Lonesome Dying Polecat

Well. HEY.

So, shout outs, of course!  Emily (I still dont know how soon... but bear with me!!), Steph (I really love your emails.  I am REALLY sorry I dont respond directly often, but I WILL.), Lizzie (Well, if its coming from you... I can handle it. And its even more of a complement from you. :)) Kailey, Neys, Terry, Jessi! AND I LOVE YOU CAROLINE AND GRACIE AND TY AND LARA AND EDDIE.  JUST SO YOU ALL KNOW.  I love you all and my thoughts are with all of you.  I love reading about whats going on in your lives... And with anyone who is struggling in some way, I am learning more and more here that you need to trust yourself. Because God is preparing things constantly... So trust yourself, and ALWAYS talk to God about your questions.  Trust me, you will know what to do.

NOW, Since this has been my first like, legit week in the field, I can give a bit more description about life here.  

First, we cook all of our own food. So... if we aren't eating with a member or with the bishop, we eat eggs and bread.  

Little known fact about me? I can cook two things particularly well... 

Toast and eggs.

Boom. Almost like God sent me here or something.

Next, as I said before, I am in Danli!  It is not the poorest zone, but not by any means the richest either.  There are definitely sad sights... But Hey, like when Alma saw the poor, he rejoiced because they were HUMBLE AND READY FOR THE WORDS OF GOD. True here too!

Except...

They are all pretty set in their religions. So, we have a definite three baptisms for the 11th, with another 20 something pending (CUZ THEY NEED TO ATTEND CHURCH.) Not bad right?? The reason there is confusion with numbers of baptisms is because although many people really are set in their places of worship... They are too nice to turn us away.  So, four lessons and a baptism date later, they mention that they really don't want to join. 

........uh.....

Okay. No problem. Have you prayed about our message, at least?

....No.... But I don't really want to.

............BAHHHHHHHH

Yeah. In a nutshell.  BUT.... God works in mysterious ways.  So we aren't giving up, but that is kind of how the work in La Concepcion Danli is currently going.  Little by little... And by small means, God can bring about great things. Right???  AND, FOR THE RECORD.  SPREAD THE GOSPEL YOURSELVES.  BE FEARLESS.  The worst that can HONESTLY happen in the USA is they tell you no.  SO TRY!!!!!

Also, we had an AWESOME cultural night where they did a huge amount of native dancing and story telling and everyone knows their gringo and at one point, this beautiful Honduran dancer girl comes and grabs my hand and wants me to dance with her.

Hardest rule of my mission?  No dancing.... So... I had to turn her down... But I apologized afterward and she was being all jokingly sad and I was like... Okay, how about a picture with the missionary gringo who couldn't dance with you even though he wanted to?? (AND YES I HAVE PICTURES ON THE WAY I AM SORRY!!!)

....Well.... To my (kind of?...) dismay, she is like all, 'OH SI POR SUPUESTO AHORITA CON TODAS MIS AMIGAS??' (oh yes of course now, with all my friends) Followed by literally like twelve other dancer girls all FLOODING me and putting their arms around me and getting really close in various poses... (now, you all know me. But its been like, two months with NO feminine contact.  I am literally a lonesome dying polecat).  And that is SOOOOO against the rules.  So... About three other missionaries were all like 'NOOOO no no no no sorry but he can't be that close ladies!' and then a lot of laughing cause this all happened in about .09 seconds and apparently I was BRIGHT red with the look of a scared helpless child without a mother.

Except, I actually had like, thirteen willing mothers.

....

okay, weird analogy. Sorry.

ANYWAY.  It was pretty dang fun.  I love Honduras.  Especially cause I am the gringo in this area.  People that I never met yell OOF pretty much regularly. You kind of get used to it.  If only they would COME TO CHURCH.

BAHH.

Okay, next thing to tell, I teach English to a lot of natives too.  Which is funny.  Cause they will ask me to say something fast in English, and I will say something like 'well, the theory of flying pigs is completely inadequate in regards to what color my skin is.'  and then the laughter and the Spanish (that I STILL JUST DON'T CATCH ALL OF) and my comp rolling his eyes cause he understands English really well. Great, huh?

And, they make me try weird crap.  Like, you cut an orange open, and then you put salt and hot sauce on it, and then... kind of... squeeze the crap out of it and drink it at the same time.  Weird flavor.  But not bad. (sometimes I miss hamburgers).

And a lot of the women don't understand our missionary rules, so most girls still go for the kiss on the cheek (which is normal here) and I am getting better at the pull away and explain technique.

Practice makes perfect, right? And.. I am practicing. :P

And... Yeah. That's Honduras!  I love it.  It is incredible, and hot, and wonderful.


-------------------------------

And finally, for a quick gospel related message, I want to share my testimony of Christ.  I have been reading the old testament, and I just finished the Book of Numbers, as well as a lot of random stories that i bounce around from (since Leviticus was nothing but Law of Moses rituals in PAINFUL detail).  Overall, what amazes me, is that all of the sacrifices that are described for literally EVERY possible sin of the Israelites, are only a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten.  Literally, of the history of the beginning of the world, in a group of people who really didn't understand the purpose of it, sacrifices were offered as a tribute of Christ's future atonement.  And the scriptures use those exact words: 'the priest shall offer this sacrifice as an atonement for sin - it is most Holy.' 

And the same goes for the BOM, and all covenants we practice today.  Christ is central.  He is the Savior of the world and literally, only through him can we be saved.  Baptism (my whole purpose right now) is a covenant in which we follow his example.  His sacrifice was most precious and His sacred calling was preordained. His eventual sacrifice was known from the beginning of our generation (IN the Old Testament).  He is our elder brother, but more than that, HE IS OUR GOD.  When we take upon us his name, we are becoming his sons and daughters! He loves us more than we can comprehend! And, yes, I note that all this information may make our relation to him insignificant - like to Him, you are just one of an innumerable number of people.  But that is the beauty of his atonement and preordination... His calling was most sacred, and through means that we CANNOT understand or BEGIN to comprehend, the atonement of Jesus Christ is literally the MOST personal action ANYONE can perform for another person.  Yes, it is universal in purpose, but it is most personal in application, power and in love.  The Savior of the world knows you by your name.  He knows you perfectly, BECAUSE he felt everything you have felt, and everything you will EVER feel in those final moments of his life.  And when you feel helpless... Remember that the Savior HIMSELF, a perfect being, asked God, 'Father, why hast thou forsaken me?' In the midst of being rejected by his own, he asked God why he left him.

Christ himself felt alone.


Never forget that. Because he offers you His love, if only we would listen.

Let Him In.

He lives.  And as a personal representative of Him, and with that authority, I promise ALL of you that if you look to Him for help... You will receive. For the Gospel remains the same, ayer, hoy, y para siempre - so let yourself ask of God, who giveth unto all men liberally, and unbraideth not, and it shall be given You.

Because he wants to hear from you.

Sorry if that was long - but this is my testimony, and I share these things in the Name of that same Savior, the Son of God, even Jesus Christ, Amen.

Hasta Ver.

Elder Kristian Huff

Song of the week requested via Elder Huff, You'll Be In My Heart