WEEK #22 GONNA HAVE PUPS

ROXY

Well this week alright. The work right now here is pretty tough but we're working hard. My comp got really sick so I had to go for three days straight with the youth in the ward and teach. It was actually a good learning experience because I had to be the one to start all the lessons and take control and answer questions. It was tough but I learned a whole bunchies. We had 6 investigators at church and we have 1 (Eugenia) that's been twice now and should be getting baptized if...... she accepts the law of chastity. It's quite a problem here. Getting married is like one of the hardest things to do in Honduras ha.

Roxi is still tagging along. I have learned to just take deap breaths when I want to nail her. Also got some big news...shes pregnant!! We're gonna have puppies, which is awesome but also not awesome because first we can't have pets. But no matter what we do to Roxy...she doesn't leave so I don't know what I'm gonna do with her pups. Probably just give em to members. Might send one home to my fam too. I am really growing to love the food here. Maybe it's just cuz I'm always so hungry. You know it's bad when you start eating the bones of the chicken and thinking it's good. I feel like Deryke Terrell out here. I have also had to put a limit to the amount of baleadas I eat. They are soooo good. I love them. The tortillas here make me cry every time I eat them. I will definitely miss them one day. Well, don't got much else to say. We got invited to a baby shower the other day of a girl in our ward....she's 15. Don't think we got time to go though. The work will pick up this week. My comp and I are working better together and we got a new elder in our house from Ecuador who I think will really help me. I have a testimony of this Gospel and I'm happy to be doing what I'm doing even though it's so tough somtimes haha. Have a great week!!

WEEK #21 DOGS

Hey fam! I am so happy today! This was the best day emailing so far.:) hahaha that's so funny about Jorge! 

(excerpt from mom's email) Dad got a call from a guy named Jorge. He asked if we had a son living in Honduras and wanted to know our address so he could come and give us a note that he said you wrote when they saw you at Pizza Hut. So dad gave him our address and then when he started thinking about it, he thought, "Shoot! Who is this guy? Derik never mentioned a note he wrote to us. Maybe it's a trick. Maybe Derik made a shady friend in Honduras and he is coming to collect. I better meet him in a public place." Ha ha. You know how it goes when you let your mind go crazy. So I called him a few times the day he was supposed to meet up with this guy just to make sure he hadn't been gunned down or anything. So funny! Obviously he was a super nice guy who offered to take packages for us when he makes trips down there. Another tender mercy from heaven. You would think that we would have had more of these with Tanner's mission because it was so close and in the states but we've had more people connect with us about you and your mission than we ever had with Tanner. Must be because we need that knowing that you are struggling and so far away. I love tender mercies from heaven. What a loving Heavenly Father we have!!

I would think the same thing too haha. You made the right decision never trust anyone from here. I am so happy you got my note though. It was awesome when they told us they were from orem. Their ingles isn’t too hot but I'm sure you could communicate. And I know it is a miracle from God too. You are right mom and it gave me comfort reading that.

We finally got people at church this week! A tender mercy it was indeed. My comp and I decided to commit to work as hard as we could and strive to be obedient and if we did, that God would bless us with people at church. Cuz these last few weeks we've had nothing and I got angry. Little miracles like that help a lot. The work is starting to get going here. When I got here we had nobody cuz my comp and his last comp did nothing. He's changed a lot though and he's got a new energy to him. Brasilenos are interesting people. I like being his comp though cuz his parents send him so much tasty food from Brazil and I eat it all. I sure do love goodies. Roxy, our dog is still following us everywhere and is starting to think that she is part of the crew. I made sure she knew she wasn't when she tried to enter the house though. We lock it up at every house we go to and run away and its always there waiting at our house haha:) dumb Roxy. Starting to test my patience she is. The only dog I love is my dog Kona. Sometimes we'll be talking to people and I look at Roxy and she just makes me so mad and I wanna just punt her. Then I get distracted and forget what we're talking about. A distraction she is. Sometimes I feel sympathy though cuz it's not an easy life being a dog in Honduras. Last night we walked like 3 miles to a house for dinner and she followed us the whole way as always, sat outside and whimpered, and then after dinner we got a ride home and she ran as fast as her little legs could go to follow us home but just couldn't handle it. This area where we ate is gated off and there is no way out. But bout 20 min later we're at our house locked out and here comes Roxy running home. Who is this dog?! We're thinking about getting a white shirt for her. Not much else has happened this week but we're working hard and hope to get some more people on date for February. It got a bit chilly a couple days this week, bout 90 degrees, so I had to grab my sweater. Hope it heats back up. This area is so cool. I love it. It's got some of the coolest views and it's just crazy. We're in the city of San Pedro Sula and it's a thrill every day. The people are pretty hard here though. LOTS of apostacy. It's a bit sickening but fun talking with the people and helping them and helping them realize how wrong they are with love and helping them find the truth. Should be an excellent week this week. 

Dad I am glad you are still reading the B of M in spanish. I'm half way through it but made a goal to finish it this change. I gotta get going. It's helping my spanish a ton. My spanish is actually getting a bit better every day I think. Everything is getting a little bit better. Like you say mom, just take it one day at a time. So that's what I'm doing. I'm actually taking it about 5 minutes at a time, well I'm trying to haha. We have another person on date named Eugenia! Super awesome she is. She was at church which is way far from where she lives. She walked  that whole way at 7:30 in the morning. She was the first one there. So siick. Miracle she is. Hope things go well with her. We also brought some weirros (kids) to church and had another couple that's been going for years. They just are waiting on getting married which is the hardest thing in the world here in Honduras. The other lady we had on date named Claudia, we just found out she goes to Tegucigalpa every week to see her boyfriend there so we hope things are ok but well see. 

Things are getting better though! Next P-day we are going to play in the soccer stadium here that the best team here plays at. They're called Olympia. Imma bring my football:) Hope you guys have a great week! Thanks for your help with everything! Loves all around!

Elder Beeston

Mom can you also send me a B of M soft copy in Portuguese whenever you send another package? A kid here got his call to Brasil but there is nowhere to get a Portuguese B of M here ha. That would be awesome cuz he wants one!

ps. The football is really helping me out haha. I throw it up in the air whenever I'm stressed while laying on my bed. The pump is awesome too! So sick!!

p.p.s. Mom i literrallly just had like 7 pics coming. I had it all working and........my camera died. Just right now hahah. I'll send a bunchy next week. Sorry!

WEEK #20 WORKING IN A TRIO

This week was super funny haha. But first off the work still isn't going too well right now but I've had enough of it and we're going so hard this week. I'm so sick of feeling how I do and I'm just gonna work as hard as I can and make it fun cuz this is my time. I am going to do everything I can though and leave it up to God. I'm grateful for your guys' help though. 

We had 1 investigator at church yesterday but I promise you we will have at least 4 this Sunday. I got a comp who likes to finish the day at 7 o'clock but that ain't about to happen. He's a sweety pie but his desire to have people at church is not there. He has it in his head that this area is dead but we are getting along and I hope we can animate eachother to work hard this week and exceed the minimum. I've also decided to open up my missionary life book they gave us which helps with stress so imma give it a try.

We have had some funny experiences though. First one is that this week we have been working in a trio every day with a dog that we named roxi that follows us everywhere no matter where we go. Sleeps outside our house and then in the morning she goes everywhere we go until night. It's insane ha. I try to kick it and make it leave but it will not. We make it a goal every day to lose roxi so sometimes we just take off running and try to lose her. At first it was super awesome but now I wanna kill it cuz it just sits outside of every house where we are having lessons and all the other billion dogs here start barking and we can't even communicate during the lesson. And she won't leave! Just sits there and whimpers till we come out. The other day I did a side kick (not hard) and kicked her into a hole. It's a true test of my patience ha. Another funny/awful experience is that we were walking down a road one day and there was this dude out drunk on the road and this super drunk old lady yelled at us to come sit down but we told her we couldn't but she kept yelling and then my comps made me sit down. She said "Oh I love gringos. Take me to the states!" and starting running her fingers through my hair haha. Then she started kissing my arm!! I was freaking out and she then started to try to kiss me on the lips and i said "Hermana we have to go!" And we took off haha. My comp was just laughing at me. It was awful haha. 

Also, this week we had a zone meeting with Pres. and it was just our zone and was so sick. I understood everything and prayed that my light headedness would go away just for the meeting and it did and it was the best!:) He taught us about holding to the rod after the mission and that he is more concerned about what we do after than what we are doing right now. The way to stay strong is through service which is our first covenant, which leads to the Temple. He also taught us about the importance of paying tithing and not being worried about money. He shared a story that was so awesome. Pres Klein is super ridicoulosly rich and had 6 cars and a huge house because he loved money. He told this part very pridefully which was super awesome haha. Then he told us he sold the house and the cars because of something Hma Klein said to him I can't remember. But he realized he wasn't happy with the big house like he was with his first house with Hma Klein which was tiny. Money ain't important. Word. 

But ya that's about all that happened this week. This area is really cool. I'll try to get some pics. It's hard to pull out your camera here though. But I'm blessed to be here and the ward is awesome. God is preparing these people here to receive us but we have to do our part as missionaries and we are just gonna keep pressing forward no matter how hard it is. It's a battle everyday but I guess that's what makes it so awesome. 

I am glad that you were able to go to the Temple and feel better and I am grateful for your prayers. The Temple seems foreign to me ha. I don't remember anything. I sure would like to go. Bummer you have to go back to school and work now. That was always the worst haha. But I guess that's life right?! Thanks dad for the updates!! haha and I am glad Kona feels better. I am grateful for your love and concern. I am fighting the biggest battle of my life right now.  But I know I can conquer this if I will have more faith than fear. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experiences with me. 

Answers to dad's questions....

1. How are the burgers and pizza in Honduras?

Burgers are not very good, haha. They try really hard but Honduras meat ain't like the states!! Pizza is still pretty much the same ha. I always love when I get to eat pizza. I eat a box of pizza, which is 8 slices, like it's a snack haha. It's crazy!!!

2. Have you played any marbles with anyone or that game even still around?

I only played marbles once cuz they don't play in Ceiba. But here all the kids do and imma start playing marbles with em. But they're all way good so I'm scared.

3. Have you met any Honduras people taller than you?

Out of nowhere you will sometimes find some big Hondurans who are super tall haha. But for the most part I'm still the tallest. I've heard that Guatemalans are shorter than Hondurans though.

4. I am still reading the Libro de Mormon en Espanol!

Keep reading! I'm in Alma. I read en voz alto 3 caps every day and it's helping!

I hope you all had a great new year! New Years here was soooo nuts!!!!!!!!!! Way more crazy than Christmas. Sounded like a war going on outside! Thanks again for everything! 

Elder Beeston