And Finally . . . What we Came here to do!

Just a glimpse of the work in progress with the missionaries
here in Honduras, San Pedro Sula East Mission!





Our first zone meeting so we could meet the missionaries and they could meet us!  We introduced ourselves and shared our testimonies and a little information about our family, children, grandchildren and "perro". At our first meeting the sisters prepared a lovely welcome poster for us and welcomed us with a beautiful hymn they had prepared! The two sisters on the left front row are our Sister Training Leaders.  They are our first here in this newly created role to represent and assist with all the sisters missionaries.  They will participate in the  Mission Leadership Council along with Presidente and myself, plus the the Asistentes and the Zone leaders.  The Council meets monthly to plan and organize missionary training. All I can say is they are awesome!  I'm so impressed!




This lovely sister welcomed us into her humble home after a  few days of being on the road without regular (or any) mealtimes. We were starving!  She nourished us both physically and spiritually. She has sent 5 missionaries from her family out to serve!



It was an unexpected sight to see such a beautiful chapel in the middle of Tocoa, Honduras.   These are our two right hand Elderes - nuestros Asistentes! We would be lost without their assistance and guidance.   (And driving lessons :) Kinda scary to take driving lessons from 21 year old young men :)

We had the great opportunity to visit another humble home of some beautiful members of the church in Sonaguerra. A tiny little town! Their 18 year old son leaves tomorrow to serve a mission in Columbia.  Presidente was able to visit with the family before he set him apart to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was so inspiring to see the way the little branch rallied around the family and many aunts, uncles and cousins arrived for the occasion even though most of them aren't members of the church.  Some great opportunities there for missionary work!







This was our 9th stop in 7 days! Our last and final district meeting in Satelite.  It is the area closest to where we live in San Pedro Sula.  Still it is 30 minutes away from either the mission home or office.   We are in a little bit of a predicament as our mission home and office are  located outside of our mission boundaries.  Usually missionaries are not allowed to  travel outside of the mission boundaries for any reason.  (Actually the Presidente also - except for rare exceptions).  So we have a challenge to figure out meeting locations and how to accomplish all our training and arriving and departing of  new missionaries!



This is a small cell phone shot - the missionaries here welcomed us with lei's.  It's not a tradition here but our one Elder from Hawaii sent for them from his family in Hawaii!  We felt very warmly welcomed by a beautiful rousing song they greeted us with in the hallway as we came into the building.


We wondered why we needed to have a four wheel drive vehicle here (since frequently that is what the drug dealers drive apparently and are stopped by the military police from time to time) but soon discovered it's not at all to unusual to drive across rivers after roads have been washed out by the heavy rains.


Many of our missionaries serve in coastal cities with great seaside vistas.  What you can't see are the armed guards that patrol the  beaches to keep them safe for visitors in the more populated areas.



We had dinner one evening with two branch presidents.  It was very  eye opening to visit with them and discoverer the incredible challenges they experience every day as they serve here in Honduras, mostly in the rural areas. It's not unusual to have 80 members attending Sacrament meeting on Sunday and to have 1200 members on their membership records that they have stewardship over.   The young branch president on the left with his wife is 22 years old and has the challenge of counseling his members about the important of marriage and family commitments.

There are so many beautiful sights as you look around you everywhere you go. I love the worn shoes of the Elders that represent many miles walked, many puddles, lakes and rivers crossed, many long walks to appointments and home again at the end of a long day. They are valiant servants.