December 2, 2013

Happy December! Woah it`s weird. I`m coming up on one year being a missionary this week. I just can`t quite remember what it`s like to be anything other than a missionary. hahaha. I sent two packages last week with my nativities from the photos. I`ll be sending more nativities (or whatevers) by request in the coming weeks, although I can`t promise that they`ll get there by Christmas. But no worries, they`ll still be good by next Christmas. :)

 

Concepcion`s glasses are basically two magnifying glasses in a plastic rim. I wanted a picture of her in them, because it`s absolutely adorable, but I figured this is ALMOST adorable... hahahahahaha

There are lots of dead things in Honduras, so there are also lots of vultures.

Sometimes in life, the dog is just sitting on the car. Nobody really knows why.  

 

Anyway, this week has been, well, fast. This weeks medical endeavors included many things, as always, but more than anything, we enjoying many wild animal experiences this week. To borrow a page from Zippy: a short list of things that bit my missionaries this week: dogs (of course), a rat, bugs bugs bugs, a giraffe. Let me just explain the giraffe, because it is one of the more entertaining calls I received this week. The call went like this:

Missionary: Well... you see... something happened today

Bayles:Uhhhh huuuuuuuuh...? Digame

M: Well you see, I was at the zoo when a giraffe came up to us. 

B: uhh huuuuuh

M: And it kind of started licking me

B: uhh huh?

M: And its tongue was really scratchy

B: ohh?

M: And it`s tongue kind of scratched me on my arm.

B: Oh, that`s... weird. 

M: Ya. I was just wondering, what should I do for that?

B: Hmmm. Good question. Have you cleaned it up at all?

M: uhhhhh no. 

B: Ok, first thing, clean the area with soap and water. 

M: So what you`re saying is I should take a shower. 

B: No, just wash your arm really well.

M: well... it kind of licked my head too. 

B: ... What?

M: Yeah...

B: And how exactly did that happen?

M: Well, it started licking all the way up my arm and eventually reached my head, and then I think it liked my head better, so it kept licking it. 

B: ....

M: And then I think it thought my hair was straw or something, cause it started nibbling on my hair with its soft soft lips. 

B: And you let it?

M: ...well, I got a really great picture!

 

Welcome to my daily life. hahahahahaha. I`ll send the picture if he ever let`s me get my hands on it. It had better be a great one. 

 

The other bite that was slightly more tragic was a dog bite. Some poor sister got bit by a dog last week. When you get bit by a dog, you have to keep an eye out for the dog for 7 days, because a dog without rabies can`t live more than 7 days. If the dog is still alive after 7 days, you probably don`t need the rabies vaccine. Anyway, she was on the 7th day of observation and saw that the dog was alive and well. She was celebrating oh-so-happily when another (more vicious) dog attacked her just down the street. You`ve gotta love the mangy dogs of Honduras. 

 

Today I was part of a nursing video conference that included all of the missions in Central America. Technology really is amazing. They were saying that one in three missionaries gets sick in CA within the first three months (and that only includes REPORTED incidents haha). We`ve got a lot of work to do here. 

 

Anyway, on to responding to yàll. 

 

It almost blows my mind that 2014 is almost here. It also kind of freaks me out that I`m coming up on my 2nd Christmas as a missionary. I must admit, Christmas in the mission is a very different experience than in the home (just as Thanksgiving is VERY different here). Thanks in advance for the package. As far as the deer, the white tailed something-or-other deer is the national animal of Honduras. I`ll tell you what though. I`ve seen snakes, lizards, turtles, vultures, eagles, wild cats, spiders bigger than my head, all kinds of birds, a cavy, dolphins, crabs, and all other manner of wildlife, but I have yet to see a deer. haha. Cold, what is cold? haha Just kidding. We actually had a cold snap for this entire week. It rained for 6 days straight without stopping and did a cold sooooo cold that I couldn`t even sleep at night. haha. We were walking in the street shivering in our summer clothes and sandals as we experienced humid-cold (something I can now testify is real). I think I actually prefer melting to the sidewalk. haha. I really liked all the quotes, and I liked your ringworm trivia. One does not normally get ringworm from cats, but someone suggested that the cats here are carriers (and you can tell because of their ugly bald patches). haha. What luck I have. hahaha Thanks for the letter and thanks for all of your love and support. Love you!

 

It was definitely weird being away for Thanksgiving. I was thinking about Thanksgiving and everything it means to me, and it was weird to spend it here, where no one understands the beauty of Thanksgiving. I was trying to explain to my companion that it`s not about the food, but she didn`t get it. She thinks Gringos are weird and crazy and too serious (although she says I break the mold... except the weird and crazy bit). I bet it was awesome seeing errbody for thanksgiving. I`ll be excited to be there for the next one. Anyway, love you lots! Take care. Oh, btw, I definitely don`t remember my pin... I tried every combination I could think of, but I don`t remember at all. Either that or my card just doesn`t work here, but I`m pretty sure it`s the PIN business. 

 

No worries about the Thanksgiving plump; I guarantee it`s nothing compared to the Hondurans-love-me-a-little-too-much plump. Yeah. Try running that one off. hahaha No worries about the ringworm, it`s almost gone now. I`ll tell Hna Reyes Ooooiiii! for you, but I must say, she`s definitely not accustomed to the nursing schedule. She absolutely despises it. hahaha. I`d love to say she handles it with grace, but she just outright hates it, poor thing. It definitely takes some patience and some adjusting. Thanks for the scripture in Romans. I love that one. I almost sent my shoes home to get bronzed when I was in Olanchito, but I just ended up throwing them away. I almost regret that now. They were fabulously pathetic. As far as the Nativities go, I have only heard back from LaDee. Tell the sibs I`ll only be able to buy them for another week or two, so if they want one, they`ve gotta get on it! haha. Thanks for everything! Love you tons!

 

Welp, I do believe that`s all for now. I`ll try sending some pics. Love you all oodles!

 

Love,

Hermana Bayles 

 

p.s. I just learned: quick commands on keyboards don`t work on Spanish keyboards. For example, when you select all and hit CTRL C to copy the letter you just spent 45 minites to write your family, it deletes the letter. Happily, the Spirit showed me the undo button and I stopped freaking out. :) Ciao

 

November 24, 2013 - Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven´t made the thanksgiving feast yet, but don´t you worry… that´ll be happening soon. We´re going to be eating thanksgiving with a gringo who is currently a less active member of my ward; he even mentioned that there will be green bean casserole, so I am really looking forward to it. Also, he´s from Arizona, and we all know that Arizonans and Nevadans are made of the same desert sand, so I think it will be a great night. Haha

I can get a flash drive here just fine, the only thing is that I can´t remember the PIN for my bank card, so I am stuck for the moment. I don´t know if yáll know my PIN, but if you do, could you figure out a way to send it to me? That would be more than awesome. I honestly don´t need a camisole… we don´t like layers here because they make us die. But if you´ve got a white shirt in mind, that would be great. White doesn´t stay white very well here. Haha. Still smiling.

Hermana Reyes is cool. I think she doesn´t like the nursing stuff, but she deals with it mostly. Haha We´ve had to adjust our strides a little bit together; I´ve had to take it down a pace or two and she´s had to crank it up a little, but we get along well and we´ve had a good time together thus far.

The election is normally super dangerous here in Honduras, so when I said I was helping get ready for the elections, it´s because we were preparing the mission for an emergency situation. As the nurse, my house was one of the safe points, so we had to stock up on  a ton of food and water. In fact, we spent three days on lockdown in the house (just as a precautionary measure) and that´s why I´m writing on [Tuesday this week. Happily, the election went by without even a slight hitch and all are safe and happy in Honduras. They say it was one of the most peaceful elections in like 10 years, so we´re happy to be out working again. J Three days in the house is… an experience, but it was also a much-needed break. It was nice to just study in pajamas and take it down a notch or four.

 

The time is absolutely flying these days. I look at the date and think how impossible it is that it´s almost December. Imagine that.  The time spending has been more on missionary work than nursing, but I´ve also spent a lot of time (and money) on nursing this week. I just had to send ANOTHER sister home for health reasons, and it always involves a lot of work making sure we´ve done everything possible before we finally send them home. It always gets me a little bit to send them home. It reminds me of how a doctor must feel when he loses a patient, except a little bit less extreme. I just want to help them all stay and work to the fullest, but sometimes God has other plans. As a mission, though, we´re healthy and well, although I must say, a day in the life of Hna Bayles is different than a day in the life of just about any other missionary. It´s amazing to me how very different my mission experience is from that of my brothers and friends.  (and not just because I´m a girl haha). If I had to compare my mission to that of someone else, I´d go with David, but only in the ¨living in Latin America and dealing with all of the funny things that accompany that¨ sense. It really is such a different experience. But so so beautiful.

25 years and an eternity to go. Happy anniversary, Eileeny.

Thanks for the quotes on faith. I´ve been reading the new testament, and with three days in house, I blazed through a good chunk of it. The more I read the New Testament, the more I see the real power of faith. How many times did Christ tell the people ¨thy faith hath made thee whole?¨ He never said, ¨my power and authority as Son of God and Messiah has made thee whole, ¨ no, He said it was their faith that healed them. It´s something I´ve been thinking a lot about, and it´s really a lovely thought.

 

Your trip sounds more than wonderful. I´m so glad you got to see all of them and especially that you got to go to Nath´s baptism. I was thinking about him all day Saturday and Sunday, and just smiled like crazy. I was thinking about how he´s the only one who calls me by my middle name, and how much I love hearing him call me así.

I need thee every hour is my favorite hymn in English. I miss hearing it. Haha The piano bit sounds interesting and funny. I´d love to hear bass-y primary songs hahahahaha.

The baptism sounds absolutely beautiful. I only wish I could have been there.

Fog I´m veryyyyy familiar with, but snow and cold? I honestly don´t remember what it feels like to be cold, and I can´t quite imagine how snow is. I know I´ve touched it before and everything, I just can´t figure it out in my head right now. It´s like the idea of dragons… it just doesn´t seem real. Awesome, but not real.

Thanksgiving. Augh. Last thanksgiving was the last time I saw LaDee and Kirk and the kids. We built a fort. Man oh man. Has it really been a year? It´s so strange to think about.

Hey, while you´re all together, will you have anyone who wants a Honduran nativity choose from the three types of nativities and tell me which they want so I can buy more and send them through the mail? One is made from corn husks (typical of Copan and Santa Barbara here in Honduras) and the others are made of Barra (or clay), which is typical of all of Honduras. I can´t promise that they won´t break in camino, but I´ll do my best to keep them whole. Anyway, look at the pics (o todos vosotros) and let me know which yáll want.  J

 

This week was hectic and crazy, but all ended well and we are excited to work work work this week. I found out I have ringworm, but of all the parasites possible, it´s the best to get as it has nothing to do with your insides and only makes an ugly spot on the affected area (for me, the leg, and let´s face it: the mosquitos here have already made MANY ugly spots on my legs, so I think we´ll be just fine hahaha) and is very easily treated. Hna John thinks I got it from a cat, and I know exactly which one it it… the unlucky black cat of Concepcion, which has a bald spot and is always persecuting me. Hahahahaha Anyway, all is more than well here in Honduras. Take care and be good and have a great week.   I love you all ooodly dooooodlies and bunches of oats.

 

Love,

Hermana Bayles 

November 18, 2013

Oh my dear family, 

It is so beautiful to hear from you all. It´s nice to take a moment and think about something other than the million things that are constantly on my mind. This week has been another rough one, but reading this particular letter made me so happy I´ve just sat here and wept. Tell Nathan I could not be happier for him. Tell him that this little gal is so proud to have him as her uncle, and that even though I can´t be there for the big day, I will be thinking of him all the day long. Tell him of all the baptisms I´ve had or heard of here in the mission, this one leaves them all behind. This is one of the happiest moments of my mission, going hand in hand with the news that Josh went to the temple and that Nigil is serving a mission. You tell that beautiful man that these little eyes of mine just won´t stop reminding me how happy I am for him; I can´t get them to dry up. God is so good. 

This week has been rather hectic. We´ve been preparing for the elections (I don´t remember if that´s how you spell it in english... google translate elecciones and you´ve got it) here, which will take place this coming Sunday. For the majority of the missionaries, that doesn´t mean too much, but for the office staff and for this little nursey-girl, it´s kind of a lot of work. This week we also had cambios (transfers, I think they´re called in english). I have a new companion, Hermana Reyes from the Dominican Republic and she´s 19 years old. I also kind of have a new area. When we had cambios I didn´t have a new area, but then President called to tell me he was pulling all of the missionaries out of my area, elders and hermanas alike. He had another area to put us, but after visiting the area decided that he really didn´t feel alright about having hermanas there, so... right now I don´t have an area. hahaha. I think we´re going to return to my old area for the next who-knows-how-long, and afterwards we´re going to go to some unknown location. hahaha. It should be a fun experience. But no worries, no matter what happens, I´ll be here in San Pedro Sula (which, by the way: in the letter, one of yáll said something about going to a bigger city to buy shoes... SPS IS the big city... the only thing bigger in the whole country is the capital, and to be honest, I´m not sure Tegucigalpa is actually bigger than SPS. haha). 

Mumsie, I got the Thanksgiving package. Thanks so much for that. As far as Christmas ideas, I was thinking of buying a hard drive because all of my memories are fuuuuuull, but I don´t think that would be something to send in the mail. haha. I don´t even know how much something like that is worth. Other than that, I have no idea what I would want. I feel like I have everything I need (and more!), but it´s all good.

Eileen, sounds like you´ve had a fun week or so. I bet that´s been fun seeing all the family and errthing. I´m glad you got some days to relax and read some books. I forgot that books exist. haha I know that sounds funny, but here they really don´t have books aside from the bible (and once we come along, the book of mormon). How funny. 

Dad, I already told you how I feel about your bit of the letter, but I´ll say it again: I could not be happier. Tell Hno Rechsteiner and the Lukers I say hey and i love them. Tell them thanks for everything. 

I had more to say, but, alas, someone´s heart is arrhythmic and they´ve got tachycardia, so I´ve gotta run. I love you all a ton. Take care and be gooooooood (as Brian and ET would say). 

Lots and lots of love,

Hna Bayles    

 

November 11, 2013

Hey fam, 

I`m sorry I haven`t really written much lately. It`s just been a very busy and crazy time. It`s been a super frustrating couple of weeks, but I`m doing alright. I`m glad you got the package. That means I can try sending more stuff.  :) The statue actually isn`t quetzaltenango, it`s a copy of one of the mayan carvings in copan. And I`m glad you liked the maracuya... I``m sorry I couldn`t send you the real stuff like I`m drinking here, but I`m glad you enjoyed the fake thing. haha. 

These last few weeks have been really hard weeks for us. A lot is changing in the mission. Lies. A lot is changing for me in the mission. Cambios are this week, and I am almost positive we`ll have changes. I think I`ll probably stay in my same area, but I think I`ll have a new comp. Even if I change areas, I`ll still be in San Pedro. The nurse is pretty much stuck in the city. haha. But it`s alright. Aside from a few undesireable things, it`s really nice being in san pedro. I really love getting to interact with President and Hna Dester. They were in Guatemala this last week, and it was surprising to me how much I missed seeing them and talking to them. That`s one blessing of being the nurse, that I get to interact with them every now and then. 

I finally got the Halloween package; thanks so much! My comp was so excited for the candy too. We`ve been gobbling it. 

Welp, here`s a picture of me in my new SPS futbol jersey. 

Sounds like you all ahve had a fun week and everyhting. I`m glad you`re getting to have visits and everything. I wish I could see all yàll, but I`m glad you`re getting to spend some quality time with the little guys. 

I honestly don`t know what to write you all right now. We`ve been finding a lot of new investigators, but the majority of them only progress for a week or two and then they don`t want anything. Anyway, we are always looking for new people and always working to help the ward and the people here. Our planned baptisms just fell through. One of them is moving to Copan suddenly, so he won`t get baptized. The other is moving to La Lopez, so she also won`t get baptized. The other`s mom just prohibited her from listening to us anymore and she asked us not to come back. That`s always fun. But we`re working hard and hoping to work more integratedly with the members. 

 

Tell Andrea and Jim and Eileen thanks for writing me. Thanks for writing me to yàll too. I really love hearing from you every week. I`ll try to write more next week, but for now, that`s about all I`ve got.  

Have a great week. Love yàll. 

Love,

Hna Bayles

November 4, 2013

Dear Family,

I really loved the pictures so thanks for that. It´s crazy to see how much those little sobrinos are growing up. The biggest surprises were Noah and Elise. Holy cow they´re getting big. 

 

I honestly don´t know what to write you all this week. I went on exchanges to El Carmen with Hna Tanner this week. She´s really cool and we had a pretty good time, although it rained like the dickens (which made the holes in the soles of my shoes suddenly VERY inconvenient). I´ve officially walked through inch-and-a-half thick soles, which I consider a pretty decent accomplishment, especially considering that I currenty have (relatively) beautiful roads to walk on here. (Let´s be honest, compared to the States, these roads are post-apocalyptic, but for Honduras they´re gorgeous.) Anyway. That tells you how much walking I do. haha. Including the other pair I walked through and the two pairs of rubber shoes I´ve walked through and the wear and tear I put on my other pair of shoes before I gave them away, I´d say that adds up to about 4 inches of shoe sole that I´ve pounded out of business. But no worries, I bought some new rubber shoes today. I love these things so much. And they only cost 40 lempiras, which is to say slightly less than $2, so I´m back on my feet, as it were. 

 

This week has been insane. Absolutely insane. We´ve had so many health problems in the mission lately. I got about 14 calls in less than 10 minutes last night. I was getting new calls in the middle of calls and by the time I would hang up with one person, I´d already have 5 new calls. I predict that this week will be even worse, although I won´t give you details as to why until next week. Moral of the story, it´s been CRAZY. Add on top of that that we´ve had to take over another companionship´s area (more or less) and the result is a very very very exhausted missionary. But I´m alright, no worries. I´m healthy as an helote. 

 

Aside from that, the work goes forth. We´re currently working on reactivating our ward mission leader, so that´s been interesting. It´s amazing how much of an influence the members have on the work. When they don´t dig in with the missionaries, the work is nearly impossible and painfully difficult. But when the members heave their part of the load, the missionaries can´t help but see miracles. Incredible. 

 

Um, I´d respond to your emails, but I´m afraid I don´t really have time. I´ve only got a half hour left of pday and i just got a call saying that a sick missionary is coming in to ask me questions and get healed and everything, so I guess I´ll talk to you all next week. 

 

Pray for me, please. 

Love, 

Hna Bayles