Sunday March 24, 2024

We walk out to the beach in the evening sometimes to unwind, listen to the waves, and feel the moist breeze.  It is relaxing and we enjoy getting out there when we can.  We have taken so many picures of sunsets from the beach near our house.  Even though the beach is close, we don't get out there often enough.  From our house we walk down to the end of the street, which is a dirt road, then across a soccer field, then through the cemetery and then we go through a small area with palm trees and there we are.  Speaking of palm trees, today is Palm Sunday.  The beginning of "Semana Santa",  Holy week.  I think that in Honduras it is a major holiday for an entire week.  The people here in Tela who make their money from the tourism are working overtime, and the rest of the country comes here for holiday.  The beaches are full of people.  They have set up tents, with food/drink/music for all to enjoy.  Even though I don't see what there is to enjoy about all the food and drink here.  

There is a section of road that we have to travel most every day that during the weeks, for the rest of the year is just an empty lot, then weekends come and the lot fills up with yellow school busses which bring people from who knows where to the beach.  Now though, they have these big blue shade things set up with space in the back with coolers and kitchens to prepare food and drinks, with lots of seating.  This week is the big week to be in Tela.  It has always been a weekend Easter, or Easter Sunday, back home, but it is really a different event here.  

We have this little filter hooked up to the kitchen sink which filters the water that comes through the kitchen tap.  It is the only tap in the house with a filter.  It is basically river water that runs through the pipes and which is what we use for household use. We use bottled water to drink, fix food with,  and brush our teeth.  We shower and wash clothes in the tap water, and in the kitchen we fill pans with filtered water, then boil it to use for washing the dishes.  We may be over cautious but I feel like we have prevented illness and bacteria by taking these precautions.  Colleen has had stomach problems for some time so this past week she did some testing and she has no parasites, so I feel like being cautious with the water has paid off in keeping us as healthy as we are.  

Our washer and dryer are outside in the back in this enclosed patio.  Notice the razor wire wrapped around above the wall,  I feel like we are pretty safe here, but everywhere you go, there are walls around everywhere for protection.  It is a little odd going out and doing laundry in the rain, but mostly it is dry and semi convenient to go out to do the laundry.  It will be nice though to be able to do laundry from inside the house when we get back home...  the little things that make life easier and nicer that we take for granted so much of the time.  

We had Stake Conference here today in Progreso Stake,  the good thing is that they broadcast it to our two branches here so we did not have to travel to Progreso to participate.  Even better though was that we had a zoom link to watch the Loa Utah Stake Conference which was today also, so we stayed home and watched the Loa Stake conference.    It was so nice to hear English speakers, English music and to see and hear from old friends and neighbors again.  We still had to make our regular trip out to the Quince to bring our family in to church, but then we just came home and sat down in front of the tv to watch.  Colleen was in the kitchen all morning fixing Sunday dinner for us, and the Elders and the Hermana's, it was yummy, as always.  

More tourist attractions set up to lure guests in for the food and drink.  The next one is Colleen looking back from the beach looking towards the cemetery, our walk back home from the beach.  The cemetery has burial plots like normal but they bury families on top of each other, so there is probably one or two underground then they go up with them one or two more above ground.  We took some small bottles out to the beach with us this week and put sand in the bottles to save as recuerdos from Tela and the beach here.  Colleen in her dress and me in t shirt and shorts  :)

We went out as leadership of the Tela Branch to visit some branch members this afternoon.  There are some members of the church who live in such poverty.  They have electricity, most all of them but most of them are like this one picture that shows the power line coming in, then jumpers installed instead of a meter so they don't have to pay for the power.  There are alot of places around like that.  We blessed the sacrament for some, gave blessings, said prayers and offered encouragement to all.  I am so blessed to have been born and raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  We have done our best to provide those teachings and examples for our children and grandchildren as well.  We have a long way to go, but this "Enduring to the end", is a lifetime of clinging to covenants and doing those things every day that help us along the path.  This week is Semana Santa,  Holy week,  I am so grateful for our Savior and His teachings, life, example and most of all His willingness to come to earth, give us the gospel and then to die for each of us.  I am so grateful for the blessing of the resurrection and the plan of salvation that helps us to have faith to carry on every single day.  God lives, I know that, and I am so grateful for that blessing in my life.  Colleen and I have been so blessed to have been able to experience this mission and this land, and people of Honduras.  We have learned and grown so much.  Thank you to each and every one of our family and loved ones who have prayed for us while we have been here.   I know that it has been such a help and a blessing and an answer to our prayers so often to have been blessed by each one of you.  I am so thankful we didn't grow up and live and raise our families in conditions like they face here.  I am so blessed.