Im beginning to understand how much love Heavenly Father has for His children...

Hello!

Jafeth had his baptism on saturday and the sweetest spirit was there! The entire family of Jafeth are recent converts and he was the last one to be baptized. We worked really hard with him building confidence but now he asked that we never stop visiting him. He gave the sweetest testimony at the end of his baptism and said he now is going to prepare for a mission. 

Graciella was baptized on Sunday and she is also the last in her family to be baptized! 

Weve been working a lot with Cristobal and Roberto and have Cristovals' baptism planned for Saturday! Cristoval is an investigator who has been prepared to hear the gospel his whole life and his time is now. 

I know Im beginning to understand how much love Heavenly Father has for His children. There are so many times we are in the right time at the right place and theres no way its just a "coincidence" I know Heavenly Father not only hears but answers our prayers in the time that is best for us. I am grateful to see miracles and many tender mercies everyday as I have been serving my mission. 

Love,

Hermana Sherman

Priesthood power of God is real!

I saw Brother Baird! Pretty crazy seeing someone from home. We met at a little chicken place in la lima and I got to meet Sister Laurinda who is the sweetest! Brother Baird is awesome! My companion is pumped now to study medicine in the US. I guess he was serving in this same zone 30 years ago! He said that it was a lot different then. Such a small world! 

Semana Santa is officially over which im kinda glad because absolutely no one was here in Porvenir. The entire world was at beaches or rivers playing hard core and we couldnt get as many teaching appointments as we would have liked. We did however have success with our investigators showing up to church!

We have been teaching Hermana Reina and Hermana Lorena. Lorena is 9 months pregnant and Reina has recently been really sick because she has a ton of ulcers in her stomach. The miracle of the week was that they both showed up to church! They dont live close and walked all the way. Right before the 3rd hour of church we looked over at Reina and she was crying. She was in a lot of pain and couldnt stand. We quickly grabbed the Elders to give her a priesthood blessing. Right after they gave her the blessing, she had stopped crying and was very calm. An Hermano drove her home and we visited her after church. She was happy and full of energy. She told us she doesnt feel any pain at all which was the first time in weeks. I know the priesthood power of God is real and im grateful for this experience to strengthen my testimony even more.

Our investigator Roberto showed up to church and stayed all three hours! Poco a poco. We taught him the word of wisdom this past week which I was a little hesitant because of some things he had mentioned in his past life. But WOW he accepted it with humility and understood the importance with ease! After church during ward council, everyone was shocked that he has been attending church. They said if he gets baptized, then well baptize the entire neighborhood cause everyone looks up to him. So thats our goal!

We ate pretty normal this week which was a relief. The only thing that was a little weird was sopa de pescado or fish soup, I guess they only serve during semana santa which Im grateful for.

I love you all and hope you guys have a fantastic week!

Hermana Sherman

Bro. Baird!

Sister Laurinda (the Nun who Glen Baird works with)

Hermano Cristoval

Semana Santa

I dont even know where to begin! This past week we worked so hard and we are starting to see the fruits of our labors!

On our way to one of our recent converts, we always pass a house with an older man in a wheel chair who doesnt have any legs. His name is Cristobal, and we always just say hi and wave. We tried contacting the house earlier, but there was a lady who was pretty anti mormon so we would always just smile and wave from then on. This past week our recent convert Eblin, said that the anti mormon lady moved away and that Cristobal asked for us to visit him. We immediately went over with Eblin and visited him. His story is incredible, all that hes gone through. We have been visiting him every day since. Cristobal has never said a prayer to Heavenly Father thats not a repetition or memorized. He never knew he could have a conversation with God and that He can answer his prayers. Cristobals first prayer was a miracle. This past Sunday, the Bishop picked him up for church and Cristobal was patiently waiting outside ready to go. Cristobal has a baptismal date for the 3rd of May.

Another miracle. Our investie Roberto came to church again! This time he stayed 2 hours so next Sunday hes bound to stay the whole 3 hours! Haha Poco a poco. Roberto has a pretty intense past and we have been able to see his heart slowly open and he has a great desire to change.

 We had a couple members come up to us after church saying they were so surprised and happy both Cristobal and especially Roberto showed up to church. They said they are both really tough and couldnt believe we were teaching them. The great thing about the Atonement is that anyone can benefit from it. 

2 Nephi 26:27-28

 27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his^asalvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath ^bgiven it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to ^crepentance.

 28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but ^aall men are privileged the one ^blike unto the other, and none are forbidden.

It was funny because in Sacrament meeting we were sitting with Cristobal, Roberto and Santos (our recent convert) ages of 60, 74 and 80. The Elders were giving us a hard time after, saying that they didnt know there was a senior citizen section in Sacrament meeting.

We have also been teaching the sweetest 10 year old boy named Jafeth. Jafeth was born with his hands and feet a little deformed and has always felt neglected. Half of his family are recent converts and we finally have been able to teach him. Weve had to gain a lot of confidence with him and hes finally opened up to us. He is praying about his baptismal date!

I got scorched this week just from walking in the sun for an hour. I looked like a tomato for a little while. 

I also ate cow tongue. A family tried tricking me and cut the cow tongue up and gave it to us for lunch without telling us what it was. The huge tastebuds were kind of a give away. Haha it wasnt too bad, but I wouldnt ever pick it if I were at a buffet. 

This week is semana santa! Supposed to be a week of everyone reflecting on Christ, but its really a week of everyone going to the beach. Hopefully, we will get a couple good lessons in on the Savior and all that He has done for us. 

Alma 34: 8-10

 8 And now, behold, I will ^atestify unto you of myself that these things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come among the children of men, to take upon him the^btransgressions of his people, and that he shall ^catone for the sins of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

 9 For it is expedient that an ^aatonement should be made; for according to the great ^bplan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are ^cfallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made.

 10 For it is expedient that there should be a great and last^asacrifice; yea, not a ^bsacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an ^cinfinite and ^deternal ^esacrifice.

I love you all!

Oh P.S President Klein told us last week that we dont have transfers this week woohoo! 6 months in Porvenir and this one is going to be the best!

Love,

Hermana Sherman

Jafeth and Eblin

Coconut!

Carne de coco

 

Hermana Xiomara

 

Conference!

I ate cow intestines... I cant even begin to describe it. It was all different parts of a cows stomach mixed in a soup. I started eating it for 2 minutes then gave it to a security guard, which happened to be his favorite kind of soup. In the end everyone was happy. 

Today we went with the other Hermanas and visited the sweetest old lady ive ever met named Margarita. You have to take a bus 30 minutes and walk another 20 minutes to get to her house. Margarita is totally blind and has raised her 4 year old grandson all by herself. I dont know how she does it. She is alone all day long and was so thankful to receive visitors. She told us her kids live close to her, but never stop by to see her so we told her she can adopt us as her new daughters. I got to brush and braid her hair for her. She is a great example of  Elder Uchtdorfs talk this conference,  showing gratitude no matter your circumstances. 

CONFERENCE! Sunday morning was such a powerful session. Us 5 gringos in this zone got to watch conference in English in a tiny office of the secretary with air conditioning and nutella. Felt a little spoiled :) I couldnt write fast enough in my notebook there were so many great messages! Elder Bednar, Uchtdorf, and Holland are always my favorites. I felt like a lot of talks were about overcoming trials. It was made known that we are all eventually going to have a trial of our faith and so much depends on how we react. I have a testimony that trials are for our benefit, to make us stronger, and that there is no pain so deep that Christ hasnt already suffered.  He is here to help us and lift our load through making us stronger. Trials might not get smaller, but we can become stronger to endure them with more ease. 

I hope you guys got to hear ALL of the conference sessions. Its important we dont just pick and choose which session is most convenient for us. Just like we cant pick and choose what commandments we want to obey. But we listen and study all of the conference talks. An answer to a question youve had could be in any of the general conference sessions, but how would you know if you havent listened to them all?

I pray you all make habits of reading your scriptures and praying EVERY DAY. I cant even begin to explain  the importance of it. We hear it so often, but why do you think we hear it so often? Anyone who studies the scriptures and prays every day and attends church every Sunday will not fall. I also pray that we might be able to get our priorities straight, what really matters, and what really is of worth. I love you all so much.

Love,

Hermana Sherman

Sopa de mondongo (Cow intestines)

Official Honduras resident!

A little niño loves my camera and to take pictures

Hermanita Margarita. I promise I wasnt pulling her hair hard. Haha