Hello once again to all of my family and friends out there!
I’ll start out with the weather report.....summer has started here....it’s really....REALLY....Hot.
With that taken care of, we can get started. I’m ashamed to say that we didn’t have any baptisms this week. But don’t worry! There is more where that came from in April! I don’t feel like stopping now. Right now we are kind of running low on investigators, so we have been contacting a little bit more often than usual. Let me tell you, it has been quite the experience for us. We’ve met some funny people, ignorant people, weird people (emphasis on that one), and some really great people too. This week I have talked to “prophets,” atheists, calvinists, anti-mormons, etc. It’s giving me a good refreshment on the lessons that I haven’t taught in awhile. Though, it seems that I always end up talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ when it all calms down. I figure that if the people have intricate questions that they want answered, there is no way that they are going to understand the answers completely if they don’t understand the basics.
Haha, My companion and I had a crazy experience on Saturday coming home from some baptismal interviews that we had in another city. First of all, we arrived super late to the interviews due to the lack of buses and difficulty finding baptismal clothes to give to the Elders. Since we got there late, the investigators got bored and didn’t really feel like being baptized anymore because they felt like we were trying to “put this together too fast.” We went to their house personally, and convinced them to come to the interviews. The interviews went very well, and the spirit was there. They decided that they would be making a big mistake if they delayed their baptism.
Anyways, so on the way home, we were waiting for a bus to come (as usual), when a nice looking Jeep Wrangler pulls up and tells us to get in the car. So, we jumped on in, and I noticed that the man driving looked kind of like my type of country-men. Then I noticed that he was wearing a T-shirt of the University of Utah. I said, “Where on earth did you get that shirt?” He told me that he got it in Salt Lake City. Long story short, we ran into a guy who lives in Herriman, Utah (in Daybreak basically) and works here in Honduras. He stays here for 30 days, and then goes home for 30 days. Turns out that he isn’t a member of the church, but has had a ton of involvement in the church. We talked to him a lot about testimonies, and how to truly obtain one. We also talked about a couple of other gringo subjects, but that’s not important haha. It was definitely the best ride I’ve ever received in the mission!
This week we had a roller coaster ride with the Reyes Family, our converts. Recently, they have been passing through a whole bunch of trials, and luckily we have been able to help them with every single one of them so that they stay active. But this week was just crazy. After a heated argument, the husband and wife got pretty mad at each other. The husband went out and drank (which he hasn’t done in 6 years), and the wife told us that she was going to leave the house. We pretty much freaked out, and went straight over there to talk to Hna. Miriam about what she would be doing to her family if she left. Well, our efforts were all in vain so we thought, because she told us that she was still going to leave.
The next day, Hna. Miriam called us and thanked us for all of the counsel that we had given her. We thought that she was talking to us from the pueblo where she moved to (where there is no Mormon church), but then something funny happened. She told us that she wanted to invite us over for dinner. We told her sorry, but we couldn’t leave our area to go that far. Then she said, “Oh, right...you guys still think that I left huh? No, I’m still here, I’m going to give it another shot.” YESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I shared a hug and party dance with my companion, and then that same night we went over and gave an amazing lesson about forgiveness, repentance, and that families can be together forever.
In church on Sunday, we had some great things happen too. I gave a talk on The Family Responsibilities. I tried to focus on the priesthood responsibilities of the fathers. I think that it turned out great. Also, Daniela, the little girl we baptized a little while ago, brought her mom to church!!! It was totally awesome, because every time we try to convince her to come to church, she never wants to because she is Evangelist. Daniela always goes with her Grandma, but her Grandma just left to visit her family in the US for a month. So, we talked to Daniela’s mom, Magdalena, so that she could do us the favor of bringing her. She first said no....but much to our surprise, Daniela convinced her mom to bring her! Another miracle of the week.
Today for my Birthday, I had a Deja Vu experience. Once again I got pounded with eggs. This time by the whole zone. I should have seen it coming....blast. But, they also made me a cake so that made up for it. I have some pictures to explain the Birthday Egg “Bash” that they did to me!
I love you guys, talk to you next week! Happy General Conference! I’ll be looking for you Brother!
Vaya Pues!
Elder Tinkham
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