AN OASIS BEHIND WALLS

An oasis is by definition a refuge from the storm - a place of calm in a raging world of turbulence.  We live in such a place.  San Pedro Sula, Honduras, which will be our home for the next fifteen months, is a bustling, frantic city.  Four lanes of traffic squeeze into a two-lane, pot-holed road.  Motorcyclists whiz in and out of traffic, passing within inches of cars on either side.  Roadside venders walk through the traffic hoping to make a sell.  Beggars bludgeon the side of cars if they ignore or refuse their mournful plea.  Tens of thousands of taxis honk constantly, both making themselves known to those standing on the side of the road, and at other taxis who happen to squeeze in front of them to get the fare.   Noise, congestion, rubble and, ironically, phenomenal beauty are on every side.  But, when we are done each night, we come home to our oasis.

We live in Bosques Del Merendon which is found in the Rancho Coco area of San Pedro Sula.  The entire complex is surrounded with these ten foot high solid cement walls.  An army of men with machetes cut the grass and trim the bushes to maintain this stunning beauty.

A two story guard tower greets us as we enter the complex.  It's a beautiful building, but as of yet there are no guards that are stationed there.  Any one can pass by at will.  But, this is only the entrance of our oasis.

We live behind these walls - yes, walls within the walls.  This subdivision of Bosque Del Merendon is called Bosque Real and it is our home.

Two armed guards stand a constant vigil - day and night.  Mauro Hernandez and Jesus Reyes are our normal  day time guards.  We enjoy a amiable chat with them each day as we leave.  An occasional cupcake or Rice Krispie square and a box of chocolates at Christmas time has made us their favorites.

Inside of our walls there is a beautiful complex of 30 homes and 8 townhouses.  The grounds are manicured. Children play both in the streets and on the playground.  Residents walk the streets in the cool of the night.

A lovely pool and hot tub are found about 50 feet from our front door.  To look down upon them from our bedroom window at night is always beautiful.  The warmth of the air means that the water is always enjoyable.  A gymnasium with a treadmill, elliptical, bike and a universal weight machine make working out an enjoyable part of our day - hopefully.

We live in Townhouse #4.  It is our three-level , three bedroom, tile floored home. From the road level it is 36 steps to our bedroom.   At the end of a night we sometimes have climbed several hundred steps.

Our front room is sparsely decorated, but it does provide a place to greet guests - if any ever drop by.

Our kitchen is now nicely stocked with a fridge, stove, microwave, table and chairs.  We have a set of dinner ware, a couple frying pans and 3 pots.  We have a blender, a toaster, a rice cooker, and a bunch of tupperware.

Our family room remains unfurnished.  There is no need to put anything here.  We use it as our pantry.  Through the sliding glass doors to the right is a small grass patio.  It looks directly up at President Veir's house.  Yes, the mission president and his wife are our closest neighbors - and happily, friends.

We live in this room.  Here we work on the computer, watch a bit of TV, and read our scriptures.  Most importantly, here we surround ourselves with pictures of our family.  This room is right outside of our bedroom.

Our bedroom is a comfortable room that looks down over the swimming pool.  The white building that is visible through the window is the clubhouse which is available anytime any resident wishes to use it.  Bathrooms in Honduras are tinier than we are used to having.  Narrow doors, single sinks, toilets that are only a few inches from the tub.  Elbow room isn't something that one comes upon easily.  We do have a second bed in one of the two spare bedrooms and beautiful flowered sheets cover the windows.

It truly is beautiful.  Sadly, we normally are only here to sleep and occasionally grab a meal.  But, while we are here we feel safe and protected from all that awaits just beyond these walls.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if the government did with all of Honduras what these people have done with this small little part!

CHRISTMAS IN HONDURAS

We had a merry Christmas!  Our Christmas tree was, perhaps, the favorite tree we have ever had.  Every ornament was precious; every green bough was forged by love.  Beneath it were tokens of love.  There was some real thought and effort put-in to the gifts we received.  We received photos of the family, sweet little letters from the grandkids, written testimonies, fun reminders of the "good times" we had had with family over the years.  And, we received bounties for our...

... CHRISTMAS TABLE!

We received every one of our favorites - except my puffed cheese balls.  Nuts, Circus peanuts, chocolate, Boston Baked beans, Sweedish fish, M&Ms, Red Vines (of course!)... and even salami!  Someone even remembered that LaRae's favorite candy bar was a Zero.  It was so thoughtful!  It just wouldn't have been Christmas without this table.  Many long, lonely nights will be spent carefully rationing out these treats.  It means of course that we will gain weight, but luckily, we have a...

... SWIMMING POOL

It's winter here now, so the temperatures have cooled off to 85 degrees or so.  The water was nice and cool.  I am positive that it was the first time in my life that I have ever gone swimming on Christmas.

Our Christmas Eve was a joyous time.  We, along with a dozen other missionaries, met in the home of President and Sister Veirs.  They had prepared a feast of turkey and roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing and all the other fixings.  We sat around the piano and sang every Christmas song I could think of to play.  It was awesome hearing those on the right singing "Silent night, holy night" at the same time those on the left sang, just as reverently, "Noche de luz, noche de paz."  The Christmas story was read both in English and Spanish and each shared a story or two about their favorite or most remembered Christmas.  This Christmas will certainly be remembered by us.

(Bottom row: Elder Rangel, Elder Garcia, Sister Francisco, Sister Flake, Sister Lopez.
Middle row: Elder Beaulieu, Elder Chen, Pres. Veirs, Sister Veirs, us, Sister Guzman and Sister Tollever
Top Row: Elder Partridge, Elder Mackay, Elder Cannon,

Because our internet service wasn't up and running yet we didn't get to skype with our children, but we did borrow President Veir's phone to quickly call them.  We would have loved to do more, but just hearing some of their voices made the day even more special. 

I want to share one story that touched me deeply.  Elder Jacob Partridge from Provo is one of our APs.  He is a tremendous Elder and such a great young man.  His story is very similar to so many. He didn't receive his Christmas packages until a couple of days after Christmas.  The mail system here is so difficult.  But, when he did receive them he was overjoyed.  He opened them right there in my financial clerk's office.  Three boxes!  As he opened them up he pulled out gift after gift that his parents had sent addressed to other missionaries.  These missionaries are some of the many who had come on their mission without any family support.  I would hear him say, "This one is for Elder Ampie.  Oh! Wow!  My mom is so awesome!"  Then he would pull another out and say, "Alright!  My mom remembered Elder Tavita!  Wow!  My mom is so awesome!"  Three boxes, and the vast majority was for others.  And he was thrilled!  I was so impressed.  Such unselfishness and maturity.  This army of young missionaries have discovered what Christmas is really all about.  We are so proud to be a part of them. 

(Elder Chen puts his arm on the shoulder of Elder Mackay.  Two nations joined in one cause.)

I truly doubt anyone had a better Christmas than did we.  We were surrounded by people that love us and are joined in a common cause.  We had little, but we had everything!  We were able to focus on family and upon our Savior.  We missed being home, but we were so content in the knowledge that we are doing exactly what we should be doing at this time in our lives.  Merry Christmas to all from beautiful San Pedro Sula, Honduras.

LESSONS FROM ROATAN

Roatan, the paradise of Honduras, bid us farewell on Thursday, December 13, 2012.  For five months we enjoyed its beauty and its people.  We learned a lot as we walked the streets and the white sand beaches of this Caribbean gem.  We would like to share with you some of the lessons we learned.

(White sand crane off the dock at Lawson Rock)

We learned that there is beauty everywhere in this world.  Obviously, the white sand beaches of this island capture the eye and the camera of those who pass quickly through on vacation. We certainly appreciated those same beauties, but we saw an even deeper beauty in its people.

Zulema Zelaya taught us the meaning of the word endurance. She never falters nor wavers in her commitment to the gospel, her family or the young women of this branch.  When no one showed up to direct the music... Zulema!  When no one came through with their assignments... Zulema!  When the girls need a shoulder to cry on... Zulema.  This woman carries such a heavy load, but she does it without complaint or murmur.  LaRae taught her the intricacies of the Young women's program, but she taught us too.

Sister Maritza Sorto taught us about faith! This incredibly faithful sister has found out how to receive her desires from the Lord.  For years now she never sleeps on Saturday night, but rather spends the entire night studying the scriptures and praying.  Some might think this extreme, but she feels like she needs that alone time with the Spirit of the Lord in order to fully prepare herself for the taking of the sacrament the following day.  It's tough to argue with results.  Since we arrived she has seen numerous miracles.  She wanted her daughter, Tania, and her boyfriend to marry... they did and are so happy!  She wanted her other daughter, Yessenia, and her boyfriend to marry... they are making the arrangements.  She wanted her husband to return to activity in the church ... he hasn't missed a week in over two months.  She was violently sick and sought a blessing from me ... she immediately got up from the bed and was instantly healed.  Her secret?  Unbelievable faith.  We learned from her.

(Alejandro Webster sits motionsless for hours in hopes of catching a pigeon)

We learned patience.  Roaton's people don't wear Rolex watches.  I don't believe we ever saw a clock in a home.  Time isn't fretted over.  An appointment for 6:00 p.m. might mean anywhere from then until 8:00 p.m.  No one gets bothered over such tardiness; it is just a part of life.  More than once we arranged a training meeting, a piano lesson, an activity or some other thing and sat completely alone in the chapel for 15 minutes after the supposed starting time.  They would eventually show up, but on their own schedule.  I never took off my watch, and I never got accustomed to waiting, but I did begin to relax a bit.  It's OK if MIA starts five minutes late - the world won't end.  For 33 years I had a bell determine when I started work, ended work, ate my lunch and moved from group to group.  These people are late, but they also don't have ulcers.  I'm still working on it, but I am learning patience.

  

 

We learned that you have to occasionally make some noise to be heard.  The Roatan chapel has been largely ignored for years and was in need of serious repair.  Rust, peeling paint, cracked tile and general disrepair were everywhere to be seen.  Mud was tracked into the building from every shoe that walked over the muddy road.  The chapel was their treasure, but it needed some help.  Numerous phone calls to Church leaders and near constant mention of what was needed eventually brought results.  The first part of November an army of 20 workers emerged from San Pedro Sula and were still there working when we left in the middle of December.  They tore out every piece of tile and replaced it.  They stripped every inch of wood and restained and revarnished.  They sanded down every inch of metal to get rid of the rust and repainted with a rust resistent paint.  They dug up every inch of our weed patch yard and put down new sod.  They tore down the old sheetrock they used as soffet and put up aluminum.  They patched leakes in the roof, repainted the entire outside of the building, recoated all of the fencing with rust proof paint, sanded down the light poles and rust proofed them as well.  The biggest improvement of all was the repaving of the road.  We never got a chance to see that blessing, but they had begun work on it when we left.  We learned that you have to tell people when you need help in order to receive it.  The squeaking wheel really does get the grease.

(LaRae walking down a path that led to the Rivas family home.  She was able to obtain a job for one of the boys)

These people live a simple life.  They don't always arrive to church wearing slacks and a white shirt, but they worship with all of their hearts.  We only have about 20 hymnbooks in the ward, but that doesn't stop them from belting out the tune.  Their homes aren't full of lladros and marble, but they love their children and gather them around their knees to read and pray.  "Baleadas" (a tortilla with beans and scrambled eggs) are typically all they eat, but I never heard one complain.  They don't have washing machines or fine-twined linen, but they wear clean clothes.  We have too much junk!  We fill our homes and our lives with stuff, and then when there isn't room in the house, we fill our garages.  We schedule our days down to the minute and then crawl into our king sized beds exhausted without ever having stopped long enough during the day to watch a sunrise or tend to the needs of another.  We don't want to ever forget this lesson: happiness isn't in things.

(President and Sister Veirs sit on the stand with 22 newly arrived elders)

 Maybe more than any other thing we learned that the Lord is in charge of this work.  The young men and women who accept callings to serve in this work are guided and protected every day.  They walk into areas of incredible degeneracy and crime and yet they emerge unharmed.  Their clothes become tattered, but they wear smiles.  They powerfully preach the message of the restoration of the gospel upon this earth and the Holy Ghost accompanies their words.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is filling the earth.  What an honor to be counted amongst the numbers who are on the front-line in this mighty army of warriors.

Goodbye, Roatan!  We love you and will miss you forever.

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.