Sunday May 5, 2024
"Pura Vida" Elder Scarlet. This sweet young missionary sent us this picture and an update on his health since returning home a couple of weeks ago to Costa Rica for health reasons. He has a calling to work in the temple which is near his home. He has been to the hospital and has began treatments there to help him with his health issues. He was always so fun to talk with, his Costa Rican accent and his use of words customary to his background and country were fun to get to know. When he was happy and feeling good, his "Pura Vida" just brought a smile to everyone. Colleen says that Elder Scarlet was humble and dedicated and he was here on his mission because he believed it and wanted to share the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone. He is a little older than the average 18, 19, 20 year old missionary and because of his maturity he was an excellent missionary. The only drawback was that he spent so much of his time unwell because the food here did not agree with him at all, and so he was unable to get out and do what he wanted to do here. There are times when stomach issues are created because of emotional issues that the person is dealing with, but in his case it was just because for some reason the food here just did not agree with him, and no matter what he just never felt well. At one point he was fixing all of his own meals and eating well, and he was doing pretty well, but with transfers and different companions, this was just not something that he could always do, so it was back to eating what the locals eat, and that was just not good for him.
We are blessed that we normally eat what we fix here at our own house so even though the ingredients that we have available here are somewhat different than they are back home, we eat mostly american style homemade food. We are glad that we don't have to eat like the locals all that much. Baleadas are the normal food here, breakfast, lunch, or dinner, baleadas are the everyday meal. The baleada is a flour tortilla with red refried beans, a shredded local sharp cheese, then for money they can add avocado or scrambled eggs or chicken. Of course since I have celiac disease, I will never try one, most people think that is crazy that I am here in Honduras and I have never eaten a baleada, but I will leave not ever trying one. I have had them made with a corn tortilla but they say that is just not a baleada. Hermana Chappell does not like them, it is just way too many carbs. When our kids were here, they all tried the baleadas and they thought they were ok, not something they would want to eat every day, but they were ok. The locals eat them at least once every day. It is a cheap meal that is easy for them to fix.
There is an Elder that has been so sick this week, he was in the hospital in Olanchito for three days, then he got feeling better so they went home and how he is not doing very well again. They are going to go to see if there is someone there in their area that can give him an I.V. with nexium today to help him feel better then tomorrow they are going to go to La Ceiba where there is a much better hospital where he is going to get his blood drawn again to see how he is doing. He has dengue, and so often it gives the person not only a high fever but also stomach pain and nausea to where they don't feel like eating or drinking anything and they get dehydrated. The Elders happened to be on exchanges when they went to the clinic last week to get checked out and they ended up staying in the hospital for three days. The Elder standing on the left side of the picture with the pizza is Elder Chappell, my 5th cousin from Iowa. The other bad thing that happened while they were together in the hospital was that someone broke into their house and I don't know what they were after or what they stole but it is always sad when they have things like that happen to them. That is one of the things that happens way too often here in Honduras, theft is rampant here. We all have to be so careful wherever we go that we don't put ourselves at risk, any more than we have to in doing what we all do here every day. There is a facebook page that is for parents of the missionaries here, and Colleen is a part of that group, so she is asked quite often about the conditions that the missionaries are in here. Last week there was a mom that reached out to her and asked about her son and some things that he had said in their conversations that they have every week. What was funny was that this past Zone Conference which we went to this week in La Lima, Colleen was talking with this Elder and he laughed and said, "I don't tell my mom half of what goes on here, she would die if she knew everything." Probably every missionary has felt that way at one time or another. It has been an adventure to say the least to have been here in Honduras.
Hermana Chappell and Hermana Garcia, having a great time after zone conference. Hermana Garcia goes home this next transfer. Colleen was trying to be funny and make a sad face! Colleen LOVES the Hermanas and she LOVES the Elders. They are the very best part of this whole experience!!We just love these wonderful young men and women who we get so close to here.
It is always fun to be with these missionaries, the conferences are always great, we have talks and trainings for about two hours, then have lunch together, then we all take off to go back to our areas. We are going out to La Ceiba this next Tuesday to have the conference there, then we have one more round of zone conferences in June then we will be finished with this experience.
There was another senior couple and two missionaries that came in late to the conference then we found out that they are the service missionaries leaders and the two hermana's are on a service mission. It was fun to get to know them a little bit, and to spend a little time there together.
We did a picture of our current district, all Latinos, except us, but we are doing great. They are a very fun group to be with. Elder Estrada has a very fun outgoing personality and Elder Rosario loves to laugh and tell stories. The two Hermana's are still quiet but at times they do get telling stories and laugh, every group has its own dynamics.
This last weekend was a 500 year celebration of the founding of the city of Tela, they had different activities and a big concert on Friday night. There was supposed to be a cultural dance and activities from 5:00 to 7:00, so we were excited to be able to see that. We went there and we got a picture of one group of dancers, but we waited until 6:30 and they hadn't done anything so we just left. There were other ward members there and I asked them today at church if they waited for the whole thing and they said that the cultural dance didn't start until 7:30 and the concert which was supposed to start at 9:00 didn't start until 11:00, pm. We did not plan on staying for the concert anyway but that was typical for here for everything to start late. They joke here about "Honduran time" which means it is going to start later than the announced time. The concert was from a Reggae group from the Dominican Republic. The singer's last name is Rosario, just like the Elder who is here right now, so he has been teased a lot this week about his "cousin" who is coming here to do the concert.
Elder Estrada enjoying one of Hermana Chappell's famous chocolate chip cookies with cream on top.😀
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