Cheque, Cheque

Olah Amigos!!

Hey well if you asked me if I was back and better, I would say "Yeah man!"  Cheque. Another good week out here in Guayape! If you guys didn't know there are cars out here but they are all suuuuuper nasty. BUT I saw a pretty dope car this week. It  was called a Niva 1600 it had a rack on the top and it was lookin nice! I think I'm  buying one when I get back. 

Anyway something really strange happened this week. I never would've expected this, but I taught the English professor in the language called ENGLISH! I'm so used to teaching in Spanish that it was actually really hard. I accidentally  said some Spanish words that I've become accustomed to! In order for us to teach the English prof we have to walk through the school through tons of schoolgirls. The creepiness is actually increasing and I'm getting scared. Now when I pass them they make loud kissing noises at me and one girl was yelling in Spanish "Preach me the word of God pleaaase!" I'm glad school's over for them now. Phew. 

We actually played basketball at the church last p-day with a member and two of the school girls. I took the opportunity to Harden them to death. I broke the bros ankles sooooo hard, he was just laying on the ground. It was a tad bit awkward though. The 2 girls would say we need to rest for a bit and would go sit on the side of the court. They pretended to go on Instagram or like they were texting, but they were actually recording me! 

We had an awesome F.H.E at a members house this week. There were about 15 of us and we were all singing and sharing scriptures. They even fed us dinner after! The dad of the family is such a hippy! He's always saying "todo tranquil man," which is like its all chill man! He's really cool actually!
I got to do my first anointing  of consecrated oil to a sick member. I was pretty nervous, but it went well. Then I did another one yesterday! Also,  I actually baptised a girl this week, but don't get too exited because it wasn't our baptism, it was the sister missionaries. It was really awkward though.  Before the baptism the girl wanted my companion to baptize her, but my comp was already baptizing the other person. She was really scared of me for some reason. Oh wait. I'm the only white guy for ages out here. Anyway,  I eventually convinced her to let me do it.
I hit 3 months this week!!! I felt pretty nasty on Thursday because we couldn't shower. When the power goes out the water doesn't work. I was sweating too because I worked out. The power was out until 5 at night!
We had a multi district meeting on Friday,  pretty much a zone meeting,  but it was dope.  I got to see Elder Bowen and Elder Roberts again! We had lunch together afterwards at this new place. I ordered 2 baleadas especiales. Oh my. They were the best and biggest ballads I've ever had. Beans, avocado, eggs etc. They were packed! I also tried this stuff called rompopo that I got from a grocery store. It's basically egg nog and it was the best I've had! I got to split and go with Elder Roberts for that day. We taught a few investigators, but it was hard because I'm used to the way my comp teaches,  but it went good. Elder Roberts is from Vegas. He's super chill and fun to hang with.
Our investigadors are good, but our problem (and the reason we aren't baptizing) is because they need to go to church first. They all live so far away and don't want to walk there. We even pass by for them, but they are always sick or have something else to do. I'm just chillin though.  I know that if  keep working hard the baptisms will come.
Have a dope week! Peace! Love you all!
Elder Sullivan

Juanita the Baptist?

Hola Amigos,


Heque cheque cheque how is everyone doing this week? Wow! Sounds dope! Well let me tell you a little about my week, Okay? Something dope happened this week. Can i tell you about it? Alright thanks! So, our area is the biggest in the mission and we've gone reeeaally reallly far in only one direction from our house, not sure why. Untill THE DAY. We decided to go the other way. Gulp. Definetly a good decish. We were walking in unfamiliar territory down the main street untill... was I halucina.. NO it was Real!! we saw a Maxi Despensa (basically a Walmart) and another Texaco!!! We now have a new place to hit up for some good food!! We've been contacting over there too and have found some good investigadors. Also in this area we've seen strange things. Massive ants!!! Cow heards crossing the streets, huge pigs, and monkeys too! We even saw a monkey chillin on the back of a pig! 

Oh. It hurts me to think about this. but. we were contacting (not in uncharted territory) walking on a dirt road in a really poor area. We turned the corner and saw a group in the road of about 8 dogs. A lady was walking in front of us towards the dogs. It was all chill untill the lady randomly bent down and picked up a rock. This couldnt be good. She hucked it at an inocent small dog. Right in the leg. It was yelling, not just once, but a constant yelp as it ran away on 3 legs. She threw it soooo hard I wouldnt be suprised if the dogs leg was shattered. Poor little guy.

One night after a long hard day we were eating the usual chicken wings and fries at the Texaco. We saw the gangsta that lives next door to us about to leave. He's cool and has a man bun, just letting you know. He came up to us and offered us a ride home. He's definetly a true homie now. 

I had a very creepy experience this week. One of the creepiest if you ask me. We were in a far area past the Maxi Despensa. A member drove us out there. We were with the branch pres checking up on less actives. We rolled up at the very first house. There was a bed out in front of the house with a yelling lady on it. Her back was injured and it was hurting down to her legs too. There were 3 strange really old ladies there too,  just chillin i guess. We gave her a blessing and we were about to leave untill the 3 ladies stood up and went ham. One of them put her hand up John the Baptist style. They all got on their knees and started massaging the ladies leg while she was yelling. They were chanting some crazy stuff too. I couldnt help it but to start laughing. I mean come on do you know me? Good thing everyone's eyes were closed and they couldn't see me. They had a parrot in a cage too and even the parrot started to copy their chanting noises!!! I was tryiinng ssoooooo hard not to laugh. That moment lasted sooo long. I'm glad it's done. 

This week we visited a high school near our house. We know a member that goes there named Moroni and he let us into his English class to help them out!!! We got to talk in English to the teacher and help the students with theirs. One problem though. The class was all girls except for 2 dudes. About 15 girls all giving me 'the eyes.' If you are white in Honduras the girls go ham, so it was really awkward and anything I said that was even a little funny they laughed like crazy. The class was split up into 2 groups and I talked to a group for 30 minutes and then 30 minutes with the other group. I said ask me questions. They were like do you have a girlfriend, escribe your first kiss, oh my goshshhhh you can play the guitar and basketballl heart eyes etc. We were peacing out until each of the girls pulled out their phones and requested a selfie with me and my Instagram. Dang. We are going there again this week. 

Alright what else? Well, we have 2 new gringles in our district! 1 gringo and 1 gringa! Elder Roberts and Hermana Latimer.  They are both reallly cool and Elder Roberts' name is Christian too! Their Spanish is crazy good and they have about 10 months in the mish. I hope thats me in the future. 

I just want to share a quote and a scripture talking about goals and preparing for eternity. 

"I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don't set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles fo setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life." - Elder M. Russell Ballard

Study this scripture along with the quote - Alma 34:33 - Every day given to us is a another day to prepare for eternity. 

I challenge you to set goals. 

Smart goals. 

Have a week that isn't bad but is the opposite of that. Goood. Have a good week and also have a good week. Peace.

Elder Sullivan

Papa, Queso Papi Por Favor-and more pics!

Como le va mis amigos (How's it going my friends?)! Great week once again! I think I'm gonna let you know a little about our investigadors in this weeks email! 

Anita - Well, Anita is a reference from a cool family in the branch. She is 25 and has 2 cute little kids. She was originally from Tegucigalpa, but she move to Catacamas because her mom died or something like that. Anyway, I think we're gonna dunk her,  she just needs to attend  the church first. Her problem is she doesn't have water to take a shower so she is embarrased to go all dirty and with her kids too. 

Jose Carlos - He is 18! Dope bro! Anyway, he is one of the nicest people I have ever met! He always buys us soda or something when we come to teach him. One time he even bought us donuts! He wants to get baptized too, but he also needs to get to that one place called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It's just that his mom is Catolica and makes him go to that church instead. 

Lilian y Jose - Cool people if you ask me. They have a little daughter too. She is kind of annoying to be honest because she never stops crying. Papi quero quesoooooo papi por favorrrrrrr. ay ay ay,  but they are really nice and we even helped them translate a letter from their friend in the states!

We have more but I don't have much time to write about them. 

My comp and I have the oppurtunity to play bball at the church in the mornings now!!! We wake up at 5:30 sometimes to play and it really makes me happy. My vertical is actually better than before and i threw down a volleyballll yeyeyeee! 

Some nights get sketchy here. Actually all nights are sketchy, but this one night was next level sketchy. The power went out in the whole city. We hadn't eaten dinner yet and we were starving. We aren't supposed to leave the house when it's dark and the power is out, but I needed food, so  I don't know if I should say this,  but we dressed up in thug clothes and put on hats to look like gangsters so people wouldn't rob us. We even walked like gangstas. We made it safely there and back,  but man I was sooo scared.

I don't know if you creeds kno,  but a few bits of my clothes got deathed in the laundromat, so I took action with a pair of my pants that were annoying me on my calves when I  walked. We know this lady that can sew pretty dope so she hooked me up and turned them into shorts! for only 20 lmps.  That's less than a dollar by the way. 

Yesterday. Dang man do you even want to hear this? Okay, I'll  tell you. We had a birthday party for one of the sister missionaries and 2 members in a family in our branch. They are from mexico. The party was at their house. My comp and I bought a cake on Saturday--vanilla cake with oreos on top. Mmmmm. We partied and had the cake, some jello, some milk, some chicken, and some carne asada. Wow. Great night. 

I think that you guys should choose to have a good day today. If you are stressed, break up the big things into small pieces my friends. Just think to yourself, all i have to do right now is --------- 

Have a dope day and make sure its dope! Thanks!!

Elder Sullivan

Tegucigalpa, Honduras Temple

The best homemade donuts!!

The dog that is a mixture of Oscar and Mozzie

Waffles Please? And lots of pictures!!!

Buenas! 'I'm back and I'm better!' - The one and only, the bearded one, James Harden. This week went by pretty fast if you asked me. The days were slow by themselves, but when I look back. Pucha. Lijero. I think that's just how the mish is. I still get stared down hardcore and sometimes get comments like,  Oh my su ojos!  (Oh my, his eyes), which is okay I guess. 

A massive spider tried murdering me in the shower this week. MASSIVE! I'm SERIOUS! I hopped out of the shower grabbed a shampoo bottle and put it to death. We couldn't wash our clothes this week because our the water in our pila was too dirty,  but it started to pour. There is a pipe right outside our house, it was gushing out water and the water was clean! so we sacrificed ourselves and got drenched again. We got buckets and started to fill our pila untill it was full. People thought we were crazy because we were in our church clothes. 

So, I'm in the biggest area in the mish, Guayape. We were walking one night it was pouring and we were cold tired and hungry. On our way to dinner at the parque, prob a 30 minute walk  but a truck rolled up and offered us a ride. I looked at my comp and we didn't say a word and hopped in. The dude was actually going there too. He was super friendly and has been to the U.S.  13 times! It felt great to be in a truck. 

Okay this was nutz. We eat dinner at a less active family's house every Thursday night, and less active people here aren't like less actives in the states. They test out diferent churches around the area. So there is a girl in the family my age and her mom made her go to this church. It was not normal. Aparently they were touching people's foreheads saying Take the Holy Ghost!! Everyone was gasping and falling down! But when they did it to her nothing happened. They were worried and started rubbing oil on her face. Then they said if she didn't the raptor couldn't save her when it comes down. She couldnt take anymore weirdness so she faked it and fell to the ground. 

We hit up the Golindos house for some references one afternoon and they were making homemade donuts from scratch!! We watched the process and it was sooo cool! cause they did everything with their hands. They gave us some hot fresh donuts when they were done and I'M SERIOUS they were in the top 10 best donuts I've ever had in my life and I've tried a lot. They also have a dog that is a combination of Osci and Mozzie. It's  a weiner dog with mozzie hair. It's  really cute. 

Exchanges were this week so I had to switch comps and be with Elder Banda in Juti for the day and then sleep there. It's an hour bus ride away from my house. I had a pretty dope day with him. We taught some homies, I witnessed a bible bash with a yelling catolica lady. Tat whole day i was craving waffles for some reason and guess what? We went to teach a recent convert and she gave us two big white boxes. We opened them and started to cry. Waffles with nutella, strawberries, and bananas. After we ate those we still had our dinner appointment with the other sister missionaries in the areea and guess where we had planned? The Crepery.  I got a waffle with nutella, strawberries, and bananas with hot chocolate. Wow!  What a day that was my amigos.

 I asked another girl to get dunked and she said yes and we set a date for another girl. No baptisms yet, but for sure this month. I hope. I shared my testimony in church this Sunday. That was sketch, but dope if you asked me. Also I got robbed again. Actually an attempted robbery. My comp and I were chilling on a bench in a grassy field waiting for an apointment which was at 5. I saw a bro riding a donkey, but he was dressed like a gangsta  and he had a homie behind him on a bike. Before they got to us I said to my comp thug life right there. Ha!, I   didnt even know what was about to happen. Then they stopped when they got to us. The dude on the donkey got super close to me until the donkey was touching me. They said give us something or else. you know. My comp said we don't have anything, we are missionaries. I had all my money in the bag next to me, but they didn't check it. They said leave. next time you come here you need the password. Ha,  weirdos. 

Anyway, back to the spiritual stuff, so I  want to challenge you guys this week  (if youve gotten this far) I challenge all of you to choose one or two christlike attributes to work on this week and try to improve them. I've been doing this and it really brings me closer to the Lord. Well,  have a good day and also have a great day!!!

Sometimes You Just Need to Go Lay in a Hammock

                                 Still no pics, but here is one mi Madre got off the internet of where I am

Hola Amigos,

Not much really happened this week, which is kind of good because I needed to take a nice chill sesh from all the crazy stuff that happened in the previous weeks here in sketchtown. We find new investigadors every day, some good some bad. 

Sometimes I feel like I'm not getting better at Spanish,  but then I start using new words that I hear other people say. It  just takes time you feel? Anyway, I had the privilege  to watch General Conference in English. Pheww. I loved it, except for the fact that we lost Elder Hales,  and that we didn't get to hear from the prophet. I still got a lot out of it. If I  could summarize it in a short paragraph,  this is how it would go my friends. 

Focus on your final destination, the ultimate best goal and promise that we have. Exhaltation in Families. If we simply focus on the Savior and try our best to be like him we are heading in the right direction. We will slip and fall sometimes, but God is always there to help us up. Faith in every footstep. If  our faith isn't increasing then it is diminishing. Things that can increase our faith are praying, reading the scriptures, studying the words of the prophets and apostles, and serving others. Life is all about losing  ourselves and focusing on others. 

I  invite all of you to take what you have learned from this conference and don't just remember it,  apply it or it means nothing. Study the scriptures every day. Find ways to share the gospel and serve others as much as you can. Wake up and think who needs me today. That's  what i got out of this gibfrence. 

Sorry if you were expecting a crazy story or something, but sometimes we just need to go lay in a hammock or something and chill for a bit. Okay guys as usual I hope you have a good day and also I hope that all of you have a great day!! 

Elder Sullivan

Drive By!!

                            Elder Sullivan and Elder Briggs got to see each other at a Multi-zone Conference 

Hola Amigos,

Oh gizzards! Every week here has something new to teach me! Some very sketchy things happened and also some spiritual things. First of all I have to say that I'm happy to be alive at this moment because I was basically in a drive by shooting on Monday night. We were walking home from the Texaco around 9. The streets were empty. but we heard a series of 4 or 5 pops It stopped and then started again! I had a feeling that they were gunshots but my comp told me they were just fireworks. Ha, Funny bruh! Well about 15 seconds later a massive diesel came drifting around the corner one side off the ground literally. It was hauling. As it passed the guy in the passenger seat was leaning out the window holding a massive gun and pointing it towards us. Luckily he didn't shoot, but me and my comp started running as fast as we could and my adrenaline was pumping! A few seconds later a cop truck flew by with 5 dudes standing in the back with guns.  When we got to safety my comp told me he knew that those were gunshots he just didn't want to scare me. Anyway, now i get sketched every night if i see a big truck. 

     I am getting better at contacting and talking to the people about the gospel, but if its a normal conversation I have no idea what's up. While we were contacting this week there was a parrot chillin in front of one of the houses. We dont knock cause they don't have doors. We just yell buenas! and when we said that the parrot yelled "Buenas" back.  It was dope! I went on splits again, this time with Elder Banda in Juticalpa this week. We contacted and taught this kid names Alex. he is 17, can't read, and works every single day from 3 in the morning to 7 at night. Anyway,  after our lesson he said he wanted to be baptized and go to church. I wish he was our investigador. Later that night the 4 of us got back together and went to dinner. This was no ordinary dinner bruh. This was dope. We went to a crepery man! It was so nice inside, decorated all hipsteresque and stuff. I had a nutella waffle with whipped cream, strawberries,  and bannanas on it. And some hot chocolate. It was the most beautifull sight I'd seen in a while, and it was gooood too. I  will never eat something like that again here. I couldn't take a pic cause right as I was taking the pic my cam died. 

On friday we woke up at 2:30 and rode in a bus for 4 hours to a multizone in Tegucigalpa. It  was all day and I couldn't understand anything. I fell asleep during the meeting.  I woke up to all the other missionaries laughing at me. About 4 other kids fell asleep too. I got to see Elder Bowen and Briggs, but sadly not Elder Lars. 

We had a baptism scheduled and ready to go I'm  talking font filled bruh this week. We just needed to interview the girl. We waited for her at the church but she never came,  so we went to her house and she wasn't there. Her sister said she ran away to Tegucigalpa. Dang. I was excited to have my first baptism. 

I had the most uncomfortable dinner appointment at a member's house last night. The food was good, but there was this meat. I didn't know what it was but I had to eat it. I put a big peice in my mouth expecting some normal stuff you know, but no. It took me about 3 to 4 minutes to chew and swallow the first bite. It  was sooo awkward because everyone knew I had been chewing that bite for ages. I was sweating and really uncomfortable. I was sitting right next to the dad who grilled it too. Man I'm  glad thats over. 

I thought I  better share a scripture with you guys so here it is . 2 Nephi 10:23-24.  Basically what I got from this scripture is that we have a choice--the winning team or the loosing team. The gospel never loses. I think this is why people who live the gospel are so happy,  because they are living knowing that in the end they will win. Alright guys,  have a good day. and also have a great day! peace!

Elder Sullivan

A Week of Adventures

Hola amigos, 

This week's email is gonna be a bit different. I´m separating it into mini stories that happened this week! Hope you guys enjoy!

Upgraded Pillow!

Not sure if you guys know but I was sleeping on the worst pillow I´ve ever used in my life for the first week in the field. BUT, I was shopping last P´day in the Colonia and I found a real Pillow!! My comp. and I lay down in the middle of the store to test it out. That just added to all of the usual staring. I mean I'm  the only white guy for ages out here, and plus I'm  a missionary. Some lady was following us after that because she thought we were up to something. I was walking around holding a big pillow, a bag of chocolate milk, and some body wash. 

Deathly Dry Cleaning

My comp. and I didn´t want to hand wash our clothes on P´day. Entonces, we took our clothes to the dry cleaners. It  was really cheap. I was actually expecting a decent job,  but they straight up destroyed my clothes. My pants are shrunk and wrinkled soooo bad. They didn't even smell good man. I'm  gonna stick to hand washing from now on.

Taliban!!!

We were walking back to our house after a long day of work. It was very dark. Out of nowhere a guy with a Taliban hat comes out of the bushes with a big gun and starts pointing and yelling at a group of people across the street. I was so sketched! All the people were running, but it turns out he was just kidding and trying to scare his friends. Phew.

Sung a Hymno to Jose

This was a little creep. I´m Serious! After a good lesson to one of our best investigadors, my comp pulls out a hymn book. Oooo I knew this couldn't be good. My comp was like do you want to hear a sample of a song from our church. the guy seemed creeped, but was like sure I guess,  so we sang. Just me and my comp,  for a lloooooong time man. Straight up 4 verses bro and we were really bad. It was really awkward. Ha. Ummm. Gulp.

Rainstorm from the Siths

We finished our last lesson of the day. It was really dark. We were also 2-3 miles away from our dinner appointment, so we started walking. It was chill but the wind started to pick up, like really man. The dust was flying in our face. We started running. It was too late. Instantly it was pouring. The streets were muddy and the water was up to the bottom of our calfs. We made it to our appointment,  ate dinner, drenched their house. It was still pouring on the way home. We got home and showered in our clothes because who cares man,  we basically just went swimming bro. Peace!

Soggy Handshakes

There´s this girl that feeds us dinner every Wednesday. She´s a less active and  she´s obseeessssed with all of the missionaries! In  her house she gets pics with every missionary and frames it. She´s what we call a guiper, a flirter, and one thing that all guipers do is give you the soggiest handshake of your life! I dread them. It's  like holding a dead fish bro. 

Raymond MoneyMaker!

We were contacting. My comp got a call on his phone while we were in between houses. The guy spoke English! He  was really racist and just because my comp has an accent he assumed he couldn't speak English and refused to speak with him,  so I talked to him. He was like I live here in Catacamas and I need to get incontact with my old LDS bishop from Tennessee,  but I lost his number! Anyway, I  was like bro we can try but we don't even have internet so you probably have a better chance of finding him than us. 

People call me Vanilla!! all the time and Hay Gringito!! 

I am the DEVIL!!!

Okay. highlight and lowlight of the week. Gulp. We were walking to our first appointment of the day. About 1 minute away from our house we hear a guy yelling. He was pretty far away. He was like (in Spanish) I am the Devil!!! I will Bleeepen Kill you!!! My comp and I started walking fast. I wasn't that worried cause he was clear back there on the dirt road. We were speed walking anyway and then we hear louder faster footsteps. We turned around and the guy was hauling and he wasnt running normal. He had literal Mission Impossible running form. We were sketched, but we knew we couldn't out run him so we let him catch up to us. He stopped so fast right in between us and started just walking casually inbetween us. I wanted to laugh. Haha you guys know me. Anyway he said some stuff I didnt understand. and then he shook my hand, but he shook it super hard and like pulled me into his chest. He started swearing and stuff and making fun of me. Then he was like  I have killed four people so don't mess with me!! My comp was like tranquilo man, but he grabbed him too. THEN!! BRO!!! You won't believe this man!! He lifts up his shirt and pulls a massive machete out of his pants!!!!! I was like the song, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum , RUN. and I ran  away really fast cause I mean who wants to get stabbed. My comp just stood there and wasn't running so I stopped and waited for him. Eventually the guy was like I will kill you both unless you give me your watches. So we did. He swore some more and then was like alright and walked away.

Split with Obando 

I went contacting with another missionary in the district,  Elder Obando. He doesn't speak English so it was good practice. He's a cool guy. He's a convert and used to drink and smoke and stuff. He has a tatoo too. Anyway, I contacted with him for a few hours and he made me teach a lot of the lessons but it was goood practice. 

Creepy Prayers

So the prayers here are different bro. most of them start out with buenas tardes or gracias padre and stuff like that. Anyway,  this Sunday we went to a stake conference sort of thing in Juticalpa about an hour bus ride of death away. It was in  a weird place. There was a bar in there and the cleaning ladies were just mopping the floor during the talks. We didn't even take the Sacrement. The guy who said the opening prayer  started with buenas tardes and then said soome weird stuff. His prayer was more like a talk because it was literally 4 minutes long man. Also one more thing. People cannnnnt sing here. at alll. man. Like they had a mini choir there with  10 really old ladies and they were soooo bad.  I'm  sorry,  but I was laughing pretty hard during that. Hahaha. 

Bones and Spaghetti

Man I had to force this meal down. It was some alright rice (best part of the meal), some cold potato salad, dried bananas that have no flavor whatsoever, they tasted like potatoes, and the worst part...some chicken, mostly bones maybe a tad of actual chicken,  but it was covered in like Spaghettios  or something and they were cold too! Awwww man, I  just wanted to dump my plate to the dogs sooo bad,  but my comp made me eat all of it!!!! 

Alright,  phew!  That's  enough stories for today kids. Thanks for reading. I´m doing great even though time is going by slow. I still can barely understand what people are saying, but my Spanish is improving a little bit every day. The work is hard and sometimes boring,  but I push through it. It's gonna be easier once I pick up the language. Not really any big spiritual experiences this week,  but I'm  definetely learning a lot more for myself about this gospel.  I hope you guys have a good day! and also have a Great day! Peace!