Week 11

(AN EDITORIAL NOTE FROM ALYSSA'S MOM:  You know what missionaries love?  Mail!  E-mail and snail mail -- any kind works!  Even just a short line or two is enough to brighten their day.  Alyssa has a couple of hours of e-mail time on Monday and would love, love, love to hear from you -- her e-mail address and mailing address are located on the right side of the blog.  So hurry up and write, would ya?  LOL)

Hola! First off... GUESS WHO IS IN COPAN?!!!! Yeah, so I got transferred to Santa Rosa Copan. So we got a text in the afternoon that said Hna B and another Hna were the only ones with cambios (transfers). So figured I was staying with Hna P.  She and I had a really  good talk about how we can work better for the next two months. We figured out that I need teach the doctrinal points since that's what they teach you to do in the CCM and she can be there to support me and to add on to what I say. So I felt a lot better about things and we hugged for the first time since she picked me up in my first cambios meeting. So then I go to make my dinner and we get a text from the Zone Leaders... Sorpresa! Gisseman tiene cambios!  (Surprise!  Gisseman has changes!)  So yeah...I got a strange text in the weird hours of the night saying I was being transferred, too... The next day we had district and zone meetings and the zone leaders said that one of the assistants to the president called them to say there was another change and I was being transferred which meant that it wasn't part of the original changes... it was super weird. So then Tuesday when we taught a lesson together, Hna P and I taught exactly how we had planned and I taught the doctrinal points and she was there to support me and it was perfect. It was how I pictured being a missionary to be. Then I got transferred... 

But now I am in Santa Rosa, Copan! It was a 3 hour bus ride from San Pedro. My new companion is Hna A. She is from Panama. She is super funny and fits me really well. I feel super comfortable around her. We laugh all the time together. She holds my hand or takes my arm when we walk down and up the streets together. She has been here the same amount of time as Hna P. Hna H who was in the CCM and came in with me is now with Hna P and I am with Hna A so we just switched trainers. But Hna G was put into a trio with Hna P and Hna H which is really interesting since none of them are Latina.  They have so many people to see. Hna P and I taught 50 somehting lessons last week and I'm sure Hna B and Hna G taught at least 35 and now that area of Campana is up to one companionship instead of 2... 

Our area is super far away from our house. Hna A likes to talk to people. I don't know...it's a lot different that Hna P. We dont  have investigators and didnt know who we were going to go teach. She got sick 2 days and so I have only taught 2 real lessons with her and the rest have been visits with members. I got to go out in a trio with the other hermanas in our casa on the second day she was sick though. Hna C is from Guatemala and Hna M just got here from the CCM and is from Idaho and I feel like I can be to her what Hna B was to me. Anyway... I hope Hna A and I  can get investigators. They have been here for four months with no baptisms and no one is even close and it worries me. 

ANYWAY Santa Rosa is gorgeous! But it's really cold. I bought a blanket. We have hot showers, though, which is fantastic! Our house is actually really big. It has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Life here is a lot different than Campana. This is a city. There are stores, people actually have floors instead of dirt! Most people have cars or motorcycles. The streets are paved. People don't have yards. I kind of prefer Campana right now because Santa Rosa is so  huge! Its VERY hilly, though, and not just small hills like straight up inclines. Its just very different. But yeah...I'm in Copan! 

Dad really should make toe socks for Opa. We don't have any more info on skyping for Christmas... I think I will be using my skype account if you want to create an account and friend me. I should hopefully have more info for you next P-Day  but we have no idea right now.

Hna B got transferred, too, and she is now with Hna W, my CCM companion!

1.  What do the Honduran people in Campana think of Americans?  Do the people seem friendly toward Americans? 

People here think that people in America don't have problems and that everyone is rich. They think that our lives are just perfect, which totally isn't true. People in America have problems, and there is poverty.

2.  Have you noticed any changes or anything different as a result of the elections? 

Nope. Not a single thing.

3.  What was the best part of your week? 

I don't know... I really liked teaching Tuesday with Hna P but I also really enjoy getting to see Copan. We will go to the ruins in January and I can't wait! I am just really grateful for the opportunity to learn Spanish now.

4.  What was the funnest/funniest thing that happened this week? 

I really don't know. We went to real restaurants here becasue its a city (LOL) and Hna A just talked the whole time. Really, she is super funny and really sweet. She's really sassy so she has an opinion about everything which always keeps things interesting.

5.  What was the spiritual highlight of your week? 

I finished the Book of Mormon this morning. But also there was a baptism for the other hermanas that I went to with them as a part of a trio and I just felt so happy the whole time. I don't know...it was weird, but in a good way. I couldn't stop smiling and I didnt even know the kid. I just realized that it doesn't have to be my investigator or anything, any time somebody is taking a step in their lives to come closer to our Heavenly Father is something that we should all rejoice in and take joy from. Oh, and yesterday we were in a lesson and a scripture popped in my head, for me -- not for the people we were teaching. I was frustrated about not being able to speak the language as well as I want again and Hna A was saying how my Spanish really is good.  but I got home and read the scripture and it was Alma 32:27 and Its the scripture about exercizing a particle of faith ("But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.")  But I read it in a new light -- the Lord will always be there saying that we can do it. I am sitting here saying that I can't. But if I exercize my faith, even to just have the desire to believe the Lord and everyone else that my Spanish is enough, then I will be able to accept my Spanish the way it is and believe in myself. I think I sit in self pity sometimes about the language but I need to just have confidence in the Lord and believe Him because He obviously thinks that I can do this or I wouldn't have been sent here.

6.  How are things going with your investigators?  

I don't know because I got transferred.  LOL

7.  How did you like the Christmas Devotional?  Did you watch in Spanish or English? 

Spanish but they put on the English subtitles for us. It was really weird to not be able to hear their voices. What a blessing it is to really be able to hear the prophet's voice and hear his words from his own mouth.

8.  How is your personal study going?  What are you studying, and what stuck out to you? 

I just finished the Book of Mormon so now I will start reading the Doctrine and Covenants. But I started reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish during my language study and I was suprised that I notcied different things as I was reading in Spanish. Right now I am just focusing on building my knowledge of the scriptures so that I can have a well to draw from. And since we don't have investigators I don't really know what to study specifically for them.

9.  Take a picture of your district and your zone at your next meetings so I can put them in your scrapbook.  How big, geographically, is your zone? 

We took a zone picture and the zone leaders are supposed to send it to us... but I still don't have it. Copan is the biggest zone and Campana was pretty big. It extends all the way northward in the country. I don't know where the boudaries are.

10.  What has been the strangest food you’ve eaten this week? 

Nothing strange, actually. I had a giant calzone and banana juice. Ok, that was weird. Banana Juice...

11.  What has been the most unusual thing you’ve seen this week?  

There was a drunk man laying in the street yesterday...  but yeah, that's all.

12.  What have you learned about yourself this week? 

I really can't interrupt people. Hna A talks a lot during our lessons and I just cant inerrupt her even though she tells me to if I have something to say. I am just really timid.  And I really do know more Spanish than I think. I have a Latina companion and I have survived almost a week now speaking only Spanish to her!

13.  In what area do you think you’ve improved this week? 

My Spanish and just speaking it. I find myself a few times slipping into English and then I have to remember that Hna A doesn't speak a word of English... so yeah, I can't default to English anymore.

14.  Do you know that I love you SO much?  J  And we are proud of you? 

Always:)

15.  Do you have any new investigators this week?  How many lessons did you teach this week?  

Yeah.... like 2. Not really. I taught like 8-10 with Hna P on Tuesday and 4 with the trio and about 4 with Hna A this week which is still like nothing compared to Campana. Here citas (appointments) are every hour and in Campana they are every half hour because people live so close and because we teach a lot. But here, I guess because people live so far away, there are a lot less slots to fill in our planners.

16.  What is your favorite thing about Honduras?  About being a missionary? 

I wake up everyday in HONDURAS! Really though, who gets to say that? ITt feels real now that I don't live in America anymore, probably because I am in a house with Latinas now. But its just so beautiful and I love that I get to experience a way of life that is so different from anything I have ever done or will probably do again. I really like having a schedule all the time, which probably shouldn't be my favorite part of being a missionary but right now thats what I cling to is that we always have a plan.

17.  What did you do for P-Day this week?  How much money do you want me to put in your account for Christmas so you can buy Nutella or little gifts for Hna P and the other hermanas? 

Well, since I'm not in Campana with them anymore I don't know what I will buy them for gifts so don't worry about it. For P-Day I cleaned the bathroom because it's gross. Here they don't flush the toilet, they pour water from the street like tap water water down the toilet because it saves the water in our heated tank. The problem is that there often isn't tap water. So the bathroom and the house smell disgusting! So today I cleaned the shower and the bathroom. We did grocery shopping and a little laundry. Hna A and I went to a Honduran restaurant and it was super good! It reminded me of Ohana. I had BBQ chicken and chorizo. It was WAY good!

18.  Do you think you’ll have tamales for Christmas?  

I don't know what we will be doing for Christmas... In Campana I would have gotten tamales, but here we don't have plans for Christmas or anything so I have no idea.

19.  What has been the most beautiful thing you’ve seen this week? 

The view from the mountain of Santa Rosa

20.  What can we do to help support and encourage you? 

Keep writing me!!!!

In other things, my striped Ann Taylor shirt bled, too... UGH! If you could send a CTR ring, the cursive ones in a size 5 and a size 7, Hna C and Hna A want them and they want the English one and they don't know where else to get one so they asked if I would ask you. So if you could pick those up for them and, oh yeah, that could be their Christmas present...even though it will get here super late.

HAPPY (early) BIRTHDAY to Papa!

Oh and I had to give a talk. It was on missionary work and Hna C corrected it and it actually had a lot less errors than I thought it would!

Love you all!

Hermana Gisseman

The clouds in Campana between the mountains.  Isn't it beautiful?

Flowers

Eating topos. Its a Honduran popsicle..put whatever into a bag and freeze it and then eat it 

Hna A and I made the ornaments and gingerbread houses Mom sent! She loves things like that so we just made them.

Food at one restaurant. Chocolate cake and a huge strawberry smoothie! 

Me with the HUGE strawberry smoothie

This was my meal -- a calzone -- the biggest thing I've ever seen come out on a plate.  The picture doesn't do it justice!

Santa Rosa.  It's very hilly here.

Our house.  My desk is the one on the right

We even have sofas!!!

My desk.  I love getting things in the mail to hang on my wall (hint, hint)

Our kitchen.  There are no cabinets and no counter space so we have to store things on the floor.

A cat came in our house and got on my bed. We have to leave the back door open whenever we are outside or else we get locked out and I was doing laundry outside and the cat came in while I was out....

Our Christmas tree. (Thank you, Donna Ashwood!)  It was good that I couldn't find it before because I would have puit it up in Campana and then had to leave it! 

O Christmas Tree.....

The pink bag that I bought here to go around my waist to carry the weight better. SUPER glad I got it right before I came to Santa Rosa because with all the hills I would die with just a shoulder bag. 

Hna A and me

Our closet -- it's so big!

Our bedroom

Our bathroom.  The tub is filled with the water we use to flush the toilet because if we didn't do that it would use water from our heated tank so we use street water and flush with the water from the tub

Who needs a shower curtain?  SOOOOO weird!  Obviously only one person can be in the bathroom at a time since there's no privacy at all!

My lunch today.  The flat round things are either fried bananas or fried plantains.

Hna A bought me a lollipop today

Week 10

To address the email first, so yeah, apparently I just can't do math anymore. I would love to say I jut hit the wrong key, lol, but I meant 1-9th.  Sorry, this keyboard doesn't have punctuation... Hna P has been fine from the shot. I got the box with Christmas presents and the gingerbread house but I don't remember a vinyl tree...I will look through the box again though. Always DVDs if you want to send Disney movies.  We're allowed to watch those. 

I got a package from Angie this week! THANKS!!!!! I love the scarf, too, and the candied almonds are SOOO good! Oma and Opa sent me a really cute dachshund necklace -- I didn't know it was a Christmas preent so I opened it early.  Sorry!  But I love it!  People down here ask me what it is because they've never seen a dachshund before.  LOL

I did get the stress book the church put out and it does have good advice. A lot of it is stuff that I already  know or already try to do, but it's still helpful. That makes me laugh that Brie likes to compete with my gingerbread house. I deinitely feel weird not being at home for Christmas. Especially since it feels like summer here and not even Christmasy but its great. 

Pres Dester had good advice, but very direct advice which is good and what I need.  This is what he said,  Sister Gisseman, I have only a couple of thoughts for you. You say you feel frustrated that you have been here three weeks and haven't progressed. First, you have probably progressed more than you think. Many new missionaries feel just what you describe. It takes time (more than three weeks) to learn the language and to figure out how to be a missionary. It also takes patience. Second, I promise you that if you forget about yourself (how much you are learning, how much fun you are having, etc.) and focus on supporting and learning every little thing you can, the Lord will bless you for it, and He will magnify you so that you can help your  companionship accomplish His work. On the other hand, if you choose to dwell on everything that you wish were different, you won't accomplish or contirbute a thing, and the Lord will not bless you for it. Remember to count your blessings. I know that this will become easier with every week, and if you stop thinking about what you need and try to think about what everyone else around you needs, you will find yourself a very happy missionary. It's about "losing yourself" to "find yourself." I apologize if this sounds too direct, but with limited time, I have to make these e-mails honest and helpful in as few words as possible. Have a great week! Pres. Dester

So yeah, that was a slap on the wrist, but it's good and I know that I really  do need to be less selfish. We have transfers Wednesday and we will find out sometime today who is going.  

I doubt that we will get iPods or be able to use Facebook because no one here has internet so there is no point! I'm glad you got to spend time with Paula. I miss her! I just love how sassy she is!! She always makes me laugh lol and she's so thoughtful! I will be fine with any type of sandal, TEVA, Crocs whatever. But people say to send shoes in 2 packages, but it hasn't looked like my other packages had been opened or messed with at all, which reminds me we have separate mailing address for packages and I don't know if you have gotten it. The package from Angie had the right address but it's Mission Honduras San Pedro Sula Oeste, Apartado Postal 1956, San Pedro Sula Cortes Honduras CA. No, we don't get reimbursed for things like that but that's okay, since I'm so stingy I always have a lot of leftover money. 

1.  What was the highlight of your week? 

Familia B said in our last lesson with them that they were going to be baptized! They wanted a little more time, but they said they are going to get baptized on the 28th because they want to follow the Lord and walk in His path. It was awesome and definitely a very exciting moment for us. They are just so sweet! Hna D(the mom) invited us to go to the beach with them on a Pday and she has made us dinner and they gave us cake and juice. They are just always so thoughful and looking out for us. 

2.  What was the funnest/funniest thing that happened this week? 

Hna B and I stayed up talking... bad example. I should have been exactly obedient, but we assume she is leaving this week and we just started talking and then it was like 12... oops. But she is so great and we are so similar! We would be best friends in real life, LOL, not that this is fake life but you know what I mean. It was just nice to be able to talk to someone and I just love her!

3.  What was the spiritual highlight of your week? 

I was reading in my scriptures. I was having a really hard time in the beginning of the week and then I read 2 scriptures: 3 Nephi 5:13 and 11:41 and they were just a huge boost! Because I have been called to declare the word and I felt like these scriptures were just for me. 

4.  I love the story you told about E, your miracle investigator.  I especially love that you had the inspiration to go see if he was home one more time – because that was definitely inspiration.  How are things going with him?  How are things going with A and V?  Familia B?  S?  Familia H?  And your other investigators?  Who can we pray for and what specifically should we pray for for them? 

A and V are both baptized and V got the priesthood this past sunday. A is struggling  financially and one of her daughters was sick so this week was hard for her. But this week we are going to have her teach us how to make a Honduran dish so that will be fun and will give her extra food. S, we found out, is on an excursion with her school and won't be back until January 1st...so that's unfortunate. But when she returns we will pick up where we left off. Familia H is having a hard time coming to church. the 2 daughters, O and J, have come for 4 weeks in a row. Just this week Hno J, the dad, came with them. BUT they ALL came to the Christmas devotional and brought 2 other neighbors with them and they have asked us to teach their extended family when they come over for Christmas. I think that the daughters and the father will definitely be baptized and will set a good example for the mother and the son who aren't as ready. We are teaching a young man named J and they had been visiting him for a while, but only just now did he come to church. We are hoping that he will keep coming. He has a great desire to follow Christ and do what's right, he just needs to be sure that this is right for him. Another investigator, C, is super great and is so receptive, but doesn't want to come to church. She had a bad experience 2 years ago when she went once and some of the youth were laughing and she thought they were laughing at her and she swore to never go back to our church and we found out that she is pregnant and so that's going to make the law of chastity lesson kind of awkward...but they are all great. Those are our main investigators as of now. We are struggling with having progressing investigators. We teach a lot of lessons every week, this week we taught like 50, but we only have a handful who are actually progressing. 

5.  Were you able to have more personal study this week?  What stuck out to you this week in your personal study? 

Yeah. I made a goal for myself that if we didn't have study in the morning, I would take the time to study personally. I finished up Mormon this morning so I am almost finished. But over and over in the scriptures is the example of just one person making a great impact. Abinadi who was the one who preached to the wicked and Alma, the only one who listened to him. But at the same time, there is on the other hand the one wicked person who can persuade people to fall away. I just thought it was very interesting the great effect even one can have on the rest. 

6.  How often do you have district meeting and zone meeting?  What are those meetings like? 

We have district meeting every Tuesday, but our whole zone meets in the same building so we usually have a zone game or spiritual thought after. We just show up and talk about our investigators with baptismal dates. We usually focus on a section out of Preach My Gospel and do some practices. 

7.  How has the weather been this week? 

HOT! It's hot again which I appreciate. 

8.  What has been the strangest food you’ve eaten this week? 

I haven't really eaten anything strange. We had jamaica which is a drink made from flowers. It kind of tastes like cranberry juice. But it was really good

9.  What has been the most unusual thing you’ve seen this week?  Your biggest “Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore” moment of the week? 

Well, in sacrament meeting yesterday a dog just walked in and I was like WHAT in the world! So that was pretty funny and really weird. But also we will just walk by peoples houses and they will burn their trash in the street and that's really weird, too, since there isn't a public trash system out here,

10.  What have you learned about yourself this week? 

I get really intimidated when we teach couples. I am fine when we teach just a woman, but when men are there it really intimidates me. 

11.  In what area do you think you’ve improved this week? 

We got a little better at sharing while we teach. 

12.  Where do you think Amy  will end up going on her mission? 

I'm feeling Japan. That's so exciting that she's going! She's going to be great! 

13.  Do you know we love you to the moon and beyond?  And we are so proud of you?  And we miss you? 

YES

14.  What new investigators do you have this week?  How many lessons did you teach this week? 

51 lessons and 21 new investigators...but they aren't promising... everyone wants to hear the word of God here but no one will act on it. But yeah, nobody golden this week, unfortunately. 

15.  Any more water outages this week?  

Nope, the water is back and the rain is gone. Thank goodness!

16.  What did you do for P-Day this week? 

We went over to the other Hermanas, there are 3 sets of hermanas  in our ward, and watched the movie Charly. We went to Wendy's for lunch and later we will probably nap and I will finish my laundry. Fun stuff.

17.  How often do you get to see/meet with Pres Dester?  Do you e-mail him weekly?  Does he reply to your e-mails? 

I only saw him at zone conference. As far as I know he doesn't come to anything else. But we email him every week and he always replies. 

18.  Any idea when you’ll know how you’re going to call home for Christmas? 

I have no idea... 

19.  How are your clothes holding up to washing them in the pila? 

Just fine! I'm a pro at washing clothes by hand now. lol

20.  Are there any interesting Christmas traditions in Honduras? 

All I know of is making tamales for the holidays.

Hna P and I had a great companionship inventory and now things are a lot better. We are trying to share lessons more and just be better friends. We were able to laugh and just keep planning and were super productive and we exceeded all of our goals this week. But yeah, in case anyone was wondering missionaries are not perfect and I am still me. lol. 

In other news, a dog ate one of the straps on my brown athletic Crocs, But I just cut off the strap and now they are Croc flats instead of Mary Janes and everything is fine and I don't leave my shoes on the porch anymore. My Downeast Basics skirt from Easter bled! I was super bummed! It still looks fine, though. It was just weird since it has been washed and everything. The pila just does strange things I guess. So yeah, color remover would be great.  

Oh another spiritual moment, I was reading in the Liahona and Elder Holland said something to the translation of God doesn't laugh at us. We are never the end of a malicious joke becasue God is God and He is just and loving. Sometimes I'm just like, I wonder if He is laughing at me right now, but NO because He loves us and wouldn't do that to us. He refers to Alma 42 when Alma talks to Corianton and he teaches that God is 1, JUST and 2, merciful. The fact that He is merciful is the ultimate expression of His love for us. Because He is just and we cannot return to His presence because we are imperfect, He provided mercy because He loves us. I just never thought about it in that way before, if that makes any sense. 

I got a letter from Grace Clark. She asked that you call her if I would like to keep getting mail from her. I think she is a fried of Grandma Cherril's and is related to us somehow. But her number is (deleted) if you want to call and tell her I really enjoyed getting her letter!

AND MIRACLE OF THE WEEK.....I GOT MY STUFF BACK (packet of information from the MTC that I lost the first day in Honduras)!!!! It was actually during our planning after I was in a bad mood, my stuff arrived. It was really cool, too, because the night before I jsut was feeling so terrible. I just asked that I would be able to see some sign of His love to let me know I could do it and the next day my stuff came! It was awesome!

Anyway, love you all

Hermana Gisseman

At A's baptism last week

At V's baptism last week

Thanks for the cute necklace, Oma and Opa!  I love it!

Last week I had a colorful meal...this meal this week wasn't as colorful -- eggs and tajadas (fried green bananas or plantains)

I put a mud mask on my face yesterday

It was so hazy outside this morning!

Week 9

Today is my 2 month mark!!! Woohoo! 1/9th through my mission.  LOL

Ok so to start off answering questions in the email....I got 2 packages from you this week along with a whole bunch of letters. Everyone was jealous because I got the biggest package.  LOL I got 2 letters from Aliscea and 2 from Alexa. I got a letter from Aunt Becci and one from Mom and one from Tania:) THANK YOU for the Nutella!!!!!

Unfortunately my MTC binder and notes have not been found yet.  :/ I seriously doubt if they will ever find their way back to me but I still pray everyday for them, too. 

When families fix us dinner it depends on their living conditions as to whether they are in the room while we eat. Lots of people only have one room to their houses so we sometimes eat outside. Usually they will check on us after we are about halfway through the meal, but typically they just let us eat in silence. There is no meal calender like in the states. The bishop's wife makes us lunch every Wednesday. We have lunch with a less active family once a week. Every Sunday we have lunch with a family in the ward...and they make very interesting food. We have dinner with another less active family every week too. Other than that the rest of our meals are on our own. 

Feel free to send me any disney movies--except Monsters University and Wreck it Ralph because I got those ones. We just buy them at the grocery store. There is a stand that sells them. People sell them on the street, too...I'm sure they are just copies, but that's all people have here. 

Angie did not get baptized on Thursday, but she did get baptized on Saturday with Victor, but not at the same time. There was a service at 3:00 and one at 5:00. I felt really bad becasue the water was so cold and then it was raining outside and now she has a cold.  :( She forgot a towel, too! 

We have changes on the 11th (we have only 4 weeks this time so people can go home for christmas)

 

Anyway, I love Ms. Swanson -- she is so sweet.  :) They are so great! 

You can send me lavender oils if you want, but I can survive. and I think that a 1/2 inch binder should be fine, but if you think I would use a 1 inch then you can send that.  And some of the cloth headbands that are kind of wide that girls wear when they don't wash their hair...i don't know how to describe them but they are like knit usually and a circle and people wear them right on their hairline... because we don't wash our hair everyday here and mine is always up so a headband might be nice.

Hna Dester doesn't speak Spanish but Pres Dester translates for her. She is trying to learn though. 

1. What was the highlight of your week?

 

We went to the beach today for P-Day. The ONLY beach in our mission: Omoa. It was really pretty, but there was no sand or anything. But we ate at a resaurant that had a deck above the water:) It was just nice to get out. We went as (mostly) a zone so it was fun to get to talk to other people. We could see Guatemala from the beach! And the mountains were gorgeous!!!! 

2. What was the funnest/funniest thing that happened this week?

We had dinner at the other Hermanas' casa -- there are 3 sets of hermanas in Campana and 2 of us live together. But one hermana was playing music and then everyone started dancing and it was really funny.

3. What was the spiritual highlight of your week?

We were teaching who I think of as our miracle investigator, Eleu, who was the investigator who walked up to us and said teach me! Well, not exactly but that's essentially what he said. So all of our appointments had fallen through and we had like an hour and I thought -- well it was probably the Spirit -- that we should go see if Eleu was home one more time because we had stopped to see him like 3 times. So we went and he was just sitting on his front porch and we went to teach him and he is just great! So we are teaching and asked him about prophets and he was like "I will be honest, I have never read the Bible and I don't know anything about them." So Hna Pickett asked him why he wanted us to come teach him. And he said, "I don't know. I just got a feeling that I should learn the word of God. It jsut seemed like a good thing to do." And so we just kept teaching him and then we asked if he would say the closing prayer and he said "I don't know how. I have never prayed in my life." So we taught him and then he prayed like he had been a member his whole life. It was pretty awesome! He's just super great! 

4.  Where are you in your scripture study right now and what stuck out to you this week in your personal study?

Well...we haven't had personal study this week except for like 2 days. We had to go to San Pedro Sula this week because Hna Pickett got bitten by a dog and had to get a shot. We never have personal study  on Sundays because of church. We don't have personal study on Tuesdays because of District/zone meetings. And we don't have it on Mondays becasue it's Pday and we clean and go to Puerto. It really frustrates me, but I am trying to get in as much study as I can. The last I read was in Helaman. I was reading the letter that some Lamanite leaders wrote to the Nephites and just realized how many of Satan's tactics to tempt us were found in that letter. Satan will flatter us. He will make sin seem like the right thing to do. He will tempt us by saying that if we don't sin, something bad will happen -- like he puts pressure on us to do something. I just thought that that was an interesting parallel. 

5. Are your Crocs wearing out quickly?  

They are doing fine for now. I try not to wear the same pair 2 days in a row though. I should be fine for another little while. 

6. When you have baptisms at the church, do you have to haul in water to fill the font?

Our chapel is new and pretty nice so there is a font. We just turn on the water and it fills. 

7. Have you had to speak in church yet?  Or play the piano or lead music?

I have not. Hna Bahr plays the piano and someone from the ward leads the music. I did get asked to lead the hymn for Angie's baptism. Which really involves giving them the tune and just singing loud lol. People cannot carry a tune here to save their lives!!!

8. The big pink hibiscus flower you sent a picture of last week was gorgeous!  Are there many beautiful plants and flowers there?

YES!!! There are lots of pretty flowers. I took pitures of some of them. But, yeah, it's so pretty and everything is really green which reminds me of Georgia! Which reminds me that on the bus today there was a plaque that said, "Blue Bird, made in Fort Valley Georgia" :) It made me smile

9.  What are you doing for P-Day this week?

We went to the beach like I said. We still need to do grocery shopping and such. 

10. How is la familia Buh doing?  And Senia?  You said she is the first investigator that got to be yours – what does that mean?  Has she been to church yet?  How is Familiar Hueso doing?  And Familia Sabillon?  And how are Angie and Victor?  Did they get baptized?

So Famlia Buh did not come to church so they can't get baptized this week. We went by to wake them up and everything and nope. I found her with Hna Pickett. We keep records of everything we teach to investigators and at the top of the page it has a spot for the names of the hermanas that found them, so Senia was the first one who has my name on the page! She didn't come to church either and she wasn't home any of the times we stopped by, but we left a Book of Mormon for her and hopefully she is reading it. Familia Hueso is half progressing. Two of their daughters always come to church and could be baptized but none of them feel like they have gotten an answer to their prayers yet and the parents still haven't come to church! UGH Familia Sabillon...we vistited them again this week in the rain and mud...we took a member with us (luckily) and he had to help us climb up the hills without falling. But she said that they aren't sure if they will be able to get married now... she says they don't have the money. Which I don't believe because they are one of the more well off families that we teach. I don't know... But we already paid the 200 lempira for them to get one of their certificates they need to get married. The river we had to cross to get to them was even higher than last time becasue of the rain!!!  Angie and Victor are great! Victor even got up in church to bear his testimony on Sunday:)

11.  What has been the strangest food you’ve eaten this week?

I had some sort of fried fish at the restaurant today. They brought out the whole fish on my plate...it was staring at me, lol. It wasn't bad, though, but definiteloy not my favorite

12. Are you getting to eat dinner in the evenings yet?

We eat. I'm fine. We usually have a big lunch and so making it to 8:00 for dinner isn't terrible. Really, I'm fine. 

13.  What have you learned about yourself this week?

I know exactly how I learn and exactly what I need in order to progress in the language. I need to memorize some phrases in my missionary books. Then I need someone to teach me the flow of a lesson, scriptures that they like to use or analogies, the main points of the lesson, then I need to practice by myself putting things together so I have a bank of things to draw from. Then I need to practice teaching someone else. But if I don't have anyone taech me, then I just feel lost. I need a script to learn before I can improvise. Anyway, I had that realization this week on a crappy day when I was studying by myself. And then when I felt like I could teach it I asked Hna Pickett if I could teach her and then I did and it was awesome. So now we can solidly teach ayuno--fasting. lol 

14.  Where/what do you feel like you’ve improved this week?

I don't know... I wish I could say in the language or with patience. But I really just don't feel like I have progressed much in anything. Other than the fact that I can understand more and more and that I recognize more places and people. 

15.  Do you know we love you SO much?  And are so proud of you?

Yes:)

16. How is the language coming along?  Can you ask Hna P to speak more Spanish with you at home so you can get more comfortable/confident with the language? Yeah...I have and it doesn't happen. I pretty much tell her, "Speak Spanish to me!!!!!!" and she doesn't.

17. What is the most beautiful thing you’ve seen in Honduras?

The green mountains. They are just so pretty! And they are layered with different colors of green. They aren't rough or jagged like Utah mountains, but they are soft and just super pretty

18.  What has been the most unusual/strangest thing you’ve seen?

I have now seen 3 people using the bathroom in the street which is gross. 

19.  What new investigators do you have this week?

We contacted a woman making tortillas, there was a kid who just showed up at church with another family and he is like 9 and we started teaching his family. And, yeah, that's really all the new ones that I can remember althogh I know there are more. We teach a lot of people!! 

20. What can we do to be better member missionaries and to support and encourage you better?

Just keep writing and sending emails:)

Okay, so to answer questions to Aunt Becci--I can make rice crispies here. I really like anything with chocolate or anything that is sweet as far as food goes. I'm really not too picky. The weather here was hot, but this week it was REALLY cold! And it rained. Really out of nowhere it just got super cold! And we don't wear any hose here becasue it is too hot and too wet!

So speaking of the cold...There was a day that I wore both jackets that I have! It's crazy! It's not that it is eally that cold, but it mists and then the wind blows and it gets really chilly! But I am surviving, don't worry! Today the sun came out so that was nice. I think it will be like this until February--that's what I have heard people say because we are in rainy season now. Bummer. Can't work on my tan anymore. 

I ate some of the jellybeans from Mom and the black ones reminded me of Papa:)

Oh, so since it was so rainy, the water in our house went out. And we didn't have any water in the shower for three days. So I showered with a bucket full of water from the pila. It was great. Third world problems:)

This week was full of super interesting things. Hna P got bitten by a dog so we had to go to San Pedro. Well, she doesn't know her way around San Pedro so we got off at a bus stop and after a few blocks she looks at me and says she doesn't know where she is. So we ask people for directions and then we still can't find it and then we ask again and then find out that there are two 6th Streets which is where we got off, just at the wrong one. So then they couldn't decide which of the two different church chapels we were supposed to be going to. So we start walking with these poeople who were going to show us the way and we passed a park that Hna P recognized and then she knew we were going to the wrong one and she was freaking out the whole time and usually I would be the one freaking out and I just wasn't. But we found the church and all was fine. Then on the way home our bus ran into another bus... it just scraped the side of the bus and bent the mirror so it was fine but it was quite an adventure. Then we had Victor's baptismal interview and the elders showed up an hour late to it jsut as we were about to leave. Like I said, I showered with a bucket. It was quite interesting. BUT I am suriving and I really do love the mission. 

Oh, and arroz con leche is rice with milk and it's hot and really good

les amo mucho!!

Hermana Gisseman

A tree blew down in front of our house

The front of the house without the tree in front of it

This is what the skies look like this time of year

My Thanksgiving dinner (this makes two holidays in a row the Silly Putty we sent her has come in handy.....)

The castle they went to today

The view from the beach

At the beach

My lunch at the restaurant today