WEEK 38 - Photos

Elder Baller finally had a connection good enough to send some photos. Yay!

Making dirt cakes with some little kids

Such cute little kids! 

This is Luis that got baptized a few weeks ago. and his cousin Isaac that baptized him. Luis on the right.

Luis with his little sister.

This is our church

Elder Real

Carmen Suyapa

Grevil baptized her

With her best friend Stefany

Santiago. I baptized him.

Santiago's family

This is Rudy 

Doing some service

WEEK 38 - Q&A

1. Do they do the same types of Easter things in Honduras as they do in the States -- Easter egg hunts, etc?
Nope, everyone goes to the beach and eat fish.

2. Will you be able to watch conference next weekend? Where?
Yeah we always watch it. In the stake center.

3. What was the best part of your week this week?
We found a few families this week. It was great.

4. Are changes this week? Are you hoping to stay where you are?
We are both staying. I am really happy to stay.

5. Do you keep in touch with Elder Alarcon and Elder Valladares?

A little bit. When I can.

WEEK 38 - Update

This week was pretty good.

Tuesday
We worked a little bit with a member that is preparing to go on a mission. He is going to serve in Mexico and he leaves at the end of April. His name is Milito. He is really cool and knows a lot about missionary work.

Wednesday
Wednesday we had divisions with our Zone Leaders, it was great to be able to work with and learn from them. I went with Elder Real from Ecuador, he is really cool and really funny.

Thursday
We worked with Milito again. We found a family that we had contacted a few days before. We could only teach the dad cause the mom wasn't feeling good, but he accepted everything, including a baptism invitation. We also are working with Frederman, who is going to get married this week and then he can be baptized, his wife is already a member.

Friday
It was Elder Real's birthday today, one of the traditions here is to throw eggs, water, and flour on the person. That was really nasty. We did divisions with some members. My companion worked with a new convert from another ward that got baptized a month ago and I worked with the husband of the lady that cooks for us. It was really great.

Saturday
Saturday we went to a baptism for another area because they needed people to be witnesses for the baptism. At night we did a Family Home Evening activity with a huge family of like 30 people, that are all inactive. We watched the Restoration video and bore testimony about that.

Sunday
Sunday we had church and then we went and did a little bit of service.

This week is changes, and we will both be staying here together for another change. Very excited to work hard this change! Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Baller

WEEK 37 - Q&A

1. What is a recent experience where you have seen the hand of the Lord?
Out of the blue I have had people just talk to me and comfort me in some very difficult moments.

2. What is an embarrassing moment you've had on your mission?
ummmm.... when I had to go to the bathroom really bad and we ran to a members house and he wanted to clean the toilet cause it was gross and I was just like. Don't worry about it, I'm about to go right now.

3. What is the hardest mission rule to keep?
Honestly there aren't any rules that are too hard for me. I am trying to be obedient as I can so I don't find any of them too difficult.

4. What is your favorite story in the Book of Mormon?
The stories of Alma and Amulek. My hero missionary companionship.

5. What is the hardest thing about the gospel for Hondurans to accept?
Honestly the Book of Mormon, cause everyone believes in the Bible and they struggle accepting another book.

WEEK 37 - Update

This week was alright.

Tuesday
We had a lesson with an ancient investigator, Maholi. She is now more positive and she always listens to us and she is reading the Book of Mormon. We went to the church to put our baptism register in the system, which was really hard cause the scanner wasn't working. We went to visit Carmen and she filled out her baptism register.

Wednesday
We had interviews with President Bowler. We played a game with Hermana Bowler and she asked me to help her and translate for her. It was really fun. We did a pre-interview with Santiago. He is so ready.

Thursday
Thursday we had divisions with our Zone Leaders. I went with Elder Real from Ecuador. It was pretty good.

Friday
Friday we had the baptism interview for Santiago, he bore his testimony of the Book of Mormon and said that it had changed his life. So amazing. After that we worked with two members, we worked in a group of 4.

Saturday
Saturday we had the baptisms. It was fantastic. First was Carmen's baptism at 4 and then Santiago at 6. I had the opportunity to baptize Santiago.

Sunday
Sunday I worked with a member, he is the husband of the lady who cooks for us. He is really cool and he went on a mission when he had only been a member for a year.

Love you all. Have a great week.
Elder Baller

WEEK 36 - Q&A - Birthday Edition

1. Are you doing anything special for your birthday??
Nothing. Hardly anyone knows.

2. What is one goal you have for yourself for your 20th year?
I would like to get to know the scriptures a lot better, and have a better knowledge.

3. What is one of your favorite memories from your a previous birthday?
I remember when I turned 9 I woke up and called 911 without a reason. I was such a rebel.

4. What were you doing this morning on your birth-minute - 6:43am?
I was drinking Orange Juice.

5. Did any of your birthday treats melt in transit? :)
Yeah pretty much everything LOL.

Week 36 - Happy 19th Birthday to Elder Baller!

Tuesday
We had divisiones with our District Leader. It was pretty good. Their area is pretty hard. It is called Tapaire. The power went out while we were there and we had to sleep with the door open cause it was so hot.

Wednesday
We had a really good lesson with Rina. She promised to go to church on Sunday. She couldn't go because her mom had a baby but she is progressing a lot. The power in our area went out as well.

Thursday
We had a lesson with Santiago, who is getting baptized this week. We also had a lesson with Luis, who got baptized last week.

Friday
We had a district meeting. We had the baptism interview for Luis, all good. We went to a members house and I was playing with some little kids, making cakes with dirt. We had a lesson with Omar, where we cleared up a lot of doubts that he had.

Saturday
We had the baptism, which was excellent. Great experience.

Sunday
We went to church, I taught Gospel Principles about Prophets. We did divisiones with some members.  Which was pretty fun.

Hope everyone had a great week. Love you all!
Elder Baller

WEEK 35 - Q&A

1. Since your comp is bilingual, do you speak English or Spanish to each other when you're alone?
We speak a mix of both. Because we both can speak both languages we kinda just speak whatever we want. I try to speak as much Spanish as I can to keep progressing.

2. It looks like you've been eating at KFC occasionally. Is it the same as in the states?
It is kinda the same. I didn't really go before the mission but it seems like it is about the same.

3. What is your favorite thing to do on P Day in your current area?
We usually don't do anything special. Just write, eat, and buy groceries.

4. Are there a lot of less active members in your area?
There are a ton. There are about 700 members in the ward but the attendance is about 100.

5. What do most people do for work in Santa Ana de Yugsuare?
Almost everyone works in selling vegetables in the street or working in a melon factory.

WEEK 35 - Photos

This is the other daughter of the lady that cooks for us. Her name is Milagro.

She's hilarious

Still got it, baby

This is Yoeli

Yes, I look like a giant

WEEK 35 - Update

This week was excellent.

Tuesday
Tuesday was actually pretty normal. We just worked. We found some new investigators that we are working with. We went to eat at a members house and I was playing with two little girls that are 3. Nazaret and Ashlee. They are so cute and it was so fun to play with them.

Wednesday
We had a conference with Elder Alonzo, from the Area Presidency, which was really good. He talked about baptism and working outside of the box. It was very awesome to hear him.

Thursday
Thursday we had the best weekly planning we have ever had. We are really focusing on investigators and working hard for each one of them. We have a great lesson with an investigator named Yorleny. We were outside her house saying, Buenas, and she didn't come. So we were about to go do something else and something just told me say it one more time and wait 10 seconds. My companion was like lets go lets go. After about 7 seconds she came out and we have a very spiritual lesson. We also taught Santiago, who is going to be baptized next week.

Friday
We had a lesson with two investigators Ronald and Elisa. We really focused on teaching well. They ended up telling us that tons of missionaries have passed and taught them and they felt like with us they had actually learned something. We also had a really great lesson with an investigator named Omar. He is 18 and he is really smart, he is just a little scared to accept new stuff. We were trying to help him with Geometry, yep can't remember anything. We also had a fantastic lesson with Yoeli. She has a sister on a mission and she really is making changes in her life, that is the best part of the mission, is seeing how we help people come closer to Christ.

Saturday
Elder Alonzo gave us a promise that if we looked for our old investigators, we would find the most positive ones, and we did. That was awesome. Then.... highlight of the week. We had a lesson with an investigator named Carmen Suyapa. She has been going to church for like 5 years but hasn't been able to be baptized because her grandma won't let her. But now she is 18 and doesn't need permission. We basically did a pre-interview with her and asked her for her testimony. Neither of us remember the stuff that we said because they weren't our words, but we challenged her to be baptized and she said yes. So excited.

Sunday
Sunday we had a multi stake conference for Central America, and Elder Neil L Andersen talked. That was really good. Then we worked with a member in the afternoon.

Hope you all had a great week!
Elder Baller