Day 188 | Week #27 | Christian's Baptism

Last week on Saturday we had the Christian’s baptism and it went well. I also got to teach the gospel doctrine class in our branch. 

Cusuco National Park

We were able to go to a zoo in deep in the mountains today (Cusuco National Park) We had to hike about 15 miles to get there. It is possibly the most beautiful forest I have seen in my life. Scientists from all over the world go there. 

Things are awesome here!!! -  Until next time.

Elder Shoaee

Day 180 | Week #26 [6 Months Mark]: Un montón de Servicio

This week we did a ton of service, we cut concrete for a member and cut down brush in the mountains a little above Cofradia for an investigator. 

Elder Crisostomo in Cofradia, Honduras

We set a baptismal date for our investigator Cristian. He will be baptized this Saturday if all goes well. We also are working with this one lady, Maria, she is awesome. We haven't been teaching her for a long time, but she said that out of all the different people that have came to her house, she said that we were the most helpful and we teach clearly.  

Elder Shoaee

Elder Crisostomo

We are also working with some investigators who we haven't been with in a while and seeing if they are still interested in our message.

That's it for now.

Elder Shoaee

Day 173 | Week #25 | Transfered to Cofradia

This week we had transfers and I got moved to Cofradia. It is more city-ish than my last area, Villanueva. I also got a new companion, his name is Elder Crisostomo. He is from Mexico and he only has 3 months left on his mission. He has been in this area for 18 weeks and this is his 3rd change here. I am living in a really nice house and I am cleaning a lot. Our area is not super dangerous, but not super safe... its Honduras. 

Our area is a branch, but we meet in a chapel every Sunday. Our branch is really big, but there are a lot of  less-actives in the ward and we are working with them. One of them are the Fernadez family. They have been inactive for almost 4 years and yesterday we met with them and they opened up to us all of their problems. That's good because now we can help them get activated again. 

Cofradia Town Square

Our area is pretty big. It's called Paraiso 2. We have 9 colonias in our area. I am still trying to get to know everyone in our area, but I am learning a lot. 

Elder Shoaee

Day 166 | Week #24

This week was awesome! We taught a bunch of our new investigators and we got a ton of new referrals. 

We taught this one lady and she doesn't know much about religion, but she did almost all of the additional study, it was remarkable!

Brothers and sisters, my sincere prayer is that we may adapt to the changes in our lives,
that we may realize what is most important, that we may express our gratitude always
and thus find joy in the journey. - Thomas S. Monson

On Sunday we had 134 people come to church. That has been the highest attendance in a long time. :)

This week is transfers and I am not sure if I am going to a new area or not, but I am ready for anything! I'll go where the Lord wants me to go. I have learned a lot in this area and know the people pretty good, but we will see how things turn out.

Elder Shoaee

Day 159 | Week #23: Happy New Year!

This week we didn't have a lot of work, because many of our investigators were away. We were able to chop some wood for a less-active family though.

Elder Mejia and I had a ward activity about the real meaning of Christmas and how we can change for this coming year. We also went to a Priesthood meeting in  on Sunday. The Stake President spoke and a few missionaries out of our zone were in the choir, it was pretty cool.

Elder Shoaee

"Endure to the end we must, for our goal is eternal life in the presence of our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants nothing more than for us to succeed in this goal. He will help us and bless us as we call upon Him in our prayers, as we study His words, and as we obey His commandments. Therein is found safety; therein is found peace."

 —Thomas S. Monson

Day 153 | Week #22

This week Elder Mejia and I worked on a lot of new investigators and menos activos. We counted up all of our menos activos and investigators and there are about 40 people in our area who are less-active. We are trying to help them as much as we can. We contacted a lot last week, so this week we went and worked on a lot of new people. Some of our investigators weren't there and that lost a lot of our time. 

Skype - 12/26/2014

Elder Mejia and I are getting along fine, and Elder Mejia gave me the lesson pamphlets in English so I have been studying side-by-side with the English and Spanish gospel pamphlets to help me out with my Spanish. 

It has been super hot here... its crazy!!! Water is super cheap here so that is good! We had Elder Mejia cook some Mexican food at a members house and it was super good. On Sunday I passed the Sacrament in our ward. It seems like I haven't done that in forever. 

That is about it...Merry Christmas everyone!

Elder Shoaee

The Story of Christmas

Day 145 | Week #21: A Week of Miracles!

This week was amazing! Elder Mejia and I did a lot of contacting and got a ton of new investigators. We planned to get forty lessons in, but we weren’t able to reach it. I hope next week we will be able to.

I saw a few small miracles this week. My companion and I were trying to find an investigator that we hadn’t taught in a while. So I said a prayer and waited for an answer. Later in the night a kid comes up to me and shakes my hand. It turns out that he is the son of our investigator that we were looking for. We followed him and he showed us the way. It was amazing!

Also, we gave a less-active member a blessing last week, because she was really sick. When we visited her this week she told us that she didn’t have to take anymore medicine after the blessing and she was able to get better.

Missionary Frisbee

Elder Mejia and I are getting along great and he is super awesome. He knows magic tricks and shows them all to the kids… its great! The language is slowly progressing, but I have been praying for the Gift of Tongues and I got back into studying the language. One lesson we had and I couldn’t really speak that well, but all of the sudden I said something and the investigator said, “That’s exactly what I was thinking!” I felt so amazed and happy that people can understand me and I know that it was the Gift of Tongues.

Also we visited a lady in our area. Unfortunately, her son is addicted to drugs. We talked to her and she started crying, because she doesn’t want him to die. I felt sad for her. We shared a little message, then I was called on to say the prayer. When I said the prayer I felt the spirit so strong and my mind was so clear, I wasn’t searching for words, it was amazing.

Anyway… that’s all for now. Have a good week!!!

Snoozing in the Mud

Elder Shoaee