Mason's First Letter from Honduras! 11-22-2009

Hola Familia!

I hope all is well at home and mom is not worrying too much about me. Well this week has been a crazy experience, really hard, but great. I love it here. So my first area is called La Ceiba. Its like the most coveted area here in Honduras. Its the place right on the beach where I always used to Google Earth! So its amazingly beautiful. The 2 cities that me and my comp have are called Miramar, and Independecia.

My comp is Elder Gonzalez from Paraguay. So yeah he speaks no English. haha so it's kinda tough at times, but in the long run it will be better for me I think. He is a really funny guy and he loves to sing songs that are American. But he doesn't understand the words so sometimes he says swear words from songs haha so I always have to translate for him and tell him what everything means that he's singing. haha its really funny. I like him a lot.

So our apartment is really small, only one room and one bathroom...and yes, I shower with a bucket and freezing cold water. So that's a good experience, it was annoying the first couple times but now I'm used to it. Our place is like a block from the beach so the views are amazing. It's one of the only places in the mission where you are right on the beach, and I got it my first area! So one day we went running on the beach, it was dope to say the least. The houses along the beach are really poor and are just scrap metal tin and old wood, but it was tight. So it's a lot different than what I expected.

The city of San Pedro is really pretty dirty. There is just trash everywhere and a lot of pollution. We walked off the plane and it smelled like smoke and you could see the air. So I asked the A.P. if there was a fire and he said no that it's just Honduras. haha so San Pedro is different than here in La Ceiba. Here everyone is really chill and calm. Everybody is nice and everybody likes to try out their few English words that they know with me. They are bad at English, but I'm bad at Spanish so no biggie.

The people here are amazingly poor. The poorest you could imagine. There are places that are literally pieces of trash tied together into a house. It's crazy. I don't know how some people survive. it's definitely an eye opener.

So on the bus ride to La Ceiba, which is like 4 hours long I had to pee super bad. and we never stopped. It hit me hard about an hour in. So I held my pee for 3 hours and honestly I almost peed my pants. I tried to ask the A.P's if we were stopping anywhere and they said no. It hurt so bad, I amost grabbed my water bottle and peed in there. But somehow I made it. I was thinking oh great I'm gonna pee myself my first day in my area. That's gonna make a good impression. But the bus wouldn't stop so I had to hold it. and miraculously I did. I thought that was funny and you'd like to hear that haha really cool experience.

On the plane from Miami to Hondo, I sat next to a guy from Honduras that lives in the USA now. So I started talking to him and got him interested in the gospel. So I started teaching him, and he stopped me and made me teach him in Spanish. So I taught him in Spanish for the whole plane ride--about 2 hours. I ended up giving him a Book of Mormon in Spanish and he read a lot of it during the ride. He said he knew it was true as soon as he started reading, he has no doubts. He said his plane was supposed to leave Miami at 1 pm, but got delayed to my fight at 8pm. He told me that God had sent me to him and worked everything out for me and him to talk. So it was amazing. I got all his info so hopefully he will progress. It was a confidence booster going in here.

That night we got here we all got to stay in a nice hotel and ate Wendys. The only good bed I will see for 2 years. The next night I slept on the floor. and now I sleep on a nasty matress. Our first full day we just were told all the rules and met with the Pres. and stuff like that. Then we went contacting in the park in San Pedro. It's the famous park across from the famous catholic cathedral. It was really hard and I didnt understand a word the people said. They speak super fast here and don't really pronounce their ¨s¨. and they mumble a lot.

So my first few days I didn't understand much. It was really frustrating. but everyday I understand more and more. I can basically understand 75% of everything now. A few people that talk I still can't understand them cause they mumble or whatever, but it's getting better. I'm learning really fast. I'm definetly the whitest and tallest person here. The girls like to whistle at me on the street haha. Everyone is really nice to me though. I can't even count how many times I've been called Gringo here.

There are not many bugs here or crazy animals. I haven't really been bit or had problems with bugs or things like that yet. It is amazingly hot here and humid, and this is the cold season here. I'm always sweating, but it doesn't really bother me that much. It might in the summer though. I guess there is one week in the summer called holy week where it gets like 110 degrees. Can't wait!!

The food here is different. It's just beans and rice and eggs and tortillas and sometimes meat. but they cook everything in a lot of fat, and never use spices. So it's just really tastless and heavy. I leave every meal with a really full stomach. A few times I have had to just choke down the food, but that's normal in a mission I guess. I haven't felt sick at all yet either so that's a blessing. Today I think we are going to Burger King. They love Pizza Hut and KFC here the most of any restaurant I think.

We have 2 wards, one for each city. So yesterday we had to split up and I had to go with the ward mission leader to Miramar. So I was lost to say the least. Then I was told I had to give a class for the investigators. First off I didn't even know investigators were there cause I don't know anyone and my comp said there wouldn't be any. So there was 2 there. I didn't know how I was going to teach a class in Spanish, but luckily a brother came and taught it. So that was a relief. But it went good.

We have a baptism next week I believe. and a few progressing investigators. There are a lot of baptisms here. I'm adjusting pretty fast here and I hope to continue to understand more and more each day. Everything's going great though. I love it here and I love my comp. We are becoming good freinds. Each day I talk more and more in Spanish to the people cause I can actually understand a bit of what they are saying. It's not the speaking that gets me. It's the understanding.

This place is amaazing though. It's super poor and has some pretty nice places. It's just so cool to be here in this culture. It seems like there are no rules at times in this country haha,. The political stuff is fine. I haven't had or seen one problem with it. I think next week are elections so we have to stay in our apartment for a whole week. But really it's chill here. It's not as bad as the news in USA makes it sound.

Well I hope I answered all the questions and I hope this email has enough detail in it. Just know that I love this work and this place. This is the hardest an the best experience of my life. I'm glad to finally be doing the work and out of the MTC.

I love all you guys back at home. Thanks for all the support and love.

Love, Elder Mason Hanks Cardon