I Couldn't Avoid The Chicken Feet Any Longer...

Hi friends!

So, my time in the mission offices has officially come to a close. I am now in a new area, and this area will likely be my last area for the mission. It's called San Marcos. Now, for those of you in Honduras, you might be thinking of San Marcos in Ocotepeque, which is a super far area, but I'm actually in San Marcos, Santa Barbara, which isn't too far from San Pedro Sula (only about an hour drive if there's no traffic). This is a pueblo, meaning a small town which means no more big city for me! I've now been in two small town areas, and in three San Pedro Sula city areas. I like how I've been able to discover several different types of Honduran cultures. The Honduran pueblo culture is a very religious one, so I'm excited to see how the missionary work will go here. I'm in a branch, but a large one that completely fills up the chapel. The members are super nice and there's a ton of recent converts to take care of. We will have to do a ton of contacting though to find more people to teach, because a lot of people here already have a church and don't want to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

My new companion is Elder Elias and he's super cool. He has just a little bit less time than me,  and he loves to tell stories. He has had three companions in this area and knows it like the back of his hand. I love the way he teaches and how he does't care about whether or not he baptizes. He just wants to push the work forward as best he can, and I do too. We've gotten along super well and I'm excited to keep working with him this transfer.

Before I get too in depth with what the work has been like, I want to share a story first. Yesterday we were invited to eat dinner at a member's house (and the pensionista was also invited) so we visited and I got to meet this new member. She didn't go to church because she was sick, but always goes and helps out. We get to know her and the pensionista shows up and we start chatting with them and their families when the grandma comes out with dinner - chicken feet! After nearly 20 months in the mission, I finally had to try chicken feet.  My opinion on the matter is that it tastes like chicken, but with a few bones. While I was eating the members could tell that I didn't know how to eat chicken feet, so they told me to eat it like a sunflower seed! Just suck out the meat and spit out the bones. It works pretty well, but it's quite the handful for me. Speaking of food and the like. I'm really enjoying going back to some normal honduran dinners (excluding the chicken feet), but do miss the blessing of fast-food like in San Pedro Sula. But I have a relatively short time to wait before I can eat some again, so it's not a problem for me.

We've been contacting a ton and have been inviting everyone to church! We have a few friends who can potentially progress to baptism and it's fun to teach them. Glenda and Petrona are sisters. Petrona's son just got baptized, and Glenda's son was going to get baptized before his dad came and carried him off to Puerto Cortes. They are both interested in learning more about the gospel, and we had a special experience teaching Glenda about baptism with hna Norma (the pensionista) with us. Norma gave the most powerful testimony about how baptism has blessed her life, and charlas like these remind me of how important a member can be in the conversion of a person. Members really do work mighty miracles. With Petrona we watched a video about baptism that brought the spirit in so strongly to the home. I believe that my companion was inspired to share the video he did because I had never seen it have such an impact on a charla as it did yesterday.

The branch is awesome and the chapel is always full of members. Stake President Bueso joined us at church this week and gave an awesome talk on not self-perscribing punishments for mistakes you make. If you have a doubt about whether or not you should partake of the sacrament, then you should talk with the Bishop or Stake President. Then they will help you know how to best repent while feeling the great love that God has for you.

Anyways, that's all for this week! There's so much more I can mention, but I'll leave it at that for now so I can get lunch! Thanks for everything! I love you guys so much!

- Élder Grant