Week 25

One of the best weeks of my life!

 

Hola,

Hey hey hey!!!! I just gotta say that being on the mission during your birthday is a huge blessing!!! This week was absolutely awesome! We worked super hard and this week we taught 30 lessons! It was definitely an awesome week, and when youre working this hard, the time goes by incredibly fast. 

So my birthday was awesome! We had 9 investigators at church this week! The best weve had in a while! It was absolutely awesome. I was fasting saturday/sunday morning but my joy was so full sunday morning that I couldnt even feel my hunger. Sacrifices definitely bring forth the blessings of heaven! It was an awesome Sunday, and my son, Elder Ruelas, taught the gospel principles class to 15 investigators all by himself! I was so proud! He was nervous but he did a great job! Hes grown a ton in the past few weeks and Im proud to call him my son. He still bugs the tar out of me but I love him none the less. After church we had a few visits in the afternoon. I ate 3 cakes yesterday. Needless to say I didnt sleep last night. And one of the best gifts I received is that one of our investigators, Tahisa, Picked her hair into an afro!!! It was so awesome!!!! Theres a photo attached. It was a blast of a day. But honestly the best part of the day was having so many people at church. It was incredible! Heavenly Father too gives birthday presents. And his help with the investigators for sure was an incredible gift. 

This morning was a blast, we played baseball with the zone. It was a blast. 

So one good spiritual story. We were in a lesson with one of our favorite investigators, Lina. Nicolles aunt. We came to the topic of her late husband, who was murdered when her son was only 4 months old. She talked to us about the last moments she had with her husband. They were in a fight. She has a terrible burden that she has carried around ever since. I have never felt the spirit so strong in my life as we testified about the power of repentance, and that in reality, shes already been forgiven, and that her late husband has forgiven her as well. He knows that she is the only one who can help him to become happy now, and that he is waiting to receive his baptism. He is excited about the path she is on. Our Father in Heaven knows how she feels, and to help take away the pain she feels, He sent us to her. Shes preparing to be baptized the 13th. I cant wait!!!

Well. The mission is awesome. Rain or shine. Even on birthdays. 

Love always,

Elder Hodson

 

1. Familia Davila!!!! I love them! theyre gonna get married and baptized this month! Weve been working with them forever! haha 

 

2. cake 1, vanilla mango cake. so bomb

3. Cake 2 also bomb

4. jonathan and carmen, recent converts from perdomo. I love them, theyre awesome

5. AFRO!!!!!!!

 

6. Suyapa and her family. They treat me like their own. They made me brownies

 

7. The shirt my comp gave me for my birthday! its super cool. 

 

8.  the brownies suyapa made me

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 24

Family and Friends,

This has been quite the awesome week here in Honduras!!! It started off well because I got my packages for my birthday early! I had no self control so I had to open them early hahaha and Im glad I did because inside were peanut butter m&ms my favorite! haha I got an awesome USA jersey and some sweet ties, some great books, a ton of candy, and a bunch of other goodies. Ill attach a photo of me in the jersey with my buddy elder criddle. 

This week was awesome and we worked really hard. We have some incredible investigators who are progressing very rapidly, the one I want to focus on is Nicoll´s aunt Lina. She is quite incredible. She has clearly been prepared by the hand of the Lord and she didnt even realize it. We had an incredibly spiritual lesson about the doctrine of christ and she easily understood the need for baptism. She also understood that to be baptized doesnt mean we have to be perfect and 100 knowleadgable. If that was the case, no one would ever be baptized! She understood the need for the Holy Ghost in our conversion process. That its impossible to carry on faithful in this life with his companionship! Then at the end of our lesson with her she entrusted in us that her husband had been murdered 5 years back and that shes had a unfillable hole in her soul ever since... It felt amazing to promise someone, even before we taught her the plan of salvation, that we were going to change her life. That we were going to fill that hole in her soul. I know she´ll be baptized soon, because she understands how dire the need is. 

My funny story for this week was also a spiritual uplifting. We went with the oldest member of our ward, Hermano Trochez, to go find a family of whom we received a reference. We never found the house. So instead of dropping us off he turned and said, Well, stay right here, Im gonna go contact these women over there! WHAT?!?!?! HERMANO WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?! So this 80 year old gets out of his car, walks over and contacts these women. Very brash. And very pushy. But we ended up at the end of the day with 2 new families to teach! haha It was hilarious to see the startled look in peoples faces as this ancient man forced the gospel upon them! hahah but after they saw how friendly we were they calmed down and we set up appointments with them. After he dropped us off and I stopped laughing... I realized how awesome Hermano Trochez is. Hes 80. Hes got 40 grandchild. Hes one of the most succesful men in all of La Ceiba, yet he is STILL willing to go out and boldly preach the gospel! Its incredible! What excuses do we have as young lively members of the church to not share the gospel with our friends and neighbors?! If an 80 year old man can go out contacting door to door, every member can share the gospel with their friends and family. 

Something I learned this week came from a book my parents sent me, the 7 day Christian. Have you noticed the perfect lack of evidence that God exists? it is 100% equal on either side of the argument. It is impossible to prove that God exists and impossible to prove that he doesnt. That for me is the evidence that God DOES exist! He gives us our agency, even when it comes to believing in him! He doesnt force us to believe in him by giving us undisputable evidence! How incredible is that? He wants us to choose him. He doesnt want to force us. That is all the evidence I need to know he exists and loves me.

Well the mission is awesome. I love every day. Some days more than others I wont lie haha. Thanks for all my birthday wishes. Love you all! 

Elder Hodson

Pics

1 Sitting in a hammock with my cooks german shepard Baera. She loves me haha 

2Elder Criddle and I, repping that USA Swaagggg

3 Attachments

Week 23

Querido Familia y Amigos,

HEY!!!! How is everyone doing today? I dont have a ton of time to write so Ill be short. This has been an excellent week here in Honduras. It was incredibly fast!!! Its weird to think that this is the last normal week of this change!!! I had an awesome week here in Honduras, full of funny and spiritual experiences.

Funny experience one,

          I went on divisions this week in the area of our district leader. His area is gorgeous because its in the mountains... but its so dificult because the roads are so steep up and down. Hunter would lose his mind to see some of these longboarding hills. We finishing the day there, and went to a little corner store (called pulperias) to buy some water. As we got there, the local insane man called us "Elders! My servants! I am the God of this world, I am Jesus Christ!" So obviously I was pumped for my 3rd "Jesus Christ Encounter" So I started playing with him, asking him where is his white horse from revelations. He then continued by talking about how hes the ward mission leader for the whole world, and that our stake president, president zelaya, needs to get his permission more before doing things. At that moment we knew," crap! This guys a member!" he then continued talking about his patriachal blessing!!! "WHAT THE?!" hahaha then he tried showing us his garments!!!! BLASPHEMY!!!! But then realized he didnt have them and said "oh, I forgot, I dont need them because my body has already been perfected!" Sooooo we decided to leave before more bystanders heard any more apostasia hahaha Ive been laughing about it ever since. 

So Im very proud of Nicolle this week. She is really playing her part as a member and sharing the gospel. We are now teaching her aunt and her sister. Her aunt is awesome and has really progressed quickly. Its amazing to me to see how the message of the restauration makes so much sense, and that the people who are ready to receive the gospel really feel the truthfulness of the message before we even get talking about the book of mormon. 

I honestly love the Book of Mormon. Therein lies our conversion. Ive noticed here that the people that really progress towards baptism are those who find a love for the book of mormon. It is impossible to read that book and not know it is true. It is impossible to read and not become closer to christ.

All is well here with Elder Ruelas and I. Hes doing awesome and Im really loving training now! its awesome. He is progressing everyday! 

Well, I love you all! I know the church is true.

always,

Elder Hodson 

Week 22

Dear Family and Friends,

Can you believe it? five months. It has gone so incredibly fast. the days feel like weeks, the weeks feel like years, and the months feel like minutes haha 

HOW IS EVERYONE?!?! I hope all is well in the states. Today was a fun pday. we got permision to watch Cars 2.. So I was really baggy thinking about my nephew milo the whole time! haha

So first, I just wanna say, I CAN HEAR!!! I went to the doctor this week and he took out two giant rocks made of ear wax from my ears. it was awesome. I now have the hearing of an eagle. The next few days after i could hear every conversation from a mile around me. It doesnt help that Im already a nosy person haha 

And my health is good. And nothing will take away my love for KFC. I ate it again today haha 

So this week was awesome!!! Plenty of spiritual experiences. First, tuesday. My companion was at the breaking point. He wanted to go home more than anything. I am so grateful to be a trainer because my testimony grew so much as I was able to testify to him of how great the mission is, and how hard going home is. It was great to help my "son" stay here, and our relationship grew so much because of it. I love my son! haha I love training.

Funny story from wednesday, We sat down in a lesson with two of our investigators, and then the husband came out, who we had never met, and we started to talk about what they know about the church and he started going on and on about the restoration... I had to ask how he knew so much. He responded, laughing the whole time, I was an elder as well a few years ago! WHAT?!?! I was so shocked and actually a little upset that they didnt say anything. It was really quite funny. Theyre an awesome family with a front gate that looks just like ours at home. Its a nice little reminder of home ;)

Friday, we taught a 21 year old guy whos the nephew of a member.... TOTALLY IN ENGLISH! It was so weird. But he totally understand the gospel and the need for a prophet! Its so awesome! He came to church and did great. I have high hopes for him. His name is clinton and he lived in the states for his whole youth so he speaks better english than spanish. 

So sadly, Isamar dropped us this week. She fell into doubts on friday night then decided that she wanted to return to the catholic church. We left her with mosiah 28:3 that talks about we cannot support the thought of one human soul perishing. As we left you could already see it in her eyes that she knew she was making a mistake. Her whole family loves the church, so I have no doubt she´ll come back. We´ll just give her space. But hey, alma 29:10 O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!

But that would take away the need for faith soo... we cant.

This has been a great week for me even with the baptism falling. My faith has grown tremendously. I now actually love contacting and finding new people. Before it always gave me anxiety. I absolutely love the mission and am so happy Im here. 

I wanna leave with my new favorite scripture. It rivals 2 ne 4:30

Alma 29:10

10 And behold, when I see many of my brethren truly penitent, and coming to the Lord their God, then is my soul filled with joy; then do I remember what the Lord has done for me, yea, even that he hath heard my prayer; yea, then do I remember his merciful arm which he extended towards me.

Photos:

PING PONG!!! Yeah. We make due with what we have. It was quite fun. Im training my comp to be a pro like me haha

How far Ive gotten into my jaw breaker thus far