Where will she go next?

Dear Family,

This week was good.

My companion finally came out of denial that she was going to be in this area for a long time and started to work. I was so happy. Missionary work is so much easier when we are team. It is hard to drag. Super hard. This week, she even walked faster.  Sometimes I even made her run. But she wants to lose weight, so she was grateful. I like doing missionary work with urgency. But we really do get along well.

We found 12 new people this week and 3 new families. That is more than we have found in our 6 weeks together. It felt good. I love findng and teaching familes.

I am writing a bit late because we spent the morning translating for La Brigada Medical. Translate that one.:-)It is a group of doctors that help the people here get the care they need to turn in their mission papers. They travel through central america. A lot of dentist and oral surgeons. 

 It was super fun. Granted, Gospel vocabulary is a lot different then dentist vocabulary. Way different. But I learned a lot of new words.

For some reason I have not had the need to learn the word swallow. They wanted the patient to swallow and I had no idea. I basically told him, "you have liquid in your mouth. You need to get that liquid to go down. Win moment. Then I asked another elder how to say it. I also know how to say filling, wisdom teeth, crown, and who knows what. Maybe I will do it for a living.

Everyone was super impressed that we were missionaries. They said that Honduras looked so scary. But they have no idea what it is really like. It is super chill. Thats not completely true, but we are protected a ton.

The best part was that I saw one of my recent converts there starting his medical stuff for his papers. He will have to wait until Feb, but at least it shows he is working to go on a mission. Yay! 

I got to see my last Hna. Clark last night. (former companion) It was so nice to see her. I miss her a ton.

We are teaching a girl named Jamie. She is so great and she speaks English. One of the ex missionaries (sister) brought her to church. Member missionary work is so much easier and faster. She will be baptized this month. She doesn´t know yet, but I do. Too bad I won´t be here to see it.

I am nervous for transfers. I have barely told anyone here that I am leaving because I don´t want them to give me more food. Latins show their love through food.

I realized today that my social skills have improved a ton. But there is a catch. Only in Spanish. I had thought that they would improve in both languages, but I was wrong. I have no idea what to say to white people. But with the Latins I can talk for DAAAAYYYYYYSSSSSS. They are so interesting. I really love the people.

Basically I am just super nervous for transfers. Super. I feel like there is a challenge coming. The last time I felt a lot of peace. This time I feel the peace before the storm. Pray for me.

Love you lots! 

Chelle

Surviving Semana Santa

Hello family. This week was Semana Santa.

We passed it well. We volunteered to do service for a lot of the people in our ward and a few investigators.(everyone leaves town so it is hard to teach) I seriously love serving. We didn´t have a lot of lessons, but the ones we did we taught a lot about Christ and the Atonement. I am so grateful to be serving in this season.

It was a bit hard because you have to have a lot of self sustaining motivation. Luckily my cup of motivation never runs dry.

My companion found out last night that she is going to train. That means I am leaving Roble Oeste and my 2 washing machines and my 2 dryers and everything that is good. I hope I go to a little town that doesn't have water or energy. Give me an adventure!

I officially passed the deadest parts of the year in the deadest area. Christmas and the Semana Santa. But when the people are here in this area, I love it.

We had intercambios this week. It was good to get out of my area and breathe. I feel a lot of stress there because I do all of the scheduling.

Kat, I met your old ZL from Guate. Elder... umm... he has  a lazy eye and is from Honduras. Carlos is his first name. Anyway, he was nice and told me a million times how great you are. I agreed.

We had baptism interviews this week for  Lourdes, Anthony y Dayana. They were a reference from the STake President. It is a mom and her two kids. They are so great. The mom can't read.

They showed their conversion this week. There weren't any buses or taxis from their town, so they walked 2 and a half hours to get there. Dedication. When I found out I went and bought them some  food and water and juice and then we paid for a taxi for them to go home. The poor thing carried her 2 year old the whole way. I felt SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO bad. so bad.

They were baptized Sunday at 7am. It was way early. I want a nap. It went super well. And they won´t fall away because they are friends of the Stake President. Halla.

We served the Temple President and his wife. It was really weird, but I loved it. We were in their living quarters. I felt so priveleged. We swept their porch and ironed their clothes. Then she fed us a super good dinner. Their view is the temple. I took photos, but my memory card has a bit of a virus. Whoops. I can´t send pictures.

We had an activity for all of the recent converts and investigator families. It was great. There was a chorus and we watched a few videos about Christ and the Atonement and recent converts shared their testimonies. It was super powerful to hear their testimonies.

Well, I think that is about it.

Have a great week! Love you all! 

A little fun in the sun. . . and lots of hard work

Hello dear family. Sorry for the short note last week The energy kept going in and out. Mostly out. At least Roble Oeste (where she is working) is better.

So this week was... a week.

Last Monday we had the activity for all of the sisters. It was perfect. There was a spiritual part in the beginning, then talents, then we played outside, then we ate. It was great.

It was wonderful because something clicked in my head when Hna. Fortuna was speaking to us. It was something completely unrelated, but It helped me a lot. She said super quickly that in our missions we will feel closer to Christ than any other time in our lives. And something inside me clicked. I have been kind of burdened down by the burdens of other people.

But we have also been studying the atonement as a mission. I have been looking for different ways to apply the atonement in my life. I understand more of the atonement, but I wanted to really FEEL it. Anyway, it clicked for me in the activity that one way to understand the atonement right now for me is to help other people carry their burdens. Christ always invites us to give Him our burdens, or He can make our burdens lighter. I realized that right now I can learn more about my Savior and what He did as I do something similiar. I can´t take away the burdens of other people, but I can try to lessen them.

I am not sure if that made sense, but I loved it.

Also, God chastened me good last week. We were watching conference and the prophet was about to speak and I was watching in English. There was an elder in there who I just don´t really like because he lacks maturity in every way and is quite crude and complains 24/7. Anyway he was being himself and I was ready to give him a piece of my mind so that he would be reverent in the session, but I had the impression not to because it would really hurt him.

10 seconds later the prophet got up and talked about love and kindness. I was SUPER grateful that I hadn't said anything. Then I repented of my thoughts.

So we found some athiests. It is quite curious really. I was looking through the area book and the other sisters had invited them to las puertas abiertas del templo hace un ano. (Temple open house a year ago) And then later I contacted them in front of a Pulperia (tienda). They aren´t very positive, but it is interesting.

 Anyway, our mission president is planning a fireside for Easter about the Atonement that we can invite families to. We have been practicing a coro for awhile. Anyway, we told them that we had been practicing in a chorus for this activity and they committed themselves to going to it. We should tell them a little more about it, but i really want them to come. They are so nice. I want to be their friend after the mission. Anyway, I am stoked.

Oh, my companion makes good food. Speaking of which, she made sushi this week. It was my first time eating sushi and I liked it. Addicted. Not really, but I enjoy it. 

My experience in the RS=(she shared an experience with her grandfather and so I asked her if she would also share it with me--so here it is.)

So one week we were talking about Joseph Fielding Smith in RS and they were talking about how great of a father he was and how loving and kind he was with his children and I raised my hand and said that I wanted to add my testimony of that. As his great granddaughter I have had the opportunity to receive the blessings of his kindness. I said my Grandpa Mitt, was one of the nicest, most loving people I had ever met and it was clear to see that he learned a lot from his father. And because he received that tradition from his father, my own mother also received it. I testified of the many times I have seen my mother and grandfather reach out in love to their family and friends. How they strive to teach their children and grandchildren gospel principles. And how grateful I was for my great grandfather who continued traditions of love and service. The spirit was quite powerful.

They asked me this sunday too to share my testimony of Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. More than anything I shared my testimony of parents who instill gospel truths in their children and that from a young age I had a testimony of Joseph Smith and the Restoration. I never doubted. I also bore my testimony to the sisters that their children can have relationships like Joseph and Hyrum. I mentioned how my older siblings are my best friends and even though I am the youngest, there is still a lot of respect and love. So that was it.

Mom, here is my advice for the sister leader trainers. I asked all of the sisters in the house. (I had asked her this question)

 

1. Feed the sisters. During my first week, I had a super good meal with the SLT and it motivated me to continue on. En serio. I started cooking from that point on. Another time the sister didn´t feed me ANYTHING or barely talk to me and it wasn´t an uplifting experience in any way. (They do most of their own cooking so if you are on an exchange with another sister you depend on them to provide the food. or at least give you an opportunity to cook something)

2. Humility. They are there to serve and uplift. They should not have the attitude that they are going to turnaround the area in one day all thanks to their presence. The sisters are trying their hardest. Criticism is not an attribute of Christ.

3. If the sisters have planned to challenge someone to be baptized, but SLT should not rob them of the chance to do it. She is there to support. I understand that sometimes they feel the need to do it, but there are a lot of resentful sisters in our house. They can urge the sister to do it, but it will be a more positive experience for the sister to do it in her area.

4. More than anything, the sister wants to feel love. Its hard to be with someone 24/7. We need a break and we just want an outpouring of love from our leaders. It makes it easier for us to follow their example and advice when we respect and love them.

5. The SLT should have unity between their own companionship. I was with 2 SLT who didn´t have unity and it was ugly. One completely dominated because she had more experience. She was the one who always called us. After I noticed, I asked her  why she didn´t let her companion use the phone. After that, they shared. You could just tell it was rough for them. 

Well, time is running out. Sorry I am so slow at writing. Love you all! 

Pictures:

The first one is the best returned missionary ever!! She served in Mesa and knows Aunt Judy and Aunt Jackie. And she gives us tons of references. The second picture is of my companion. I know I look super burned but I think it is the lighting. 

Same Location, New Companion

Hey family.

I am still here living the high life in R. O. Whoop whoop. I am here with Hna. Hernandez. She has been here for 14 months and knows it. I feel like our pride is going to have quite the duel, but we are getting along quite well. She knows how to cook and likes to do it, so it has been nice.  She also has a ton of health problems. My first Hna. Clarke is still here with the Hna. Garrido. Hna. Hernandez trained Hna. Garrido and Hermana Clarke trained me so there is a lot of love going on in this house.

The new sisters always stay the night at our house. They went out and worked with us the first night. It was super fun. They didn´t know much Spanish, so I talked a lot. But they were enthusiastic. It reminded me of the beginning.

My ¨grand daughter¨ in the mission is training! That means I am already a GREAT GRANDMA!!! What the heck?! The mission is aging me. The only bad part is she is waiting for her visa for Mexico so my great great grand daughter will live way too far away and my posterity will be in 2 countries. I am praying she doesn't get her visa. :-)

Hna. Ixcoy is with my sweet daughter, Hna. Montano. I am so happy for them. They are opening an area. I am glad that they can both talk about how much they love me. I doubt that is what they do, but in my mind, they do it a lot. Lucky little things. They are two of my favorite sisters in the mission.

Age wise, I am the youngest in my house. I am 20. Hna. Clarke 23. Hna. Hernandez 24. Hna. Garrido 29. Waa waaaa.... But I have the most time in the area, so they have to respect me. I´ll enjoy that while I can. Its quite the party...

Tuesday night we had 3 dinners to say goodbye to Hna. Clark. (another one who served as her companion for three months) It was rough.

To greet my new companion, we had a baptism. Jose was baptized March 19, Wednesday, on his birthday. It was cool! A lot of people from seminary went and we had a little birhtday party for him after. Welcome to the area! We have so many baptisms that we have to have them on weekdays, too. It was a good moment.

We put 4 fechas this week. We are going to have to work like CRAZZYYYY!!!! But they are all on the same day... Right before changes. I am not sure how much longer I will be here, so really hope they are able to get baptized that day...

We found a new family this week! they are so great! The daughter contacted us a week ago, we went on Saturday, and they came to Church on Sunday. The mom is super skeptical, but, hey, the gospel is perfect. I am hoping that they will also be baptized with the others. Whoop whoop! It would be 4 more. And there is another girl that wants to be baptized. Nine in the same day? I´m down for that!

Well family, I love you bunches. Be missionaries. Fellowship. Send me letters! 

Love,

Michelle

Pictures!

Here I am with my new companion and the boy who got baptized. 

 Ahhhh. Two of my most favorite sister missionaries!! And they are now companions!

 My mission posterity--from Right to Left--me, my daughter, my granddaughter and my great granddaughter

 The birthday party following the baptism!

Will I stay or will I go????? Changes this coming week.

Dear Family,

This week has been... slow. Pero, no se preocupen.

We should find out about cambios today. Or tomorrow. My companion has said goodbye to everyone so it would be funny if she stayed. I think I am staying. I am not ready to leave yet. It is a super hard area. But Presidente always says there aren´t bad areas, there are just missionaries with little faith. Therefore, I refuse to get down on the area. I just need to work on my faith. 

Funny story first= so we are teaching the super nice atheist family. We gave them a Book of Mormon and they read a little bit of it. They are pretty firm in their beliefs, but I am going to have faith in the promise of the introduction of the Book of Mormon. Anyone who reads it will come to know that Jesus is the Christ. That is good enough for me. I am even willing to just plant the seed in their unbelieving hearts.

Anyway, we went to their house Saturday and they asked us if we were allowed to have friends while we are here in Honduras in the mission. We explained that we naturally develop friends as we teach them.   They wanted to know because they were planning an outing to the beach and they thought they would invite us so that we could see more of Honduras. I thought it was sweet, just a little distorted. They are still our nicest investigators... just the most unbelieving.

Saturday, God was really merciful. He put people in our path to give us little pep talks. There was a return missionary who was an assistant for 9 months of his mission that talked to us while we were filling up the font for the baptism of the elderes. It was the best pep talk ever. It was everything we needed.

We also had the stake conference adult session. It was super good. The elders brought us 2 boxes of copies of the Book of Mormon. One for us and one for a rock star senior couple who give out a ton. They are the Starkeys. They are so great. We carried the box to her apartment and she shared waffles with us. It was such a blessing because we didn´t have a dinner appointment and it was such a relief to talk in English to  someone who understands us. She shared with us a spiritual thought and it was like a fountain of revelation was coming. It was a nice boost.

She shared a scripture in Jarom 1:11 That is wonderful. It talks about how you should live as if Christ already came. I loved it. We should act the way we would act if He were already here.

Later that night 2 girls contacted US in the street and told us they wanted to be baptized and they want us to come visit their family. Thank you, miracle! 

So although we are facing some challenges, it has been a pretty good week. This week is changes and we have a baptism on Wednesday so we are super excited for that. 

Love you all so much!

Baptism!!

Dear Family,

So I am lacking the motivation to write a lot. I apologize. It has been a really long week and I am tired. Not a bad week, but long. And we woke up early to make banana pancakes for Hna. I. because it is her birthday. I love her. 

First, the baptism was a flying success. Of course we were super nervous and everyone came late, but the spirit was so strong. SOOO STRONG!!! Roger gave his testimony in the end and it was so powerful. You could feel that he was truly converted. He bore a powerful testimony to his parents and family that he knew this is the true church and he is excited to have a fresh start. I think it helped his parents a lot. His sister now has officially decided that she wants to be baptized. PRONTO. What a blessing. The single adults are helping her out a ton. I love working with members. It just works so much better. So much better! 

Twenty family members came to his baptism. I think the ward gained respect for us for that one. They were kind of doubting us because we haven´t had any baptisms, but we´re working on it. His family is great. His gma is a member and she had tears in her eyes when she thanked us. This is what it is all about. Families coming together in the gospel. I love this work. I love that families can be forever!

We had zone conference this week. Our zone got slammed for our bad numbers. But we are progressing... But it was super good. Pdte. Fortuna is a boss. He is so powerful. We are all kinds of motivated.

There is a family that actually knows how to cook gourmet here. They love us. They made us pizza this week. And it had veggies. That never happens.

Everyone gives us references.  It is kind of weird, but I like it. We have a ton. Now we just need to harvest...

I had lunch yesterday with Elder and Sister Starkey. He was one of Gpa´s missionaries here in Honduras for about 2 months. in the end of Gpa´s mission. We also ate with the family Duarte and we  all had a ¨I love Grandpa Smith¨ moment. It was precious. God loves me.

Well, that is all! I love you! Have a great Week. 

You Only Serve Once!!

Well family, it has been a pretty good week.

Last monday we had the best experience ever. Here, let me tell you about it. First we practiced allllll day long on our p-day to challenge a family to be baptized. WE were SOOOOO prepared. But, as always, God knows best. Only 2 of the kids showed up to the lesson. We were a little distressed in the beginning. But then we started chatting with them and the STRONGEST feeling came over us that we need to baptize Roger the 17 year old first and then the rest of the family will follow. It has happened so many times in this ward. It was so strong! Therefore, we have a baptism this Saturday!   I am so happy! God answers prayers! It will be the first baptism in this area for 5 months! They were getting ready to close it. But I think they won´t now. The assistants have told us about the change they have seen in our area. The spirit was so powerful when we challenged him to be baptized. I started crying when I was doing it. He did to. And everyone else that was there. It was soooo powerful. And he has invited so many people to the baptism.

For Valentine's day we tried to make as many people happy as we could! It was wonderful! I love serving! WE made  tons of valentines and put them on people's doors. We almost had intercambios, but I was soooo glad that we didn´t so that I could spend it with my sweet companion.

We found a chicken in a house. They always have it outside, but this time they let it in and we all took a picture with it. I played outside with the dog and the chicken briefly. Basically I just ran back and forth and they both chased me. The family got quite the kick out of it. They could just see me run past a window and the chicken and dog would also run past. They thought it was pretty hilarious.

We did service for a less active famliy. We had to convince them to let us come. It was super fun. We washed their dog. It is more like a rat. But it was great. And then we convinced them to let us do other projects. I love this famiy. Too bad they don´t go to Church. 

We found a new family! Too bad they are CRAZY!!! The wife is the most eccentric person I have ever met. She tried giving us coffee and tea. And she gave us a tour of her house and spent the whole time professing love for her husband. They have been together for 38 years, so I guess that is kind of cute. Mostly uncomfortable...

We are teaching a kid named Jose Castillo. He is the black kid who showed up with the shirt that says Sea Feliz. Sea Mormon.  It was hilarious. He is quiting smoking and all kinds of other things, but he wants to be baptized March 19. He goes to seminary every day. The ward is adopting him. I love it. He really needs some parents.

So there is the phrase YOLO in english. You only live once. People use it as an excuse to do whatever they want. We changed it to YOSO. You only serve once. Therefore we might as well talk to every single person and just go crazy with missionary work because this is the only time we will serve like this. We have taught it to a few other missionaries.

Well, I love you all and I have no more time. Mom and dad, forgive me if my messages to you are short. 

Love,

Michelle

Here is a four generation family at the temple!! They wanted us to be in the picture with them. 

Our theme--You Only Serve Once!! 

Here is a picture of the chicken that was someone's pet.

 This is one of our investigators. One of the member's gave him this shirt. Hilarious!

 In a traditional skirt from Guatemala! (borrowed from one of the other sister missionaries)

Doing service. Here we are washing a rat, I mean a dog. 

All clean and fluffy!

 Watering plants (you have to be creative in your service sometimes)

 And putting up the alphabet . . .

We also surprised the sister we live with, with some hearts. 

We also surprised some investigators. 

Then we went home and changed our clothes. So of course he we had to take more pictures.

 Makes, sense, right?