New Investigators, answering questions, and Skype

"A picture Elder Bustillos took of me a week ago. I love climbing trees but this will be the first and last tree climbed in missionary clothes."

Hi Family,

This week was a great week for us. We didn't find many new investigators but the ones we did find are really great. It was interesting to see that, in the stats for our zone this past week, those who contacted less had more new investigators and those who contacted more had less new investigators. We're still investigating the matter...a little curious.

One of the new investigators that we are teaching is SUPER cool! We found her when we talked to an old lady (her grandma) in the street and the old lady told us she wasn't interested in listening to us because she always goes to another church. We asked her if she knew anyone who would be interested in listening to our message and she shouted and pointed at a young lady (her grand-daughter) and said, "She doesn't go to any church and would be happy to listen to you." So we set up an appointment and this week we visited her for the first time. We taught her the Restoration and she had already read the pamphlet of the Restoration that we gave her. It was really easy to teach her. While reciting the First Vision to her, she was very attentive and quiet. After, no one wanted to move or breathe because we felt the Spirit so strong. When she finally reacted after a few moments in silence, she said, "How neat would that be to talk to God!" And we told her, "You can!" And so she said she would talk with God in prayer and confirm the truthfulness of our message. She was going to go to church but something happened and she couldn't come. We are hoping and praying so much that she can make the right steps towards baptism. We left the discussion with a new energy that night. :D

We also went to a baptism that other missionaries had. We sang "A Child's Prayer" to the sister that got baptized. The Spirit was really strong there as well. The family members were all crying as the sister (Patricia) gave her testimony after the baptism. It was quite the emotional day for them, and for us missionaries.

Now, lots of questions to answer. I'll try to answer all the "loose ends" that I've left undone.

I've been back to full strength for a while now after dengue and we've been working really hard.

For my birthday this past week, a few people wanted to smash eggs on my head and throw me in the tubs (the pilas) full of water. That's what they do here in Honduras. But I'm happy to say that I've escaped two birthday's now without those birthday surprises happening. I didn't tell any members of my birthday until after the 26th and then justified myself by saying that the 26th had already passed and that it wouldn't be right to celebrate my birthday on another day.

Dad, we had a change in the stake presidency and the whole attitude of the stake has changed. There are usually things that aren't 'perfect' about the meetings on Sunday (or any other church meetings) but it's gotten a lot better in a very short amount of time. My first few Sundays here in Danlí were a little difficult for me because I wondered what church I had wandered into. But it's gotten better I'm happy to say. We don't have a ward mission leader anymore because the stake leaders released him from that calling and gave him a stake calling as a High Councilor, visiting our ward still. So we still see him a lot but it's not the same as when he was the ward mission leader. He's a great guy and has touched my heart because of his sincerity, hard work ethic, spiritual power, and humility. He's making differences in the lives of many. He truly magnifies his calling.

I haven't heard much more about Stuard still. I always ask about him but he's still in the process of his mission papers.

I read the thoughts you shared about the talk from Elder Bednar and I liked it. I wish that all the missionaries in this zone could comprehend that obedience for love and not by force will always bring us more blessings and spiritual power. There are some who struggle in that aspect.

We still haven't gotten the conference addresses. We are anxiously waiting for them. "I WILL GO AND DO!"

Mom, I'm not in Paraíso but the first counselor in our ward bishopric is named Nery.

May Day is the day that I got Baptized! :D

There was a storm here that kicked the power out for a few hours but we're back to normal from that storm. I like the temperature that we enjoyed this morning. It was cool but not cold. It was just perfect.

I haven't been using the rain boots because people here look at me like a weirdy, but I have used the umbrella, and the rain coat on occasion.

Enjoy the electronics Lindsay! I never had them up until Kyle came back from his mission and even then I was begging mom for an iPod. JUST. AN. IPOD. Not even an iPhone or anything! Use them wisely. I dislike it when I'm talking to someone and they are texting on their phone or otherwise ignoring me basically. It happens a lot when you're a missionary.

SKYPE: 3 or 4 o'clock is fine with us. We don't have many members with internet and Skyping capabilities in our ward but we'll see what we can do.

Love you all! I hope I answered all your questions!
Spencer James

PS I've gone over the time hour limit of my time to write. But don't worry if I don't answer all your questions in the future. It's really not a lot of time to read and write you guys.

Lots of birthday wishes - Thanks everyone!

Hi Mom and Dad,

Yay for 20 years, 7305 days, or 631138519 seconds of the life of Spencer James! Thanks for all the Birthday wishes.

Happy Birthday to Jess and Ian!

I'm glad to hear that everything has gone really well for the family and friends.

This week we contacted a ton! :D It was great and we found 9 new investigators and many more pending new investigators. I pray that someone will get baptized in this wonderful ward. And I hope it's a dude (&/or family too) because there are too many women in this ward, but not many Priesthood holders.

The Sacrament meeting was super great this week and also the classes. It was really great because I could feel the Spirit so strongly. I'm so grateful for great, true, spiritual leaders here in Danlí. I have witnessed and I know that God has called and is actively working through the Stake and Ward leaders here in Danlí Stake.

I've got to go and I'm sorry for not writing more. I got a lot of birthday wishes this week, so thanks to everyone :D Did you put it on FB, Mom? :)

Love,
Elder Tuft

Investigators, zone, answering mom/dad's questions (YEA!)

Hi Mom and Dad,

There's nothing really new this week from Honduras. It's been hard to find new people to teach. We did find a really awesome less-active sister, and one new investigator. The less-active's name is Heici (said hey-sie). She was the young women's president in Tegucigalpa but she moved to Danlí because it's a lot safer from the gangs because she's a single mom. She went to church a few times here but no one really knew who she was and didn't talk to her much. But she's going to go this next week.

The new investigator is called Angeli. She's just 13 years old but she's super self-motivated and has the support of her mom but not her stepdad. She's gone to church twice now. It's hard to teach her though because she's hyper-active (she gets distracted very easily) and it's difficult to teach something that she'll understand. So we teach her with members or other investigators now and she seems to pick up more that way. But she loves the church and wants to get baptized the 5th of May. She even picked her baptismal date!

Now to answer your questions:
Dad- This week has been great and I've been super tired... Elder Bustillos as well. We both have been really tired. This week it was interesting to note something with Elder Bustillos and myself--- I was trying to prepare to leave the house after lunch and I still had to brush my teeth and he tells me, "Let's go!" and so I responded, "I'm brushing my teeth." He was a little impatient with me but we finally left the house. Later in the week, he was contacting a little too long and we were late to an appointment and while he was writing down someone's information after talking with them, I told him, "Elder, we're late. Let's go!" and he responded (without meaning to) in the same tone that had I responded to his impatience earlier in the week: "I'm writing," he said. So I learned that we are a lot a like and sometimes that's good and sometimes that's bad. I'm learning to have more patience with myself and with Elder Bustillos.

I couldn't print Elder Bednar's talk last week because we were late but I'm going to print it in just a minute.

We haven't heard anything about a program titled "My Plan" yet. I'll ask President about it.

Our zone has the most baptisms for the month so far, Yay! Buuuut that's a bad thing because our zone only has three baptisms soooooo I think it's been rough for all Honduras Tegucigalpa Mission this month. Like you said, we have to just keep plugging away.

The Zone is doing better and we're much happier, I feel. We have some issues in how missionaries are teaching (like teaching robot lessons or the same lessons over and over and over again to all the investigators) but they're trying to be obedient and I'm confident that we're heading in the right direction.

Splits are pretty cool but we haven't done any since I've been sick. We're thinking about doing splits this week with one of the district leaders but we don't know which one yet. We're still thinking about it.

They do have donuts but they don't come from Reams or Krispy Kream. They are homemade generally. In Teguc they have Pricemart donuts which are really good.

Mom- Yay for not having more dengue! :D Thank you for your prayers for Dirian! She needs this!

I haven't been informed of flight plans yet. That's weird that Elder Jones already has his. Maybe he shortened his mission... I don't know. I haven't gotten flight plans yet. (Spencer is set to come in June 23 in the evening, but I found out from another Mom up the street who has a son who left the same day.)

I open my mouth more than 100 times every week in daylight, Thanks! :D And why did they not ask me first before they signed me up for a talk in church??? jk ;-D (Spencer will be speaking in church on July 10 at 11 am.)

Kristen did write me about Jazmin and I think that's such a cool experience! I'm super happy for her and Jazmin.

Too many weddings going on! Wow!

Have a great week mom! Love you :D
Elder Tuft

Dengue has passed, Dirian, Contacting

Hello Family,

This week I'm feeling a lot better! I'm thinking more clearly, as well. It was a little difficult with dengue because I felt like the negative thoughts were a lot more present. It was ugly... but doing great! I didn't have pain in my body at all. Since we couldn't go out last week, we were preaching the gospel from our balcony area and we called old investigators and talked to them over the phone. We were in our house but not off-duty. Everyone looked at me and said, "You have dengue???" because I didn't feel the effects of dengue nearly as strong this time around. All the little kids have had the same thing this week and it's frustrating to see that the parents think that taking them to get a non-professional massage will fix everything. That's what they do here if you're sick! They tell you that you are empachado or "stopped-up" or "plugged in your gut" and then you go to the massage therapist that has no licensed degree or study or education and supposedly that does the trick! Well, it doesn't. Superstitions are very real here.

Dirian is doing great. Her DVD player didn't work and so we watched The Restoration (20 min version) and she said that it cleared up a lot of questions she had (but didn't tell us what questions it cleared up). We're going to try to watch How Rare a Possession next time. We asked about what her dad thought or said the last time that he came and we were teaching her. She told us that he scolded her for listening to false doctrines but she told us that she doesn't see what's so wrong about listening to us. It's going to be fun getting permission for her baptism... :D

The rest of this week was contacting like crazy. And we've found a lot of potential investigators. Elder Bustillos and I always say to each other, "I fear no man!" and we go for it, trying to find all the people that are ready to hear us and follow God's voice. Los míos me escuchan y siguen en pos de mí.
"Mine listen to me and follow after me."

Thank you for all your prayers. It's not been easy these past few weeks without baptisms. Sometimes it's our turn to find, other times it's our turn to teach, and other times to baptize. Everything will run it's own course like the rivers that run freely around all obstacles. Elder Bustillos and I continue to practice how to do a baptism so that we'll be ready when the day arrives to baptize. :)

Love you all
Elder Tuft

Kristen,
Thanks for your letter. I stopped writing in my journal while I was sick and now I've gotta keep it up.

Dad,

I'm going to print off the talk you told me about and study it this week. I'm studying a lot about the Pearl of Great Price right now and I'm in the middle of Abraham already. It's super cool when you have a study manual on the side of the scriptures to help understand what the verses are saying.

Mom,
LOVE YOU! I think I answered all your questions in the letter but if not just send me a quick note for next week about what I left out.

Dengue update, Elder Bustillos, Conference?

Sunday afternoon, Sister Bowler (who is Spencer's mission president's wife) called and told us that he has dengue fever for a third time. They are monitoring him now, and have been out two years and haven't ever had a missionary with it a third time. Spencer is allergic to the OFF bug spray, and uses alternative methods but because there really aren't very many mosquitoes right now, he may have slacked off using the other methods too. She said he is tolerating this well and President Bowler just missed Conference and drove 4 1/2 hours to get him and his companion and drive them back to the mission home. IF needs be, he is also nearby the really good hospital. Yesterday, there was even talk that if this became worse, they could hospitalize him, and then send him home when well enough to travel. They do not want him to get this AGAIN, a fourth time. It is up to the Area Medical people, which they are required to report it to. Of course they take in to account what the President's recommendations are, and also the nurse in the mission. Right now, he looks really good, and I'll try and add a couple pictures Sister Bowler sent me yesterday. PLEASE CONTINUE TO PRAY FOR HIM to recover, be able to finish his mission the end of June, and that he won't have life-long complications that could come from this illness. THANKS to all who are and have been! Then this afternoon Sister Bowler texted me his blood counts: His WBC is improved at 5.3 and is back in the normal range. His PLT improved to 150, from 130, which is barely in the normal range. His HTC shows that he is dehydrated, so I will keep him here to monitor his water intake!! We will test him tomorrow, just to be sure his PLT's are headed in the right direction. He's doing great. (Your prayers are working!) She also said this is the first time she's ever seen platelets go up before Day 5. The Dengue test can't be taken until Day 5. 

Hello Family,

I'm doing really great actually. I didn't know I even had Dengue... it's still not definite until we test for it tomorrow. I hope that I don't have Dengue. Elder Bustillos gave me a blessing and I know that without that blessing, I'd still be struggling through this third time with Dengue. It's a puzzle really. No one knows why I'm doing so well for not having a great blood count. President saw me and said, "You look great Elder Tuft! Are you really sick?" Hermana Bowler said the same thing. I haven't had a fever since the first night. I just feel tired and a little weak but I'm not one of those who likes to be in bed or sitting down doing nothing. It's a challenge to get myself to lay down and go to sleep. I didn't get to see the Conference sessions on Sunday and Saturday night Priesthood was a little hard for me to concentrate a lot on the talks. It all was a blur to me. I'll have to read all the talks again because I couldn't focus well. I'm glad a went though.

 

Mom/Pam has included this for those wondering what Dengue is:  Dengue fever is a severe, flu-like illness that affects infants, young children and adults, but seldom causes death. Dengue should be suspected when a high fever (40°C/104°F) is accompanied by 2 of the following symptoms: severe headache, brain fog, pain behind the eyes, muscle and joint pains, nausea, vomiting, swollen glands or rash. Symptoms usually last for 2–7 days, after an incubation period of 4–10 days after the bite from an infected mosquito. Severe dengue is a potentially deadly complication due to plasma leaking (hemorrhaging), fluid accumulation, respiratory distress, severe bleeding, or organ impairment. Warning signs occur 3–7 days after the first symptoms in conjunction with a decrease in temperature (below 38°C/100°F) and include: severe abdominal pain, persistent vomiting, rapid breathing, bleeding gums, fatigue, restlessness and blood in vomit. The next 24–48 hours of the critical stage can be lethal; proper medical care is needed to avoid complications and risk of death.

And if you're still wanting to know more, another site has this: 

Those who become infected with the virus a second time are at a significantly greater risk of developing severe disease. Symptoms are high fever, rash, and muscle and joint pain. In severe cases there is serious bleeding and shock, which can be life threatening.  Treatment includes fluids through IV rehydration and pain-relievers. Severe cases require hospital care. There are 4 distinct, but closely related, serotypes of the virus that cause dengue (DEN-1, DEN-2, DEN-3 and DEN-4). Recovery from infection by one provides lifelong immunity against that particular serotype. However, cross-immunity to the other serotypes after recovery is only partial and temporary. Subsequent infections by other serotypes increase the risk of developing severe dengue.

Back to Spencer's letter:

On Saturday in between the Afternoon and Priesthood Sessions, we visited Dirian, an investigator that is looking really positive. The lesson went well and then her dad came to pick Dirian up to go home after work and we sensed he wasn't happy that we were teaching his daughter. We are going to show her a video of the Book of Mormon: How Rare a Possession. We believe that it will help her a lot because it helps give a great example of a man who changes from being a Pastor to being excommunicated from his church because he believed in a book without a title (it was the book of Mormon). I hope it'll help her have the motivation to make the right choice. 

Elder Bustillos is from Chihuahua, Mexico. His dad is Catholic and his mom is LDS. His dad told him this last Christmas that he would stop drinking and change and be baptized when Elder Bustillos got home. He loves music as well and plays the guitar. Before the mission he was in a band. He's super relaxed and well motivated. He works hard and efficiently. The other night, I was talking with the District Leaders and he stands up next to me and starts making strange movements. I looked at him and then did a double-take and realized he was practicing submerging someone below the water and practicing the baptismal prayer. I starting busting up but we're confident that we will baptize this month-she seems golden.

I'm getting tired and when I get tired, Hermana Bowler said I need to go home and sleep. (He's staying down the street at the Elders' apartment who are in the area of the Mission Home.) But I hope you get better, Mom, and Dad I hope you enjoy the break this week. I love my family more than anyone could imagine.

Love, 

Spencer James

PS Mom Hermana Bowler will get the test results today in just a few minutes and we'll see if my white cell blood count went up or down again. She'll let you know as soon as she gets the results back. Yes, I think I'll "die" with Elder Bustillos as my companion ... ;D (Meaning Elder Bustillos will be his last companion & send him home.)

PSS I haven't sent pictures for a while because they are so darn hard to upload and send. They take up so much time on slow internet connections. I didn't see Ian in conference... I couldn't concentrate very well that day.

Easter Week, Missionary Changes, Pday

Hello Mom and Dad and Family,

I love you all so much and I always wish the best for you all. I hope you recover Mom and Dad.

This week was the famous Semana Santa. Their weren't a lot of people here in Danlí.  But we did find a few potential new investigators that are really positive.

Estefany, Cleymer's daughter, got permission to go to church yesterday and she LOVED it!!! All the teachers were really impressed with her intelligent and great answers. She said she learned about the prophets and the Holy Ghost and that she can "listen" to the Spirit in her heart. She says she'd be going to church the next week as well and try to convince Cleymer to go as well. Cleymer just needs to humble herself and repent of her sins so that she'll feel okay and comfortable to go to church.

Fun experience this week: Elder Guillen and I were walking down a hill and he looks at me and says, "It reeks of less-actives..." And I said, pointing to a mother and her small family at the bottom of the hill, "It's them." We drew close to them and received the courage to talk to them and they told us, "We're members but we haven't gone to church for 7 years." And Elder Guillen looks at me and I look at him and we just start busting up laughing that we "smelled them out". Hahahaha! 

I have repeatedly felt that as Elder Guillen and I have grown closer, we have also been able to read each others minds and feelings really quickly and easily. We've also been able to teach with a great unity between us and the Spirit. I have felt more impressions of the Spirit with Elder Guillen than with any other companion, I believe.

My new companion will be Elder Bustillos. Elder Guillen will be going to the Travesía (Where I just came from) and he's going to love it! The changes will take place tomorrow at noon our time. I'll be staying here in Danlí to work with Elder Briones (DL) while Elder Bustillos comes back on the bus.

Since my first day here in the area, I've seen a lot of personal growth in each of the members and my perspective of their problems and what I can do to help has been cleared up. I feel more in tune with them and focused on what's truly important, BAPTIZE! I'm hoping to see 3 baptisms these next changes. 

Cool insights from The Pearl of Great Price: Eve was not literally made from the rib of Adam and when it mentions that we are created from the dust of the earth, it refers to the natural elements and not literally dust as in dirt. Also, when the Gods separated the water from the water, in Genesis, it says firmament; in the PofGP it says "expansion". I was thinking about what an expansion is and it occurred to me, "God is expanding his kingdom and so he had to separate some of the waters in heaven from the waters in the earth (or in other words, outside of the heavens).

Brigham Young also said that Joseph Smith was one of the "Gods" to create the earth just like Adam or Abraham. He asked his audience, "and why not Joseph Smith?" referring to him as one of the elect creators of the earth or the Gods.

Just a few things I read this week.

Pday was great today! We hiked to a waterfall and played soccer nearby on the property of a nearby villager. It was a cool hike and I really enjoyed it.

Love you all,

Elder Tuft

Thanks Mom and Dad for all your support! You are my heroes! Oh and Mom, I found all the money I took out of the bank a month or so ago. It was stashed in a book on my desk and I found it while reading the book. So it turns out that I never even used it. 

And please take some cookies to Sister Eldon for me. She gave me $50 in a letter she sent so that Elder Guillen and I could enjoy some ice cream and subway sandwiches. I also want to buy Elder Guillen a new shirt because his are all ripped up. Play some cards or something with her because I want her to know that if I was there, I would spend some time just helping and talking to her.

You're the bestests!

Meeting with new Stake Presidency, New Investigators

Hello Mom and Dad,

The electricity went out for a while so this will be a short one but I'll print off your letters and read them more carefully this week.

We've found quite a few new investigators and we are really optimistic about them. One is a family, Carlos and Carmen. We explained to them the Plan of Salvation and we had passed the part about Adam and Eve and all of the sudden, we see Carlos thinking really hard, and shortly after, he smiled and said, "So it was God's plan to have Adam and Eve fall?" and we could see the gears turning in his head. He's really funny that way. He captures everything but really slowly comes to realize what it all means to him and then he'll react suddenly in a positive way :D. His wife is a little more doubtful. She always asks us for scriptures in the Bible, and that helps, but we'll see how it goes with them this week.

I wanted to share a poem that I found from when I was in 9th grade:

Nature's first green is gold,
it's hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower,
but only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
As Eden sank to grief,
so dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

I really liked that poem and I found it in my journal for some reason that I don't remember. It's a great poem about Adam and Eve, as well. I've been working on the translation for Spanish but it's difficult. I've almost got it.

This week, Elder Guillen and I went on splits with some Elders in the zone and I was reminded a lot about starting the mission because I went with a new missionary from the companionship. It was a good reminder about patience and my own process of learning. He also taught me that simplicity is key :D.

Love you all!
Elder Tuft