Merry Christmas From Honduras

It was SO wonderful to be able to talk to Elder Baller in Honduras for Christmas. Lots of laughs, memories (and a few tears at the end). We love him SO much!

Elder Valladares and Elder Baller

Elder Baller showing us the Honduras tie he got from his Secret Santa

WEEK 25 - Q&A

1. How was your first Christmas in the mission field?
It was fantastic! So great to talk to the fam and to spend time with my other family here.

2. What do you think you'll remember most from this Christmas?
Eating way way way too much and throwing it all up lol.

3. What were your favorite Christmas songs in your Christmas playlist?
I love anything that didn't have words, just to listen while I study.

4. What are some of your goals/resolutions for 2016?
I just want to be able to look at the year at the end and say that I worked my absolute hardest.

5. What is something you didn't know about yourself that you've learned on your mission?
I am a little more outgoing and talkative than I thought.

WEEK 25 - Update

This week was really really good.

Thursday

Thursday we ate 7 times during the day and I ended up puking it all out. We played basketball with the zone and did Secret Santa.

Friday

Friday I got to talk with the fam. Which was fantastic. After that we basically just contacted for a few hours because we didn't have any appointments.

Saturday

We gave and English class. We are doing it to find more people because we ask everyone to bring a friend. But only 4 people came. Kinda a fail.

Sunday

Sunday was really good. Nothing really too special.

Monday

We had a district meeting. We are honestly working so hard. We get home dead at night.

Tuesday

We went to Urrutia. We were supposed to have dinner but the members weren't home so we went to the church because there was a Relief Society activity. We arrived just in time to clean up everything and go home without food.

Wednesday

We taught some lessons. Nobody was really too interested. It was kinda a rough day.

I hope you all had a good Christmas and Happy New Year!

Elder Baller

Mission Christmas Party 2015

Great photos from mission Christmas gathering

President Bowler, Elder Baller, Sister Bowler

Elder Baller is in the first row, sixth from the left

WEEK 24 - Q&A

Elder Baller had P Day on Thursdays for the last two weeks of December. He didn't have much time to write on Christmas Eve, so just answered the Q&A.

1. What was the best part of your week?
The Christmas party with the mission. It was super duper fun.

2. Who is someone you have been grateful for this week?
My new companion. We are working so hard and he is such a good missionary. He is a convert of 5 years.

3. If you had to choose the 75-80 degree weather of Honduras or the current 25 degree/snowy weather of Utah, and had to live in whatever you chose for the rest of your life, what would you choose? :)
Honduras

4. Do any of the missionaries in your mission drive cars?
The missionaries in the office. But other than that everyone walks.

5. Is the focus of Christmas in Honduras mostly religious or is it commercialized?
It is kinda both but it isn't near as big as it is in the states.

WEEK 23 - Photos

"Arborlito" (Tiny tree)
We sent this tree in Aidan's Christmas package. It really is tiny. Like four inches high.

Lights in the window
We also sent a couple of strings of battery operated lights.

More lights in the window

Me with our zone leader Elder Guillen from Guatemala

We went to the cross for P Day
(There is a cross on the mountain in Danli)

The cross

Elder Guillen

Elder Baller & Elder Valladares

"Flag"
also featuring Elder Solis

Selfie with Guillencito

WEEK 23 - Q&A

1. I'm sure you'll write about your new companion in your weekly letter, but give us some details here. What is his full name? Where is he from? How long has he been out?
I honestly don't know his full name... He is from El Salvador. He is 21. He has 11 months in the mission. He has a twin in the mission.

2. What was the best part about this week?
Working hard. We found this lady that is super duper positive. Make fun of the super duper all you want. It won't stop me from saying it. She is great and we are going to be working with her. And we found her from complete revelation. I felt like we should contact a house and then her mom started talking to us and my comp felt like he should ask to talk with her daughter.

3. Do you do any of your favorite Christmas traditions there in the mission?
We always looked at lights as a family, and listened to Christmas music, which I always loved.

4. We haven't seen many fruits and veggies in your food pics. Do you eat any? What are the rules for eating produce there?
We do eat them. Just not in our house because we never buy them. I am super careful with stuff like that so I don't buy stuff like produce.

5. Does the ward there have a Christmas party/program? 
Yes we had a Christmas Dinner on Friday. It was great.

WEEK 23 - Changes

This week was really good. I am not going to be able to do a day by day update as well this week because I forgot my agenda, but here it goes.

Tuesday
Tuesday was my last day with Papa Alarcon. We just did basically nothing. Washed clothes, bought some stuff, and said goodbye to a bunch of people. It was sad.

Wednesday
Wednesday I went to drop off Alarcon at the stake center and then just kinda hung out with some of the other elders while we waited for our new comps. I finally met my new comp, Elder Valladares from El Salvador. He is super cool. He has 11 months in the mission. We just kinda got to know some members with him.

Thursday
Thursday we had a district meeting and then we worked. We are working super hard and we are talking with so many people it is ridiculous. We put a baptism date for an investigator named Genesis, she is the sister of a member.

Friday
Friday we went to Urrutia and we talked with more people. After that we had a Christmas Dinner with the ward. TONS of people came. We were basically running around helping with everything.

Saturday
Saturday was pretty good. I honestly don't remember anything that happened. We had a stake priesthood meeting with all the priesthood holders.

Sunday
Sunday was good. Eidy, our convert, gave a talk and it was so fantastic. Hermano Salgado, another convert, got the priesthood. Such a good day.

Hope you all have a fantastic week!
Elder Baller

WEEK 22 - Photos

Hello, Family. Here are captions for the week. All of the pictures this week are from our baptism.

You will see a large, dark-skinned man. This is Hermano Salgado. Who we have worked with, fought for -- blood, sweat and tears. Actually, a ton of sweat and no tears or blood. But a lot of work for him. We've worked with him for two and a half months and finally, finally, finally.

The kid, Stephen, lives in the apartments next to ours. He's really awesome and funny. He's 13. He loves to hang out with us. We live next to each other, so he always knocks on the door and wants to talk to us. He always asks when we can draw, because he loves to draw with me. Whenever I go up on the roof and wash clothes, he and his little brother are always up there.

WEEK 22 - Q&A

1. You mentioned you were decorating the house and possibly cutting down a tree. What decorating have you done?
We made a tree out of pass-along cards on the wall. Kinda pretty. We don't really have time to do a whole lot but tomorrow I think I will have a little bit of time to do something.

2. Do a lot of people have pets there? What kinds?
Almost everyone has a dog or a cat. Basically everyone. And then everyone once in a while someone has a bird. But nothing else.

3. How is Elder Alarcon feeling about going home? How are you feeling about it?
He is sad, happy, nervous, and a little worried all at the same time. He feels like he has changed a lot and doesn't know how his family will be. I am super sad to see him go, but he has been a great missionary.

4. Did you get to watch the Christmas Devotional? If so, where and with whom?

We did watch it with the stake in the stake center. Hardly anyone has the right cable so they show it by satelite in the stake center.

WEEK 22 - Week 16 in the Field

Tuesday
Tuesday we went to Urrutia. Which as always, was fantastic. We were talking with a lady that has been less active for like 15 years, her daughter is a non-member so we were talking with them. We ended up machete'ing her backyard. We were talking with Eidy, our convert, and her mom Amanda, while we waited for Massiel, Eidy's sister and another convert, and it was great to talk to them. We hadn't seen Massiel in a while because she works until the last bus comes and so in order to meet with her we have to walk back. But it was something we all needed, fantastic. I was playing with Alexa, Massiel's daughter that is 1 year old. She is so adorable and she love love loves me.

Wednesday
We had our baptism interviews on Wednesday and everything went really good. We were worried that Steven and Hermano Salgado would have problems with coffee but we told them. You can't drink coffee anymore and neither of them have and they both say that they don't miss it.

Thursday
We went to Ocoba and worked a little bit. After that my companion was feeling more tired than normal so we called the nurse and rested in the house.

Friday
Friday my companion made milk soup, which is a lot better than it sounds, I guess it was something his dad used to make and his dad sent him the recipe. It is like soup with chicken and potatoes and milk. Actually really good. We had a meeting with our ward mission leader and the Hermanas, which was great. It is always super funny.

Saturday
Saturday we cleaned the font. We went to a new neighborhood with the Primary. It was a missionary work activity where we walked around with the kids and they invited people to church and handed out church magazines. It was super duper fun. Then we had the baptisms. Wow. Great. We worked so much with Hermano Salgado and it was great to finally see him take this great step in his life.

Sunday
Sunday our ward mission leader, Samuel cooked for us. Spaghetti with sauce made from Orange Juice. Sooo good. We also went to the Church Christmas Devotional. Super great and beautiful.

Love you all so much! Hope you all have a fantastic week!
Elder Baller