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Worth the Wait

So...I am alive and well. I figured it was about time I told yáll. I meant to post something last week but you know, then I didn´t. So I am now in Honduras for 2 weeks now and it is challenging but it is fulfilling. The place I am staying at is rather large. There are several large bedrooms with a several beds in each room, There´s a kitchen, dining room, a few offices, a small library/classroom with some desk and my favorite the chapel and small chapel that share a Tabernacle with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. This gift is essential as I live life in the mission down here.

Right now at the mission house I am living with 15 other people, 9 of whom are from the Hinckley Family who came the same day I did. They have committed to living down here for the next 3 years to serve in the mission. If I thought it was difficult deciding to move down here and then actually moving, I can hardly imagine the difficulty the Hinckley family had in that whole process. The parents Daniel and Michelle with their 7 children from ages 3 to 16 are truly remarkable. The Hinckleys are only staying for about another week or before moving to a more permanent place close by. If you want to learn more about them check out their blog here (https://familiahinckley.blogspot.com/).

The other 6 people in the house I will be living with more permanently as well as few others that are coming soon. Until my new roomate comes this Friday I actually have my own room with plently of space with my own sink, toilet and shower. Not what I was expecting right off the bat but I will humbly accept it.

Ok so here's the typical schedule of the Missionaries living in the house with a little commentary: We start off with mass (en Espanol) at 6:45am. We have it over at Franciscan Friars of the Renewal Friary which is right across the street from our house. Having them so close is such a blessing. They are 6 of them in total, and 3 of them are priests. They have confession every Saturday from 2-4 which I am excited about. I am also looking into asking one of them to be my spiritual director while I'm down here. After mass we come back to our house and pray morning prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours. After that around 8 o'clock we eat breakfast. Food down here is pretty good, better than the rice and beans for every meal that I was expecting although there is plenty of that. Yesterday morning we had some pancakes. Then after breakfast starting at 9 everyone has their work. This differs for people every day. It could be meeting, ministeries, preparing for ministeries, cleaning or any number of things. For me this time is dedicated towards learning Espanol. I have Spanish class from 9am-12pm Monday-Friday at the moment. I started last Tuesday and yes it is lot. There is a big language barrier between me and the peoples here but with time and patience I will learn. I still have a good time attempting to communicate with people, some are easier to understand than others but either way there are plenty of laughs.

At 12pm we gather to pray the Rosary (This has helped me memorize my Our Father and Hail Mary in Spanish) and after at 12:30 we eat lunch. (P.S. we have 3 meals a day, for those thought I was going to starve). After lunch I hit the books and study more Spanish and do my homework. (I avoided grad school but I somehow still find homework to do). Next at 5 pm we have a Holy Hour in front of the exposed Blessed Sacrament. After Exposition we start off Holy Hour by praying Evening Prayer from the Liturgy of Hours. Then we spent time in silence before the Lord bringing our struggles, joys, desires & questions before Him. Its where we can follow the command from Matthew 11: 28-30 "Come to me, all you labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest" This time spent with the Lord renews me after a day of studying and struggling through Spanish and I pray that I continue to "confidently approach the throne of grace" (Hebrews 4:16) as I get more involved in the ministry down here. After Holy Hour or Hora Santa as the locals say, we eat dinner. I have had some good meals so far, I only wish I remembered what they were called. Many consist of tortilla, rice, beans, eggs avocados, fruit, crema de something, cheese. So they are options, although during Lent or Cuaresma we are having simpler meals. Meal times have been a great to pracitice my Spanish and the key is to try and fail because I learn quicker and the quicker I learn the quicker I be more impactful in my ministries.

After dinner there is some nightly activity, still not sure what they all are yet since the last couple weeks haven't been a normal nightly schedule. There are times when the men in the house hang out together and women hang out together. Another night will be community with the whole house, another night with the Friars. On Thursday night there is always Formation where the whole community gathers and hears a talk on different subjects. I am not sure what series they are doing now.

Once I master Espanol I will be working full time on ministries that the Missioners of Christ work in. Which ministries depend on my gifts and desires but for sure I will be involved at a boys orphanage nearby called "La Granja" There around 35 boys there many of whom have suffered abuse. I was able to visit the orphanage last Sunday for the first time. We had mass in a chapel and then played with the boys. A few took to me and we chatted through my broken Spanish. They ended up helping me with my Spanish by pointing to different objects and asking me if I knew what it was called and then telling me when I didn't know. When we went in for lunch a couple of boys wanted me to sit next to them and saved me a seat at the table. While we chatted some of them showed me their scars on their arms from the physical abuse they had suffered from their father or uncle or whoever. It was saddening to see the amount of pain already undergone at a young age. Please keep them in your prayers as God works to heal them and protect them. This visit was more motivation for me to learn Spanish faster, so I can communicate and more deeply show these boys the love that I have received from Christ.

There is always a boys small group that I will involved with in Comayagua called "Hombres de Cristo" This may be similar to working at my old high school youth group back in the States. The missioners have a physical therapy as well, a program for mothers, a program for tutoring and mentoring students, there is a local hospital that we visit, we do home visits at local homes and we also visit a girls orphanage.

In addition to these year round ministries, we run mission trips up to communities and villages that live up in the mountains. Normally we have 3 weeks of this during colleges' spring break, and missions throughout the summers. Because of the pandemic though they have not had missions since they had a single week long mission last March. Thankfully, we are starting back up missions this coming May so my Spanish should be muy bien by then. So that's probably enough details for me to answer 1/4 of the questions my Mom has but its a start.

But how am I doing? Really? I am quite happy here but it is a struggle which is good. I did not expect learning a new language to be easy. God is teaching me to continue trusting. I don't get to stop needing to trust Him once I take the next step. My patience and peace differ by the day as get into the schedule. Today I had a great day and am super encouraged. God has already been purifying me and showing me where I need to repent and change. I have noticed that the days often go worse when I start off by avoiding Spanish because I don't want to say something stupid right off the bat or I don't want to use any brain power just yet. When I go into the day spiritually and mentally prepared to be humbled but to learn, it often goes better and I end up being more encouraged and building relationships with those around me and contributing to other people's day. That is going to be the key when I meet new people, enter new ministries. I will continue to be humbled and to be fool for Lord because He has done so much so me.



Nearly the whole community of the Missioners of Christ in Honduras. We had an outing the Sunday after I came where we went to the "Casa del Campo" we playing dominos, volleyball, good food and good company.



View of the mountains from the "Casa del Campo"


Local aspiring student I am helping tutor



View from the house I am staying at

Chapel in the house I am living in with the Blessed Sacrament present

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