Mount Timpanogos Temple

Mount Timpanogos Temple

Friday, December 27, 2013

Feliz Navidad!

Our greatest moments this Christmas were Skyping with Elder Conover! (Of course:)  He looked great and already has a little accent.  We sang "Silent Night" together, him in Spanish and us in English, and he bore his testimony in Spanish with lots of tears.  It was pure joy introducing him to Baby Cannon!  We had the most blessed Christmas ever with a missionary and a new baby.  We love you!  
Heidi

Elder Eric Conover
San Pedro Sula East Mission
12 Calle Av. Circunvalacion S.O.
Edif Yude Canahuati, 3 Nivel, Oficina 4
San Pedro Sula, Cortes, Honduras C.A


Elder Conover and Elder Guzman




Hey family! MERRY CHRISTMAS! DId you get my letter?! Im glad you enjoyed the last letter, it truly is a great adventure here. As far as I know we are all set for skype this Wednesday. I don't think we need to pay to skype internationally. Did you get my message last Thursday on Skype? I am hoping that I will get the package tomorrow but I don't know for sure. Don't worry about it though. Thanks for sharing that beautiful experience with Cannon Mom. I hope he smiles for me on Christmas. :) That Christmas party sounded like it was a lot of fun! I'm glad people are loving the river-baptisms, I am too. Its awesome. :) That is wonderful Uncle Jacob is going to most likely stay there in Utah. I remember when I first drove you to your doctor appointment Mom. I hope your final check up went good today. Time has flown by!
Things continue to go great here. My new companion and I are seeing many miracles. Yesterday 120 people came to Church! 108 was the record up to yesterday. The Saturday before we gave a blessing to a man named Juan Ramon who has been in a lot of pain and recovery from back surgery. We shared a message about Faith with him and testified that faith without action is dead. He came to Church yesterday with his wife and daughter. More and more I am seeing the power of the priesthood and the reality that with faith anything is possible, we just need to act. Saturday morning we also woke up and went to Jairo and Yovelys house and helped them put in a cement patio in front of their house and chop down vines and weeds along their fence. It was my first time using a machete to chop down the plants!:) Everyone uses machetes here, to cut the grass, weeds, and other plants. It was great spending time with, and helping them. Yovely is now 100 percent and gave a talk about the priesthood yesterday during Sacrament meeting. Truly an amazing miracle. She is also now the branch missionary. Jairo loves the priesthood and always wants to be involved and learning about the priesthood he has. They are awesome!

Today we woke up early and climbed a Mountain! It was quite the hike but the view was incredible. We could look down and see all of Sonaguera. It was so tropical and so opposite from the Mountains in Utah right now. haha. Suamy the secratary of the branch here and 4 other young men hiked the mountain with us. It was a lot of fun. I am looking forward to this Wednesday! CHRISTMAS! It will be so good to see and talk each one of you!:) Be thinking of questions you would like me to answer or what you want to talk about. I wish I could talk all day but we only have 40 minutes so we need to be efficient.;) Remember Joseph Smith today, its his birthday. I know Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and the Prophet of the Restoration. In Pine Valley this last summer during the second hour when we learned more about Joseph Smith the Holy Ghost very powerfully bore witness to me of the reality of Joseph Smith's calling as the Prophet of the Restoration. I know that he was a Prophet. We are working hard here and the branch is changing for the better very quickly. I'm very grateful for Elder Cruz and his knowledge and determination to help this branch become stronger. I love you all and hope you have a wonderful Christmas eve tomorrow and I will see you on Christmas!:) You are the best family ever! I know Jesus Christ lived here on the Earth, Atoned for each one of us, was Resurrected, and will come again very soon. Always remember Him.

Elder Cruz, far right

Love Elder Conover

Thursday, December 19, 2013

With Faith we can accomplish and conquer anything


Hello my wonderful familia!

There is so much I want to share with you, I hope that I can remember everything. Thank you all for your very kind, and great emails. Have you recieved my letter yet? Don't open it until Christmas.:) I can't wait to Skype next wednesday at 10am my time, 9 your time! That will be so fun! It's so good to hear that you all are doing well and that Cannon is healthy. It is very comforting each week to hear that things are going good back home. 

Last Thursday the other Elders and I woke up early and took a bus to Olanchito(you guys should google map sonaguera and the citys surrounding us) to pick up my new  companion! We had a zone meeting in the chapel in Olanchito and I met my new companion. His name is Elder Cruz. He looks like a gringo but he is from Costa Rica! When we got back all 4 of us ate hamburgers at a restaurant across the street from our house. Then we went to the other Elders house and I packed up my things and brought them back to our house. 

At 5:00 we had a meeting with the Branch President at a man named Jairos house. I have never taught a lesson with Jairo but I have seen him around a lot and we are buddies. He speaks a little bit of English and always says"brother" in his awesome Spanish accent. Almost every sentence he says brother. haha He is quite the character. I can see all my uncles getting along with him very good. I guess Elders have been working with him for 15 years and he hasn't wanted to be baptized but the president has been talking to him and this meeting was to plan for his baptism! Anyways, President Campos didn't get there for a while. While we were waiting the wife of Jairo, Yovely (I have taught her once and was with Elder Suazo when he dedicated their house) asked us to give her a blessing. She has cancer and recently was in San Pedro Sula and went through chemo therapy. She was very sick and lying in her bed in a lot of pain. This next part is the most spiritual experience I've had on my mission and I hesitated sharing but I hope this can strengthen your testimonies. It has strengthened mine. We went into her room with Jairo and my new companion talked with her about priesthood blessings. The other Elders and I about a week ago also gave her a blessing but she was still very sick. She said that she wants to be better to make it to her husband's baptism. She also told us that in her patriarchal blessing (she is a member) that it says she will go through the temple with her husband. My companion testified to her that all is possible according to her faith. My companion then gave her a blessing. During this blessing the spirit came over me very powerfully. I started crying and I looked up and Jairo was also crying. During the blessing many of my very strongest spiritual experiences from the past came to my mind. It was one of the most powerful blessings I have ever heard. I felt the spirit so strong and for a moment felt how I think we will feel in Heaven if we lived according to the gospel. Having a perfect remembrance of all our righteousness and all our sins. During the blessing I prayed with all the faith I had that she would be healed. When he finished the blessing she wasn't shaking and breathing hard anymore and she said she felt a lot better. We left her in her room and by that time the president had made it to the house. We talked with him and Jairo about the baptism. Jairo agreed to have a baptismal interview the next day! 

On Saturday we had the branch Christmas activity in a small city about 45 minutes away on a bus. There is a big river there and part of the activity was 4 baptisms! I'm going to explain more about this activity in a second but we asked Jairo if he would come to this activity and be baptized their with the others. The most important thing to him was that his wife Yovely made it to the baptism so he said if she felt better they would go and he would be baptized there and if not than later that day in the river here. So awesome! I had no clue that Jairo was this close to baptism. I guess the president has been working a lot with him or something. Jairo said that he was ready to make a covenant with Heavenly Father and serve Him and keep His commandments. The next day Elder Monterosa, who is now our new district leader interviewed him at their house. I relaxed wonderfully in their nice hammock looking at the green all around me and listening to the chirping of birds. I felt like I was in the mountains back in Utah. He passed the interview and Yovely also said she was feeling a little better. 

Tiffany with the branch president

On Saturday morning I called Jairo and asked him what he wanted to do. He said that Yovely was too sick to make it to the activity and that he wanted to be baptized here in the river later that day, the plan was at 4:00 when we returned from the activity. We met all the members and progressing investigators at the church that morning at 8:00 and all crammed into a bus and went to the house of a great family in the branch. This family is very unique. They switch from living here in Honduras and living in the Untied States every 6 months. The parents are from the U.S and speak both English and Spanish. Here they own tons of land, have a farm, and they run a clinic to help the people in the area where the activity was. They have a large house, a full size soccer field, and they own a lot of the river including the part where we had the baptisms. At their house we had the activity. It's difficult to explain the situation and I don't even understand everything but there is another family that also lives in the house and two of their kids wanted to be baptized. They have been going to church for a long time. Also the "daughter" of the parents was ready to be baptized. They found this girl along with another girl near death in the mountains right there by their house. Sister Evelyn told us that in those mountains is the poorest place in all of Honduras. They "adopted" both of these girls. It's crazy because it's not official at all because both the girls weren't born in a hospital and they have no paper work to work with. Both of these girls live with them right now and live as if they truly were adopted. One of them was baptized this last Saturday. I hope that all makes sense. It's crazy! Right when we got there Elder Cruz and I taught all of the Commandments lesson to the three kids who were baptized that day along with three other girls and one boy. They all live in the house also. Right after the lesson Elder Monterosa interviewed the three of them. All of the branch ate lunch together and then we all walked to the river and had the baptismal service. A girl in the branch named Tiffany also was baptized because she just turned 8. All the kids before and after swam and played in the river. It was an amazing experience. Jose, the husband of Evelyn, baptized the three and President Campos baptized Tiffany. Almost everyone from the branch was there by the river and watched. It was a great activity!

Elder Cruz, Jairo, Elder Conover
We made it back here to Sonaguera two hours late. It was getting dark and it was pouring rain! This did not worry the president at all and us and much more than I expected of the members walked to the river here to meet Jairo there for his baptism! As we were walking there it was pouring very hard. But like always here we just accept getting wet and love the adventure. Jairo showed up and his wife Yovely also made it!:) Brother Suamy the secretary of the branch baptized Jairo. They are good friends. By the time the service started it was dark but there was a beautiful moon. The rain also stopped which was a blessing. We sang a hymn and had two short messages like normal and then Jairo was baptized. Such an amazing experience! Baptism in the river in the dark. The witnesses had to walk out into the river also to be close enough to make sure it was done correctly. It was so beautiful only seeing the white clothes in the darkness. I will never forget this experience with Jairo and Yovely. Starting with the blessing, the miracle that Yovely could see her husband be baptized in the dark and embrace him after he walked out of the river, and all that lies in the future for this great family. 

My companion has been great! He is a very hard worker and we plan way better than Elder Suazo and I did. We are working super hard to improve the branch here. It has been stressful transferring to a new companion and trying to introduce him to all the members and investigators and also find my way around our area without getting lost because it's still new to me. But I'm trying to take things one day at a time and rely on the Holy Ghost. My companion has a great vision and a great testimony. I'm trying to get him to exercise with me because he doesn't like to exercise. I told him that he is my missionary trainer, because he is my second trainer and that I will be his fitness trainer. I hope that we can both help each other.

Today we played soccer on a turf field with the walls like indoor. We played as a zone in Olanchito. We had three teams of 5 and rotated through every goal. It was a lot of fun!

Sorry this email was very long. I love you all so much and will write you again next Monday and then Skype next Wednesday! CHRISTMAS!:) The Ward christmas party sounded like it was great. I'm glad I'm one of the wise men. [Editor's note:  Our family represented the Nativity scene for our ward Christmas party.  We were missing Eric, so I told him he was one of the wise men who came when Jesus was a little older:)] It's cool it worked out like that. I miss you a lot during this very special time. Heavenly Father is leading us to the people who are ready to hear the gospel. It is wonderful. Have a great week! Keep up all the great things you all are doing. I know the priesthood is the power of God and that with Faith we can accomplish and conquer anything.

Love Elder Conover    











Thursday, December 12, 2013

I must give this little part of eternity, this life to Him, to Jesus Christ‏




Lester and his family before his baptism


 

Here's Elder Conover's mission home address (there are no addresses where the missionaries live:).  

Elder Eric Conover
San Pedro Sula East Mission
12 Calle Av. Circunvalacion S.O.
Edif Yude Canahuati, 3 Nivel, Oficina 4
San Pedro Sula, Cortes, Honduras C.A


This same address can be used throughout his entire mission.  Thanks so much for your love and support, especially at this time of year!

Buenos Días familia!

Last week with Elder Suazo
How is everyone doing? I hear that its freezing there and you have snow! Its hot here and sunny. This morning we played soccer at the church on the field behind the church. It was fun! Tonight the zone leaders are going to call and tell us who out of the 4 elders here in Sonaguera will be transfered. It is very unlikely I will be transferred and very likely Elder Suazo will be because he has been here for 4 and 1/2 months. If he is transferred he will leave tomorrow with one of the other two Elders. So this is our last day together! I can´t believe I´ve been in Honduras for 6 weeks! Yesterday was the primary program here! It was great. Last Saturday Elder Suazo and I had another baptism!:) Elder Suazo baptised Lester!! The other Elders also baptised another young man, Danielle. They are both 15. It was another spiritual, wonderful baptism and baptismal service there by the river. 

Later that night we went to a new contacts house Sister Martha to teach the first lesson, The Restoration. At the house she had a lot of family over. They were very nice and invited us in and had us sit down. One of her daughters and the daughter's husband were there. They told us that their baby who was two months old died last week and they asked us where we believe she is right now. We immedietely switched plans to lesson number 2, The Plan of Salvation. I told them that their baby was in a very good place right now. We gave them Plan of Salvation pamphlets and invited them to read them and we set up a time to meet with them and explain more about the Plan of Salvation. We are going to teach them later today. It is a great blessing our knowledge of Where we came from? What is our purpose here on the Earth? and Where will we go after Death? I look forward to sharing this good news with this family during this difficult time for them. Many people do not know the answers to these questions and many people dont even think about these questions. I am so grateful to know that I have a purpose here on Earth, that I am a son of God, and have the potential to be like Him after I die. 

The other day I was walking down the street and thinking about our Savior Jesus Christ. I had a realization that if it weren´t for Him and his Atoning sacrifice we would all die and our spirits would be subject to Satan. But He did fulfill his mission and we will ALL be resurected and return to our Heavenly Father. For this reason among the many other reasons such as the tender mercies and blessings of our Heavenly Father I realized I must give this little part of eternity, this life to Him, to Jesus Christ. I hope this will sink into your hearts and into the hearts of all the people of the World. I love you all so much and hope you have a fantastic week! If I am not transferred I will be able to write again on wednesday! Adios!
After playing soccer in the field by the church

Love Elder Conover






Sonaguera Elders with soccer buddy, Wilmer







He was able to write again on Wednesday:

Hola Famila!

I hope you all are having a great day! Elder Suazo was transfered. The other two elders and I are here in Sonaguera for another transfer! I like Sonaguera and am starting to know my way around town and all the people here. Im happy to spend Christmas here. Yesterday we traveled to Olanchito with Elder Suazo and said good bye to him there. Last night and tonight I am staying at the other Elders house. Tomorrow we will travel again to Olanchito, have a zone conference, and meet my new companion! This saturday we have a branch Christmas activity that should be very fun! Im excited! I will let you know how it goes. After the activity a girl in the branch who just turned 8 is going to be baptised. Its possible we may have another baptism also. Things are going good here. :) Have you recieved my letter yet? Love and miss you all. I can't wait for Christmas to see you! Have a great rest of the week. Until next Monday! Adios! Mosiah 2:41

Love Elder Conover

Ortega Family who is letting him Skype from their home on Christmas Day!!!  (He also does laundry there:)
We love them!


Sis. Klein's blog

Monday, December 9, 2013

Life Here In Honduras (sent 12/3)

Life here is going great! It's crazy it's my last week with my companion Elder Suazo! He is being transfered and leaves next tuesday to the transfer meeting. I almost positively will stay here for at least one more change. But I will have a new companion! So that's a little sad but exciting. Paige and Austin Measles arrive next week. I'm sad I wont be going to the change meeting and be able to see them but maybe they will come here to Sonaguera! 

Last week it rained a ton! The roads were like rivers! According to people here though in other cities that was nothing! haha We sometimes eat these mini bannanas here. They are good. I like to put them in my cereal. On Sunday at our usual place for lunch for the first time I ate a cooked whole fish! The name of the fish is Red. I don't know if Dad or Matthew know of this type of fish. But it tasted good! I didn't eat the tail, eyes or head. I don't know if I was supposed to or not. haha That day I also ate some other meat that I had no clue what it was but it was good. 

The reason I didn't write yesterday was because we were at a trainers and future trainers meeting in Ceiba with the President. It was a great meeting. It's always great being with President Klein and his wife. Their words were very comforting and helpful. On the bus ride there a girl sat next to me and I shared with her all of lesson 1 and gave her a Book of Mormon. The bus ride is 2 and 1/2 hours so it was awesome to have the time to get to know her and teach her the whole lesson. Usually we just teach to the Book of Mormon and then teach the BOM as a whole other lesson. On the bus ride back the same thing! It was awesome! With a young man named Yosimar who lives in Sonaguera. He said he would come to church this week. I hope he does. I didnt have another BOM to give him but we can talk with him more because he lives here in Sonaguera! :) Before the bus ride back to Sonaguera we ate at Wendys for lunch! It tasted so good to have some Wendys! haha 

Elder Suazo and I continue to teach people here. It is wonderful. It really is the best part of the mission sharing the Gospel with someone and testifying of our Savior Jesus Christ and the Restored gospel. A couple times we have watched the Restoration and a couple times we have watched Finding Faith in Christ with investigators or recent converts. I love both of these movies and my testimony is strengthened every time we watch them. I always hope that those we share messages with will feel what I feel and that they will accept the gospel. It is difficult when investigators do not keep commitments. I want them so badly to have the change of heart the Book of Mormon talks about. Everyday Heavenly Father blesses us with people to talk to and Heavenly Father is answering my prayers. The Branch President here only has one counselor and he is feeling a lot of stress. One of my main goals is to find and help the ward have more priesthood holders. Please pray for the branch here. We have a lot of work to do. Pray that us missionaries can work better with the members and teach more with them. Pray that the members will magnify their callings. There are usually 70-80 people who come to church each Sunday. How many people attend church there at our church? 

I started reading Jesus the Christ and my testimony of our Savior and Redeember has grown. I know that Jesus Christ is a God and that it is only through Him we can return to live with Heavenly Father and our families forever. At the meeting yesterday, President Klein said that his bishop back in Alpine every morning wakes up at 3 or 4 and studies the principle Faith for 3 hours! and has been doing this for 5 years! The bishop says that he wants to understand Faith first before he studies other things. Very interesting. The president said that we only have time to study Faith, Repentance, Baptism, the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the end. We dont have time for anything else. It reminds me of Bishop Juchau's brother's advice that we only need to worry about faith and repentance. I challenge you all to focus your study and life on these two principles. 

I love you all so much. I gave a letter to the assistant to the President yesterday. Hopefully it was sent today or someday soon and gets to you by Christmas!:) I look forward to seing you all on Christmas day!:) You all are very strong and are special sons and daughters of God. Until next week! Happy Holidays! D&C 11:13-14

Love Elder Conover

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! (Mom is a little delayed this week:)

Dear Mom and Family,
Baptizing Sully!
Elder Conover and Elder Guzman
HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I didn't even know it was thanksgiving today until I read your emails. haha Thank you for reminding me. They don't celebrate thanksgiving here but I am so grateful for so many things. All that I am is thanks to Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. I'm grateful I get to talk to you today also. We survived the lock in just fine. We actually with the help of the ward mission leader, Kenneth and his truck moved all of our things including our fridge and mattresses to the other Elders house and stayed with them. Their house is a lot bigger. Elder Guzman is learning to speak very good English so I actually spoke quite a bit with him in English. He and I are becoming great friends. Tuesday morning the Zone leaders called and told us that it was okay to start working like normal. We moved all our stuff back, had a district meeting outside of our house and then had a normal day. I got a lot done that I needed to those three days and the rest was nice but I'm glad to be working with people again. The elections went peacefully and nothing crazy happened. That's fun you are going to take Cannon on a walk today! That's awesome you guys are having nice weather. Yesterday and today here have been a little chilly! Can you believe that?! Yesterday it rained a ton and today its been sprinkling all day. Today I have been wearing jeans and sometimes even my jacket! I didn't think I would feel cold for two years! The break from the heat is very nice. 

I haven't even met my little brother Cannon but I too feel the same way. I love him so much and look forward earnestly to the day I get to hold him. Thank you for sending a package! I cant wait! That's sweet Jenny's company is helping! Heavenly Father really does bless us so much. Tell both grandparents thank you also. I am so blessed to have such supportive family and friends. It is a super wonderful blessing that not every missionary has. Thank you so much for all your love and support. That's wonderful Grandma and Grandpa Hicks have been helping so much. They are great! I am so grateful for them. I'm glad you are happy Mom. I continue to pray for you and everyone in our family. 

I gave a talk on Sunday! It was a good experience. I shared my thoughts on the First and Great Commandment to Love God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. I know that this commandment is the most important thing we can do and if we sincerely do it than we will obey all the other commandments and keep the covenants we have made with Him and in turn receive all the blessings God has for us including peace and happiness. For personal study yesterday I read Alma chapter 32 because I am trying to increase my Faith. This chapter is one of my very favorites and explains faith and all that we must do to partake of the fruit of the tree of Eternal Life. I challenge you all to read and ponder about this chapter. 

The language is very challenging and I really wish it would come faster. Sometimes it is very discouraging but I try not to let it get me down and I continue to do my best and trust that Heavenly Father will bless me on His timetable. It is important for us to remember that God's plan is perfect for us but it may not always be the plan we think he has for us. Pray, Study, and Work and then trust in God. I have also been sick today which is not fun but another key thing I have been learning is that when times are hard for us, Physically, Spiritually, Emotionally, or Mentally think of others and what they went through for us. Two people out of the many that I think of are our Savior Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith. I remember these men and their sacrifice. In football we learned to Always be A Man For Others. These men set the example for this type of life. I love you all and hope you have a great week. Remember the Savior and the covenant we have made with Him to take his name upon us. Until Monday! 

Love Elder Conover




Sonaguera Elders and Mission Leader, Kenneth