La Ultima

Latins greet each other by kissing each other on the cheek. To be perfectly honest, I hate it. When I'm talking to other north american hermanas I like to take the opportunity to not kiss them on the cheek, but last week I saw Hermana Haight and it was just so instinctive that we did it and as we back away she just looked at me said super seriously, "What did we just do??" Ya somos catrachas. 

Remember the Ferviente Oracion song I love so much. Hermana Vasquez has it on her flash drive but it's in english and let me tell you it is WAY batter in spanish.

Our shower head isn't glued on or anything so sometimes when I turn on the sink in the morning the shower head just falls off and the whole bathroom gets wet and then I get all wet trying to put it back on. I love Honduras.

Our neighbor was burning trash the other day (a common occurence in Honduras) and the smoke came in our apartment and all my clothes smelled like I just got home from Girls Camp! (Hna Holdaway: Turn down the mormon)

On Thrusday I did my very last weekly planning session. We were making  our personal and companionship goals and I looked at Hna Vasquez and jokingly said, "I'm going to go on a date on Saturday!" haha I'm so funny! Aren't you all glad I'm going home and now you can all enjoy how funny I am. ;) 

When I got to airport in Mexico City my very first day of my mission we were all pushing our luggage up this HUGE ramp and the sister behind me said, "I can do hard things." In Olanchito I always said that to Hna Holdaway and this week she texted me and asked if we can just freak out because we're almost done with our missions and then she said, "WE DID HARD THINGS." Freak. I want to cry.

I called Hna Andujar in Tela yesterday to ask a medical question and she mentioned that Tela had a sacrament meeting attendence of 102 yesterday!! I'm so happy they are still progressing over there.

Today is April 27, 2015. According to my missionary certificate thingy the church gave me in the CCM today is my last day as a missionary. I just don't even know what to say. There were days before I came that I didn't want to come, but I felt so strongly that this is what my Heavenly Father wanted of me and now I know exactly why. There are things I learned here in the mission that I could've learned somehwere else. 

I'm trying so hard to put my gratitude into words and I just can't! Like Nemo. 

I just know that God loves me and that this is His church. Through Juses Christ we can become clean of our sins and become better people. WE can change. 

I love you all.

Love,

Hermana Odekirk

P.S. I've eaten 461 baleadas.

No english, no snow, no sinks

This week in District Meeting Elder Morales was teaching the part where the latins learn english but we gringos need help. I know that "there's" is a word, but is "there're" a word. All the gringo Elders said it's not a word, but I think it is. No one remembers english.

I heard it snowed this week. God had a funny sense of humor. I literally prayed for it to snow before I went on my mission so I could see it one last time but it didn't anow until the day after I left! It's okay, I still know God loves me.

Today's happy/funny email comes from Kelene Fletcher who is currently sering spanish speaking in Virginia. i had told her last week that I heard that George Michael we love when I was in the centro and this week she wrote me this:

    "HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAA. that makes me so full of joy. When I get back, that's going as my ringtone. And on a completely slightly related note, I wonder if Guy on a Buffalo is still Bub's ringtone for me, haha. Remember when we watched that movie?

     I can't believe you are done. I'm dying. I still have a year left. WHAT IF YOU GET MARRIED. That would be exciting.

Also, the only thing I know about Honduras is what all the Honduranians here say, "It's a bad country, but I love it." Maybe I'll visit one day, haha."

     So everyone needs to watch Guy on a Buffalo. I literally can't stop laughing and I'm just remembering it. 

      So... let's just not think about getting married yet. Deal?

       That's a very true statement about Honduras. This country is terrible, but I love it with all my heart might, mind, and strength.

The last few weeks we've been helping a lot of people simply learn time management because they claim they didn't have time to read their scriptures. It just made me so greatful for my education and my mission and my family who taught me simple skills like that.

Go look up the word Charity in your Bible Dictionary. Right now. Did you do it? Bueno. On the mission I've learned about Charity. Charity is the higher law of love. It is what Christ feels for us. We are trying to get a couple married (what else is knew) and I finally realized they need to decide if they simply just love each other or if they have charity for each other. Charity is what builds real, lasting relationships among men. Charity isn't just giving service, it is learning to love people the way Christ loves them. 

  The first great commandment is to love God, which is faith. The second to love man, which is Charity.

Today I was reading the talk "The Priesthood Man" by President Eyring because I remembered that there is a really good part about prayer in there. I really love this talk, I don't even know how to explain why. Just go read it.

We went to Tocoa this week on divisions. I was doing companionship study with Hermana Bacon, who is from Provo and she shared that she read about the priesthood that day and how when she got set apart both of her grandpas participated and her stake president told her that she should appreciate that because on the mission she is going to meet so many people who are first or secong generation members and don't have any priesthood holders in their family. I felt so humbled as we sat and talked about how grateful we are to have so many wonderful priesthood holders in our lives.

We also went to Trujillo on divisions.... with Hna Babb and Hna Turner from the CCM!!! It was a wonderful reunion. But let me tell you, those two recently moved apartments and they now have the wost missionary apartment I've ever seen. In the whole apartment there is no sink. They have to wash dishes and brush their teeth in the shower. The funniest part is when I saw it all I wasn't even struck by it because I"m so used to Honduras. haha 

I've eaten 448 baleadas.

Have a great week!! 

Love,

Hermana Odekirk

 

 

Baggyyyyyyyyyyyyy‏

This week I´ve been kind of trunky for a number of reasons, one of which being that I received an eamil this week titled "Welcome back to Utah State University" Ay no, voy a llorar. On wednesday i took some time (with President Klein´s permission) to reigster for classes in the fall. Yep, it´s crazy.

On wednesday we were in Missionary Leadership Council and Presidente klein was saying that we aren´t allowed to watch disney movies on pday anymore and he explained it in this manner, "If you were going to go on a date you wouldn´t take a girl to the movies, right? How are you going to get to know each other in a movie? So how is your zone going to get to know each other better if you just go to the church and watch a movie? You should make pancakes!" so naturally hna Petersen and I were talking about how bad it is to go on a date to the movies and landed at "We should go on a double date when we get home!" Yep, she´s just as baggy as I am. ahah

Hna Vasquez and I had to spend the night in La Lima because I had to have my final interveiw and go to the doctor in San Pedro. I was talking President Klein about how he promised we could a have aFHE at his house but it never happened and he said we could do it that night! And he and Hna Klein said we could spend the night the night at their house!!!!! In most missions all the missionaries know the president´s but here in SPSEalmost no one gets to see president´s house before their last night when you eat dinner there. needless to say we had a say full of adventures!!

Presidente and Hna Klein gave a lift to doctor. When we came out the office elders were there! We waited for their appointment and then they gave a lift to the office. Yay for no rapiditos! Then we talked to President klein and I told what the doctor said and he said that having surgery in Honduras is not an option so it will happen when i get home, and I don´t have to go home early! THEN he took us to go grab Wendy´s AT THE MALL!!! We aren´t allowed in the mall without permission so I felt really weird. Then Hna Klein picked us up and I ate chicken nuggets and fries in the back seat of their car. It felt so normal, like something nromal people do. THEN we went with them to visit an Hermana who just came home from her mission that day. This Hermana lives in Satélite!!! All the members were shocked to see us because there are no hermanas in the whole stake of Satélite because it´s so dangerous.

THEN we got to their house and Presidente and Hermana Klein gave us ice cream and twizzlers and hot chocolate, and President asked me to play the piano. We slept in room with air conditioning. I used a BLANKET for the first time since the MTC!

In the morning we woke up, got ready, ate cereal with Hna Klein and then she took us to the mission office so I could have my final interview with Presidente Klein. I cried. THEN Presidente Klein took us to his favorite bakery and it was delicious! Then he took us to the bus terminal and we went home. It was a grand adventure.

Thursday and Friday were boring because the doctor said I needed to rest until friday so I just around and wrote in my journal and read Jesus the Christ and thought trunky thoughts. haha

I was thinking about it this morning and I want to go to Classic Skating when i get home. No one goes there anymore! I hope it´s still open. Rolling skating it totally under  appreciated in our society.

17 days.  Love every moment.

Love,

Hermana Odekirk

The Church had a new inciative this month: Because he lives. We as missionaries were supposed to have pass along cards and videos and we have to give a report every week and how we are using the iniciative. Well, our pass along cards never came, we downloaded the video but none of our ivestigators have computors or tvs that work, so... we just didn't get to do it. #honduras Oh well, we just taught a lot of lessons about the Atonement. 

Bednar gave a talk once called The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality and it is life changing. Then this month in the Liahona there was an article about the difference between sin and weakness. I've been working on focusing more during the sacrament and these talks helped me remember that the Atonement isn't just for sins, it's for weaknesses, so that Sacrament is a time for self reflection about our weaknesses not just our sins.

I called the mission nurse on saturday to talk to her about a problem and she asked me "How much does it hurt from 1 - 10?" and I almost laughed out loud because i remembered how much my sister Hollie HATES that question. haha

I had to watch most of conference in spanish so i didn't feel the spirit as much as normal. I also didn't hear it when the people opposed the sustaining. The translator on saturday morning was obvisouly from spain because he basically spoke with a lisp the whole time and it was really distracting. I don't have all my notes with me so i'l give my confernce commentary next week.

We were teaching this old lady and her tv was really loud. WE asked her to turn it off, but she said she would just turn it down, but her remote wasn't working. We tried to tell her that she didn't really turn it down but she didn't believe us!! We tried to keep teaching her but it was too loud. We asked her to trun it down again but just yelled "I've already turned it down a ton!!" It was super funny.

We went to the Stake Center for the very last session so I could watch it in English and I ran into Aaron!!! He went to all four sessions and he has been going out with the elders. It was so great to see him again.

I have my final interview with President Klein tomorrow. Hijole!!

Have a great week.

Love,

Hermana Odekirk