On Sunday, we got to church and the branch president asked me to play the piano (normally we don{t have anything, but this week they brought a keyboard) and everyone loved it...they loved having music to go along with their singing finally. And I will now be teaching a class on Saturdays to the members who want to learn how to play the piano. There are several that are SO excited to learn! It makes me excited for them, because then when I leave, hopefully one of them can take over and they won´t be without music again.

So in the fields surrounding the Villa, there are fields of sugar cane and they are harvesting right now, so that means they have to burn the cane, to make it easier to cut down or something. Then all the ashes go up in the sky, float over the town, and fall, almost constantly. So it´s like its raining ashes...lovely. Especially when the houses have roofs that don´t keep anything out, so we come home and we have ashes all over EVERYTHING!!!! and we usually have dishes in the sink because we don´t always have water to wash them with...we just have to wait until the water comes. oh the adventures of honduras... ha ha So guess what?!?! We went hiking in the mountains today for P-day! I was sooooooo happy and have been looking forward to it all week! We went with our zone of 10 missionaries and a bunch of the youth from our ward. We hiked for about 3-4 hours and got to some waterfalls….there were 3 different ones and the youth splashed us all until we were soaked….but it felt really good. I had my Chaco´s and it was perfect! Everyone was jealous of my ability to just walk in the water and not worry about my shoes…mwa ha ha It was such a fun day!! But I know I´m going to feel it tomorrow because I haven´t done anything for like 5 months!

Oh man, so this week I was leading the music in Sacrament Mtg and there is no piano so the person leading the music just gives the tone at the beginning (sing like the first line) and then everyone together. Well I went up there and they had picked a song I didn´t know!! I was like uh oh how am I going to give the tone?!?! I just made it up as well as I could looking at the notes, but wow…. Good thing we weren´t in the states because here nobody really has tone so I´m sure they didn´t mind, but it was still funny.

Baptism and New Area

"our first one(baptism)! THere is a picture of it....Eliza, she is 9 and her whole family is members. She couldn´t get baptized when she was 8 because she had a surgery on her nose and couldn´t go under water until now. and since she is 9 she is considered a convert so we got to teach her all the lessons, etc. So not really a convert, but still it was exciting. They couldn´t do it on Saturday so we did it yesterday at 8am before church so she could be confirmed in church. She is really cute."

"So guess what?!? Ive been transferred! Hna Naa stayed in Palmira (for her last transfer) with Hna Dixon and I am out here in Villa de San Francisco, east of the city. I love it! Its a little farm town, there are just as many horses and donkeys walking around the streets as cars. We have a house and a front yard....not super nice but a lot bigger than our teeny little apt in Teguc. Its quiet and I can fall asleep to crickets and children laughing, then wake up to horse hooves on the cobblestone road. Most of the roads are just dirt, but there are a few with cobblestone. But it all makes me want to ride a horse again! We are in a valley with mountains around, its absolutely beautiful! This is the Honduras I was expecting! I do miss Hna Naa but I have a wonderful companion! Hna Lopez from Nicaragua. She only has about 2 and half months more than me but she is top quality and I know I will learn SO MUCH from her! She is a convert of 12 years and is very strong! I already like working with her! There is just a branch here, it is very small, but at least we have a church. Oh! And the cool part is, we are in a brand new zone! They just opened a new zone, called Valle Verde (Green Valley) and there are just 10 of us missionaries. We have 5 areas, and 2 of them are brand new, so we are having plenty of adventures. But I am excited, we have a bunch of awesome missionaries in our little zone. We are hoping to climb some mountains and fun stuff on P-days so it will be good! When we we came here with all my luggage, it was quite funny....we took a bus to a little town where the road for Villa de San Francisco splits off...then we took a little minibus (like a minivan stuffed full of people)....it was hilarious to try and fit all my stuff in and all the people. I was so embarrassed. Then when we got to town, we took a mototaxi (like a motorcycle thing with a bench in the back (3 wheels) and a little roof) to our house. It was a great start. I am really excited to be in this area with Hna Lopez...I think I am going to love it! I feel more content in my heart...just being out of the city."

"We didn{t do much for New Years, just had dinner at a recent converts house and went to bed, but got woken up by the music from the salon de baile thats just down the street and the fireworks at midnight."

"I am still LOVING it here in la Villa and we are working hard. I love the way Hna Lopez works, we are losing ourselves in the work and I think that is one reason I am so much happier here. This past week has brought us a cold front…which means perfect during the day, and a little chilly in the evenings, but yesterday was FREEZING! (ok, I know it’s still not as cold as it is there in Colorado and Utah, but its cold). There was a fierce wind and even with our sweaters it was soooo cold! I slept with 2 blankets and this morning, waiting for the bus at 6am was soooo cold! I have never experienced this much cold here in Honduras…in fact I never imagined it existed in Central America…ha ha.So some funny things about people here (I think its all of central America)….whenever they get sick…even just a cold (which they get sick often…I think it more a matter of the lack of cleanliness and never washing their hands), but they ALWAYS say its because of the change of weather. I don’t think they know what change in weather is really, because compared to the states, they have a very tempered climate here (its pretty much the same all year)…but they always attribute it to that. And I think its funny…but I don’t say anything…"

"I love this place! I just laugh every day when I hear donkeys….making the noise they make…I don’t know what its called….but its hilarious…its all over the place. Seeing the horses always makes me want to ride them….but sadly we’re not allowed to."