Monday, January 27, 2014

Serving a mission isn't a sacrifice, it's a pleasure

Hola!


So I didnt get transferred, I am still in Porvenir with Hermana Alcequiez! Woohooo!!! I love it! This past week we have found new families that are spiritually hungry and I know the gospel is going to change their lives! How exciting! 

This last week we had a multi mission conference in San Pedro Sula! Elder Ochoa and Elder Ulisses Soares who is a member of the Presidency of the Seventy! It was awesome because I can actually understand spanish now haha. One thing Hermana Ochoa said that really struck me, was that we´re not going to be blessed for being here on the mission, but what we do on our missions. I want to really give my ALL. These 7 months have absolutely flown by and I have a feeling its only going to go by faster. I dont want to waste the Lords time. Elder Soares said we have been called to succeed specifically here in Honduras. Serving a mission isnt a sacrifice, its a pleasure. I truly feel that way.  They asked a couple missionaries from each mission to sing a special musical number and I was lucky enough to be chosen as one of them! I love singing with missionaries, theres a different power and Spirit.

We are working with a lot of families right now that are ready to be baptized, but have the challenge of not wanting to get married. Here in Honduras, it is very rare to find a family with the parents married. We are working with them to recognize the importance of marriage and obeying the law of chastity. 

Im grateful for the small miracles we get to see every day. We have been visiting a less active member for a while now and she told us that every message we share with her, is exactly what she needs at that moment. Yesterday, we felt like we needed to teach the law of tithing. Right before we entered her house we rethought about teaching tithing because it was kind of random, but then decided to go with it. We read her a few scriptures that pinpointed a question shes had built up for years, but never got the chance to ask anyone. We were able to take away a little thorn that has been bothering her for years because we listened to the Spirit. Similar experiences happen every day and its so crucial that we follow the promptings of the Spirit.

Everything is great here in Honduras. Im a little curious to see what summer is like here. I guess the hottest months are March, April and May... we shall see! Ive gotten use to killing spiders with their rear ends the size of quarters and throwing buckets of water on myself to bathe. We were eating lunch at a members house and she put a bowl of soup in front of us. Im not the biggest fan of the soup here. Its more like a bowl of surprises. There was a huge chunk of meat in the soup, which I was grateful for. As soon as I bit into it, I realized it was not meat. It had the weirdest texture, like I was eating my own tongue, with hair.. I was afraid to ask what it was. NEVER ask what you're eating! I overheard a sister saying that it was chicharron, which is pig skin with its hair still attached... I said a quick prayer to myself and stuffed the rest into a tortilla, then washed it down with juice. You'd be proud of me Mom.

Life is good. love being able to focus on developing Christlike attributes every day. I am so happy. I know Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. I know that Christ lives. The Church is true!

Love,
Hermana Sherman
Mi Hija, Hermana Tamani at the multi Mission Conference!


Monday, January 20, 2014

The great Plan of Salvation...

I cant even believe its already time for cambios! I am willing to go and serve wherever and with whomever the Lord needs me... but also have been praying with a side note that if it was posible, I would really enjoy staying another cambio with Hermana Alcequiez in Porvenir.
This week out of nowhere it was freezing! I was definitely not prepared and should have listened to Mom when she told me to bring a jacket.

Today we had Pday with President Klein and Hermana Klein with our zone because we had the highest percentage in recent convert church attendance! We hiked up to a Coca Cola sign in San Pedro Sula. Its kinda like the Hollywood sign, but says coca cola... I got my exercise in for the day and hopefully will be able to move tomorrow.

We received a reference from a member in another stake for a man named Cesar. We passed his house every day for probably 3 weeks. On Friday, we walked up to his house and I told Hermana Alcequiez that either Satan really doesnt want us to meet Cesar, or hes not prepared yet. We FINALLY got in contact with him. He recently had 2 accidents at work. One was with his legs and during another, he cut off the tips of his fingers on his right hand. When we first met him, there was immediately something different about him. He told us he was in the hospital and it was pretty serious after his accident. He said that he had a dream. He started explaining his dream with specific details about life after death and temples. We asked him to write everything down in his dream and we gave him Alma 40 to read. Our next vistit he told us that Alma 40 was a lot like his dream. We taught the Plan of Salvation and could see his spiritual eyes starting to open. I thank Heavenly Father for entrusting us with the chance to get to know Cesar and teach him about the great Plan of Happiness Heavenly Father has for us. I know that the Plan of Salvation is not a plan from man, but that God himself has created this plan that will not fail.
I love being a missionary, I love my calling. I am so happy and even happier when im fully immersed in this great work. I love you all and pray that we all can pray for courage to share the gospel in opportunities that the Lord gives us.
Love,
Hermana Sherman

A cute family we found contacting
During study time we almost died of cold, so we had to put on layers of the clothes we had

Service! We painted a members kitchen!
First time riding in the back of a moto taxi and felt like we were going to die!
There are 6 missionaries in this ward and we are our own district.

Monday, January 13, 2014

I love this perfect gospel

Ok ok I dont even know where to begin! This week was another amazing week that absolutely flew by!

We were planning on a baptism next week with a 25 year old Mom named Carolina. She had a baptismal date for 2 weeks ago, but two days before her baptism, she had her baby. We pushed her date back 2 weeks so she could recover and physically be ready for her baptism. We visited her on thursday and she told us that her husband just left her and her 3 year old son and newborn baby. We shared a scripture with her and said that the Lord is always by her side. She started to cry then said,¨I want to be baptized...today.¨ An 8 year old girl in the ward was having her baptism that day in 2 hours, so we immediately called the Bishop for an interview to help her out with her husband and a baptismal interview at the same time. Carolina was baptized that day and now on her road to the temple. Carolina is an example of strength to me. I know that through Christ, all of our unwanted feelings of sorrow, pain or guilt can be swept away.

We had talked to Santos about missionary work and asked him if he knew anyone that would like to hear our message. He said he would have to think about it. The next day we went to his house and he said,¨ I have a family I want to introduce you guys to, lets go right now!¨ We taught this new family and invited them to church. They said they would see if they had time and Santos said,¨Theres always time for God! We are all going Sunday.¨ Santos hasnt even been a member for 2 weeks and has joined the excitement and understands the importance of missionary work. 

I love my calling! I love this perfect gospel. I love the people here and I love serving the Lord. I know that the Savior lives and loves us. 

Love,
Hermana Sherman
Hermana Carolina and her 2 boys. Her baptism was the first time her baby had been out of her house since he was born!
 

An investigator that calls himself Will Smith
Porvenir

Our beautiful area and the side of the road
Holding a turtle that kept caressing my hand with its squishy feet and tiny claws.

We got caught in the rain without our umbrellas

Monday, January 6, 2014

Witnessing the miracle of conversion...

New Years started with a 10 minute party with Hermana Alcequiez and I and the glow sticks Mom sent me, then went to bed with our earplugs cause we were exhausted. The next day the streets were filled with newspaper. All of the fireworks here are handmade bombs and are pretty sketchy. Its pretty concerning when you see 5 year olds running around with matches and homemade bombs.

We had a service project for a family in the ward on Friday with our whole zone. They have a huge field and we cut their grass with machetes. It was pretty fun and I got to learn how to use a machete. Its hard work. I could barely move my body the next day, but it was good exercise. 


Santos was baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! After his baptism, he was asked to bear his testimony. He bore the sweetest, purest testimony, and started to weep. That was the happiest moment of my mission so far and a tender mercy from the Lord to be able to witness the miracle of conversion. I have been so blessed to have been given the opportunity to meet Santos.


Carolina couldnt get baptized cause she had her baby two days before! A beautiful baby boy and we are looking forward to her baptism soon too!

I love being a missionary. I love Honduras and the culture. I love learning more about the gospel every day. I love the challenges and the experiences of my mission and will cherish them forever. 


Love,
Hermana Sherman

Hermano Santos!
Zone service project
Sharpening the machetes
 

Cutting grass Honduras style


 
New Years 2014!