Week 25 in the Field: Sometimes the fruits of our labors come later than we think they will.

Hi everyone! Hope you are all doing great.

This week we`ve had a few challenges but in the end everything will turn out well.

We lost two of our baptism dates with Hector and Alex of the Ramirez Diaz family this week. The parents and sisters have already been baptized, as well as the Grandma and the aunt and some other family members. This week, however, instigated by money problems, the Grandma (the recent convert) supposedly threatened to burn down her daughters house if they didn`t move out ASAP (I think the grandma wants to steal their land or something). The next day the hut that they lived in was completely gone and they had moved out to a small town 30 minutes away by bus. There is no chapel where they are going to live and the closest chapel is probably 20 miles away and would cost 15 dollars in transportation costs each week (for a family that maybe makes the equivalent of 40 dollars a month). I was really sad to lose four of my converts and 2 of our baptism dates by the greed of another one of my converts.

Other than that we`ve had some good lessons and have 7 progressing investigators, 4 of them with baptism dates.

We met a lady named Roxana recently and her two sons. She`s had a lot of trials in her life and has been asking God for help and direction. We met her in a taxi and set an appointment with her. In our first appointment she had a lot of questions for us and we were glad to clarify some misinformation she had heard about the church. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she loves reading it because she says it explains everything so clearly.

I also learned this week that sometimes the fruits of our labors come later than we think they will. About a month ago we knocked the door of a house that I had always felt we needed to knock and we set an appointment. At the appointment we taught them about the restoration, gave them two copies of the Book of Mormon, and invited them to institute and to church but they didn't come to either. We kind of dropped them because they weren`t keeping commitments and we had other people to visit. It turns out, however, that one of them is the Branch President´s secretary and this past week she started to talk with the Branch President about the Book of Mormon she received. She`s been reading it and is newly interested in visiting with us and learning more about the church. We`re excited to see where it will go with her and it seems that there was a reason the spirit told me to go to that house after all.

Love you all, have a great week!

(Answers to Mom's questions)

How long has Elder Henrriquez been out in the field?

Two weeks, I`m his first companion.

Is his family members?

His mom and sister are. His Grandma (Whom he lives with) is Catholic though.

What are his interests? What was his life like in Honduras?

He likes listening to music. He used to sell cell phones in Honduras as a job. He was going to college but then he decided to serve a mission. 

Do you miss having an English speaking companion?

Teaching is a lot easier but the apartment is a little more boring. Language barrier isn`t too much of a big deal but the cultural barrier is difficult. With an american companion you can talk about tv and movies and highschool and a bunch of different things but it`s harder to connect with Latino companions to be honest.

That is cool you get to go to a gym everyday - How far away is it?

It`s like a five minute walk away. Kind of small but it`s nice.

Anything you need and we can send you?

I don`t think so but thanks!

Love you mom!