WEEK 73 - Update

This week was great.

Tuesday
We are going to be having a talent show this Saturday so we went out to deliver a few invitations. We ended up at a less active family's house and they told us they had a reference. We contacted her, Yolani, and she is super positive. We had a great lesson with Rene and Jeny about the next life. We studied so much for that lesson. We went to visit Dany and his family, they are doing really good and looking positive.

Wednesday
We went and did some service in the morning. Cleaning up trash and cutting down trees. We did divisions with the Elders from La Era. I went with my old companion, Elder Torres. It was great. We went and visited an investigator, Nicole, and challenged her to baptism. She said yes! She has a baptism date for this Saturday.

Thursday
Thanksgiving! Normal day. We had a district meeting. We went and did a baptism interview for some of the Elders in the zone. We went to a stake meeting that we have every week. Good lesson with Dany and fam.

Friday
We went and visited Darlin and Herlin, they are doing so great. We had a good lesson about the Book of Mormon and they are really excited about everything. We visited Allan, a recent convert. He is doing really well.

Saturday
We went and visited Nicole, she feels good about her baptism and is excited. We visited Rene and Jeny, they are doing great. We had a lesson about The Plan of Salvation. They always have really good questions. We visited a family that we are teaching and they took us to another family.

Sunday
We went to church. Nicole and Yolani both went. We visited Darlin and Herlin with our ward mission leader. Plan of Salvation. It is always awesome to teach the Plan of Salvation to families because it is a great hope that we have to be together forever. We had a Family Home Evening lesson about obedience.

Would like to bear my testimony this week about The Book of Mormon. We have been focusing a lot on the Book of Mormon and we have seen that our investigators really change when they read it. It has power. It is true. I love knowing the Christ came to the Americas.

Have a great week! Happy Late Thanksgiving!
Elder Baller

WEEK 72 - Update

This week was great.

Tuesday
We had interviews with President Bowler. It was great to talk to him and listen to his advice. We watched Meet the Mormons with Jose. We had a great lesson with Keylin about baptism and about testimony.

Wednesday
We did divisions with some of the elders in our zone. I went with Elder Espinoza from Peru, to his area. We had a good day and had a great lesson with an investigator about the Restoration.

Thursday
We did house checks with the couple missionaries. It was great to go around with them and check the houses of the missionaries. We had a meeting with the leaders in the ward about activites that we want to do.

Friday
We visited the Chacon family, they are doing really good. We are still working with the parents and baptism. We visited the Rodriguez family as well, they are doing well and progressing a lot.

Saturday
We had Jose's baptism, it was great and I had the opportunity to baptize him. Marbelline, a recent convert, gave a talk and it was awesome.

Sunday
We had church. We gave Jose a suit and he looked awesome. He got confirmed and received the priesthood. We had a Family Home Evening with a family and they invited their neighbors, a couple that is really positive.

The power of prayer is real. We can talk to God, that is crazy. We can ask Him for the things we need through prayer. I invite all of you to pray more often.

Have a great week!

Elder Baller

WEEK 72 - Q&A

1. Who prepares, blesses and passes the sacrament in the wards in your mission?

In all of my areas so far, it has been the young men in the ward - as much as they can. Sometimes the bishop in a ward or we, the missionaries, will fill in. But they try to have young men do it when they can.

2. Is the bread for the sacrament the same as what they use in the states?

They usually use white bread here, but it isn't sliced like ours. It is usually more of a crusty bread, like the consistency of a roll.

3. Do you get asked where you're from a lot? Do people assume you're American?

People always ask. And for the most part, people do assume I'm from the states. What I get asked most often is where specifically I'm from in the states. I've had a couple of people ask if I'm from El Salvador. I've tried to make a joke that I'm from Honduras, because there's a place in Honduras called Santa Barbara where people are pretty light. So I joke that I'm from there sometimes.

4. Is your mission going by quickly?

Yes! It's going really fast. Lots of people say that the days go slow but the weeks go fast. And it's true. There will be days that you'll think, "wow, this day was long. We did a lot. I've got a long ways to go." But then, really quickly, it's Sunday and so it goes really quick.

5. Do you feel safe?

Yes, I do. I've actually never had, really, any problems with safety issues at all, in any of my areas.

WEEK 71 - Update

Tuesday
We visited some members that I had never met. We talked to Jose for a little while, and visited with the Estrada family.

Wednesday
We visited a few less active members and were able to help them out a little remembering the covenants they made when they were baptized. We had a Family Home Evening lesson with a recent convert and his family.

Thursday
We had a district meeting. It was really good, we learned about commitments. We visited the Chacon family, they are such great people. The parents aren't members so we are working with them. We visited Rene and Jeny, they are great as well. They ask such great questions about salvation. We went to a stake meeting. We went to a baptism from the ward. It was great.

Friday
We had weekly planning. We watched Meet the Mormons with a family where everyone except the dad are members, they loved it. We went and contacted some references of some members.

Saturday
We had a fantastic companionship study about the Priesthood. We went to a session of Stake Conference. We visited some really good people. We passed by to visit a family that we felt we needed to see and they said they had been praying so that we would show up.

Sunday
Stake Conference. One of the counselors in the stake presidency gave a great talk about obedience. We had some visits. We visited a family and talked about prayer with them. They commited to praying together no matter what it takes.

I want to testify of the Plan of Salvation. When we know where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going, this life gets so much more interesting. We value more the time we have. The Plan of Salvation is perfect, God knows us and loves us. We are all children of Him. He knows what we need most.

Love you all.
Have a great week!
Elder Baller

WEEK 70 - Q&A

1. What advice would you give to those preparing for a mission?
I've said this a hundred times, but number one is scripture study. I came to the mission with some knowledge about the scriptures, but I would say study, study, study, study. Seriously, get in the habit of studying the scriptures every single day. Because that honestly was a habit I was not too diligent on when I left on my mission, but now it's something that I love. I LOVE reading the scriptures every day.

Other than that, my best piece of advice - and this is for all you shy people out there like me - just break it, just break through your shyness. It's better to do it at home than getting on your mission and being nervous to talk to people on the street. Just get over it before you come. I would even say to practice. With your family, if you need to at first, and then literally just practice with random people in the street. Just go up to someone and start talking. It'll be hard, but just do it.

My next piece of advice would be to learn to deal with other people. In the mission, you will literally be with someone 24/7, and you have to deal with them whether you like it or not, because God has put you guys together. So, it's better to learn patience, love and service at home than it is in the mission. Just get used to it.

2. What are some daily habits you have developed on your mission? And which ones would you like to keep?
Some things I did before the mission, but have become much better on my mission, like praying and daily scripture study. Those two I will definitely keep after the mission. One that I am not 100% consistent on, but usually do it daily, is exercise. That's something I'd like to continue after the mission.

3. What things do you miss most about home?
Obviously, family. Andrew, specifically, is someone I miss A LOT. To be honest, one of the things I miss most about home is work. I loved, loved, loved my job and so I miss that a lot. I also miss music.

4. What things will you miss from Honduras?
First, the food. I've learned to love the food so much, and in the states you just don't eat food like you get here. Beans and tortillas in the states just don't compare. Baleadas don't even exist in the states. I will also miss the people - converts, I'll miss a lots. Mission friends - luckily I'll be able to stay in contact with most of them after the mission, but mission friends I will definitely miss. Honestly, just being here - it's so weird, I always talk about this with my companion now. He asks me if I ever saw myself in Honduras. And I say that I never, ever saw myself in Honduras, but I am truly so glad I am here.

5. Is the mission the same or different from what you expected?
Both. I knew that I would be teaching and working every day. But how it all works - how the mission is managed, companions, how everything works - just the logistics - that is different from what I had thought. I guess it's more that I just hadn't ever really thought about details of how it would all work. For the most part, I would say that it is the same as what I expected.

It's an incredible experience! I would encourage anyone who is thinking about serving a mission, don't think about it again. Just do it! I actually said this to my companion last night, I said, "You only live it once, so live it right." But really, a mission is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. You can never do it again. So if you are thinking about it, stop thinking about it and just do it. Start filling in your papers - RIGHT NOW. 

WEEK 70 - Update

This week was really good.

Tuesday
We had a meeting where they talked about teaching efficient lessons and that we should ask inspired questions and then listen to the investigators. It was very interesting. We visited some really smart kids that got baptized a few weeks ago. We visited an investigator named Wilfredo. He is a great guy!

Wednesday
We visited the Chacon family. The two daughters are members but the parents aren't, so we are working with them. We visited Jeny and her mom. Her mom had been really sick for a while, so we talked to her for a bit. We visited Dany - really cool family. We talked about the Restoration. They had a lot of good questions. We visited the Rodriguez family. The mom is a member but the rest of the family isn't.

Thursday
We had our district meeting. It was great. We visited a recent convert named Allan.He was investigating the church for about 2 years but was never interested.

Friday
We had weekly planning. We visited a member named Esau. He had an accident a few years ago and is missing a leg and an arm. He is super cool. We visited the Estrada family. They got baptized like three weeks ago. They are awesome.  So awesome to see the changes that the Gospel has in people's lives.

Saturday
We went and did some service. We helped a member dig a little trench and then we went helped moved a bunch of stuff into a truck. It was tiring but super worth it. We went and visited a couple members.

Sunday
We had church, it was good. We went and visited some more members in the afternoon and at night we went and visited the Estrada family to talk about family history. They are super excited.

I love this Gospel. I want to share my testimony of eternal families. Seeing the Estrada family and the desires they have to be together forever has made me realize that through this Gospel, families truly can be together forever thanks to the blessings of the temple. The temple is the house of God, literally.

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Baller