Learning to like Lobster???

We'll start with a picture this week :) This is one of the borders of our area.

     This week was pretty neat. On Tuesday we had a multizona conference with Elder Amado of the First Quorum of the Seventy. It was a neat opportunity to learn how to be better missionaries. I learned a lot about how imortant it is to pray continually in order to learn by the Spirit and how important it is to be obedient. He also spent a couple of hours talking about eternal marriage. :) Something neat he told us is that a majority of Church membership speaks Spanish, but the language of the Restoration is and will always be English. As he encouraged all of the Latino missionaries to take advantage of this opportunity to learn English here in the mission, I realized how blessed I am to speak the language of the Restoration. I am so blessed to be able to hear the Prophet's voice in my own language without a translator!

      Other than that, the biggest news for the week is that I tried lobster for the first time today. My companion ate her entire piece--hard part, fins, and the white meat inside. I ate about half of the meat from inside and then shared the rest... Important thing is that I tried it and it wasn't all that bad :) My companion thinks I will leave the mission liking seafood. We'll have to see...

 ¡Hasta la próxima semana! Hna. Thacker

An Interesting Lunch, a Birthday Party, and a Real Baptismal Date!

     Well, nothing out of the ordinary this week other than a matchmaking lunch, a three-year-old's birthday party, and an investigator with a for real baptismal date!

     Last Monday we got invited to lunch at the house of the first member here. She was baptized in the capitol and when she moved to here she brought the church with her. Turns out, her matchmaking led to the marriage of the parents of the misionera who first taught Hna. Tajiboy, and she also arranged the match of the current patriarch and his wife. Well, long story short, she invited us for lunch because her grandson was in town... and she's hoping Hna. Tajiboy will marry him :) It was quite entertaining.

     This week we set a baptismal date with Reily! He is the muchacho in the orange shirt. We met him and his cousin a while back, and initially it appeared that the cousin was more interested than Reily. However, once the cousin left for Copán Reily started to come to church every week, last week he showed up at seminary, and the other day we gave him a Book of Mormon. He is already to chapter 11 of 1st Nephi, and literally just a minute ago here in the internet place he showed us a picture of the temple and told us that it's his goal to go there. It never ceases to amaze me how much the gospel can change lives!

     Last week we finally got copies of the conference edition of the Liahona in English! This week I have been rediscovering the gems from last conference, and if you haven't looked at them in a while I recommend reviewing them. One in particular I was studying this week talks about how to teach with the power and authority of God. The thing that really struck me the most was that in order to teach like the Savior you have to live like the Savior.The more I learn about the gospel the more I realize how it is not, and cannot be a list of things to check off in order to recieve salvation. It truly requires a change in the way I live, a change in perspective, and a change of nature. It requires becoming. The more this sets in the more I realize what an amazing opportunity a mission is to practice living like the Savior!

Well, I guess that's all until next week!

Con cariño,
Hna. Thacker

''¿Les gustó el himno?"

     Angelina (the daughter of Levi and Veronica who turns three on Wednesday) continues to imitate us even when we aren't there. Her mom told us that she sits down with a little book and says ''Cuenta de tres. Una. dos. tres.'' and begins to ''sing.'' At the end, just like Hna. Tajiboy, she says ''Les gustó el himno?'' (Did you like the hymn?) She even prays and pretends to write in her agenda when she is going to come back. :)

     Well, the biggest most exciting news for the week is that we had divisiones. Not going to lie, I was scared to death because it meant that I was staying in our area while Hna. Tajiboy left. I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to find any of our investigators and that if I did I wouldn't be able to talk to them without Hna. Tajiboy leading the conversation.

     Turns out Heavenly Father still knows what's best for me, because it was exactly what I needed. I found out that I really do know our area and the people we are teaching. I can talk to them, and I am more able than I thought. I had the chance to get to know and learn a lot from Hna. Hill. But most important I re-learned how important it is to invite. Agency is so critical to the whole plan, but you have to have options in order to use it. That's where the invitations come in. Invitations provide opportunities to use agency. I am learning that it is important to not be afraid of inviting.

     This week we also met a Catholic family that likes to listen to missionaries of all types. They are very nice and even have a collection of all of the pamphlets they've received over the years. The coolest part was the Libro de Mormon that they brought out from 1991. It is as old as my companion and she felt like the testimony written in the front cover was written just for her. It was pretty neat. We left with two little caracoles and two copies of a talk given by the current Pope which included a photo.

     We also had an old contact show up during a lesson we had with his sister. He told us that he has realized that he needs to be baptized and that he wants to follow the Savior. He expressed his desire to follow with all of his heart, and told us that he just has had a hard time giving up dancing. We tried to explain that dancing is not evil, but I don't think it sunk in until the next day after church when the bishop asked him if he would come and teach the young men to dance for mutual. Afterword he told us how he really liked how our church encouraged the use of agency and developing talents, and he accepted a baptismal date :)

      Well, I think that is all for now...

Hasta la proxima semana!
Hna. Thacker

Hola!

    Well, this week half of our progressing investigators left our area... One for Yoro, where there are no missionaries and the other for the military with his brother-in-law.

    The bright side is that José Constantino who left for Yoro shouldn't be gone for more than a couple of weeks, and he told us that as soon as he gets back he wants to be baptized.

     Levi left for the military on Friday which was awful.  Hna. Tajiboy and I were on the verge of tears when Veronica told us. Saturday we heard that there were so many people that reported that they sent back Levi and his brother-in-law. Which is good for us because we have our investigators back, but bad for them because that leaves them jobless still. It has been hard for them, but I know that as they exercise their faith to seek God first they will be blessed with the things that they need according to the Lord's timing.

     It is a hard lesson to learn sometimes to put the Lord's will before your own. This week our district leader shared a talk about becoming a consecrated missionary. One line sticks out every time I read, or even think about the talk--''It's not about what you want, it's about what the Lord wants.'' That's really at the essence of what it means to consecrate yourself and really put the Lord first. He knows and sees so much more than we can, and will really truly guide us to just the right places for us to grow and develop. It never ceases to amaze me what Heavenly Father can do when I turn things over to HIm and seek His will!

Well, Hasta la proxima semana!
Hna. Thacker