LIFE IS DANDY

What up World!

Quite the swell week here in Jardines del Valle. But just an update from last week, I definitely did make it out of the center of San Pedro Sula alive. On our way out though, a prositute screamed at me and then blew me a kiss soooo....yeah, that happened. Cross that one off the bucket it list I guess. One tell to the grandkids about haha. Aside from those shenangians, it was a great week. We had some awesome lessons with some awesome people. We had been teaching this one girl who is a college student here, but is from El Salvador. When she told her parents that she was meeting with us, they like freaked out on her and it caused all these problems. It made her super sad because she really liked what she was learning with us, but felt torn because if her family, so she decided last week it would be best to not continue. We were way bummed because she is seriously so cool, so we prayed and fasted for her, and then this week we got a phone call. After a week of no communication, she called us on Wednesday and asked when we could meet again! We were kind of shocked, but obviously super stoked. When we met up with her, she said that she felt was missing something after she decided to stop talking with us, and that she wanted to continue! She hasnt fixed things with her parents, but she knows this is what she wants to do. It was seriously the coolest thing. She is going to be baptized. On Friday, I got to have my first baptismal interview with someone. It was super cool/weird knowing that I had to be the one to do the interview, when I feel like I was being interviewed like last week for my baptism haha. The interview was super cool though. Im stoked I have the opportunitiy to do them now. Saturday was the most american day I have had in my entire mission. President Dester called the AP's in the morning and invited the whole house to breakfast at Denny's to celebrate the three birthdays that just passed. It was super cool to go hang out with him. Then at night, Elder Dawson and I got Subway for dinner and went to Cinnabon for dessert. I was thoroughly convinced Cinnabon was only an airport thing and didnt exist in the wild, but no. It is alive and well here on a street corner in Honduras. I seriously am so stoked to be in this area and be doing what we are doing. Life is dandy. Stay classy!

Elder Shuga

HONDURAN BEVERLY HILLS, LOVING THE MISSION

What Up World,
Another week has gone by in the Honduras version of Beverly Hills, and Im loving it. We are working crazy hard, so it feels like time is just flying by. You have to work super smart here because the people are just not as receptive as the majority of people are in other areas. Its quite fun haha. I guess I will just get right to some stories, because thats what the people want. I guess, I dont know haha. Ummmm I still cant get over how rich people are here. It like baffles my mind. I met a guy who has 3 Rolex's, all around the $10,000 price range. Like, American money. Crazy, right? I keep asking him to trade me, but he hasnt obliged yet. He will soften his heart one day. The majority of houses we go to have air conditioning, which is a whole new thing to the gangster's paradises Ive been living in for the past 10 months. I dont know if I like it more or less haha. Who am I kidding, its awesome. Crazy story time. We are teaching this lady who works in this clothing store closer to San Pedro. One day, she got a call from some gangsters saying she had to pay a "war tax", and that they hope she will follow their instructions so that there isnt a death in the family. That is like a COMMON thing here. Why are people so crazy?!?! We are praying that she will ok, and Im sure she will be, but it is still super scary. On a lighter note, we saw some miracles this week. We had a lesson with this lady that was SO awesome. She is the mom of two girls who are both return missionaries, and pretty much of all her own family is mormon, except her. They have been inviting her to church since essentially the beginning of time, but she has never gone. Well guess what? After our lesson with her, she went for the first time in her LIFE! So sick. It was so awesome. We celebrated the birthday of two missionaries (some of my best friends in the mission) who live in the house with us and have the same birthday, and one who's birthday is on wednesday. It was super fun. Living in a gigantic house with a bunch of cool friends isnt as bad as it sounds...haha. Life is super cool. My comp is the man, my area is sweet, and I seriously cry like every day from laughing so hard. I love the mission. Funny ending note: I am in the center of San Pedro Sula right now at an internet cafe because we had to come here to buy some stuff. In other words, I'm in the murder capital of planet earth. The biggest threat is this little girl sitting in this chair across from me, staring at me because I dont think she has ever seen green eyes. I think she wants to kill me and eat my eyes. Stay classy world!

Elder Shuga

RICHEST AREA IN THE MISSION, LIFE IS SUPER SWELL

Greetings, 

Well, quite a lot has happened this week. I left Cerro Verde, which was quite bittersweet. I have really come to love all the members, and especially the people I was able to teach. My last day there was crazy. When missionaries leave, if we dont say bye to everyone, they get really offended when they find out we left without saying goodbye. With that being said, its like IMPOSSIBLE to get to everyone. We were legit running around my area trying to say bye to everyone. I thiiiink I got everyone, but we will see who is still mad haha. I am in my new area now! Im in an area called Jardines del Valle, aka the richest area in the mission, and also the most difficult to work in according to the last mission president. So thats cool haha. Im a district leader now too, which means I just have to give training every tuesday. We will see how that goes! My new companion is Elder Dawson from South Jordan, Utah. He is super cool and has about 3 months in the mission. He reminds me of a mix between Steve Carrel and my cousin Adam haha. I live in the house with the office missionaries. So it is us, the AP's, and the secretaries. This house, and every other house around it that makes up our area, is GIGANTIC. It has 6 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms, ALWAYS has water, and is just nuts. It is so big because it is the house that all the new missionaries stay in their first night in Honduras, and the ones the missionaries who are leaving stay in for their last night. I came here my first night, and now Im back. It is seriously so fun. Im way happy with where Im at. Some crazy stuff has happened this week. People said it would be way hard working here, but we put 2 baptismal dates and are killing it right now. We had to go on an adventure to save missionaries that got stopped by the police and didnt have their identification, because we happened to be in the truck with the secretary of immigration who is in charge of all that. Oh yeah, the office missionaries use a super nice truck, and we get the benefits of it sometime haha. It is super weird being over here after being in "normal" honduras areas for so long. It legit is like America. Everybody and their dog speaks english like SUPER well. Everything is just really weird around here haha. Life is super swell though ,and I couldnt be happier with where I got put. Im stoked to see what happens here! Stay classy!
Elder Shuga

BEGINNING OF THE END, CHOW CHOW, CHANGES

What Up World,

I forgot to write last week. I doubt any one noticed, I have been out 10 months. My mom is probably the only follower left haha. Well, it was quite the swell week here in Cerro Verde. We had two baptisms! One of this lady named Desiree, that is the mom of a recent convert. I remember knowing after the first day I met her that she would be baptized, and this week she was! She is seriously the best. It was an awesome service and everything was just dandy. It has been raining a ton here lately, but for the past couple days it has been SO hot with zero rain. I think this is the beginning of the end. Who knows. We had another baptism on Saturday as well. We baptized the daughter of a recent convert, and that was pretty interesting. This girl is seriously quite the character. Teaching her was an interesting experience, but it all worked out in the end haha. I really dont know what to type...so this is kind of awkward. I met 2 chow chow puppies this week and fell in love, so thats a thing. What else.... Yeah I got nothing haha. Ummmm well....Sorry this week is such a short letter! I dont really have too much to talk about. I have a change this week, so this is my last email from Cerro Verde. Bitter sweet. I seriously love these people here, and I think they at least tolerate me. It will be quite the bummer to leave, but I am stoked to see where I end up next in this sweet, sweet country. Stay classy world!

Elder Shuga