ok let’s try this again...
Last week we had a baptism of Jason who is 12 and really tall for a latino. But he didn’t come to church the next day so we couldn´t confirm him. His mom made him do chores... but anyway!
A normal day in the life of Elder Arntsen is to wake up at 6 am (not the normal 6:30 cause we´re better in the San Pedro Sula mission) and exercise for 30 minutos. Then shower and get dressed and all that stuff. For breakfast we usually have cereal with powder milk, and then it’s an hour of personal study time. Then an hour of comp study, then half an hour of language study. Then we head out at 10-ish. We usually have lunch at members houses (it varies, but usually rice with chopped up carrots and corn, beans of some kind, fried chicken or other type of meat, always tortillas, home and handmade, and when it’s cold hot chocolate, or this some other juice or soda (usually banana tropical)). Then at 7 to 8 we go to our cocinera for dinner. And we are back in the house by 9-ish. The streets here are pretty much just dirt, or mud, and there’s a pulperia every ten or so houses (it’s like a QT). All the food is good here. Plain and simple. Well, except chichiron. It’s like pork rinds, but there’s actual pork skin in it... There are street lights here and there, but it gets pretty dark at night. The stars would be bright, but it’s usually pretty overcast. Oh our house is a one room apartment with the kitchen detached from the rest of the house. It’s pretty danky, but awesome too!
Ok now for a rundown of the last two weeks:
We haven’t had tons of lessons so we’ve been tracting lots. We have two investigators who we found my first week who are progressing really fast. If they had come to church two Sundays ago they’d be baptized by now, but something came up. They’re names are Junior and Elvis, and they are roommates. Junior is 16 and accepts everything we tell him. He’s started reading the Book of Mormon almost every day and is in 2 Nephi. Pretty good since he works 16 hours a day 5 days a week... thanks for all the letters from everyone (just mom, dad, and caitlin) but I’m sure the rest of you reading this have already dropped it in the mail and they are on their way! haha.
Last Tuesday we had a multi zone, which means getting up at 3 in the morning to be there by 8... not much fun. I got to see Elder Cahoon. His area is 20 minutes from the office... and I ordered some sweet leather scripture cases, and I also had to buy a Honduras futbol jersey. Honduras beat Mexico last Thursday, which meant we ended the day a little early so we wouldn’t get shot or thrown fireworks at (and no one was outside, or answering phones, or opening doors) the whole country shuts down when there is a game... Thursday we did weekly planning as a district and then started divisions. I was with Elder Loughton, a gringo too, in my area. And by some crazy turn of events we had divisions for two whole days instead of the normal 1. Then Elder Flores got really sick so we stayed in on Saturday (with permission), and he wasn’t much better on Sunday so we just went to church. Now he is on his way to San Pedro cause they think it’s denge, and I’m on divisions with Elder Tzuban (from Guatemala and can’t speak a word of English) while his companion who is also sick is with Elder Flores. We don’t know how long they’re gonna be gone so I may be working here for a few days.
That’s all for now!
See ya next week
Elder Arntsen
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
11/10 E-mail from Honduras
Hey!
OK. I’m in Honduras and am in my first area! The zone is Copán and it's southwest of San Pedro Sula. It’s the coldest place of Honduras, but it’s not too cold. No worries. My area is called Dolores. My compa is Elder Flores, a latino from Peru who knows Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish sign language. And he is fluent in all 5. He’s about 5 foot 4 inches tall, so we look pretty funny walking up and down the streets.
This place is incredible! All the people are so humble and nice. We had a baptism yesterday of an investigator named Carlos. He’s pretty awesome. And we have two families that are thoroughly investigating, as well as two young guys who live together and also a 12 boy who will be baptized this Saturday.
This place is nuts. Everything is mega cheap. Like today I wanted to get some "oreos" so we went to the pulperia (QT) and I got 3 small packs of 4 and a Gatorade for 30 limpiras, about a dollar fifty. Sweet.
The one thing I’m really amazed with is how many stray dogs there are. Everywhere we go there’s like 10 dogs sniffing around and barking. They’re usually not mean, but when they are I have figured out that all you have to do is bend down like your’e gonna pick up a rock and they scamper. (Haha.) When we teach lessons (this week 14-ish), I teach just as much as my companion, but when they talk to me I don’t fully understand. I’m getting better at hearing, but talking is not bad at all.
We live in a place called Boulavard and our area is probably about 5 square miles, but we also have a “second” area called San Juan. There’s a small branch in San Juan of about 15, and in Dolores the branch (with the nice church building) has 100 people, but only 50 or so show up.
We have a cook, Sister Soreano (members, but the husband is inactive), and they have 3 kids. One is about 5 and looks exactly like the actress Raven when she was on the Cosby show. (Haha). The president of the branch in Dolores is really nice. He served his mission in Guatemala and speaks no English at all. Actually it’s super rare to find people that know English, except that we have a gringa investigator called Sarah Leng, who is 71. She has an enormous house by American standards and also owns quite a bit of land, all for less than 90 thousand dollars. She says she couldn’t afford to live in the states any more so she moved here where she is living off welfare.
All and all, I love it. The food is great, and I haven’t gotten sick yet which is supposedly strange...
See ya next week.
Love, Elder Arntsen.
OK. I’m in Honduras and am in my first area! The zone is Copán and it's southwest of San Pedro Sula. It’s the coldest place of Honduras, but it’s not too cold. No worries. My area is called Dolores. My compa is Elder Flores, a latino from Peru who knows Spanish, English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish sign language. And he is fluent in all 5. He’s about 5 foot 4 inches tall, so we look pretty funny walking up and down the streets.
This place is incredible! All the people are so humble and nice. We had a baptism yesterday of an investigator named Carlos. He’s pretty awesome. And we have two families that are thoroughly investigating, as well as two young guys who live together and also a 12 boy who will be baptized this Saturday.
This place is nuts. Everything is mega cheap. Like today I wanted to get some "oreos" so we went to the pulperia (QT) and I got 3 small packs of 4 and a Gatorade for 30 limpiras, about a dollar fifty. Sweet.
The one thing I’m really amazed with is how many stray dogs there are. Everywhere we go there’s like 10 dogs sniffing around and barking. They’re usually not mean, but when they are I have figured out that all you have to do is bend down like your’e gonna pick up a rock and they scamper. (Haha.) When we teach lessons (this week 14-ish), I teach just as much as my companion, but when they talk to me I don’t fully understand. I’m getting better at hearing, but talking is not bad at all.
We live in a place called Boulavard and our area is probably about 5 square miles, but we also have a “second” area called San Juan. There’s a small branch in San Juan of about 15, and in Dolores the branch (with the nice church building) has 100 people, but only 50 or so show up.
We have a cook, Sister Soreano (members, but the husband is inactive), and they have 3 kids. One is about 5 and looks exactly like the actress Raven when she was on the Cosby show. (Haha). The president of the branch in Dolores is really nice. He served his mission in Guatemala and speaks no English at all. Actually it’s super rare to find people that know English, except that we have a gringa investigator called Sarah Leng, who is 71. She has an enormous house by American standards and also owns quite a bit of land, all for less than 90 thousand dollars. She says she couldn’t afford to live in the states any more so she moved here where she is living off welfare.
All and all, I love it. The food is great, and I haven’t gotten sick yet which is supposedly strange...
See ya next week.
Love, Elder Arntsen.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
11/1/08
My flight to Honduras leaves Monday, November 3 at 6:15 am out of SLC. We have a short layover in Dallas and then 4 hours in Miami before leaving for Honduras. I'm excited to be moving on and a little nervous. Use "Dear Elder" to send a letter through the pouch service. I don't know how long it will take to get there. We may have e-mail once we arrive, but we don't know yet.
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