Exactly one year ago, I was finishing up my MTC experiece....wow...it's amazing how fast the time goes by. This week I will have completed one year in Honduras, and it seems like I arrived yesterday.
First of all...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DALLIN!!! 18 years old...I'm speechless...cant believe it...where have the years gone?
Hello once again to all of my family and friends out there, I hope you're all doing very well and that you had a good week. My week has been pretty normal...but I always have plenty to say, so lets get started!
This last week we went on interchanges again, since we have been putting a lot of emphasis on the new things we need to learn thanks to the leadership training meeting that was held the week before. This time, I stayed in my area once again, and had the opportunity to work with Elder Menendez, a brand new missionary fresh from the MTC. It was a good experience for me because I had the opportunity once again to feel what it was like back in my trainer days with a new missionary. Things are done differently, because you are always used to the 2 companions knowing the lessons, but since he is new, he is still learning the lessons. So I would teach a part, then let Elder Menendez teach (he would talk for about 30 seconds and look back at me...),and then I would teach again haha. But he has an amazing spirit with them, and the investigators could recognize that, so there wasn't any problem. Everyone passes through those moments when they're new, I still vividly remember my first lesson that I taught in Honduras, and how I nervously stumbled through my testimony and tried to recite the first vision by memory, and that was about it. So I've been there, and I really loved working with him that day.
We also had interviews with President Flores this week as well, combined with a training meeting on how to improve our teaching. The world missionary program is changing their views on how the missionaries need to be now a days, and so we are focusing A LOT on how to be the Great Teacher, like Christ was. We focused on How to Begin A Lesson, and How to Teach the Person, and not the lesson. I learned a whole bunch, and we began immediately to put things into work in the lessons in Pedregal. In the actual interview, I learned a lot about what President Flores thinks of me as a missionary, and how I can do better, so obviously it was really great. He told me that my group that came in last August is one of his favorite groups of missionaries, and that we are now beginning to form our positions as the missionaries we need to be in the mission. He told me not to worry about leadership positions, because sometimes missionaries have different callings in the field, and that mine is unique. He told me that with my strong character, he feels that it is necessary to put me with missionaries that are struggling with problems so that I can help them out (sound familiar dad?). I was never worried about a leadership position, so that's not a problem for me.
With respect to the investigators in Pedregal, Seydy is doing pretty good, but there is one problem. On Saturday when we went over to her house to teach and make sure she was going to come to church, we found out that a couple of hours earlier she had fallen down a group of stairs (there are an extreme amount of those in the city, since Tegucigalpa is VERY filled with hills) and twisted her ankle. We were able to talk to her for just a brief moment, and they took her to the hospital to get a boot put on....Ugh. Well, she couldn't come to church for that reason, and it looks like the baptism is going to be delayed, but things are still positive for her. We are still focusing on her testimony, and how can she receive it more strongly. She has doubts about coffee and a couple of other things, but really, all of the doubts come down to one thing....whether Joseph Smith was a prophet or no. We explained to her that if she prayed, everything would work out, and her decision to be baptized would be confirmed.
This week Ingrid (investigator) and her daughter Paola came to church. We have 4 progressing investigators, and each one of them have come to church on a different Sunday. We are working on that so that we can bring ALL of them at the same time, because that's how its supposed to be isn't it? Ingrid is a great lady that has a lot of respect for the missionaries. The problem there is that she is not married to her less active "husband" who spends a lot of time drinking. She has told us that she doesn't want to be married because of the whole drinking problem, she is afraid that he might lose control, and that the marriage will be all for nothing. But, I have faith that everything will work out, we are going to be very serious with the husband this week.
Cristian and Mayra are doing well, supposedly Mayra went to the lawyers office this week to talk about the divorce from her former husband, so the progress is coming. A little bit down, a lot more to go!
I would just like to take the time to say that I love being a missionary in Honduras. I don't think I say it enough that I know that this church is true and that everything I'm doing is according to Gods plan. I find great joy in the scriptures and each day as I study I find out more for myself that all of these things are true. There is one scripture that I love in the New Testament (this is going to be a rough translation since I have no idea how it is in English) where Christ talks about repentance. He explains in Luke that there is much more rejoicing in the heavens when a repented soul arrives instead of a soul that had no need for repentance. I have received a confirmation of that truth, as I see the repentance process working every day.
I love you all, and hope that everything is going well.
Vaya Pues!
Elder Tinkham
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