Sunday April 7, 2024
General Conference weekend has come and gone again. It seems that they are always so good, and this weekend conference seemed better than ever. The Elders and Hermanas were here for Saturday morning and afternoon session, and Hermana Chappell fixed a wonderful turkey dinner/lunch for everyone. It was also meaningful because it is our "Last Supper" before transfers which are Thursday of this week. The next transfer which will be in 6 weeks is also on Thursday, May 23, then the next transfer will change back to Tuesday which will be on July 2, which is when we go home. There is a large group of missionaries leaving that transfer, including a lot of gringos.
We experienced a miracle yesterday. The electrical power here is mostly on, with periodic outages lasting anywhere form 30 seconds to hours. Mostly they are unexpected and at random times during the day or night. There are other times when there are expected outages which are scheduled and posted on the ENEE web page. Last Monday, a week ago today, a member of the branch posted the announcement that there was going to be no electric power on Sunday April 7. So plans were made that everyone was invited to the church on Sunday to watch conference there, because they have a generator which will allow everyone the opportunity to watch at the church. The branch in Telamar does not have a generator so they were all going to come over as well. There is no air conditioning in either of the churches here, but they do have ceiling fans that help, but it is still hot. So we were not too excited about that but we decided we would go and participate. The car would be there so Colleen planned on sitting there with the A/C on and listen in English. Not the best option but with no power it is limiting as to what you can do. It is normally on Sunday when we do the "Last Supper" but since there was going to be no power that is why we did that on Saturday while there was electricity to cook with and to be able to be here where we do have A/C. After the meal or while eating we go around and each share a spiritual experience that we have had during the previous 6 week time while here in Tela, or earlier, depending on one's own feelings and as the spirit directs. Hermana Puac shared about the fact that I think it was about 6 months ago her younger sister passed away, and how difficult that has been for her. She wanted to go home, but after visiting with President Ostler, he told her that if she went home she would not be allowed to return, and that made the decision even more difficult. She said that she wanted to be with her family but that she thought that she would spend a week or so there with them and then return but when he told her that she couldn't do that, she was so distraught. She wanted to be with her family but knew also that she needed to be here. Her younger sister was sick before Hermana Puac left on her mission but they were working to diagnose what was going on and they felt confident that they would see each other again. But then with the diagnosis of Lupus, they treated her but she passed away very soon after diagnosis, I wonder if they really knew exactly what she had, they are from Guatemala, which is an upgrade in medical expertise from Honduras but still not what we are so blessed to have in the USA. It has been so very difficult to not have been home with her mom and other sister. Her parents are divorced and she apparently isn't too close to her dad, she just kept saying her mom and sister is who she wanted to be with. Which is totally understandable. The blessing of being able to call home every week and spend time on the phone with them has helped her to be able to cope and move on as best as she can being here. She is feeling better about her decision to stay on the mission, but it is still hard. She still has 9 months until her time is over here and then she will be so very happy to be able to get home. There are so many experiences of faith trials, that people have, but listening and sharing with other missionaries, it is so common that they each have very challenging experiences that they have to deal with. No one has an easy experience as we go through life or more especially as we are serving the Lord on our mission. So often it is said that we and our families are blessed while we are away from them serving the Lord, but it seems to me that quite often those blessings are not exactly what are expected. We have felt that some in our experience here, and the question is often asked, why? It is never easy but like Hermana Lopez said once, that even if she had stayed home or if she went home early, the family situation would probably have played out in the same way and we would still have a "broken family" with questions about how can this be. Challenges are very real and I don't have the answer other than the Lord has promised that blessings will come to the faithful and obedient, sooner or later. It seems like it is not quite what or when we want, and it takes great faith to say, "OK, Lord, it is in your hands, I cannot control what is going on." Other wonderful testimonies and experiences were shared as well. We always enjoy this experience, at least I think they all do, maybe it is just me, but I know that I really enjoy this spiritual experience that we have once per transfer after we have been together for 6 week, and have gotten comfortable with each other, it makes it so we can share what we have in our heart and mind. So back to the miracle,,, we found out Saturday that they had canceled the scheduled power outage for Sunday, yea!!! We could stay at home and enjoy the conference here with A/C :) We were happy. By this time the missionaries had already made plans to watch conference with member or investigator families so on Sunday morning it was just Colleen and I here, which was wonderful, then at noon the Elders texted and asked if they could come over for the afternoon session which of course we said yes, so Elder Nielson, who is from Salt Lake, and Colleen and I watched the TV in English and Elder Rosario who is from Dominican Republic watched on his phone in spanish. We feel like it was in a very real sense a blessing from our Father in Heaven that we were able to experience conference like we did. I don't mind watching conference in a group setting, we used to go to the evening priesthood session every time in the Stake Center and we even had the opportunity once to go to the conference center to watch it. But it seems to me like it is more personal being at home with those we love while listing to the messages they have prepared for us. There were so many wonderful words of council and direction given. I am looking forward to re-listening and studying more in depth their inspired messages.
It was fun to see Elder Godoy speak on Sunday afternoon, he and his wife were here for the misionwide conference we had in March. So that was fun.
Here is a picture of Dilcia and Raul watching conference in their house, kinda cool, I like pictures like this. It shows their humble family participating in the worldwide conference.
These two sweet sisters are going home this week after completing their mission, Colleen gets so attached to some of these wonderful sweet missionaries, the bond is very real. It is always amazing to see the new missionaries arrive, like little kids on a great adventure but then when they are at the end of their time here, they are so much more mature and confident. Hermana Carías, and Hermana Rodríguez both are so sweet.
Here are two animal pictures from this week, Colleen likes the roosters here, they are rather majestic. The geckos that are in the house and outside are usually small, like a Utah lizard, but then there others that are much bigger here, and when I see them I would rather that they stayed away. This one was out on the pila and for some reason didn't seem to be able to get out even though normally they can walk up any wall. So Elder Nielson got a long stick and leaned it up against the wall to allow him to climb it to get out. We didn't ever see the thing go out, but we are not seeing him out in the little patio area either, so we are hoping it is gone.
Megan, Reggie, and Wyatt went to the Manti temple open house this past week and sent us these two pictures. They were in a line outside for a long time waiting to get in but they said that they loved the experience. I am glad we have been able to see the pictures posted on line from the church. It looks much the same as it has been, but we look forward to going back again after we get back home. We talked with Kevin and Nancy this past week too and they have been ushers several different days during the openhouse and share a couple of their experiences with us, one that I thought I would share here. There was a family going through the tour and one of the rooms in the tour is the large Priesthood room which is the entire top floor. While they were in this large open room, the young boy tugged at his dad's coat and said, "Dad, dad, dad". Finally he got his dad's attention and said "Why are there so many Angles flying around the room and in and out of all the windows in here?" I feel like we all should be more humble and childlike and we would probably see more of the divine interventions and miracles that are sent our way.
We went out to "La Ensenada" and "Triúnfo de la crúz" this past week and took a few pictures. These are "Garífuna" communities and the Aránda family live out there. It really is beautiful in some of these areas.
Except for where it is not beautiful, because of the local garbage dump, which seem to be scattered everywhere.
I saved the best picture for last, Todd sent this picture that was taken I think last Sunday. The kids are all growing up so fast, it sure is great to see pictures of the family. We love them all so much and look forward to times when we can be together again. Love you all!!!
Jayden is 14, Turner is 12, Declan is 7, Myaela is 5, and Juliet is 2.
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