Hermana Grondel: Well, it is Monday again!

I cannot believe it is November. I have now been in Honduras for over a month.

Well, this week we have been preaching the gospel! Woo! :)

Tuesday, we had our district meeting, and we had interviews with President Dester! I have been seeing them a lot. Is every mission like that? I certainly enjoy it! I love President and Sister Dester and am grateful I get to see them so much! I got to chat with Sister Dester while other people were being interviewed. She is truly such a sweetheart and is always so concerned for us. And she brought us cookies and juice - always a good thing!

Wednesday, we had exchanges! I stayed in El Bosque y Hermana Vasquez went to Castaños. I was with Hermana Lopez y Hna Vasquez was with Hna Aguilar. Hna Aguilar y Hna Lopez are our sister training leaders. Hna Aguilar is from los Estados Unidos but is going home this transfer. Hna Lopez is from Costa Rica. It was quite the experience! I learned some really awesomes ways to teach and to ask for references, and more about how to be a better missionary. Hna Lopez is so funny and an incredible missionary. She is the 11th of 11 children and is the only member in her family. She hasn't gotten a letter from them her whole mission. Talk about humbling. Our exchanges were for 24 hours, so Hna Lopez stayed the night at our casa. As I was cooking, she went outside. After a few minutes I went to see what she was doing, and she was on the roof of another house, looking at the stars. The stars are so beautiful here. She told me that when life is hard, she looks at the stars. I love that, and I love the stars :)

Well, Halloween isn't celebrated here. I said Happy Halloween to one family because I had candy and gave it to them and one hermano, our mission leader, started talking about how it is an evil tradition. Entonces, I have to celebrate Halloween alone! I am sad that people are really superstitious about it here because it is one of my favorite days. I love candy. :) And I love all the cutesy things that go with Halloween. ah well, c'est la vie!

Thursday, we had our coordination meeting, and Hna Aguilar came to join us to help us know what to do for the meeting. Well, she LOVES arroz con leche, especially de Hermana Quezada. The meeting is always in the quezada's home, so when they heard she was coming, they made arroz con leche! Oh. My. Goodness. It is incredibly delicious! I am not sure how to describe it other than it is rice with milk and I think cinnamon. ¡Oh, me encanta!

Saturday, we had two appointments for lunch. Oh, it was so delicious! And it was perfect timing because it was fast Sunday this weekend! Well, we always have lunch with Hermana Georgina on Saturdays, but Hna Marta invited us for lunch. Hna. Vasquez and I were both unsure if there would be much food with Hna Marta, so we decided to keep both appointments. Oh man, we were SO full! Hermana Vasquez thought she was going to explode, haha!

Sunday, I got to play the piano in church! I love the piano so much, and I am very grateful I learned how to play hymns. I am so grateful for music in general! It is so beautiful and always speaks right to my heart. I love this gospel, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to preach it and live it every day. In Sunday School, we talked about the spirit world and the Final Judgment and how if people reject this gospel they can't make it to the celestial kingdom. It makes my heart ache that there are people here who won't listen because it means we cannot help them. I don't want them to end up in a lesser state of happiness! One gentleman in particular that we met wouldn't let us say a word. He just said that he doesn't believe in anything, his family has never believed and he doesn't want to talk to us. He is the first man I've met here who doesn't believe in anything. Most people here believe in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. But it makes me all the more grateful that I have my family and we have this gospel.

Oh, other funny happening! So, Hermana Vasquez is terrified of frogs, of dogs, and of horses. There are so many frogs and dogs, and there are 3 horses that we know of. One night, we tried to stop by the home of Familia Gallo and Hermana Vasquez saw 2 huge sapos (frogs) and refused to go to the door. So I was trying to call to the familia while keeping Hermana Vasquez within sight and sound. Muy chistoso. Then, on Sunday, we were contacting with a miembro, Nefi, who is about 16. Well, on the road to one casa there was a very angry dog. Nefi y Hna Vasquez looked at each other and then looked at me and said, "Usted no tiene miedo. Usted puede ser primera" (translation: "You're not scared, you can be first"). So I started walking. Most dogs just leave us alone, and this dog started retreating. But all of a sudden he began to rush forward and I thought for sure he was going to bite me (all is well, no bites as of yet!) Well, at the moment he began to rush forward, Hna Vasquez froze and Nefi jumped and grabbed hold of her. When the danger passed, Hna Vasquez turned to Nefi and said "¡Nefi! ¡Soy una misionera! Los niños no pueden tocarme!" Oh, it was great. :)

I love you all so very much!!!! I hope all is well and I pray for you guys.

LOVE,

Hermana Grondel

"Preach the Gospel at all time and if necessary, use words." - Saint Francis of Assisi

At Hna Georgina's house

This is me trying to be Hna. Vasquez y Hna Vasquez trying to be yo.... didn't work out so well, haha!

Serious

Lunch at Hna Georgina's house!

Oh! I forgot this story! Saturday we went to one member's house and found them making Pastilla's to sell. So we started helping her to make them! It was a lot of fun :)