Travis' Mission

Travis' Mission

Monday, October 3, 2011

Conference Week!


This week has been absolutely amazing.  I love Honduras so much.  So many things happened this week, and I have no idea where to begin. 
 
Honduras is so beautiful.  It is so green, and I love it here.  It is really humid and hot here, but I think I have gotten used to it for the most part.  The area that I am serving is very green, but very dirty.  The streets are dirt, and they are usually very muddy.  The people here don't really care, and they just throw their trash on the street.  But even when there is trash everywhere, I love it so much.  The country is so green and amazing.  The houses here are all made of cement and tin roofs.  They are small, but not super small.  Most people spend their time outside in the shade in their yard.  I was very surprised to find that everyone has TVs, cellphones, stereos, and music, even when they cant afford food, clothes, or the basic needs.  When we teach lessons we are usually outside on plastic chairs.  Teaching lessons outside is really hard sometimes because there are chickens and dogs everywhere, people blast their music, people on the streets yelling super fast Spanish trying to sell something, kids playing soccer, and much more. 
 
We try to get all of our contacting and teaching done before dark because people dont like to come out of their houses when its dark.  We always have our dinner really late, around 8pm.  The food here is amazing.  Words cannot describe.  My favorite food is baleadas.  Its made with real flower tortillas, beans, eggs, and Honduran cheese.  Pastelitos are also very good.  They also like to fry bananas.  If they cut them thin they are kind of like chips, and they are really good.  Tortillas con quesillas are two tortillas with Honduran cheese in the middle.  SOOOOO good.  The other gringo elders are very surprised that I haven't gotten sick yet because the food is so bad on gringo's stomachs.  I eat everything they give me, and I love it.  My companion says that I have a hollow leg because I eat so much. 
 
I love talking and teaching the people.  The people here are so wonderful, and I love them so much.  I try to talk to everyone I see, and I enjoy talking about the gospel.  We teach a lot of people every day.  I feel like there isn't enough time to teach everyone that we need to teach.  We have many investigators.  Paolo is an amazing 13 year old girl that has been to church 4 times on her own and she is getting baptized next week.  Familia Romero is a wonderful family.  There is the grandma, the parents, and 4 kids.  The father and mother arent actually married.  Marriage is a really big problem down here.  Latinos are really afraid of commitments, and some don't like the thought of marriage.  It can be very frustrating at times.  We got them to commit to baptism, but in order for us to do that they need to get married.  we are working with them now to do that.  We have many other investigators, and I wish that I could tell you all about them.  I love teaching them the gospel.  I love them so much, and I already feel like I would do anything for them.  I want them so badly to know about Jesus Christ and feel the blessing of Christ and this gospel.  This gospel has blessed my life in so many ways, and I want that same joy and happiness for the people here. 
 
Conference was amazing, it really had a lot of meaning to me.  we watched it at the stake center.  We had a gringo room, and so I watched it with all the gringos in my zone.  We told everyone that we could about conference, especially our investigators.  all of our investigators that came really enjoyed it, and i know it will help them come one step close to Christ.  There is a great guy named Melvin, who speaks very good English because he lived in California for 16 years (he got deported back to honduras because he was illegal).  He is an inactive, and has a really hard life.  His misses his family so much, who are all back in the states.  But he is a way cool guy, and he came with us on Sunday to watch in English.  I know that it really helped him a lot, and he invited us lunch at TGI Fridays next week.  Long story short, the people here are absolutely amazing.  The members of our ward are wonderful, and we always get dinner every day from a different member.  We have a lady that washes our clothes, a different lady that irons our clothes, a family that makes us lunch every day, and 2 to 3 other members that love coming with us to teach lessons and support the investigators. 
 
It is so weird being the only white kid on the block (literally!).  I get a lot of weird stares, and I always smile back.  When we take rapiditos to go to the stake center or other places, they cram about 30 people into a van.  Its awesome.  whenever I get in I always get the looks, and I love smiling back.  You get to know the people really well when you are crammed into a van like that. 
 
My companion is great, and we have a lot of fun together.  He helps we a lot with my spanish, which is getting much better.  We work hard together, and we have done many great things together. 
 
I really wish that I was able to tell you everything, but words cannot describe the feelings of what I am doing.  I love being here so much.  I have seriously never been happier in my life.  Honduras is everything that I ever dreamed, but better.  Its hard, but I know that when I pray, put my faith in the Lord, work hard, be obedient, and do my best that I will be blessed.  I have already seen the many blessing and miracles God has given me as I serve him. 
 
Thanks for all the love and support.  I can promise you that as you pray daily, read the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, and put your faith in Jesus Christ that you will be blessed.  The conference talks this weekend were amazing, and I challenge you to study them over and over again.  The October ensign about the Book of Mormon is fantastic, and I have already used in many times while teaching.  Just know that I am doing fantastic, I love it here, and I will be blessed and protected while I am here

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