I'll never forget our experience at Pico Bonito!

Hi!

Yesterday we we ate lunch at a members house. She gave us tacos and I normally can eat 2 and am full. This time she gave us 4... I barely finished them and was breathing heavily on the 3rd one and was seriously praying on the 4th. As we were walking back, I was not feeling very good. Then Hna Bennett told me it wasnt chicken in the tacos, but soy meat... I had to go straight to the bathroom and it wasnt pretty from there. We didnt have much time to recuperate, so we went out to our appointments. We went to an appointment with C. and she gave us an entire plate full of food. I almost started crying and was praying so hard that i would just keep it down in front of her. She showed us a bowl of chili that she had made. I smelled it and it was soooo spicy. Later, we were talking as i was concentrating on a bite at a time and scratched my nose. C. yelled saying not to touch my face because i apparently touched the lid of the bowl with chili. My entire face started to BURN, like FIRE. I ran to the sink and dunked my whole head in while C. helped me. As we walked back, I noticed half of my food was mysteriously gone and Hermana Bennetts cheeks full of food... Haha that's service right there. I was able to finish my food. It honestly was a MIRACLE. Apparently, Hermana Bennett was also praying for me because she knew i wasnt feeling good ,but it was amazing how i was keeping it all down and was able to eat all of it.

Today for Pday our zone went up to Pico Bonito. Its basically hiking up a mountain for two hours to see waterfalls. We were all reminded of how out of shape we really are. You have to cross a pretty sketchy bridge to start hiking and some of the Elders were pretty terrified to the point where they were on their hands and knees crawling across Hahaha. We hiked about an hour and a half up, and right when we were on the point where you can see the waterfall, we stopped to take pictures. We didnt realize that there was a huge bees nest right where we were talking pictures. The bees started going crazy and stinging everyone. The pathways down to the waterfall was really narrow and pure boulders. Everyone started panicking and screaming and not caring about the pathway, but were diving down to get by the water. Just the other day my companion Hermana Bennett was telling me that shes never been stung by a bee and she got 8 stings. I got stung right in the throat. Almost our entire zone were covered in bee stings and it kind of killed the rest of the hike for us. We just wanted to hike down as fast as we could so we were all sprinting down hill. Every couple minutes you would hear someone scream that tripped or fell, but we all just kept going. I honestly never have sweated so much before in my life. We were ringing out our hair like towels and about a fourth cup of sweat dripped out. Well, we all made it back and lived to see another day. I will never forget our experience at pico bonito. 

We went to Roatan again this past week and I worked with Hermana Z. on Wednesday and Hermana M. on Thursday. They both have been out on their missions for only 3 weeks, but are such good missionaries! When I was working with Hna M. we were hiking in her area. (Her area is on a mountain) We were almost to the top when the appt fell through. She said shes never been to the top before but knew there were houses up there. We decided to hike to the top when we contacted a family of 7. The Mom said she had been attending different churches, but didnt know which pastor was right and had the right authority. We got to teach a little of the restoration and she asked that we would come back every day. She also started crying during her closing prayer and kept saying to come back and not have it be the last time we visited her. We had a powerful lesson with her and she had been prepared to hear the gospel.

C. and her daughter came to church! Its the best when investigators go to church for the first time and its even better when they have a warm welcome from the members. C. said she loved how everyone was a family and already misses the people she met, and wants to go to church every Sunday from now on!

Im grateful to be a missionary here in Honduras. There are so many miracles we get to see every day and i wish i had time to write all of them. I know without a  doubt that the Savior is at the head of this work and when we are worthy, He will give us opportunities to see miracles in being His instruments.

Love,

Hermana Sherman

on the way to Pico Bonito

The Bridge

Typical ride in Honduras

Roatan

This week was amazing!!!

So this week was AMAZING!!! The Lord has definitely blessed us after giving our area a little break. We have literally been seeing miracles every day, especially with references!! We are actually getting references from members, which seriously helps so much!

We went to Orlanchito to do 2 sets of splits. The first day, I worked with Hermana Zamora and we found an inactive member who has been inactive for  15 years because of Gossip. She is sealed to her 6 kids and her husband was in the Seventy. She said that members gossiping had completely destroyed her family. She is divorced and all 6 of her kids have families and are inactive as well. Its sad to think because of gossiping, generations have been affected for the worse. 

We also taught the pastor again and we were tried with patience. I have learned that keeping a calm patient voice will keep the Spirit there, but as soon as theres contention, the Spirit leaves. Not just with our lessons,but the way parents talk to their children or siblings talk to each other.

Proverbs 15:1

 1 A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

Ive also seen how important it is to be ready to share the Gospel in ALL situations, even members. More people are watching the "Mormons" than we think, and notice a difference in us. Something I wish I was better at in high school, was willing to share the gospel more to my peers. Now being down the road, I know it could have helped them avoid a lot of bad decisions in their lives. 

1 Peter 3:15 & 17

 15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: 

 and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

 17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

This past week it rained quite a bit, but also was extremely hot as always. I dont understand how fast the weather can change here. I did finish my 72 hour emergency kit for whatever reason. I may be eating crackers and water for a while, but its better than nothing. 

Last Monday, we were kind of wandering around at 7:30pm because all of our appts fell through. We had planned to give service at a members house so we decided to contact a yellow house, as we were contacting the house we remembered we told an inactive we would stop by that night so headed into another neighborhood. As we were yelling out to the inactives, a man walking his dog passed by. He turned out to be a pastor and we asked if he knew anyone who needed a message about Jesus Christ. He told us about a family he just had passed who were yelling and needed God in their lives. We headed over to the house and a little girl ran out and said," Do you guys teach about the Bible??" She invited us in where we met her Mom and she immediately let us in and was so receptive!!! We walked out of that lesson and couldnt stop smiling! We were giggling to ourselves the whole rest of the night just because it was such a miracle! We kept thinking about if we didnt stop at the yellow house to contact it we wouldnt have remembered about the inactives and talked to the pastor and got the reference! It was a major "the church is true moment"

 We have been teaching them every other day now and are progressing so fast! 

We also have been teaching a young man who believes he has sinned so bad that he cant be forgiven. He was so deep in the cave he couldnt see the light. While studying for him, I came across this scripture.

Alma 36:19-21

19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

 20 And oh, what joy, and what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as exceeding as was my pain!

 21 Yea, I say unto you, my son, that there could be nothing so exquisite and so bitter as were my pains. Yea, and again I say unto you, my son, that on the other hand, there can be nothing so exquisite and sweet as was my joy.

I know that no matter how broken your heart is or devastated we may feel, there is ALWAYS hope through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ and that we may feel joy once again. I also know that there is only true happiness in obeying the commandments of God. I love and pray for you every day.

Love,

Hermana Sherman

Dia de los ninos

Miracles exist and so does our Savior Jesus Christ

So sorry about not writing last week. My poor compa had dengue and we ended up staying a couple nights in the hospital so we didnt have internet to write. She got out Wednesday and rested a couple days and we slowly built up her endurance again. She is such a trooper! 

This week was the weeks of pastors... I dont know why this week more than any other week of my mission. but we had a lot of amazing experiences. 

We were contacting on saturday and passed by a man just staring at his trees in his backyard and decided to go talk to him. He said his son had passed away and his wife is really sick and the family is waiting for her time to pass away as well. So sad! We started talking and it came out that hes been aventista his entire life. As we were teaching, the spirit was so strong and our conversation led into the fundamentals of the church that Jesus Christ himself had established. His brother walked in and sat down. (a pastor), we continued to talked when two more pastors came and sat down and listened to us. Eventually the conversation led to the sabbath day and whether is was on Saturday or Sunday. We were able to bear our testimonies a couple times and the spirit was so strong. They were so set on the ancient laws that they couldnt accept the fact that there is such a thing as a modern day prophet and revelation. We ended up inviting them to just pray and ask Heavenly Father. It breaks my heart when people cant do something as easy as praying to know if our message is true. They can have it all, just need a little faith. 

We also taught a 16 year old girl that Heavenly Father not only hears our prayers, but He answers them too. She was so amazed and so excited to pray and receive answers.

We visited pastor Jose again, the pastor who was the millionaire, but then lost it all and had the amazing story. We got there and he could hardly move because he had pulled a muscle in his back and had been in a lot of pain for 3 days. We talked a while and it came out that he has never let anyone of another faith preach to him, let alone in his own home. He said that he feels something when were in his house and he just wants to serve us. (he gave us 7 eggs, avocado, bananas, rice and jello) cause he thinks were poor... We had a really good discussion about the Book of Mormon and his eyes have been opened that there is another Testament of Jesus Christ. At the end, he asked me to say the prayer. As i was saying it, I felt a very strong impression to ask for Jose´s back to be healed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ and I knew it would be done. We said our goodbyes and went to our next appointment. He called us 20 minutes after we left to tell us his back has been healed. I know without  a doubt Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers, however big or small. Miracles exist and so does our Savior Jesus Christ. He will take away all of our pains whether it be physical, spiritual, or emotional. The atonement has more power than we can even begin to comprehend. 

Love,

Hermana Sherman

Hermana Morales went home and we threw her a goodbye party. She gave me her watch (mine broke) and I gave her a headband I made

The frequent nights without power that happen way too often

Mom you would be so proud!! I shredded this chicken with my bare hands all by myself even though I was gagging at the sight of its little body form and tail.

Star fruit

La Ceiba sunset