A TYPICAL SUNDAY

Not all Sundays are the same, but very often we get up by 5:30 in the morning to travel to a ward or branch in our mission that is outside of San Pedro Sula.  We attend Sacrament Meeting, meet members and leaders--then President Dester usually interviews the missionaries while I talk to their companions.  Two thirds of our missionaries are Spanish speakers, so I either have to struggle with what little Spanish I have learned or have an English speaker translate for me (if there is one).  I ask the missionaries what their food is like (if they have a cocinera or if they cook for themselves), if they have been cleaning their apartment, if they have been sick or if they need any other help. I learn a lot about what is going on in their area. 

I love to talk with the members (they think I can speak more Spanish than I actually do). 

I especially love the children.  They are not only cute, but it is fun to have some of them come up to me after the meeting and say a word or 2 in English.  There are many bilingual schools in Honduras and the members are always excited to practice speaking.  Almost every week I have a very funny experience with at least one or 2 of the children at church.  They stare at me a lot!!!!!  It is my hair.  Almost no one in Honduras has blond hair.  (Needless to say, I hate going to get my hair done--I'd rather have a root canal).  One of our very blond new sister missionaries has had the same experience.  She told me the other day that one of the children kept asking her something and she just didn't understand what the child was saying in Spanish.  So, the sister missionary finally said, "Si´".  Before she knew it, the little girl reached up and plucked out a few hairs from her head.  Ouch!!!! 

We see a lot of interesting things along the way when we travel outside of the city.  The countryside is beautiful, despite the poor roads and the poverty.  We love the cooler weather this week (only 75-85°).  I don't know how much longer it will last so we are enjoying it while we can.  Right now, it is better than living in Minnesota.

 



This could be any place in the U.S.



 



There is usually a lot of fog in the mornings on the mountains
 



Lake Yojoa





We have a lot of coconuts
 



Yes, we have A LOT of bananas!!!!!!



Sugar cane just before harvest
 

Sugar cane on the way to the factory

 

A typical pickup FULL of eggs.  With the terrible roads,
we wonder how they all make it to market.

A view from our balcony--our back yard!!!!!!!

Christmas in 85°

We are REALLY enjoying the coolest time of the year here in Honduras.  It almost feels cold when the mornings start out at 70° and the high is only 85°!  Two weeks ago we were able to have Christmas parties with all our missionaries.  They are WONDERFUL!!!  We love them and feel SOOOO blessed to have them in our lives.  Thank you to all the families who share them with us.  We are grateful for your prayers and we pray for all of you.  We hope that you will have a happy 2014 and that you will find joy in the service of your children and in the sacrifices that all of you are making.

President and Sister Dester




Christmas Lunch

President & Sister Dester
James (their son visiting from Minnesota)
Elder and Sister John
(The greatest missionary couple in the world!)

Christmas Lunch



Copan

Villa Nueva

Yojoa

Merendon



San Pedro Sula

Cofradia

Valle de Sula

 

Choloma

Fesitranh

 

Our First 2 Weeks

      We arrived in San Pedro Sula on Thursday, June 27th.  It has been like no other two weeks in our lives.  Frantic is the best way to describe it all.  The departing mission president and his wife, President and Sister Veirs, met us at the airport with our assistants, Elder Hebert and Polendo.  As expected, the heat and humidity were high.  We were taken to our new home on the 20th floor of a high rise condominium building.  Our balcony looks out the back of the building onto jungle covered mountains of thick green foliage.  It really is an incredible home away from home. 
       After spending a few hours with the Veirs, we went to see a couple of grocery stores and finished the evening having dinner at a nice restaurant.  We went to bed in our new home and woke up the next morning, realizing that the Veirs were already on an airplane--so we were on our own.  What an overwhelming responsibility!!!
       On Friday, we met with 7 of our 8 zones (about 125 missionaries) for a "Meet the President" meeting.  We shook hands with each missionary and had a little slide show with pictures of our family.  Annette read about 15 minutes of a script in Spanish, and Jamie spoke for another 45 minutes.  On Saturday we tried to get a few household items purchased with the help of Elder and Sister John.  What would we do without them?????  We can't use our GPS because the streets aren't identified.  We visited a ward and a branch on Sunday morning, came home to pack and then left that afternoon with our assistants to drive 3 and 1\2 hours to Santa Rosa de Copan.  We ate dinner with a member family, stayed in a little hotel for the night and had a meeting with the last zone of elders the next morning, before driving back to San Pedro Sula.  Jamie also met with the District Presidency of our mission district while we were up that way.
     Upon our return to San Pedro Sula, Jamie was finally able to access his church e-mail account, only to find that he had nearly 300 e-mails stacking up in the mission inbox and another 80 letters from his missionaries.  He managed to get through all of the e-mail between other things that were happening.
      When we got home from Santa Rosa, Jamie spent long days on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, July 2-5, interviewing all of the missionaries in the mission.  On Saturday the 6th, he met with his assistants to work through the potential transfers that would be required the following week.  Then, on Sunday the 7th, we went to Church in a wonderful ward in San Pedro Sula.  Dozens of wonderful saints came forward to bear brief, heartfelt testimonies.
     The next day, Monday the 8th, seven new missionaries arrived from the Provo MTC, and another arrived the following morning from Guatemala City.  They needed to be interviewed and the APs helped them get settled.  We can tell that they will all be wonderful.  Annette fixed dinner for them on Tuesday evening, and Jamie held training meetings with them on Tuesday and Wednesday.  After lunch on Wednesday, the new ones were on their way to their first areas, and two elders arrived who were ready to complete their missions and return home.  We had a nice dinner for them on Wednesday evening, and they departed on Thursday morning.  Although the schedules were tight, we had a wonderful, uplifting time bidding a warm welcome to our newest missionaries and a fond farewell to those who returned home.
        We feel grateful beyond our ability to describe for the opportunity to participate in this work, at this extraordinary time in the world's history.  There has never been a more exciting time to be a missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ.  We are so grateful to be a part of this. 


View from our balcony on the 20th floor

     


Our Assistants--Elder Polendo and Elder Hebert

Our first dinner with the new missionaries at our home

 





After church in El Carmen today, a cute little girl came up to Jamie and asked him if he could tell  President Monson "hello" from her.  She was SO excited to hear Jamie speak about how we had Sacrament Meeting with President Monson at the MTC the Sunday before we came to Honduras.  We LOVE these humble and faithful members.