Hello once again to all of my family and friends out there! I hope that you are all doing well in your homes, works, and other places where you might be found at this moment. I'm imagining that the cold front is beginning to inch it's way over to the Western U.S. about this time, and once again.... I'm so jealous!
Anywho, lets get going on the weekly report. I never asked the Lord to be a Zone Leader, but now that He has called me, I need to fulfill my calling. On Tuesday I went to do interchanges with one of the district leaders in our zone. His name is Elder Canizales and he is from El Salvador. He is a great missionary, just a little spastic and let's say....antsy to be a leader in the mission. His area is called Tiloarque, and I had a lot of fun working really hard with him. His area has a lot of steep hills in it, and we had a lot of fun running up and down the hills all day (let's just say I'm a bit out of shape). They have some good investigators to teach and baptize.... I'm proud of my district leaders!
In our area, we attend the oldest chapel in all of Honduras (okay technically it's the 2nd oldest, but the 1st one was demolished and totally rebuilt, so that makes it the oldest!), and I feel very honored to go there. This week and last week we have been busy packing up a bunch of things and taking them all out of the church, because it's going to be taken down and remodeled this next week. We spent a lot of quality time with the Stake President talking about his family while we drove from the church to the warehouse to load and unload all of the things. I'll give more information on that later.
Elder Ortiz and I had been thinking a lot this week about some new things we can do as a zone in order to boost up the excitement and energy of the elders, because right now the zone is having a couple of difficulties meeting their goals they have set. What we decided was that for the weekly planning session, we were going to meet together as a zone and plan together, so that we could observe how they were planning and also watch a couple of tip clips from the PMG videos in order to help them out. I think it was pretty effective and the missionaries seemed to leave from the meeting content and happy. That's what I like to see! Speaking of Elder Ortiz, I haven't really taken the time to talk a little bit about him have I? Elder Ortiz is from Guatemala, and he is a teeny little guy. He is 23 years old (and frankly looks about 27), and has a great heart. We get along great together, and we're always working hard to strengthen our relationship. Every day my companion prays for me, and I pray for him, and we talk to each other often, always asking each other how we can improve. Elder Ortiz is a smart missionary, and he served as Branch President in a small pueblo in the mission for 7 months, so I have learned a lot from him. What I especially asked for help from him was how to improve and have effective baptismal interviews. I want to be able to have the Spirit within the interviews that I have, and I knew he could help me out with that. We're going to have baptisms in the zone this Saturday, and so I'll be able to show my new stuff soon!
This Sunday was the last Sunday in the chapel of Lempira. Every Sunday since 1972 the members have been meeting in that chapel, and it was a spiritual event to be there. A lot of the members were there and witnessed the construction of that chapel, and even helped build it! This was before the church hired other people to build the chapels, and so the members raised money, and with their own materials built their own beautiful chapel. As I was listening to their testimonies, I was reminded of the pioneers when they built the Salt Lake Temple. How would they feel if they saw their beautiful work of art still standing tall today? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has an incredible history in every country throughout the world. I am so grateful to be a continuing part of this history. As most of you all know, history is my favorite school subject and I just adore learning more and more about the history of God's creations.
I was able to participate in the setting apart of a sister missionary yesterday (here in Central America, for the setting aparts they have a special meeting and everything). Elder Tingey and I played the piano for her and it was a very spiritual meeting, the coolest part is that she is going to the Salt Lake Temple Square mission (to freeze her buns off)! Her name is Hermana (Sister) Perdomo, so if any of you ever see her at Temple Square, tell her that Elder Tinkham played the piano for her setting apart!
Today was a touching day for me, because I received 2 emotional letters from a couple of my beloved friends in Ciudad España. The first that I received was from Marino, the incredible 15 year old whom we baptized. He told me that he knows that the church is true, and is trying as hard as he can to get his family to listen to the gospel as well, and he told me that he is going to serve a mission. I cried. The second letter that I got was from Yasmin, from the couple of Yasmin and Cesar that we were still teaching when I left. That was a very sad letter. Yasmin told me that Cesar had died in August in a motorcycle accident, and it has been an incredibly difficult situation for her and her small child. I feel an incredibly strong desire to write her and testify of the healing power of the Atonement in our lives. As far as I know, the missionaries weren't able to find her for awhile to teach, but have once again started to teach her, and are going to invite her to be baptized.
I love this gospel. I love my mission. I am so grateful to be a part of the church's ever growing history. My testimony grows every day. I love you all, please take care.
Vaya Pues!
Elder Tinkham
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