HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Hermana Gomez's beautiful table

Happy Thanksgiving from Honduras! What a beautiful day we enjoyed here...the weather was absolutely perfect, the dental clinic was fairly busy, and we were able to enjoy a wonderful meal with missionaries and the Gomez Family. We got the office Elders out of the office and into their areas early in the afternoon to give them plenty of time to get some work done and then met up at the mission home for a traditional Thanksgiving meal later in the evening.

Hermana Gomez cooked the turkey and potatoes. I made rolls, gravy and stuffing. Thank you to Pricesmart for apple and pumpkin pies. President Gomez says that he had never eaten turkey until the mission....it is one meat that they just don't have in Argentina. Stuffing was new to them and it is not usual for them to serve gravy with mashed potatoes. It tasted so good to us.

Ready to Eat

Turkey Carver

President asked Wayne to carve and serve the turkey....something he has had a lot of practice with. Probably the most touching moment was when Elder Guymon walked into the kitchen and realized that we had a complete Thanksgiving meal. He looked at the gravy and started to cry. I was so touched. It made all the work so worthwhile. The only thing missing from our celebration was our Thanksgiving Eve Pizza Party. Today I am listening to Christmas albums and watching Christmas movies...I missed Miracle on 34th Street yesterday!!! Love you all.....

TEARS AND SMILES

Crying at the airport

I am hoping that you will indulge my journal entry type blogs as I record the comings and goings every six weeks of missionaries. It is a major event in the mission and we never get tired of the feelings and excitement that these times entail. We said goodbye this week to six missionaries and hello to eleven. It is getting harder and harder to say goodbye to these missionaries. Thus the title Tears and Smiles. We had just finished saying goodbye to our four missionaries going home to the United States....Elder Waldron, Elder Miskin, Elder Shumway and Elder Hall. Hermana Gomez and I were in tears (remember I have only known them for 4 months...she has seen them grow their entire mission. In fact this was one of the first groups that they welcomed when they entered the mission.) when President Gomez announced...okay stop the tears, we need to put on smiles...the new ones will be here in 10 minutes. We literally walked down the stairs, dried tears and greeted new missionaries.

Saying goodbye
Elders Hall, Shumway, Miskin, Waldron
with President and Hermana Gomez

Saying Hello

These new missionaries are going to be a powerful force in Honduras. We received 7 new missionaries from the Missionary Training Center as well as 4 from the CCM in Guatemala (including 2 hermanas). Today we helped orient them and tried to answer all the questions that they have. We were especially busy because the 7 missionaries from Provo were tentative in their Spanish. As soon as they get here, they realize how much they need to learn. President Gomez took the time to have each new missionary bear his testimony for one minute. It was humbling to hear these missionaries bear testimony in Spanish. They are ready to conquer the world.

Elders Sagers, Prescott, Hendershot, Lloyd, Summers, Rose and Sorensen

Elders Roca and Vasquez Hermanas Molina and

One of the most fun parts of the day is watching the trainers receive their assigned greenie. We especially like this part because we know so many of the training missionaries now. It is so exciting to watch them get so excited about who they are going to train....say hello...goodbye to us...and off they go. We will see them again in about 2 weeks.

New Trainers
Elders Mautauma, Davis, Eietneier, Kartchner, Hanson

NEW BEST FRIENDS

I came out of my piano lesson this afternoon to this scene. Elder Tomkinson was showing pictures in his camera to a group of children that were at the building while their mothers were doing a cooking project. What a darling group. He was talking to them, and they couldn't all get on his lap at the same time. They were sure trying. Look at the little boy wearing the hat with his arm draped around Wayne's neck. I couldn't resist the photo op.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING

I was walking through Walmart yesterday (HyperPais here in Honduras) and they were playing Christmas Carols. It hit me that it is the Christmas season and we are going to be here for Christmas! I always knew that was going to happen, but I have to admit that my eyes got a little teary thinking of it. I know that we will have so much to do and so many great experiences in the next month...but it is really hard thinking about not enjoying family and all of the traditions that we are used to. Hopefully we will be able to find some tamales to continue our Christmas morning tradition.

Things are beginning to look like Christmas here. It has been hard for me without the Thanksgiving season to shoot us into Christmas time.....but the homes are starting to be decorated and the carols are being sung. Our ward is starting to plan their Christmas activities. Today they announced that the Primary children are going to come around the afternoon of December 20th (Saturday) to sing carols and collect treats. I'll keep you posted on our Missionary Christmas.....

CAMERON TREJO

We had the greatest visit yesterday with our family friend Cameron Trejo. Cameron is the same age as our oldest daughter Trisha and grew up in Casa Grande. Cameron served his mission here in Honduras. He was one of the first missionaries who served when they split the Comayaguela Mission from the Tegucigalpa Mission. Cameron served in Honduras during Hurricane Mitch 10 years ago. He told us some of the stories of things that happened during the hurricane and after. He was able to spend some time with President Hinckley (he was driving him around Honduras) during the disaster aftermath. People here still talk about when President Hinckley came to visit after the hurricane. President Hinckley was the first international visitor to come and our Church was the first to offer aid to the country.

Cameron was here working on a documentary about a man here in Honduras (80 years old) who has build a helicopter in his house. Cameron also told us about his experience with the Reflections of Christ project. He was the filmmaker on the project. He says that there are many non-denominational interests in the display and film. It sounds like he will be busy with this for awhile. They are hoping to come back to Central America (we hope Honduras) to film some scenes for another project about Christ in America. Thanks for spending the day with us Cameron!!

RANDOM THOUGHTS

First of all, I can't believe that it has been an entire week since my last blog. I guess it really is true that when you are busy time just flies. It seems that is happening to us. I get up in the morning and before I know it, it is time to go to bed again. We are busy in the dental clinic in the mornings, at the mission office in the afternoon and in our area in the evenings. In between all that we are fitting in doctor's visits with missionaries, checking out new apartments for the missionaries, running the office (Wayne) and teaching piano lessons (Suzanne). We don't have time for much else. It is wonderful. Those of you who are wondering if a mission is for you.....DO IT!!! What a blessing this experience has been for us and our family.

Just a few comments on what we have been doing along with some random thoughts and some pictures to go along with the commentary:

DENTAL CLINIC

Working on one of our futuro misioneros

After a month of teacher's strikes and a flood in the clinic we are back to being open all morning. Wayne is at his best when he is able to be at the clinic every day. I have started doing some assisting and that is fun. We have been working on the missionaries from the two missions in Tegucigalpa as well as future missionaries. We have met with all the Stake Presidents in the area and have told them to use us for their missionary needs. We have also worked on some members. It is so wonderful to get to know these dear people. We had three new students start this week in the clinic, so Wayne is really busy helping them. I wish I could take a picture of him surrounded by his students and you could hear them all say "Dr Wayne" with their Spanish accents!!

KRISTIN AND NICOLE

We were able to celebrate two baptisms these past two weeks. First our very first grandchild was baptized on November 9th. Kristin Riggs was baptized by her father Rusty Riggs. Although it was hard not to be there for this special day, we were so pleased with the choices that she is making and loved hearing about her day. The other baptism was our dear Nicole Flores. She is the little girl that we befriended and then later were assigned to her ward. She was baptized last Friday evening by her father Mario. They included us as members of the family and invited us over to their home after the baptism. Nicole is so much like Kristin, and we felt that by going to her baptism we were able to see how the day was for Kristin. What a blessing this younger generation is going to be for the Church. Their testimonies are so strong. They both received their own personal set of scriptures are were so excited about it. We are proud to be associated with such fine young women.

ORPHANAGE EXPERIENCE

This week we visited an orphanage with one of the LDS students from the dental school Oscar Campos. He spends his afternoon there helping the orphans and wanted us to see the facility and if there was anything we could do to help. We were delighted to see that it was the same facility that our friend Dave Sheets has put so much time, effort and money into. Wayne has visited it on his other trips to Honduras. How wonderful to see one of the dental students making such a commitment to the community he lives in. I just had to include a picture of me with the babies.





TEACHING PIANO LESSONS

I have started teaching piano lessons to five teenagers...Blanca, Harold, Benjamin, Cinthia and Yanori... in our LaVega ward. It is so fun. They have completed the church piano course and want to learn more. We are working on their left hand, rhythm and right now we are working on Christmas carols. We are going to try and play a rendition of Angels we have Heard on High for the ward Christmas Party. It is really fun, and is a bright spot in my week. Today we talked about using the pedal on the piano (they all play keyboards). I told them I wanted them to practice on the "real" piano so that they could practice the pedal. They were so excited.

Learning to teach all over again in SPANISH!!

MISSIONARIES, MISSIONARIES, MISSIONARIES
Elder Waldron asleep in the President's office
after a middle-of-the-night run for a sick missionary

The highlight of our days is being around the missionaries. We are truly blessed by their spirits. We are now getting to the stage where so many of the ones that have become dear to us are going home. Our second "batch" of returning missionaries leaves next Tuesday. We will need to say goodbye to Elders Miskin and Elder Waldron. We have already said goodbye to Elder Nicolosi.

These three "gringo" missionaries have made the transition from senior citizen to senior missionary so much easier. They have been great helping us with our Spanish and adjusting to missionary life. We miss them already. We are trying to get all of the returning missionaries into the clinic before they go home, so that they can at least have their dental work caught up!! We did six of them on Monday.

Elder Miskin with Dr Wayne.....Elder Waldron getting his teeth done with our three new students

I HATE TO PAINT

My Christmas masterpiece

Those of you who know me well know that I hate to paint. Hand me a paintbrush and I am at a loss. I love to do anything that has to do with sewing, music, even housecleaning. But I hate to paint. This week was our La Vega Ward Enrichment Meeting. You guessed it.....as I got there they handed me a paintbrush. I was expected not only to paint but to come up with, draw and create the entire design. I loved being with the Sisters...I did not like the painting. I have to tell you, these sisters are talented. They drew pastoral scenes, poinsettias on bells, and fruit that looked like you could eat it. I drew a flower (Christmas colors) that looked like a Preschooler had done it.

We have decided that we are going to spend Tuesday evenings at the Church. It is Mutual night. This week the boys were playing...futbol. It is the same at all Young Men activities...they love to play sports after their activity night. There are three main sports in Honduras...futbol, futbol and futbol. Wayne got a great video of them playing in the parking lot. We also got to meet several future missionaries and made appointments for them to come to the dental clinic for their pre-mission work. The Primary was also there practicing for their Primary Program coming up in two weeks. It was a busy night at the building...we loved it.

Some of the Primary girls have adopted me. Tonight we showed them a picture of Kristin and her baptism invitation. Nicole is holding the picture. She is going to be baptized this Friday. They were so excited to see our nieta. They say that they are my nietas here.

NOCHE DE HOGAR CON LA FAMILIA DUARTE

The Duarte Family

What a great time we had Monday evening at Family Home Evening with the Duarte family. Elder Duarte is the Area Seventy for Honduras. He is a wonderful and humble man whom we have learned to love and appreciate. He and his wife Gladys have three beautiful daughters. (Tonya, Gladys and Gloria) Their home radiates with the Spirit and love.

Monday evening we had dinner at their home and then had a wonderful lesson on doing things even if they seem hard. I'm not sure if it was meant for us or his three daughters. (Probably both). After the lesson, they showed us the beautiful view from their backyard of the city. They had bouganvillas every color imaginable (I can't wait to see it in the daylight). They showed us their memories of when they served as Mission President in Peru. They sang to us, and we played the piano and just laughed. Wayne and I came away so filled with the Spirit and so enjoyed this evening with this wonderful family. They have no idea what it meant to us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISSA

Just a quick shout out to our baby girl who turned 20 (10+10) this week. We were able to talk to her for a few minutes, and it was so great to hear how well she is doing. In fact we are so proud of the entire family for all that they are doing to help each other and be a great group while we are doing our thing here in Honduras. It is so much easier to serve when those worries of home are minimal.

Alissa made this for her dad for Father's Day
He has had it hanging in his closet ever since
It still hangs in his closet today....in Honduras

Alissa is not only beautiful on the outside, but on the inside as well. She is a wonderful example of a person that I would like to be. She is a great friend to everyone. She loves her Heavenly Father and gets great pleasure from serving Him. She loves her family, and is the perfect baby for us all. She is a great aunt and loving sister. Thanks Alissa for just being you!! (For a million dollars would you.....)

Love, Dad and Mom

RAMON ARGUELLES

Wayne at the entrance to our dental clinic
that bears Ramon's name

This week the dental school in Honduras lost a giant. Ramon Arguelles passed away this last Monday after being in a coma for several months. Although I have never personally met Ramon, I have learned to love him through the life that he led and the stories that others have told me about him. The outpouring of love for his family was amazing. Ramon passed away Monday morning. By the time of his viewing that evening the word had passed like wildfire throughout the city and the church. There were people from all over at the viewing to give condolences to Tati and Maria. We were able to attend that evening as well as the funeral/burial the next day. What a wonderful spirit.

The day after the burial, we attended a meeting at the dental school with the heads of the departments. David Sheets was there and we all discussed continuing the work that Ramon was so instrumental in starting at the school. Hopefully the legacy of this great man and spirit will continue for many generations.

With Dave Sheets outside the Presidential Palace
(Have no idea why I look like I am frowning and eating my hair)

While Dave was down he was able to introduce us to the people in the government that help to run the Humanitarian efforts here. We met with two wonderful women in the office of the First Lady. Hopefully we can be a liason for the Church here, and help the Church efforts on the humanitarian front (we are welfare services missionaries). This picture is outside of the Presidential Palace (similar to our White House). This is where our meetings took place.

TAXI RIDE

I have always considered myself quite a cosmopolitan girl. Living during my high school years in New Jersey, I have spent time in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, etc. I have always enjoyed traveling and new experiences. I had a new experience this week, however. The day of Ramon Arguilles' funeral, we found ourselves without a car. The office car that we usually drive was in the shop for service, and all of the other options were busy. We knew that we had only one option to make it to the service: TAXI RIDE.

Missionaries negotiating for a taxi

Now let me explain a little about the taxi system here. We can compare it to a thrill ride at Disneyland or Magic Mountain. There are no rules. There are no speed limits. There are no guarantees. In other words, there is no safety or security. I knew that I didn't want to walk the mile or so to the service in my heels (I can't really walk up or down stairs in the stupid things anymore), so it was ride the ride of a lifetime or not go.

We left our apartment two very conspicuous gringo missionaries. We walked just a little ways from our apartment and hailed the first cab that we saw. We paid 50 Limperas (about $2.50) for the ride. I am sure that this was an inflated price, but we didn't care. After the service, we paid the same amount for the ride home. We survived, weren't robbed, and even were able to laugh about our experience. We did worry a little bit about the man with the machete who walked by us while we were hailing the cab. That story is for another day.

STAKE CONFERENCE

After conference

We attended our Stake Conference this weekend with our ward in the Toncontin Stake. What a wonderful experience it was. We were able to see all of our missionaries (there are 14 sets of them in this Stake). They were busy with investigators and new members. It was interesting for Wayne and I to realize that the people aren't speaking quite as fast as they used to. (We are starting to understand what is being said.) We had several people come up to us that we have met during the past three months. We felt like we belonged. It was a wonderful feeling.

One of the buses leaving the church
You can't really see....but it is crammed with people

Some of the people have to come quite a long way to attend Stake Conference. They have buses for them, so that they won't have to take taxis, and so that they will be able to come. The parking lot was absolutely full. The talks were inspiring and the singing was unbelievable. Every person was singing.

We made a few contacts there today....and have an appointment for this Friday with an investigator....we will be teaching him. I guess we know what we will be studying this week. The first lesson....IN SPANISH.

I was excited to see Hermana Espinal. She is the sweet sister that I spent the night with while she was in the hospital. It was good to renew that friendship. Just a great weekend...we are starting to feel at home.

Hermana Tomkinson and Hermana Espinal

ELDER BOURNE AND ELDER DAVIS

Elder Davis and Elder Bourne at the hospital

This past weekend we have had an Elder in the hospital. Elder Bourne arrived from the MTC about two weeks ago with a virus that he just couldn't get rid of. He has been fighting a cough, getting better and then getting worse for the last two weeks. Friday we told him to go to the hospital emergency room where we met him and his companion Elder Davis.

Just a few observations about these two missionaries. We have learned from other Elders in the mission that Elder Davis is a hard-working missionary. We have decided that the other Elders are the best source for these observations. He and Elder Bourne are in a new area and have started teaching there with gusto and zeal. When we got to the hospital and realized that Elder Bourne would have to stay a couple of nights, Elder Davis didn't even hesitate. He got on the phone, let their contacts know what was happening, went back to the house to get things that they might need, etc. When we asked when Elder Bourne wanted a blessing, they informed us that Elder Davis had already taken care of that before they ever left the apartment.

These missionaries are living in a foreign country with less than perfect living conditions. They are eating different food, taking showers out of buckets, and walking miles every day, yet their enthusiasm for the gospel and the message that they have to share is unsurpassed. We had to make them promise that Elder Bourne would not go "running" this afternoon to make up for the lost time that they had this weekend.....there will be plenty of time for that when he feels better.

Getting ready to leave the hospital

I worried that Elder Bourne would not be able to learn the language as quickly with a Gringo companion....but what an inspired companionship this is. They are perfect. The language is coming and Elder Davis was the perfect companion to get Elder Bourne through this first month. It never ceases to amaze me how inspired this program is and how the missionaries are blessed with just what they need. I am humbled every time I have one of these realizations. They really are in the Lord's hands.