Sunday March 17, 2024

This past week has been busy, but good, mostly :)   Elder Godoy from the quorum of the 70 was here and so we had a missionwide conference in La Lima, as a whole mission.   That is the first time since we have been here that that has happened.  A year ago Elder Giuffra from the quorum of the 70 was here also but they had two separate conferences.  It was really great to have everyone in the mission all together this week on Thursday in La Lima.   There are around 160 missionaries total in the mission, and we are spread out across northern Honduras, and out in two islands north of the mainland.  So for everyone to travel to La Lima was quite a task for some.  For us it is about a 2 hour drive, others are 6 - 8 hours, partly because they are on buses that have to stop every so often rather than in a car like us where we stop every so often too, but not the same.  Those that had to come in from Roatán and Utila, probably took the longest partly because they have to catch the ferry when it is scheduled.  All of them that had to travel long distances made most of the trip the day before and stayed with missionaries who live closer.  Those from the islands didn't get home until the next day,  but in my opinion it was worth it just to all be together.  It is great to see everyone and experience the conference together.  They didn't allow a lot of time after for people to sit around and visit but there was time to see those most important ones.  Hermana Chappell was busy because there were several with medical conditions that she needed to see and help, she saw most of the ones that she needed to but there were a couple of Elders that left then called her later.  It is helpful to see them depending on the situation but most of the time it is a phone consult anyway.  It was so good to see those missionaries who had been here in our area earlier.  Hermana Lopez seemed happy but of course it is just different when they move on to other areas.  

After spending from 6 to 12 weeks here with these sweet young Elders and Hermana's it is like they are family.  We share a lot of experiences with them that shape us into who we are.  The experiences are unforgettable and life changing.  The gospel of Jesus Christ is a beautiful thing, if we will allow it to enter our minds and hearts and then follow up with actions and choices, it really makes our lives much more meaningful.  I am so grateful for these experiences that we have here in this mission in Honduras.  Yes, there are people to serve and service to be offered everywhere we are,  but as Elder Quirós from Costa Rica said this past week, "I was busy in the ward and with the missionaries at home but after receiving the answer that I should go and serve a mission, I now know that there are experiences that we can have while serving in this capacity that only come because of this calling to be full time missionaries and wear this name tag."  He shared his testimony of the importance that young man have to serve a mission.  He has only been a member of the church for two years, him and his mom are the only members in his family and he has such a wonderful testimony.  He is, as they all are, so grateful for those missionaries who taught them the gospel.  They always remember their names and where they are from and the date they were baptized.  It is such a beautiful experience to hear the testimonies of "converts".  I think that too often "lifelong" members take so much for granted, as it is a more of a slow motion learn as we go and grow up with primary, young men, ets.  But ultimately, we all have to learn for ourselves that it is true.  I think the abrupt life changing event that some converts experience is so drastic or such a life changing event that for them it is more memorable. 

This is not the official picture taken at the mission wide conference, we don't have a copy of that yet, I hope that we get one, it will be a nice picture to have.  The missionaries come and go every month, so it is only one day and one group out of so many, but it is still great to look at all the faces and see how many we know so well.  Colleen knows so many more than me because she gets to talk with them when they have health issues.  Elder Mecham is standing front and center, knowing that Colleen is taking the picture, he is funny, he wanted to be front and center,  some are like that.  

We get little geckos in the house quite often, they say that it is better to have geckos, because they eat the bugs, so that helps a little, but still when you see them running around, in and out of shoes, etc, it is still a bit uncomfortable.  This little guy has more toes that normal.  At least from the distance we haven't noticed that the others are like this, maybe they are, I don't know but it is still a little creepy when they are running around in here.  They run, then stop and sit there for a while, and just sit there, then they run off again.  This one stayed on the electric cord for several hours, then when it went down and got on Colleens shoe, so she was able to kick it out the door to get rid of it.  Thanks for eating the bugs, but please stay outside, there are bugs out there you can eat.  

Wednesday was not a good day.  Colleen has had a bad stomach ache for days,  Meggan has given her  names of medication to take to help but she has gone so many days without hardly eating anything that she has no energy at all.  We had district council at the Telemar branch.  It is getting to the hot season again, which lasts from February to November, in our opinion.  Anyway, we went to district council and sat in the hot church from 10 till 12, noon.  There is no air conditioning so it was in a room with fans turned on but still hot.  After district council we always go somewhere and get lunch.  There are a couple places where we like to go that are inside with air conditioning, but this week they wanted to go to CJ Burger, and eat lunch at the beach.  We have been there so many times, and it is always great, they have little covered picnic tables set up all along the beach and it is fun to hear the waves and watch the people playing in the water while eating lunch.  The only problem was that it was so hot that day, like every day lately, while we were sitting in the shade and there was a slight breeze, but it was still hot and Colleen did not feel well at all.  She said, I need to go to the bathroom, which there is a public restroom there, a public restroom on the beach in Tela, not nice at all, the opposite of nice would be more likely but it was close so I said ok, and she walked off.  Pretty soon a lady came running over and said, there is a lady over here and she needs her husband.  Oh no!   So I went running over to where she had gotten to, another little picnic table set up near the restrooms, and she was sitting but leaning forward.  I got to her and she said, "I am going to pass out".   Oh great, here? now?  What am I going to do?  She didn't but she was sweating like crazy and could not move anywhere, she just leaned back against me and felt horrible.  The lady that came and got me was trying to help, but what could we do?  We finally got some paper napkins wet and rubbed her forehead, cheeks and neck, then they brought us some ice in a paper napkin, none of which was enough to get her cooled down and feeling any better.  The lady said, I know it sounds unconventional, but tradition is that a lime rubbed into her head and neck will draw out whatever it is causing the problem and help her to feel better.  We were like, do you have a lime?  Hoping and assuming that she wouldn't, but sure enough, there are limes everywhere here, so she cut it in half and began squeezing the lime juice all over her head and the back of her neck.  What were we to do?  I am pretty sure it didn't help but she had good intentions and Colleen couldn't really get to the car so we were hoping for the best.  After a couple minutes, this another guy came over and offered to call 911 to get us some help.  Well, when Colleen heard the word ambulance and the fact that she could potentially be on its way to attend to her, she gathered all her strength. We tried to carry her, which was unsuccessful, we only got her out of the shade and closer to the car, but now sitting in the sun.  She did with the help of me on one side and Elder Nielson on the other side make it out to where I had brought the car as close as I could to where we were.  Once inside we cranked the AC, and headed home, where we knew that once she was inside she could lay down and cool off and hopefully be ok.  I think she had heatstroke, but she doesn't think so.  Her sugar was ok so it wasn't that but she hadn't eaten enough in several days to get any energy so in the end I don't know why she got that way, she did not want to go to the local hospital or ER clinic.  Once we got home which is only about 5 minutes from where we were getting lunch, we sat in the car until she felt a little better then she was able to, with my help, get into the house and to the couch.  Elder Neilsen and Elder Rosario appeared at the house about 10 minutes later and said we are here to give Hermana Chappell a blessing,  which was very welcome and needed. It helped Colleen feel better at least it did soothe her soul. We talked with Meggan later that night and she told us about another medication that would help, so Colleen has been taking that since then, and I feel like has helped a lot.  The side effects though are almost as bad, her stomach does not hurt nearly as bad since starting it, but now she is constipated,  the side effects sometimes are almost as bad as the original problem.  Which is worse??????   What a week.  I sure hope she continues to feel better, with such a short time left, it would be nice if she could feel just a little bit better for these last few months.  It has been a difficult mission in so many ways, she has had so much stress and anxiety about so many things, mainly sick missionaries and how in the world do you help someone where there is really poor medical facilities.  Thank goodness for a mission Dr, and a mission health advisor,  (Colleen) who really cares about these wonderful young Elders and Hermana's.  

The official San Pedro Sula Este mission conference picture!! 160 wonderful Elders and Hermanas. 

                                                            A very awesome sight!