Tuesday, March 19, 2013

March 18, 2013





Thanks for the ST. Patrick’s Day wishes! To be honest, I forgot about it. It doesn’t exactly exist here, but there’s plenty of green to go around, so I think we’re good on that account. hahha. That’s so funny about the little girl. hahaha. And how great that she was able to be sealed to her family. Some days the song [families can be together forever] just plays through my head all day, because that’s the end goal of all of this. Yes, I’m here to help people come unto Christ. Yes, I’m here to help people realize the need to make covenants like baptism with their Heavenly Father. But in the end, I’m not here to preach, I’m not here to baptize; I’m here to get families to the temple. What a beautiful moment for that family, and what a great example of how all of life can be seen through happy and innocent eyes.  To be honest, I don’t really know much about St. Patrick, but I’m sure he’s a lovely person ;). haha. I’ll have to do some research when I get back.
I’ll have to ask about the alien tree. Maybe I’ll cut one of the fruits open to see what happens. I’ll let you know if an alien comes out. Or if it’s the fruit you’re thinking of. :)
Thanks for those quotes. I always love getting tidbits like that. :) The one by Elder McConkie reminds me of what Elder Holland talked about in the Tegucigalpa temple dedication this Sunday. He said: ALL things in our religion take their significance from the Atonement of Christ. I think sometimes we get so caught up in the culture or the details of the church that we overlook the entire foundation of it, and that is the Atonement. It’s always nice to remember the Atonement, and the fact that we’re never alone. :) Anyway, I hope you have a stellar week and that you laugh until you cry at least once (those are always the best). Love you lots!

Thanks for the thoughts et al. :) I always love hearing from y’all too. I forget about pday every single week, so I wake up, ready to rock and then I’m like, HEY, IT’S PDAY! haha. Yuperdoodles. Macizo.
That’s great that Sunday school is going so well. You can always tell if you’re a good teacher by how interested the class is by the subject. The fact that you have good participation means people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and experiences with you. I’m glad everything’s going well with that. :) That’s cool that you got to hear from pres. Teshima. I love spiritual giants like that. My mission president is like that. We’ll be sitting on his couch and he’ll be like, ‘what do you see in that picture?’ and we’ll spend the next hour talking about all manner of spiritual things, all based on a picture of the saints crossing a river. How cool. :)
As far as mowing the lawn goes, just be glad you’re not Catracha. They ‘mow’ their lawns here with machetes. hahah. They just walk outside and start hacking away at the ground with a machete and when it’s short enough, they walk away with their machete over their shoulder (likely going to hack through the jungle or chop up a coconut). hahaha But That is a lot of grass if it filled up one trash can. holy cow.
The hermanas here almost all wear plastic? rubber? shoes. In fact, I’m wearing a pair of my companion’s right now. I was looking for a pair of my own, but they only had ugly ones and bright pink ones. I’ll look again tomorrow in Choloma. I still wear my leather shoes on non-rainy day (which are soon to be non-existent) because they’re more comfortable and give MUCH better support, but I’ll switch over in the rainy season, because goodness gracious there’s a lot of water here when it rains (which is frequently).
I liked your Delta joke. hahahahahaha.
I heard from Greg today. I’m glad that everything’s going well for him. I bet it’s weird for y’all having 2 chillins in different countries, but we’re blazin trails here. :) It’s all good.
Thanks for everything and for all your support. I hope you have a loverly weeeeek. :) Lovesies!

I successfully made pupusas and yesterday I forced a less active member to teach me how to make macheteadas. hahaha. Perhaps forced is too strong a word, cause she loved teaching me (she thinks it’s fun talking to me in Spanish because she just can’t wrap her mind around the fact that Spanish words are difficult for a Gringa to pronounce haha). Anyway, they’re pretty rockin. I’ll make them for you someday. I’ll also make you wicked awesome salsa. People here don’t value vegetables unless they’re fried, and even then they don’t like them. haha. If it’s not fried, sugar, or lard, it’s not food. At least that’s how it seems here. hahaha
Our runaway is completely fine. She’s kind of hilarious. She’s a little bit crazy because she has very severe diabetes that has gone untreated for years and years and years, and she lost more than just her big toe because of it (I’m implying that she’s not all there in case it’s not clear in the text). (Moral for you and Faja: take care of yourselves, cause once the diabetes takes out your toe, your vision, and your brain, life gets a little loopy). (Did I mention that she can’t really see because of the diabetes? Cause she can’t. Everything’s dark, and she can only see well enough to do daily tasks, but not much more). Anyway, as I was saying, she’s completely fine and, as always, determined to be baptized. Every time we see her, she’s like: I’m going to be baptized. And we’re like, Yup. And her daughter’s like, ‘name even ONE prophet’ and she smiles loopily at us, cause we all know that she can’t hardly remember anything. She’s a beautiful person and has such a kind heart. Though it’s obviously hard for she and her family, it’s a blessing that she has the difficulties that she has now; sometimes when we can’t be baptized at 8, the Lord takes us back to 8 to be baptized so that after the baptism, we can remain pure and clean until our time is done. How beautiful for her.
Very good stuff to think about right thurrr. :)

Greg’s translation stuff sounds wicked awesome and way over my head (meaning that things are completely normal in the Greg department. :) ) Tell Gail I say Hi! I think she’s so great. There’s a cute little lady in my ward here that reminds me so much of Gail. Every time I see her it’s like a little piece of home. She comes to English class every Tuesday and Thursday, so I get to see her a lot. :) If Gail had a Latina doppleganger, it would be this marvelous woman. :)

Awwww. I’m glad my palm is a-growin. You know how I feel about plantypoos. ;) Yes it’s hot and humid here, but we have a fan, so most nights things are manageable. :) We’re just becoming accustomed to constantly sweating. It’s not so bad when there’s no other option. :)
Thanks for the letter and the love; I hope you have a groovy week! Love you! :)

Errbody:
Andrew and Kristen,I forgot to wish you a happy anniversary last week. Happy anniversary!

Did y’all get to see the cultural event for Honduras? It was on BYU TV. Dunno, but it was AWESOME. We got to see a broadcast of the temple dedication which was also AWESOME!!! president Uchtdorf and Holland were the presiding authorities and it was SPECTACULAR. A few quotes from the dedication:
No sacrifice is too great when it comes to receiving the blessings of the temple; there exists no greater goal than to always be worthy of a temple recommend. (don’t remember who said it)
Let us be known as a people who love God with all our heart and who love our fellow man (president Uchtdorf)
Sacrifice is more than an action, it’s an attitude (don’t remember).

Anyway, I hope you all have a happy week and that all is well. That’s all the time I have for now. I’ll be sending one picture in a separate email. Love you all! Adios!

Hna. Bayles

p.s. The cigarette cartons here have a horrific picture of a creepy man with a hole in his neck as a warning not to smoke. Funny, eh? The sad is that people still buy them like crazy.
p.p.s. Tattoos hardly exist here. The only people who have tattoos are the really “bad” ones or the ones who have spent a lot of time in the us. Cool, huh?
p.p.p.s. Hey, will somebody tell Jordan to drop me a line? I had a dream that he’s engaged. hahaha.

Peace and Blessings, all!

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