Mason's letter -- July 12, 2010

Hey familia,

Yes mom I did get your package, thanks for the shirt and the food stuff. I played soccer this morning with that shirt and I already ate all the other stuff haha. And yeah we met the new president. We had a multi zone meeting with him on Wednesday and it was really good. He is a lot different than what I was expecting. He is a 62 year old really short guy, maybe like 5 foot 5. He is really nice and you can tell he loves you right from the start because he gives you a huge backbreaking hug. They are really nice and he has a lot of good ideas for the mission. So I'm excited to see what he will bring. He already has changed a few rules...We now can sleep in until 6:30 (we used to wake up at 6) which is cool, but my body is so used to waking up at 6, that I still wake up exactly at 6 and just lay in bed for another 30 minutes. haha So that will take a little getting used to. I think the mission will turn into a more obedient one. In the multizone they talked a lot about dengue and mosquitoes. So now everyone in the mission sleeps with a mosquito net haha. I will send you a picture. I've always wanted to sleep like a princess.

This week was a better one. We still struggled to get people to come to church, but we have made some progress with a few people. Also we have found some new colonies that we have been contacting that look pretty promising. We have just continued to work hard and have tried to stay positive. I know that the Lord will bless us, and that we will learn a lot from all of this. Maybe we are just meant to learn diligence and patience. Oh one cool thing, There is a guy in our ward who is super rich and owns a chain of really nice restaurants. Well every Tuesday for lunch we get to eat there for free now. So I'm pretty super pumped. We went there last Tuesday and it was super good. I ate a big steak with tajadas (fried green banana). Probably one of my favorite meals ever. I have even learned myself how to make fried plantain and banana chips (tajadas). So I'll have to cook that when I get home haha.

Oh and I bought a sick jersey last Monday with the money grandma gave me. So tell her thanks. It's the white long sleeved national selection jersey, and its tight. They also gave me a free t-shirt that I think I will send it home for Kylie, with some plantain chips and banana soda. I think I will send that package maybe next week home, just for fun.

We had a cool experience yesterday after church. There was a lady there that we had never seen before so we talked to her and found out she is less active. So we got talking and she told us her baby is in the hospital with a brain tumor. So I asked her if she would like a blessing for her baby. She told me that that is why she came to church, to ask for a blessing. So after church we rode to the hospital with her family and let me tell you that a Honduran hospital is a little different than an American one haha. I guess it was a hospital for poor people.

So after coaxing about 4 hospital military guards to let us enter, we worked our way to the baby. But when we entered I was shocked and saddened at the sight. In the waiting room there were a couple people just laying on the floor convulsing and nobody was doing anything to help anyone. Then there are just a line of people with major problems laying in the beds lined up along the walls waiting for surgery. It looked more like a morgue than anything. But we finally got to the intensive care unit and she talked to a few people to let us missionaries enter to give him a blessing. haha In any American hospital all of that would be way against the rules, but whatever haha. Anyway we went into the room with masks and hospital robes and stuff. Then we went to the little baby and gave him a blessing.

I didn't want to disrupt him too much and i was worried that putting our hands on his head would cause a problem. But the baby was really relaxed when we entered and just looking into space. My companion was too scared to put the oil on his head haha so I did it the anointing really carefully. I felt the Spirit really strong and knew that He was there with us. Then Elder Simon gave the blessing, I wanted to give him that opportunity because he hasn't done many.

He did a really good job. We both felt the Spirit fill us and Elder Simon felt a power enter and leave us into the child. It was the first time my companion has felt the Spirit like that and was a great experience for the both of us. It was just really surreal, us two standing in a big hospital room in crazy clothes with only a sick child and nobody else. But we both knew that everything would be alright. Also we are now working on reactivating the family, and maybe they will be a good source for a reference. We are going to pass by them tomorrow. But it was just a cool thing that we were able to do, and made me really grateful for the Priesthood that God entrusts us with and the true power of it. Also for the mission. Where else would I be able to have that experience and learn so much and feel the Spirit so strong?

But I love you all family. I hope that your week goes great and that you too can look for opportunities to serve and feel of the Savior´s love for His children.Iif we want to become like Him, we have to love like Him as well. And that Pure Love is the most powerful tool on the Earth.

Elder Mason Cardon