When you are in the service of your fellow beings...‏

Hermana Araujo y Yo

Dearest Family and Friends,

        Sorry that time was short the last two weeks. Today will be better. 

Here in Santa Lucia it´s been warm during the day and cold at night. It rained once this last week. Unfortunately my companion has had a cold because of this. And her companion might have accidentaly given her the medicine for nighttime instead of daytime...and she might have been groggy for a while...but, lesson learned. 

        Things have been interesting with Hna Araujo. I can't say we've always agreed on things, but I can say we do care about each other a lot. We've also gotten along well with the other hermanas in our branch, who live in the same place we do - our apartments are right next to eachother. It`s just us and the landlord and his wife. And their dogs. Toby you have to watch out for. He isn't mean, he is just a hyperactive pomeranian that tries to get into your house if you aren't careful.

         This last week we had some interesting adventures.  

        On Wednesday of this last week, we had a family home evening at a place called CAIPAC. It´s a center for the blind/visually impaired. We and the other hermanas in our branch, Hna Bautista and Hna Juarez, shared a message with a few of them from the story of David and Goliath, and applied it to them. It was a very unique experience, and I can say they are some of the most humble, loving people I´ve met. It was different sharing a lesson with them, but I have a testimony that everyone of us can feel the presence of our Father in Heaven, even though we can`t see Him. I know He is there, even when we make mistakes-His love is always there. 

       Thursday, my companion and I were walking along the street that has the lagoon (more of a pond - but it´s pretty) and we saw a woman who had stopped to rest and went to contact her. It turns out she (a woman of about 60) was trying to carry this heavy log all by herself! Of course we offered our help, even though she turned out to living farther away than we thought! Hna Araujo and I took turns carrying this log down the street, down, down, down a large hill until we reached her friend to help her carry it. It took a while, and she doesn't even live in our area, but it felt good.  Everone needs a helping hand. 

       What else? new foods: pupusa. A tortilla that is made with cheese and sausage inside of it.  empanadas; a food that is not traditional to Honduras but rather Paraguay. It`s scone-like with meet and peppers and onions inside, or at least that's how we made them, but you can put different things inside. And I also ate cow heart yesterday, which was new. Not as bad as it sounds, actually kind of good. 

        With our golden family we shared about general conference, which is getting me excited about it again. Eugenio and Mirta are getting excited for their baptism, asking all sorts of questions about what will happen. We love them a lot. We had a family home evening with them and played that game What would happen if...? which is also super funny in Spanish. One question was What would happen if (one of the boys) was a Martian. The answer from the next paper read: all the woman would suffer. Hno Eugenio almost couldn´t read it, dying laughing. He will be a future leader of the church, I know. 

        I´ve been trying to help my companion learn English, and in return she´s been helping me with Spanish and occationally she teaches me words in guarani, which is the native tongue of Paraguay. I can`t remember any right now...but maybe next week. 

        One thing I read from my studies this week was the story of Abinidi. One thing he asked the priests of Noah was about the commandments. He taught them, and us, that we need to have the commandments "written in our hearts" As we study them and live them and love them, we write them in our hearts. At the center is our Savior, Jesus Christ.  As he and His doctrine are written in our hearts, we can be sure that we are on the right path. I love the scriptures and the knowledge and peace they bring. I´ve loved reading the Book of Mormon in Spanish - surpised and thankful that i can! I know that it has been the gift of tongues and some sweat that has helped me learn. I`m still learning, but it`s coming along. 

        Thank you, always for your prayers and support. Keep doing the little things that matter.

Me, Hna Juarez, Hna Bautista, Hna Araujo The first day in Santa Lucia‏

granted i look weird in this picture, but I like it because it was the day of changes and I found out I was going where Hna Arango was before she was my companion in choluteca. the same hermana that trained hna Arango also trained Hna Araujo. Now Hna Arango is training (her new comp is on the left) it was an exciting day!

         Love, 

         Hermana Hogge