Llamados a servir: Week #26--My People

Last week I left my heart in Olanchito as I said goodbye to the people that I've grown to know and love over the past six months.

1. Kevin: Saying goodbye to Kevin was so hard. Kevin's 16, and is one of the most loving, energetic people that I've ever met. Haha, I still laugh whenever I think about the first day that I met him. Some of the elders in our district gave us Kevin's name and address as a reference and told us to go visit him (and by address I mean they were like, "He lives like three or four squares heading towards the mountain in a house that's red in front of the mango tree and next to the pulperia." Like, k....thanks....). But anyway, Hermana Munoz and I had been walking and walking and walking trying to find this kid's house, and we were talking to everyone in the street asking if they knew where Pulperia Kevin was. We got to this one house super duper tired, and we were like, "Where's Pulperia Kevin?" And this kid was like, "You're here!" And we were like, "AHHHHH FINALLY." And then we met Kevin. :)

When we met him, Kevin had been inactive for a while. He'd stopped going to church and starting hanging out with the wrong group of kids, doing things that he shouldn't have been doing. At first, it was hard to teach him, because he didn't even want to pray, let alone go back to church. But little by little, he began to change. And finally, after four months of visiting him, Kevin came back to church. And now he's going to seminary every day and always talks about serving a mission. Kevin's a miracle. And I was part of that miracle. Awwwwwwwwww, I love Kevin.

2-4. Sunilda: You guys have heard lots and lots about Sunilda. Haha, this woman is crazy. But I love her. She made me this pillow as a going away present! And she also named one of her chickens after me. And she said that when I come back to visit her she's going to give me this chicken in a box so that I can take it with me on the plane back to Brazil. Soooooooo yeah.

Also this is what we call a Catratcho picture (Catratcho is the slang term for someone who's Honduran). These people never smile in pictures so I decided to try and fit in.

5-6. Alex, Eliza, and Reina: Goodbyes are hard, hard, hard. And this family was no exception. I gave them their own hymnal as a present, and Alex was super happy about it. Also they couldn't keep their eyes open for the family picture, hahaha.

7. Ingrid: I've never met a woman with more faith than Ingrid. She's the first person in my mission that has asked for a baptismal date. We were teaching her a lesson, and she was like, "Hermanas, when can I get baptized? I know that this is the truth." It was amazing. We're just waiting for a few small details to get worked out so that Ingrid can tie the knot with her husband and get baptized!

8. La Familia Fajardo: La Familia Fajardo were my next door neighbors. Hermana Fajardo is the best cook in all of Honduras. I miss her food so much. She cooked us lunch every day, and when we didn't have dinner, we just had to say the word and she would give us food. Mmmmmmmmmm food. But this family is super loving and amazing. I'm never going to forget them.

How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

I might not be in Olanchito anymore, but I'm never going to forget the wonderful six months that I had there. I'm never going to forget the people who have changed my life for forever. This is what the mission is all about: learning to grow and love those around you as you help them come unto Christ. I've learned that every person has their story. Every person is unique. And how amazing that I was able to be a part of people's stories. For that I'm eternally grateful.