Monkeying Around

November 24, 2014

Hello Everyone,

 I held a monkey. It was awesome. Be jealous. For P-Day today, we washed a horse. At first I was like, we are wasting our time. We can't even ride this thing, but after we finished, the man offered to take us to his friend's house to see some animals. His friends OWN THE ZOO! There were all kinds of animals, and they were awesome. My favorite was the monkey. The Zone Leader gave him the planner, and we made  few lame missionary jokes. IT was definitely enjoyable.

This week was fairly uneventful on my side. Really, the most exciting thing that happened was divisions on Tuesday. Elder Gibbons and I taught together so that my companion could go with Elder Rodriguez. Elder Gibbons and I were in the MTC together, so it was pretty interesting. We did awesome. I was originally pretty worried that we wouldn't be able to understand completely, but the Gift of Tongues helped us out a ton. It was cool to watch how much easier it got to speak and understand as the Spirit got stronger in the lesson. It was an amazing experience, and I learned a ton.

My companion and I watched Tangled last week in Spanish. It was awesome. I understood everything, which was even more awesome. Unfortunately, Flynn Rider is less funny in Spanish (especially at the beginning). Just thought you'd all like to know. Haha.

Tomorrow I have to give the thought in Zone Meeting, and I decided to give it on Humility. Interestingly enough, humility isn't just understanding that you have faults, but sometimes it means that you have to understand that God's plan might differ from yours a little. If you can go to our Heavenly Father humbly, understanding that He knows best, He is a lot more likely to help you out. Humility helps us to accept God's plan, and follow it to the end.

I love you all, and hope you have a great week. Happy Thanksgiving!

-Elder Aldrich

All Things Through Christ

November 17, 2014

Dearest Friends and Family,

This week has been great, and I hope it has been the same for all of you. Unfortunately, I don't have any crazy/hilarious stories to share, but I have learned a ton.

This week we contacted. Basically our entire week consisted of contacting, teaching new people, and asking for people to teach. We found eight new people, three of which came to church. The most interesting thing to me, is that the people who progress, always seem to be the references.

We found a woman this week, who was super Evangelica (if someone can provide a translation, I'd be really grateful, because they're super hard to teach). We saw that she didn't want us there, and she wasn't very nice, so we shared a scripture about Jesus, closed with a prayer, and asked if she knew anyone who would listen to us. She directed us to a house and said, "go there. They need Jesus." So we went. And we found some awesome people.

We have again seen some great progress in the less active members here. We had Hermana Martha in church again this week, which makes three consecutive times. She was baptized as a child, but her mom sent her to live with her grandma, where she never went to church. Now, at 25ish years old, she's starting to gain a testimony for herself, and it's awesome to watch it happen.

My companion would like me to note that he beat me at pool today. I was winning, tried to do a goofy trick shot and sunk the 8 Ball. He ran around the table like a plane six or seven times, and told the story to President Klein. It looks like I'm bringing joy to more than just the people we teach.

To finish up, I found this scripture during Personal Study this week.

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." 

Philipians 4:13.

I thought it was pretty cool. Just remember that it isn't important how hard something looks, or how impossible it seems. Christ is our strength, and through Him we can do ALL THINGS. All of them. It doesn't even have to be spiritual. Jesus Christ will help us and guide us in all things because he loves us.

I love you all, and hope you take the time to bring the gospel to someone this week.

-Elder Aldrich

Lost Sheep and Oreo Pancakes

November 10, 2014

Hey Everyone!

It's me again, you're favorite Honduran. This week has been fairly eventful.

First of all, I had another run-in with America Lady, but she didn't recognize me, so my companion told her I was from Canada. At first, she looked sad, then she quickly began to explain that I really shouldn't feel bad about being Canadian, and that lots of people are Canadian, and that really we all have the same heart. Then, she thought about it, and decided that she wanted to buy me some pity-bread.

I did not eat the bread.

I made pancakes for our district last Monday because I was bored, and they were awesome. My companion liked them so much that he woke up early on Thursday and made Oreo pancakes for us. It was awesome, but he made 15 for each of us, and pancake flour isn't really cheap. But it's the thought that counts, so yeah. Haha.

Lately we don't have many investigators, and contacting isn't really going super well. Since we don't have many investigators, we've just been visiting inactives and less-actives. Firstly, there is a certain missionary who was here about a year ago who baptized almost 45 people in Olanchito, and 1 is active right now. Anyway, we've made some new friends, and we've really been working hard with these people. Yesterday, we had 3 investigators in church, and my companion was pretty down about it. We were expecting more like 6 or 7, but only 3 came. He saw that I was pretty pumped, and he asked me why. I had him look around the room. There were almost 15 of the less-actives that we had visited during the week in Sacrament Meeting.

I tell you this not because I'm just that awesome (because I am), but I tell you that because we saw a huge change in the hearts of these people. We've been working and praying and teaching these people, and we finally got to see some of the fruits of that. What's even better, is that through these less-actives, we have found many more people to teach, and the work is continuing. Never doubt the power of visiting someone. One of these ladies hadn't been to church since 2005, but with the help of the Holy Ghost, she came yesterday, and plans on coming next week.

I love being a missionary. I feel like the weeks are flying and the Spanish is almost here. I have learned a lot so far, and I am so excited to continue learning. I love you all.

-Elder Aldrich

Halloween in Honduras

November 3, 2014

Hey Everyone,

Hope your Halloween was awesome. Mine was certainly interesting.

For those of you who don't know, Halloween doesn't exist here (lame, right?), so I had to improvise. I used my towel with my name on it, and became Super Aldrich. Basically my costume beats yours because I've got a fancy name tag. My companion really wanted to participate, so he was Santa Claus. He lathered a large amount of shaving cream on his face and walked around saying, "Ho Ho Ho," for like twenty minutes. Haha. One of the youth in our branch here in Olanchito, Josè, visited us at our house, and wore a bag on his head as a mask. I am teaching these people things. You should all be proud of me.

It has started to rain as I expected it. Non-Stop, with pauses to trick missionaries into putting away their umbrella. It started so quickly one time this week that I was thoroughly soaked before we could take the five steps into the house. Olanchito's drainage systems don't function, so the roads become rivers. We bought some stylish black rubber boots. They're pretty awesome, and are awesome for river-jogging.

I locked our keys in our house this week. I had to very shamefully walk over to the lady in charge to give us her spare set. The problem was that the spare set doesn't exist, so she broke through our window thing we had and, with a long stick, broke into our house in less than five minutes. I fixed the window, netting, and removed the ability to open our door with a stick. The goal now is to not forget the keys again. I've been successful so far.

I don't remember if I had already shared this story, so I will share it. We had a girl we were teaching, who accepted to be baptized, but then moved to another part of Honduras, outside of our mission. Yesterday, we visited the family she was living with, and we asked about her, we received an interested response. The little girl smacked her forehead and said, "Oooh Hermano. She got married!" Even more surprising, she moved in next door. They seem happy enough. We still haven't decided what to do there.

I want to finish my email with an invitation. I would like you all to listen to (or read, watch, etc.) a talk by Elder Jeffrey R Holland from the October 2009 General Conference. (the link is https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul?lang=eng) It is a seriously amazing talk about the Book of Mormon. If you feel as though you are struggling with a testimony, or struggling with anything else for that matter, the Book of Mormon is the key for you to find the help you are looking for. This talk is a powerful testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon, and you really should listen to it.

That being said, I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I don't just say it because everyone else does and I don't want to stick out. I've read and prayed and read again, and I know that it's true through the Holy Ghost. This talk by Elder Holland is excellent, but it won't give you a testimony. You have to pray to Heavenly Father and ask for one. They begin small, and grow gradually (see Alma 32), but they are there, and they are gifts from God.

I love you all, and I hope you guys all take the opportunity to share this wonderful Book with someone in the week to come.

-Elder Aldrich

A Very Valuable Lesson

October 27, 2014

Hello Everyone,

Wow. It's almost November. Time flies super fast here in Honduras.

Our week was kinda rough, to be totally honest. There was tons of walking, not much teaching, and I don't think I have ever been rejected more in my life. It was super interesting. We had three families, four individual investigators, and one recent convert drop us. Basically that means we walked clear out to their house, knocked on their door, and were told that they don't want us to come back. What? First of all, that's really strange for a person from Honduras to be upfront and direct like that. The first time, it actually scared me. Happy Halloween. Haha. Secondly, it's really sad for me to watch a family refuse the most helpful thing they can ever receive. Sometimes the most frustrating thing in the mission is peoples' agency. It a curse and a blessing.

So why do I include that sad piece of information? Because I learned a very valuable lesson. Two weeks ago, a similar thing happened to another area here in Olanchito, but these missionaries just accepted their fate, and refused to work. Two weeks later, they have four investigators, and if someone in the ward has a referral, they give it to either my companion and I, or the other two missionaries, regardless of where the referral lives. My comp and I saw this, and we decided to handle our week differently. We contacted, asked for referrals, and are reteaching Old Investigators from our area book. In this last week, we have an entire new set of investigators, and almost all of them are progressing, including a man they call "Chungito."

This dude is the husband of a recent convert, and has never accepted the missionaries before. However, for some reason we "fall well with him" (that's a direct translation that basically means he approves of us) and he agreed to listen. He comes to every lesson with something that he is sure will stump us and turn us around in our lies, but all it ever does is impress him, and through the Spirit, we have answered all of his questions, and even gotten him to read the Book of Mormon. He's read all of 1 Nephi. What?

He isn't the only beacon of hope we've found this week, but he's the most exciting. I know that more will come. Moral of the story: When rough times come, we have two options. We can lay down and die, or we can kick some butt and come out happier in the end.

On Friday night, my companion gave me a little advice, and I would like to pass it on to you. If you are struggling with finding a girlfriend or boyfriend, and feel like you need a little extra help, read them 2 John 1:5. It reads, " And now I beseech thee, lady (or you could use man, but the scriptures say lady), not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another." It'll work. Promise.

Also, for those of you who are curious, I can officially make tortillas. It's pretty awesome.

I am definitely loving it here, trials and all. I love and miss you all. Good luck in all of your endeavors.

-Elder Aldrich

The companion of Elder Diaz

October 20, 2014

Hey All,

So I would like to begin with a pretty cool story. About 3 weeks ago, there was a baptism on a Saturday. We walked all day inviting investigators and members, but no one would be able to come. It was pretty frustrating, to be totally honest, but we pressed on like the valiant missionaries we are. We visited the house of some awesome recent converts, and invited them. They told us the couldn't make it, but that we should invite the kid sitting on the porch. So we did. I was pretty doubtful when he told us that he would go. Here, people just say yes so you'll leave them alone. Needless to say, I was very surprised when he wandered in about 5 minutes before the ordinance. Afterwards, he pulled me and Elder Diaz aside and asked, "What do I need to do to be baptized?" What? That doesn't happen.

But it did. We started teaching him, and learned his mom had taken all the lessons, but decided she didn't like the guy she was living with enough to get married. She didn't get baptized, but Denis had heard all the lessons and he liked what the missionaries had taught. Then his mom tried to send him to the states. He made it to the border, but was sent back. He started working for the wife of a recent convert, and that's where he met us. He studied between lessons, prayed with power, and always had questions for us. This guy pretty much baptized himself. What's even cooler, is that he has been teaching his family the lessons using the pamphlets we have given him. His cousin and sister also want to be baptized.

Yesterday, we baptized Denis. We had to baptize him on Sunday morning so his mom could come. My companion and I woke up at five, ran to the church to start the font, went home, showered, changed, and went back to the church. The font was full and ready to go, except the water was an awful black color. Nasty. The good news is that the water doesn't have to be clean for it to work. My companion got to baptize him, and it was so cool.

As for my funny story of the week, it came immediately after. He asked Elder Diaz to confirm him (if you hadn't already guessed, Diaz is the favorite). The Branch President announced, "Elder Diaz will now do the confirmation with the help of (some dude I don't remember) and... and..." There was a long pause as he tried to remember my name. Finally he said, "The companion of Elder Diaz." It was pretty funny. Especially because about seven seconds later, he remembered my name, jumped up and yelled, "ALDRICH!" into the microphone. That got a good solid laugh.

In other news, one day this week I forgot my tag when we left the house. We started walking, and we had even made it to the road when my companion turned to me, saw that I had forgot my tag, and said, "Brother Aldrich, have you seen my companion?" I thought it was pretty clever.

I scored two more goals in soccer, in case anyone is curious.

Directions here are nuts. We had someone give us directions to their house like this:

Walk to blocks that way, turn right, walk for a little until you can see the pulperia, turn left. My house is the green one after the tree with three coconuts, but before the one with two. We found it. Go us.

There is a little boy here who is four years old. Both his parents were born into the church, fell away, got married, and then welcomed him to Honduras. The missionaries contacted their house, and during their first conversation with the missionaries, they learned that the other was LDS. First of all, how does that happen? Second, they took that for a sign, and came back to church. He now serves in the Elders Quorum Presidency, and they're awesome. Tomorrow they will be sealed in the Tegucigalpa Temple, and this four year old is beyond excited. We call him "Torito" because he looks just like his dad, who we call Toro. I include this story because I think it's interesting and because Torito is our best friend haha.

I love you all, and I love to read your emails. Have and awesome week.

-Elder Aldrich

This is Torito. Torito means "little bull," but I don't think that's a completely correct usage.

Cats, Again

October 13, 2014


Hey Everyone,

As always, I would like to begin with a story. It's a scary story, so little ones, close your eyes. Haha. It was a dark and stormy night, and the great and spacious building decided to pump up the Halloween jams (I have no idea why. Honduras doesn't do Halloween). It's 10:30, and my companion was fast asleep, when I heard some noises by the front door. Figuring it was just the wind, I rolled over and tried to go to sleep. Then, I heard it again, but it was a little braver, but I decided to ignore it once again. After about a minute, there was a noise, and what seemed to be a man fell from our roof. While I had no physical evidence that it was a man, I was very convinced. Absolutely terrified, I ran to the window to see what had happened, but there was no one there. In order to look out the window, I had to kneel on my companion's bed. He woke up, and was pretty angry to find a gringo in his bed. I quickly calmed him down and explain the situation. He decided to call the lady who owns the apartment, which was as good of an idea as any. She answered, and sent her drunk husband to see if there indeed was a man outside of our house. When he found none, he very angrily returned to bed, leaving us to fight this invisible threat all by our lonesome. At this point, it had been fifteen minutes since the fall, so we figured he had left. Armed with the iron in hand, we bravely opened the back door, and looked out the door. In the fresh mud were paw prints. Seeing no other prints, we calmed down, realizing the cat to be the culprit. The cat later actually shoved itself through the broken window of our neighbor to escape the rain.

Can I just say one thing? I have a newly renewed hatred for cats.

We had a great week, but this coming week is going to be better. We have a baptism this week! I am so excited, but not nearly as excited as Denis (that's his name). We have to have the baptism on Sunday before church so his mom can watch. I expect that it will be very cool. So yeah.

Other than these few adventures, there really isn't much else. I ate an apple, which was absolutely fantastic. I found a doughnut shop, which is awesome as well. I am so grateful for all of your support and prayers. Being a missionary is awesome, and you all should be jealous ;)

-Elder Aldrich