Elder Kenneth Dallin Tinkham

After countless times of sitting here and writing, I can honestly say that I cannot believe that this is happening. I don’t want to say goodbye to my belovedly hot home. Just like Kolipoki said, I feel more like I am leaving my home than am going home. It is just too crazy.

This week was a special little blessing to me. I felt the hand of the Lord and His special little ways of getting to each of His children.

On Thursday we had the privilege of hearing from Elder Ochoa of the 70. It was also special for him because he used to be the mission president of the Honduras, San Pedro Sula mission! Wow, what a coincidence! But, to me it was just super special to be able to hear from him, his words of counsel and advice, and even though he spoke mainly about the missionary work, I was able to apply many things to myself personally and what I should do when I find myself back "home." I really appreciated it greatly, and feel like (based upon the things that I have learned) that perhaps that meeting was one of the big reasons why I "stuck around."

It was a really short week full of finding people inspired and prepared by God to receive the gospel. I have met so many amazing people here in Trujillo that I can’t even begin to thank my Father in Heaven for all the blessings received in these last moments.

We had an incredible Sunday. A record-breaking 157 people showed up to our not-so-little branch! This is due in large part to the fact that the members are visiting the less-actives, and the 2 sets of missionaries are bringing more and more people to church. And, the delightful and big-hearted Garifuna people of Trujillo are the secret. To be honest, I have not seen such great love amongst all the people until now. It is something to be praised!

And of course, I had to enjoy the last P-day with a zip-line beach tour. I don’t know if it can get much more incredible!

But yes, I know that this work is the work of the Lord. I don’t know where the last 2 years of my life have gone, but I know that they have been the best. I love being a missionary, and it will certainly be different not walking around with a placita all day every day, but I know that the Lord now has other things in store for me.

For the very last time,

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

"For behold, this is my work and my glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

Well hello there to all my family and friends! Discarding all the comments from my fellow family members, I am just loving it out here in the heat of Honduras!

So, this last week we had changes. I have been changed one last time. I am now opening an area in a trio with Elder Blaisdell from Idaho and Elder Waylan from San Pedro Sula, Honduras! I am in a city called Trujillo, waaaaaaaaaaaay far out on the east coast. We live in probably one of the nicest houses in the mission and have now divided our area...seeing how it is one HUGE city! At last I have a chance to breathe and relax a little bit while we struggle to help these people out here to come closer to Christ! My companions both have very little time, so I am here to help out as much as I can! After about a 7 hour bus ride we made it, but we had a zone meeting and had to stay overnight in our district leader’s house. What an adventure!

So, also, on Tuesday my old zone decided to give me a little gift for my birthday. Well...you know...you can tell what they want when they brake down the box and stand behind me telling me to take a bite of the cake. But to humor them, I bent down, and they SMASHED my face into the cake! It was hilarious, and very much enjoyed! I was cleaning it out of my hair for a little bit.

Trujillo is really pretty! I work in an area where only Garifuna people live, which are native "black" people that speak Spanish as a second language! It is awesome! They are all priceless gems and make me so very happy. I always wanted to die in the Zona Colon, and here I am. So I am just super happy! These people just make me realize that every day! Especially because on Sunday we had a sacrament attendance of 135, something I think our little branch has achieved very few times! I am so stoked for working with them!

But yes, I am very excited for all of this! Gotta keep on going strong until the end! Don´t expect slacking off on this side!

Until next time, one last

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

Well howdy ya´ll! I hope that you have all had quite the amazing week! I am very grateful for the birthday wishes, but I have come to realize that what many people have told me is true; that when you start getting older you stop wanting people to tell you happy birthday and remind you that you are getting older! Because 21 is getting up there! What made the birthday all the better was the package that came from home full of Beef Jerky! YES!

So this week made me appreciate all you hard-working primary ladies! My respect! On Saturday we had a "Mini-CCM" where we had to teach all the primary kids of the stake between 8-12 years how to be a missionary! To be honest, the activity was really poorly planned...but it was fun for awhile! We were given a "district" to teach with sisters and elders. They all had companions and everything. We taught about the Book of Mormon, about the restoration...lots of stuff! My favorite part was taking the kids outside and having them "contact" people. These would be fellow missionaries or members, and they were always really nice to the kids. But I loved how blunt they would be about telling people they have to get baptized and come to church. It was a great experience...for awhile!

We finished our "tour" of training the leaders of the wards in our zone. It really ended strong with how we now knew what to say, what to look for, and what goals to set with the ward counsel leaders. I felt a strong spirit in them as we worked with the leaders to help them to better do their callings.

On Friday I got dozens of confirmations that the Lord answers prayers. We were getting back from doing divisions, and as we left in the afternoon we prayed and asked the Lord to help us to find a family that we could teach, that was smart and would progress quickly in the gospel to be baptized and help out this ward. Well, that night we went to a cita with a college girl, and in walk her parents 5 minutes later who then sit with us, listen to the message of how the gospel will change their families and make them happy, and they agreed to it all! They are all teachers and will be coming to church and have a baptismal date set for the first Saturday of September! Incredible, how the Lord works like that. They also invited us to a delicious dinner on the spot of Katrachitas! Delicious!

Also, on Saturday we had the baptism of Maycol! (I didn´t take pictures because my SD card wasn´t working, but his aunt took pictures and will be giving them to me!) He is a joven (youth) who has been coming to church for 3 months now. His uncle goes to a different ward and came with his family to the baptism. It was incredibly spiritual, and as Maycol had changed he stood up to bear his testimony and simply said, "I know the church is true. By being baptized I was able to communicate with God," and then sat down as he got teary-eyed. What a great kid. Unfortunately we had the headache that the primary kids used up all the water in the pump, so we had to hurry and rush to another chapel and fill up the font for the baptism! Yikes! But, luckily the members had cars and were able to come and support him anyway.

It is a strange feeling how one can be so physically tired (more so now that today isn't P-day for us as we have our change meeting on Wednesday) but so incredibly happy at the same time. How can this work not be true if it can take rebellious teenage boys who work all day and are exhausted all the time...yet they are never not happy? I know that this church is true and I know that any and all efforts of sharing this restored gospel is worth it. We are able to help others to receive the same blessings that we enjoy on a daily basis, and they thank us in return. And one is blessed in return.

I love you all! Have an enchanting week!

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

I tried to be creative and think of things that sound like shows that my mom used to watch. I know that House Hunters was one...but the rest, well, not so much. But basically explains how and what I did this week!

So once again I was out house hunting. The house for the sisters didn´t work out. Thus, I had to go and walk around in the hot beach-side sun looking for a relatively cheap and well-located house for the sisters to live. I really hope that they appreciate this place...because it really has taken a lot to find it. But I have gotten to know the touristic city of Tela SUPER well thanks to all these adventures, perhaps the best I could, not having it as my area! How interesting. Thus, I am now an official and expert house hunter and I’m very tough at haggling down prices and getting owners to fix things before moving in.

Also, we have been traveling all around the stake in which we serve. We are giving Ward Counsel Training to all the leaders based on the new videos that are out on the LDS website to train us. They are gems! I really have learned a lot and I am pretty excited to be able to work and serve in a Ward Counsel upon returning home. But I have gotten to know many people and places thanks to the journey!

Also, I had a meeting with President Klein and my companion in San Pedro Sula. Now, this was a great blessing! San Pedro is now outside of my mission, and so we were blessed to be able to leave and revel in the glories of San Pedro Sula! I bought myself a hammock and the what not to enjoy when I return! I have been wanting one awhile now! But it was a great meeting! I dunno if it is just having a new president, President Klein’s character, or being a leader...but we have been able to have many great spiritual and edifying meetings with him. I am really starting to realize just how inspired he really is! Sure, it is a lot different than having been with President Veirs, but hey! I am enjoying every moment of it!

We also brought about a stake service activity. But...sadly the stake didn´t support it so well. My companion and I worked hard on it and got the wards to announce and everything, but it just didn´t really happen. We had about 30 people there, which was quite sad for a whole stake. But, we accomplished the purpose which was an effort against Dengue, a virus transferred by mosquitoes. It was great! I was happy to work alongside many fellow members with our Manos Mormones que Ayudan.

So hence were my adventures of this week! Thus I am not too far off nor too crazy with summing up the adventures of the week! And I hope that each and every one of you has had an equal week and will have an amazing week this week!

Vaya Pues!

Alright, as I was just talking to my companion in the morning that I honestly felt like P-day was 2 days ago. I think that this was the fastest, most hectic week of my mission! And thus ties in the story of HOW!

So after writing, an amazing family of recent converts invited us to Pizza Hut. Now, this isn’t your American-type “Eh, I feel lazy today. We will call up a pizza.” No, here in Central America, Pizza Hut is a super expensive, super HUGE 5 star restaurant with waiters, giant tables...etc. So they ordered 2 huge pizzas with starters of hot wings and bread, and they tell us elders to just go to town. So I probably drank 7 glasses of juice, ate 3 wings, 2 pieces of bread, and 5.5 pieces of pizza. It is just such a bizarre concept to me to go into a sit-down pizza hut and have a waiter catering to me as if I were in some fancy place!

On Tuesday I was on divisions in my area with Elder Lewis from Elko Nevada. Who knows where that is! It was a great day and we had a lot of great citas with our investigators, but we noticed an incoming need that loomed over us the whole time. So they are sending out missionaries to open up 3 new areas in my zone, thanks to the MASSIVE influx of missionaries! And thanks to the fact that my mission is now half the size. So, we have to find places for all of the missionaries to live upon their arrival! And, Elder Lewis’ area was a special case.

They are sending sisters.

Ay ay ay! So we had to head out super early in the morning to get a bus for the looooong bus ride out to Tela and look for a really nice, really safe and really pretty house for sisters. We were going to get there, find it, and I would get out with Elder Guadamuz from Nicaragua, because my companion had to stay and do damage control in a branch. We were going to get in and out. But, turns out...that we spent more than 5 hours looking for a house (and after dividing the areas, printing contracts and eating) and missed the last bus to Progreso! Great...so here I am without extra clothes, without a place to stay, and still without a house for the sisters. So, I stay in a sketchily-arranged hammock in a tiny hot house with the elders and slept "great." We wake up next morning, and head out to find a house again! Yaaaaay! But after meeting my companion, we actually found a pretty nice place, and exactly what the office wanted. So, we hurried and made an agreement with the owner and headed off. Hope the sisters are grateful!

Then, on Friday we had to do the same in another area, but lucky that was for elders. We found this pretty amazing house. Huge, pretty, clean, open space...amazing. But it was too cheap and too good to be true. We had the elders in that area investigate it that night, and turns out we almost agreed to a contract of a drug-dealer house! They said that the members are always talking about how they hear gun shots and see lots of shady action. So yeah...we are pretty dang happy we didn’t go with that house! Sheesh!

But yeah, this week was crazy and just full of surprises. I think I will be an expert at looking for houses when I get home.

So yes, I love you all! Hope that you have an amazing week! I know I most definitely will this week!

Vaya Pues!

Hello one and all! I honestly was just sitting here...how is this happening? I hope you are all doing well and that this week has just been amazing!

So I finally went to Tela this week on divisions. I hadn’t gone the whole time I have been here in the zone. It was very enjoyable, maybe even more so because I was with the famous Elder Larson from Idaho! It was pretty gorgeous, but it was also quite an interesting day because I was with missionaries that were assigned to work with less-active members to reactivate them and get references of family members that are not members and otherwise. Very interesting, and there is a ton of work ahead of them!

Also, we had our leadership council this week! The first one ever of the Honduras San Pedro Sula East Mission! It is really interesting, a part of church history is happening right in front of us. And wow, it is quite a big responsibility! I think it is very interesting, and there are many big changes happening in our mission and in the missionary work in general! It was great to see all the old friends, especially Elder Beaulieu from the MTC. He is going home on the 1st of August and getting married in October! Wow!

I also got a new temple recommend. I needed a new one, seeing as how my old one had expired. It was a great interview with my mission president!

But yes, this week was pretty darn interesting. We now have plans in motion for 2 stake activities! We have to wake up this stake. If they want to divide, they have to liven up! We need members reactivated, we need this whole stake to pick up. So, we got a new plan going to get all this happening!

But yes, it was a pretty cool week! I shall send pictures next week! I love you all! Don’t get baggy now!

Vaya Pues!

Heeelllloooooooo! How are you all doing? I am just fine and dandy! I hear it is hot in Utah. There is revenge for all the times you told me about snow! Now we can understand each other on a better level!

But yes, Honduras is awesome.

Now, we did celebrate something else awesome this week that doesn’t have to do with Honduras, and that would be the 4th of July! Now, we went all out on this thing. We all spent more money than we probably should have...but oh well! We bought hamburger meat, American buns, American cheese, barbeque sauce, mustard, baked/roasted potatoes, hot dogs, all cooked over a charcoal grill and grilled by gringos. And, lots and lots of root beer. All of our Latin companions thought that we were crazy...but it was an experience to be enjoyed. A day for celebrating, a day for spending lots of money, and a day for independence.

I also thought a lot about the independence from sin that Hno P. received on Saturday through baptism. He truly is a great guy with many desires to help his family and go to the temple. He just barely moved in to live with an awesome family. They are some of the strongest people of the ward, seeing as the Hno R. was just called as the Ward Mission Leader (and baptized Hno P., his brother-in-law)! It was a sweet experience, and was a better show of independence than any other. The only problem was the font in our chapel was SUPER dirty from backed up rain water that we had to go and borrow the font from another chapel. But, they were all ready for the sacrifice.

Thus, it truly was a week for independence. And Christ has given each and every person in this world freedom and independence from sin. Freedom isn’t free (as I believe a bumper sticker I saw once said), and as such we must be obedient to the commandments to stay free forever.

Vaya Pues!

East side, representing!

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 Sorry, just a little excited that I have now received my assignment, and that I am left on the East side of the mission! a.k.a. the side with Roatan, the beaches, the coconuts...etc. The touristy part.

I feel right at home!

And...HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEGAN! Wow...I can’t believe you are already 16...I remember when I pulled you around the house in that little Lego wagon we had...and now look at you...with a driver’s license! Yikes!

Well, all that pleasant banter aside, needless to say, I am very content with this change. Sad, because President Veirs is now home. Happy, because President Klein is an amazing man! (and I will get to know that amazingness on Wednesday when he comes through Progreso to meet all us missionaries!). And very happy because my new companion, Elder Zepeda, is awesome! He is from Nicaragua, and has 18 months in his mission. But he became a Zone Leader at 11 months, and is super smart and super experienced as a leader! We are already bringing about super awesome stuff, and I am very excited and very honored to be working with him.

This week was a very interesting week. We were distracted with many different things. But in all, we ended the week strong. We have unfortunately had to drop many investigators and are in the process of looking for many new people to teach. It was full of crazy and different experiences, going to the airport to pick up parents (not a good idea, elders shouldn’t go to the airport!), seeing hilarious but well-done skits as a farewell, climbing mountains, and taking charge of an area/zone at the same time.

Needless to say, there is work to be done. We have high goals, and high expectations for us from our new President, and we have got to step up to those! And we can do it, our new zone isn’t very new...there were only 4 changes, but it is full of powerful people. We have lots of new ideas and lots of new things going on, and I have to say I am learning so much.

I love being here, I love being a missionary, and I love my family. Change is sad, but it brings improvement, and excitement. Here we are, the tools in the hands of the Lord. How great a cause is the one that we have embarked upon.

Losing oneself is the greatest joy ever-

Well now, isn’t this just a delightful change in weather! Instead of just being exaggeratingly hot, it is nice and rainy and cool!

Hello to one and all, I hope that you have had an amazing week and that you enjoyed Father’s Day, especially my dad: The best father in this world!

I also hear that my country is coming to your country (and to Utah, specifically!) for a rival soccer game tomorrow! It will be very interesting to see who wins, and what the results will mean for a little gringo from Utah living in Honduras! I am sure that the place will just be on fire with excitement!

So this week was pretty...normal. In the sense that we worked a lot like normal. The not-so-normal was that on Wednesday we had a meeting as Zone Leaders in San Pedro. This was the last meeting of all the zone leaders for the mission Honduras, San Pedro Sula, seeing as how in July there will now be 2 missions. So, it was a bitter-sweet moment as I saw all my friends on the "west side" and thinking that this may very well be the last time that I see them as missionaries. (including Elder Skousen :[ ) but it was a great meeting and I learned a lot. We have had to come up with a vision for our zone since, and we have learned and felt a lot of inspiration.

Apart from that, I went on divisions with Elder Thompson from California to his area. While we were there, I ran into an old friend from Copan! He had headed out there to work, and had returned home. But due to economic trouble and a few recent earthquakes, decided to leave his home village and come to Progreso! Thus, we found each other and had a very sweet reunion! The world is so small...especially in Honduras!

We have been working hard with a few new families, and we even had Ward Conference this Sunday! Sadly, it did not turn out how we had planned. Just, lots of people that said they would go didn’t go. And as such, we didn’t have as good a number of people in church that we had planned. BUT, that just means we have to work hard and try more this week. Seeing as it is the last week of the mission of my companion, I am positive crazy antics are to be had as he does everything he has always wanted to do on his mission. We have lots of investigators that are new to be working with in parts of the area where I have never been. Thanks to that, we have been awful busy, and it has been amazing!

Sorry, no pictures this week.

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

Hello and OYYYY! To all my friends and family! How are you all? Well, I hope. And I hope that you are ready for a whopper of an e-mail!

...well...I can’t promise that...but I can promise pictures! We had our first big planned P-day as a zone because we finally all have money! Yaaay! We went to a botanical garden called Lancetilla. It was this really cool place with a huuuuuuuge variety of plants and trees and whatnot. We had a blast as a zone, and we kept cramming ourselves (13 of us) into 2 taxis. I rode in the trunk twice!

So this week was pretty awesome. I was on divisions with a new elder in my area, his name is Elder Rojche. He is from Guatemala. In short, he is hilarious. He ripped his pants 2 minutes into divisions and another elder, Elder Thompson just shouts out "Looks like they are going to be awesome divisions!" And they were!

It was also ridiculously hot this week...well, up until Thursday when it starting raining EVERY day! Especially last night when one of the worst storms I have ever seen hit. Took out the power super fast and lightning bolts were literally crashing around us every 30 seconds. It was a pretty freaky, but really cool experience. We went home and had to just enjoy the storm watching from the balcony. It was really pretty, but the streets turned into rivers really fast.

So there was a miracle that happened this week. On Thursday, we just happened to tell an Elder, Elder Dever, to come work with us that day. Well, nothing super special had happened until by chance (we had an activity at the church that day) we were walking towards the chapel, and a bus pulls up and dumps off people. They all the sudden shouted out mine and Elder Dever’s names, and it turns out...they were the members from ROATAN! No way! We literally dropped everything and took off running to talk to/hug/stand in awe that they were there! In Progreso! On a Thursday! They were on their way to the temple, and had stopped there to eat dinner. And WOW! What a night. It was such a blast from the past, and I just still can’t get over that little Tender Mercy from the Lord.

Other than that, we had some pretty huge stresses with the zone, but now those are resolved and we can have peace. I hope. And achieve our goals.

I love you all!

Vaya Pues!
Elder Tinkham

P.S. The hipster glasses I am wearing are from another elder in my zone. They are not mine.

P.P.S. Yes, I was riding in the trunk of a taxi when the picture was taken

Hello to one and all once again! Honestly, I don’t know how I can be sitting here again writing to you all. It feels like the time flies by illegally fast to be true! But, it is the sad truth, and I have come to know it oh so well.

It is raining...so luckily it isn’t as hot. But it is more humid than the ocean here! Sheesh!

So this week was...interesting. We didn’t do anything outstanding, and it was a bit of a tough week. In the end we were pretty happy, but it was a bit of a battle to get there.

I was on divisions with one of our DLs. He has been having a few problems having people for baptism. But, while we were there we placed 3 baptismal dates and I met tons of awesome people that are willing to get baptized and join the kingdom of God. He is a great guy and just needs a little bit of help to get to know how to do the things the way that the Lord wants us to do them. I know I definitely needed it when I became a Zone Leader, and that is why President and the Lord graced me with Elder Roper to help me out! It is a huuuuuuge area and we walked quite a bit, so I suppose it was a good thing I got some new shoes!

An ooooold member came back from Mexico this week. He brought his entire family that lives here in Progreso to church with him when they came back. Thanks to that, we had tons of people at church and lots of sweet references. And after, we went to his house and he just told us, "Hey, the members need to help out more. We are going to go and visit less actives with you 2 on Saturday and on Thursday to the activity we are going to give you lots of references of our friends."......after a moment with our jaws on the ground we got ourselves together and happily agreed! I love it when we get so much support from the people that really want to help us out.

This month was pretty dang low in baptisms, but this next month we are looking at lots of baptisms here in the zone. We are really happy and really hopeful for our elders now. President has high hopes for our mission to get 400 baptisms this month, so that the new mission presidents can come in and see that we can obtain 200 in each mission! It will be done! The work of the Lord is definitely progressing, and it will fill the earth.

Vaya Pues!

But in a short recap, this week was crazy. We had to conduct/preside 2 Zone Meetings in which we had to animate/inspire/inform/set goals for our missionaries. We tried new stuff, because we are done with boring meetings. We play games with a teaching purpose, we have spiritual experiences getting out of our seats, we do cheers, and we try breaking out of the normal in other terms. It was a great experience, but just ridiculous. Also ridiculous, because we had the usual change meeting.

Of course, seeing as how I am brand new in this area, they didn’t take my companion away! Looks like I will be killing Elder Roper! Yeah!

However, our whole zone had changes. And they even took both elders out of one area to put new ones in. And, they opened up a new area with elders who are only in charge of working through less active members. They cannot contact or just work out in the street. They have to work with inactive members, get them active, and get references from them (husband/wife, children, brothers, friends, etc.). They are already having tons of success.

So we kept working really hard this week, and we didn’t have as many results as we would have liked. But on Friday I was on divisions in my area with our new DL Elder Tatupu from Hawaii. We got lost twice, but he is a HILARIOUS guy. I honestly loved working with him and I am so happy that he is in our zone to take care of business. Everyone else I am really happy with. And we even have one of my old companions here now who is a senior companion.

But yes, until next week! I love you all and I promise pictures/more info next week!

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

But yes! This week was kinda a butt kicker...but when that happens we just gotta keep on trucking! We were really trying to get a reactivation effort going, but it just kinda didn’t work out as well as we would have liked. Also we got roped into helping out with the mother’s day activity and ended up grilling a ton of delicious meat for us to eat. Pretty cool.

I went on divisions to an area called Mezapa on Tuesday. My old companion Elder DeGriselles is there, but I was with his companion, Elder Passey...who just so happens was in my last district in La Lima. Kinda a funny situation. But it was a blast, and I learned a lot out there with my new friend Elder Passey. But it is just pretty much gorgeous out there in Mezapa. A true gem in Honduras.

Other than that...well...nothing really exciting happened. The Saturday activity was really funny with a pretty corny drama put on by the primary kids. Corny, but well done. I give them 3 of 5 stars, and 4 of 5 for effort. Good kids, and you could tell that they learned something about appreciating their mother through what they did. Pretty great, I was really happy for them and really enjoyed eating all the delicious grilled meat with tortillas. A strange, but very delicious combination.

However, today technically isn’t P-day, because Elder Martino says we waste too much time with the change meeting. So, in order to keep it we move P-day to Wednesday and President Veirs authorizes us to write for like 50 minutes on Monday. So, just know that I love you all, and that this week is going to be freaking amazing! Dang dang dang!

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

However, this has truly been an incredible week. I am amazed at how much I learned and changed in a week. It is a very great change in lifestyle being changed in such a dramastic way. To be honest...I can’t explain a lot of it.

On Tuesday we went to the first District Meeting where I had to give a training segment to everyone, and get to know all the elders in my zone. Sooooo crazy. I am just in over my head like I said.

We have had to work like crazy in our area to get stuff done, so every day we have gone on divisions to teach as many people as possible and try and place as many baptismal fechas as possible. We have been a little low in our area/zone, and so we have to pick things up.

On Thursday we had leadership meeting, and we were thrown a curve ball. Because of the great influx of sisters coming into the mission field, they have placed many sisters in leadership positions in missions all over the world. They are something like assistants to the president, but only over the hermanas. It was just super interesting to see sisters there and to get chewed out by them for some things that we aren’t doing. Sad day. But! We heard a ton of amazing points and even got to hear from the local Area Seventy, Elder Ocampo. Soooo cool.

On Friday, our Zone had interviews. Again. Well...last time in April I was still in La Lima...but yeah. Pretty funny. So we had to go back to San Pedro Sula for that, but this time my interview was waaaaay different. And turns out we were the last zone to have interviews with Pres. Veirs ever. That is really sad. I will miss him a lot. And after the interviews, I brought a change of clothes and headed to Tela, a super cool touristic area on the beach to do divisions with one of the DLs, Elder Ward. I couldn’t take any pictures, because we got there late and had to get out to work...but it was really cool. Guess I shall just have to go another day!

So yes, that was just an overview of the week, and I apologize for not having more time. Love you all! Keep praying for me, I need it!

Vaya Pues!

Elder Tinkham

Hello one and all, I hope that you are all doing just amazing! Honestly...well...this week has been the most dramatic week of my life. It has made such a drastic, extreme change from one side to the next...and I think I have grown a lot thanks to the experience. I don’t NEARLY have all the answers, and I feel quite nervous...but I am excited at the same time. I have hope and am trying to stay very optimistic about everything.

I shall start with the more boring part and get to the more dramatic stuff at the end.

I tried to get some service done this week, chopping at the weeds like crazy. It was hot, tiring, and you end up just exhausted and sore after, but the people are sincerely grateful when you help them with it. Whether they tell you or not, they always want you to help, and we have to be willing to do it.

Well, alright, I shall get to the craziness. This week was boring until Friday. Thursday night I received a mysterious phone call telling me I had to be in immigration the next day at 1:30. And, considering the fact that we had baptismal interviews, I had to go with a member from my ward. So, I called up a convert, but he cancelled on me Friday around 11:30. So, I go and ask a guy named Pastor. He looks at me like I’m stupid, and agrees! WHAT! So, I trek over to San Pedro, going places I don’t know with a guy who isn’t my companion to do a dumb routine job in immigration. Lame. But we had a complete and total blast getting there and back in one piece. Honestly, he is one of my best friends now!

Saturday, I get another mysterious call, but this one from President Veirs. He asks me to come to his house to talk to him. So, after getting lost and charged way too much in a taxi, we made it and he unfortunately informed me that my grandmother had passed away the night before. The news came as a big shock to me. I honestly wasn’t expecting that at all...and he allowed me to call home to check up and asked what happened. Thankfully, I spoke to my father and brother and they informed me that all is well, and an overwhelming calm came over me. But then, President Veirs (being very tactful) decided to drop yet ANOTHER bomb on my life. He tells me, “Well, on Monday you will be called as a Zone Leader to work with Elder Roper in Progreso Norte.” WHAT!? ME?!? I was just fine and comfortable being a tiny little trainer and enjoying my time with my son. But looks like the Lord has VERY big changes in store for me! Yikes!

However, that night we had 4 baptisms - a complete family and another man who just loves the church. I felt the Spirit pour out in the room of the baptismal font as the newly baptized converts bore their testimonies on how they had repented of their sins and that they were incredibly happy and that they wanted to keep going forever. Especially when Guadelupe started to cry and say that she knew temptations would come, but that they would only be to make us stronger. I love these people, and I love that the Lord let me be the one to help them know the gospel.

So, yesterday I sang “I’ll go where you want me to go” in church to give a small farewell. I spent the whole day saying goodbye to people after...and it surprises me in how little time someone can grow to love people so much. And it just becomes that much harder to say goodbye sometimes.

But we must...but it mustn’t be forever.

That is what I’ve learned. The death of my grandma has been something very sacred to me as all of the sudden I must live what I teach a lot more. The Plan of Salvation is very real. I know without a doubt, that my grandma is in Spirit Paradise. Why? Because she was faithful. She did everything she needed to. She was not ashamed of the gospel and lived the commandments as well as she could. Honestly, she has been one of the biggest examples in MY life, and I know that if I do my part like she did hers, I will see her again. Sure, I can feel the gap she leaves behind...but it has no sting. That is the joy of the gospel. That is the hope that Jesus Christ gave to us by atoning for our sins. That is what was meant by "Why search ye for the living among the dead? He is not here, for He is risen!"

He is risen, and we all can be too, if we stay faithful to the one and only true gospel on this Earth. If there are problems, we have got to fix them. That is the only way.

I love you grandma, and I love all of you! With all my heart-

Vaya Pues

Elder Tinkham