Merry Christmas

December 21, 2015

Hey Guys,

This week was pretty special. The work here in Progreso has almost come to a complete stop for the holidays. We are in a richer part of Progreso, so everyone has gone to the States to see family and snow. That, or they are all with family here and heaven forbid the Elders come in to share a message with the whole family. It's kinda weird really. Elder Sop and I just have a few investigators that are really progressing and we are going to take full advantage of the season to preapre them for baptism.

We are working so hard that we actually went to finish a service project early this morning. I smell great. Grass and sweat make a great combination. Haha. On Friday morning we went to help a lady cut her lawn, with machetes. You see, lawn mowers do not exist, so machetes it is. In her old church, they told her not to have Christmas trees, and since she is going to get baptized, she asked if she could have a tree next year. Since she didn't have a tree, we asked around, and we found a tree, lights and ornaments to give her. So two people chopped her yard and two set up the tree. I ended up chopping half the yard, then having to go in to set up the tree because no one knew how. Haha. It was a blast.

Machetes are fun.

Secret Santa

So, last night we were invited by our cook's nonmember husband (Doc) to come to house to be part of their "posada." It's a catholic thing where starting like 10 days before Christmas they follow Mary and Joseph as they search for an inn. Last night they went to our cook's house and did a little program. Well, they told us at 7, so we showed up at 6:50 to be early. I walked past the window and yelled "buenas" all obnoxious like I normally do when we show up, and then we noticed that they had started early. Great move, Aldrich. I was mortified. Haha. I felt so bad interrupting the program by my obnoxious yelling. Everyone was really great. The older people all wanted us to know that we were welcome, and it took everything I had not to contact the nun. Truthfully, I loved that Doc invited us. I am always looking to understand other faiths better which is why I always talk to the JWs and the 7th day adventists and whoever else I can find. It was a great experience and I was glad that he allowed us to be a part of something that was important to him.

Afterwards we ate dinner in their house and sat around telling stories and joking around. I sat on the floor for lack of chairs, which was funny. I haven't sat on the floor since I was in La Ceiba. We had several families there that simply didn't have chairs. I felt humbled last night as I thought about those familes. Sometimes we forget just how much we have. Couches and chairs are simple things, but I am very grateful that we have them. Just a thought.

I hope you all have a great Christmas. Remember that the missionaries in your ward don't go home for Christmas, so invite them over, but don't be offended if they don't eat. They might be full from the last six homes that gave them some dinner. Haha.

Elder Aldrich

Last week p-day

Christmas Multi Zone Conference

December 14, 2015

Hello Everyone,

This week was fairly interesting here in Progreso. I feel like I still haven't been here that long, but I am getting close to five whole months in this place. Last night after dinner we all were sitting around telling stories about things the missionaries have happen to them (like dogs eating my phone, painting doc's office, birthdays), and I am the only one who even was here for most of them. I have cycled through two groups of missionaries here, and I am still going strong.

Christmas here is way bigger than it was in Olanchito last year. My area here in Progreso is the richest area I have been in, and they are taking the season very seriously. Everything is so lit up and it is so cool. I would take a picture and send it, but taking a camera out at night in a Honduran street falls into the "bad idea" category. Sorry.

This week has been pretty chill. I am feeling better, well, as good as I can feel. Sometimes I feel like the Honduras food wants to kill me, haha. We have had water on and off all week, which basically means that I am back to the old routine of bringing in water from outside, filtering it with a sock, and bucket showering. It might not clean me, but at least I smell a little better than before. It's good stuff, I promise.

This week we had the Multi.Zone Conference with President Klein and Zona La Lima. It was really cool. President talked a lot about obedience, and even more about Jesus Christ. I was definitely on a spiritual high. It was so great, as meetings with our mission president always are. We even had a white elephant gift exchange. Everyone made something by hand (I made a scripture cover that doubled as a white board), and then we passed them around in circles for a while. I thought my gift was pretty cool until I watched the sister missionary open it, not like it, then put it back. Haha. But whatever. It was fun.

I am really loving the last holiday season here in Honduras. It is hard not to get a little homesick, but we are gonna work it right out of our system. We put a goal as a district this week to find 60 new people to teach, so we will see how that goes. I hope you all have a great week.

Elder Aldrich

Sick Week

December 7, 2015

Hey guys,

We had a rough week this week. I spent two days in bed with a fever, one day with a zone leader, and one day on divisions with another Elder in my district. It was hectic, and really rather miserable. I know that isn't what you all hope to here each week, but sometimes the mission can be difficult.

The Christmas Season is in full swing here in Progreso. The rainy season has started, two months late, but it has started. It appears that our Christmas is going to be a little less white, and a lot more damp. We are very grateful for the weather, as the last two months have been horribly hot. Now we are down to a nice comfortable 87 degrees.

On Tuesday I did divisions with Elder Ramirez. It was fun to work with him again. He is still a funny guy and there was never a dull moment. However, I started to feel sick around 5 and I was about ready to die by about 7pm, so we called it a night. Wednesday and Thursday were the same. I stayed in bed and we went to only one important appointment each day. LAME. I hate staying in bed as a missionary. I might as well be home if I am in bed. At least I would be able to turn the TV on, you know? Haha. Anyway, the ZLs called me at about 10pm Thursday night telling me that we would be doing divisions, so we did even though I wasn't 100%. We took the day to make up for the two days lost, and we even managed to have 10 lessons and find 3 new people. It was really kinda fun.

I loved the devotional on Sunday. We got to watch it in a member's house, and Elder Ward and I pulled it up in English on the computer while the rest watched it in Spanish. I loved it. Can anyone say "LDS All-Star Team"? Like seriously, L Whitney Clayton, Linda K. Burton, David A. Bednar, and Dieter F. Uchtdorf are all in my Top 10. Elder Bednar really stole the show. I feel a common theme in the words of the prophets these days, and I could here it again last night. "Just hold on. It won't be much longer." I feel that they are pleading with us just to remember the fundamentals. Read. Pray. Go to Church.

I hope you all have a great week. Enjoy your holiday season. I'll be sure to work hard to have an extra-special email next week.

Elder Aldrich

Elder Aldrich didn't send pictures this week, but this collage was on the Mission President's Wife's blog.

Painting Progreso Properly

November 30, 2015

Hey Guys.

I hope that you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. I certainly enjoyed mine. It has been a great week filled with preaching, thanking, and painting. To start, Thanksgiving is not a holiday anywhere but the United States, so people all think we are weird, gluttonous turkey-worshipers. Well, not really, but we couldn't really use it to an advantage to ask people what they are grateful for and stuff like that. However, this time of year everyone seems to have a little more money around here (I think the muggers take the holidays off), and everyone and their dog is painting their house. I am grateful for paint, and I will explain why.

First of all, paint does not come out of shirts. The paint here is supposedly "water-based" and will come out of clothing. While it conveniently washes out of cement and other things, it does not come out of clothing. I have a designated paint outfit now. After our adventure painting Doc's office a few changes ago, people are always a little nervous to see me show up to their house to paint with more paint on my shirt than they actually bought to cover the walls. Stained shirts are a pain, except when you are walking to and from the place you are painting. People see you. As missionaries, we stick out. It's even worse since I am a gringo walking around. They all think we are weird, but they seem to change their thought process when the tie is left at home and we serve others. We have had several people stop us and ask if we paint houses for free. We are always a little hesitant to just straight up say yes, but we take a moment to explain the importance of service in the life of Jesus Christ. Kinda nifty.

Secondly, no one likes to paint. I doubt that the people we pay to paint houses like to paint. This makes it easy to offer help to investigators because they hate it so much that they let go of the idea that they can do it themselves and they let us hop in and help out. This week we painted the house of our recent convert Oscar, and we spent three days doing so. We showed up Wednesday morning to just paint one room, but when we got done, Oscar's mom asked us to paint the kitchen and the outside. We thought that it would be fine, so we hurried and painted the kitchen and decided to go back Friday morning to paint the outside. So, we went back on Friday, painted outside, and she said, "I know that you guys have painted so much already, but could you help paint this one last thing?" as she gestured towards her two rooms she rents out as apartments. We kinda just sighed and agreed, and we went back Saturday morning to finish it up. We spent a lot of time on this house, yes, but she went to church on Sunday. I wish I could show you the smile on Oscar's face as he led his mom into the chapel. It was so cool. He was so excited to be sharing the gospel. We got to spend a lot of time with a convert and his mom just by spending a few mornings painting and making friends.

Being a missionary is such a cool experience. It can get frustrating at times. I don't think I have ever been so sure that I can't go on. I definitely have never lost faith in the human race like I have here, but I also have never been so filled with hope and love for a group of people like I feel for the people of Honduras. They are so humble, irritating, and friendly all at the same time, and I love them. It is a difficult feeling to describe, but I am sure that mothers feel similarly with their children. Haha. I am grateful that we have a loving Heavenly Father who is aware of us no matter where we are.

This week was a rough one as far as finding, teaching, and really anything that can be reported to the Zone Leaders, but it was full of all sorts of other great experiences. I wish you all a Feliz Holiday Season. Have a great week.

Elder Aldrich

Surprises in Progreso

November 23, 2015

Hey Guys!

We had another great week here in Progreso. I was pretty excited for this week because it is change week, and no one ever really knows what will happen during changes. I was fairly certain that I was going to be packing my bags. I had three changes, two with my trainee, which basically means "adios." So it was a surprise when it was announced that Elder Martinez was being transferred, and that Elder Aldrich would be staying to receive a third companion here in Progreso. Sweet. So that's how it went. Elder Martinez is now in Barrio Los Angeles in San Pedro, the most dangerous area in Honduras. Haha.

I am now here in Progreso with Elder Sop from Guatemala. As well, Elder Ramirez (my 3rd companion) was transferred into our ward. I am so pumped for this next change now. We have three of my favorite missionaries in my district, my companion is great, and we should be baptizing this week.

This last week we painted a special ed school in our ward as a zone service project. We were taking pictures and video for our zone Christmas video, so I wore my Santa hat. It was super fun. We spent about 4 hours washing the walls, filling holes, painting walls (and each other), and cleaning up the mess. 20 missionaries between the ages 18 and 26 with a TON of paint is truly a recipe for disaster, but we managed to finish in a reasonable amount of time with minimal injuries and some great footage.

On Saturday we had stake conference, so we didn't get to do much work. The area Seventy, Elder Angel Duarte, came and entertained us all. He was full of jokes and some really great messages. As some of you may know Real Madrid played Barcelona this Saturday, and Barcelona kicked some butt. Elder Duarte mentioned during his talk that he was a Real fan and while slightly embarrassed by the lost, he still supports his team because "Christ won't be wearing red during the second coming." The shock value was high on that one, but the rest of his talk was great. Haha.

I love all the pictures of snow and general coldness. I am personally jealous that you all have seasons. Here is a crisp 100 degrees all day, everyday with 100% humidity. Haha. I can't even remember what cold feels like. I hope you all have a great week.

Elder Aldrich

Anticipation

Elder Diaz, my first companion in the mission, goes home this week, so we went out to eat.

November 16, 2015

Hey guys,

This week has felt so jam-packed and busy, but not very much has happened. My companion and I
cranked up the heat this week because it will likely be our last full week together. I love the guy, but it is really time to change the scenery. We had one day with 10 lessons! I love days like that. Everyone opens their doors, everyone is home, and the gospel is proclaimed to four or five people more than on a normal day.

I did divisions with one of the missionaries in my district. He is from Bolivia, and he is on his way out of the mission. He finishes February 2016. It was fun to work with someone with so much time and get to learn from him. I have spent the last 3 transfer periods training, and I almost forgot what it was like to NOT be the senior companion. I enjoyed just getting to sit back and let him be in charge for a few hours.

We worked a lot with some investigators that are preparing to be baptized the 28th of this month, one of which suffered a stroke in 2006. She struggles to speak, walk, and really just function on her own. We have been teaching her for a while now, and she is finally ready to take the next step into the waters of baptism. Over the course of the last few weeks we have been scrambling and scrambling to find people to take her to church in their cars. Here, having a car is a commodity that people just do not have. And if they do, they are very stingy about the gas usage and their miles. It is kind of frustrating,and at first, I just wanted to strangle these people until they would become Christlike and participate in some selfless service. In the end, I did not have to strangle anyone (I was close though haha) and one member decided to pitch in, and others have seen her, been filled with the spirit of Christ(mas), and now the members are in full swing. It has really been a miracle.

I hope you enjoy your week. I'm prayin for y'all.

Elder Aldrich

Our Zone made jerseys

A Visit from the AP

November 9, 2015

Hey Everyone,

I hope that you all had a great week. I certainly have. Just to get started, I would like to note that today marks 16 whole months since I left sunny Las Vegas to come to boiling Honduras. Two thirds down, one to go. It's kinda crazy.

This Tuesday, I got a surprise visit from the APs. They did divisions with the ZLs, and that means that they spend a day in a trio with the ZLs, and one other companionship in the zone. They picked me, and I do not know why. I happened to be in my own divisions with another companionship from the district, so we hung out in a trio, and I was the only one that was really supposed to be there. It was fun. Elder Hodson (AP) is from Las Vegas. He went to Bonanza High School. I've known him since the beginning of my mission, so it was fun to kinda catch up and talk for a bit. It was even more funny because we only had two lessons for the whole day. WE worked hard, got some references, contacted, everything, but we only had two lessons. I think I am the only missionary that can work with an AP and only have two lessons hahaha.

This week we placed another baptismal date for the 28th. That will make two for the same day. I am really excited. Both of the investigators attended church, which means they only have to go once more before they will have completed all of the requirements. The only down side is that transfers are going to be next week, and I most likely will be transferred and miss it. But that is nothing new. It happened in Olanchito, it happened in La Ceiba, and it is going to happen here. I guess it just means that I am doing what I am supposed to. You have to work hard, even when you won't see the results and the numbers don't count for you. You have to do it because you love the people, or it would be way harder.

I love being a missionary. I love helping people understand the importance of baptism and repentance. The Book of Mormon and the Bible have become real treasures that I can always go to when I need help. I love Mosiah 3:19 that says:

"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."

Sometimes people think that in order to be baptized you have to be perfect. I love this scripture because King Benjamin reminds us that we won't be perfect because the natural man is an enemy to God, but then he reminds us of what we have to do in order to be made perfect. You have to be humble. You have to be willing to do what God asks of us, even if you don't like it. It is a scripture that I have used many times this week while preparing people for baptism. King Benjamin is the man. I love his speech in Mosiah. Read it.

Have a great week. Thanks so much for all the letters and support.

Elder Aldrich.

Tela: Round Two

November 2, 2015

Hey Guys,

Well, I have survived another great week here in Honduras. Yes. Yes. October has come to a close. I promise that I am not baggy (trunky), but that was my last Halloween here, and there is an exciting ring to it. Halloween here is known as the "the day of the witches," and there is a rumor that this is an important part of our doctrine. People all think we are witches and that we celebrate Halloween as part of some weird religious rite of passage or something. I spent the whole week answering a whole bunch of funny questions. Haha.

This week has been really fun. We did companionship exchanges with the Zone Leaders, and I got to go hang out with a missionary I have known for quite a while. One of our ZLs completed a year during the divisions. ZL in less than a year...wow. Haha. I have almost 16 months and I can barely handle the responsibilities of a DL. I learned a lot during the divisions, and I got even more animated to work hard.

We placed six baptismal dates this week, all for after transfers. It is kinda weird to think that all these people will be getting baptized after I take off. I had the opportunity to go back to my old area this week, and I was just so happy to see all the miracles that have taken place. FIVE people I was teaching have been baptized since I have left, one just last Saturday. Plus, the family that I helped baptize has brought another FOUR people I didn't know to the Gospel. It was an amazing experience to see the fruits of six months in La Ceiba. I hope that I can have a similar experience when I come back to Progreso. The good news is that I can help make our area a jackpot in these last two weeks before transfers. Whoever gets to come here will be seriously lucky. I love it.

Lastly, we went to Tela again. It was fun. It was one of those things where the ZLs didn't tell us until 10:30pm last night, but it turned out all right. There was an old, sketchy pier (that we found a Canadian on), a small octopus, and a mouth full of sand. It has been a fun day.

I hope that you all have a great week. Only 54 days till Christmas.

Elder Aldrich

Hot Chocolate in 95 Degree Weather

Photo by Sister Klein

October 26, 2015

Hey Everyone,

We had another great week. I am loving the heat, the sun, and the unusual lack of rain. Who knew that Honduras could be dry? Well, it is, and people are getting worried. I am less worried because no rain means clear (not clean, but clear) water, and I don't feel like I am showering in mud.

This week I had the opportunity to go on companionship exchanges with one of the new Elders in the district. His name is Elder Ward from Blanding, Utah. 50 points to anyone who can find it on a map ;). He is a really cool guy. He reminds me a lot of myself when I was just getting started, and he says a lot of stuff that reminds me of my brother Tyler as well, haha. We had a good day, and even fit in a chess match while waiting to report numbers to the zone leaders. He beat me, but I had him scared. Kinda.

While in exchanges, we went to a guy that the missionaries have been teaching for an eternity. He is the epitome of an eternal investigator, but we visit him once a week just to keep him interested until he can change his job schedule. Anyway, we went to visit him, and he gave us some hot chocolate. At first I was like, "seriously? It's like 95 degrees outside. This could kill us." But then I was like, "Holy cow this is fantastic." Haha. It was home-made. Like they picked the cocoa, dried it, roasted it, and then ground it. It doesn't get fresher than that. It was fantastic.

In other news, my companion has been having some pretty intense back pain, which is impacting his ability to work. Despite our limited hours of working, we had a decent week. He is starting to feel better, so we are very excited for this coming week. The highlight of which will be tomorrow, because my companion and I will be traveling to La Ceiba for a meeting. It will be in my old building and everything, so I think that I will be able to see some converts there.

Well, I hope you all have a great week. Don't forget to read your scriptures.

Elder Aldrich

Photos via The Mission President's Wife's blog

Baptisms: Round Two

October 19, 2015


Hey Everyone,

We had another great, and very exciting week. It is exciting in all the best ways. This week, we had our second baptism in two weeks. His name is Luis, and he is a youth that has been coming for quite some time, but due to problems with finding him at home and soccer practice and games, he hasn't been able to be taught all of the lessons. My companion and I started teaching him about two weeks ago, but we are missionaries 7 and 8 that have taught him, so we came out lucky. He had a nail removed from his toe last week, shortly after we started teaching him, giving him time to finally listen to us like we all wanted. He was baptized this Saturday, and the baptism in itself was filled with small miracles.

Baptism: Luis

So as I have previously explained, when it rains, we don't have water, which was the case on Saturday, and due to another event (which I will share shortly) we were in the church building at 5:15pm, without any water in the font. Normally with normal water pressure, the font takes about an hour to an hour and a half to fill completely, and the baptism was supposed to start at 6pm. When I went to turn the handle to turn the water on, I found that it was already on...and no water was coming out. The bishop (or one of his counselors) had come earlier in the day and turned it on, but nothing had come out, so they left it on hoping that at some point the water would come on (and for those of you who remember our baptismal font experience in La Ceiba will know that that is not a great choice). So, I did all I could do. I turned off the water, and said a quick, sincere prayer, just begging for us to have enough water to fill the font and have a successful baptism, and then I turned the water back on. The font was full before the baptism started. It was truly incredible, and I won't forget the experience.

The baptism itself went very well, with talks by several youth who have become friends with him throughout the process, and his school teacher (our bishop) got to baptize him. I feel honored to have been able to participate in such a spiritual experience.

On Friday, we went to visit Oscar, our recent convert from the previous Saturday, but he wasn't home. We ended up talking to his brother, Juan. He seemed really interested, and asked lots of questions. He said that he didn't have much time and asked if we could come back the next day, and we decided to go at 2pm. So on Saturday at 2pm we got to his house and as soon as we sat down, we knew we were in for a rough lesson. He had on his lap a JW bible and a Book of Mormon, well marked and definitely not the one we had left him the day before. He started right in and talked about everything from the Articles of Faith to Eve in the Spirit World. Every once and a while I would try to butt in and say something like "if you would let me explain this to you" or even "if you don't let us speak, we can never teach you what we came to teach." Finally, he finished, and it was about 4:15pm, and he sat and kinda looked at us expectantly, and I said, "we don't believe in fighting with the bible. I would love to show you some scriptures that explain everything, but it will have to be another day." Then I testified of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and my companion testified of the same, and that Joseph Smith really was a prophet of God. The Spirit was so strong, but Juan seemed unphased. We said a prayer and we left.

We did "splits" with the Ward Mission Leader and a priest to fill the font and go back to Oscar's at 5pm to prep him to receive the Priesthood. While I filled the font (see above), my companion went with the WML to teach Oscar. As it turns out, Oscar's brother had told Oscar to sit in the other room and listen to him "show us what the Bible really says." Oscar told us (and I'm going to paraphrase) that he heard everything, but what he remembered, and really cared about was our testimony. He said that he felt the Spirit, the same Spirit he felt when he prayed to ask God if what we teach is true. He told us not to worry. He knows where he is and why. I was very glad, in that moment, that I hadn't tried to "Bible-Bash" with his older brother, and that my companion and I had just testified of the restored truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I was also impressed with the surety of this recent convert's testimony. Again, I really am so grateful to my Heavenly Father that I have been able to be an instrument in His hands, and witness so many miracles.

Baptism: Oscar

Just as kind of a last note, transfers were this week, and our district leader was transferred and I am the new district leader. The other two missionaries that didn't get transferred are training new missionaries, and my companion is yet to complete his training, so I have a district with three new missionaries, and I am very excited to be serving here at this time. This transfer is going to be a great one full of all sorts of new adventures and challenges, and I am ready for them.

I love you all. I hope you all have a great week. Enjoy the colder weather, and send some my way. Haha.

Elder Aldrich

Sorry Zone Leaders, I can't send in our numbers, a dog ate our phone. HaHa

Painting Progreso

October 12, 2015

Hi Everyone,

We had another great week here in Progreso. I think that it is kinda funny that I say that we had a good week every week, but oh well. The truth is the truth. Haha. Elder Martinez and I had a baptism this week. I am sure that I have mentioned him before, but his name is Oscar. I found him contacting with my old companion, and we knew that he would be baptized from the moment we walked into his house. He really is one of the sheep, and I am so glad that I could be a part of bringing him to the fold.

The baptism was pretty frustrating. We had planned to have it on Sunday morning, because there was a stake activity, and we had the baptismal interview on Friday. The other missionaries also had a baptism this week, but they planned theirs for Friday night. Oscar saw the other missionaries filling the font, and decided that he wanted to be baptized right then, so he stuck around to wait. That was at 5 in the afternoon. The other investigator that was going to get baptized didn't even show up until 7 pm, and we left the church building at 8:30 pm. It was a great service, but I am a little worried that the only thing Oscar will remember about his baptism will be a 3 and a half hour wait. All the stress aside, the baptism was great, and it is difficult to be angry after a baptism. Haha.

This Saturday, we helped our cook's husband paint his doctor's office. It was super fun, and more than a little messy. It took us the entire afternoon, but we did finally get it done. I have some great pictures, but the computer is not allowing me to upload them... Next week.

This week is transfer week, and the two other companionships in the district will be training, so we will have all three companionships with a new missionary. I am really excited. It should be a blast. I don't expect to be transferred. I only have 3 months here, plus my companion still hasn't finished his training, so the safest bet is that I will be here for a little while longer.

Hope you all have a great week. Thanks so much for the prayers and the support.

Elder Aldrich

A Haunting in Corocol

October 5, 2015

Hey guys,

This was another great week here in Progreso. It has been kinda hectic and spiritual on a few different levels.

To start off, we had a Fellowshipping Night (Noche de Hermanamiento) on Wednesday night. We normally have about 15-20 people there, and 1 or 2 investigators if we luck out and a family brings someone. This week, it was our turn to give the class, so we put together a Jeopardy game about the scriptures and living prophets, but we really weren't expecting it to be too great. When we showed up, there were like 6 whole people there. My companion and I were pretty bummed, but then one family shows up in their little bus, so there are fifteen more, we can do this. Then another family shows up with another 10 or so, and 4 of our investigators. It took about all I had not to start jumping up and down from the excitement. The other missionaries in our ward showed up right before we started with another of there investigators as well. We ended up having around 40 people in the meeting, with 8 investigators. The game was so much fun and everyone participated. The bishop came and pulled another Elder and I aside and asked us to come to the Ward Council Meeting (which we have been asking to attend for weeks) and told us that we would be making plans to have members work even more with us. It was awesome.

So this week we went on exchanges with another companionship in our district. I went to an area called Corocol which (sorry mom) is probably one of the more dangerous areas in our zone, and my companion stayed behind to hold down the fort. However, what scared me most about going to Corocol wasn't the people in the street, it's the house! There are some pretty crazy stories about the house in Corocol including little girls in the pila out back, and something that tips over dressers. Pretty intense stuff, and I didn't want to be a part of it. And I wasn't. We did hear some stuff, but it all came from outside the house. Haha. The exchanges were fun, we didn't get mugged, and I can now say that I survived a night in the Casa de Corocol.

After the adventure in Corocol, I went back to Progreso and we went to work. On Saturday morning we got up and went to General Conference. I love General Conference. I love listening to God's servants bear testimony of Jesus Christ. I thought some of the things that stuck out the most was the importance of gaining a testimony, and then not letting go of it. I also saw that they focused a lot on the importance of mothers and just women in general. I know that all of the Elders were missing our moms while Elder Holland was talking. I think one of my favorite talks had to be either President Nelson or Elder Bednar. I also loved listening to the new Apostles that were called. You can already see the great power in these men.

This next Saturday we should be having a baptism. These last two changes have been difficult, and we are about to start seeing the fruits of our labors. No one has baptized in my area since March. 7 months is a long time without a baptism, and we have been blessed to have found this guy. We also have a date for the 17th and another for the 24th, but they are going to need a little more work. This next Wednesday (the 14th) is transfer day, and I am really hoping and praying that I don't get transferred. I have worked really hard to get this area up and running, and it would be disappointing to lose out, but you never know. I'll go where He sends me.

I hope you all have a great week. Enjoy your cold weather.

Elder Aldrich

Honduras Logic

 September 8, 2015

Hey Guys,

Hope you all have had a great week. We have definitely had one here. We had a few exciting things happen this week. First of all, rainy season has officially started. Since I walked out of the Internet cafe last week, it has been raining on and off. It hasn't rained super hard yet, but I am sure expecting to see some crazy rain coming soon.

The funny thing about Honduras is that when there are days where there is sun, sun, and more sun, the water in the house is abundant, but the moment that it rains, the water stops coming. We went two days without water, but we got lucky and we had just finished showering when the water went out. At night, there still wasn't any water, so we figured that we would borrow some from our neighbor's pila (a giant cement tub of water). When we hauled it inside, we looked at the water, and decided that it was probably better that we not use it. You could literally see the worms swimming in the water. Haha. So we didn't shower that night, but the next morning the water came back, but only in the form of a steady drip from the faucet. It took about two hours, but we filled our bucket, and we each used one half to shower. The water was a nice golden brown, but it got the job done.

This Wednesday we had a Multi-Zone Conference in La Lima. It's like a twenty minute bus ride, but we were running late, so one of the other missionaries got the bright idea to call a taxi. It was cool, except the price difference is insane. A bus costs 12 (60 cents) Limps, and a taxi costs 300 Limps (15 dollars) to go that far. We got there on time, but we barely had enough to get home. Haha. The meeting was great, as always. President Klein talked about the importance of following today's living prophets, and he used the Book of Ether to show us. We have had the privilege of listening to two different members of the Quorum of the 12, and we should put an emphasis on doing what they have asked of us.

We are really excited to have General Conference this week. It is one thing to tell people that we have a living prophet, and another to tell them that we have a prophet, and "you should come listen to what he has to say."  It's a unique opportunity. You guys should use it and invite a friend or two.

This week we saw several small miracles. One of our investigators with a baptismal date started attending mutual with the young women, and the ward suddenly got excited. now everyone is asking when we have time to visit with them, and "hey I have a friend you should visit" and all that cool stuff. Hopefully we can work with some of these references and see where they take us. Maybe we can get some more baptisms.

Being a missionary is a humbling experience. I kind of feel like it's an "all eyes on you" experience. It's like, everyone sees what you do. The members, nonmembers, the JWs, the preachers of other churches, the hobos, and most importantly Heavenly Father. When a missionary makes a mistake, big or small, the whole world knows about it. The hope is to use the eyes on us to make a good name for the Mormons here in Progreso and erase the stereotypes that currently exist. Haha.

I love being a missionary, and I love preaching the Gospel to everyone. It takes a lot of effort, but it's an effort worth giving.

Elder Aldrich

Making Friends with Jehovah's Witnesses

September 21, 2015

Hey All,

We had another great week here in Progreso. This week had been filled with fun under the sun. The hot, scorching sun. Haha. Some have asked what the weather is like here in Honduras during the fall. This week we dropped down in the high 30s or maybe the low 40s. Here, it's in Celsius. Translation: Even in winter, it's 100 degrees outside. Haha. Here seasons don't exist. There is a rainy season and a not-so-rainy season. Right now it is moving into the more rainy part of the year, so that is super nice. When it starts to rain, you go to the closest house, yell "buenas!" and someone will let you in. The biggest problem is that you can't teach once you are inside because the rain beats too loudly on the tin roof.

Training a brand new missionary is quite the new experience. You would think that training someone that already speaks the language would be easy, but that would be an incorrect assessment. There are so many things to learn as a new missionary that I am so used to now, that I forgot that they were even weird. Not to mention the change of climate, comida, and slang. Probably the funniest thing is that in Spanish, there are two words for our word "grab". One is "agarrar" and the other is "coger". According to missionaries I talk to, in South America they use "coger" most, but here in Central America, that word is super vulgar, and means something completely different. This week my companion accidentally asked a lady to "coger" her Bible instead of "agarrar" it. Hahahaha. She gave him the dirtiest look, and I just started laughing as my companion tried to explain the difference. It was super funny. The good news is that people here are understanding.

On Friday, there was a big carnival in our area celebrating the creation of a neighborhood. There was a Ferriswheel, small rides, and a concert. No one was in there house, and if they were, they were getting ready to leave and told us to come back the next day. After managing to squeeze out a few lessons, we saw some Jehovah's Witnesses walking around tracting some houses, so I told my comp that we should talk to one. My companion didn't really want to, but I always enjoy talking to them and listening to them, so we walked up to one and started talking, and we talked about the Plan of Salvation. Supposedly, JWs never let us get two words in, but this man was actually really cool. He explained a little to me, then he asked me a question, and I got to teach a little to him. It was actually a great experience, and I have a lot of respect for these guys. This man was probably about 55 years old, has a family, a job, and he spends his free time trying to share his beliefs with others because he has found happiness through it. It was cool to kinda get to see the other side of things for a minute.

On Sunday we had two investigators in church. They both have baptismal dates for October 10th. My companion and I are way excited for October. It should be a great month full of success and excitement. The ward is seeing that we are bringing more and more people to church and they are starting to trust in us more and are evening starting to join us in the lessons. It should be a great week this week.

Have a great week!

Elder Aldrich

Another Great Week in Progreso

September 14, 2015

Hey Everyone.

We had another great week here in Progreso. Training is so much fun, and my companion is great. Still no double-blinking. Haha.

We found someone named Caleb this week. We were contacting and a kid came out and we did the whole "hey we are missionaries" deal, and when we asked him his name, he said Caleb. I was so excited and both my comp and this guy were staring at me like I was crazy and I just kinda laughed and we sat down and taught him a lesson. There is just something awesome about finding someone else with your same name in some third world country.

This week we had a Mini MTC activity with the stake. It was cool. We got up at 5, an hour and a half early than was really necessary in order to be at the church at 6am. The stake primary presidency showed up shortly thereafter, at 7:30 in the morning. I don't know what the zone leaders were thinking, but we could have used the extra sleep. They put the kids into districts of 10-12 kids, and put two companionships in charge of teaching them for two classes of 1 and a half hours.
Unfortunately,
our zone leaders failed to inform us that we would be teaching children. Can anybody say "Let's Wing It"? That's exactly what we did, and it went fairly well until they got hungry and bored, and it was even worse after giving them Popeyes chicken and Coca Cola. 12 kids hyped up on Coke is exactly what I imagined when I sang "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission" as a kid. Haha. Nah. It was a blast. It was interesting to watch a bunch of 18-20 year old guys trying to babysit and teach at the same time, and it actually turned out great. The kids loved it, and we even got to listen to a talk from President Klein.

Here is a picture of my trainer, Elder Diaz, his new missionary, and me and my new companion. It is kinda fun to be training as the same time as the guy who trained me. We saw each other on Saturday at the Mini MTC and chatted about my early days as a missionary and all the weird stuff I did and said. It is crazy to see how far I have come.

I hope you all have a great week.

Elder Aldrich

Training...Again!

September 7, 2015

Hey Guys,

Hope you all had a great week. Our week has been really eventful, and super slow. Last week, as I was walking out of the Internet cafe, I received a call from the zone leaders, informing me that I would be training a new missionary this change. Two changes, two newbies. I was pretty excited.

My new companion is fresh from Guayaquil, Ecuador. His name is Elder Martinez, and he is definitely not a "two-blink" companion. We are working hard and finding the lost sheep. We even managed to find some inactive members that no one knew about. We also had an investigator in church, which is always a major win here in Honduras, and I'm sure, in the world. We taught over 150 lessons this last change, and only 3 people came to church. We were so excited. He has a baptismal date for October 10, but he is great, and he might be able to be prepared for September 26.

We are closing in on that 14-Month mark, and I am really surprised. I feel like the mission just flies by, and that I never am going to have time to get everything done that I have to get done. It's just work, work, work, and I love it.

This week I am feeling much better. Thank you all for the prayers.

Elder Aldrich

P.S.- I have pictures, but the computer I'm using is weird and won't let me upload any. Next week.

Sick Week

Elder Aldrich came into the mission with these three Elders

August 31, 2015

Hey guys.

We're coming off another great week here in Honduras. However, I have been pretty sick this last week, and my ability to work has been pretty limited. I got sick on Tuesday and today I am still in the recovery stages. I think I got some strange Honduran super-cold. Wednesday and Thursday I couldn't even speak. Haha. It's always a new adventure in Honduras.

On Tuesday I went on divisions with my District Leader, Elder Navas. It was a blast. He is from Costa Rica, and it sounds like his family is really similar to ours. We worked real hard the whole day, and I think that might have been what aggravated my sickness.

The good news is that this next week is transfer week, so maybe we can see some changes and see some more success. No matter what, this upcoming week will be more eventful than this last one.

Have a great week!

Elder Aldrich

Elder Aldrich with two of his former companions 

President Nelson in Honduras

Photo by Sister Klein 

August 24, 2015

Hey Everyone,

This has been another great week here in El Progreso, Honduras. I can only say, "I love being a missionary." This week has been so spiritual and exciting and I can't wait for this next one.

This week we had a surprise visit by the president of the Quorum of the Twelve. Talk about awesome. On Monday last week the DL called us to let us know that the zone conference for the next day had been cancelled and that we would be listening to an apostle of Jesus Christ speak to us on Saturday. We were so excited, especially since Elder Andersen came in March, only 5 months ago. We showed up to the stake center and found out that he was actually in Tegucigalpa, and that we would be watching him speak over satellite, so that was a momentary bummer. His talk was incredible. He spoke in English, so it was a little slow with the translation every ten seconds or less, but it was awesome. I could feel the Spirit so strong and I learned so much about how to be a better missionary.

He talked about the importance of knowing the basic doctrine. Like why we build temples, the importance of the Abrahamic Covenant, and why Family History is so important. He left us a list of all the things that he thought Hondurans needed to hear in order to remain active in the church. He pointed out the same thing as Elder Andersen, people here are very easy to baptize, but very difficult to retain. He told us that if we would study and apply these things (there were like 10 in total) that our converts would stay in the church and be converted to the gospel (or maybe visaversa haha).

I got to go on companionship exchanges with the zone leaders this week, and that was a blast. One of our zone leaders was in my first district in Olanchito, and at the time, he was one of the more disobedient missionaries I had met, so it was a surprise to hear that he was a zone leader. I got to spend a whole day with him, and he is not the same missionary that I knew back in Olanchito. The guy works so hard, and he knows what he is doing. We had a good talk about how his mission had went, and there was just a moment when he realized that it was just time to grow up and serve like he knew the Lord expected of him, so that's what he did. It was just a cool experience to see how the Savior's atonement helps all people from investigators, to members, to missionaries.

My companion and I are just pluggin along here in Progreso. I love the work and we are finding a ton of new people to teach. We even have people coming to church! I can't wait for this upcoming week! Have a great week, everyone, and share the word with someone new this week.

Elder Aldrich

Back to the Beach

August 17, 2014

Hey everyone,

We had a great week this week. I am a little tired today, because we got up at 5:30 to go to Tela, but other than that, everything is going fantastically. My companion and I continue to work hard and find new people to teach. We had a pretty tough week, but we don't get discouraged. We just keep on keepin on and we make it through the day, and we realize it didn't go exactly as planned, but we can see the people that we have been able to help during each day.

This week we had an investigator that finally went to church. He has been listening to the missionaries for two or three months, and he finally had the opportunity to go to church. He studies on Sundays, but now he is going to start vacations, and he is pumped to start coming to church. We are now just hoping to see if his new schedule will allow him to get baptized.

As I said earlier, this week was just a difficult one here in Progreso. But we never get beat down, we never give up. We always give it just a little more and God gives us the success. I love to be a missionary. When people ask me how long I have left to be a missionary, I always get a bit of a lump in my throat as a think about how to use my last year to it's potential. I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for us in the next few weeks.

Elder Aldrich

Progressing in Progreso

August 10, 2015

Hey all,

We just finished another outstanding week in Progreso. I still am missing my converts and investigators from La Ceiba, but I am more and more excited to be here. The work in Progreso is interesting. Our area hasn't baptized anyone in SIX MONTHS. That is kind of a ridiculous amount of time for an area to be without success. I was honestly a little pumped when they told me that because God doesn't stop preparing people to be baptized, so we have six months of people to find and baptize in addition to the people God is currently preparing for us; and man have we found some prepared people.

I would just like to share the quick story of Super Mario (now retired and raising a daughter). My companion and his companion before me, found these two contacting, but never were able to teach them. We tried again when I showed up, and we got lucky. The husband (Mario) was home and he let us in. The first problem was that at that very moment, the CONCACAF Gold Cup was 5 minutes from halftime, and he didn't want to turn the TV off. So we talked to his wife for a minute and waited for the game to go to half. At halftime, we turned off the TV and he gave us fifteen minutes to tell him what we had to say. That's all we needed. Haha. We started to teach about God, prophets, Jesus Christ, and the Great Apostasy, and the whole time he was checking his phone, playing with his six-month-old daughter, and just wasn't paying attention. As we started talking about Joseph Smith, however, we kinda leaned forward, and payed close attention. He listened to every word as my companion recited the First Vision, and when Elder Valenciano finished, we all just sat there in silence. Then came the questions. Like actual questions about doctrine and God and why a church is important for each of us. We closed with a prayer, and went almost two weeks without having any contact with him.

Saturday night, we finally got lucky and found him and his wife again. He had read the Introduction of the Book of Mormon and had a ton of questions. We answered them, and invited him to be baptized. He thought about it for a good minute, then explained that he and his wife are Catholic, and that they really planned on remaining Catholic, until we got there. He said that God had sent us there for a reason, and that they would talk about it and decide what to do after praying and asking God if the Book of Mormon is true. After this lesson, I realized that these things don't just happen in movies. Our Heavenly Father is preparing people that we need to find, that we need to teach, and when His sheep hear the Shepherd's voice, they come.

We are having amazing experiences here in Progreso. The field is white and begging for a harvest, and my companion and I are ready to do it. We are looking forward to the next few weeks and I can't wait to see what else the Lord has in store for us. I hope that you all are helpin out your local missionaries with investigators. You'll be blessed. A referral is like a Christmas gift in August. Haha.

Have a great week!

Elder Aldrich

Week 2 in Progreso

August 3, 2015

Hey all,

I hope that you all have had a great week. Our week has been pretty interesting. Progreso is super weird, I think. People here are all super friendly even though they're all like, "freak. The Mormons found us." They let us in, invite us to sit down and share something, then say that we can come back a few days later...to look at an empty house. Like, what? If you aren't interested, just go ahead and tell us. Haha.

One day this week my companion and I had eleven appointments in one day. Correction: Eleven people told us to come by on Wednesday. THIS JUST IN: ten of them were lying hahaha. We had a pretty fun day on Wednesday tracting. It turns out that my companion, probably because he is so new, doesn't know where our area ends...so that is a problem that we are going to be taking care of this week. But the tracting helped us both get a little better feel for the area and find a new confidence in contacting (contacting and tracting are the same...).

As I have previously mentioned, I love contacting. It is fun to just talk to random people and be like, "Hey. Let us in your house." The missionary tag does magic, because I never let strangers into my house, nor will I probably ever do so. People let us in about half the time, which is incredible when you remember that Honduras is one of the most dangerous places on Earth. Haha. I would love to tell you that we had some mind-blowing spiritual  experience, but we really didn't this week. We did, however, find eleven new people, so we will see how the next couple of weeks go.

I hope you all have a great week and that you all can do your part to help your local missionaries. Peace!

Elder Aldrich

Training in Progreso

July 27, 2015

Hey All,

Yep. You all read that right. I'm training! That's a little weird. I got lucky and he isn't new new, he's already had one change, but his comp got changed and now I get to finish up his training. His name is Elder Valenciano from Mexico. He is exactly like my trainer was, so that is really funny. We should have some success here and I am grateful for the opportunity.

I am in a city called El Progreso, Yoro. It isn't that far from San Pedro (about 15 minutes in bus). It is even bigger here than La Ceiba. I am in the Progreso Ward, and one of the counselors to President Klein is in our ward, so that was a surprise on Sunday. Haha. It is awesome because we live somewhat close to an actual grocery store, so I bought grape jelly! I am so pumped, and my companion was really confused as to why. I just laughed and told him that he would understand when he goes to places like Olanchito.

Progreso is a great place and the members are super supportive. I am really excited to be here and start baptizing. Haha. I can't wait to see what this change brings for us here. Have a great week!

Elder Aldrich

T - Minus 2 Days...Maybe

July 21, 2015

Hey Everyone,

Wow. We have had an amazing week, and I feel like I have a ton of things to talk about. First of all, Wednesday is transfer day. I am like 99.9% positive that I am going to be transferred this week, and boy is it a bittersweet feeling. I have had some amazing ups and some insane downs here, and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for every last experience. I am going to be so sad to leave behind all these people I have grown to love. We have several people who will be making the decision to be baptized in the next month and I will be sad to miss their baptisms, but I can't wait for the new adventures that will come! I can hardly wait.

Tracting has become a love of mine. I definitely would totally follow it on Twitter or give it a "Like" on Facebook if I was allowed to use social media. It is fun to get to just talk to people. We are in a small area, and I have tracted out ever last house here 2 or 3 times, but we just keep sweeping through the streets because God's thoughts are not our thoughts. People think, "I've contacted this house 4 times already and Mrs Angry can be pretty rude, we better just skip it," but God says, "you better knock on that door because I have children in there." That happened to us this week. We tracted a house of a lady who had previously yelled at us to get out of there, but we felt like we should contact her home again. This time, another person came out and asked us to come in. Her first question was, "if there is only one God, why are there so many different religions?" That was a great lesson, and I could feel the Spirit very strongly as we testified about the need of prophets and that Jesus Christ is our Savior. It was a cool experience and I was grateful to have listened to the Spirit.

On a different, funnier note, we met a sweet old lady this week named Jesus. She was funny, but I don't know what her parents were thinking when they named her. Also, on Thursday when we were walking in the street, a random guy got really close to us, and I was sure that he was gonna rob us, but he didn't. I was slightly surprised when he asked "are you guys Mormons?" I was even more surprised when we answered that we are and he started yelling "call the pastors! They have demons! They have demons! We need an exorcism!" Like...what? So we just left the guy where he was and hopped into a member's home before he came back for us. Hahaha. You gotta love a good anti-Mormon.

Today we played soccer with the two zones here in La Ceiba. I have become rather popular as a goalie, and I pretty much played all time goalie the whole morning. Haha. Then we put together a Gringo Team and took on "Los Chapines." (Chapin is the nickname for Guatemalans.) We had two of us Vegas folk, a kid from Idaho, and a guy from Utah, and we rocked. Haha. It became a point to get us off the field. I scored two or three, the other Vegas kid got one or two, and our homie from Idaho stopped a few goals that were quite impressive. GRINO POWER. Haha. It was a blast. I will be teaching everyone how to play mini-soccer when I get home.

I absolutely love being a missionary. I still have a year left, but I feel this urgency like "you're running out of time!" I hope to be able to have success whereever it is that the Lord sends me. I hope that you all take a moment to help someone else during the week. Have a good one!

Elder Aldrich

One Year and a Week

July 13, 2015

Hey Guys,

This week was really great, except that I spent my one year mark in bed with a migraine haha. Crazy, right?

This week, we had a baptism planned. There is a boy named Kevin who is about to turn 13 and has been attending church by himself for the past two months, and he finally has decided that he wants to be baptized. Our only issue is that he drinks coffee, because there is nothing else to drink. Anyway, we had a Family Home Evening with him the the youngmens president's house with all the youth. It was really cool to watch a group of youth all bear their testimonies and bring this guy into their group.

On Tuesday, I had a kind of funny experience. We were in a families house teaching, and another person came in and wanted to listen, so I hopped up and gave my spot to her, and sat on the ground. As soon as I sat down, one of the investigators started laughing and then I felt it...I had sat in something wet... Apparently one of the kids had wet himself, and they had just forgotten to clean it up... Like what?! Who just doesn't clean up kid urine? I had checked before I sat, but I just didn't see it, and nobody warned me. It was pretty embarrassing and I about killed them haha. But don't worry, it was our last appointment of the day, so i didn't smell bad for too long.

We are also teaching a guy that reminds me of my Uncle Matt a ton. He's about the same age, looks a little like him, they talk the same (well this guys speaks Spanish and Matt speaks English, but you get the idea), and our investigator even has a cat that he loves to death! Hahaha. This guy lived in Salt Lake for almost 10 years with his family, but he got into some trouble with the law, so they sent him back here. He hasn't always made the best decisions, and he has a lot to change, but when I listen to him pray, I can just feel his desire to change and we can see the Spirit working on this guy in ways I haven't really seen. It's just moments like these where all the trials that I have been going through don't matter. It doesn't matter that I'm tired or sick, or worried about things at home, but I can see (and feel through the Spirit) that I was meant to stay here for another change and struggle through the things I have struggled through.

I love my Savior. I hope that you all can find a love for Him as well this week and every week.

Elder Aldrich

This is a recent convert in blue and the investigator that is going to be baptised in red.

Still goofy.

What day is it? What DAY is IT? HUMP DAAAAY

July 6, 2015

Hi Everyone,

Thank you all for the kind reminder that I am now old in missionary years. I'm so surprised at how quickly this day has shown up. I feel like I am doing things right because I almost didn't even notice. I am really trying to give it my all, and it has been a blessing to be here in Honduras.

Just to throw in a mini "summary" of the year, I have had 5 companions (including the MTC), 2 areas (not including the MTC), and 8 baptisms. I was trying to add up all the lessons I had taught, but I kept losing track and I decided that it wasn't really that important. I have taught about 30 a week, so 20 times 46 (because we don't teach in the MTC) is 920 lessons in a year. That isn't exact, but it's definitely in the range. Haha. Being a missionary is a really radical lifestyle when you think about it. We get up at 6:30 in the morning, read the scriptures for two hours, then talk to everyone we pass until 9:30 at night, with only a two-hour break at lunch (we study language at 1).

I don't know about you guys, but I found it hard to talk to very many people I passed in Las Vegas when I was cruising around in my car. Here, I am just grateful that my voice hasn't gone out. The idea is that if you can talk to every single person you pass, when you or some other missionaries knock on their door in a month or two, their is something familiar there which will let them want to have you in their house for a discussion about Jesus Christ. It is a great experience to be able to give 100% of everything to the Lord.

This week has been rather short on events, but there were some good ones. First of all, my favorite kid in our ward just hopped on a plane to go serve right alongside Elder Berry and Elder Payne in the Mexico Mexico City North Mission. He always goes on divisions with us one or two times, and we have become real good friends in these last five months. I have my fingers crossed that he will be companions with at least one of these losers out in Mexico. Haha.

The other news is that today made "Mangu," a typical food of the Dominican Republic. One of the elders in our district is from there and we all pitched in to eat some good food. It's basically mashed plantains and spaghetti sauce...what? It was actually pretty good considering that I am not a fan of plantains. I will have to figure out how to make some once I'm done preachin the good word.

I hope that everyone has a great next year. Don't miss me too much ;) hahaha. Thanks for all the prayers and support!

Elder Aldrich

Enthusiasm is Everything

June 29, 2015

Hey Everyone,

We have had another good week here in Miramar. I seriously love this area. Some of the members here are just amazing. I would be content with another whole transfer here, but I don't think I'll get to do that. I'm going to enjoy these next three weeks.

This week I got to do divisions with one of the Elders in our district. He's 23, and his view on the Gospel is very practical. It was fun to get to spend some time with him and learn from him. I really enjoy doing divisions with other missionaries. You can learn so much from other people. It is not important whether they work hard, are obedient, or speak Spanish. Everyone has something to teach you, and I would imagine that the real world is exactly the same.

On Thursday we had a Multi-Zone Conference and President Klein talked about the relationship between Faith, Repentance, and Charity. He also mentioned that people do things for one of three reasons: Fear, Duty, and Love. He talked about his own mission and that when he left to serve in Argentina, he left to complete his duty, but that as he dove into the work, he began to be there because he loved it. He used this to show that when we have faith, we do things because we are afraid of what God will say in the last day if we don't do them. When we repent, we now do things because we want to be better, but maybe we haven't given everything over to God yet. Having a desire to sin, but not doing it is in the DUTY category. We are obedient because we have repented and now have a duty to not sin. However, if we repent and actually forsake the sin, and lose the desire to sin, we have moved from repentance and duty to charity and love.

Charity is a gift from God, and with it comes things like Enthusiasm, the Spirit, and Success. He said that just as much as Charity is a gift from God, "animo" (or in English, enthusiasm) comes from God. That was extremely helpful for me because the last few weeks have been especially difficult with the loss of Ciara, a tough companion, and staying in the same area for a prolonged period of time. I am really so grateful that I have been able to keep my head up in the times of trial with the help of the Savior. I often read Alma 26:27 and Alma 7:11 when times get tough, and I am able to always work with "animo" and love for these people I am with.

I hope you all have a great week.

Elder Aldrich