Week 12 Temple and Such

Working like Doggs 

I’m in one of the biggest zones of the mission. This has a lot of benefits and a lot of down sides. First off its dope because we have a lot of exito (success) and we always have people to go teach. Or we can go to an area and find people. The down side is that we are expected to have a lot of success. And really we are expected to carry the other zones that aren’t as good. This being said its the end of the year so its freaking nuts.  They want everyone to have 3 and 1. 3 People 1 family. Now people here really aren’t hard. Families however are a joke. First off no one is married, ever. I haven’t met a single person that isn’t a member that is married or even has thought about marriage. When people get married they have to go to where they were born and get their papers. This is really expensive. Like 80 dollars or more. Most people in my area live off about 150 dollars a month ish. There are some richer parts obviously. But ya so we have to pay for weddings. And when I say we I mean me. Which kinda sucks, because you really don’t want to marry two people and then baptize them only to have them go inactive. That all being said, we have this family that really wants to get baptized but the dad makes me mad. he just has this attitude that the church is a bank and ya whatever. 

Other story I went to the temple this week and it was amazing. Well kinda went. I got to stand out side (: we had stake conference and it was at the church right next to the temple. It’s a really amazingly gorgeous temple. It sits on this huge hill in Honduras and legit anyone is Tegucigalpa can see it. Most people we teach are like ohhh the Mormons I know you guys you guys have that huge building and you read some book jose smith wrote. Its great lol. Really love it here. The people honestly are really great for the most part. People just don’t like to change, even if they know they need to.

Last thing and I’m going to try to type this as respectively as I can. Miss Honduras got shot and killed. It was a pretty big thing on the new here and people were freaking out. Long story short her boyfriend said something to some drug guy and he had them both killed. But when they found the body they just put it in the back of a truck and put a tarp over it. I happened to be in a member’s house, our ward mission leader who is a boss by the way, and saw the video of it. Really reminded me of just how much the people here need the Gospel. 

Forgot about thisssssss we had a fireside thing this week. It was soo awesome. At first I was really sad to be honest. I got really caught up in things I use to do before the mission and how much I miss going up the canyon. But after a few people shared their testimonies I realized where I was and what I was doing. I will put a few photos and what not.  

Staying alive staying alive oh oh oh oh ohhhhhhh

ELDER THORN 

Elder Vail and Me

Honduras temple in Tegucigalpa

Fireside

Week 11 Mi cara vs la terria

Elder Thorn Face Plants 2k14

First off i have have been practicing backflips here in my mission. I did a few in the MTC and was really hyped up. Its just one of those things that makes me feel like myself. Because its really easy here in the mission to forget how to have fun. So ya i hadn't done one here in Honduras yet. However last sunday we had a zone activity up in one of the most beautiful places on the planet. no joke it has these massive windmills and there are some houses about the same size. Its called Ojojona. I will put a picture or two.

Back to the backflip story, at this lil activity there was some grass like real grass which just isn't a thing here. But ya i did a backflip and was pretty hyped and whatever. Then this Thursday I made the mistake of telling some kids I could do one. Then I was like yaaa probably shouldn't just because thats just what missionaries do. But they started calling me a liar, which in spanish is really really offensive because its not just like oh you're lying its that your personality is a lair. So ya I did a backflip, or rather didn't. lol I made it around but fell straight on my face after. I will put a photo. Truly a lesson of humility.

We also had another baptism this week. Her name is Ballonce which is Beyonce in english lol. She is great and she is also part of that family. Really really great kids and Christian the kid we baptized passed the sacrament on Sunday which was super kool to see. Really easy to forget how important the work is. But after every baptism when I'm changing and just have time to think about it, I really feel the impact that I'm taking part in

love you kids  ELDER THORN

Mi cara vs la terria (my face vs the earth)

Ojojona

Baptized Beyonce :)

Week 10 Soujia boi is alive and well

Power of the Priesthood

Another really amazing week here. I had the opportunity to baptize two more kids. The first being Raquel (spanish for rachel) and the second being Christan. They are the cousins of Abigail and live in the same house. Well kind of. Houses here are really strange. First off everything is made of cement, Everything. It's sad because I sit in peoples homes and I'm like this isn't homey. It's just hard to feel at home when everything is cold. But they do have hammocks. Like legit everyone has a hammock which is the koolest. But when someone starts their own family, or rather when one of the girls gets pregnant. I say that as nicely and as respectively as I can. But its true girls just get pregnant when they are 16 or earlier. Meaning that the dad sure didn't stick around, soo what do they do? They build a new house on top of their existing house!!! Its so sick. and I'm being serious. This results in everyone living in one house. Its kinda like they build their own apartment complex lol. 

As far as food goes here there isn't a lot. Both in proportion and in variety.  But ya not a lot of food. This lady named Jackie feeds us lunch pretty much every day, and on Sunday nights. We eat at the casa de hermana eva on wednesdays or something. She is sweet, that is where the pictures of the machete and stuff came from. I eat oatmeal and eggs in the morning. Trying to get ripped here in the mission lol. Eating out is really really cheep though. Like after this I'm going to go eat lunch for 50 limps which is like 2.50ish. Its really strange though because when I buy toothpaste it will be like 50 limps. So its kind of a give or take. 

I had a special moment this week regarding Christan. He is around a lot of men that are of the world. Meaning that they work on cars and drink all day. That is the only type of man he has in his life. He received the priesthood on Sunday. I have seen his very being change this past month. He wants to be an example not only for his siblings (which truthfully doesn't exists because his mom died and his dad is who knows where and he has spent his whole life with this aunt, Abigail's mom). But he wants to be an example for the men in his life. After church on Sunday we went and visited him and he spoke a lot about how he doesn't want to be a loser. He wants to do something with the life he has been given. Its amazing. People are truly amazing. I'm really starting to fall in love with the human experience. That sounds cheesy but its the only way to truly sum up what its like to be away from your family and speaking a new language but then watch a 14 year old boy change his life. 

Elder Thorn. AKA ya i dont know love you dudes

Baptism of Raquel and Christan

Altos de santa rosa which isn't my area but we went up there for a meeting the other day

This is where I wash clothes it sucks its called a pila

Week 9 First Baptism

Knowing Your Purpose

I had the opportunity of having my first baptism in the mission this week. The victim was Abigial Nawul Pavone Salinas. I write her name because I practiced saying it for a solid hour last Saturday. She has 14 years and comes from the craziest family. The last two names are her mom’s last name and then her dads. It’s a good indicator down here because often when kids tell you their name you can notice that the last two names don’t match. Meaning they have a different dad than their brother or sister. This is the case with Abigail. When Elder Vail and I go up to their house there is literally ten kids and two of those kids have kids. Its really different then home and the kids just call everyone cousin. But when we ask the moms they are like oh ya well I had a kid with this dude and then my sister had a kid with the same dude so they are basically brothers. 

As we prepared Abigail for baptism all I could think about was when I baptized my little brother in May. It was truly as far from the same as it could be. Her mom signed the paper like it was a school permission slip to go on a field trip. Despite our efforts to help her understand how important this was. When we were filling out the papers for her baptism it was the first time she had seen her dads first name. At first when she read it I was like oh no she is going to cry but no she just was like weird. Family has such a strange importance here. Her mom didn’t come to the baptism or the conformation on Sunday. The only family that came was 5 other kids. It was so different from Cannon’s baptism I sat in astonishment at how she could possibly want to be baptized. It really has strengthened my faith in the people here. I had the opportunity to baptize her and I was very nervous because I had to memorize it in Spanish. It’s not long but it’s also not something I wanted to mess up. As I went to walk into the water I completely forgot everything. But when the time came I felt the strongest feeling of comfort I have felt. And as I brought her out of the water I knew I would remember this for years to come. While I was changing I had felt like no person had experienced the joy I was feeling. The feeling that is felt when we allow to the Lord to work through us brings a completely new feeling and changes our definition of the word joy. 

My time is up but I want everyone that reads this is get involved with the missionaries in your area. Do not look at it as cargo or a burden because it will be the way you experience a new kind of joy. 

Someone hug my mom for me. Sorry for my spelling every word is just red because of the Mexican keyboard. lol they hate Mexicans here. 

Elder Thorn aka your boi