Sunday September 24, 2023
Well, we are back in Tela again after spending one wonderful week in California and then one wonderful week in Salt Lake. We were so fortunate to see many friends and family members while there. This picture is after lunch with Megan and Wyatt. It was a great two week break from the mission, sort of, Hermana Chappell still took calls and messages from sick missionaries the whole time we were there. She had to keep up with her regular nurse duties the same there as she does while here in Honduras. It wasn't easy but she did it. It takes a lot of time to keep up with it all. You know me, I am all about food, and it was so great to eat "American" again for two weeks, even though it was Thai, Indian, Mediterranean, and good ole american food, it was all so awesome. On Monday when we were in Heber I had a bowl of strawberries and raspberries, it was so good. They don't have strawberries or raspberries, or any berries that I have seen, here, it was good to just have regular food again. We were able to enjoy food again, even though the food that we eat here is mostly what we fix ourselves, we do not spend a lot of time fixing food. Hermana Chappell is a great cook but there are a lot of things lacking here to make what we are used to fixing.
We went to Texas Roadhouse and had a great Steak dinner one night, of course we had to take a picture, we will not be eating like that again for a while. The really great thing about this trip back to the States is that it is almost exactly at the halfway point in our mission. Oct 2 will be our oficial halfway mark, with our return date being July 4, 2024. It still seems a long way off but it really is only 9 months, and I expect it will go even faster than our first 9 months.
I got a Shake Shak cheeseburger and fries and a shake for my last meal in Utah. It was so good. When we got here to Honduras there were several missionary issues going on that Hermana Chappell had to tend to so while eating lunch after arriving here she was on the phone.
There was a change in the Branch Presidency last Sunday, while we were in Utah. President Hernández was released and President Garcia was sustained, I stayed a counselor and Alonzo Romero is a counselor as well. I was the only counselor in the previous Branch Presidency. It is a good move and I feel like things will be changing for the better now.
President Garcia is much younger than President Hernandez was and he has a different attitude on how the church is to function in our lives. I am looking forward to serving with them for the next 9 months. I understand the Spanish much better now than I did when I was first put in with President Hernandez, which will help too, but the feeling is much better now. We also took a picture of the Young Men in the Branch....
Of the nine young men, there are three in the picture that I have no idea who they are, there are normally only 5 at the most that attend regularly, one of which was not there today, but it will be great to serve with this group of men.
Before leaving Salt Lake we went over to President and Hermana Ostler's house to get some things that they wanted us to bring to Honduras for them. Their son Josh had everything ready for us to pick up for the Ostlers, and we brought a suitcase full of "Essentials" from Utah to get us through the next few months as well.
At the airport in Salt Lake we had lunch with a big group of missionaries who were on their way to Brazil to serve, they were all pretty excited. It is always great to be with the missionaries, they always have such a great spirit with them.
Getting back to Tela, and to Honduras was an interesting experience. Being in California and Utah was great but also weird at the same time. It was so great to be back but we were not able to go home, which was just not possible and having to wear the missionary attire, and name tags mostly the whole time was great but weird. Having been here already made it easier to come back in a way, because we know now much more about what to expect and how things are. But it was still hard to leave home and family again. Getting back here reminded us again of how life is here. The water has been extra dirty since we arrived, we have to clean the shower head during a shower because it keeps plugging up, the electricity was off today for about 5 hours, including during church so there were no fans to keep it cooler but there was no microphone and with the busy street out front, all the doors and windows are open, like it always is, it was impossible to hear any of the speakers. We have no piano for any of the hymns, so that is an interesting experience. The basic notes are sung but it is always way off key and everyone sings out anyway, it doesn't matter. The music next door was still playing when I got up at 1:30 to go to the bathroom. All the noise and the dirty everything, is just life here. We will miss it all when we get back home I suppose. For now this is our home, our responsibility and our service to those around us.
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