I'm officially not the newest missionary in the mission! More people came from Mexico, and it made me happy to see how much I've accustomed myself to Honduras in one transfer.
First, to stop you from worrying, I got stung by a bee on our hike to Pico Bonito. we stopped near the waterfall to take pictures, and someone´s camera flash must have freaked out the bees, or our proximity, because they started stinging just about everybody. I was taking pictures of the waterfall when the poor hermanas in front started to get stung. I didn´t email about my arm last week because it wasn´t a big problem until the day after. Elder Vargas drew an anchor and everyone called me "poh-pey-yeh" which is how they pronounce Popeye. the enfermera said to ice and take benadryl at night. after a couple days it was back to normal. I´m just glad I didn´t get stung more!
I´m also understanding people better. I still can´t talk on the phone because it distorts their voices, but getting feedback is becoming easier. and we stayed at a member´s house after lunch on Sunday to watch conference on BYUTV in Spanish and I was able to understand a good portion of what they were talking about.
The other sessions the American missionaries went into our "gringo paradise" in the high council room to watch the live satelite feed in English. it was fun! president Klein came and watched with us for Saturday morning.
On Sunday morning, there was a bus for our ward to go to the stake center, and I was worried when it pulled up, already half filled with other people in our ward from a different colony, that we wouldn't be able to fit. but then I remembered that buses in Honduras are never "too full," people just squish in closer. we did in fact fit into the bus. and our driver was a particularly crazy driver. remember the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland? remember how it swings around? when I rode the ride, i remember thinking: "this isn't accurate. something with four wheels can't swing this far back and forth" but that's exactly how it felt! and this ride was for free!
The other sessions the American missionaries went into our "gringo paradise" in the high council room to watch the live satelite feed in English. it was fun! president Klein came and watched with us for Saturday morning.
On Sunday morning, there was a bus for our ward to go to the stake center, and I was worried when it pulled up, already half filled with other people in our ward from a different colony, that we wouldn't be able to fit. but then I remembered that buses in Honduras are never "too full," people just squish in closer. we did in fact fit into the bus. and our driver was a particularly crazy driver. remember the Indiana Jones ride in Disneyland? remember how it swings around? when I rode the ride, i remember thinking: "this isn't accurate. something with four wheels can't swing this far back and forth" but that's exactly how it felt! and this ride was for free!
General Conference was different this time. No longer is my goal to prepare for a mission as it has been since I can remember. But now, I'm a real life missionary! my goals now are to teach with the spirit and help my investigators make covenants. So I found the most inspiration when I thought about what I need to do to help them come closer to Christ, rather than thinking about what I need to do to come closer to Christ. It's fun being a missionary when general authorities talk about you. because they say that the missionaries are doing an awesome job and that the members need to pull their act together and help the missionaries.
To the Seminary Teacher: Scripture references matter!!! make sure your students learn the scripture references to the scriptures they´re learning!!! I´ve been in the middle of a teaching appointment, and I think of the words from a good scripture that I´ve memorized, but I don´t know where to find it! I have tons of scriptures memorized, but they´re all in English!! so make sure your students know the book, chapter and verse, so that when they get called to a foreign language mission their scripture mastery will still be usefull.
The more I study, the more i realize that I have so much to learn. at first, I thought it would get boring studying from the same material the whole time, but I'm finding that one hour for personal study isn't enough. I think i'll effectively use my personal study for these two years.
There are so many cool little moments in my day that I wish i could share, but i can´t take my camera out, or they pass by too fast to be able to take a picture. just know that I´m as happy as ever!
There are so many cool little moments in my day that I wish i could share, but i can´t take my camera out, or they pass by too fast to be able to take a picture. just know that I´m as happy as ever!