WEEK 69 - Q&A

1. What is your favorite scripture? Has it changed since you've been on your mission?
My favorite scripture when I left on my mission was D&C 24:7-8. That is still my favorite, or one of my favorites, but I have added some. Alma 26:27, which is about the sons of Mosiah. Joshua 1:9. Those are some of my favorites; they are all somewhat related. They all have to do with being patient, being diligent and being strong.

2. Do they celebrate all the same holidays in Honduras?
They celebrate most of the same holidays here. The ones they don't celebrate are: St. Patrick's Day, the 4th of July (obviously), Pioneer Day, Halloween & Thanksgiving. There are also some holidays they have here that we don't at home. Kids Day (September 10) - this one is actually pretty fun. They give kids gifts - like candy, they always do a piñata. They just go crazy for the kids. September 15 is Independence Day here. It's nuts on that day, kind of like the states - lots of fireworks, lots of flags, lots of shirts and everything that has to do with Honduras. Christmas here is a really, really big thing. People go all out for Christmas. In the city, I've heard it's pretty crazy for Christmas. I'm not sure if I'll still be here or not. But I've heard that Christmas in the city is pretty intense - lots and lots of fireworks, lights and everything. Other than that, holidays are pretty much the same.

3. What about birthdays? Do they do Quinceaneras or anything there?
Birthdays here are a really, really big deal - for kids, but also for adults. Everyone has parties. Sometimes, if the people have money, they'll do a Quinceanera. But not always. But yeah, birthdays here are a huge thing. There is ALWAYS cake. You can't have a birthday here without cake. Another fun birthday tradition here is to smash an egg on the person's head and then throw flour on them. The person ends up smelling SO bad. Sometimes they throw water too... usually just whatever they have, but almost always eggs.

4. Now that you've been a district leader and a zone leader, can you explain the different roles of each?
So the role of a district leader is to take care of his district by: doing divisions, training in the district meetings, call each night to get DATs for the day. And then, obviously, just "animating" them (Elder Baller uses that word a lot - it means like encouraging them), giving them advice, all that stuff. The DATs that we take at night are: "Open the mouth" - how many people they talked to, lessons with members, new investigators and baptism invitations.
Zone leaders are in charge of the whole zone. They organize everything. They teach the district leaders. And then the district leaders pass their numbers to the zone leaders at night. The zone leaders communicate with the APs and take direction from President and pass it on to their zone. The zone leader is just basically in charge of organizing everything in the zone. It's not uncommon for zone leaders to be really stressed out. :)

5. How often do district leaders communicate with zone leaders and why?
A district leader talks to the a zone leader every day to pass on numbers. They also call if there is permission needed for something in the district that is beyond what the district leader can give permission for. So, daily communication. 

WEEK 69 - Photos

Out the back of a bus

Inside the bus

Elder Navarro and me

After an adventure in the rain - I told my mom the story (to be posted later)

Inside Rigoberto's house when we went to fix his roof

My comp talking to Rigoberto

Brother Rivero fixing the roof

Daniel's baptism

Me, Daniel and Elder Navarro

WEEK 69 - Update

This week was great.

Tuesday
Saying goodbye to the people in El Sitio. Not the funnest but still it was a good day.

Wednesday
We had changes in the morning, after that we had a meeting with Elder Dallin H. Oaks, it was fantastic. He talked about missionary work in general and a lot about dedicating ourselves completely to the work. Got to know a few people in the new area.

Thursday
Working. We had a great lesson with a couple, Rene and Jeny, they ask some really good questions. They were asking us about the Book of Mormon and lots of other stuff.

Friday
Friday we had weekly planning. We had a great lesson with another couple that had listened to the missionaries like 10 years ago. Plan of Salvation. They are super smart and we were just kind of helping them understand a little better.

Saturday
We taught this lesson in a pulperia with this guy that was just asking us tons of questions about the church. Very weird. We visited a couple families. The Rodriguez family, great people, we taught the Plan of Salvation and they loved it. They love the idea of eternal families. Watched The Testaments with a recent convert family.

Sunday
We had church. We go to another building, they made a bunch of changes in the wards and so we go another building. It was great. We went and visited Keylin, an investigator that didn't really want to get baptized, but we talked to her a little bit about that and she changed her perspective a lot.

I absolutely love this work, being a missionary, and this Gospel. Something I always say to people is that sincerely if I didn't believe in this Gospel I wouldn't have left my family and work and studies and everything to preach it. I know it is true.

Have a great week!

Elder Baller

WEEK 68 - Q&A

1. Do they have a lot of the same businesses/stores/restaurants there as in the states?
You'd probably be surprised at how many are the same. The most common thing between the US and here are fast food restaurants. For example, we have Burger King, Popeyes, McDonald's, Wendy's, Pizza Hut, KFC. There are fast food restaurants here that are not in the states - most of them sell chicken. As far as stores go, like clothes stores, they are actually pretty similar too. There are a few here that I have never seen in the US - like one called Lady Lee. A lot of the stores here are in malls, that we aren't allowed to go in, so I haven't seen a lot of them.

2. What products are the same there?
There are a lot that are the same, mostly food - chips (Lays, Doritos, Cheetos), soda (Coke, Pepsi), cookies (Chips Ahoy, Oreos).

3. What products or things do you buy that are different?
As far as other products go, like cleaning supplies or toiletries, the product names are all different here. In addition to the food that is the same as in the US, they will have a similar brand, but in Spanish. So, in addition to Lays, they also have Civas, which come in all the same flavors as Lays. They also have a few different sodas here that aren't in the states - mostly fruit flavored, including orange and banana. It's sort of like Fanta.

4. How is the weather different there?
There are only two seasons here - summer and winter. I think October to March is considered winter and April to September is considered summer. In December, it actually gets pretty chilly here. Last December, I was in Danli, which is actually one of the coldest parts of the mission. What I love about the weather is that it's not as extreme as Utah. When people ask me what the weather is like back home, I tell them that it's really hot in the summer and really cold in the winter. It snows in winter, and it's hot hot hot in summer. People can't really relate that those extremes because it's pretty mild most of the time here. There's nothing that I really dislike about the weather here - only that, when moving around, you have to get used to different temperatures. Danli was cooler, and then Choluteca was so hot, and now here it is cold again. That has been a little hard to adjust to. I've been in the city for about two months and I'm still adjusting to the cold because I was so used to the heat in Choluteca.

5. Do you ever have a hard time time sleeping?
We are usually so tired that we pass out pretty quick. There have been very few days that I have trouble sleeping. Normally, it's only when I have something on my mind - usually an investigator and what we can do to help them. But usually we don't have any problems sleeping. I would say that we typically fall asleep in two minutes or less every night.

WEEK 68 - Update

Tuesday
We visited Rigoberto, an old man that can't walk. We visited Waleska. She had some great questions about the Book of Mormon. We went and visited Diana and Milton. They are awesome!

Wednesday
We went with a bishop and another member to visit Rigoberto because we were going to fix his roof. Fun little visit. We went and visited Diana with a member and had a fantastic lesson about the Plan of Salvation.

Thursday
Thursday I was on divisions with Elder Thornock. We had a really good day.

Friday
We had our district meeting and then we to do the baptism interview for Daniel. We went to fill up the font and figured out that no water was coming out, so we ended up carrying water in buckets to fill it up.

Saturday
Saturday we went to fixed Rigoberto's roof and then we had the baptism.  Awesome experience! After the baptism, we had a ward activity.

Sunday
Nelson came to church.

Changes this week.... I am going to be going to La Travesia in Zone Esperanza.

Have a great week everyone!
Elder Baller

WEEK 67 - Update

This week was excellent.

Tuesday
We contacted a bunch of people on Tuesday. We visited a family, the Floreses, that we contacted a while back. They are really interested in the Gospel. The thing that has sparked their interest most is the Plan of Salvation. They love learning and are progressing quite a bit. We also met with Martha. She is one of the member's mom, she is a great lady. She is really quiet, but we have worked with her and she has changed.

Wednesday
Wednesday we had divisions with the Zone Leaders. I went with Elder Foster. We visited Jesus; he is a great guy. He and his kids listened to us teach the Restoration. They had lots of good questions and lots of interest. Jesus told us about how he had prayed and felt like everything was true. We visited Milton and Diana, they are brother and sister. We have been working with Diana for a while. They are both great people.

Thursday
We visited Katerin. We had been preparing her to be baptized this coming Saturday, but she couldn't go to church so we are going to postpone the baptism. She talked a little about her fear of baptism, but we explained everything to her and she accepted it. We visited Daniel. He is ready - real evidence that the Lord prepares people.

Friday
We had a district meeting and then went to do some baptism interviews for the Zone Leaders. We visited Diana. She is doing really good. We have been trying to get her to pray on her own - something she struggles with, but she has grown a lot. We have really seen the Gospel work in her life.

Saturday
We went to the Zone Leader's baptism, and Diana was able to go! She loved it and seems like she is really animated to do it herself. We visited Katerin again and talked about the importance of baptism and a couple commandments. We visited Martha and talked about the Book of Mormon. If we can convert people to the Book of Mormon it is easy for them to realize the the Church is true.

Sunday
Church was great. Diana and Daniel both went, They loved it. We went to visit Daniel in the afternoon to prepare him for baptism. He is a great guy.

Love being here. I am loving the work and the people. Being here, it is impossible to feel that Christ-like love for everyone.

Love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Baller

WEEK 67 - Q&A

1. How do you get your mission money?
I have a card that they gave me when I got to the mission. I use that card at an ATM to take out money and then we spend that. It comes biweekly, usually on the 14th or 15th and then again on the 29th or 30th.

2. How much money do you get?
Biweekly, I get 2500 lempiras, which is about $100.

3. What do you spend that money on?
The money we get from the mission is typically spent on transportation, food, personal needs (haircuts and hygiene products), and cleaning supplies. In my current area, we don't have to buy a lot of food. We spend a little bit more on transportation.

4. Do you ever run out of money?
In other areas, people do run out of money, mostly because they have to buy all of their food. So, yes, it is possible and quite common in some areas for missionaries to run out of money. But they just have to try to budget really well to cover their expenses. Or, they have to take out their personal money to use that.

5. How do you budget together with your companion?
Usually, each of us just handles our own personal expenses. I buy my stuff and he buys his. If there is something we will both use, we usually go half and half on it. For instance, if we need to buy cleaning supplies, we go half and half. But we typically just buy our own stuff.

WEEK 66 - Photos

Elder Baller with Hermana Bernal and Hermana Snell

Elder Navarro, Elder Baller, Hermana Powers, Hermana Nunez

Elder Baller in Valle de Angeles

Elder Baller, Elder Judd and Elder Foster - Elder Judd ate half a cake

Our zone last change when we went to El Picacho

WEEK 66 - Q&A

1. Do the members there go to the temple often?
In the ward that we are in now, the members actually do go quite often, because it is so close and not hard to get there. It is pretty easy to go.

2. Do you see your whole zone every P day?
We usually do do activities together but not always.

3. Have you been sick since getting to your current area?
Not too bad. Stomach ache here or there but not too bad.

4. Are most of the people in your area native Hondurans? Or are a lot from other countries?
They are all Hondurans or at least the majority. We have met very few people from other places.

5. Does your companion speak English at all?
He actually does speak a little and I am teaching him a little more.

WEEK 66 - Update

This week was great.

Tuesday
We made a little Plan of Salvation map, pictures to come in following weeks. We went and visited a family. We taught Katerin, she is great and we used the Plan of Salvation map. Went and talked with Nelson.

Wednesday
We had a training meeting in the morning. Good instructions. We went to Valle de Angeles to do a baptism interview. We came back and found Nelson, he is having some problems so we are going to postpone his baptism for a while. We had a visit with Diana, she is great as well.

Thursday
We did a few visits, it was kind of a normal day. We ended up looking for Nelson again and didn't find him but his neighbor, Daniel, was there and he used to go to church and wants to get baptized. We visited Alba again.

Friday
District meeting was pretty good. We went to do a baptism interview for the sisters. We went to do two more interviews for the Zone Leaders.

Saturday
We did a few visits in the afternoon. We went to the Zone Leaders baptism and Diana went with us, that was a great experience and we have a lot of hope for her.

Sunday
We had church. Katerin and Daniel went. We went and visited Daniel, he is doing great. We visited Milton, Diana's brother.

Have a great week everyone!
Elder Baller

WEEK 65 - Q&A

1. Where did you watch conference?
At the stake center on Saturday and at our building on Sunday.

2. What language did you watch conference in?
English on Saturday and Spanish on Sunday.

3. What was your favorite conference talk?
I think it was Elder Stevenson that talked about the Book of Mormon.

4. Did you see anyone in the MTC choir during conference you recognized?
Nope.... should I have?

5. What was your favorite part of your week?
Conference.

WEEK 65 - Update

This week was great.

Tuesday
Contacted for a bit. Found some pretty positive people. We went and visited Alan and Katerin. They are really positive and have tons of great questions.

Wednesday
We visited Hermano Rigoberto, he is an old member that we help out sometimes. We talked to Nelson. He said he doesn't feel quite ready for baptism yet, but we are working with him for that.

Thursday
We had our weekly planning. We met with Diana. An investigator that the missionaries had taught before and didn't have any success. We are really working with her. She is really positive. We met with Alba again. She is doing great.

Friday
District meeting. We contacted a bunch and found some nice people.

Saturday
General Conference. We went to the stake center to watch conference. Loved it.

Sunday
General Conference.

Have a great week everyone!
Elder Baller