Sirviendo en Honduras: Coconuts, Kola, and Iguanas!--Jan 4, 2016

On New Year's there's tons of fireworks! They sell them for super cheap, so there's always kids buying them and lighting them off. It was hard to fall asleep because the fireworks were non-stop for hours. But it was awesome. There's also a ton of drinking, and the president announced that all missionaries had to go back to the house by 8:00 for New Year's. It didn't get too crazy here, but I bet in big cities it's crazy. It reminded me of the 4th of July in Garden Valley. :)
We went to the hospital to sing carols and pass out juice and sandwiches for New Year's. I dn't have pics because I don't want to have my camera stolen. I've never been robbed, but that camera is soooo nice.

I like Tela so far. I'm pretty used to the beauty, but sometimes it hits me again how incredible it is. I really like Tela for the people. It's a nice city, and the weather isn't so bad (supposedly.) The work is going pretty well. Sometimes I really appreciate the solid Christian background people have, but sometimes it really complicates things. The closest baptism we have is a "maybe" for the 16th. She loves the church and wants to be baptized, but needs to marry the dude she's living with. He's already a member. It's just super common to live together and start a family, without officially marrying. So we're waiting on that. It's kind of complicated.

Transfers are in two days. I doubt I'll get moved but that's what I said last time. I think my comp might leave though. I hope not. We've had a lot of fun together. We have a zone meeting tomorrow. I'll find out there.

Here is a picture Hna Klein sent us. I think it's funny, and that's is honestly how most chickens look here--losing feathers and with their wing bones hanging out. They make a creepy sound when they rub together.

[We asked about his glasses/contacts] I've been wearing my glasses most of the time, but I wear contacts almost every P Day, so most of my pictures are without glasses.

We've been visiting with a family for a couple weeks taht lives way out of town. They're basically the Herdmans from The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. They live in a little village thing--five houses, all one big family. Everyone is super dirty, and there's piles of trash everywhere. All the boys walk around with knives, and without either their shirt of their pants. The shower is just a spigot with a sheet on a string around it. Just crazy. Yeah. They're pretty crazy, but fun!

Love you Dad. Thanks for the example you have given me for my whole life.

An iguana

Elder Queme wearing some sunglasses he found in the church

Chikungunya--a nasty mosquito-borne illness. Enemy to all missionaries!

A coconut that we drank and ate

The meat of a coconut--it's pretty good!

This gross soup I ate with the rest of the jerky I had

Some tally marks made out of sweat in front of the toilet in my bathroom after a hard day.

Some tamales we ate (we've eaten a ton of them recently for the holidays.)

Instructions to solve a Rubik's Cube in Spanish. (You know what they say...if you can explain how to solve a Rubik's Cube in a different language, you've got that language down!)