hondo or bust. day 1 and 2

Phew! We went to Honduras and made it back in one piece!
This was Houston's Christmas present LAST year and it took almost an entire year for him to cash it in.  We had to reschedule the trip multiple times. First we had to reschedule it due to his bar exam schedule, then we had to reschedule it because we realized that after studying for the bar, H not working all summer, and me having a slow summer at work we wanted to go when we knew we would have more spending money to make the vacation worth going!  So, I called the airline moved around our flights and scheduled the trip for the last possible week before the tickets expired.  I did that back in July.  Then, I forgot all about it!!  We were supposed to leave on Dec. 1st and I didn't think about it once until a week into November!  Needless to say I freaked out a little bit, but everything worked out perfectly.  We had so much fun!  It was awesome to be able to go on a trip together.  We hadn't been on a trip together since Houston's first year of law school, so it was a great way to celebrate being DONE with the whole experience.  We flew into Tegucigalpa first, got a rental car, had to get used to driving in the crazy busy city, found our hotel, and settled in for a few minutes.

calling a bunch of his people to go out to dinner later

After we got settled, we hopped back in the car and went on an adventure to go find the temple.  As always, the temple is gorgeous!  They just announced the dedication day for sometime in March, so the grounds were still locked and closed off but we drove up a dirt road that led to the top of a hill behind the Temple so we could take pictures.  The grounds were already landscaped and beautiful too.  Apparently this is common for temple grounds in other countries, but this one had a mini hotel of sorts.  It's a really nice building with little apartments for people who travel long distances (and use a significant amount of their savings to attend the temple) to stay in, cook their meals, wash their clothes, etc.  I loved the idea of providing a comfortable place to stay for people who sacrifice so much to enjoy the blessings of the temple.

After sightseeing Houston insisted we stop at a pulperia (hondo version of a corner convenience store) for some snacks.  We got a Pepsi (a.k.a "peksi") Lite, no such thing as diet around there, cheetos, the Bimbo version of cinnamon rolls, and water in a plastic bag.  He was excited!

We stopped in at a mall right next to our hotel because we forgot an audio cable for the car.  For the Christmas season the mall had set up an ice skating rink!  It was hilarious!  People had NO idea what it was.  We tried to take a picture but the picture doesn't do it justice.  There were people everywhere, three floors up, staring at the two people skating on the ice!

That night we met the Galo family at Pizza Hut for dinner.  They were so sweet.  Honestly, I thought the first part of the trip, meeting up with all of the people Houston taught on his mission would be more for him (and a little boring for me).  But, it was so much fun!  I loved meeting everyone and being able to put a face with a name/story that I've heard from Houston a hundred times.  Everyone was so nice and excited to see Houston.  They all knew about Elaina (from Facebook I guess) and asked to see pictures and videos of her.

fancy pizza dinner

drinking water from a bag?

The next morning we ate breakfast really quickly at the hotel.  Houston was super excited about a "desayuno tipico" complete with refried black beans, plaintains, eggs, crema, and sausage.  He talked about it for days! After breakfast we headed to church!

Church was awesome.  There are two wards that meet in the building and we went to both sacrament meetings.  The first one, Houston didn't know as many people, but it was an amazing experience for me to sit in a testimony meeting in a different country, in a different language, and hear people sharing their testimony about the same things I hear every month at home.  It is amazing to know of the truthfulness of the gospel and see the effects of the gospel in the lives of others across the world, in circumstances so different than my own.  And, to see their love and appreciation for the gospel of Jesus Christ and know that the church is true. I can't even truly put into words how much of a spiritual experience it was for me.  These are all things I knew already and have a testimony of, but to see it and feel it for myself was just awesome.  The next meeting was a ward where Houston taught and baptized quite a few families.  As people started filing in for church, they saw him and were so excited!  They kept wanting to come talk to "Harris!!!"  We sat down next to a bunch of the families and in the middle of the meeting they started passing their hymnals down to him. There aren't any hymnals kept in the church building so members bring their own hymnals with them.  As a gift to the people who got baptized, Houston would give them a hymnal and wrote a little message on the inside cover. It was crazy to see all of the messages Houston wrote as a missionary almost ten years later and see that all of these families still had them and brought them with them.  The one that made Houston bawl like a baby was Aaron's hymnal.  Aaron was probably 11 or 12 when he got baptized.  He was the nephew of the Galo family (who went to Pizza Hut with us) and he and his mom and brothers were all baptized.  When he found out Houston and I were coming to visit he was so excited!  We met up with him on Saturday for dinner and at church again the next day, because he was leaving on Wednesday to serve his mission in Mexico City.  He was really excited and ready to serve a mission and so grateful for Houston's service and introducing his family to the church.  Well, in Aaron's hymnal Houston had addressed it to "future elder" and told him to prepare himself for a mission because he would be an amazing missionary someday.  It was pretty amazing for Houston to see the progress of the members he was so close to.

Everybody circa 2004

Aaron, his mom, and his brother Gabriel on the far right
Wilson, their son, and Cindy to Houston's left

Jose, Lourdes, and their three boys

Alexis, Nancy, their two daughters, and their nephew

Mostly everybody circa 2012

Jose, Lourdes, and their three boys all grown up
Me and Houston
Wilson, Cindy, and their daughter (we saw their other two boys too, but they skipped the picture)
and Nancy, Alexis, one of their daughters, and Gabriel (one of their nephews)

After church we drove up into the area where Houston lived for a quick little tour.  Houston could not stop talking about how the streets were paved!!  I guess I couldn't get the full effect since they weren't dirt roads anymore!

where he lived in that area

After our quick tour of the neighborhood, we got on the road to drive to Comayagua to visit some more peeps.  Houston ALSO couldn't stop talking about how nice the highway was.  It had FOUR lanes!! A lot had changed in 8-10 years.

restaurant on the side of the highway

the typical mode of transportation

In Comayagua, we checked into our hotel and then went to Ingrid, Zeny, and Emy's house.  Houston taught Ingrid and Zeny and I think I've heard the most about these two investigators than anybody else Houston taught.  He was so excited to go to their house for dinner.  Their mom made baleadas and pastelitos de leche for Houston and me.  They were absolutely delicious.  But, before dinner Zeny and Emy hopped in our rental car and we drove to the little town square.  There was a beautiful old Catholic church, town hall, and a little market set up with food and other little things to buy.  This is were we bought a dress for Elaina.

the church in the middle of town

Emy, Houston, and Zeny

hanging out at their house after dinner!