Chapter 6: Episode IV: A New Esperanza
Final days at CCM Guatemala:
The last week at the Guatemala MTC seems like a distant dream even though I was there just a week ago. I loved my time there, but I am so glad to be out in the field doing some real work!
From Guatemala to Honduras:
All the missionaries going to Honduras woke up at like 2am Tuesday morning to go to the airport to fly to Honduras. Missionaries serving in the San Pedro Sula missions had their flight at like 6:30 so it made sense to get to the airport by 3:00, but the rest of us didn't have our flight until 10:00... so we sat in the airport for 7 hours but it was a lot of fun nonetheless. When our time came to leave, we walked out on the tarmac to the little airplane that would take us all to Honduras. It was so cool! Flying over Central America is so awesome because the landscape is so green and beautiful! The landing was a little sketchy, it reminded me of when I let Kaitlyn take control of the flight simulator we did a few weeks before I left on the mission, but at least none of us died so that was nice. At the airport, our Mission President Mejía and a couple APs picked us up. I haven't had much opportunity to interact with my President yet, but he's super nice and really funny.
In Comayaguela:
They took us to a stake center-like building in Comayaguela, fed us, and introduced us to our trainers and gave us our area assignments. Elder Martinez is my trainer, he's a great guy from New York and he's been out for 21 months. That means, at the end of my training, I get to kill him. Classic Sith move if you ask me. Anyway we have been assigned to open up an areaq far away from Comayaguela called La Esperanza. It's about a 4 hour bus ride from Comayaguela. However, because we had some introductory and welcome meetings the next day (wednesday) we stayed in the AP's home for the rest of the day.
The next day we had some training meetings and whatnot and that was pretty cool, but the next day there was a mission leadership training meeting in the morning. Usually only ZL's and AP's attend this meeting, but since my President is brand new, he invited all the DL's as well (Elder Martinez is the DL) to get to know them. So we stayed in the AP's house another night in Comayaguela.
While Elder Martinez was in training meetings all day long, I spent the day with the mission secretaries and really got a cool inside look on how the mission is actually run. I got to meet the President's wife, check out the mission offices, and some other cool stuff it was lots of fun. But then finally, Elder Martinez and I got on a bus for La Esperanza!
Comayaguela to La Esperanza:
The drive to La Esperanza was absolutely gorgeous. The Honduran countryside is filled with small mountains and beautiful green jungles. I spent a lot of time talking to my comp and getting to know him. We get along really well and have a lot in common. It was an awesome drive but we didn't get to La Esperanza until 9pm.
La Esperanza:
When we got to our new home in La Esperanza, my companion told me how the President told him that there's a lot of work to be done in this area. There's only one small branch out here and it's been struggling a bit recently. Anyway, that night the branch president (a 23 year old RM named President Mendoza) came by and we met with him for a bit and discussed the needs of the area. Then we went to sleep.
I woke up Friday feeling really sick, but I was excited to start working so I tried to push through. We did our morning routine and then met in the chapel nearby for our first district meeting. I did well through all of this until lunchtime. then I got really sick... I won't share details. But we spent the rest of the day in our house. That night I received a blessing from Elder Martinez and President Mendoza and, miraculously, felt completely fine the next morning. It is truly incredible the power of the priesthood. I love it.
Saturday we went out contacting for the first time and found several new people to teach. Becuase we are opening this area, there weren't any existing investigators, so there's been a lot of work for us. It's been awesome. Saturday night we went out with Pres. Mendoza to meet some ward members.
I love Sundays. We went to church and met many members of this small branch. Only about 20 or 30 people attended yesterday, but there are about 70 or so members in the area. A lot of work to do. My companion and I spoke in sacrament meeting and that was cool. After church, we went again with the branch president and his secretary (a 16-year old named Miguel - great guy) to meet some less active families and minister to them. It was awesome.
La Epseranza is great! It's one of the coolest areas in the mission (temperature-wise) and I love it! My mission is the hottest mission in the hottest Central American country open to missionaries so it's truly a blessing to be in an area where we barely sweat!
It's been a lot of work but I've loved it and I'm so grateful for this opportunity to serve! Until next week!
Elder Jensen
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