This week was a fantastic week. Being a missionary is such a wonderful experience, and I have already learned and grown so much. I love preaching the gospel and see this gospel change the lives of others. Through the guidance of the spirit we have found many new people to teach, and i feel like there is never enough time to teach everyone. It does help a lot the the ward is really supportive with the missionary work, and members go out with us almost every day. Also the ward is doing something called "Noche de Hogar", which is Family Night. Every Sunday and Tuesday night many of the ward members meet together at an inactive family´s house and sometimes even investigator´s house. Not only is it uniting the ward, but it is bringing the inactives back to church and helping our investigators to know more people. We also bring other investigators to these things, and so overall it is just a giant missionary opportunity.
This Tuesday I went on divisions with Elder Abplanalp from Utah, and I stayed in my area. he is a great missionary, and i was able to learn a lot from him. We took two hermanas from the ward across the wonderful bridge that i love so much. We taught two families together in one house because they are related but live in different houses. Because of the sudden change of plans i had no idea what we were going to teach them. After the hymn and prayer i still had no idea, until I had the strongest feeling (no doubt the Holy Ghost) to teach on the importance of families using The Proclamation to The Family. I just happened to have a few copies that we used. The Proclamation to the Family is really powerful, and the spirit was so very strong. When ever I bare my testimony about the importance of families and how much the gospel blesses them, i always like to show them pictures of my family. Being out here on my mission had made me realize more how much i love my family and how much this gospel has blessed my family. I love my family so much, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be here on my mission so that i can bring other families into this amazing gospel.
"Missionaries leave their family for two years so that other families can be with theirs for eternity".
On Thursday the whole mission except two zones (becasue they are too far away) got together in San Pedro Sula for the Christmas Multi-Zona. Our whole zone left really early so that we could all eat at Denny´s together. Its been a while since i had a breakfast like that, and i ate so much i thought that i was going to explode. I had pancakes, bacon, sausage, toast, hash browns, and orange juice. It was a lot of fun, and i love my zone so much. The multi-zona was so wonderful. There were so many missionaries there. Having so many missionaries together is such an amazing experience and feeling. President and Heremana Veirs gave powerful talks, and i love them so very much. We played jeopardy with everyone about gospel facts, missionary stuff, and it was a lot of fun. We then had a giant talent show where people sang, did skits, magic, and dances. My Zone leaders found out that my comp won a thing at his high school for dancing the Single Ladies dance, so they got permission for him to dance and forced him to do it. He practiced a bunch the night before even though he did not want to do it. When he did it everyone was dying with laughter, and it was a lot of fun. Afterwards we had a great lunch together, and i met a lot of great missionaries. I had a lot of fun, and it was a wonderful experience.
Because there are changes this week, our whole zone on Friday had a zone breakfast and watched a church movie. I made my famous egg McMuffins for everyone with cheese, egg, and bacon, and everyone loved them. We also had pancakes, fruit, and Orange juice. It was so much fun, and my zone is really great. I am going to miss the elders that are leaving, but i am excited to meet new people. My companion Elder Neher is leaving my area which i am really sad about because i love him very much and he has taught me a lot. I am losing my mission dad and mom this change. My mission mom is Hermana Juarez, and she is from El Savador. Because Elder Neher is leaving we visited a lot of people in the past few days to say goodbye. A lot of the members and investigators are really sad that he is leaving because he is a great Elder, and he has helped change many lives through the gospel. We have definitely had a lot of fun together, but i am excited to learn more from a new companion.
As a missionary i have the opportunity to meet a lot of great people. The people here in Honduras are wonderful, and I love them so much. they are so receptive and they will always listen to us. Sometimes people just come up to us and talk to us because we are white crackers. We also have a lot of fun with the black people. Because I love the people so much i am trying to do everything i can to bring the gospel into their lives so that they can receive the blessings of the gospel. After a lot of hard work and many trials, we were able to baptize a wonderful lady named Rosa this past weekend. She has had a lot of trials and hardships in her life, but she is one tough woman. She currently has cancer in her knee and can barely walk. She also has a lot of problem with money. But she has a strong testimony and puts all her faith in the Lord, and she has seen the wonderful blessings that come with believing and putting your faith in the Lord. I have a testimony of Jesus Christ, and i know that if we believe and put our trust in him that we will be blessed in so many ways. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a representative of Jesus Christ and to help people come closer to Christ.
As it comes closer to Christmas, I try to teach and bare testimony on Jesus Christ to the people of Honduras. During the Christmas time we should center our attention more on Christ and less on presents, santa, and everything else that comes with it. I know that Christ lives. I know that Christ suffered for our sins, pains and sufferings, and i know that he died for each and every one of us. I am so grateful for him and everything that he has done for me, and i wouldn't be here on my mission if it wasn't for him.
Overall, know that I am doing fantastic. There is no place i would rather be, and i have never been happier in my life. I am so excited to spend my first Christmas in Honduras. I heard that this place goes crazy around Christmas time. They make a lot of food and go all out. I have a feeling that i will be eating a lot of food because all the people want to have the missionaries over for food. Also one way the people here celebrate is firecrackers and fireworks. They shot them off more an more every day. One day we were walking at night and a big one went off 20 feet from us. It sounded like i was in the middle of World War 2, and i jumped pretty high. The people that started it saw me and started laughing. The I laughed with them. Through that experience we were able to contact them, get to know them, and we have a cita with them in a few days. anyways, i am so excited to spend Christmas here. I love being a missionary. Thanks for all the prayers and support.
Elder Travis Jay Ward
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