Here Comes the Rain

Pics with the district before changes. ¡Viva Copán Ruinas!

Brothers and Sister, ALOHA! (you weren't expecting that, now were you?)

This week in Copán Ruinas has been quite wet. Luckily, I've got a very smart mother who sent emergency ponchos a while ago (Mom, you are so great) and Hermana Miller finally got back the two umbrellas she left in Santa Rosa when she left (yeah, two. That's handy, right?) so we're doing a little better at keeping dry. Either way, I think the monsoons are the first sign of winter setting in here in Copán, so I'll let you all know when I start experiencing the "freezing" weather that I have heard promised from other missionaries in this zone.

This week was also another week of practiving the art of changing plans. We are becoming professionals at that. More often than not, we 1.plan to go teaching with a member and they don't come, so we have to reconsider what to do 2. show up at a cita fija (pre-set appointment) and no one's home, so that's just awkward or 3. have some unavoidable circumstance, like a sudden rainstorm or the twilight setting in, that outlaws several parts of the area, so we again change plans. And then there are the completely unforeseen game changers, like the World Cup. I've got nothing against the World Cup. But when Honduras is playing France and we have to stay inside from 1-4 and then be in our houses by 7 pm, that makes it a little tough to meet any kind of goals for the day. But, oh well. Maybe France and Switzerland will close us out of the bracket and it won't be a problem any more.

Admist all that plan changing, there really isn't that much to report this week. We are still rolling right along with familia Hernandez, and Julio Cesar actually came and listened to three of our lessons this week, but he was very drunk during the third one and hasn't wanted to talk to us since, nor did he come to church with his family yesterday. Bummer. But both of us commented afterwards how much we had wanted to chew him out (or machete him, as we say here) for drinking, but the Spirit said no, so we didn't, so I guess it could have been worse. We also have a sweet young woman out in Santa Rita who said the other day that she would be willing to be baptized. We're pretty happy about that, but it's hard because Santa Rita is about 15 minutes out by bus and that's a hassle for the people there who want to come to church. So we're trying to figure out what we can do to help her, because she would be a great member of the Church and a wonderful example for her parents and her two younger sisters.

Other randomness from this week: we went with a woman we met on a bus to visit her sister and ended up teaching a clinic full of pregnant women about the Plan of Salvation, Hermana Miller and I found the most delicious empanadas in the world, Marlin Hernandez said "I really want to get baptized, but not on the 28th. How about tomorrow?", I gave Hermana Miller a hair cut, I used a curling iron, and we received permission from Elder Carlos H. Amado (via President Dester) to watch one World Cup game, so we saw Germany slaughter Portugal this morning. Well, we saw a little. But we ducked out to the bathroom and by the time we came back, the latino missionaries had closed the room to the office where the internet is and locked it to keep the rest of us from bothering them. Gringos. We just don't get the important things in life.  Also, Sister Gardner, my beloved companion of 10 days, has found her way into la zona Copán, and upon greeting me for the first time in 5 months today she said "You look so skinny! Have you been sick?" So, apparently, running in the morning is having a good effect. Cool.

I still love my mission. It's not easy. Like, it really isn't. But I love it anyway. Sometimes I think I might not want to love it, but then I remember that when I say "I love my mission", what I mean is "I love my Savior", and there is nothing that could make me change my mind about that. I know that He lives and loves us, and that this is His true church. And there just aren't enough people here who know that, so I'll keep going for another week!

Have another lovely seven days, and find good ways to share the gospel. People are waiting for you!

Love, Hermana Pickett