Feliz Año Nuevo!!!!

Hermana Whittle and her zone visiting the hospital on Christmas day.

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great Christmas!!! I sure did :) We ate a TON....here in Honduras for Christmas they make a ton of tamales and chicken sandwiches...we ate soooo much and our fridge was full of tamales that people had given us. And now for New Years we are going to eat even more yaaaayy!

Here what everyone does is on Christmas eve everyone stays up super late and then they set off fireworks at 12. We had to enter our house at 7 but we stayed up until 12 playing games and having fun :) It was good!

Christmas morning our zone went to the area hospital here and we visited and sang to the people :) It was sad to see people there miserable on Christmas but I could feel the spirit so strong as we would sing to them...it was an awesome experience! Then I got to talk to my family and then I helped another family in our ward talk to their daughter who is in the mission...it was awesome to see them so happy :)

We were able to visit Carlos this week and we talked to him again about his baptismal date...we had to move it to the 10th of January but he agreed to it! I hope everything works out!

This week has been a little hard because our investigators all left and no one has wanted to listened to us so we have done a loooooot of walking...but such is missionary life.

I found a quote this week that helped me a ton. It says: Worrying does not empty tomorrow of its troubles, it empties today of its strength. I love that because its so true...if we spent too much time worrying about the future and what will happen, we can't enjoy and life in the present. So enjoy every day that you have because you won't be able to go back :)

I love you all! I hope you have a great New Years and that you can set good goals and do everything possible to achieve them :) Elder Cook gave an awesome talk about that in this past conference...you should all read it :)

ADIOS!!!

Hermana Whittle

Hermana Whittle with her companion, Hermana Joaquin, and the baby of a new member.  

Hermana Whittle loves this little guy! 

Add caption

Hermana Joaquin, Hermana Whittle with President and Sister Dester for their Christmas zone meeting.

Hermana Whittle with her zone.

Hermana Whittle with her district.

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 24, 2014

Hey everyone! So transfers are this week...I'm nervous but excited! I am pretty sure either my companion or I will have transfers, most likely my companion, but we aren't going to know until tonight. So I will let you know next week!

I really can't believe that this transfer has already ended...this transfer has honestly been one of the hardest of my mission for many reasons. Heavenly Father has been trying me a lot, but I have felt His love and His help as well...I have no doubt that He knows what he's doing and that everything happens for a reason!

This week we found a family of 5...the parents are less active members but the kids aren't baptized(and they are all 8 or older). The mom and 2 of the kids went to church yesterday and they LOVED it :) This family has a ton of problems...but I am super excited to work with them and to help them come back to the church :)

I almost forgot that this week is Thanksgiving...Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you all remember that there is so much to be grateful for, like Josh Groban says :) I don't know how I will be spending thanksgiving since its the day after transfers, but I hope you all enjoy thanksgiving dinner for me.

Have a great week!

Hermana Whittle

Hermana Whittle with an investigator-- her son, who is  a member,  is currently serving a mission. 

Hermana Whittle with a less active family they are working with. 

Hermana Whittle with a member from her ward, who just left on her mission to Mexico! Hermana Whittle is going to miss her! 

Making baleadas.

Hi Everyone!

Hi everyone!

This week was pretty normal...not many changes here. We haven't been having much success in our area but we have been searching for ways that we can find more people and work better here...this is the last week before transfers so hopefully we can do that!

Rosa and her dad Carlos decided this week that they want to go to the temple! Next week our ward is going to have a trip and they have been working this week to raise money to go! I am so excited for them and I hope they have an awesome experience! I was also super happy that Rosa received a calling yesterday as the young womens secretary! I think she was a little overwhelmed with that and her two kids but she is happy!

So on Sundays we eat with a member in our ward who is older and spends a lot of time alone since his wife works. I love being there with him because he is super funny and nice...but sometimes he cooks super weird things. Last week we ate cow tongue...it wasnt that bad but I would prefer not to eat it again haha. And guess what he gave us yesterday....cow udder. Yeah....it was super weird. Gotta love other countries...

Just one last thing...this morning I was reading in D&C 136 and I found a verse that I loved:

 31 My people must be tried in all things, that they may be prepared to receive the glory that I have for them, even the glory of Zion; and he that will not bear chastisement is not worthy of my kingdom.

We all have to pass through trials and hard times...but because of those things we grow and learn and we are constantly preparing ourselves to live with God again. If we can't endure, we aren't worthy of the glory and blessings that God has for us. So always remember that whatever happens, it is for a reason!

Have a great week!

Hermana Whittle

Eating with some members. 

Hi everyone!!

Well this week was pretty normal...I don't really have much to say! We had divisions with the sister training leaders this week and it went well! The hermana that was with me has been in my zone and we had already done divisions...she is awesome :) So it was good.

Rosa is doing super awesome...she is always happy and excited to go to church and activities and she really wants to go to the temple. Yesterday in church we had a lesson about missionary work and she told us that she wanted to serve a mission when her kids were older :) We also had an awesome lesson with her and her dad...her dad always goes to church and he likes it. We taught about the gospel of christ and the spirit was super strong...we were able to put a baptismal date with him for december! Hopefully everything works out well with that :)

We also had a mission activity this week in the church, but it didn't turn out so well haha...we were going to have an open house and all of the organizations were going to talk about what they do so that people could get an idea about the church....BUT nobody came haha. Only two of our investigators...we were a little bugged that nobody invited anyone, but it was still fun.

Well thats about all Ive got...I hope you are all doing well and that you have a good week!

Hermana Whittle

Happy Halloween!

Hi guys!

This week was a little weird because almost the whole week it was rainy and overcast and I was actually a little cold...it was awesome :) But despite the weather it was still a good week!

On Tuesday our mission president came to visit us in our district meeting and he talked to us about love and kindness. He asked us how the people would know that we are true disciples of Christ...like it says in the primary song ¨By this shall men know ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another¨. He just encouraged us to think about how Christ would treat people and how we should follow his example. It was good.

On Thursday we had a ward activity about family history and it was super great! They talked about what it was and then they had decorated three different rooms like the three kingdoms of glory and we got to go in and learn about and experience each one. Our recent convert Rosa went and she loved it...now she is super excited to go to the temple :)

So nobody here celebrates Halloween so we didn't do anything...but my comp and I wore orange and black. We were hoping someone would give us candy but no haha...

Well I just want to testify to you all real quick of the power of the Book of Mormon...I know that it is true and that it has the power to change lives! We taught about the BoM a lot last week and every time I could feel that it was true...I hope the people did too! But I know that if we read even just a little bit every day it can help us so much. So I hope you are all doing that!

Have a great week!

Hermana Whittle

Hermana Whittle with the son of one of their investigators and the stuffed animal they gave him for his birthday. 

Hermana Whittle and her companion went to help a less active member who just had a baby.  How sweet is that? 

Hermana Whittle, Hermana Rodriguez, their DL and his new  companion. 

Hey everyone!!!

So for starters, it has been SO hot here lately. There was one night where I couldn't even sleep because it was so hot...oh Honduras...

I hope you all enjoyed conference as much as I did! I LOVED that they had people speak in their native languages...it was awesome to hear the speaker themself speak spanish and not the translator :) I hope they keep doing that!

I feel like I learned so much this conference and that the speakers were super inspired. I love how we can go to conference with a few questions and always find the answers...that is what I was able to do and I was able to receive the answers I needed :) I hope you all felt the same!

Its super weird having more than a year in the mission...on Thursday when I completed a year my district surprised me and sang to me and my DL made us lunch. It was fun :)

I also feel like the Lord has been helping us out a lot lately. This week we were able to receive a lot of references and find some less actives that we didn't know about. I am excited to see how things go with them!

I am super excited for this week because one of our investigators that we have been working with is going to get married and baptized and two more are going to get baptized as well. Please pray that everything goes well for them!

I love you all! Have a great week :)

Hna. Whittle

Hermana Whittle, Hermana Rodriguez, two other sister missionaries and a member. 

Una semana llena de adventura.....

August 18, 2014

Hey everyone!

SO this week was a little crazy. Last Monday night I was in my bed writing in my journal and I saw something leave our room into the kitchen so I got up to see what it was....it was a rat. Yeah, we totes had rats in our house. We knew that there were some living above us in the roof because we always heard them but this week was the first time they entered the house. So that night when I was trying to sleep I heard another one that knocked something over and then I saw it leave the bedroom...and I couldn't sleep. And then a few nights later my companion woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and she saw one crawling down the wall...and after that we couldn't sleep at all. And so we started sleeping with the lights on to keep them from entering. Needless to say I did not sleep all week. But the fumegator finally came on Saturday and put rat poison in our house and got rid of the ones that we had trapped under the sink...it was the worst. I couldn't stop thinking about the movie ratatouille all week....but everything is good now :)

Also this week was the fair here in Puerto Cortes! They did mini fairs in all the different communities. It was cool to see the street in front of our house full of little kiosks and stages and stuff. It also rained a TON this week and I think a lot of the activities were ruined because of it. But it was fun to have something different going on here.

So our investigator Maribel isn't going to be getting baptized soon :( She didn't go to church last Sunday because her husband didn't want her to. It makes me so sad when someone has the desire to accept the gospel and change and other people keep them from doing it...I know she will get baptized someday.

But on the other hand la familia Moncada is doing AWESOME! And we talked to them about their baptism and they wanted to change it to the 27th so that more of their family can come. They are so excited and so are we! Please pray that everything goes well with their baptism!!

Anyways, things are awesome here :) I love being a missionary here in Puerto Cortes, Honduras!! It is the best! I hope you are all doing well and that you have a great week!

Hermana Whittle

August 11, 2014

Hey everyone!

This week was good :) We were able to challenge some of our investigators to baptism, and now we have 3 that have a date this month! My companion and I are so excited!

Maribel is doing awesome. She is having so many problems with her family(dang Satan) but she knows that she wants to be a member of the church and she is staying strong! However, she didn't come to church yesterday and we don't know why...we will find out tomorrow.

We had our first appointment with the familia Moncada(the husband is a member but his wife and daughter aren't) and it went really well! And we challenged them to be baptized the 30th of this month and they accepted :) WHOOOOOOOO!

As far as investigators, we had to drop a ton this week, but we will keep searching. And we are still working a ton with less actives.

I'm just happy to be here :) This area has been really rough, but I was thinking about it the other day and even though its been hard(and way too hot), I love it so much here in Puerto Cortes and I don't want to leave!

I hope everyone is doing well! Have a great week!

Hermana Whittle

August 4, 2014

Hi everyone!

So I don't know if you have noticed, but for the past few weeks my companion and I have been a little discouraged in our area because our investigators have been having problems and we have felt a lot of pressure from the ward(and without any help from them). But this week has been great! We had a multi zone conference with other missionaries and President and it was super good :) And President took the time to talk to my companion and I because of the problems we were having. I love talking to him...he always encourages me and is so positive. So after talking to him we felt a lot better :) I am so lucky to have a mission president that is so awesome and Christlike!

My companion and I decided to fast for our area this week and to be able to have baptisms this month, and we have already been able to see the results! One of our investigators, Maribel, has been progressing SO much and she told us that she wanted to stay in this church and be baptized!!! We were SO happy! And despite having family members that are giving her problems, she feels strongly about the church and knows she wants to stay there :) We also have a less active and is wife, who isn't a member, who have been coming to church for about a month. Before she wasn't sure about taking the lessons and she wanted to talk to her husband about it. But yesterday we talked to them and we have an appointment with them this week to start teaching! My testimony of fasting has definitely grown this week!

One thing that was sad this week is that we went to go visit Carol, who is our investigator that was progressing a TON. But she told us that she didn't want us to visit her anymore and that she wants to stay in her church....I was so bummed. It hurts when someone is so close to accepting the gospel and others influence them and the reject it...

I hope you are all doing well! Remember that when we are discouraged, it weakens our faith. So always have faith in the Lord and don't be discouraged! I love you all!

Hermana Whittle

HONDURAS IS AWESOME!

Hey everyone!

Well my companion and I didn't have transfers! I am happy to have 6 more weeks here in Puerto Cortes :)

This week has been a little crazy. We went to go visit Maribel, one of our investigators that is doing awesome. We were teaching her about the Book of mormon and reading the introduction with her when all of a sudden her brother came running to the door and told her that their sister had overdosed on some pills and was in really bad condition so she took off with him and totes left us with her 3 year old daugher and 9 month old baby...it was a little crazy haha. The baby was tired so he was crying a ton so my companion was trying to sing and do crazy things to help him stop crying...he finally just fell asleep. She was only gone for about 20 minutes though and her sister is doing okay so thats good. Gotta love awkward experiences. But she is doing awesome! She came to church this Sunday and she has even been talking to her family members about the church :)

We went to go visit a less active family for the first time and they live sooooo far....we had to walk a TON. But it was awesome because we got to know a part of our area that we didnt know existed and it is super pretty there. Honduras is awesome!

I hope you all have a good week!

Hermana Whittle

Another week in Paradise!

Hi everyone!!!

Elder West, Hermana Whittle's DL, photo bombing the picture.
He is the only other gringo in their district.

The first counselor in the Stake Presidency lives in the ward Hermana Whittle
 is currently serving in.  He took all the missionaries serving in her district
to lunch at this beautiful restaurant in Omoa.

Hi everyone, 

This week has had its ups and downs, just like every week in the mission :) Things have been really difficult here....our investigators are having problems and aren't progressing much. And the members frustrate us sometimes. But we had a super awesome experience on Sunday. One of our investigators told us she could come to church with us and so we were super excited and we went to her house Sunday morning to bring her with us and she had left with her mom. I was SO bummed. But yet somehow, we were able to have 4 investigators in church and meet the mission goal, all from non members that had come with less actives. I felt so happy and so blessed! I know that the Lord loves us...He just wants to try our patience and faith a little :)

This Sunday we also had a super awesome sacrament meeting that we put together about missionary work. One of the elders put together a choir of missionaries, future missionaries and returned missionaries and some of us spoke(myself included). It went super well and everyone loved the choir.

There are transfers this week, but I think I am going to stay here in Puerto for another transfer. I hope so at least. It is super hard here, but I love it! I will find out tonight.

I hope you are all doing well and that you have an awesome week!

Hermana Whittle

July 7, 2014

Hi everyone! I hope you all had an awesome 4th of July...I was feeling a little homesick. But I'll be there next year :)

This week has been alright. We got a ton of rain this week and because of the rain these weird bugs came out and they were EVERYWHERE. It was weird.

There is a talk that Elder Holland gave to missionaries where he talks about how missions aren't easy for us because it was never easy for Christ. As missionaries, we are getting a little taste of what Christ went through...joy of teaching and bringing people to the gospel, but also pain when people have problems or when they don't want to listen to us. As I have been working with the less actives here in this area, I feel like I have felt that a lot, and even more this week. They are starting to have trust in us, and they have told us about the hard things that have happened to them and the problems they are going through and why it is hard for them to go to church...and it hurts me! All I want to do is help them and sometimes there is nothing I can do...but I am trying! And I know that Christ is there waiting to be able to help them in their lives. He is ready to help all of us :)

We found out this week that our mission has had problems with baptisms recently...we are the lowest baptizing mission in Central America. So this weekend we had a mission wide fast to know how we can have more baptisms. So my companion and I are working on getting ideas. 

On the bright side, our investigator, Carol, came to church for the first time this week! She has been wanting to come for a while but was having problems. She loved it and she is excited to return!

Have a great week!

Hermana Whittle

Oooohhhh we're halfway there...:)

Hermana Whittle and Hermana Cardona after the mission conference.

Hey everyone!! First off....I cannot believe I have already completed half of my mission. It has gone by so fast...and I know the other half is going to go even faster. Nooooooooo....

This week was pretty normal. Lots of sun, lots of walking, and lots of fallen appointments. But I'm enjoying myself and I love Honduras :)

On Wednesday we had a conference with all of the mission and Elder Ochoa from the 70 came and spoke to us. He talked a ton about faith and what we can do to help the people we are teaching to have more of it. It was good :) And it was awesome to see my old companions and friends from my old zones :)

On Saturday I was feeling a little discouraged because our two investigators that are doing awesome and progressing had to cancel on us and weren't able to come to church on Sunday. So I was a little down. Our ward had an activity for the Primary that afternoon and it came to my mind that we should go and invite two girls that we have been teaching. So the whole time we were walking over there I was just praying and praying that they would be able to come to the activity with us. And they did :) It went well...I know that God answers prayers!

I tried a new food this week...yucca con chicharron. It was not my favorite...afterward I just wanted to throw up and I could barely walk because there was so much yucca in my stomach. I do not recommend that to anyone...

I hope you all are doing well and that you have a great week!

Hermana Whittle

This is the infamous scorpion they found in their apartment last week.  Hermana Whittle said it was about the size of her hand! 

Hermana Whittle, Hermana Cardona and another Hermana at their mission conference.

Hermana Whittle was happy to see Hermana Marroquin again, as well as Hermana  Grondel and Hermana Bahr! 

Heat, Scorpions and Baptismal Goals!

Hermana Whittle and her previous companion, Hermana Marroquin,
 with a member family in Puerto Cortes.

Hi everyone! Wow...I can't believe another week has already passed.

This week has been good! I am finally getting used to Hna. Cardona...she is awesome and we get along really well :) But this week has been exhausting! We had two days in a row where we walked A TON and it has been soooo hot...I have been exhausted. We had to stay in again on Friday for a game Honduras had and although I was bummed because we had to cancel our appointments, I didn't complain...I needed a nap haha. 

Our bishop this week decided to put a goal of 20 baptisms in the month of July between us and the two pairs of elders in our ward...WOW. We have a ton of work to do...but I know its possible with the Lord's help!

I have been a little frustrated lately because of the members. Yesterday we met a lot of less active familys who are SO AWESOME, but have stopped going to church because of problems with members. I don't understand why people have to say things and act like they are better than others...we are a family!! We should be helping each other out like Alma teaches in Mosiah 18. I'm just frustrated and I don't know what I can do to help the less actives return to church and help the members to have love....

Thats about all. We found a huge scorpion in our house the other day...that was fun. I will say that that is one thing I miss about the states...houses without cockroaches and ants and spiders. But I love Honduras and I am so happy to be here :)

Love you all! I hope you have an awesome week!

Hermana Whittle

Hermana Marroquin, Hermana Whittle and Elder Paredes

HOLA EVERYONE!

Hola everyone!!!

This week has been SO LONG. I feel like its been an eternity. It had its ups and downs...but such is the mission!

So Hna. Marroquin and I had cambios :( That was super hard for me because she has grown to become one of my best friends. But I know the Lord needs her somewhere else! So I'm still here in Puerto Cortes and my new companion is called Hermana Cardona. She is also from Guatemala...I think this is going to be a thing. But she is great. She is super sweet and we get along well :)

Things are going well here in the area! Our church attendance jumped from 114 to 160 yesterday...we were so excited! We still have a ton of work to do with menos activos....but it's going! I love this area so much and I want to do all I can to do the Lord´s work here :) 

Its a bit crazy here right now since the world cup just started...EVERYONE is watching. We had to stay in our house for a couple hours when Honduras was playing...I hope we don't have to anymore.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Hna. Whittle

Outside of Hermana Whittle's home after they received A LOT of rain! :)

June 9, 2014

Hey everyone!

Honestly, we didn't do much this week because my companion and I both got sick. I just had a cold, but she was having problems breathing so we couldn't go out for a couple days. I HATE staying in the house...I was happy to leave again! But I kept myself busy studying and updating the area book(something that nobody wants to do haha) and so it wasnt too bad. 

Things have been going well with teaching the less actives this week! One day when we were teaching Hna. Marroquin had the great idea to help all of the less actives feel important and that we really need them in church...because we do! They are so important to us and we want them to feel that! So that has been our goal :) 

We had an awesome experience with one less active this week. We weren't planning on visiting her, but our appointments fell through so we decided to go over there. I know it was inspired. Her name is Alexandra and she is 16. Her mom doesn't go to church because she works, and she has an older brother but he doesn't go much either. Well we talked to her and she has been discouraged lately because she doesnt like going to church alone and her mom doesnt want to go anymore. Well my comp whipped out an awesome scripture that helped her a lot...we could feel the spirit so strong! I know the Lord loves all of his children and knows their needs :)

I also had another awesome experience yesterday in church. So I wasn't too excited to go to church yesterday because I didn't think we were going to have anyone there. But it was the opposite...there were a ton of new faces! There were a lot of less actives and investigators. I know a lot of them were from the elders...but I just felt so happy and blessed that I wanted to cry! I know the Lord is helping us out in this work!

Have a good week!

Hna. Whittle

A cute note from Hermana Marroquin. Hermana Whittle has already been out 8 months! Time is flying by!

Hermana Marroquin having some fun! :)

Hey everyone!!!

This week was a little long and suuper tiring. We had divisions with the hermana leaders on Tuesday. Normally in divisions one of us goes to their area and one of them comes to our area for a day. But since we live a little far, they both came and all four of us worked in our area that day, one of them with me and one with Hna. Marroquin. Actually, I got to be with Hna. Marley, my trainer, so that was fun to be her companion again :) But we had to share beds so that they didnt have to sleep on the floor...it was sooooo uncomfortable. My companion is tiny, but our beds are tiny too haha so I didn't get any sleep and I have been tired since.

I feel like the Lord is blessing us a ton, even if our investigators don't want to come to church :) We have one investigator named Gustavo who is doing super well! He is super receptive and he told us this week that before he had problems with smoking. But the day after our first visit, he quit smoking completely and hasn't done it since. WHAT.

Also, in our area we are mainly working with less actives. And we have been visiting one named Nancy and we have been teaching her two daughters because they haven't been baptized. And they finally came to church on Sunday! We were sooo happy because Nancy hasn't wanted to come. Things are going well here!

I hope you all have a good week!

Hermana Whittle

May 26, 2014

Hi everyone!

This week we had a multi zone conference with my old zone, zona Fesitranh. It was so weird to be in my old area again but it was awesome to see some of my friends from my other zone! And the conference was awesome! President Dester is awesome. He talked to us about having a vision in the mission and here in honduras. There is a possibility of a temple in San Pedro in a few years, but there is a lot of work to be done to achieve that goal.

He also talked to us about Joseph Smith...it was really cool to learn more about him. For example, did you guys know that he would talk with his family every night about the people from book of mormon times? He knew everything...the animals they used, their clothes and food, and he would tell stories to his family every night. How cool is that. And we learned about how he had frequent visits from the angel Moroni and prophets and apostles of old. They were basically his friends. That really touched me because I realized that Joseph Smith wasn't alone...he had a ton of help do to the work that needed to be done. And the same goes for me! He was also always happy and laughing...just like president monson :) And we should always be happy too...we have the restored gospel and so many blessings from our Heavenly Father :)

We have been able to find more less actives this week. We found on on saturday and she told us she wanted to come back to church...and she came! Really, the Lord is blessing us a ton and we are starting to have more success :)

I hope you all have a good week!

Hna. Whittle

"Keep moving forward" or like Dory says "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming!"

Hi everyone!!!

So to be honest...this week was ROUGH. Half of the week it was pouring and a little cold and we had problems the whole week with having appointments. All of our appointments have been falling through and we are left with nothing to do. And we are supposed to be working with less actives but there are soo many and we don't know where they all live and the members haven't been able to go with us. My companion and I have just been a little discouraged because we haven't been having success. But we talked with our favorite family in the ward yesterday and they helped us a lot....the members here are so awesome!

We did find a less active this week who is super great! Her name is Jessi and she told us that she has noticed a difference in her life without the church and she wants to go back. So we are working with her and her boyfriend(who isn't a member) and hopefully they will want to go to church!

We also found another less active this week...but things didn't go as well with him to say the least haha. He has a ton of doubts and doesn't believe in the book of mormon...we were trying to talk to him but he wasn't really listening to us. And then as we were walking away, he said to us,"I only have one sin. I look at women and I have bad thoughts." Uuummmmmmm ADIOS. We will not be going back there!

I hope things are going well for you all! Don't forget to read the Book of Mormon everyday...it is soooo awesome! All I want to do is read it! And I promise the more you read it the better it will get, and it can help you so much in your life! Adios!

Hermana Whittle

Gotta love the heat! :)

Hermana Whittle and her District visited the San Fernando Fort in Omoa, a town just west of Puerto Cortes.  The fort was built in the late 1700's by the Spanish. 

Hermana Grondel and Hermana Whittle are in the same district again! They served in the same district in Fesitranh.

The "crazy" elders in Hermana Whittle's area.

Hermana Whittle's lunch--- she said she was a little intimidated of the fish at first. :)

On Sunday, a little girl brought Hermana Whittle and her companion a piece of her birthday cake, because she loves them so much! 

Hi Everyone!

Hermana Whittle eating a watermelon that an investigator gave them.  She is getting quite the tan!

Hermana Whittle and Hermana Marroquin with an investigator from Castanos.

A sweet little boy gave this flower to Hermana Whittle and made her day! 

It's official! They have a cell phone! :)

Hermana Marroquin and Hermana Whittle working on a bracelet.

Hermana Whittle's new home in Puerto Cortes.  They live in an apartment behind the house. 

After eating dinner with a member family, their daughter asked Hermana Whittle to braid her hair for her.
She is good at that! :)

When Hermana Whittle and Hermana Marroquin arrived in Puerto Cortes they moved into the apartment that the elders had been living in.  They cleaned it really well for them, then left little signs all over! The top one say "Welcome Hermanas" and the scripture in Phillipians 3:2 says "Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision".  The second sign tells them not to be trunky! They went to a lot of trouble to help them feel welcome! So cute! :)

Hermana Whittle and Hermana Marroquin get to cross the laguna on this bridge. 

May 5, 2014

So this last week has been CRAZY!  On Wednesday, we had transfers and both me and my companion left our area.  Long story short, the mission nurse needed an area to train the new nurse.  But in the transfer meeting, my companion and I found out that we were going to be opening an area together!  We were so excited to be together another change!  So our new area is called Centro 3, and it is part of Puerto Cortes.  The beach is 5 minutes from our house so I am in heaven.  We share the area with 4 other elders, but the ward has been asking for hermanas for a very long time, so they were very excited when we came!  Opening an area is super hard, and even more so for us since we have absolutely noting in our area book.  No investigators, no phone numbers, no map.  It has been rough leavng the house everyday and having no idea what we are going to do.  But the members have been helping us so much!  This ward is so supportive and I love it!  I don't know why, but since my first day here I have felt a love for this area and the people here.  I have a feeling it is going to be my favorite area.  Whatever it be (the fact that we are near the coast, that I have more time, that the ward loves us) I am excited to work in this area! I love being a missionary!

I love you all and I hope you have a good week!
Hna. Whittle

These are some of the people who took care of Hermana Whittle and Hermana Marroquin in their last area of Castanos.  They fed them, fixed the broken zippers in their skirts, let them use their bathroom.  What a blessing that these sweet people are taking care of our daughter and her companion! :)