A TASTE OF NORMAL LIFE

Our missionary service here in Honduras has put us in a "not-normal" situation.  By that we mean that most of what we see and most of what we do is completely different than those things to which we had become accustomed to over the years.  When something "normal" happens it brings us great joy!  Take, for instance, Halloween.

We only saw a total of three pumpkins for sale this entire year.  We bought two of them.  They were both already starting to get soft, but we had a blast carving them.  Of course, about all we had were a couple of butcher knives and soup spoons, but we had a good time.  We lit them up and proudly displayed them for a couple of nights on our front window sill.  We figured it would be our only taste of Halloween, but we were overjoyed when our doorbell rang.  Outside there were about a dozen little kids wearing the cutest costumes we've ever seen.  We grabbed our camera and snapped shots as fast as the kids grabbed our Tootsie Roll pops, and then they were gone.  They came in a big group accompanied by a whole host of parents, and then no one came again.  It was all over, but it was awesome.  All night long we relished the minute we had of the "normal."

For the first time since we arrived in Honduras we had a couple of friends come to visit us.  Glade and Beverly Peterson may be amongst our newest friends, but they have become dear to our hearts.  We first met them in the Tegucigalpa Temple when we were there a couple of months ago.  We invited them to come visit us while the temple was closed for cleaning - and they did.  We stayed up late, talked until our jaws were tired, and then drove to Copan so they could see the ruins. 

They are serving as temple missionaries for two years.  He speaks Spanish, but Beverly is having to try to learn it now.  They are from the Idaho Falls area.  It was such a joy to be with them.  For a couple of days we felt "normal."

Once in awhile we try to make someone laugh.  One of our very favorite missionaries is Elder Palma.  He is always so happy and full of energy.  For a couple of months now as we passed by his zone with the deliveries he would ask us if we had brought his wife.  He would say, "I have been asking for a wife now for weeks.  Why don't you ever bring her?"  So, we created a little catalogue from which he could choose his wife.  Oh, he laughed and laughed as he read it.  Making someone laugh once in awhile makes us feel "normal" again.

We stay busy. This was our "yesterday."

We taught for a few minutes at a zone leader's conference; then we took Elder Lui to the dentist, got the car washed, spent five hours in the office answering phone calls and solving issues, picked up 25 packages at the custom's office, hauled them up three floors, dropped off the mail, went to four different banks and one lawyer's office paying bills, and then drove to Castanos at 7:00 p.m. to teach a seminar about how to have a successful marriage to a room full of couples. (The couple on the end were new investigators.  We hope it went well.)  To be honest, this is our new "normal."