SOMETIMES IT'S JUST PLAIN FUN

We have worked hard to help these wonderful people.  It is interesting that we use the word "work" to describe the kind of service we are about.  Most days are full of talk, laughter, teasing and hugs.  Thursday night our little branch met together for a talent show.  It took some effort to put this together, but we had an absolute blast.

(Camilla Flores plays a little piano solo before the talent show begins)

(Daniel Aguilar plays Waltz of the Flowers

Christian Flores and Darwin Martinez - karate

We had many talents performed that night.  We had a karate demonstration, magic acts, art displays, guitar playing, dancing, singing, and of course... piano.  Loida Blanco and Yessenia Sorto nearly blew down the walls with their performance of "Angels We Have Heard on High."  They love having Wayne accompany them and you can see why!  They don't worry much about technique; they simply sing with all of their hearts. We can't help but smile as we witness their joy.   Three of my piano students had worked diligently and were able to play solos. They were all nervous, but they really did a good job. The crowd roared when after their performances they stood and took a deep bow.  By the time the night ended we had witnessed seventeen different acts.  In the little play performed by the primary children the final statement was made by Edgar Zelaya.  He boldly stated that he loved the Johns, and that he would never forget how we had taught him a little bit of piano and had loved him.  He walked off the stage and right down into LaRae's arms.  He hugged her for 30 seconds.  Tears streamed down our faces as person after person talked of how much they loved us.   When we showed our two videos - the Young Men's video that we made for the Young Women's Night of Excellence - and the ward history video there were shouts of joy and so much laughter.  The hundreds of hours of work that we put into this project were all worth it for the appreciation that we received.

(Elder John accompanies Loida Blanco and Yessenia Sorto)

The final act was from Sister Maritza Sorto. She had baked a pineapple upside-down cake. She said that she baked it for us. She wanted to show us how much we were loved and appreciated. It seemed like every performance was a "thank you, Johns" act.

(Sister Sorto's thank-you pineapple upside-down cake)

 

Duet.  Elder John and Alejandro Webster

Young Women sing

So, if this is work... bring it on!  Roatan has given back to us far more than we could have ever expected.  We gave them our talent, time and testimonies and hearts.  They have given us their love and an enrichment of our lives that we could have never imagined.  Our Young Men/Young Women's "closing social" was a pool party at our condominium.  We decided that we would do the entire thing.  So, we bought hotdogs, chips, salsa, pop, made cupcakes and prepared for a couple hours of getting drenched and hugged.  We have really grown to love these kids. 

 

 

After a couple hours of fun, we brought everyone upstairs to get dried and dressed.  Then we sat everyone down and talked to them for about five minutes.  LaRae's message to them was that they had to hold on to each other.  That they couldn't stand back and let someone in their group or quorum fail.  My message was that fun was important, but spirituality was far more important.  President Castro also talked to them for five minutes.  He spoke of their great potential, and begged them to continue moving forward in their lives.  They are wonderful kids.

We have worked day and night on this mission, but there are times when we just have fun.  A missionary is more than a teacher.  We love these people and sometimes all that is asked of us is to just be there, open our arms and hearts and play with them.  Sometimes missionary work is just plain old fun.