The First Half of July

June 30, Tuesday

I started in Spanish school today and my brain is overloading. It is a lot to learn in such a short amount of time. It is very stressful some of the time but I am doing my best. I am staying with a host family in Santa Lucia for 3 days because that is where the Spanish school is. They are very nice and hospitable. At the school it is only me and my teacher. It is very difficult to be patient because I cannot speak the language. Unfortunately it takes time to learn. I keep praying for God to help me learn this new tongue and also for the peace of Honduras. It is very peaceful here in Santa Lucia and it is also very beautiful. I am up in the mountains and the view is absolutely breathtaking. I cannot describe how beautiful it is with words but hopefully I will be able to get some pictures uploaded sometime. I have been studying in my Spanish book and am learning a lot. I try to practice with my family here and it does help me remember but I often make mistakes which just make it very humorous. We all laugh together at my mistakes and have a good time.

July 1, Wednesday

Well at the end of 6 hours of Spanish I am tired. My brain cannot take any more than that at one time. I am still learning a lot but it is difficult to put into practice. It is about a 15 minute walk to the school. I am currently the only student so I walk by myself, which really isn't bad because it gives me time to enjoy the beautiful scenery. It gives me time alone, to think by myself. I spent a bit of time in prayer this morning. I was a little overwhelmed with Spanish and needed a little help. Thankfully God answers prayer. It is interesting to see and talk to the family I am staying with because it seems like I have no influence on their lives at all. It is like I am just another child in the household. That is not a bad thing. It makes me more comfortable than if I were to be treated like a stranger. I know I am here for a reason and maybe it is just because it is near the school or maybe there is a greater purpose. So far I am not sure. I am very excited to go to Catacamas where I will be staying more permanently. I know that I will build a very strong relationship with my family there. Once I am there I can start to learn the lifestyle and the Honduran culture better. I do not necessarily want to get used to cold showers, though.

July 2, Thursday

This morning my Spanish lesson was only four hours unlike the six hours the past two days. I went back to the house afterward and studied. I had a chance to spend a little bit more time with my family here so we went to the soccer field and thankfully I can say a few sentences here and there. I can understand more but it still takes me a time to put sentences together. I ate some sort of plant, presumably a vegetable but I'm not really sure. I am doing well today but I am excited to meet my other family that I will be staying with. I do miss home a little bit but that is expected.

July 3.

Finally I am finally here in Catacamas where I will begin my work. My family here is Doris (mother), Noe (father), Pedro (son), and Alejandra (daughter) ... And the newest addition for half the year Me. They really do treat me like family and are wonderful. I found out that they had painted my new room for me. It is blue just like my room in Canada. It is really like a second home.

July 4.

Sick Day. I knew it was nearly inevitable but today is my day to get sick and hopefully build a great immunity to the bacteria here. I won't give all the wonderful and exciting details about getting sick here but it is not very pleasant. To make it even better I woke up quite dehydrated. I prayed and had others praying as well that it would be short and I would get better quickly. I felt mostly better by night time. I slept for a lot of the day and read, practiced Spanish and prayed. When my Dad and Ana returned we discussed the situation about the government and what the plan was. We decided that if things got to the point of the Canadian embassy suggesting that we leave we will. Hopefully it does not come to that. We made sure that my Mom was agreeable to that plan as well. Fortunately I know I am in God’s hands and He will keep me safe. I do not fear for my safety but obviously I will still be sensible about it. I put my complete trust in God and I'm sure that whatever He has planned will be carried out. Because I do not know God's plan I just keep praying for the peace of Honduras. Last but not least I had to say my "see you in a while" to my Dad. It was difficult but good at the same time. It is hard because he is my father, my inspiration and my last link to home. It is good at the same time because it is liberating me from English and forcing me into Spanish. Also I am going to be starting my work here. I pray for his safety as he returns to go home. I Love You.

July 6.

Today was the first day I went to the Diaconia Nacional office. Everyone gathers for a devotional on Monday mornings. It was difficult to understand but everyone seemed very into it and everyone was involved sharing their thoughts. I did not do much other than listen and take some pictures while everyone else planned for the week. We did attempt to open a bank account for me but I did not have the papers I needed. We also tried to change some of my traveler’s cheques but we couldn't find anywhere that would take them. Hmmm well some other day I guess. I know that they will take them when I go to the capital next month. I have Spanish lessons every day for 2 hours this week and today went well so I hope the rest of the week does too. I am learning the culture and learning to be more relaxed as I write this because I have been anxious to start going to different communities but I realize the importance of concentrating on learning the language first.

July 7.

“Do It Yourself.”

That said alone is often rude but today I learned how to do my laundry on a cement washboard. I didn't do all of my laundry because someone is hired to do laundry each week, but everyone washes their own underwear. Also everyone knows what your underwear looks like when you hang it on the clothes line to dry. It is definitely a different culture and things are definitely done differently but learning something new is always exciting and an adventure.

July 10.

“Hello? Hello?”

Today I was not going to the office and did not have a whole lot to do. Being a little homesick I called my brother Mike who lives out in Calgary. It's amazing that I can call that far quite cheaply. I talked to him for a little bit he told me he wishes he was here with me. I also got to talk to my other brother Corey for a couple minutes but he was at work. It was just nice to hear their voices. I called my parents and got an update, hearing everything was good there and there are a lot of love and prayers for me from Canada. My sister unfortunately was unavailable. Last but not least I called my girlfriend Lauren and got updates from her as well. It was very wonderful and exciting to be able to talk to so many people back home. I also finished Spanish school today. No I am in no way bilingual but I know a bit more and am learning quickly. To everyone back home: I love each one of you and miss you all!!!

July 11.

Every day I learn something new whether it is about the culture, about agriculture or about myself. Today it was something about myself. As I was reading the book given to me by my pastor shortly before I left, God pointed something out to me. Although I don't keep my faith to myself I never really accepted many opportunities to share it. I am slowly learning more. I never was, but I never will be ashamed to say that I believe in God and have accepted Jesus as my personal Saviour.

July 12.

As I was reading my Bible there was a little study note titled "Five Dangerous Responses" so since it sound interesting I thought I would read it. It started off my saying, "A wise man keeps himself under control." This was in the book of Proverbs and after each statement it gives some verses that demonstrate each point. The five points were:

1) Anger will destroy you before it destroys anyone else. Control your temper. Read Proverbs 14:17, 14:29, 15:18, 19:19, 22:24-25, 29:11, 29:22

2) Pride will lead to your downfall. Humility is far more rewarding. Read Proverbs 3:34, 11:2, 13:10, 16:5,18-19, 18:12, 21:4

3) Jealousy grows like cancer. Read Proverbs 14:30, 23:17, 24:1, 27:4

4) Fear of people is unnecessary if you trust God. Read Proverbs 3:25-26, 29:25

5) Conceit is ugly. A conceited person forgets God's place in his/her life. Read Proverbs 16:2, 25:27, 26:12, 27:2, 28:11,13

Some of these verses were more meaningful than others to me but I did not want to only write the ones that really stuck out to me because God speaks to everyone differently. Two of the verses that were meaningful and relevant to me were these. Proverbs 3:25-26: "Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared." Proverbs 29:25: "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe."

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Thanks to my awesome Dad who is taking time out of his day to post all of these on my blog for me....hey, wait a minute, I didn't say this at all! Hey, this is my Dad typing this in about himself....shame, shame. Obviously he didn't read my previous blog entry very closely.

July 16.

God has wonderful things planned for each one of us and everything happens for a reason. From faith I know there was a reason for demonstrators blocking the road yesterday and therefore me staying home today. What it is...I don't really know, but I am open to God's will each and every day. The list of what God has in store is long and when we serve Him he often blesses us... But there's a catch. We have to be willing to take risks, step out of our comfort zone and do what the Holy Spirit is prompting us to do.

July 17.

Two other missionaries who live right next door to me just returned from their visit with their families in the United States. They had a warm welcome waiting for them from many friends here. Matt and Katie are their names and they both are wonderful people. Matt and I talked for a while about various things like our goals here and plans and whatnot. Later I had a chance to use their laptop with Internet to confirm a visit with my sponsor child in November. I am really excited to meet him and spend some time with him and his family.

July 18.

I was invited to go into town with Matt and Katie so I gladly accepted. They were going to look for some stuff they needed. I hadn't been around town much or really known what shopping was like here so I was glad to have one more new experience. It is nothing like shopping back home where you can go to Walmart and find everything you want in one place. You often have to search many different places for what you want and the quality you want. A while after we had gotten back I had a chance to chat with both my parents and grandparents which was really nice. Sometimes I get a little homesick not having any of my family here with me so it is nice to hear their voices every once in a while. After I was done on the phone I went to a neighbour’s house with Matt because he was buying some Moringa seeds from them. They were still in the pods so we had to harvest all of them but we got some of the young kids helping and gave them each stickers and a couple seeds to take home. I took a few of the not so good seeds and planted them in bottles so I can say I grew my own Moringa trees. Later on that night we (Matt, Katie, Doris, Noe and I) sat and talked for a while. I was able to understand most of the conversation and could also participate in it. Thankfully my Spanish is getting better.