Week #105 - The Best Two Years?

Hola familia y amigos!

Well, the question is, “Were they the best two years?” Let’s take a look....

MTC (2 months) It was tough trying to learn to work with someone else and have same goals in mind. I twisted my ankle as an unexpected answer to a prayer and I was able to go and sing in General Conference. I learned a lot from my teachers and met a whole bunch of great elders and sisters.

Bella Vista (4 ½ Months) There I learned how to be a missionary and how to teach people the message of the restoration from a great trainer. Despite the short amount of time I was with him, I learned a great deal. Next came the first challenge of having a companion that didn’t really want to work and I had my first Christmas in Honduras filled with tamales, fireworks, and chickens everywhere.  I learned what I didn’t want to do or be as a missionary and after several problems, received a new companion for a couple of weeks and baptized a members husband, who is now sealed in the temple.

Cerro Verde (6 Months) Here I learned how to work and work hard! Every day I came home tired, but this area is where I had the most baptisms and where I had some great companions, including one who was a repeat, which was a bit difficult. Here I learned how to study, how to teach, how to help people get ready for baptism, and I opened up a bit to be a little more bold with my companions. This is where I found one of my greatest converts and is an area that I have missed for a long time. It is nice to know that a lot of the seeds I planted in this area were later harvested and those people were able to be baptized. Here I became a senior companion and learned how to be responsible for my work and how to better manage time and efforts in the work and I learned a great deal from each of my companions.

6 de Mayo  (4 ½ Months) Here I became a step dad and learned how to manage with someone who was fairly new in the mission and area. This is probably one of the most dangerous parts of the country, but we very blessed and never had any problems with anyone. We baptized some great people, even though one went inactive due to medical issues. I learned how to have patience with members, especially our neighbor, but learned a lot from Nephi, to not let my enemies get to me, even if they are members. I trained a great elder and although it was difficult and a challenge for me, I learned a lot in the process on how to really focus on him and not on me and to try and better myself every day. This was a great area and I was able to gain the confidence of all the members very quickly, especially the bishop, despite his lack of trust in the missionaries due to some past problems. I saw great examples of faith and again some of the seeds I planted were later reaped by others. Gina's husband was baptized recently and now they are looking forward to the blessings of the temple!

Puerto Cortes (3 Months) I was not in this area for very long, but it is one that I treasure greatly. There I became district leader and learned how to help not only my companion, but everyone in the district. I had one companion that I had a lot in common with and another one not so much, but I learned to love them both. The members here were great, especially the ward missionaries and Madaleno Thomas who soon leaves for Tijuana, Mexico. I learned a lot from the stake patriarch and his family. I also learned that not everything happens on our time, but on the Lord's time, because the baptism of the Alvarez family was 4 months after we had planned it, but they never wavered and are still strong in the church. I wanted to be here longer, but the Lord needed me somewhere else.

Santiago  (4 ½ Months) This was definitely my 'purifying fire' as this was my hardest area, not only for baptisms, but also because it tried everything that I had, including my patience like never before. I thought from past experiences that it would be easy to work with the branch president, however, things got out of control and there were multiple times where I just wanted to quit. The members were great and despite it being a small branch, they have a lot of faith. It just hurts when pride gets in the way of charity and really being concerned for the people. Fortunately we worked through the problems and had some great baptisms here. It was great to see how the message of the restoration really blesses people’s lives.

Montecristo (1 ½ Months) The area with the least amount of time and where my mission comes to an end, but it was one where I learned a great deal and tried my best to be diligent and to work, work and work. We covered 2 Wards and an extension and this was my biggest area and we had some challenges because of how big it was. We have been blessed with some great baptisms here, one being Nidia, who walks 6 km to go to church, (and she’s pregnant!) She has a great deal of faith! This last weekend we were able to baptize Antonio who recently had 2 strokes that left his left side slightly paralyzed. Now a month later he is walking so much better than before. His wife waited 25 years for him to get baptized and now they have their eyes set on the temple! Finally, tomorrow, my last day of work in the mission, we have one last baptism for Iginio. His wife has also been waiting for many years for this day and now they have their sights set on the temple as well. It was a short time here, but I worked hard and love this area.

So were they the best two years? Of course, without a doubt! I have learned so much, and have grown so much. I love this country and I love the people and it hurts me to have to leave. I want to keep sharing this gospel, which is what I want to do when I get home. Thank you all for your love and support and I hope that everyone is ready for when I get home! 

Hasta muy pronto!
Elder Neher

Week #104 - Not so Baggy Birthday (Montecristo)

Hola familia y amigos!

Well, this week was a good week, with a lot of stuff happening. We have found some new people to teach, and finding those people makes me want to stay and work more to help them! I am still trying to learn to have patience with my companion, because he continues to bother me and ridicule me, and he got mad at me the other day for something honestly stupid and it’s been kind of getting to me. The other day I found out that he really doesn’t feel any different being here in the mission, he feels the same as if he was back home and some youth yesterday if he was the 'bad one of the bunch'? I asked why they said that and they said you could tell just by looking at him, so it’s been kind of hard to deal with him.

I did have a great birthday last week. When we had dinner that night the members we were eating with made me a cake with 21 candles all lit up, so I had a good birthday! On Friday we went to Confite and after spending too much time running around doing baptismal interviews we showed up at the house of Antonio, to find him outside walking with a cane! He was walking very well for having suffered 2 strokes recently! We taught a good lesson and he is still ready to go to get baptized, he is very excited and positive about getting baptized. On Tuesday and Saturday we went to La Masica, and it’s about an hour bus ride from here, and we had some good lessons out there. After we left La Masica on Saturday we went to Santa Ana to visit a family that was referred to us by a member. We got a bit lost but eventually we found the house. The husband has gone to church a few times in a different ward, but he loves it, and we taught he and his wife and daughter and they were all very receptive. It turned out to be a good lesson, even though we left late and there were no more buses leaving Santa Ana to La Ceiba so we had to wait for about an hour for a bus to pass by from Tela. It was a long wait but we managed to get home.

We have some good families that we are teaching and one showed up to church on Sunday here in Montecristo. I had to teach the Sunday School class because the teacher was out of town. The lesson was about the scriptures and it turned out to be a great class. I could feel the Spirit really strong and I know they felt it too because they commented that they felt something different and said that they knew that it was all true. It was a great experience! I just wish my comp could have been there to feel it because I don’t think he has had a good spiritual moment yet in the mission.

Yesterday we took the bishop with us to go visit a family where the husband isn’t a member yet. His name is Iginio and he is in his 60’s, I believe. He has been saying that he isn’t really ready to get baptized so we talked about that for a bit and then the bishop started mentioning what would happen to us if we reject the gospel and die without getting baptized. He told Hno. Iginio that he wanted him baptized this month so we put a date for him the 21st, my last day in the mission, and he accepted! It was so awesome to hear that from him! He is a great guy and hopefully he will continue strong in the church. That has been my week thus far. I really don’t want to leave, I only have 9 days left! It’s really weird to think that, but I guess I have to accept it. Well I hope that everyone has a great week and enjoys the heat!

Hasta pronto, 

Elder Neher

Week #103 - Saved by a Spider (Montecristo)

Hola familia y amigos!

Well this week was good, there are always highs and lows, but it has been good, today my comp got a little mad at me caused I called him out to the ZLs that he was listening to reggaeton, but I think he got over it. He seems to be a lot different in front of me personally and when he is in front of certain members. With some of them he is one way and others another, but I hope that he can change his attitude.

So this week we changed a bit and decided to do divisions with our 2 ward mission leaders and split up for a day between El Confite and Montecristo, and we had a lot of success. I stayed in MC and my comp went to Confite and they were able to put some baptismal dates with some of the people we are teaching there.  One is Antonio Bonilla, whose wife has been a member for a long time and he never really has had any desire to go to church, until he had, I think in English it’s a stroke and he had a dream that he needed to go to church with his wife. Last week he wasn’t able to go, but this week a member went and picked him up because he has been having problems walking, but he has been improving a lot. When he was at church everyone was super supportive of the family, everyone went up and talked to him and he felt super welcomed. His baptism will be the 25th, although I would like to have it before I leave! We had a total of 12 investigators at church yesterday, 5 in MC, 3 in Confite and 4 in La Masica, so we have a lot of work to do! I am really enjoying myself, and I don’t feel like I’m coming home soon, nor do I really want to! I love this country and people too much, but yeah we are working hard, and I think at the end of the month we could have some more baptisms! It’s been raining a lot here and supposedly there is a hurricane coming, so that should be FUN!!!  I am trying really hard to stay focused and to work hard. I really don’t feel like I’m coming home, and I know it’s going to be really weird. Something I noticed is that I’m going to be in the Miami airport alone for at least 3 hours, plus during the flight! I don’t know what I’m going to do without a companion around!

So this week we had a bit of a scare. I’m telling you guys because I’m almost going to be home, and it was pretty funny what happened. I have been in areas here that are probably the worst in the whole country (Cerro Verde, which is part of La Lopez Arellano drug gang, and 6 de Mayo which belongs to La Rivera Hernandez) and in those places nothing has ever happened to me. Here by our church building they have been telling everyone to be careful because lately they have been robbing people on the street before and after the church. The problem is because there are a lot of bushes and weeds so it’s easy to hide, and the lighting isn’t the greatest either. Anyway, I think it was Wed night around 7:30 and we were walking towards an investigators house and this street is the entrance to the community. On the left there are passages or streets for the houses, and we were walking and I have a weird habit now that I notice things on the ground without paying attention and I pick them up or mess with them. That night I saw a huge tarantula in front of us, so we started messing with it. I was poking it with a stick and my comp took out his camera to take a picture. I was a few paces in front of my comp when a guy comes out of the bushes and tells us to stay still and to give him our cell phones, which we don’t have, and when I didn’t notice my comp took off and was already at the corner watching me. The guy kept reaching into his pants to pull something out and right then a taxi pulled around the corner, shined its lights on us so we booked it! I have never run so fast in my life, it was pretty crazy! What saved us was the spider and the taxi, because if we had not paid attention to it he would have jumped us earlier and the taxi probably wouldn’t have passed by and I wouldn’t have my camera! It was pretty crazy, but you guys don’t need to worry about anything, we are fine and we avoid that part now! It’s been super great to be here and I love this country! I hope we can come back for the temple dedication and maybe even swing by and see Chase! I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Neher

Week #102 - Weak Week (Montecristo)

Hola familia y amigos!

Well this week was pretty weak. We weren’t able to teach that many people this week and I feel pretty bad about it because I know things could have been better. Problems kept coming up left and right. Recently we have been having a hard time working together as a team. My comp still continues to dominate a bit in the lessons and I feel like the majority of what he says is 'fluff' and nothing really spiritually meaningful. It never feels like what he says comes from his heart, but I’m sure in time he will get better. This week we were supposed to go to El Confite to work on Friday, well I was supposed to go on divisions and do some interviews while my comp went to El Confite, but the elder I was going to go with got really sick, and we couldn’t and then we couldn’t get anyone to help us do divisions in El Confite so we left to do the interviews and lost a lot of time. We also found out a bit how much Nidia walks to get to church each week, about 6 km! Isn’t that crazy?! She is really dedicated and her baptism this week was great. She showed up a bit late but came with friends and there was a lot of support from the ward. Yesterday was her birthday and she was also confirmed a member and she feels great right now. She is a great lady and hopefully she can stay strong and active in the church.

Nidia's Baptism

We have a baptism tonight for Rina, she is the girlfriend of a member who lives in the apartment above us. He has had some problems, but now can baptize her and tonight we will have her service. Yesterday we were supposed to get my comps patriarchal blessing, but it didn’t go through because the patriarch didn’t have anything to record with, but we should get it done this week.

This week I have a resolve to work harder and be better! Oh almost forgot a good story. On Saturday we went with a member to a part of our area that neither of us had been to. We went to go visit some members, and it was pouring! (I love rain!!!!) So anyway, we were walking and this guy said come on in, but we were already at the house where we needed to go. After that appointment we walked back and asked that guy if we could come in. He said that they wanted us to come in earlier because of the rain, but he called the entire family out and we ended up having a great lesson with them! We found out that after 14 years they were thinking of getting separated because he has been drinking a lot. We had a great lesson and they felt like we showed up at just the right time. They were going to go to church yesterday, but something happened and they couldn’t make it, but hopefully we can teach them some more this week. This work is amazing! I love every minute of it and really don’t want to go home, so I will just keep working here, haha! I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Neher

His description was, "Our house...I wish!" 

Week #101 - Rare Reunions (Montecristo)

 

Hola familia!

Well this week went by a little too fast, but it was filled with a lot of good stuff.  To start off, last Monday I had an interesting run-in with some Americans. They were at the computer next to me and they noticed me watching Mormon Messages and when I sang at General Conference and commented on it. They asked for help on their computer and I helped them a bit. Later they got off while I was up front paying and I heard them say 'oh its 11' and they started taking out dollars. I mentioned that I hadn’t seen dollars in a while and they asked how long I had been here for (they were only here for a week for a church service project). Anyway, I told them I would pay because 11 limps is only 60 cents. When they kept insisting they said, 'well, now you got some dollars!' gave me a five, said ‘God bless you’ and walked out. It was pretty funny!

Well so this week we have been working as hard as we can! I have also had some interesting reunions this week. One started with Hno Amador, he is the guy that goes to all the missionaries’ houses and church buildings in Honduras and sprays them for bugs. He showed up and I was able to talk to him and found out about some people from my area 6 de Mayo that are going on a mission, it was awesome! So there was that, then the next day we went to a member’s house around 10am to teach them something and when we showed up, a truck selling veggies pulled up and the guy said “Hi”.  I said hi back but I kept walking to our appointment. Well he kept calling and so I looked back and realized it was Gina's husband! (she was one of my converts from 6 de Mayo) I had a great chat with him, and found out that he recently got baptized! That made me so happy!! Later on in the week we went to Hna Fausta and Merci’s house (the two that called you guys) and they got the Patriarch from Puerto Cortes on the phone. It was because of him that they joined the church and so I talked to him for a good while and caught up on things in Puerto Cortes. Then on Sunday I went to church in Confite while my comp stayed in Montecristo and there I ran into another member from 6 de Mayo. His last name is Carcamo and he served in Costa Rica and knows Kati Hunsaker. I talked with him for a while and then last night there was the Pioneer concert here in La Ceiba and we took an investigator to see it. While I was there I saw a member from my first area Olanchito! He told me about everything that’s going on out there, and that Pedro, my last baptism there, recently got sealed in the temple!!! I was super excited! Later someone called him and his mom answered and so I talked to her for a bit. It has been a really cool week being able to see and talk with so many people from my different areas!

So, getting back to the work here in Montecristo, things are going really good. This next weekend we will have a baptism, Nidia will get baptized and she is really excited about it. We will also have a baptism on the 6th as well. There is a return missionary that lives above us and he has a girlfriend that has wanted to get baptized but she just had to wait for him to be ready. Now everything is good to go to get them baptized. I am loving the work and I really don’t want to go home, but everything is great down here. It’s raining a lot and I love it, and the beach is amazing of course! I hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Neher

Week #100 - The Elders of Montecristo

Montecristo and Confite Wards

Hola a todos!

Well this week has been fun! My goodbye in Santiago was ok, my cook cried, others cried and the morning we left in the bus for SPS, the BP was hiding behind his wall watching us, bah! My new area is called Montecritso in La Ceiba, by the beach!!! I love the beach and the weather here is beautiful! There are mountains close by and we live only a few blocks from the beach. It is amazing here and I am so ready to work! My area consists of 2 wards and an extension (it’s like a mini branch) and our coverage area is pretty big. Our work schedule consists of Monday through Thursday here in Montecristo, Friday in Confite, and Saturday in La Masica. On Sunday normally one of us stays here in the Montecristo Ward while the other goes to the Confite Ward. We have investigators in all three areas, with some progressing more than others, but the members in all three areas are ready and willing to work! We get a lot of references and the members will go on visits with us or invite people to their house for us to teach them, it’s awesome! Our area is pretty big. It takes about an hour to go through it in bus, but it’s fun.

 

My new companion is Elder Novoa from Chinandegas, Nicaragua, and his dad was baptized by someone I know in Puerto. Weird huh? He is really cool. This is his second change, so I have to finish training him which shouldn’t be too hard, since I’ve done it plenty of times before. He is cool, it just seems that he wants to dominate a little in the lessons but we will see how it goes as time goes on. 

On Sunday we went to Confite because an area seventy, Elder Ocampos showed up and he gave a really good talk, then we had to come back to Montecristo to see how our investigators were doing. We had 7 investigators at church yesterday! We have one whose name is Nidia and she was going to get baptized in another area last year, but someone put stuff in her head and she got scared. Recently she went to a baptism and has gone to church twice and now she wants to get baptized! She walks a really good distance to get to us to have the lessons, it’s crazy! Yesterday we were teaching a lesson to her at a members house when they invited someone else to listen too. She said that she liked what we taught and that no one could confuse her now because she came and listened to us and you could tell that she was ready to listen to us.

Well I don’t have a lot of time today, but I love the work! I am so happy to be here and this is the greatest thing I could be doing right now. Apparently Pres. Veirs doesn’t allow missionaries to extend (I heard other elders that wanted to and said they can’t) so I’m done in August! I am thankful for all the people that have had an impact on me in my life. Hopefully I can have the same type of effect on others! Well hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Neher

Week #99 - So Long, Santiago

Buenas Tardes todos!

Well, this week was definitely an interesting one. To start things off, I do have changes this week and I am very happy, even though I feel bad that Elder Baldwin has to keep dealing with the problems that come up. This week was a very trying one for me personally. I feel like out of all my areas, I have tried my hardest here to just make sure everything goes right and that we get baptisms. I have read talks, heard great messages from Pres. and it all gets me excited to work and I start putting stuff into practice and then something comes to kill it all. This week was pretty bad that way. Honestly I think our branch president is jealous that we eat where we do, because the missionaries used to eat at his house but then they changed places. The place where we normally eat now is a family restaurant and we always go in the kitchen to help, or talk or whatever. On Friday night the BP showed up and was super angry saying that he didn’t want to see us in the kitchen, only in the main part, sitting, waiting for our food and nothing else. We were so mad that we just grabbed our food and went home to eat it. Apparently later he went back looking for us, and since we weren’t there he started talking to la Familia Carranza (the cook and her family) and they got really upset because of the things he said. I’m not entirely sure what he said, but it was enough. On Saturday we didn’t have any enthusiasm to work. Both of us felt terrible and la Familia Carranza was so mad that they didn’t want to go to church. Everyone we visited could tell that we were not doing well. We both felt done for the day but then we thought, what do we want to do, go home or go to La Zona, a different part of our area? We decide to go there and as we are walking we ran into the 'wife' of an investigator who told us that he was home, so we went up to see him. We taught him a great lesson about the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong that he was about to cry. It was a great way to get us back in the right mind for working. Later we finished the day by visiting a couple of recent converts. On Sunday our BP called us into his office for an interview (which, if I’m not mistaken, he shouldn’t do) and tried to 'fix' the situation. He was trying to say everything was a ticking time bomb waiting to happen because we took Ruth, one of la Familia Carranza, out with us too much to visit people. She is one of the few members who has been willing to help us! I was trying really hard to stay calm, but I told him everything that was on my mind and hopefully he can do better when the next elder comes. I have noticed that Satan has attacked me a bunch here, because this is where I have felt that I wanted to work my hardest and stuff always happens to get in our way. 

Something really great this week happened as well. In the midst of all this chaos, Tuesday night we got a call that a sister, Luisa who wanted us to go to her house because she was feeling a bit sick. We had English class that we had to get ready for, but we left and showed up at her house. Turns out that a little after she called us she passed out. She is in her 70s and hadn’t been feeling good throughout the day and supposedly her blood pressure dropped a lot. We got there, checked her vitals, and found that her pulse was weak. We explained to those who weren’t members what we were going to do for the blessing, and then we gave it. Later she told us that even though she was unconscious that she recognized that she received a blessing, and she knows that that's what helped her. Right after the blessing her pulse got better and she seemed a lot better. We left and later that night she got a bit worse, but they gave her a shot to help her. We showed up the next day and she looked better but she still couldn’t sit up, she just felt way too tired. The next day before we left she sat up, and the next day she was walking around her house. She now has a really strong testimony and faith in the church and the blessing we gave her. It was great to know that we could help her and that we were willing to follow the prompting to go. This week was hard, but I hope that my next area I can finish with a bang. I definitely learned a lot here and overall it was a good area, just super hard. Well, I hope everyone has a great week!

Hasta pronto!
Elder Neher