Week 19

So this week was also frustrating. nothing serious went down but I'm realizing that I do not know how to be a missionary. We didn't have changes so I am still with Elder Chichia and he goes home in like 20 days or something and he doesn't want to do anything at all. We actually worked for the first time this week because I kind of forced him into it and I completely forgot how to contact people because we just haven't done it. We have been focusing on all of our investigators that we already had that we just haven't contacted people and when we went to do it I just blanked and freaked out. It sucked.
I have days when I literally feel like I am fluent in Spanish and I can do it all but this week wasn't like that. For some reason, I feel like all of the Spanish that I have learned just got taken away from me until today. I speak fine now but this whole week was just chasta (lousy). I was teaching gospel doctrines yesterday and no one payed attention the entire time and at the end I was so mad that I cut it ten minutes early and told them to just talk like they had been the whole time and then this lady told me that she was talking because she didn't understand anything I said. Then like my mom from Honduras totally yelled at her and praised my spanish but it still sucked.
Investigators still aren't getting answers and we have had to drop a couple because they don't want to talk to us anymore because they don't believe it because they didn't get an answer. We challenged people to baptism and they all said yes. However, they need to get married first and here, they just don't do that so basically they will just be investigators all their lives. We did have one and she should get baptized but she needs to just go to church. She told us that she had talked with a ton of missionaries but that we are the best and that she really really wants Elder Chichia to do it so hopefully that all goes well.
Here are some funny stories that happened this week however.
1. We were teaching the restoration and how Christ did the atonement leading up to how he established his church. So I said que mas hizo Jesucristo. which means, what more did Jesus Christ do. Then the girl said ¨"ahh si, que macizo" and that means oh yeah, how cool haha she combined the words that I said and thought that I said that Jesus was just the coolest hahaha so that was funny
2. We were teaching about the word of wisdom and I asked like the kind of food to eat. Of course they said eggs and beans, then I asked what drink we should drink. And they said well coke, and if you don't have coke I guess you can drink water. It would be funny if they were kidding but they were dead serious. These people genuinely drink more coke than water. So I thought that was pretty funny too
Being a missionary is super tough. No one ever said that it was easy but i have never heard anyone say that they hated their mission so i am sure it will pick up. Just endure to the end right?
Love you
Elder Garry

Week 18 aka The struggle is real!

Being is a missionary is hard. Who was it that said that these will be the best two years?? I´ve got 4 months now and I'm just burnt out! So my week was sucky. Remember that lady that said those really nasty things to our investigators? Well she is back at it!! And pretending like nothing has happened. We thought that we could have been able to fix it but now it is probably game over. He told us he didn't want to get baptized this week nor does he ever want to go to church or talk with the missionaries. Not just our church but all churches because he decided that no matter how hard he tries, he will always be a screw up and can't change. So I'm assuming that stuff is all the work of that dumb lady. And the other baptism we should have had fell as well because I guess she did something bad. I dont know what it was, she wouldnt tell us. So this Saturday was baptismless and depressing. I feel like all of my efforts are just going down the drain. I work so hard and I have nothing to show for it. All of our investigators are falling because the can't get answers to their prayers and we can't find anyone to teach now for some reason. The last transfer all we had was success and now we have nothing. We can't even get people to wait five minutes so we can teach them something. We do a lot of walking now because we don't have any appointments so we tract a lot and go to members houses to try and get references. I am just so frustrated. However, its still all good. I´m still working hard and still just trying and trying. I know that eventually something will happen. Also turns out I will be in this area for 6 months now probably so I'm sure that something good will happen in that time period.
On a brighter note, there are apparently only like 4 movies from honduras and there is another one being filmed in my area!!! like every day there are people with cameras filming something! So when I get back in like 20 months, lets watch a movie about my first area!!
Elder Garry

Week 17

Well, like every week, this one was really fast as well. We really didn't do much this week, not because we are bad but because it is just how things worked out. We had district meeting on Friday so half of the day was there and then we had to do interviews for these people who are getting baptized in another area because Elder Chichia is the district leader. Got stuck in that area because there wasn't a bus so we spent the rest of our day there. Then Saturday we had district conference which is basically Stake Conference but for the branches all day. And same thing on Sunday. So our last three days have been really chill.  We still got some work done and talked to a bunch of people. We should have two baptisms this week. We could have had five buuuuut one of our members said some really not nice words to three of our investigators and now they want nothing to do with the church. We went to her house after we figured it out and she wasn't there. Which may have been good because we were both really mad at her and probably say some not nice words to her as well. So we will just go to her house another day. But that was really the first time I have really been really frustrated in my mission. Other times are just dumb things like I cant speak or I'm tired of eggs and beans but this time was for real. I was really angry. We talked to one of the people and they are now chill but 2 of the 3 are nowhere to be seen. We saw one in the street and she completely ignored us and the other today on a bus and she did the same. I am heated as they say in the states.
But life goes on and there are still good things about being here. I can honestly speak spanish. I can say what I want to say and without thinking too. I just can't understand it!! I dont understand how the words are in my vocabulary but when they speak it just doesnt make sense. I hear every word that they say but their sentences just don't make sense. Basically they speak like old English style. So in English it is ¨who am I talking with¨ but in Spanish, ¨with whom am I talking¨ it is so frustrating but I'm figuring it out. Elder Chichia and I have like real conversations now so that is fun. And I can teach a lesson but the second they as a question or say a comment, game over and i have to have Elder Chichia help me out.
I still love it here and I am so grateful to be here in Honduras. It is a really cool country!
I love you all!!
Elder Garry

Week 16

So before I said that I think I know what it is really like to be a missionary.... nope. I have been living in fairytale land for the past like 4 months. We are working super hard, in the hot hot hot weather, and no one is interested. No one is getting answers to their prayers, and we are just not having any success. I don't know why but I just feel like no one is progressing. We had some really solid investigators and now we have like 8 total. That is cool and all but none of them are getting answers to their prayers. Literally they are all praying which is really surprising for me to hear but none are getting answers. I just dont get it. I keep saying that we will always recieve an answers and sometimes we need to be patient but this is getting a little bit out of hand. Like 4 weeks and nothing. They haven't said that they got an answer that it is no but they are losing faith. I feel like it is me. What am I doing wrong. How can I be better? I pray and pray and pray all day everyday for our investigators but just nothing is working. I am not losing faith or anything but still I just wish that they could all get an answer and get dunked!
Also, our baptism for Andrea fell this week. I guess her daughter got sick and they had to go to Teguc for like three days so it is this week but this week is like stake conference but it is like district conference because we are just a branch and it is the day of her baptism so we will see how that goes. We have another on the 7th with this guy named Jorge. He is so sick. My first time with him he told me that he doesn't care what we teach but he will believe it all. Thats how much faith he has. It was seriously awesome.
Still the life is good here. I'm smarter with my money and not wasting it on CocaCola and chips like my first transfer. I figured out they have these things called semitas which is like this bread thing..... I have an addiction. They are a dime each and I eat about 6 for breakfast alone. Only 12 limperas which is basically trash. I am learning to love beans and eggs. Like I crave it throughout the day now.
People are still racist and think that Honduras is relevant to the world. They say stuff like the United States hates Honduras because they have better food and things are cheaper. After that I told her that before my mission I heard the word Honduras maybe 7 times in all my life and I couldn't even tell you where it was on a map until I got my call to serve here. She didn't think it was very funny but it made her stop talking about how great this country is(nt). Don't get me wrong, I love Honduras with all my heart, just don't ever say that it or anything else is better than ´Murica!!!
I love you all with all my heart and I miss you. This mission thing is not easy pero vale la pena
Elder Garry

Week 15

Time is literally the fastest when you are a missionary. Remember when I told you that time goes by when you are having fun so you need to go to Six flags every day for two years to make sure that I get back super fast? I dont know what youre doing, but keep doing it. I literally cannot even understand how fast it is going. This week I reached my two month mark here in Honduras. 2 months of only Spanish and eggs and beans. I cant believe it. I know I still have quite a bit to go but hey, its a good start. So this week nothing amazing happened but it was a good week. We should have a baptism this week if it all goes well so pray for that to happen. And we have a ton of really solid investigators but all of their baptismal dates fell because they haven't attended church enough times to be baptized so I guess we will just move it back and dunk them later. We found this really great restaurant that is super expensive so I am using my debit card to pay for it. Just every p day so make sure I'm loaded for those sweet moments that I have. I'm not gunna lie, I miss you all a lot but I really don't think about it very much throughout the week. Just until Saturday and then I'm like AHH P DAY! I HAVE A FAMILY I CAN WRITE. The other days I'm just zoned in on what I can do to help my investigators and how I can just be the missionary I know I can be. I love and miss you all so much.
until next week,
Elder Garry

Week 14 and Pictures!!!

This week was so fast! I cannot believe how fast the weeks are. Every time i have to stop writing and start working on Pdays, I just think about how I have another week until I can write you all and then I blink and I'm right back in the church writing. It's really incredible. Why didn't school go by this fast. I would have loved that. Anyways, this week was a good one. I feel like all of our investigators are progressing and I feel like we will baptize them all but what do I know, I'm still in training. I'm still just in the zone of lets talk to everyone and baptize everyone. We have 6 baptismal dates this month but only if everything works well. We finally have people praying about our messages and they are just amazed at how they received an answer. It literally is so easy and yet hardly anyone will do it. But our guys are praying and we are just ballin out here with investigators. We have about 17 people that we teach regularly and of those 17, 6 are just ready to get dunked. We had a dude tell us that he wants to be a missionary like us. We told him first step is baptism and he was so down for it. I mean we have to teach him first but still. super cool. And so my comp.... he doesn't wake up at the right time. Never studies. And when he does its in his bed. The thing is that we work really well together. Our teaching styles just work and because of it we are having a lot of progress. The only thing is that if he was more obedient we could be doing miracles. It's scary to tell someone that they are being a bad missionary. Especially when they have 22 months and are training me. It turns out that his trainer got sent home early for breaking the law of chastity with an investigator. He told me the other day that is a bad thing to be exactly obedient.... so that s my life. He is a way cool guy and we get along just fine. I'm still loving it and I'm still being the missionary that you would want me to be. I love you all and miss you all. But just remember how fast these 3 months went. I will be home in no time!!!

Week 13

This week was wild. Lets just start by saying that I have a new companion named Elder Chichia.... yes like the chichichichichichia pet haha hes got like 22 months so he's literally killing me with all of his going home talk. I felt bad because I didn't get to say goodbye to Elder Reinoso because I was too busy throwing up in the house to go with him. I am seriously sick all of the time. I have so much medicine that I take to help my stomach. The almost made me go to Tegucigalpa but they figured that I wouldn't really make it to Tegucigalpa without needing to stop like every 20 minutes so I stayed and they came to me and just gave me more medicine. I realized I've lost a bunch of weight too because every latino kept calling me delgado for like 3 days. Didn't know what it meant, means skinny. I've lost like ten pounds that I don't really have to loose so I'm just trying to eat and eat and eat but the food is not to great so its a struggle haha general conference is the greatest thing as a missionary. It was Pday weekend. Every missionary in the zone slept over with the zone leaders and we all just played cards and chess for two days in between conferences and then at night we contacted for an hour then played cards and chess again. I spoke a lot of English too which was better than you could have imagined. Did you see President Monson, he didn't look too good during his talk. Kind of sketchy. Que mas?... So I feel like I'm training my companion now because he doesn't have a huge desire to do much. He has regular music that he listens too and doesn't really act like a missionary. He told me that he doesn't want to train me at all but that's okay because while I train him, I will figure it all out too haha its all good. He's a way cool guy and has had a lot of success in his mission. We could have a ton of baptisms this month and I'm way excited for that. We've already seen a ton of miracles in just the few days we've had together. Two guys asked us to be baptized and the other said he wants to be a missionary like us after he is baptized. We could have three this month but we need to work hard and always be obedient in order for everything to work out. I'm also slowly figuring out this whole Holy Ghost thing. I thought before that I knew what was up but now it is so different. I am getting like real answers to my prayers. When I have a question, I ask and then wait a second and then I can see the answer in the my head clear as day. God answers our prayers through the Spirit. We just need to actually listen. It is so true. I am a witness of it. Se que la iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias es verdadera con todo mi corazon y cada dia, mi testimonio es mas y mas grande. aunque hay muchas personas que no les gusta la Iglesia, y les gustamos salir, se que hay personas que nos necesitan y estan esperando para nosotros. cuando somos obedientes y hacer las cosas que Dios nos quiere hacer, el ponerase personas que estan listos para nuestro mensage. todo es verdadero y bien bonito. Les amo todo, y les extraño todos tambien. adios y cuidase



Google translation:

I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true with all my heart and every day, my testimony is bigger and bigger . Although many people do not like the Church , and want us to leave, there are people who need us and are waiting for us. When we are obedient and do the things God wants us to do, he prepares people who are ready for our message . Everything is real nice and well . I love them all, and they are strange as well . Bye and take care