IT IS HOT!

Hey everyone! I had another good week this week. It is just SO HOT. Every night I go to write in my journal and the first thing I always think is "It was so hot today". Welcome to Honduras.

One of the members in our ward owns a bilingual school and is the principal of it. Last week they put on a little camp for some of the students where they had little classes and played games and fun stuff like that...kind of like a mini EFY. But they invited my companion and I to go and teach a little part of it. So we taught the kids about having a good reputation and why its important to work hard and things like that. And we did it in English...it was super weird! But it was a neat experience.

Yesterday, one of our favorite investigators, Dunia, and her daughter Vilma came to church with us. Vilma is 19 and she is super pretty, so all of the RMs in our ward were in love with her. It was hilarious! There isn't a separate branch for young single adults here, so they just have a separate class in our ward. And all of the guys wanted us to tell her to come to their class but they didn't want to do it themselves. And then they all wanted her to go to an activity they had last night. We just need to get her baptized...and all of the guys are willing to help us now :)

Thats about all I've got for this week! Love you all!

Hna. Whittle

Making pupusas with a member in Fesitranh.

HOLA!

Hermana Whittle and Hermana Bahr with a member that has been helping them work with their investigators.

Hi everyone! So remember how I said that last week was bad? Well this week was super great! SUPER great. I realized just how important attitude is in the mission. If you are positive and don't let Satan get you down, life is a lot better. Trust me!

We had some pretty awesome experiences this week. We have been searching out inactive members in our area and we have a list to help us. So we went to go find someone on our list and the first time we went no one was home. So we went again later in the week and the lady that lives there now is the sister of the person we were searching for. But she is awesome! She used to live somewhere else and while she was there she had a ton of elders teach her...she was telling us how she would do things with the elders all the time.  We were so excited to find her! It is crazy that someone that has been so involved with missionaries has been able to stay hidden here for so long. She was meant for us!

We have another investigator named Gaby that we have really been working with. She accepted a baptismal date this week! It was kind of funny...we asked her if she would prepare to be baptized on March 1 and her answer was, What time? BEST ANSWER EVER! She is really great. She already knows that the church is true...she just has a ton of problems with her family and her past. We found out a lot about her past yesterday. It was crazy and a little discouraging. But we are ready to help her this week and we will keep working with her!

We also had a multi zone conference this week and it was really good! I always learn so much from those, and they always lift me up. Plus it was awesome to see other missionaries!

Thanks for your support! Have a great week!

Hna. Whittle

Some elders and hermanas from Hermana Whittle's zone on transfer day.

Hermana Whittle making dinner with their investigators. 

Hermana Whittle with her banana soda and her baleada.

Hermana Whittle and Hermana Bahr made valentines for all of the missionaries in their zone. 

The hermanas in her district on p-day!

The miserable faces are because it is sooo hot! And it's not even summer yet! 

Happy 4 months!

A sister was baptized by the Elders in Hermana Whittle's District.

Hey everyone! So this week was kind of long and crazy because both my companion and I got sick(it was the stomach flu or something)...it was TERRIBLE. First she got sick last Monday, and at first we didn't think too much of it because she has had a lot of problems her whole mission. But then on Thursday, I got super sick too.So we think it was a virus or something that is going around because other people have been sick too. It was rough though. We were also getting kind of depressed from being inside all day...so we tried to leave and we made it about 10 minutes before we decided to go back home because we weren't well. So we went home and we called Hermana Dester, president's wife, and talked to her a little bit. And then she called us again and told us that her and president were going to come visit us. So they came and talked to us a little and then he gave us blessings. It was awesome! Our mission president must really love us...it pays to be a good missionary!

We also found an awesome investigator named Pilar this week! She gets so excited for us to visit her, and she is so sensitive to the spirit. She was able to recognize the spirit during our lesson and she was super excited to go to church with us and read the Book of Mormon. It was a really powerful lesson. I am so excited to keep working with her!

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

P-day breakfast at Denny's! 

Hna. Whittle

LA LUCHA

Hermana Whittle, Vania and Hermana Bahr

Well this week was definitely a struggle, but the mission is full of ups and downs. One of my comp's friends said that according to the law of opposition, since the mission is the best two years of your life, it also has to be the worst two years of your life. How true that is!

The reason this week was so stressful was because of our baptism we had. Her name is Vania, and she is the 10 year old daughter of our convert that just got baptized a couple weeks ago. This whole week they were going back and forth on whether she should get baptized. Her dad was feeling like she wasn't ready and she needed to learn more, but she felt good about it. So even though we didn't find out until the day of, we had a baptism and it went super well. He got the Aaronic Priesthood a week ago so he got to baptize her and it was super special. And when she received the Holy Ghost yesterday, her blessing was really special, and in it the bishop was talking about her getting married in the temple. I am so happy that she was able to be baptized and I know that she is going to be an awesome member of the church!

Hermana Whittle, Vania (age 10), Marcario, and Hermana Bahr

In other news, we had a conference on Thursday with both of the San Pedro missions. There were so many missionaries! Ulisses Soares of the presidency of the 70 spoke to us. I think he gave a talk in the last general conference. But anyways, he talked a lot about the brother of Jared and how the Lord told him to come up with a solution for light in their barges, and how the Lord touched his stones. If we are doing everything we can and being obedient, we can allow the Lord to touch our stones and help us out. It was a really good talk! 

We also went to go visit one of our investigators this week, and ended up getting preached to by her mom. We literally probably said 10 words in that whole 20 minutes, and she basically gave us a sermon and she was going all out. I'm not going to lie, los evangelicos here are a little crazy...

Thank you all for your love and support! Until next week!

Hna. Whittle

Hermana Whittle said the tortillas in Honduras are heavenly! :)

The weeks are starting to fly....

Hey everyone! I really can`t believe it is already P day again...this week went SO FAST. But it was good!

On Tuesday I had my first interview with President Dester. We have interviews with our mission president every 3 months. Anyways, it was good! He told me a lot of good stuff. But he did tell me that I wasn't going to get along with all of my companions as well as I do with Hermana Bahr....GREAT. Thanks alot President. But my companion told me that in her interview, he told her that I am one of the happiest missionaries that he has seen this week and to keep up whatever she was doing. And its true! I have a great companion and great area...for the most part I really am happy!

We also had a really awesome experience this week. We were teaching one of our investigators named Gaby. She is about 20 and she has a 5 year old son. She has had a hard life. But anyways, we were teaching a lesson and it wasn't going so well. Her phone kept going off and people kept interrupting the lesson. Both Hna. Bahr and I could feel that it wasn't going so well. But then she got the prompting to ask if there was a room we could go in to say the closing prayer. So we went into her bedroom and asked her to say the prayer and specifically ask about the church and if the things we were teaching were true. So she started the prayer and when she asked about the church the spirit rushed into the room. When she finished she said she felt weird and she started crying. It was seriously awesome. 

Also, every missionary has those funny language experiences where they accidently switch two words....yeah, I had my first one this week. We were teaching about the gospel of Jesus Christ and I meant to say: El Evangelio de Jesucristo tiene 5 pasos(The gospel of Jesus Christ has 5 steps) but instead I said: El Evangelio de Jesucristo tiene 5 pasas(The gospel of Jesus Christ has 5 raisins). Yeah, that was fun! My companion said all she could think about was Jesus holding 5 raisins. 

Anyways, I hope you all are doing great! The mission is dang hard, but it is so great at the same time! My testimony is strengthened every single day...I know without a doubt that this church is true!! I just wish every person would realize how important it is!!

Have a great week!

Hna. Whittle

Hermana Whittle said there is trash everywhere!

Hermana Whittle and her new backpack! Her missionary bag was hurting her back and shoulders! 

Hermana Whittle and her district hiked to a waterfall for P-day.  Honduras is so beautiful and green! 

DIOS NOS BENDICE!!!

Elder Dawson, Marcario, the daughter of Marcario, Hermana Whittle, Hermana Bahr

Hola everyone! So this week was crazy and a little long, but seriously, I can see the hand of the Lord here in my mission. I have been so blessed this week, in many ways. And guess what....I finally had my first baptism!! WHOO!! It was so stressful to get ready for it though. The day before, he decided to change the time of the baptism. So we had to call a ton of people and some of them were not very happy...it wasn´t our fault! But the elders here in our area are so great and they helped us out a ton...and it ended up going very well :) I am so happy for him!

I also had an experience this week that really strengthened my testimony of DyC 84:85 and all those other scriptures saying that the Lord will help us know  what to say. In our zone meeting this week, the district leaders decided to do a practica, and I just knew I was going to get picked to do it. Let me just tell you, practicas are the worst. My spanish still isn´t very good and I am terrible at asking inspired questions. But when we did the practica, I decided to not be nervous about it and just trust that it would all be okay. And I ended up having a super great inspired question pop into my head during the ¨lesson¨ that my ZL commented on. Seriously, if we have faith the Lord will help us! I know it!

Funny story of the week...so we went to go have a lesson with this little old lady that is the neighbor of one of the members here. She has a high pitched little voice and when she talks she stares you down and its like she is staring into your soul. But honestly, that lesson was a struggle. Both my companion and I were working really hard trying not to laugh. Its not as funny in english as in spanish, but basically she is really religious (we are pretty sure she is a testigo de jehova) and she would randomly start shouting stuff. And when we had the opening prayer, she said that she wanted to say it and so we waited there for a few seconds and she wasn´t saying anything, but she grabbed a napkin from beside her and started bawling for a little bit...so we still just sat there with our eyes closed waiting. And then all of a sudden she shouts, ¨BUENOS DIAS JEHOVA!!!!!¨. I just about lost it. I about lost it lots of times during that lesson. Aw man...I wish you all could have been there. It was great.

One last thing. I want you all to go read Alma 26...it is seriously one of my favorite chapters in the book of mormon since I have been on my mission. It is amazing how much joy we receive from missionary work...and its true!! This is the best work there is, and it is for everyone :) 

Have a good week!

Hna. Whittle

2014 IN HONDURAS!!

New Year's Day lunch with a member and the Elders from their district.

Hola everyone!! This week went by so fast but it was great...I can't believe it is already 2014. And that I am going to be in Honduras this whole entire year...crazy. We had to be inside early again for New Years Eve, so Hna. Bahr and I made food, watched a movie, talked a lot and stayed up to watch the fireworks. The people here go crazy with the fireworks on New Years...when we woke up the next morning to go run it was still smokey outside. But I am excited to spend 2014 helping people come unto Christ!

Since we have been having a ton of problems with citas falling through and finding investigators, we spent a lot of time visiting the members in our ward, getting to know them and inviting them to help in La Obra Misional. And it was really interesting to see the difference in the willingness of members. We visited one family who is AWESOME...they all were listing people that we could visit and were all willing to leave with us later in the week...seriously, I felt so good leaving their house. And then there was another family...I love them but the dad in that family drives me CRAZY. We shared our message about how missionary work is for members and missionaries and how every person in the world needs this gospel, and he started talking to us about we just hadn't visited all of the area yet and how sometimes we are just planting seeds for future missionaries. Basically, he had no desire to help us...it was really frustrating. But everyone has their agency...I'm just really grateful for the people who are willing to step up and help :) But even though we don't have a ton of member support, the Lord has been blessing us and helping us to find people to teach :) Jueves, we had more lessons than usual and we were finding people....we called it our "dia de milagros" I know the Lord answers prayers!

As for investigators, if all goes well I will have my first baptism this Saturday with Marcario! He is seriously so awesome and so ready to be baptized, and I know he is going to be an awesome member of the church :) We also have an investigator named Steffany and her aunt Miriam that have accepted baptismal dates...but Steffany has a ton of Word of Wisdom problems, so we will see where that goes. 

I hope you are all doing well! Always remember that Heavenly Father cares about you and He places people in your life for a reason. I know He answers prayers and that He has a plan for each of us. I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Hna Whittle

Hermana Whittle's companion,Hermana Bahr, con su carro de playdough.  :)