SAYING GOODBYE IS SO HARD

Our branch announced a special family home evening to be held Sunday at 5:00 p.m.  We got there and found a hundred people there.  It was as big as our normal sacrament meeting attendance.  We watched the First Presidency Christmas devotional and then President Castro stood up and asked us to come up to the stand.  He then announced that we were leaving and asked if anyone wanted to come up and say thanks.  For the next hour and a half a stready stream of people came to the stand, cried, spoke of their love for us, and then turned around and hugged us so hard that our ribs hurt.  As the adults spoke, the little ones would run up to the stand, throw their arms around us and squeeze.  Then they would run back to their seats, sometimes only to return ten minutes later for another hug. 

The Relief Society had brought all kinds of food and refreshments.  Dozens more came up to us, wrapped their arms around us and told us that they couldn't come to the stand because they were going to cry too hard.  For an hour we took photographs.  These people loved us for many reasons, but primarily for three:  (1) They loved the way music changed when we came into the ward.  They appreciated the way I played piano, and the way we sang at the top of our lungs.  They were so grateful for the fact that we had taught them how to play the piano.  (2) They were grateful for the way we loved the youth.  They commented that the youth changed while we were here.  Others had come and played games with them, but we had come and lifted them spiritually, and had given them a vision of their potential.  (3) They loved the way that we greeted them.  We smiled, we hugged, we loved and they were grateful!  Can you see how easy missionary work actually is.  All you have to do is love and they love you right back even stronger. 

Some families like the Vasquez family pictured above accredited us with blessing their marriage.  Others like Tonio and Guadalupe Padilla said that we were the ones who got them to realize that the temple and eternal marriage are worthy goals and are actually possible.  Osmar and Lesbia announced that they have finally finished their paper work and will be married on December 28th.  They had tried so hard to get it done in time for us to be able to be there.  They wanted me to be one of the witnesses.  We are so happy for them.  

Johanna said that we were the very first people who had ever believed in her and accepted her.  Her little girl Naomi has grown to love us too.  Honestly, all they wanted from us was love and they were so easy to love.  Johanna told LaRae that she wanted her to come back to the island and to be a bridesmaid when she gets married.  We are supposed to be finding her a husband. 

The little ones loved us in their own special little way.  We walked around for half the night with two children hanging onto each leg as we talked with the adults.  We have experienced thousands of sweet moments in our lives, but NEVER have so many people expressed so openly and deeply their appreciation and love for us. Saying "goodbye" is so hard to do. 

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.

LIFTING IS HEAVY WORK

Lifting is heavy work!  However, it is what makes life worth living.  The members of the branch in Roatan have had placed upon their shoulders the heavy burden of raising enough money to get to the temple open house in February.  They have two options: either they can go by boat and bus and take three days, or they can take the plane and make the trip in one fairly comfortable day.  The boat/bus option would cost them about $125.00 each; the plane would cost them about $175.00 each.  Because of the difficulty of getting days off work or from school, we believe that they are hoping to go by plane.  But, making that kind of money in such a short time is quite a heavy burden.

 

The Young Women have come up with the idea of make jewelry and selling them to friends and tourists.  It's actually working quite well.  They have met together a couple of times and made earrings, bracelets and necklaces and have made about $100 in sales so far.  It's just a beginning, but it is something. 

 



The Young Men haven't got a clue how they are going to make this money.  They are more concerned right now with constructing this Foosball table that the branch received awhile ago.  Why we got it is a wonder to me.  I believe that the Church has the vision that one way of holding the youth together is to give them things to do together.  I have been hesitant to put this table together because there have been so many other things to do that I felt were more important.  But, I'm sure this will get done soon after we leave.

 

Another burden was placed upon the shoulders of the young men this past week.  For the very first time they were asked to go to the homes of the members and collect fast offerings.  They were all excited about the opportunity to serve the Lord in this small way.  Members were also anxious to fast and then offer what little they had saved in food to help those who had less.  The program of the Lord never ceases to amaze us.  So much good is done both in the lives of those that serve and those who for a season need to be served. 

 

The Young Women held their very first Night of Excellence this Saturday.  Several weeks of planning and effort went into to making this a success.  The Young Women's group from Georgia that came down to Roatan last week with several bags of supplies, in our opinion, made this a very special night for the girls.  Each young woman received her torch necklace.  They beamed with joy as their leaders placed the necklace around their necks.  They also were thrilled as they individually stood and explained their projects.  LaRae had worked so hard to get these girls to get started on their personal progress programs.  To see the fruit of these last five months of labor was, indeed, a sweet thing for all of us.  It wasn't the grand, glorious program that you might see in an old established, long-traditioned ward, but it was beautiful.  Papers covered the walls with the photo and testimony of the young women from Georgia.  The tables were covered with table cloths in each of the Young Women colors.  Projects of art work, poetry and writing were paraded proudly upon the tables.  It truly was a "Night of Excellence."  I doubt that any of these girls will ever forget the pride and joy that they felt this night.  A huge "thank-you" goes out to all those who sacrificed their time, talents and money to make this a night to remember: President Rafael Castro, President Marlon Orellana, Sisters Zulema Zelaya, Aminda Garay, Karla Zea, LaRae and, of course, our sweet group from Georgia. 

 

 Yesi Padilla proudly wears her Young Women's torch necklace.  She is the only young women in the group who has been working on her personal Progress program for the past several years.  We are proud of her .  She, just like the others, has completely won over our hearts.  She was so proud of her project and to finally be able to wear the necklace.  Isn't she beautiful?

 

(Aminda Garay places the necklace on Ariana Aguilar)

 

The night ended on a high note!  The young men of the branch had been working on a tribute video for a couple of weeks.  We took this idea from a similar video that had been made by a Young Men's group from Utah.  We aren't professional, and I don't have the editing skills to make it perfectly, but it was received with raving reviews.  Everyone laughed so hard that they couldn't contain it.  The young men were both embarrassed and proud!  Of course, everyone wanted a copy.  We had to play it three times. 

 

(Lauritza Santos and Ariana Aguilar are brought to tears while watching the video)

 For those who are curious, we have included the link to the video.  Please enjoy.  We did.

http://s1287.photobucket.com/albums/a622/wjohnfamily/

 

 

 Our work here in Roatan is coming to a close.  We are loved more deeply than we supposed we would be.  We are frequently mentioned as being "angels."  Dozens freely impart to anyone that will listen of how "The Johns" changed their life.  We won't soon be forgotten.  There is still more lifting to do... but, from here on out, most of our lifting will be done elsewhere.  



MOMENTS OF GREAT JOY

A mission is a lot like life.  We have moments of boredom and well as times where we are so busy that we can't get everything done.  There are times when we plan and other times that we play.  We love and we are loved in return.  We have seen ugly selfishness and unbounded selflessness.  It seems like we get to experience the bookends of every emotion.  And just like our life before the mission, we have moments of great sorrow and of great joy.

 We saw great compassion and selflessness in the arrival of the Bascom family from the Atlanta area.  They arrived on Wednesday aboard Carnival Cruise lines and came bearing gifts.  These precious people had arranged for a young women's project to bring materials and gifts to the  members of the church here in Roatan.  Their's was quite a sacrifice and we were amazed at how much thought they put into the things they brought with them.  One of the things they brought was a whole bunch of geneological materials including four generation sheets.  When we gave them to President Castro, our branch president, he was thrilled.  Yesterday afternoon, Sunday, the ward was invited to a 
fireside dealing with family history.  He literally beamed when he was able to hold these materials up and show them what they had to work with. 

The young women from Georgia were excited about the gifts that they had brought.  They very generously brought ten young women's necklaces and torch medallions.  Not one of our group has ever received their torch necklace.  Our Young Women have their Night of Excellence planned for December 1st and the girls will receive their necklaces at that time.   These necklaces were accompanied by each girl's testimony on a paper with their photographs in front of the Atlanta temple.  We cried with gratitude as we sat around the table and read these precious letters.  We will display all of these letters next Saturday night at the night of Excellence.  Thank you, sweet young sisters.  Your example of selflessness will long be remembered by both us and the precious young women of Roatan. Thank you!

Our table full of the materials and gifts donated by the Young Women from Georgia

As part of the Young Women's Night in Excellence the young Aaronic Priesthood holders of the branch decided to make a tribute video for the girls.  On Tuesday I drove around and picked them up and brought them back to our home to do the filming.  We had a blast!  It took me most of the day, Wednesday, to edit and combine all the movie clips.  But, finally we had a pretty good little video.  It isn't professional - I don't have that kind of computer skills.  We will include a link to our video in next week's blog.  It made us laugh so hard to watch these special young men have so much fun.

We were saddenned this week with the leaving of our dear friends, the Mitchells.  They have played such a big role in our lives these past five months.  It was them that took us in when we were scared to go back into our first home.  They generously invited us into their home for nearly countless dinners.  They loved us and we loved them right back.  The day before they left we went with them to the West End to take a glass-bottom boat tour of the reef.  We paid, boarded the boat, and waited.  Finally, they told us the boat wouldn't start.  So our hopes to see the reef vanished.  But, we did enjoy spending these last hours with them.



Saturday was busy from dawn to dark, as usual.  Piano lessons, seminary, Mutual activities and presidency planning meetings take up much of our time.  However, we did get a couple hours to witness the full circle of success as missionaries.

 
Several of us from the branch drove out to a very private and beautiful beach to witness the baptism of Kabir Mejia.  He was baptized by his father, Kabir David Mejia.  Seeing this was a sweet testimony of how the gospel changes lives.  When we arrived five months ago Kabir was a very different man than he is today.  In these five months we were able to witness his marriage, the baptism of his wife, his ordination to the priesthood, his acceptance of the laws of the gospel and now the baptism of his own son - performed by him.   We are proud of him. 
   This beach was one that LaRae and I stumbled across on P-day long ago.  When we first saw it, it was spotlessly clean.  However, the rainy season brings with it storms that wash the decaying turtle grass up onto the beach.  In a couple of weeks it will dry up and blow away, again leaving the beach perfectly white - just the way these two men were this past Saturday. 

A PICTURE IS WORTH 1000 WORDS



Our little 19 year old English Gospel Doctrine Teacher, Britney Webster, told us yesterday that today was her birthday and that never once in her life had she ever had a cake for her birthday.  We decided that everyone deserves a cake once in their life.  It only cost us a little bit, but she cried for five minutes when she saw us standing on her front porch.  Maybe her tears came from our lousy singing, but we think it came from the joy of realizing that somebody actually cares.  Happy birthday, Britney.

The elders here also deserve a treat once in awhile.  All of our lives we have lived amidst the Saints, and have only rarely had the privilege of feeding the missionaries.  Elder Dever, 6'4", 270 pounds, college football player, here tries to open wide enough to put down the famous Palapa Burger from the Parrot Tree Resort.  It is a complete pound of meat.  He was certain he could put it down, but 30 minutes later the score was: MAN - 0,  BURGER - 1.

The rainy season is officially here!  It rains, then rains again, and then after a short break, rains again.  Last night it started raining.  After about 10 minutes of diluge, I put this glass outside on the patio table.  This morning it had 5 inches of rain water in it.  The funny part of the story is that neither one of us even thought that it had rained very hard.  Other storms have been much, much worse.

We still have the same "normal" needs that we had at home.  Haircuts, medicine and shopping take up a portion of our time.  Yessenia Sorto is a member of our ward and has received a bit of training in cutting hair.  For $5.00 I get a hair cut and all the chatter that I can handle.  This sweet gal is the "wife" of a fellow from Idaho.  He comes down once or twice a year, stays for awhile, pays for her rent and then goes back to the states.  I really believe they love each other and we pray that very soon they will be able to arrange things so they can get married.

 Elder Barba was transfered this week to San Pedro Sula.  It's amazing how much we have grown to love him.  These elders that serve with us become much more than just friends.  He was an incredible elder - probably the best that we have seen.  He taught us so much.  He is the only member in his family and was "disowned" by them when he joined the church.  His thirst for the gospel is basically unequaled by any that we have seen.  He studied nearly constantly.  We heard him teach many times and his understanding of the gospel is incredible, especially for one who has only been a member for two years. 

 



One of the jobs that we take seriously is preparing our young men and women for their futures and for their missions.  Here we had a competition between the girls and the boys to see who was best at ironing clothes, tying ties and cooking a new dish to which we introduced them: camel's eye.  They loved it!!!  They kept cooking and cooking until all the eggs and bread were gone. 

And... there we go walking off into the sunset.  From this angle we look a lot like tourists, but believe me, we are missionaries.  We wake up every morning and brainstorm over where we can go and what we can do to bless someone's life that day.  It is a wonderful work.  What an honor to be a missionary.

SYMBOLIC POTHOLES

 

The roads of Roatan are full of potholes everywhere. Only a couple of months ago they were all patched and driving seemed to be smooth and easy.  To a tourist who arrived in September it would have been easy to get the impression that there really wasn't anymore work to do.  The roads were in perfect condition and it was time for the road crews to move on to other places where they were more badly needed.  Then the rains came!  Day after day the heavens poured down upon these roads and the weaknesses of the roads were uncovered.  The pavement was only one inch thick at its thickest part.  The foundation wasn't solid enough to withstand the constant pounding of the weather. Two options were available: either the  road crews could constantly work to keep the pavement looking smooth or the boss could order a strenthening of the foundation.  We have seen an amazing parallel to our work here in Roatan when we have looked at the potholes filled with water.  Storms have arrived and the Lord has seen fit to change the foundation of our branch.



Roatan branch presidency: Enrique Galo, Alvaro Sanchez, Luis Molina

 This week began with the huge surprise that our branch president, Alavaro Sanchez, was going to be released.  This came as quite a blow to us.  Losing him meant losing a very faithful family and the loss of even a single faithful member greatly affects our ability to become a ward.  Their efforts here have been appreciated and they won't be soon forgotten.  Due to health and financial concerns they are moving back to their homeland of Guatamala.
   The week then changed even more when we heard from Dusty Mitchell, our elder's quorum president, that he is going to take his sweet wife, Lacey, back to Canada.  Living here has been very difficult for her and her little children.  Dusty is going to continue to work here and travel back and forth as he needs to do.   We were informed that he also would be released this Sunday.  With the loss of, perhaps, our two greatest leaders we felt a very real sence of concern for the branch.  We have worked so hard to solidify this branch and now because of events that no one had planned nor hoped for, we were afraid that much was lost.

   All week long we visited members and encouraged them to be in church early this week so that they might be there for an important announcement.  It is important for members to have the opportunity to sustain their new leadership and to hear the words that are spoken both by those that are leaving and those that are being called.  President Troches, Counselor in the San Pedro Sula mission presidency, came to Roatan to make the changes.  We arranged for him to interview as many men as we thought might be considered to fill those positions.  He stayed with us Saturday night.

   Sunday morning we sat and waited for the announcement.  Called as our new branch presidency were Rafael Castro, Luis Molina and Merlon Orellana.  Their stories are as different as any three stories could be.  Rafael Castro has been a former bishop, stake president and Area Seventy.  He moved here to Roatan from La Ceiba four weeks ago.  Many of the people here already knew him when he arrived; a couple of them had been in either his stake or in his ward before.  He and his wife, Norma, are powerful, dedicated people who will work miracles for this ward. 
   Luis Molina has now served as counselor in three consequtive branch presidencies here in Roatan.  He and his sweetheart, Maria, are long-time faithful members.  He is a returned missionary.  In fact, he was called to his mission by President Castro, and returned home from his mission and served in the high counsel under the direction of President Castro.
   Merlon Orellana is living proof that the Lord will use the willing of this world.  Four months ago he was living alone, separated from his wife-to-be and his two children.  He occasionally came to church, but largely stayed away.  Then one day, something struck his heart and he decided to change.  He married his long-time girlfriend, Taunia Sorto Orellana, our Primary president, and immediately came back to church.  Four weeks later he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood.  Two months later he was ordained to the Melchezedek priesthood and has had several experiences with the priesthood.  Today he was set apart to serve as 2nd counselor in the branch presidency.

New Roatan Branch Presidency: Luis Molina, Rafael Castro and Merlon Orellana

The new elder's quorum presidency was also called and set apart.  Our new elder's quorum president is Enrique Galo.  His First Counselor is a young man who just recently moved to Roatan.  His name is Aldolfo Escobar, a recently returned missionary. 
   We worried in vain.  The Lord has His eye on this tiny branch.  He has been preparing it and shaping it to stand on its own without our puny little help.  Seemingly every single week some type of miracle has occurred to strengthen this branch.  People who haven't come to church in a long time are now coming.  Men who had no dream of obtaining the priesthood are being ordained.  Men and women who have lived together for years without marriage are being married and are beginning their preparations for a temple sealing.  Dozens who have never held a calling are now serving faithfully and constantly and have a renewed excitement about the gospel and the church.  And, perhaps, most miraculously, the Lord has sent a steady stream of faithful, active LDS members to us.  Where we once were few, we now have an average attendance of 140 each week.  There is a light and an energy and enthusiasm in the face of nearly every member. 
    After today's meetings we are certain of one thing: Roatan will be fine without us.  We were never the foundation.  We were only privileged to be here to watch the work take place.  Our only question now is whether or not we will be fine without Roatan.  We love these people.  

GETTING BETTER ALL THE TIME

Everyone has challenges; it's simply a part of life.  Standing up against them is what really shapes us into what we truly hope to be.  The work we are about is the most humbling yet satisfying work in the world.  We often come face-to-face with challenges and situations that are way above our head.  But, if you don't occasionally get in water that is over your head, how will you ever truly know how tall you are.  There are times when it feels like we are treading water, but things are getting better all the time.

LaRae has been in pain for more than a month now.  She received several chiropractic adjustments from Pres. Veirs when they were here last week, but the pain has continued.  She is now going to a physical therapist here on the island.  He was recommended to us as the best doctor on the island. After each adjustment she hurts like crazy, but she feels that she is getting better all the time.  Right now it hurts her to sit, stand, walk, and lay down, but she continues to do the best that she can.

Daniel Aguilar is a fourteen year old young man in our Teacher's quorum.  She is also my prize piano student.  Three months ago he didn't know how to read a single note.  Now he is the accompanist for our ward choir.  This photo was taken when he was playing a special musical number as part of our combined MIA this past week.  It was a "mini-conference."  Each young man and woman was asked to give a 3-5 minute talk.  We had spent time training them how to give a good talk.  The young men and women are getting better all the time.  They are learning how to conduct, speak and perform in ways that are amazing. 

 

Osmar Ortiz has been a member of the church for many years, but like so very many members has never progressed in the priesthood.  He has been a deacon for years.  The Lord is working on the men of the Roatan branch and they are responding.  Osmar is one of two men who were ordained to the Melchezedek priesthood last week - the other was Marlon Orellana.  They are so excited!  Seeing these two men be ordained has awakened a new hope in the hearts of many other men.  They want to be ordained too.  We don't have a lot of priesthood strength in this branch, but things are getting better all the time.

 

Another way that things are getting better is that the reconstruction of our chapel is now underway.  This is a project that is long overdue.  Approximately fifteen workers descended down upon the chapel last Monday and have stripped all the tile off the bathrooms and the baptismal font.  There was actually a baptism scheduled this week that was postponed because of the font.  They have stripped the varnish from all of the doors and door ways and have begun to varnish them again. They are going to repaint every single wall, and replace much of the ceiling tile where it has been stained by leaks in the roof.  They will be working here for more than two months.  They hope to finish the inside of the chapel in three weeks, but they are also going to pave the street that goes in front of the chapel, repaint all of the metal coverings for the doors and windows, completely reshape the chapel grounds, tear down and replace the soffet and much more.  It is a major project and we are grateful to have them here doing the work.  It was badly needed. It will make things much better.

 

 With the calling of Melbin Vasquez (bottom row, right) as the new Young Men's President, things are getting much better for the youth of Roatan.  He is a returned missionary from La Ceiba.  He is a good man and will do his best at this calling. This is our Aaronic Priesthood quorum.  Bottom row from left: David Mejia, Mauricio Ortiz, Alejandro Webster, Melbin Vasquez and son.  Top row from left: Elder Wayne John, Daniel Garay, Oliver Flores, Daniel Aguilar, Christian Zea, Josue Zea.

 

 

The Roatan Young Women's program is now a fully functioning auxilary and is getting better every week.  Top row from left: Karla Zea (1st counselor) Ariana Aguilar, Sister LaRae John, Hailial Ortiz, investigator, Aminda Garay (2nd counselor) and Zulema Zelaya (President).  Bottom row from left: Lauritza Alaya, Daritza Zelaya and Yessi Padilla (Laurel's president)