FINDING THE UNUSUAL IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE

I remember seeing an old Bert and Ernie cartoon long ago.  It showed an old guru sitting on a mountain top.  He offered this wisdom, "The hardest thing about living to be so old is that everything begins to be deja-vu."
Such is the life of a senior missionary.  Everything we have done this week, we have done before.  And although it could be monotonous, we try really hard to never stop experiencing the wonder of it all.  We look each week for the "unusual."

You will have to look hard to see the unusual in this picture.  If you can't find it, we will include the answer at the bottom of the blog.  The people of Honduras live a patchwork type of life.  They make things work.  They are less worried about style and more worried about serviceability. We thought this photo encapsulated the entire Honduran culture.

In Honduras buses, taxis, and little street shops are viewed as a blessing from the Lord.  These people recognize that others have also worked their entire lives from dawn to dusk, but have never been blessed like they have been to receive such a wonderful way of making a living. As a result of this feeling, very often pictures of the Savior adorn their windows.  Frequently they give names to their taxis or stores such as "La Bendicion" (The Blessing) or "Don de Dios." (Gift from God).  These people openly manifest their belief in God.  For those of us who have come from a nation where our belief in God must be kept private, it is unusual and refreshing to see such openness.

These beautiful, home prepared pickled peppers are proudly displayed along the side of a little road near Villanueva. They are not unusual  because they are there, because there are thousands of little street-side vendors, but it is unusual in the fact that they are selling something other than pop, beer, potato chips, or fruit.  Often you will see five or six vendors in a one block area who are all selling the exact same product for the exact same price.  What happens is that one vendor opens a business, makes a little money, and then is copied - product for product.  The final result, however, is that everyone will make a little, but no one will make enough to support their family.

Together with President and Sister Veirs we passed by the old office building this week to see the progress.  The "unusual" in this photograph is that there was significant progress.  Things move slowly in Honduras. Tomorrow! Tomorrow!  The workers here had the entire office framed, three new bathrooms plumbed, the tile replaced where necessary, and most of the electrical work done.  The new target date for completion of the office is May 6.  It was originally scheduled for June 1, 2013.  To finish a project early - now, that is unusual.

Two offices will now occupy the space of the former one.  They will be connected by a single reception area.  LaRae and Sister Veirs are standing in that area now.  President Veirs is looking into the space that will used to house the books, videos, pamphlets and clothing that we distribute throughout the mission. It is much smaller than we had previously, and will present quite a challenge. Every office is much smaller than before, but they will still be quite serviceable.  Each of the two new mission presidents will have their own private office and bathroom.  Three of the secretaries will occupy the room where this insulation is being stored.  Wayne's financial secretary office will be where the worker in the orange shirt is kneeling. This office is also unusual in another way.  It will house both the East and the West mission, but it is located about 30 minutes outside of the furthest west boundary of the East Mission.  Every day that the East Mission secretaries come to work they will be leaving their mission boundaries. Every time a East Mission missionary comes to the office to be interviewed, they will have to leave their mission boundaries.  It will be a challenge, and it will be expensive.

Elder Michael Christensen who serves in this mission now has a younger brother who decided to do an eagle scout project.  He collected white shirts and ties, individually packaged them, sealed them in plastic and shipped them to us here in Honduras.  He has asked us to distribute them as the needs arise.  What an incredible project!  The problem won't be in finding a need; the problem will be in selecting which need to satisfy.  In the months we have been here in Honduras there has been a constant stream of such requests from wonderful people in the States. This project was unusual, however, in the fact that he came up with the idea himself.  Typically, the requests come to us as "what could we do for you?"  He sent 100 lightly used shirts and three ties in each package!  Wow!

Eating lunch at the Intercontinental Hotel in San Pedro Sula

In my opinion the most unusual thing we experience is the quickness of the bond of friendship that develops between us as missionaries.  We and the Veirs have developed a deep and caring friendship, but it isn't just between us and the other old guys.  Each week our friendship deepens with these wonderful missionaries.  We are separated by two generations - yes, we are old enough to be their grandparents.  Yet every day we grow closer to them.  We share the challenges of a very difficult work, and there is a closeness of spirit that has come from that. These young men and women love us.  Only a few of them will ever work right by our side in the mission office, but even those who we only see occasionally are special to us. From time to time we have decided to include pictures of some of these great young missionaries.



These are the Fesitranh zone elders.  From left: Elder Larsen, Elder Jimenez, Elder Lui, Elder Garcia, Elder Underwood, Elder Chen, Elder Moreno and Elder Giron.  Elders Chen and Moreno are the zone leaders.  We thought that we would include a few more pictures of the missionaries with whom we serve from time to time. Elders Garcia and Chen have worked with us in the office and Elder Lui was one of my seminary students long ago in Syracuse. The rest are just great young men.

* What was unusual about the first picture?  It is a Toyota truck with a Nissan tailgate with the Toyota name painted over it. So, now it is 100% Toyota.