About the robbery (ies), investigators, ward council and ANTS in the Cyber

Spencer today at the Cyber writing us.

Hello Family and Friends,

I hope everyone is doing well and keeping busy and from what I've read so far, that's exactly what you've been doing.

So, Mom and Dad both asked about the robbery through the roof. It wasn't in our district or zone. It was the next zone over. It was in Elder Johnson's house. Elder Rigby had had his wallet robbed and then randomly it showed up (I don't remember how) and Elder Johnson had it at the house waiting to give it back to Elder Rigby. That day, a few guys cut a hole in the roof, stole all the food and the wallet and then left. Before all this however (in the previous 2 months), the same guys broke the windows of the house so the owner of the house replaced the windows and put bars on the windows. Then the same guys removed the bars and windows. And finally, the last time they went through the roof. To say the least, the missionaries don't live there anymore.

This week we taught English to 4th and 5th graders. We're slowly working on teaching the teacher of the class about the gospel. She was a member before but now she's almost Anti-Mormon. She says the church teaches way too much about Joseph Smith. I asked her what the Book of Mormon was about and she hasn't read it because she said it's about Joseph Smith. Ohhh Hondurans.... What will we ever do to erase that bad rumor you spread? All the 4th and 5th graders give us hugs now when we are in the streets. It helps to let people know we are normal. I love little kids :D

Damaris has a date set for the 21st this March. We will be visiting her a lot this week with members too. I hope but I don't feel like she will be baptized yet... everything in the Lord's time table.
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Dad,
There are hardly ever quiet moments in Danli. There is always someone blasting music or their car engine in front of your house or near it. But it doesn't bother me as much now. You get used to it. One thing that ALWAYS cracks me up is when a guy passes by the house selling meat and yells, "HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY la carne, si HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY la carneeeee........" And he trails off at the end. I'll see if I can record it and send it to you guys... :D It's hilarious!

Josè is doing great. He came to church and has a real desire to become active and receive all the blessings of an eternal family. He wasn't active for nine years and has a tattoo on his arm from that time that he regrets. But I told him the story about the girl (Fox???) That has tattoos all over her body and up and down her arms and that helped him relax a little bit. We taught the Plan of Salvation with the two commandments: Word of Wisdom and Chastity. We spoke especially about the seriousness of breaking the law of chastity and how we cannot have an eternal family if we don't obey the law of chastity. I was soooo sad at the end when I went to share the hymn book with his wife, Iris, and on her phone, she was watching pornography. She wasn't sitting next to her husband but I told her, "Iris, remember, we cannot watch bad things like that." But she saw in my eyes the seriousness of my words. I felt sad for her and mad at the sin. After, Elder Saucedo asked what she was watching and I told him. We were just soooo shocked that we could teach that commandment very clearly and as we teach it, someone can disobey it. We are going to be teaching it again in the next visit. We also are taking them to a member's house to learn more about families.

The ward council is working really hard with us. They are visiting and giving the ward everything they've got. Recently, the second counselor to the bishop, shared a story with us. He told us, he's been working and working so hard in the ward and in his work. The other day he came home and they had no more rice. Mario, the second counselor, began to cry because he felt like he was failing in providing for his family. He said, "But I trusted in the Lord and did all I could for Him and when I went to look for the last rice they had, he lifted up the jar and felt a heavy jar full of rice. He continued, "God blesses those who love and obey him. It was a powerful lesson."

We haven't been able to talk to Leydi yet but we're going there this week. We call and talk to her twice every week but she hasn't been available yet. Her baby is doing great. We are going to be concentrating our efforts on her this week. The Relief Society is also planning to visit her this week.

I have seen MY MISSIONARY COMMISSION before but I think it's time I print it out and smack it on the wall :D Thanks for sending it to me.
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Love you Caleb! Thanks for the words of advice! :D We try to ask simple questions that make them think but it's really common here in Honduras for people not to think at all. So I got to thinking (hahaha) that we could do a fun, thinking exercise before some lessons to activate that part of their brains. Then they'll understand and answer the tougher questions :D
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Mom,
I hope you can rest this week from the wildfires that ran around the house all week long :D FIRE POWER right back at you! :D Hahaha

I've talked a lot about you guys to everyone I teach. And I don't know what changed but all of the sudden people are thinking that I'm way older than I am. They keep saying, "YOU'RE 18! You look 22 years old!" hahaha but I still don't have to shave everyday... well... if I want to be exactly obedient every day, I have to shave.

We've called Angel a million times but he doesn't answer us anymore. So, we've lessened the amount of calls we give him but we still aren't giving up. The ward and all the friends he had in the ward have lost contact with him too. And no one knows where he lives in La Reforma (the area of the sister missionaries). So, we keep praying. God answers prayers. :D They've finished the mourning services. They only hold the Vela, they call it, the night after and then bury the dead, and that's all. It's way way way fast. The mom has been wearing black ever since though. The whole ward has reached out to comfort her but she just doesn't want to let it go. We can't forget but we can let it go.

I am not so tan actually. The sun here is wimpy. It doesn't tan my skin hardly at all. I look very white still.

I would just like to add, there are ants crawling all around the computer screen right now... only in Honduras. But that's normal here hahahaha :D They're harmless.
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Kristen,
Thanks for the letter sister. I hope you get into the Music Program :D That's so awesome! Your story es igual! :D We can't stalk Angel though... We only have a phone number for him. I don't know if I have changes this week. We find out tomorrow. My best guess is that I don't because I'm training Elder Saucedo still. I bet I'll be here for one or two more changes. Love you!

Love you Family! I hope everyone else is doing well. I don't hear from everyone all too often. Just Mom and Dad and Kristen :D They tell me tid bits of everyone's life so that's great :D I just wanted to know if Lindsay and Giavanna get my letters and read them. Even though it seems like such a boring thing to read a letter, I wish I had read every single one of Kyle's and Kristen's letters.

Loves,
Hurrah por Isreal!
Elder Tuft

Interviews, Baptisms, Josè Jimenes, Listening to the Holy Ghost

 
Hello Family :D

This week was a great week, full of stresses and happy faces! The ward held ward council and we were invited to come. From now on we are expected to come because the Area Presidency and the Mission Presidents talked to all the Bishops and told them what needs to happen and change to make Central America grow stronger and bigger in the church. Little by little, poco a poco. YAY! We can go to ward council now! :D And to show us their appreciation, the ward planned absolutely everything for the baptisms this week. The Bishop's counselor complimented us hugely too! He held up the weekly report page of investigators that we fill out every week and told the Ward Council, "Look in the back where there are two nice young men in white shirts and ties. Those are your most valuable persons you have in the ward. This page is completely full of great things and great progress. Do you know what that means? It means these missionaries are working really hard. Thank you missionaries, and well done."

So that made us SMILE a lot. I had the opportunity then to reflect on how much we actually have done. I thought, "Naw, we haven't done that much." But we have done a lot. We want to do more and we want to help more, but what we've done is a lot of work. This ward rocks!

The ward also has the new challenge to reactivate five families every month and so the Bishop has told us he's going to be visiting with us more... He's gone out with us one time so far... but we're hopeful. He's a really busy guy. He works as a bus driver from Danli to Teguc and makes the trip at least 2 times both ways every day, if not 3 times.

We went walking the other day, like normal missionaries in Honduras do, and a man on a motorcycle waved us over to him and we almost didn't go because many people had rejected us that day and many people had what we believe is wrong and we thought he'd be another one of those. But we went over anyway and it turns out that that guy is less active and told us, "I want to come back to church again. I've had some things happen in my life and I know from experience that the only happiness that lasts exists in the LDS church." So we are visiting him more and what's even better is his wife isn't a member but is ready to listen to the gospel and be baptized if it's true. :D After that hard day, the Lord gave us a gift. That gift was this new less-active/friend named José Jimenes. Some things that people don't understand about less-actives is that they are not broken people, just broken-hearted. Once they realize that they are missing something in their life and they find it, they become some of the strongest members in the church. José is just amazing!

This month, we've been studying the Holy Ghost and personal revelation. One of the ideas we were asked to do... and I still need to do it... is keep a daily journal of the revelation that you receive and how you acted after your received it. What was the result? The other idea was to recognize and keep count of how many times you feel and follow the impressions of the Spirit everyday. I would also add: write your experiences down on paper. As we get better at recognizing the Spirit, we will have more revelation. Some revelations we haven't received only because we haven't listened hard enough.

We still haven't heard from Angel except that he said he still wanted to be baptized but other than that... nothing. We haven't heard from him since this past Sat. and isn't answering his phone for us or for any members. I don't know what's happened to him. We don't know where he lives either... because we taught him in a member's house and he always just came to the house at night on his own.

The funeral happened last week. Here they bury dead people the next day and the night after their death, they hold mourning services. It was really confusing and really fast too. After one day, it was all over. The mom was a wreck though. She still doesn't look the same. I can't imagine how she feels still. Dinia died because of a bacteria in her blood, not from cancer. They have all the equipment here in Tegucigalpa and Dinia had an appt. to have surgery to help fix everything but she died before they had the appointment. I haven't seen Angel since her death so I honestly don't know how he feels.

Not a ton happened this week. Just good lessons and I finally learned how to ask inspired questions. I'm not even near perfect at it still but I have been able to 1) Listen; 2) Interpret the Spirit; and 3) Ask the question that the Spirit directs. The other day, Elder Saucedo looked at me after a lesson and just was dumbstruck because of the questions I had asked our investigator. Here they typically don't know why it matters what church you join and not just because you like it. This is what they normally say, "It's the same God, right?" "God won't come for a church, WE are the church." "All the religions are His church. It doesn't matter which one we join." So generally, I just ask, "Why do you think that Christ came and establish His own church with Apostles and Prophets? Why would He do that when there were already Pharisees and Sadducees and Scribes--- essentially, 'Other Churches'?" or sometimes I have asked, "Why would God teach one thing to one people and another doctrine to another people? Isn't God unchanging and constant, the same yesterday, today, and forever?" That normally makes them think hard and long about the purpose of God and church in their life. The only thing they do understand is that church helps them grow closer to God. That's always a plus. :D

But, having said all that, it's not like a formula. We don't have a specific and robotic output for every input, or in other words, we don't just respond the same way because people ask the same questions or say the same things. It's a continual process of revelation that is different for EVERY person we meet. The Spirit directs which questions and with which words and with which intonation and EVERYTHING. I have come to realize more and more, that in a very intimate way, this work is the Lord's work. That's why I think Jesus is called the Husbandman many times in the scriptures (also because of the Atonement) because he is very intimately related in every way to our salvation and freedom from death, spiritual and physical. I have felt the love that He has for all of God's children. It's hard to explain but it's real. It's very real.

Love you family and have a great week full of fun surprises. LOVES! :D

Hurrah por Isreal!
Spencer Tuft

PS I was able to baptize Miguel Antonio :D He is sooooo PILAS!

Great week! E. Saucedo had hot sauce, Pablo Morazan, 2 baptisms for sure this week.

Hello Family,

Everything is going just fine. This week we had a shocker. Hna Dinia, Angel Ramirez's girlfriend has been sick for six months about. And every time it got worse, she asked the missionaries for a blessing, and every time she got better for a time and then it got worse again. Well, recently, it got a lot worse and then she went to the hospital and then came back. Then it got bad again and on the way to the hospital she died. So that was really hard for the ward and really hard for Angel. They were going to get married and had already talked about it a lot. We've called Angel six times and the first time he answered but was at work and so we didn't plan another appt with him. Now he hasn't answered us and so we don't know if he will be baptized this week, or if he'll be baptized at all. We pray for him every night and I hope that he'll answer tonight again.

We're set for the other baptisms, and we're just going to have the interviews and then the baptisms. We're checking up on the two that we have today and tomorrow just to make sure it's what they want to do and then talk about how we will do it. So.... yeah, I'm excited for them. The ward has been the key to help them. They just jump in and make friends, which makes them the best ward ever.

On Sunday, we went over to the Bishop's house to eat for dinner (right next door) and had enchiladas but they are Honduran enchiladas, so they're very different. It's like an American taco or Kyle, it's basically a Mexican taco like you probably had on your mission. Anyway, Elder Saucedo poured on the hot sauce because he thought it tasted good and I didn't stop him cause I don't know if that's normal in his culture, but that hot sauce doesn't burn until 2 or 3 mins later. So he began to chow down his food and then I heard, "Auuugh..." and looked up and saw my companion feeling the burn finally. Well, in two seconds, his face was dripping... I MEAN DRIPPING (it was the equivalent of a tropical storm!) with sweat. The bishop ran to get a towel for my companion and the bishop's wife poured a huge glass of cold juice for him to drink and after about 5 mins more, everything was back to normal. But, I've never seen someone eat something so hot that it makes them sweat so much and so fast before. It could be compared with how much I sweat when I played soccer for Springville last year. THAT MUCH! Wow... that blew me away. Sufficeth to say, my companion will never touch that hot sauce again and he didn't finish his food that day either.:D

On Saturday, we were contacting and were about to finish and then I looked left and saw a door open and the Spirit whispered, "When a door is open, that's a key indicator that you'll be able to talk to someone." and so we went there. An old lady came to the door and said, before we even said anything, "We have two of your guys that live here. One of them is sick and has been for a year and the other only comes on the weekends at night." I was confused but I just guessed that she was meaning, there were two less-actives that live there, and so we walked in. She led us back to the sick one. He was lying on a bed, with his legs curled up, and a beanie on his head, and he was just skin and bones. He is 80 years old. The lady told us that he's been sick for a year and that she's been taking care of him for that time. She's bathed him, dressed him, fed him and changed his diapers. When I saw him (Pablo se llama), I saw Grandpa Tuft again, laying on the bed in the care center. We sang, "I am a Child of God" and said a prayer where I cried and then we left. We went back the next day when the other old man would be there (Ernesto se llama). Ernesto is the brother of Pablo. We went back and gave a blessing of consolation and left again. I'm so grateful to hold the Priesthood. We're going back next week but I don't know if Pablo will last that long. He had two seizures a year ago that left him dumb and deaf. If he has one more seizure, he will die. It is sad to see death but happy to know that he'll be going to a better place where he won't be suffering so much.

It's going to be a great week this week! We have our work cut out for us and we're ready to go! We have a lot of people that need some friends and motivation to go to church. We've got a lot of appts to go to already. We almost have this whole week filled already with appts. Normally we don't have the next day full until the night before! So this will be a great week. We always look for the little chances to make a change in someones life. We always smile to make someones burden feel lighter. And we always look one way at least before we cross the street...... :D (He's making fun of his mom with that!)

The last little thing I wanted to write about is just that we had a fun service project this week.... Stabbing old water bags with knives to empty them of the water. It got creative on ways to stab the bags... never dangerous, just creative :D And that was a fun relief from chapeando (chopping at the grass with a machete because they don't have law mowers here).

There's the mission stuff. Now here are my comments for the week:

Another sister? I have four sisters now, sort of. Well I want fotos of course! :D  If I haven't seen her then I can't say I have a sister when I don't know who she is. ;D  Well, welcome to the family Giavanna! We're a bit weird but we're a family and that's what's important. It's hard to be in a new place and leave your life behind from what it was. I left on my mission about eight months ago and it's been hard to adjust, but it gets easier and more comfortable with time. Hope you enjoy the good ol' room with the map and the mirrors. Keep Lindsay in line for me ;D

(He sent a personal family paragraph but I omitted it from the blog, and this next part goes with it but I liked that acronym so I left it.)

One of my friends from school wrote me a letter before I left and it talked about how I always smiled. I have started smiling again, and you know what? I feel happy again! SMILE is also an acronym: Spiritually Minded Is Life Eternal. So Smile! :D

I just read Dad's letter, and I'll have to print it out to study more but I did mention last week that I didn't want to serve just to go through the motions. One thing that I did learn this week is that we can serve with our heart and more fervently when we listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost that tell us to serve at specific times. If we listen to the Holy Ghost, then we will be able to serve more completely and like the Savior did. 

Dad, every time you tell me to sing a hymn or tune for you, it touches my heart and I remember it when I sing. When I sing a song for other people, and for you, the Spirit testifies to me and to my investigators of eternal families and the love that a Father has for His sons and daughters. So thank you :)

Love you all! Have a wonderful week full of fun surprises and gifts everyday from our loving Heavenly Father.

Hurrah for Israel!

Elder Tuft

Consejo de Líderes, Sick and Rough week, but Happy

(Spencer sent this today but he went to the temple a few weeks ago.)

Hello Family,

Thanks for all your letters and support. I love reading every week about your weeks and how things are going back at home. I love you all and want you to know how much I miss you and pray for you.

I've been studying a lot in the Book of Mormon again, and I just finished reading all the Isaiah chapters in 2nd Nephi. It's hard to get a lot out of Isaiah but I managed it all right. I had to switch back to English to read that part. I love to read Chapter 29 to the people here that tell us we are blasphemous for having another Bible. That always shuts them right up. Even though they know what we teach is true, sometimes, they shut us out. It's like you wrote, Dad, about the message from Pres. Eyring, that we can have a testimony but not a conversion. We must allow that testimony to grow in us and to change us. We must act and not be acted upon. That reminds me of James 2 in the Bible when it talks about Faith and Works.

This week we had a conference as leaders from all over the mission. We all went together as ZL's and DL's and slept in the AP's house. That thing is a MANSION!!! We went to the meeting and I learned a lot. This mission hasn't been doing so well and so the AP's and President Bowler put together a slide show to show us all the problems we are having in our planning and in the datos (what's datos in English?) (data) We have 3 golden rules now, 1. Invite to be baptized in every lesson; 2. Invite to come to church in every lesson; 3. Ask who else would benefit from our message in every lesson.

So we've been doing that in every lesson and we have 18 people now with a baptismal date set. We just need to get them there now. We've been intesifying our lessons too. I've been working and teaching the doctrine really simply and really short so that everyone can understand it. Elder Saucedo told me recently after a lesson, "Elder, how do you do it? You play with all the investigator's minds until they find themselves agreeing with you and accepting invitations." My only thought on this was that this next week will be really hard if we aren't on top of everything in making and setting appointments, and following up on commitments.

I'm grateful for all the thoughts that you all shared. I've been praying for answers and for help and for courage to keep going. I'm glad I have a loving Heavenly Father who answers my prayers through my family and friends.

We didn't have the baptisms this week because we talked to both Alan and to Angel and both still will be baptized but not until the 21st. We talked to Alan and asked if he would like his mom to be able to come to the baptism and he said yes, so we moved to baptism till the 21st. That will give us more time to prepare too. Angel is really ready to be baptized but he just needs to learn all the Commandments. We've already taught them once but he's forgotten because it's been a while. So we're teaching the commandments and then he'll be baptized. Also, his girlfriend is a member and got really sick and he wanted her to be there for the baptism so he was grateful that we could postpone it.

So we'll have three baptisms on the 21st of Feb. Alan, Angel, and Miguel Antonio.

Miguel is also ready and still reading the Book of Mormon. He's finishing 1st Nephi now but hasn't been able to read as much because school started up here again and so he's been involved with a lot of homework. But he's still progressing towards baptism. He didn't come to church last week but I didn't see his sister their either (his sister's a member) and so they must have had something as a family come up. We're heading to his house this week to see how he's doing.

If you could send some yoga exercise workouts my way for my birthday, I'd love that :D. I'm just looking for something I can do in the morning to wake me up and keep me stress-free. There is a lot of stress on the mission and I don't like feeling tons of stress. I think if I had some yoga workouts in the mornings, I'd do better to focus.

We were sick this week too. I just got a headache and runny nose but Elder Saucedo is just adjusting to the food and had his insides turned around. He's doing better now, just drinking a lot of water like Hermana Bowler told him to do.

This week, I wanted to practice exercising charity more. I want to love the people more and I don't want to just go through the motions of giving service. I want to feel what I'm doing, more. What are your thoughts about charity? I'm going to be studying everyday this week to help me make my mission touch me more in my heart.

Thanks for all your prayers, thoughts and help. I'm really happy that something finally started happening to help Lindsay get better.

Hurrah for Israel!
Love, Spencer
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Mom, Thanks for your thoughts that you shared with me. That was what I needed. The testimony of parents has a life-long impact on the strength of their children. When everything is looking dark and dreary for me, I too, just pray and sing a hymn. I don't know if you remember at the beginning of my mission when I was sick, but I couldn't sleep and my body hurt so much. But, when I sang "I am a Child of God" I saw you and Dad singing to me and I couldn't feel the pain anymore. As long as I was singing, I didn't have the pain. Thanks for helping me learn the power of Hymns as I grew up, both you and Dad.

Dad, We didn't have the baptisms this week but we'll have three on the 21st this month. I'm really excited for that and we're already planning it all. I did an interview this week actually for an investigator that's preparing to be baptized. It's interesting to conduct an interview but when I do it, I try to think of how Bishop Walker conducted his interviews with me and how I felt while talking to him. I also think of how I feel when President Bowler interviews me. I want to help the investigators feel the same way that I have felt in my interviews. I feel lots of love and kindness. It doesn't feel at all negative but it feels just like it does when I talked to Grandpa before he died. Sincere and helpful, only uplifting, and the Spirit was there.

As far as how Sundays are, this last Sunday was great! We didn't have many people come and there are a lot of people sick in the ward but the lessons were still great and we discussed a lot about Agency and how we draw closer to Christ. Agency and The Atonement are inseparably connected and forever will be. Agency, I learned is an infinite law of heaven and that without it, we could not exist because God would not exist. I am eternally grateful for a Savior who loves me personally and knows me perfectly. I feel his love every time I read his words and every time I ask for forgiveness.

When Elder Saucedo became a member, he was the only one in his family to convert. His mom is now listening to the lessons. He has shared his conversion story and how he prayed to know if it was all true. He said that he hungered, kind of like Enos when Enos prayed for forgiveness. And when he prayed for forgiveness, he felt forgiven. He felt the Spirit testify to him about the Savior and the love that God has for every one of his children. After that, he decided to be baptized and then now he's serving a mission. I have a really strong testimony about God's love for us. The Savior wants to forgive us. And even though we are weak and stubborn sometimes, God is always there and he will always listen and never will turn away from us as long as we try to come unto Him.

Finally, Dad, I just like you letters. The format doesn't change the feeling I get when I read letters from home. Just keep writing because I love you and I feel your love and mom's love everytime I read your letters.

Kristen, hahaha thanks for the pictures you sent me. You are really white. I remembered this week, randomly, that one time you told me as we walked to early-morning seminary, "Spencer, you are just a zit-face!" and that always just cracks me up. :D Thanks for the humor you send my way to lighten the days and the load.

In my patriarchal blessing it says that I will be sent to a difficult land to serve my mission, and sometimes it seems like the bad outweighs the good. Even though it might appear that way, bad will never overcome the good.

D&C 18:15 says, "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!"

...and in Alma 41:5, "The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good..."

...and finally, Nephi wrote that they "lived after the manner of happiness" (2 Ne 5:27).

I don't know why I wrote you about happiness, but it made me even happier. So, if you benefit from it or not, I benefited from writing about it. Love ya! :D

Keep smiling... cause, as the family of a dentist, we all have great smiles. ;D
Tons of love, Spencer

PS I sent a picture of me at the Temple a little while back. I don't know if you have it already but there it is again for you guys.

Stuart's Baptism, Family Martinez, Training E Saucedo

Happy Day Family,

Well, another week has gone by and it feels like just yesterday I was in the shoes of my Trainee learning all the ups and downs of the mission. I look back, and well... hindsight is 20/20. It was really hard then but mostly because I didn't live up to my own expectations. My expectations weren't realistic. Everything is changing inside of me, and Elder Huff and Elder Saucedo helped, and have helped me make that change. I don't have tons of time this week but I want to share a little about the baptism and another family we started teaching recently.

The baptism was for Stuart and went really nicely. I can't say that it went really smoothly because a few bumps in the road came and we started 45 minutes late... (Soooo embarrassing)... and then the ward dumped all the blame on us. I'm just glad that the baptism went well once we started :) Stuart looks really happy and always has a bright smile. The bishop talked to us the other day and said, "Now, in a year or two, he'll be out there serving like you guys." The ward is really supportive here. They have their personal problems and difficulties that they have to work through but it's nothing that I'm worried about.

This week we have two baptisms planned but it may only be one baptism in the end. Alan, Fernando's brother is getting baptized this Sunday. He's really excited for that. His mom told us yesterday to come visit her today at 4:30 and so we're headed off to work before P-Day is even over. That's why we don't have tons of time today. AND MOM, we played the card games you sent us and I don't know if you'd played "It Came to Pass" but that is quite the riot of a game. In the middle of the game, teams can start to form and when that happens, the game calls it "Secret Combinations" which is the perfect name for it. It reminds me a little bit of UNO and GREED combined. You have to play it if you haven't already. You'll have a blast, but you need to have all 8 people there to make it even more fun! Let me know how it goes.

This week, I have to go to the Mission Consejos (where the ZLs talk to president, but this time he's invited all the DL's as well) and so this Wednesday, we'll be doing splits for the day. Then we were reading in PMG and it says that whoever does the interviews needs to be the one to fill out all the paper work and then go to the baptism to hand the papers over to the person presiding. We didn't know that, so we also have to do splits again this week to get the interviews for both the ZL's and in La Conce (my area).

Also, this week we had a lesson with Family Martinez. Two of them are members but never went back to church after they were confirmed and so they forgot everything they ever learned. The other, Darwin, never was baptized but he's really interested. We taught the restoration of the gospel to them and they read the homework we left and so we taught about the homework we left which was Lesson 2, The Plan of Salvation. They ATE that lesson up! So this week we will be teaching more about The Gospel of Jesus Christ and teaching them more about prayer and the Commandments. Hopefully, everything goes well and the ward can help us with them to become active in the church again.

Dad, the weather is always great here in Danli. This morning it was Brisando, or misting (not quite rain but a lot of little water particles falling like someone is spraying a water bottle lightly). Stuart is the only one in his household that is a member. I say household because he has a sister that doesn't live in the house but she is an active member of the church too. His Dad threatened to ship him off into the mountains if he chose to be baptized and the last time he said that he wanted to be baptized his dad actually shipped him off. This time he didn't tell his Dad because his dad doesn't live with him, and now that Stuart is 18, he can make his own choices.

Elder Saucedo is from Barranquia, Columbia. That's where Shakira is originally from... she's a Latin Pop Singer that knows five languages or something like that. haha I didn't follow her music ever and I'm glad.

Church was just dandy. I love being chewed out for a baptism starting late because the person doing the baptism did not show up on time... But Sacrament Meeting went well and the bishop had a bunch of young men give their testimonies and some did a good job. There were a few that just said, "This church is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen," but it was probably the first time that I did a complete and full fast that I am satisfied with. Before, I've done fasts but I've sometimes forgotten and eaten something or sometimes I've forgotten completely. But this time, I was able to complete a full fast and donate all the money that I would've spent on the food. It feels good to pay a full fast and tithe.

I loved the scripture you sent me about the vineyard too. Mom, I printed off the picture you sent me of Christ and the missionaries walking together a little while back and I still have it. I see it every day.

Lastly, you said, "the Gospel is not an umbrella to prevent us from getting wet -- it is a foundation that will not fail." I just wanted to say that it's not a "fix-it-all-up-and-make-it-perfect" wand either, to connect it to "The list of batons and sticks of Spencer's arsenal-belt of tools".

Love you family. Sorry I couldn't write much more. Mom, you guys would have to email president to see if you could come. I'm fine with what ever but you know... I won't be seeing you when you come. I'll probably be in the south by the time you come. Also, you asked last week for something I want for my birthday but I have no idea... Maybe my CTR ring? I won't have my hand chopped off here. That was a myth that they spread on the internet. The only place anyone has to worry about is in Tegucigalpa but I'm not there and I have a feeling that I'm not going to be for a while. I did have one question, did you guys happen to put together pictures for the cover of my agendas for my mission? Kristen made one for me a little while back and I really like it. I can put them on my agendas but I just want pictures from you guys. Kristen, can you help the family get some pictures together? You know how to make the Agenda Covers and so you can help the family.

Love you guys, I'm praying for you too.

All my love,
Elder Spencer Tuft
Hurrah por Israel

PS an investigator stole my watch and claimed they didn't a little while back and I forgot to tell you. Good thing they don't know how it works. But I'm watch-less. And the USB that you sent me, Kristen, a missionary took that one from me. I had it on my chair and got up to talk to the Zone for a minute and then sat down again and it was gone. I asked everyone and checked everywhere on me and many missionaries looked in their bags but no one fessed up. It's just those little two things that I'm missing now and want back. (Spencer's body stops/breaks battery watches so we bought him a wind up one and then changed the band so it's not even matching. I don't know why someone would want his watch. Darn!)

Training and DL, Lady that "saw Jesus"

Hello Family,

Thank you for all your letters. I loved that quote you sent Dad, and Kristen too! I'm sad to hear that Bella died but we'll see her again, I think. I hope!

Lindsay, I love you. Keep moving forward! I pray for you and I hope that you can keep up in school and find answers soon. And listen to Mom and Dad always! They know what they are doing even when they don't. (That made us chuckle!)

Dad, Elder Saucedo shared the same comment with me this week when I told him what I thought of the trees being white. Hahaha, learning things everyday :D We didn't get to work with the Bishop yet but we did with his son-in-law who is the bishop in the other ward. I'll write about that experience first I guess ;D

On Monday, Elder Huff and I found a new family and the Dad was an active member but he said he got bored of the church. He said that there were boring teachers and topics being taught and that he had read the Book of Mormon but that he got lost in the reason for having all the wars and reading about Nephi's journey through the desert. So we took a few member's (The Son-in-Law and his wife and the bishop's wife) with us this week and they taught him how to study the scriptures and we taught the "Big Picture": The eternal importance of keeping the commandments and especially going to church. We told him to ask himself, "What can I get out of this lesson? What does God want me to learn?" The members shared the conference talk that was given this past General Conference about not listening to a talk and say, "Oh, this talk is perfect for Brother Peterson!" Rather, we taught him to say, "Is it me, Lord?" Like the Apostles did after the Last Supper.

Miguel Antonio is doing great too! He's reading the Book of Mormon and then on the 21st of Feb, he'll be baptized. He's coming to church with his sister who is already a member, and he's going to all the youth activities. We'll keep checking up on him and sharing lessons with him especially about the priesthood I think. He's old enough to be ordained a Priest. So I hope the ward will get going on that.

Alan, the brother of Fernando who was baptized will be baptized on the 8th of Feb. as well. He's ready but we wanted him to wait a little because we don't want him to get baptized because of the excitement from his brother's baptism. I haven't heard the grandma in the house since last week because she's working but we did find another man there and he told us a bunch of lies too. hahaha it was funny to hear him tell us about an LDS Chapel up in the mountains that was recently built but at the same time really sad because he knows that we know he's lying. After hearing his train of lies, I wanted to just give him a hug because he looked so sad and hopeless. I don't want anyone to suffer any kind of pain. I have felt the pain that comes from breaking just one commandment here and another one there, and even that pain is terrible. To the people here in Honduras, that's a way of life, and that's the way it is. Then they cover up their pains by burying themselves in false doctrines and saying and truly believing that they repented only to go right on back to sinning again. It is so sad.

Tuesday we visited EVERYONE, because Elder Huff said his tearful goodbyes as he left the area. He's now with a senor companion that is really planch. President pulled him aside and told him to straighten out this missionary and that he was relying on him to help this elder. He went to Villa Olympica, which was the area right next to El Sitio in the next Zone over. It's a whole new experience in the city areas.

I'm training now... Surprise! The ZLs called me and said, tell Elder Huff to pack up and Elder Tuft, you are training this next change. Elder Saucedo is just great. He's from Columbia too, like Elder Rincon. But they are from different parts of Columbia. His parents aren't members and he is the only member in his family besides his aunt and uncle. His family is really supportive though and they look really nice from the pictures I've seen so far. He is really up tight about the rules which is great but he takes them to the next level sometimes. I think that's because of the CCM though. The first day he got here, he told me at night, "Elder, you need to stop talking to so many girls." Well, the first girl he told me that bothered him was Damaris (investigator 40 yrs old), the next one was a 30 yr old street contact that was just by chance that we talked to, and the last one was a 16 yr old that Elder Huff and I talked to before because her pulperia is the closest one to our house and so we buy our food from her most often. I think he just hasn't talked to any girl in two whole weeks while at the CCM and it's getting to him now. Other than that, we didn't talk to any girls that day. But I'm starting to feel a little of what Elder D. felt with me as I started to learn about the mission. It's not a problem but I just felt a little bugged when he didn't trust me, especially in the situation. I think that God wanted to let me feel just a little bit of what Elder D. felt when he trained me.

Elder D. is now AP too! :D He's just an awesome guy and I love him a lot. Even though we had some problems, I think they just came from a lack of communication and understanding.

I talked to Elder Coe about Angel and Helen from El Sitio this past week at changes and he said they've gone downhill now. They started asking the missionaries for money and not having the true desire to follow Christ anymore. I wrote them a letter but I hope to see them change their lives for good. Sad news but good to know.

This week, we had a random person call us and tell us they wanted to be baptized and we thought they were joking but then the person put the bishop on the line and the bishop of our ward explained the whole situation to us. His name is Stuart and he's been a member without baptism for four years because his parents wouldn't give permission to him to be baptized. Now he's 18 and still wants to be baptized so his baptism is this week on Saturday. I'd like to think with all these baptisms that God is saying to Elder Huff and I, "Thank you." Because we haven't had baptisms in forever. A ward member was telling Elder Saucedo and I that she thought that God chose us to come here because we were going to change everything around.

On Thursday, the first day for Elder Saucedo and the first lesson of the day, we went to a house that we had contacted and we set up an appointment to come back. We went in and the husband said his wife was busy in the back and couldn't attend us today but he'd be happy to listen. So we started with the Restoration, the first lesson and he asked us some off topic questions here and there and I had the impression that he was trying to catch us in our words. Well, then I started looking around in the house and I realized that we were in the house of a preacher because of all the chairs they had for members and the spaciousness of the house. So, I felt like we should continue with the lesson and bare powerful testimony of Joseph Smith. When we did, his wife came out from the back and began to rage on us because we were talking about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. She told us to set aside the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith and pick up the Bible for once. Eventually, with the Spirit gone, Elder Saucedo pulled out Galatians 5 where it talks about the fruits of the Spirit and asked, "Can you feel peace, love, and tranquility now?" And the wife responded, "Yes, and doesn't it feel delicious!" I saw, in that moment, the face of Satan bearing down on us and threatening us to give up on our testimonies. She continued saying that she had seen Jesus Christ in the flesh in the very room in which we sat, and that his presence was glorious and that if we would just give up what we were preaching, we too could have the same glory, even like Moses. That is where I drew the line and we bore testimony of the Divinity of God and Jesus Christ and that the Book of Mormon was more correct than any other book. We bore testimony that Joseph Smith was called of God and that God loves us, every one. She looked at us in disgust as she said, "In the name of the Lord, I call you to repentance for your blasphemy!" and at that, we told her we had other people that would like us to visit them and that if they would just read the Book of Mormon with an open mind that she would know of the truthfulness of our message. So we shook their hands, and when I shook the wife's hand, she told me, "Have more faith." and I told her, "With respect, I don't need to see God to know he exists." And we left it at that, went to the home to pray and ask to have the Spirit with us again and to pray for that family that their eyes would be opened. Then we went to the next lesson and I felt the Holy Ghost really strongly in that lesson. The difference was sooo stark between the two lessons. I can describe how both felt and I know that God is good, and happy, and just. It feels good to feel the Holy Ghost. I felt nervous and unsettled when I felt Satan. Satan is confusion, uneasiness, and chaos.

It was quite the experience and even scary when I go through it in my mind but it was an experience that tested whether I would be strong and true or not. We all have those tests in our lives. I'm interested to hear what you guys think about it all. Kristen and Kyle, did you guys have experiences similar to this in you missions in Central and South America? I try to keep the smile on but really that was an unnerving experience, seeing how far someone can go in the opposite direction.

Got to go now, but I bear firm testimony that God loves us and wants us to return to him. We can feel the difference between following God's commandments and disobeying them. My testimony comes from the Holy Ghost bearing witness to my heart that God lives. I can feel that it is true. It's nothing logical, it's all in my heart. I can reason around any person's experience and even my own, but I cannot deny the feeling I had and have while serving my mission. I feel that he lives and I feel that the Book of Mormon is true. We all can feel it too if we search in the scriptures humbly and meekly and with an open mind, ready to learn from God. If we seek peace, we will find it. If you seek Satan, you can find him, but his power is not of God, and will never compare against the Light. By the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all men can overcome the power and temptations of Satan. Satan doesn't love us, he just wants to conquer us. God will never abandon us and so we should never abandon Him. I know that Jesus is the Christ and that he died and rose again for us. He loves us and I love him.

Love you Family,
Hurrah por Isreal!
Elder Spencer Tuft

Best Week YET :D

Well Family...

There just isn't anything like serving a mission. I wonder how it feels to be missionaries in other churches???

This week was really great with the baptism and all. It was a fantastic baptism but let me tell you a few things about it starting with the Grandma of Fernando. She's just a splendid little daisy... :P Actually, she's not. We went the day before the baptism to talk to Fernando and she lied to us, telling us he wasn't there. So I told her as we left the house, "Well, thank you Hermana. And Fernando, we'll be at the home of Family Trejo!" So Alan and Fernando came running over to tell us how much of a lier their grandma is and that she doesn't want Fernando to get baptized at all. But the Mom of Fernando is sooooo supportive and a great Mom for him, despite the Grandma.

A member filled the font up for us the night before the baptism and called us and said it was really "oscuro" or dark. And so I told  Elder Huff, "Well, Fernando is going to get his wish to be baptized in a river after all. We can tell him that it's fresh river water if he asks why the water is so gross and green. ;)"

Then the baptism went wonderfully, and Mom I'll send you the username and password to my Dropbox account so you can look at the fotos and print or upload them for everyone else to see. It loads faster that way anyway. I also have fotos since El Sitio too!

Fernando's mom was asked to share her comments and feelings at the end of the baptism and she started to cry. She thanked the ward for all their support because she has to give support to Fernando and she has no one else to draw that support from. Obviously, this was a baptism that God just handed to Elder Huff and I. We like to see it as a thank you from God because we've worked so hard and had zero baptisms for six weeks.

So now, Alan, the older brother of Fernando (12 years old), called us and said he wanted to baptized tomorrow. He wanted to get baptized before but he didn't want to go to all the charlas or discussions with Fernando before. So now, we have his baptism set for weeks ahead and we still need to teach him everything and deal with La Vieja of a grandma again (I know everyone is a child of God and we should love everyone but she's been a real pain in the bum-bum lately).

You asked about my district but I'm kind of getting over their rudeness and laziness right now so I apologize if I seem kind of harsh. To give you a clue as to what I dealt with this last District Meeting, I'd like to share one little Dato with you. The one companionship that's the real heart of the issue had 1 other lesson this week. An "other lesson" is when their isn't a member present but you teach a lesson. They were rude in the practices to the Hermanas that were practicing and they absolutely were prideful and so I didn't teach them everything they needed to be taught because they don't deserve help if they don't want it. The one companion has been out on the mission for 24 months and extended and his companion finished his training with him just last change. So I've talked with them, been nice ALWAYS with them, and talked to the ZLs about it and so I hope to see some changes but the older companion is really hardened in his ways and I hope he gets changed this next change so he can get humbled a little bit. All God needs of us is obedience and hard work. He is at the helm and will guide us where we need to go. These two missionaries do not show me either obedience or hard work.

BUT the Hermanas, Hermana Gutierrez and Hermana Zaragoza, are really sweet and hard, obedient workers. Here in Honduras, it's hard for the Hermanas but they are having baptisms this month and we love them a lot.

Gamali is doing great. His baptism is for the 31st this month but it might be changed if he and his mom don't progress. His mom is a member but hasn't gone to church since she was young. They go to the Evangelico church now. Gamali had a spiritual experience "accepting Christ" when he and his mom repeated the words to a prayer of their pastor. We had to explain that while many churches had some truth, that only one church had all the truth. We redirected him to the Book of Mormon and that he could find all the truth if he read it. He hasn't read very much but we hope to see some good changes in the near future.

Leydi... Still pregnant... still???

We've been finding a lot of good people and a lot of hard people but I'll let you know more about them as they start progressing more. That way I don't waste time in the email.

Kali and Estér are doing great but when we went over to her house this week. She had on the TV, playing some music. The video of the music was quite horrifying but luckily my companion and I were blessed enough to not see anything or remember anything. This means that we had a great experience in their house and they tossed it aside for naught. Well, I'm about ready to toss in the towel with them. They are some less-actives that recognize Light when they see it but then deny it when temptation comes. Reminds me of each one of us with our weaknesses but I know, with full-surety of heart, that all weaknesses can be overcome. I just don't know how to help this family if they don't try. Estér goes to church but she too, has an addiction to the world's view of a perfect body. The kids were in the house too... so I hope they never remember this time of their lives and that their parents can get a grip on this addiction before they pass it on to their little ones.

One other investigator is Miguel Antonio. He's reading the Book of Mormon, slowly but surely. His baptism is set for the 21st of Feb. He wants to be baptized but he wants to find his answer first. But he's really intelligent in that he remembers a lot! He just stutters in his speech, and I think he has some type of ADHD. He's just great and brings a smile to my face every time I see him.

I don't think that one event made this week so great but I do think we are happier because we aren't sick and so we can work hard and we love our investigators. Sometimes it's frustrating when they don't come to activities but the ward is great and help out a lot more than in El Sitio. This past week we had 109 people in the chapel and the week before we had 130. These numbers are incredible because they haven't had over 80 for sooo long. I think what made the week even better is that we looked back at the numbers and we saw how much we've improved as people and missionaries. We normally have more than 8 or 9 lessons everyday with members and investigators and we are always finding new people.

I will be sad to see Elder Huff go but it's been great to be with and get to know him. He's an awesome person and I've grown a lot from him. He can always invite the spirit into a lesson on a whim with his testimony and that is such a great gift he has.

It's good to hear how everything's been going with the family. I LOVED seeing little Audrey singing and banging on the keys (She could probably rock that upright like Jon Schmidt rocks the extended grand! ;). And that Kristen is a special one too. She might do a great job banging on the piano with her clubbed hand right now. jajajaja!

I just have one more quick story of the week for you guys:

We talked to a young lady this week and she told us, "Mormons, you guys make everyone get married all the time and you don't drink coffee..."

"That's a commandment in the Bible actually," We replied.

And in a "no-duuur" kind-of-way, she said, "But you guys actually practice it."

And that basically sums up Honduras. They know the commandments but don't live by them. They preach Christ but only want to follow Him if their way is easy to follow and comfortable to walk. They want everything easy and for that, their lives are hard.

Elder Huff and I have a phrase that we say when something typical to Honduras happens: "We can always paint the trees white!" And we say that because they like to paint all the bottoms of trees white and it serves no purpose but to employ a few hundred people to do nothing. They try to cover up the uglinesses of wickedness with a "fresh coat of paint" as I like to think of it. Wickedness never was happiness though.

Well, let me scan again all the questions you had so I don't miss any...

I haven't met Elder Wardle yet, Mom.

Thank you Dad for the talk. I'm printing that off so I can study it further this week. I do hope you know that I love the insights you share with me. I try to answer all the questions you guys have for me but sometimes it's a rush and I forget.

Like right now actually. Got to run! Love you all! I'm glad everyone is safe and in good-spirits.

Hurrah por Israel!
Elder Tuft