This week was awesome!

We went to the temple on Thursday so we had to wake up at 4 am to catch the bus to Teguc. We got home at 8pm. It was such a sweet experience to do a session in the most gorgeous temple on Earth and feel that peace. I learn something new every time I go. And I'm so much more appreciative now that I have to wait 6 months between each visit. As Hna Ramirez and I were in the Celestial Room, a worker came and pulled us out and brought us in to watch a family sealing. It was so beautiful. We were crying. When the sealer said ''for all eternity,'' in Spanish, a wave a spirit washed over me and I couldn't believe how good God is. I'm so blessed to be sealed to each one of you. 

We had a baptism set up for this past Saturday AT THE BEACH but he didn't pass the interview! NO! And we won't be able to baptize in the ocean again because there was a ward activity (we live 45 min away from the beach) and we probably won't have another for a long time. Dang. But we have another baptism for this Saturday and we're working with some postive intvestigators and trying to find families! There are some incredible people here in the South. 

Today we played soccer at the Stake Center with a few zones and I am sunburnt! But it was a blast and I think I lost 45% of my body's total water volume. 

Walking here makes me think of Christ's ministry. Taking off my shoes at the end of the day and seeing all the dirt reminds me of how Christ humbly washed his disciples feet. How lucky are we to be able to study His life and learn from His example? Sometimes when the adorable but dirty little kids climb on me, I get nervous because I'm trying to avoid lice and skin conditions, but then I remember the Savior and how he walked with the poor, the dirty, and the afflicted--leperous and maimed. So I just hug them and hold their hands and try to give them the love that they usually lack in their humble homes. 

Isaiah 40:3 ^bPrepare ye the^cway of the Lord, make straight in the desert a ^dhighway for our God.

 

I know that Christ lives still and that this life is the time to prepare to meet Him. 

So I got transfered! They exhiled me to the South! And it is SO different from the city! You know those old cowboy movies where they're in dusty little pueblos in mexico and there's tumble weed blowing across wide rocky dirt roads? That's exactly what my new area looks like. I just looked up the weather in my area and it's 95 degrees. And today feels a lot cooler than it was yesterday. It's so flat here and my area is HUGE! So we walk so much on these really rocky roads. Just the main street is cement. It's so different! 

Some people's goal is to drink enough water to pee clear. My goal is just to pee because I sweat so much that I never need to use the bathroom! And at the end of the day I look so so tan because of all the dust that's blown and stuck to me. If only it were that easy for me to get a nice tan! 

But the people here make up for what the land lacks. The recent converts are so pilas and solid in the gospel and the members are so willing to leave and teach with us! We had a baptism this Saturday with a 13 year old girl who loves the church and is going to Girl's Camp this next week! We're teaching her sisters too. And we have a baptism on date with a 17 year old boy who is such a sweetie and leaves to teach with us and he calls me ''hermanita'' because he's like 6'2. And he just helped us move! I had just moved in my last area and two days after I got here we had to move again! I'm actually really grateful for that because we had to wash our dishes in the sink in the bathroom which really grossed me out. It was the grossest bathroom I'd ever seen in Honduras. That's saying something!

There are tons of farm animals down here just walking around. We were in the middle of teaching a lesson to a family in the middle of the street when the old dad suddenly got up and stood next to me to guard me from a herd of about 30 huge cows passing by. And I had no idea how big a pig could be until I came here. Everyone has a huge pig tied to their tree. A family just invited me to come watch them kill theirs this weekend. I told them I'd think about it. And there are tons of horses wandering around too. I just saw a guy with a little horse cart that looks like the ones they race in the movie Leprachauns. ''Time for a little freeway maneuver!'' And because of all the animals, there are some sketchy things in the soil. I just had a bug bite that I scratched on my foot and it got infected and my ankle is huge and hurts pretty bad! But no worries, I'm just going to start a round of antibiotics. 

There are two restaurants here--Wendy's and a place called Churascos. So a bunch of zones from the south go there every monday and after district meetings, which is a party! And I'm still in the same zone as a girl named Hermana Snelson from Provo. She was with me from the beginning in the CCM and in my last zone and now we share a ward here! We had a sleepover in her apartment last night which was a party!

My new comp is named Hermana Ramirez and is from LA south side. Her mom is from El Salvador and her dad (who doesn't live with her) is from Mexico so she speaks awesome spanish! And she has an incredible story. I love her so much. 

Well, that's all for today! But just remember how much I love you all and how grateful I am for each one of you! Read your scriptures!

Guess what? Marcelino Matamoros (who carved me the beautiful wooden cuadro) received the Melchizedek Priesthood yesterday after being inactive for 31 years and smoking for many more! It is honestly the biggest miracle I've seen in the mission. His wife was in church with him too and we're working towards their goal to be sealed in the temple next Dec. before I go home!! I feel so blessed. 

Tomorrow, we're moving from our little casita into an apartment above a member's house because it's more central and more secure. It is a PAIN to move, but at least I'll have my bags packed for cambios on the 8th of January. I'm pretty positive I'm going to leave my first area, and the thought rips my heart apart! I am so in love with La Joya. This ward is full of family, and it's going to take a lot of faith to leave them. Serving a mission teaches you so much about love. 

It was so fun to talk to Nick and Dad in Spanish! I'm so excited to tell them all my secrets in front of the rest of you. (I'm giving you motivation to start learning! Make it a New Years resolution!)

My comp and I speak Ubby Dubby to each other in Spanish. 

Write to you next year, 

Hermana Flynn

 P.S. I already told you guys some of the hilarious stuff Hondurans believe here, but I left out a couple: People can't eat ice cream or anything chilly if they have a cold, because it will make them much more sick. They also can't go to a funeral if they have a cold, for the same reason. They also think it's dangerous to eat anything with lemon in it when a woman is menstruating because it will stop her period unnaturally and ruin her body. Also the ''cambios en clima'' make everyone sick. AKA they think the 5° fluctuations in the weather give people illnesses. #GOHONDURAS