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.