GREAT WEEK IN THE MISSION

Dear Family,

How is everyone doing back home?  Sounds like everyone is having a great time and doing well...Going fishing (27 fish Wow!), Andrea pregnant, David and the kids coming for the funeral, Becca preparing for track state, etc. So Chris is going to have his first Goonie. Congratulations! Hopefully, it's a nice strong boy. So, how are you doing with your arthritis, Mom? I hope you are getting better. I am praying for you every night. It was really great talking to you guys on the phone. Everything still sounds nice and busy at the Lee home. Well, this last week we have had a great week. We had a Zone Conference where I conducted. That was fun. We also had a Multi-Zone Conference with four zones in the mission at the conference, and we had a General Authority, President/Elder Shumway came and talked to us. It was really great, except for the fact that he put me on the spot in front of everyone. He was talking about sacrifices we made before the mission. He asked us to think of some things that were hard to leave when we came on the mission. He then asked for those that had girlfriends before the mission to raise their hand. Nobody raised their hand. So he walked right up to where I was sitting, looked at my name tag and said into his microphone, "Elder Lee, where are you from?"  I answered, "Connell, Washington", and then he said, "Elder Lee, did you have a girlfriend before the mission?" And I told him, "Maybe". Then, everyone just starting laughing. Then he said laughing, "Be serious with me. Did you have a girlfriend?" and I said, "Kind of" in English. Then he said, "Was it hard to leave her?" and everyone is just laughing at me, and then I said to him, "Kind of", and he turned around and walked away laughing, and said, "We all know it was hard for Elder Lee to leave his girlfriend." I got pretty embarrassed. Even worse, throughout the meeting, he kept referring back to me. But besides that, it was an awesome experience. This last Saturday, we baptized a 17-year-old boy, named Marvin Joel Baca Garcia. He turns 18 this month, and he really wants to go on a mission. He was the first person I actually baptized physically.  It was really awesome. When it was time for the baptism to be performed, I walked out into the hallway with him, showed him where to put his hands, and explained to him what was going to happen really fast. Then he said he wanted to try it once, so I dipped him back to show him what we were going to do, and he just kept falling down, and then I fell on top of him.  Then my Companion came out into the hall and saw me on top of him, and was like, "Geez, Elder lee, you leave my sight for one second to go to the baptismal font, and instead you're wrestling our investigator". But luckily, the real thing went perfectly. It was a great little baptism. Elders baptized his sister in this area about one or two months ago. So now, we are going to get the rest of the family. This Sunday was the only sad thing that happened...our two investigators with dates for this next Saturday didn't come to Church, so we can't baptize them. So, we are going to work a lot with them this week. Also, this week a lady that was baptized right before I got here, got married to a member. My Companion bought them this huge thing of flowers. They were so excited!  It was great...and now they're going to buy us both Honduras soccer jerseys. The members in this area are the best. My Companion tells me they are the best he has had in his whole mission. Every week at District Meeting we always have the most lessons with members, cuz our members are always helping us. They are always baking us cakes too. They are really funny. This last Sunday, we went to like four consecutive houses to eat either cake or a dinner. We were so stuffed. Sorry, when you're in Honduras you just can't turn down food, you never know when you're going to get fed again. Oh, and before I forget, something else that was horrible happened...our little humble garage house flooded. When we got home last night, we found our house was flooded. Luckily, my suitcases were safe, except for my mini suitcase that I have my books in...but that just got a little wet on the bottom. It was on higher ground. But we got that all taken care of last night, and now everything is back to its great normal self. Last week, I got called an "angel" again. We were visiting our neighbor who is a member (she owns a restaurant and also cooks for Hermana Ochoa for conferences, and when new Elders arrive, and her Baleadas are absolutely great)...she told Elder Khan when I was in the bathroom that she didn't know they still sent angels to the mission. So that was a little compliment that made me happy. I guess she really likes gringo missionaries, cuz in the past she used to do laundry for the missionaries, and she said she has never had a problem with gringo Elders. Well,l it has been extremely hot here. But I love it. It is great. I don't think I want to live in a climate like this, but 2 years is great for me. Today, we went and played futbolito with all the Elders in our Zone and some new converts in our District Leader's area. After that, we played some Frisbee football, and that was awesome. We played Latinos against the Gringos, and of course we smoked them in Frisbee football. Then we went to the soccer court and got spanked to where we finally had to mix up the teams, cuz white people just can't play soccer. When I am playing sports my competitive side still comes out a little bit, but not as much. I try not to get mad over a little game, so it's always a fun time for everyone. It was so hot this morning when we played, that my shirt looked like it had been dipped in a pool. It was really gross. So that was today, up until now. Oh yeah, this week we are going to marry a family and hopefully another family the week after and then baptize them. There is so much potential in this area, and we are trying to make the best of it, with the help of the Lord. Thank you so much for your prayers every day. I can see their effects in my life. Everyone is always way surprised when I tell them I haven't even gotten sick yet. My health has been really great since I have been in Honduras...just a little muscle loss. We try to work on that for 30 minutes a day. But it's hard when all you have is a little medal bar with some cement on the ends. Well, I have to get running. Bugs, good luck with State this upcoming week...you're in my prayers.  Beat Kirkwood for me. Do your best always and never get down. And eat whatever food Mom gives you. She knows the Diet for Champions. And get a lot of rest. That's my only advice for this week. Oh, and never think that you have next year.  Always do your best, as if today was your last competition. Dad, I am a little jealous of you guys going fishing. As much fun as I am having, fishing sounds really fun too. Catch and eat some more fish for me. Remember the trick to catching a big fish like I did with you: Cast our your line, put down your pole, go eat some Doritos, and drink a pop. Then go back to your pole after a while and the big hummer will be waiting for you to reel her in. Thank you for everything family. Thanks for your letters, prayers, and your support. Have a great week.  Love, Elder Lee