WEEK #91 Baleadas y Cuevas

Fun day at the cave!

Sooo wanna start off today by saying that this PDay in other words today was way tooo fun!  Well the only food category Ive eaten today is baleadas so thats a good start to the day with breakfast and lunch and the thing that made today even more amazing was the caves we just got back from!  Seriously like a once in a lifetime experience today that Im never gonna forget going out to some caves by Lake Yojoa and having a blast!  It was the coolest cave tour Ive ever taken!  Seriously wish you guys could come and see and do it!  The best part about it is that it was Honduras rules (as usual) meaning that you could just roam everywhere and explore everything and touch all of it.  We probably went 2 miles in and traveled around like 5 miles of cave terrain.  We held our flashlights in our mouth as we were climbing, scaling, crawling, sliding, moving and manuevering over and under big, slimy, wet, slippery rocks and cave features in the pitch dark.  Funnest thing ever!  Fotos dont do justice to everything we did and saw today but ya ill try to send some anyway!  And another cool thing is that my comp got hit in the head by a bat.  Legit.

Well lets see what else happened this week.  On Tuesday we did divisions out in a 2 places called Paraiso y Pimienta. (Paradise and Pepper.)  Pretty cool divisions and we were able to get these missionaries even more inspired to work hard and find new people to teach!  Then we got a call that night saying that I had to go to Migration the next day to renew my residency card cause ive been here so long.  Pretty cool cause remembering the last time I did that I had less than a year in the mission and when we went to renew my companions residency card I was able to see my buddy back then Elder Austin Measles.  Crazy to think that was sooo long ago and now im the one heading home.  Wow.  Time flies.  After renewing the card we went out and got some Johnny Rockets with my boys Wood and Fackrell.  I seriously dont know if all shakes are that heavenly in the states but seriously the best shake ive had in literally years.  Johnny Rockets is dope a little taste of america in a 3rd world country.  That night we were also able to get some investigators to go to the open house at the church cause it was the week of the family and they had a bunch of little events like that going on!  They absolutely soaked it all in and loved what they saw and more imporantly felt at the church.  Going by the sacrament table they could really just feel peace is what they said.  How lucky are we to be able to feel that every Sunday.  On Friday night we had a talent show and it was super funny.  Elder Call and I sang some Hello by Adele but that missionary version and killed it!  Also did the classical dance of Honduras and bailamos punta.  Super hilarious.  Saturday was sport day and we seriously played voleibol and fútbol from 4 til like 9.  It was dope.  Fun day.  Fun week.

Well that was about it for my week.  Definitely a fun memorable one and hoping to get more good solid work in this week!  Ive only got 7 weeks left and gotta make every day count!  I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love Elder Haden

WEEK #90 Feliz Dia de la Madre :)

Hey guys!!  Soo this week was such a great one!!  Loved talking with my family yesterday and laughing with them and spending some quality time talking and such!  I seriously have the best family in the whole world from my Mom to my Dad to my grandparents to my brothers and sisters  uncles, aunts, cousins, and friends.  I seriously feel soo blessed to have ALL of you in my life!  So great talking with you all yesterday!  And well.. Ill see you all in Utah very soon!

This week we moved houses.  Are new house is sooo legit!  We also did divisions in Potrerillos with some cool elders from Arizona and had some fun!  The rest of the week was kind of a blur.  But we were able to find Tyrone again and well he found us in the street and told us some good news that he finally decided to stop listening to all the bashing about the church from other churches cause everyone bashes the good ones and especially the best one and he said I wanna be baptized.  Why Not?  Soo that was super cool to find him and that hes solved a lot of his own problems in this time!  

Something funny that happened this week was that I was trying to teach my comp how to do a handstand and to practice by putting his feet up on the door and holding himself there and lowering himself down slowly after.  Well it didnt quite work like that cause he put his hands super far out from the door and then banged his feet on the door and forgot about the come down slow part and dropped straight on his head and sprawled out on the floor.  It was hilarious!  Soo ya were working with that!  

Then Sunday we had a sweet Mothers Day baptism and were able to baptize a mother!  Actually who we baptized is the mother of Dunya who we baptized like 2 months ago!  Such a cool baptism and her faith and courage was inspiring in this whole process.  Soo cool to be able to help a family come together!  Were gonna work with the brothers now and see what we can do!  Please continue to pray for us!  And thanks sooo much for all the support, prayers, encouragement and love youve all sent my way my whole mission!  I wouldnt have been able to do it without you!!  Have a great week!!

Love Elder Hunt :)

WEEK #89 Agua

A big heart from my boy!

This week was a very good one!  We were able to get a lot of things done and have tons of fun as well!  We've just been very busy lately and time is flying by soo fast!  Im having such a great time here though in Santa Cruz with my buddy Elder Wood.  Just feels like Im preaching the gospel with one of my bros.  Nothing better!  Today we went to the lake and it was cool cause the last time I went there was like 14 months ago. Feels like Ive been here awhile haha but still the same beautiful lake.  I love it there and the fish we ate after was just as good as ever!!

This week I realized just how much I love water.   I mean its just soo good for soo many things.  Just want to mention a few.  Its great for drinking after a long hot day, its good for showering, its good for wakeboarding, tubing, and skiing.  Its great for swimming, its great for fishing, its great for rafting and surfing.   It keeps everything fresh and clean.  I think for that alone is why we use it for baptizing people.  To make us fresh and clean.  When we get baptized our sins are washed away and then after baptism we partake of the sacrament every sunday to stay fresh.  If it werent for water we would dry up spiritually and never be clean enough to return to Heavenly Father.  Without water we would die and without the living water that Jesus Christ offers us we would also die spiritually and forever.  Anyway I think water is one of my most favorite things there is.  Im thankful for it.

Two Zones!

Soo we had some sweet divisions this week in Rio Lindo.  It was super pretty there and super fun with the missionaries there!  Loved it!  On Friday the Familia Rosales had their interviews and all passed with flying colors!  Seriously seeing the faith of this young mom Jessica who has been going through soo many problems lately with her work, money, and getting robbed twice since shes been here.  Its incredible to me the faith that she has and how much trust she puts in God and knows that Satan is the one who was trying to stop her from being baptized and her family as well.  I think if any normal person would have gone through everything she has in this past month they would have quit a long time ago.  Shes seriously one of a kind!  Her kids are the cutest little things too.  I wish you guys could see them.  They say the funniest things as well like what happened on Thursday night right in front of there house is that 2 moto taxis crashed and the drivers got injured. and got out of their vehicles and sat there on the road next to their motos and Jessica had been right behind these 2 motos that crashed in a different moto and anyway her 2 little kids came out and one of them went to one of the guys and held his head in his arms and said pobrecito like poor little guy and then Joselynn the littlest one was like tiene que ir mas despacito you need to go alot slower!  Soo funny hearing this stuff!  Such cute kids.

This baptism on Saturday was seriously one of the coolest ones Ive ever had!  We had me, Elder Wood, and our buddy Elder Chub all dressed up in white with the Familia Rosales to be baptized and it was 1 baptism after another after another.  It felt soo cool to see 3 baptisms go in one day.  The spirit was soo strong.  Seriously one of the coolest experiences Ive ever had on my mission.  Jessica gave an amazing testimony after the baptism as well to finish it off.  Really an unforgettable day for everyone and we topped it off by going out and getting icecream after!  Anyway it was a very cool week and Im excited to tackle this next one as well!  I love you all and hope you all have a fantastic week!

Love Elder Haden

WEEK #88 Hello Wood!

Hey whats up guys?!!  Hope you all had a great week!!  This week was sooo legit for us here in Honduras!  Well soo my old comp said his goodbyes on Monday and everything and we had a sweet party to get him off and such with some members who made him a legit going home video and such!  And then on TUESDAY I got my new companion who is ELDER WOOD!  Man I am soo stoked to have him!  Weve never been together in the mission or anything but weve always known who the other was and this is a legit buddy from my mission that I have now with me!  He is seriously just like a straight bro from Cali and legit reminds me of my buddies from home!  This guy is like my duplicate!  We love all the same stuff!  Soo you could say that things are going muy bien!

Volleyball was super fun this week!  Theres this member here whos nick name is el colocho who is just the funniest guy youd ever meet!  I love him soo much!  Hes getting activated right now and seriously not a better way to do that than going fishing together, playing volleyball, and going  to church!  Love this guy!  On Thursday we had the funniest lesson with the Rosales Family!  We talked about Law of Chastity and asked the little kid David at the end how he was doing with it and he didnt speak and I was like whats wrong dude do you have a girlfriend?  and he nodded his head and was sad!  hahahaha this kids only like 10 years old and then his mom gave him the what for and it was soo funny!  We were just like you guys can discuss this when we leave!  LOL

This week we put some more baptismal dates with people!!  Pretty legit stuff!  We now have 6 with fecha and in church we had 9 people!!  Thats the most Ive ever had in 1 sacrament meeting!  Pretty awesome!  and we found some very exciting new people to teach this week!  More families!!  :)  One of the houses that we contacted this week was super legit cause we went the first time and then came back the second time and asked the Dad what his plans were for him and his family for this year and he said well I want to get married and get baptized.  It was soo dope so we were just like well in fact we are helping lots of people to do just that right now and well wed love to help you as well!  He was like alright sweet!  Soo awesome!

Soo 2 more cool experiences this week were that a guy came to church with Meidis mom which is one of the people were gonna baptize soon.  She just brought him cause he had heard that we had given her daughter a blessing and her baby and how they had gotten better and so he came to church specifically to get a blessing from us.  It was soo humbling to see his faith and give him a preisthood blessing.  We should be visiting him this week!  And the last experience to finish is that we went to the Rosales Family this week to teach them and when we got there the littlest youngster Joselynn was outside and she came up and gave me the biggest hug and was sooo excited that we had come and couldnt stop talking to me about how she had a new bed and well A bed to sleep on!  Shes only 3 and she just couldnt stop talking about how much she loved having a bed.  Really humbling to see that as well cause like I dont think ever 3 year old is that extactic to get a new bed.  Shes probably been sleeping on the ground for like a couple of months now.  Wow.  

Cool.  Well I love you all and am excited to be out here serving the Lord and giving these last couple of weeks here to him.  The work is true.  I feel soo blessed to have such a great life, family, mission, ward, area, and companion.  God and Jesus Christ live and they love us.  Talk to you all soon!

Love Elder Haden

                                                                                                                                         

WEEK #87 Goodbye Lorenzana

My Zone!

Lorenzana on his way out!

Well this was my last week together with my good buddy and companion Elder Lorenzana!  He finished his mission strong and weve had and made some great memories and experiences working together that Ill never forget!  Ive sure learned a ton from him!  Such a stud muffin!  Gonna miss him!  Hes already to go home though and hes prepared!  His new mission has begun!    But ya this week was a little bit slower with the work with him leaving and saying goodbye to everyone and Im pumped up to see who my next companion is gonna be and ready to get started with him!  Vamos a echar some fuego!

The whole family is baptized- beautiful!

Umm honestly my brain is a bit fried today.. I dont know if its cause Im super tired or been thinking too much so im gonna keep this one short and simple!  We were able to complete a family this week by baptizing Edwins Mom and little brother Ana and Ariel!  It was a great baptism and now there all baptized!  Its been soo amazing to see how much theyve progressed and grown over these last few months.  It definitely hasnt been easy, there were definitely a lot of bumps, twists, bends, and spins we had to pass through teaching them but we did our best and God did the rest.  Such a miracle to see that family baptized and now we just got to make sure to strengthen them always so that they can endure to the end!  But the ward loves them and has taken them in and they fit right in with everybody!  Im so happy for them!

My golden family:)

Also I think I told you guys a little about this golden family that came out of nowhere last week.  Well we went to their house a lot this week and got to know them a lot better and teach them alot and they are seriously golden!  The Mom has already been to church 4 times and the kids twice now and they all want to be baptize and the kids are seriously the cutest and most grateful Honduras kids Ive ever seen!  I love this family soo much!  So we are preparing them for their baptism thats gonna be on the 30th and seriously God blessed us big time with this amazing family!  We gave David a Book of Mormon on his Birthday and seriously his eyes just lit up and he was so happy and grateful.  He was just happy to have gotten 1 gift on his birthday.  We made sure to give him lots of candy as well that night.  Such a humble family. 

Anyway thats about all I can remember from this week!  It was a good one!  Im excited about changes and we will see whats next!  Love you all and miss you!  Have a great week!

Love Elder Haden

WEEK #86 Waters of Mormon

A beautiful week- 2 baptisms:)

Hey hows it going?!!  Hope you all had a great week!!  It was a most excellent one for us here in Santa Cruz!!  We can really just see Gods hand in the work more now than ever helping us and blessing us in abundance!  Its wonderful!  Today we were able to go out to Cajon again The Dam and instead of fishing we went inside and took the Dam Tour!  Lots of fun and it was nice and colder misty inside and felt great!!  Got lots of pretty photos!  Ill make sure to attach a few!!

Alright soo this week was a good one!  We had lots of nice things happen!  Ill just touch the main points!  Umm well we contacted a TON!!  The Family Recarte that we were gonna baptize did get baptized but just 1 out of the 3 cause the Mom and the little brother drank coffee.  Dumb Coffee!  haha 2nd time recently that thats happen but no worries cause there gonna get baptized this weekend!!  We pulled a prank on Elder Call and got to the house before they did and pretended like we werent there and spooked their pants off!  It was sooo hilarious!  

Edwin's baptism!

Carlos' baptism!

On Friday both Carlos and Edwin got interviewed and passed!  And on Saturday we held a private, secret baptism of Edwin which was pretty dope!  Reminded me of Alma when he had to baptize people secretly in the Waters of Mormon so that the king wouldnt find out!  Thats basically what we did with Edwin cause we dont want the Catholic School that he goes to drop him as a student or take away his scholarship just cause he joined the TRUE CHURCH!   But he and his family were able to take a step of faith this weekend and they could sure feel the assurety and truthfulness of what they were doing!  It was a very special day indeed!  And just a little to explain how we found that family was that before Valentines Day like a week before me and my companion had 3 fallen appointments so we were contacting and we passed by a house walking down a hill towards the park and something whispered to me that I had to knock on that house.  Soo I stopped and looked at my companion and said hey man we got to go back and contact that house!  So we did and out came Edwin and Ariel.  I honestly thought it wasnt gonna work out at all in the beginning just 2 kids coming out and saying ya you can come back in a week.. just the regular like whatever contact and well there all getting baptized 2 months later.  The Holy Ghost really is real and works with us in a divine way!

The other baptism Carlos was also a random contact that we did that ended up leading us to know that his Mom was a member just very inactive and well we started teaching him and his Mom and she started reactivating and he started going to the church and loves it!  Soo we baptized him this Saturday and hes now an official member of the church and his Mom is now active!!  Really cool!  and again the spirit lead us to both of these guys!  Edwin who is 14 and Carlos who is 12!  They both have goals of being missionaries in the future!  How great is this work?

This confirmations went great on Sunday and also we were very suprised about what happened on Sunday as well.  A new family showed up from La Esperanza, Honduras and its a family of 5 a single mom with kids that are 12, 10, 7, 4 or something like that and they have already been taught by missionaries and assisted the church multiple times in Esperanza and have a baptismal date that the Elders from there put for them!  They had to move here for some reason and well now we are going to be working with them but like a serious golden family!  The Lord sure is blessing us!  

Anyway hoping to have more baptism this weekend!  The Familia Recarte the Mom Ana and the little guy Ariel!  We might even have some more!  Gonna be a great way for my companion to finish his mish here!  The work is true!  I love all of you!  

Love Elder Haden :)

WEEK #85 Abril

Hey everybody!  We are officially in Abril!  Soo exciting!  How great was this General Conference that we heard this weekend!  Outstanding!  I loved it soo much and honestly didnt want it to end!  I hope your all having an awesome SPRING BREAK!  Soo much fun!  Today we went fishing at Cajon again and I guess I got the unlucky pole cause we caught like 25 fish and I caught like 2 of them haha.  But it was lots of fun!  The members here are such funny guys!

Soo my week in a blur was good!  On Monday we baked a cake and shared it with a member family who was moving in the neighborhood to our street which weve named Restoration Avenue cause 7 out of the 10 houses are Mormons!  It was cool being there as they dedicated their new house that we helped paint!

On Tuesday we had interviews with President Dester which were soo good as always!  I know hes gonna be up there in General Conference one day!  and we also put 4 baptismal dates later that night for the 9th of April.. or this next weekend!  so if everything goes as it should we should be having 4 baptisms next week!  We actually had the craziest lesson last night cause on Tuesday the Mom of the Familia Recarte was like I wanna be baptized and the kids were saying no way were catholics!  and then after them hearing the General Conference yesterday and walking around the church with them and getting to know it better and for them to see the baptismal font and we actually walked downed into it thats how curious Edwin was (hes a funny guy) but it helped him to want to do it even more!  And when we went last night to their house we explained Lesson 5 about temples and everything and the whole lesson Edwin was telling us like ya well now Id say Im about like at 50 percent on wanting to baptize me and then it went to 60 and then 75 and then 80 when we said wed get him a LDS bible and then 95 and then he said Thats It ive Decided!  I want to be baptized!  I want to be Mormon!  I know that the Mormon Church is true!  I will be a Mormon!  I am Mormon!  It was soo shocking to see all of this coming from Edwin!  And after that he was like man I feel soo inspired and wanted to do the closing prayer and everything!  Hes also reading soo much in the BOM and is in Mosiah and I forgot to tell you guys last week but he had a dream for an answer last week after asking God if the BOM was true and he dreamt with the Golden Plates and declared that he knew that they were true and then they fell out of his hands and shattered.  But we told him that that was his answer from God and that the reason why they fell is because he wasnt taking Gods word seriously like he should and wasnt appreciating it like he ought to!  But ya soo Edwin and Ariel are both stoked about baptism for this next Saturday and there Mom was being a little reluctant last night just cause everyones been saying lots of stuff to her but she knows its the right decision as well!  Anyway sorry that was kind of jumbled up!  But super cool!  Lets pray it all works out!  But Edwin is sooo pilas and says that he cant wait to be Elder Hernandez as well!  Hes such a funny kid!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week and a most excellent spring break!  I love you all soo much!  And just a thought from conference is that May we all take the Harder right instead of the easier left!

Love Elder Haden

P.S.  this week we also went to Mochito again to do another baptismal interview and man I love it there.  It soo nice and fresh and beautiful.  Such a great place and beautiful scenery.  Wish you all could see it!