December 27th

Hello once again to all of my family and friends out there! A very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you! I hope you’re getting all of your New Year’s resolutions ready for this weekend, and that you can all have safe travels to wherever you are going to go. I am almost prepared with my New Year’s resolution, which will for sure help me to be a better missionary next year! It’s kind of crazy to think that I have spent the entire year of 2010 serving the Lord, since the time has gone by so fast. But anyways! Down to the weekly breakdown.

This week has been quite the weird one for me. For Elder Sinclair and I, it has been a little bit difficult to adjust to the whole English thing. I think we’re finally about used to being companions by now, but earlier in the week...whew was it weird let me tell you. We have been trying as hard as we can to speak Spanish at all times. It’s pretty much impossible within the house with us 4, but outside the house we’re always speaking Spanish. It’s a good way to keep both languages fresh in our minds, because we have figured out that our English is absolutely TERRIBLE! We can still communicate because we understand our Spanglish, but the grammar...yikes, but we do get a good laugh about it.

Christmas was just dandy! On the 24th, we participated in a service project in one of the areas in our zone where we helped a member clear out a whole ton of dirt from a spot of land so he could expand his house. I have quite a few blisters and a back ache, but we did some serious hard work! The best part was, on the buses to and from the area, my companions and I stood up in front of the bus and sang Christmas hymns and shared a super short message of Feliz Navidad with everyone, and then we passed around the Joy to the World cards that you guys gave me for Thanksgiving (it turned out to be a great success). That night, we entered the house a little bit early to avoid the danger, because around here Christmas is a mixture of New Year’s Eve and the 4th of July. Everyone stays up until midnight and lights off a ton of fireworks once the clock strikes midnight. We basically went to bed at 10:30 knowing that we would be woken up within an hour and a half...and we were haha. But, the good news is that I opened the package from you guys and just loved it! Best Christmas ever! We danced around in the house to Christmas music that night...and kindly went to bed so that Santa could come to our house too (and oh did he come). We woke up the next morning and danced around to a couple more of the Christmas songs, then we studied, and then I talked to you guys! Obviously it was a great spirit uplifter for me, and hearing from all of you guys was the best present. After the phone call, Elder Sinclair and I spent the rest of the day looking for families to teach, since Christmas day is the absolute best day to be able to find complete families in their houses. We have been trying new contacting ways now, and we are really trying to let ourselves be guided by the Spirit to the people that are prepared to find us. We did as best as we can to “feel,” and we actually found a whole ton of people that were willing to listen. We put a ton of appointments for this week, and one family we actually taught that same night. It was an amazing Christmas that I will never forget!

Elder Sinclair and I have a whole lot of goals of what we’re going to do in our area, as well as the zone, to have success. We’ve already hit one breakthrough. The fam. Cerrato is still doing pretty good, and we have been making progress with one of the other kids in the family, Michael. We didn’t even put a baptismal date for him...he put one for himself. Yesterday in church he asked ME if he could be baptized. I was like...hmmm...I’ll see if I can squeeze you in on my schedule..uh YES! He should be baptized on the 8th.

I love you so much family! I’m sorry I didn’t write too much today but I’m out of time! Take care all of you, and have a great weekend!

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

December 20th - A Very White Christmas

Hello once again to all of my family and friends out there in the real world! It’s a wonderful day to be writing you because it’s Christmas week! The best week of the year! I hope you are all enjoying time with your families, drinking hot chocolate, and sitting beside the nice warm fire. This has been quite the interesting week for me, let’s get going!

Well, to start off this Christmas is definitely going to be a “White one,” let me explain why. We received the changes yesterday, and I will be departing from Elder Ortiz. He has been sent to be a trainer for his final change in the mission, so I will be receiving a new companion on Wednesday. I was incredibly excited to find out that my new companion is Elder Sinclair from my MTC group! It was a very shocking experience to find out, but I am extremely pumped to work together with my buddy so we can change things around here! It is a white Christmas because all of the missionaries, starting Wednesday, in our 4 person house are gringos! Something that has definitely never happened to me before.

On Tuesday I got the package! Thanks so much mom and dad! I actually haven’t opened it yet because I’m going to wait until Christmas to open it! We’ll see if I can wait that long! But whatever it is, thanks so much in advance! Tuesday was the mission Christmas Devotional that I talked about last week. It was a Huge spirit builder. To start off, we just sang a bunch of Christmas hymns to invite the Spirit into the chapel while the Assistants were getting the equipment ready. Then the Hna. Flores gave us a beautiful message about how the best gift we can give to anyone this Christmas Season is the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were all very moved. Afterwards, I did something that I have never done in the entire 18 months that I have been in the mission....I watched a movie (that isn’t church sponsored)!!!!

President gave us his Christmas present, allowing us to watch the new version of A Christmas Carol that came out last year. I think it is the voice of Jim Carrey, but I’m not sure because we watched it in Spanish! I won’t lie, I felt super weird watching a movie, but it was better afterwards because we applied it to our missionary lives at the end. After the movie, Elder Tingey played the piano while my roommates from the house and I sang O Holy Night in Spanish. We were super nervous and I thought we did a bad job, but afterwards a whole ton of missionaries were complimenting us that it was awesome and that they felt the Spirit while we were singing, so I felt good about it. After that President Flores gave us his annual Christmas message, and it was a familiar one, repentance. I just love it haha, every time President Flores talks, it’s always about repentance and how to become pure missionaries. He gave a Christmas touch to the message, and it was absolutely amazing. I don’t know how he does it, but every time he speaks, the Spirit just floods the room. After the talk we had our Christmas dinner...mmmmm. We received our Christmas hugs from President and a small chocolate, and peaced out from the conference. All in all I definitely enjoyed the devotional!

Other big news that I forgot to mention earlier...In January we will be enjoying the company of an Apostle in our mission! Elder M. Russell Ballard, along with Jay E. Jensen from the 70 are going to be coming to Honduras for business purposes, and they have shown desires to speak with all of the missionaries! It will be around the 15th of January so I am super duper excited for that!

The work for us right now is still going super slow, but one thing that we have been able to accomplish is that we have encouraged our ward to help out in the missionary work, and it’s starting to work. We had a really uplifting Ward Council this week, and even created an activity on the spot. Yesterday after church, for the rest of the night we went caroling to all of the less actives and recent converts that we had time to visit. It was great because we’re starting to see with our own eyes that the members are starting to get a little bit excited. Right now we are without a Ward Missionary Leader because he’s been kind of slacking lately, but the bishop has really stepped it up and is starting to help us out.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope that it is filled with joy and thoughts about our Savior Jesus Christ. I know that I have really come to know the meaning of Christmas as a missionary. Christmas is a really nostalgic time for missionaries, because they always think about things they used to do at home, but it’s also the best time of the year to teach the Restored Gospel. I could never ask for a greater blessing than I have right now, to spend Christmas doing what I most love, sharing the precious truths that deep down inside me, I have come to know for myself. I love my Savior, and especially at this time of year, the song twirls in my head.

“Joy to the World, the Lord is come, Let Earth receive her King.”

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

December 13th

Hello once again to all of my family and friends out there! How are you all doing? I hope that you are passing this Christmas season with thoughts of reflection about how the year has gone for you, and that we may all think about the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ. Things are becoming very chilly here in Tegucigalpa in the mornings, and the weather is just going crazy. It’s really cold at night and then warms up to being very hot in the afternoon. Desert type weather wouldn’t you think? Weird stuff since I’m in a tropical zone huh?

This week has been quite the frustrating one around here for my companion and I. A large chain of events that would just bore you made us have quite the difficult week this week, but let’s just say we’ve got plenty of room to improve! I guess it wasn’t exactly the whole week, but Sunday in particular. It was a little bit rough for us because all of the investigators we had invited and had committed to come to church this week cancelled on us, and we ended up only bringing one less active member to church with us. It was quite disappointing due to the large hopes we had, but we have made a lot of plans for this week on how we can improve. In addition to the bad luck at church, most of our appointments fell through in the evening so we weren’t able to teach too many people. We walked home saying, “Well at least it can’t get any worse!” But just like any other cliché, we were wrong haha. We got back home and realized that my companion had left open the water valve that connects to our tank to the shower, and found the floor soaking wet. We also opened up our closet and found it...flooded. All of my clothes were soaking wet! We sure had a fun time cleaning it all up haha. But now that I think about it, it’s a fun memory to remember.

Well, enough moping. I’d rather tell you all about the good stuff that happened instead. On Tuesday we held our monthly zone meeting with the zone in one of the chapels, and we decided to do it a little bit different. Elder Oritz and I decided to make a couple of rules so that we can be more spiritual missionaries in the meetings. We all arrived 10 minutes early so that we could read the scriptures and listen to prelude music, and we gave everyone the opportunity to bear their testimonies. Also, instead of instruction about Preach my Gospel like always, Elder Ortiz and I each prepared a small talk about Christmas, and how we can better enjoy it as missionaries. I really enjoy the words that Pres. Eyring shared, when he shared the song “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.” At first I felt sad reading that part, realizing that I will be spending yet another Christmas holiday away from my loved ones, but then I realized something else too. Our loving Heavenly Father desires that each and every one of us returns to live in His presence, and has prepared the way so that we can accomplish it. What I am doing is trying to help the people here in Honduras to be able to “return home” just like I am trying to achieve. As the song relates, I will be coming home for Christmas in my dreams, but I am also fulfilling my purpose as someone who helps my loving brethren return to their Heavenly Father’s presence for Christmas as well. It’s very satisfying.

This week I also had the opportunity to go on interchanges with Elder Paulson, my fellow Bingham High School alumni. We had a great day working together, and worked super hard. We also talked about beloved memories from high school, laughing and laughing about the funny things that happened to us back in the day. We have both been in the mission for awhile now, so we had plenty of experiences to share. Us 4 who were in the beloved Comayaguela house that night were, coincidentally, all Americans, and SpongeBob Squarepants fans...long story short we had some good laughs.

Tomorrow we are going to have our mission Christmas Conference with President Flores, I really hope that it’s going to be a great experience for me. Elder Tingey, Ortiz, and I are going to sing “O Holy Night” in Spanish during the meeting. We’re a little bit nervous but it will be a good experience. Speaking of singing, did I tell you that my companion and I sang a duet in church? If I didn’t tell you, just to be quick....about a month ago Elder Ortiz and I sang “O My Father” in our sacrament meeting, and it turned out to be really good. We got a lot of comments!

Also, we have some crazy plans this upcoming Thursday to come to the Mall and sing Christmas hymns by the giant Christmas tree that they have in the middle. The ones that can’t sing are going to be chasing people down for references. If everything goes well, we should get permission soon and we’ll be singing at the mall on Thursday! I’ll let you know how that goes.

Anyways, that’s all that I have for you guys this week. I hope that you stay safe! I love you all and pray for you often. Have a fantastic week!

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

Another picture and comment from Elder Klingler (via his mother) "One of the speakers (at the leadership training) asked, what is real happiness or joy? And one of the elders from our group raised his hand and said, Coming to this conference and seeing our whole MTC group here!"

Tyler wasn't able to send his pictures, so luckily Elder Sinclair's mother emailed me a copy of the pictures he sent her. This is what Elder Sinclair said, "This week we had a capacitation...training...of the leaders of the mission. All I have to say is...well, this time OUR ENTIRE GROUP WAS THERE! We had a reunion with all our old boys, and, needless to say, the comment was made that this group (as a group) is the best group of missionaries to have been in the mission."

In front of the Honduran flag at the chapel

December 6

Hello once again to all of my family and friends out there! It’s definitely beginning to look a lot like Christmas now a days. Even the Hondurans are getting up on the spirit this year with a couple of houses I’ve seen that have lights and everything! No one can escape the incredibly contagious Christmas fever...even the missionaries!

This week has been a spiritual banquet for me. I absolutely love being a missionary! If anyone would ever pass up this opportunity for anything else, they are really missing out on the thrill of a lifetime. I feel like I have been prepared physically, emotionally, and spiritually more than I would have ever been at home, and I definitely would never have arrived at such a spiritual high like I am right now. If I was spiritually dead before, I am as close to alive that I could ever be right now. Hoorah for Israel!

We didn’t have a whole lot of time to work this week, because we had another one of those new Fundamentals of Preach My Gospel training conventions again. This time it was only 2 days (well 3 for us) instead of 5 like the first one I went to, so we didn’t get bored at all. This time, every single one of my friends and companions from the MTC were in attendance! We took a few EPIC pictures of all of us...exactly 18 months later, in front of the Honduran flag at the chapel. I’m going to try and send a few of the pictures today. Which reminds me, mom the reason that I haven’t been sending pictures lately is just that I don’t have a way to send them due to the dirty rats that ate my camera cord, but today I’m going to do what I can to try and send them another way.

Now that I have been in the mission for 18 months, I definitely feel old. Ever since I entered the field of Honduras, I have always felt like a newbie and that I was just barely getting started in the mission, but ever since President made the declaration about us now passing into the “old stage,” it definitely feels uncomfortable haha. Anyways, the 2 days of training was really a spiritual uplift for me. We learned a whole lot of new things, and were also able to hear from 2 different ex-mission presidents on subjects like “The role of the Holy Ghost in the Conversion” and “Revelation through Prayer.” All in all we touched quite a few themes, but the ones that I especially enjoyed were how to ask inspired questions. We had a whole day and a half to listen to the lecture, practice, evaluate, re-practice, eat, and go through the process again! The practices really help because it lets me know what my weaknesses are, something that is really important to know.

The 3rd day we had Zone Leader Council, and that’s where we hear the “strong side” of President Flores haha, but I’m used to it by now. I have decided to change my goals as a Zone Leader, and from now on I will be focusing my efforts on the spiritual progression of all the Elders and Sisters. Now that I have thought about it, it’s so much more important than the numbers that I have to ask for every day. I never wanted to be a number hungry type of hungry, and I never really was, but I realized that I tried really hard to gain the respect and confidence from the zone, but now what I need to do is elevate, edify, and animate.

I received the Thanksgiving package this week, thanks so much! I don’t know where in the world you guys got that Miskito dictionary but thanks! And also the Italian dictionary came just in time, because I was able to get my hands on an Italian Book of Mormon on Friday! So now I have all the materials I need (for now) to be able to at least read and pronounce Italian, I’m very excited! I also decorated my tree last night and it looks very elegant.

To give an update on the new family we found with Ana Maria, things are still doing alright. We were nervous to go back that second time, because she told us that her husband was a “priest” of a Pentecostal church and that he doesn’t like Mormons very well. So what we decided to do is go in there with a spirit of love and not of contention. We shared the Restoration with them, and explained the story of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Afterwards I asked them, “After hearing the story of what happened to this young man, how do you feel?” They told us that they had never heard the real version of the story, and that they felt bad for ever judging the church based on the skewed principles that they had heard from other people. We invited them to read the Book of Mormon, and Ana Maria was especially excited to investigate what the Book contains. The husband is still a little bit rough to break, but at the least he heard us out, and is willing to learn more. The less active member Fernando that introduced us to them came to church with us on Sunday and got to know the leaders of the Elders Quorum.

This week, one of our “eternal investigators” named Sindy FINALLY came to church for the first time. It was a miraculous experience and I think it went well with her. With what I was able to observe, she was reading the Book of Mormon throughout most of the meetings, and also the Articles of Faith. She also had a couple of really good questions in the Gospel Principles class. We have been being really frank with her lately, asking her inspired questions and really trying to help her understand the commitments she needs to make. I think we might have made a breakthrough, and the next time we go we are going to teach the doctrine of Christ, I’m very excited.

That’s about all I’ve got for you this week everybody. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, for I have read it. I have examined its pages, and I know that no mortal man could be able to write such a powerful book. Its words are the words of God, and we must feast upon them. I love the words of Moroni 10:6. I love you all, and I hope that you have a lovely week. Take Care!

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham