Saturday January 14, 2023

 What a crazy past 24 hours has been.  Yesterday, Friday January 13, we had finished up the training in Salt Lake so that was our day to make final preparations before leaving. We checked out of the hotel where we had been staying and picked up some final prescriptions to bring with us that were finally ready.  Then we went up to Heber City to spend the afternoon with Colleens parents.  Her brother Ray was there as well as her sister Carrie so that was awesome to be there together.  We had lunch, did laundry one more time and said our goodbyes. I called them see you laters because it really isn't that long till we will be all back together again.  We then went to Barrett's house, where Christine met us and brought us dinner.   We loaded up all our luggage in to Barrett's car and He and Christine took us to the airport where they helped us in with everything and stayed with us while we got everything checked in and we were ready to go through security.  It has been soooo great to have so many loving family members, my family, Colleens family and our family to help us along the way.  We really do love and appreciate each and every one of you more than you know.  It really has made this whole preparation process so much easier because of you.  Our flight departure was 11:50 pm, so after making our way through security we sat down and called both Todd and Meggan.  That was so helpful to me to spend a little time talking with them.   I love you both so much!!!!  Then came the time to begin boarding, knowing that we were really on our way.  The ride to Atlanta was.... I don't even know the word,  we were both very tired but it is so difficult to get comfortable enough to sleep in an airplane sitting straight up.  I dosed some but Colleen was not able to get any rest at all.  We got to Atlanta at 5:30 am then found our next gate for our next plane to San Pedro Sula Honduras which left Atlanta at 9:30 am. I fell asleep soon after getting on the plane and Colleen slept a little but after 3 hours we were landing.  It was very cloudy so we couldn't see ground till we were very low but it was a great first impression.  It looked like we circled the city some, flying over agricultural ground,  with what looked like trees, then other row crop plants as well.  There are green mountains off in the distance and a pretty good sized city in the middle of the valley.  Getting off the plane was a staircase rolled up to the plane, then we went inside the building where we had to show our passport, proof of Covid vaccination and then they took our fingerprints and took a picture.  Then we picked up our luggage and went out into the reception area and there was President and Sister Ostler and 6 Elders, with a great big sign.  It was so awesome to see them and feel so welcomed.  They took several pictures but I don't have access to any of them but I hope to so I will post them when I can.  We then went to the mission office where we took care of some business, instructions, some resource materials and new phones.  President and Sister Ostler then took us out to dinner, then we all went to their home.  We just got oriented when President and Sister Ostler had to leave to go to a Stake Conference.  We debated going but were so sleepy that we knew that if we did go we would probably just be sleeping there.  So we stayed here, got a shower and are now getting ready for bed.  I am looking forward to a good night sleep.  It is a very nice quiet home where I think we will be staying for a few days because he said that the house they have for us isn't quite ready yet.  They are doing some painting and repairs, updates before it will be ready for us.   My first impression as we stepped out of the plane was that is is very humid here, It was very overcast but not raining.  They all said that this is the coolest day they have had in a long time.  Maybe it was a blessing that it wasn't too hot on our first day here.  I am sure we will see plenty of hot days.  There are little children playing in busy intersections and cars and vans driving on the sidewalks when the streets get busy, lots of motorcycles and bicycles.  We even saw several horse drawn carts loaded with who knows what and several people and kids riding on them.  It has been a great first day.  Tomorrow we will go to Stake conference and meet a few people.  Besides that I have no idea what we will be doing.  I am so thankful for this opportunity and pray that we will measure up to the task before us!.