it was really good and really fun to cook this and they tasted really good. 

The crepes look great, where did you get the cream?  and did you pick the bananas?   I bought a can of whip cream.  Did your companion like them? The crepes were really good and I think I will make them more often. My comp was always talking about the crepe place behind elements, so that why I made them. 

Have you been sleeping in your hammock, or on a bed?  I sleep in a bed but the bed has a big old hole in it and it is very uncomfortable.  Yes the rainy season is in like 3 months it will rain a lot. I sleep well because I have like a 23-inch fan blowing right on me. 

Have you got any letters?  Yes I got a birthday card but I was waiting for my birthday to open it. Well you only have a few more weeks till your birthday.  Maybe you will have to make YOU a cake.  No, I don’t want a cake.  I want something different. Wish we could take you out for your B day I could put extra money in your account and you could go to dinner.  We will see, I will just use my card. I might go to San Pedro because my comp might need a doctors appointment for some tests.  I will put extra money in your account and PLEASE go to a nice place for dinner for you birthday.  We shall see when we go if we have time. What is wrong with your companion?   He has had some migraines but he is better, he hasn’t had any problems while he has been with me.

Well I am out of time now I just have a couple minutes more but it has been

real fun to talk to you this day. I hope that everyone is doing good and

that my family will get back from trek.   Next week make sure that they

upload the pictures. Thanks for talking with me grandma and for all the

time that you have talked with me. I hope that you will have a good week

Tell hello to Katy, Joan and George and everyone else. Love you all.