Honduras is Pretty Much Everything I Wasn't Expecting

10/07/2013

Well, it’s my first p day here in the field, and I’m honestly glad I made it this far.  Honduras is pretty much everything I wasn’t expecting. 

So first, I’ll start with the first day.  We got here and stepped off the plane and I felt like I just walked into the wrestling room again.  It is unbelievably hot and humid here.  Nothing is ever truly cold. So I’m really missing the ice dispenser in the fridge.  So the first day came and went and I was okay because we had dinner with President Dester and it was awesome. They had a really nice apartment and the food was good, the only thing was it was really hot that night for sleeping but I was all right. As we drove around the next day I decided I liked it.  It kind of reminded me of Hawaii.  

So the next day we go to the chapel to meet our companions and I met my companion Elder Rivera, who speaks very little English. He is 27 and has been a member for about 2 years. So that was a real stressful occurrence.  We then left the meeting to go to our area and the bus drove us out of the city, and we drove up into the mountains for a half hour. I’m looking at these houses get poorer and smaller.  So we arrive at our house and it’s all right.  It's one of the nicer houses in the area, however it only has running water every few days for some reason. So we shower in buckets. That day we went to dinner with a member, they talk so fast here in Honduras and they don’t pronounce the s in their words so it pretty much sounds like another language to me.  The food is actually pretty good here, once I get past the fact that it was cooked on top of a metal drum turned into a stove.  The bugs aren’t that bad, there’s mosquitoes, but I haven’t been eaten alive.  So it’s all good.  

The Spanish is still really difficult.  I didn’t understand anything in general conference really.  So that was disappointing. I did get to hear the priesthood session in English so that was good, and helped a lot.    And I just can’t say what I want to say.  I have to think every time I want to talk and it’s really frustrating and tiring.  The members are really nice and honestly I have no idea who is a member or not.   We have two other missionaries that live and come with us so that’s good.  The only problem is I’m the only white missionary in my zone.   The city is very poor but apparently for Honduras it’s not that bad.  There’s trash all over and there’s about three paved roads in the town.  So this week has really been an adjustment.  

I want to be a good missionary and I’m really trying to stay focused but as I sit and try and understand what is going on, right now life just feels unreal.  I have to remind myself this is life for the next two years.  So I don’t want you to worry.  I’m not coming home and I’m not crying my eyes out.  This is really hard and I was not expecting the circumstances I’m in right now.  It’s just frustrating because I don’t have much patience.  I want to be a good missionary and say things but I can’t because I don’t know how to say it.  I want to study and do everything exactly correct.  So I don’t know, maybe by next transfers I will be able to tell what’s going on.  At least the food has been good so far ha ha.  Sorry I’m not answering most of the questions, but that’s all I got for now. Just have to keep going and work work work.

Elder Ollis

(See additional pictures on his Mission Field Picture tab.)