Aloha Hawaii

Aloha Hawaii...Thats a thing that Latinos like to say down here hahaha...

Alright, so this week was one hectic week. Almost every day this week we had meetings. Zone meetings, district meetings, and Multizone meetings, Stake Conference, and yes, a meeting with Elder Nelson. It was a pretty good week, and we are setting up to have my best week yet. This week we didnt have a baptism, but we are set to have 4 baptisms this week, and a marriage. This week is going to be even more hectic than before, but im so ready for it. Everything in the work is going perfectly smooth. My companion is slowly starting to learn spanish, Investagators are all coming around and coming to church, and the members have been starting to give us food every day. I am without a compaint in the world. Theres alot of work to be done, but really, I am in the best circumstances imaginable right now. The future is as bright as ever right now. 

 So as I said, we had a conference with Elder Nelson this week. Mission Comayaguela and Mission Tegucigalpa were present in the meeting, and every mission in central America was watching via satalite, Technology is cool. It was an incredible expierience for manu reasons. Reason 1 the meeting was in the Cañada, Monterrey, my first church house. It was good to walk down the streets of monterry again. I ran into a few members, and some old investagators, and after the meeting, our zone even ate in Burger Chicken! hahaha. Reason 2, Elder Nelson is the president of the quorom of the 12, and all the missionarys present got to shake his hand. Reason 3, I was just sitting in the congregation with all the other missionaries, and the president of the Tegucigalpa mission stands up to start the conference and says "we will start with a hymn, and then a prayer offered by Brandon Troy High of the Comayaguela Mission." They never say my name right, but yeah, I offered the opening prayer in the conference with president Nelson, it was pretty cool. Also President Nelson cut pretty deep and is changing the work. He straight up said, There are more less acitive members in central america, than active members, and God Is Not Happy Right Now... Freak........ Esentially, we are to stop knocking doors, and we are to start looking for the less actives, and focus on reactivation. This is hard, because the work is almost always centered on baptisms, but now, baptisms are not the focus. There are things to be done, but President Nelson Trust in us as missionaries to save those soles that have gone astray. I have learned a ton this week, and I am ready for the future of this work. Stay safe and have a good week at the Fair, and have a good week back in school!!

 

Con animo, y con un montón de Amor

 

Elder High

Am I really in 6 months?? Holy cow...

Wow, so another week down. Im not going to lie, this week has been stresfull, but has been really really good. We have incredible investagators who are progressing faster than we were expecting. We have investagators who have been doing all that we ask them to do plus more. Weve been baptizing and confirming. I have never felt so busy in my life, but the work has never been so rewarding before. 

We had one investagator named Gladys. We started teaching gladys about six weeks ago when I was with Elder Huanca. She was an old investagator that we got referenced to from the other Elders in our area. The other Elders felt like she was impossible to work with and that she had too many problems. Me and Elder Huanca were ambitios and we took her on. The first day we found out that she had problems with drinking, and with smoking. That was the problem with her. She is really positive, and really accepting, but she felt like she couldnt stop her problems. For about a week we tried all sorts of different things to hlp her quit, but she had addictions, and nothing was working. This was tough, and we thought about dropping her. For some reason, we didnt drop her, and we just kept going with her. She would come to church, but she still had her addictions. We felt hopeless. Then one day, we just started to testify firmly. We testified of blessings that she will recieve, we testified unwaivering. I do not know, and I can not explain what happened, but she just said, alright, Ill stop, and she did... She hasnt smoked in 4 weeks, and she hasnt drank in 4 weeks. Best of all, I had the privledge to baptize her on saturday night. 

Again, I can not explain the ways of the lord. I can not explain the power that he has. People can change. When people feel the spirit, people change. There is no other way to explain this experience in any other words. People can change. Really thats all I have time for today, but the work is incredible. Love yall with all of my heart. 

Elder High

 

 

Illnesses- So, yeah, my second week here in Honduras I had Chickengunya, which wasnt too fun, but I made it through it. Im still going so dont worry .

 

Books-  All right, so about the books. Whatever church books you can find would be awesome. I do not know if it if possible to load up the big history of the church books, Articles of Faith, The Joseph Smith Papers. Really an book is better than anything, but alot of the more real indepth stuff, orthe bigger more profund books would be really be great. Like I said before, I love Jesus the Christ because its a little more profund, and a little bit bigger. For the languege, English is awesome. I can speak Spanish fluently and smothly, but I have a verry small vocabulary right now, so for any type of reading formore in depth stuff, english is a lot better. 

So this picture is from the baptism of Gladys

 

This is my zone leader from a service project that we had

Training a gringo!

Y entonces Familia! 

 

Tal bueno, so yeah, transfers were this past tuesday, and as I said, I am a trainer. I am the trainer of an awesome Elder named Elder Espinoza. The name is latino, but he is from Provo Utah. Yup, I am training a gringo!!!!  Its a real interesting expierience for me. Hes really good, but right now he doesnt speak a whole lot of spanish. Im not going to lie, I was expecting to train a latino, but I have no problem at all training a gringo. Hes pretty funny. He reminds me of me, especially during the first week. Im pretty used to everything here, but hes not quite there haha. Everything that i picked out my first week hes picking out. "The toilet doesnt flush!?" "yeah, youll get used to it..." "We dont have a shower!?", "yeah, we have a bucket, youll get used to it..." haha. 

 

Other than my new companion, things havent changed. I did not change areas which was a huge blessing. Last week we had two baptisms, and we have alot more planed for the coming weeks. This area is incredible! Last week we also had one wedding which was pretty interesting. Really Im kinda stripped for time today, but things here are going great. Theres so much i want to say, and no time to say it. Just dont worry, Im doing great!!

 

Con muchísimo amor

Elder High

Positivity is awesome!

Hey, Que Onda familia!

 

So, yeah, I am having a son... President Ferman called last tuesday and straight up said, ¨Elder High, So you are going to be a trainer in the next change, how do you feel.¨ ¨Uh, good president..¨ Really, Im scared to death. I do not feel ready to be a Senior Companion, and definitly not a trainer, but I guess this is what i need to be doing. I have less than 6 months, and i hardly know this area, and the members, and i feel like I hardly know this language. On top of that, I got a call from my district leader in the morning, saying that president is thiking of sending me to open a new area thats been closed for over a year. I do not know how I could posibly train in an area that literally has nothing and that i know nothing of. Im not going to lie, I dont want to leave this area. Again like my other area, weve revived this area. This friday we  have a wedding and 2 baptisms. The next week, another baptism, and the next week 2 weedings and 4 baptisms. Ive gone almost 6 months of building up areas and then to leave without witneseing the fruits of my labor. Im really praying to stay. 

 

Other than that, this past week has been pretty normal. Weve been helping multiple investagators with the last step before baptism and finalizing plans for weddings and for baptisms. Also ive had a few confrences with the other trainers this week. All in all, ive just been preparing the area and myself for a new missiorary. 

 

Ive been trying to change my mindset this week. Ive been focusing on all the good things about everything. Ive been looking for the good in my investagators, the members, the area, and my companion. This week has gone alot smother and has really been a realitivly easy week. There is so much good in this world, but yet it is so easy to focus in on all the negative. There is so much to be thankfull for, but yet often times we are ungratefull. There is so much to be happy about, but yet often we are very unhappy. Really, this is a personal decision. If we want to be happy, there is enough happiness in the world to make us happy. If we want to be gratefull, there is an abundance of things to be gratefull for. If we want to be positive, there is alot more to be positive about than neative. Really the choice is ours. Part of the plan of God is to give us the decision. But really, being positive and gratefull, and happy is always the better decision. The choice is ours. Family I love you all with all the strength of my heart. Thank you for the pictures. Reiken sure is GUAPO!! 

 

Love ya all

Elder High

Finally a picture!

Buen Dia

 Okay, I dont know where to begin this week. I have had more than a few really spiritually trying expieriences this week. I feel like Ive grown more this week than in any week past. The work is great, and is progressing, but ive learned more than anything, that we are here on the earth to be tried. There is no way out of it. We will be tried, in ways that are uncomftable, in ways that we dont want to accept. God has a higher plan to everything. We can not comprehend the higher plan that God has for us.

We have an investagador named Miriam. We have been visiting here every other day since the day that I got here 5 weeks ago. Little by little shes been starting to accept our message, and starting to read in the Book of Mormon. This week she was way excited to come to church for the first time. Her life was going great. She was content with her life, and she had no major problems in her life. We visited her saturday night, to verify that she was all good to go to church on the next day. I was not ready to hear what she had to tell us. We knocked on her door, and with tear stained eyes, she opened the door and let us in. She didnt say much initially, she just wept... We were deeply concerened, because we truly care about her, and we truly feel this undescribable love for her. She opened up and described her expierience on the previous night. She went to visit her mother who only is 60 years old. It was like normal, they were talking and just visiting, and then her mother said that she didnt feel too good. A few minuets later in front of Mirams eyes, her mother mother had a Heart Attack and passed away almost instantly. I did not know what I could possibly do to ease her pain and suffering. With her were 2 uncles, brothers of her mother, who were drunk, lauging and joking as if nothing happened, and then there was Miraim, weeping out of the love that she had for her mother. With her, we read in the bible about Christ being the prince of peace. Only through Chirst can we recieve peace in this life. We will all go through difficulties, we will all expierience pain and suffering, and only through Christ can we be relived. For Miriam, she is without hope. We are her hope. Her family doesnt care, Miriam was the only daugher of her mother, her mothers only friend. Weve taught her the plan of salvation, and she wants so desperatly to belive that it is true. I feel a great responibility to help her recieve peace and hope. I feel this deep love for her, and I want so desperatly to help her. Im not going to lie, Ive poured out my soul in prayer for her, Ive mourned with her, Im doing all I can to fufil my role as a personal represenative of the price of peace, the lord Jesus Christ. 

After reading of what happened this past week to Bill, I cant help but think of this expierience. Bill was a great friend of mine. I know that God has a higher plan for him. They can recieve a peace of mind only through our this gospel and through Jesus Christ. He is hope. He is Peace of Mind. I have a lot of praying to do this week, but we can and will be strenghted through the Lord.

 

Elder High

 

 

I thought you might like this. I got your package yesterday. I havent had time to take any really great pictures, but I think youd like to see my face after a few months! 

 

Miracles

Familia! 

 

So this was another pretty busy week. There was less meetings and more much needed teaching appointments. This week weve been praying for miracles. Weve been praying that things will turn aroung here, and that our investagators will have a desire to change and come around. And what do you know, weve recieved a few different miracles this week. 

 

We have one investagator whose name is Vanessa. Vanessa has come to church every week since ive been here. She reads in the book of mormon ever night with her son. Her son is 7 years old, and he loves the church. He made his mom buy him a white shirt and a tie so he could be like the missionaries. He wihtout a doubt is going to be a future missionary. The problem with Vanessa, is she needs to be married before she can be baptized. She understands the importance of marriage, and she really wants to be married because she wants to be baptized, but the porblem is with her boyfriend. I have never met the guy, but Vanessa always said that he doesnt want to me married and she doesnt know why. Theyve been living together for almost 10 years, so the fear of obligation wasnt the problem. We were really confused and really kinda sad for Vanessa. Anyways this week, out of the blue, we recieved a phone call from the boyfriend who weve never talked to before. He set up an appointment to talk to us about whats holding him back from the marriage. Essentially, last year he had a run in with the law, it wasnt anything serious, but Vanessa didnt know about it. He was afraid that when he took out the papers for the marriage, the past event would be highlighted in his history. We talked through it with him and he realized that it wasnt anything seriuous enough to keep his wife from happiness. He accepted to be married after this miracle meeting. This week weve been working though the papers, and they are being married and baptized on the 1st of August. 

 

There was countless miracles this week, but there is one more id like to share with you. I do not know if you remember Walter. He was the boy who was near death, and me and Elder Chirinos blessed him in my second week here. Well, the last week we were in Montererey, we started visiting him and teaching him. At this time, he had problems with his wife. His wife left him, and she took his son with her. He didnt understand why, but he felt like he could recieve peace through the church. My last Sunday in Monterrey, he came to church with us, and that was the last ive heard of him. Well this week we were in social security officies helping Vanessa with her papers, and there in the office was Walter and his wife. After I got transfered The sister missionaries started visiting him. He kept coming to church, and 2 weeks ago, his wife came back to him. This week he was preparing to be married to her, and they both are being baptized in the 1st of august. This man has experienced so many miracles, and always I have been part of them. I feel blessed to be part of his life, and I feel blessed to be a witness of the miracles of the lord through this man. I can not describe how happy I am that he is being baptized, and that his wife came back, and that hes getting married to his wife. I do not know if my path will ever cross with his again, but I am so gratefull for the expieriences Ive had with this man.

 

Really that has been my week, a miraculous week. Ive been doing the same things Ive been doing in the past, just trusting in the lord, and I have witnessed miracles. The Church is true family, just the church is true!

 

Cheque

Elder High

A positive attitude is key!

Hola!!

 Entonces, Creo que ustedes tuvimos un  muy bueno semana! Estoy muy feliz para ustedes!

So yeah, This was definitly another week. We have been working like none other. I actually have a way powerfull companion.  Once we are out of the house, we do great work. This week has been proably my best week to date number wise. We have contacted countless people, and right now we have 12 really positive investagators. We started the week with nothing, and now we have 12 people preparing to be baptized. We have essentially revived this area in one week. I am convinced that this area is the best area for missionary work in not only the whole mission, but the whole world. That has been my attitude this week.

Everything changes when we changed our attitudes. We started to look into the future and not into the past this week. We started to be positive with everyone. Our attitude dictates a ton in this work. I knew that there were prepared people in this area, we just had to find them, and have the attitude to find them. And what do you know, we found them all right. I still belive that there is alot more people in this area who are ready for the gosple. As I said, this area is the best area in the world.

Other things this week, we got a new president. This is bitter sweet. Presidente Fortuna was extremely powerfull, and really loving. Right now, I really know nothing about Presidente Ferman, but like the work, Im having a positive attitude about him. Presidente Fortuna created a great atmosphere and a great foundation, and Presidente Ferman will build upon that foundation and build up the work here even more than it already is. 

Really nothing much else has happened this week, just alot of work. Things are going good here, and yeah. Enjoy your summer, and Have a great week!!!

Con bastante amor

Elder High

 

Ha, im reading in LDS.org right now, and The first presidency just anounced this week, that Suit coats are not required in my mission now