Sunday May 19, 2024

These past two weeks have been a bit crazy in the sense that there has been so much smoke and haze in the air.  There for a few days San Pedro Sula had the worst air quality in the world.  We hear all kinds of reasons why the air is so bad, but I feel like the reason most reliable is an article I read that said that there is a large high pressure system over Central America right now combined with recent thunderstorms that have ignited large wildfires throughout several Central American countries, so the smoke from the fires has just stayed trapped in the high pressure with nowhere to escape.  So the bad smokey air just kept getting worse for days.  Thankfully it has finally started to clear out.  We had to travel to La Ceiba this week and also to La Lima, they are in opposite directions from here in Tela, so we were able to see that it has been about the same throughout this northern part of Honduras.  Hermana Ostler sent a picture yesterday of the sky over San Pedro Sula and there was actually blue sky,  the top picture, and the bottom picture is one that Hermana Chappell took yesterday here in Tela, so at least it is clearing out somewhere.  Today it seemed a bit better so hopefully within a few days we can be back to better air quality.  Doris has Emphysema so this bad air has been especially rough for her.  There have been missionaries with complaints of burning eyes and allergy like symptoms in the sinus, and lungs.  For those with asthma and other breathing problems it can create difficult breathing situations.   It has been a while since we have had any rain and it is has been quite dry lately, still very humid air, but dry dusty roads.  A bit of rain might help clean up the air and help to put out any remaining fires, since I don't think that there is the infrastructure here to send out people equipped to extinguish wildfires.  Which I don't think happens all that often here, as tropical as it normally is.  I do not remember it being at all like this a year ago.  It has been extra hot here as well, many people say that it is so much hotter than normal.  Lots of people say that the end is getting closer and the Lord is sending us these difficult times so that we will repent and be better people.  I don't doubt that at all.  Here is a screenshot from our phone today....  

The current temp at 11:30 this morning was 92 degrees with 80% humidity and the feels like temp is 114 degrees.  The fans in the church help a lot but sitting in a stuffy building with so many other people when it is so hot gets hard sometimes.  Most of the people have a fan in their hand and a towel to wipe off the sweaty face.  It is so much fun to shake hands with people here, everyone's had is so sweaty and hot.  We give fist bumps when possible but there are a lot of the people who want to shake hands the old fashioned regular way.  The Elders had a baptism today after church of a 42 year old man which was so very nice.  

Elders Rosario and Estrada are great missionaries and make their time here fun as they do their work.  There are several black members in the branches here.  It is always nice,  how the branch members gather around new members and make them feel welcome and a part of the branch group.  After being here in the same area for so long it has been interesting to see that some keep coming and others seem to fade away in spite of the efforts to keep them involved and actively participating in the church.   We saw Elder Pedrod last week, he served here over a year ago, and everytime we see him he asks how Hermano Reynaldo is doing, and we are always so happy to report that he is still active and attends church almost every week, That makes them happy when they hear that their converts are active and that they still keep coming to church.  Some keep coming and others don't but I suppose that is the same everywhere.  

Our good friend and neighbor from just down the street died this past week from an accident on his loader at his farm. He was about to turn 73 years old, and has been dealing with severe arthritis in his hands and in his back for years.  He did not have a lot of strength in his hands anymore.  His wife, Dortha said that she is happy that he does not have to suffer in pain any more, as hard as it is to lose a spouse, she knows that he is out of his pain and misery that he had to deal with here in his later years.  His funeral was this past Thursday.  We were unable to watch his funeral that day but we did get to watch the recording later on in the week,  I am so thankful for modern technology that allows us opportunities like that.  

Colleen took this picture of this young man that was sitting next to us at church today,  I don't suppose he was studying the scriptures on his phone, but maybe.  😇 

I have mentioned that there have been artists here in town painting murals on a lot of the walls around town.  Here is a collection of the pictures that we have of the murals in town.  I think it is really nice to see them, it adds beauty to an already beautiful area.  

So this next week are transfers again, they happen every 6 weeks.  In six more weeks, in the next transfers, we are leaving Honduras and going back home.  It is amazing to think that 17 months have come and gone already and we are about to end the mission that we were called here to do.  I suppose we could talk for hours about the good, the bad, the fun, the difficult, the hot, the sad, the happy, the beautiful, the ugly, and on and on and on....... what an experience this has been.  I am so grateful that Meggan and Janise helped me to set up this blog so that we could share our experiences and pictures of our time here.  It has been so great to write every week and post pictures of our experiences here.  

So this past week we, not so much me, but Hermana Chappell helped in the process of getting two of the sister missionaries that were serving here to the point that they returned home this past week.  They each had their own demons and trials that they are dealing with and both served valiantly here in the time that they devoted to the Lord here in Honduras.  They returned home to receive the help and emotional support from home and family to help them in their journey towards better emotional being.  The church provides continued counseling and mental health assistance as they progress on their journey.   The four of us were able to enjoy lunch at Denny's on Wednesday.   It has been  a great experience for us to have known these two wonderful sisters and to have been here to be a small part of their journey.  The one Hermana who is from Dominican Republic and Hermana Chappell have been quite good friends for the duration of her time here.  Their personalities are similar and they were instant friends.  It was hard for both of them to say goodby, knowing that the possibilities of ever seeing each other again in this life is so very unlikely.  She did send pictures to Colleen of her family as they met her at the airport.  I am sooooooo happy to see that they greeted her with balloons and banners of "Welcome home".  Even though she arrived earlier than her expected date.  They need that love and support when we reach the finish line no matter when that time comes.  I am so glad that her family received her in that way.  While talking with her before she left, she said that she has already been in contact with her Bishop and her Stake President, and they have both offered their love and support and a promise to help her to transition to the next phase of life.   The other sister has plans to continue her mission from home as a service missionary.  That makes me happy too, knowing that she will be getting the help she needs from home while still being able to fill her mission.  It will just look a little different than what she has been doing here.  

This makes me so happy,  maybe all early returned missionaries get this kind of love, support and recognition as they get home, I don't know, but I do feel like they should.   It is not an easy road for them if they return early.  

We had our "Last Supper Lunch" today with the missionaries here in Tela today.  We continue with the tradition of sharing an experience or a testimony of something that they have experienced while serving here this past 6 weeks.  Elder Estrada wrote his thoughts in to google translate and sent it to Hermana Chappell, this is what he said.... He calls us his cookie grandparents  😊

It is always such a great experience to share this last meal together on a Sunday afternoon before transfers.  They all want to get together again to eat dinner, so tomorrow night we are gathering again to eat dinner at our house.  Elder Estrada is making a dish from Mexico, Elder Rosario is making a drink from Dominican Republic, and the Hermana's are making something from Guatemala.  It should be fun. 18 - 20 year olds are not usually the best cooks but they sure have fun making a favorite dish from back home and then sharing that with the rest of the district.   We have done this several times and it is always enjoyable in the end.  The kitchen here is so small, so it is hard for everyone to get around and do their thing, but in the end it is always a lot of fun.  We will get pictures for sure to post next week with the news of who stays, and who goes, and who gets to move here to Tela for the next 6 weeks.  Here are a few pictures from this past week as we have been together as a district.