| Sister Emma Lynn Holdaway | Honduras San Pedro Sula East Mission | October 2013-May 2015 |

Monday, September 22, 2014

Week #42--Rain

It rained really hard Tuesday night while we were walking home from our dinner appointment.  But it was actually super cool because we were walking in the street and it wasn't raining where we were were, but we saw and heard the rain a couple hundred feet in front of us.  So we literally walked right into the rain and IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME.  Life is beautiful though, like wow.  But it was actually amazing and I'm not being sarcastic and we came home happy and soaking wet.  I was double happy because I had an excuse to make hot chocolate.  I love hot chocolate.  But Honduras doesn't make anyone crave hot chocolate because Honduras is hot.  Honduras is really hot.  Like too hot.  Like I'm probably going to live in Alaska for the rest of my life and be totally happy with never, ever having summer ever again.  Like ever.

Okay, that's a lie.  Because summer means bonfires and drive-in movie theaters and star gazing and frozen yogurt and car washes and play grounds and the Fourth of July and swimming. 

I'll probably get back together with summer one day.  But for right now, I need my space.  I need some time to myself in order to think things through.

The men here in Honduras have been super crazy this week.  We were walking home from church yesterday with the Elders and we walked past this guy and he started screaming, and I mean screaming, "TAKE ME WITH YOU, GRINGA.  IF YOU JUST SAY THE WORD I'LL BE A MORMON.  YOU HAVE THE MOST BEAUTIFUL EYES.  ETC, ETC, ETC."  Like, ew.  No.  And he was still screaming at me when I was two blocks away from him.  And then this other guy gave me a rose and I was like, "Thanks." *hair flip*

And so lol that this one elder was complaining about how hard it is to be a gringo in Honduras and I was like, "Smh, try being gringo and a woman, Elder, and then come talk to me."  So yeah, after almost a year in Honduras I've been officially desensitized to all pick up lines.

Also 1 Nephi 1:7 basically describes what my life is going to be like after my mission.

I also finished reading the Book of Mormon again this week.  It's super true.  You guys should read it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was gonna write more but I'm all out of time so BYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love,

Hermana Holdaway


Rain makes you wet

 Prayer posters that we made for one of our investigators, l.o.l


Week #41--Birthday Miracles

Hi.

Tengo 20 años.  

Ew.

Now I'm old and grey and 20.  And pretty soon I'm going to be 30 and that's really scary like where am I even going to be in 10 years?  I mean, who am I going to be with is probably the most important question, LOL, cough, cough, but anyway...

I had an amazing birthday here in Honduras.  I ate left over Crazy Bread for breakfast which wasn't the same as the cinnamon rolls or German pancakes that I would have gotten if I was home with my mom but it was probably the second best thing.  Then we taught a few lessons in the morning and had an amazing experience with Adrianna, one of our investigators.

We met Adrianna a couple of weeks ago.  We were out walking in the street on our way to visit one of our investigators, when all of a sudden we hear, "Hermanas!  Hermanas!  Vénganse por aquí!"  And we turned around to see this woman flagging us down from the other side of the street.  So we walked over and started talking with her and she asked us for a Book of Mormon.  We gave her a copy and set up a return appointment.  When we went back, she had read and marked her Book of Mormon and had really deep questions for us.  She asked us what happens to the people who didn't have the opportunity to hear the gospel in this life before dying.  So we explained the plan of salvation to her, saying that God loves each one of His children and has prepared the way for all of us to learn about and accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, if not in this life, in the life to come.  (To learn more about God's plan of salvation, click here!)  And then she said, "Hermanas, I've prayed twice asking God if this is the truth.  And I received my answer.  He told me that yes, this is the true church."

Best birthday present ever.

Then I casually fried up some unripe banana and dipped it in ketchup for my birthday lunch becasue WHOOHOOO Honduras.

Then we taught some other amazing lessons to a couple of less active members and our golden investigator, O!  O's story is a miracle.  Really.  He's the boyfriend of a less active member, J, that we're visiting.  We met J and O a couple of months ago when I was still with Hermana Calpa.  We knocked on their door, and J answered.  She invited us in, we started talking with her, and then she told us, "Hermanas, I'm a member of the church but I haven't gone in a couple of years.  And you two are an answer to my prayers.  I was just sitting here thinking about all of the problems that I have in my life, looking for answers, looking for some way to cope, and then you knocked on my door.  God sent you to me.  Thank you."  

And so we started visiting J a couple of times a week, helping her to get her life back on track.  We also started teaching her boyfriend, O, who she lives with, but he honestly didn't want anything to do with us.  When we taught him, he just sat there with a sour face and an attitude that shouted, "I'M BETTER THAN YOU AND DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY."  It was actually a little uncomfortable.  Okay, maybe like a lot uncomfortable.  He and J were having relationship problems, and J told us that they were going to break up.  She moved to Roatan, one of the islands of Honduras, and he moved to Utila.  So needless to say, we stopped visiting them.

Fast forward a couple of months to the end of August.  Hermana Tito and I were walking down the street, and guess who we bumped into?!  J!  She told us that she and O had moved back to Ceiba.  We set up an appointment to visit them, and when we went back a couple of days later, we saw a 360 degree turn around.  It's honestly unbelievable the change that we've seen in this family.  They're happy now.  Their relationship isn't perfect, but it's better.  A lot better.  And O, once sulky and full of attitude, now has a baptismal date.  He participates in the lessons, laughs and talks with us, and he even prayed in church last Sunday.  Right now we're working on the wedding plans, and then shortly after, O is going to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God.

A miracle.

My favorite part about being a missionary is seeing the change that the gospel brings in people's lives.  The power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real.  It makes bad men good and good men better.  And it's universal.  Each and every one of you can experience the changing and empowering effects of the Atonement.  And if you want to learn how, just ask the missionaries.       

I love my mission.  I love Honduras.  I love this gospel.  And I love each one of you.  Thank you for all of your love and support.  And keep pressing on.  Sometimes life is hard.  Okay, basically all the time life is hard.  But just remember this:


And remember that you're never, ever, ever alone.  God loves you.  He knows you.  He knows you by name, and He will never, ever, ever forget you.  

It's up to you to not forget Him.

Love always,

Hermana Holdaway

Week #40--Bailando

Hi!

Sorry for not emailing last week.  I mean, you guys probably didn't miss me that much or whatever, but I was just casually dying from dengue fever.  Aka last week I was super sick, and didn't feel like writing a big long email, but I mean, here I am again, so yup.

Things have gotten pretty much back to normal here in Ceiba.  Hermana Orozco got transfered to Tela, so now I'm back to only having one companion.  But now....with two areas!  President Klein closed Hermana Alfaro and Hermana Orozco's area until next transfer and asked Hermana Tito and me to cover the investigators there for the rest of this transfer.  And their area, Independencia, is HUGE.  I was super stressed out at the beginning of the week because I was just getting over my dengue and Hermana Orozco was leaving Tuesday morning and I had to learn Independencia, but it's all okay because we did it, and now we're happily spliting our time between two areas and conquering the world in our free time.  

Lol, free time, what's that.

I am also happy to report that I am no longer a white girl, because I'm basically Latina and I'm probably going to marry a Catratcho and live in Honduras for the rest of my life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lol, just kidding.

Sometimes I feel bad because my emails are sometimes like, not spiritual at all, but I mean, okay, sometimes writing mass emails is a lot of work, and sometimes I just don't like doing it.

Like right now.

But it's all okay because I still love you all.

If you guys want to be cultural and stuff go listen to Bailando by Enrique Iglesias cause it's all the rage down here in Latin America.

Rice and beans.

Love,

Hermana Holdaway
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