18 months = 18 questions

1. How long did it take for you to feel proficient with the language? 

2. What advice would you give to Zackary or other Missionaries who are preparing to leave and learn a new language? 

3. Can you bring Lauren home a key chain? (Lauren’s question) 

4. Do people think it’s cool that your an American? 

5. What is the most embarrassing mistake you have made speaking Spanish? 

6. What is your favorite food in Honduras? 

7. What is the strangest animal or bug you have seen? 

8. Who are you teaching right now? What are their names? 

9. Have you been getting along well with your companion?

10. What is the popular music there? Popular song?

11. How much does it cost to eat out? Are there places nearby to eat? 

12. Is your church building close to where you live? 

13. What is the popular tv show there? 

14. What do the kids do for fun there? Do they have summer break too?

15. Are there any strange superstitions the people believe in?

16. What time do you get up in the morning? 

17. Aside from missionary work and the language what is something you have learned to do on your mission? 

18. What area in your mission has been your favorite and why?

It took a little while. I remember that I think I learned how to
speak and respond much before I could understand what people were
saying. I think by the end of my training around 4 months I was
feeling a lot more proficient. By the time I was with my 3rd
companion(around 7 month) I was feeling pretty confident.
2. My advice would be to read and write a lot. Reading and writing
helped me learn a lot faster than just talking. Looking at the words
and sentences on paper always made it easier to notice rules and
patterns. So during study time it is good to write a few paragraphs of
thoughts and read talks. That helped me a lot.
3. Yes lots of keychains.
4. Some people think it is really cool. Some people dont believe me
until they notice my last name. They always ask if my parents are
latinos. Lots of people ask me to take them with them in my suitcases.
5. Instead of saying tercero which means 3rd I often said trasero
which means butt.
6. My favorite foods are the pastelitos, which are basically
empanadas. Little fried pieces of dough with chicken or beef inside. I
love them. I also really like natural juices like tamarin
jamaica. In Ceiba they had these things called fritas. Which is a
fried flour tortilla with beans and cheese. But I haven't eaten one of
those in a long time. And i miss them.
7. I have seen lots of iguanas. Bats. Possums. Lots of giant ants,
beatles, and cool butterflies. There are a lot of butterflies here.
8. I am teaching quite a few families and couples. The couple that we
are working most with is Karla and Kevin. Then we have Isis
who also wants to get baptized but doesn't want to get
married until December so her mom can be there. We have an 11 year old
named Jafet that goes to church but doesn't have permission from his
mom to get baptized. The family Benitez, Who are Senaida, Johana, and
Bryan. There is also Francisco but everyone calls him Don Paco.
Those are the most significant investigators. We visit some other
people including recent converts and inactive members.
9. I get along well with all my companions for the most part. I just
enjoy talking to them while we walk in the street. I dont like it when
we just walk in the street silently so I usually look for a good story
to tell them from when I was home.
10. The popular music is reggaeton. It is like spanish hip hop. It
usually has the same beat and there are like 4 or 5 popular artists.
They also listen to a lot of bachata and banda(mariachi).
11. Here there aren't really any sit down and eat restaurants. Just
fast food and street baleadas and stuff like that. At a fast food
restaurant I usually spend like 100 to 200 lempiras. Which is like 5
to 10 dollars. Just about the same as the US. But I buy a baleada from
the street it usually costs like 10 lempiras. 50 cents. Here in my
zone there is the only Mcdonalds in the mission. There is Burger King,
Pizza Hut, Wendy´s, KFC, and other restaurants that are only here in
Honduras like Baleadas Express.
12. The church is one block away from my house. Which is the closest I
have ever been to the church. In other areas I had to walk up
mountains to get to the church or walk for 20 minutes.
13. The popular tv shows are novelas or soap operas. They are super
weird and over dramatic. They also watch a lot of comedy shows called
La Familia P´luche and El Chavo del Ocho. Those are Mexican tv shows
and they are also strange but kind of funny. They also watch a lot of
news and a game show called Calle 7.
14. They have like a week for summer break. The long break is in
winter. From November to February. They play lots of soccer. Sometimes
they play marbles. Honestly they play a lot on their parents cell
phones. Because everyone has a smartphone for some reason. And the
kids always are playing on the smartphone.
15. People believe that if you get wet when you are hot or sweating
then you will get sick. Like if it rains while we play soccer we are
gonna get sick. I have never understood that. Some people believe in
goblins. Everyone one believes in witches. I got turned into a newt. I
got better. They believe in lots of weird healing and medical stuff.
They believe in this thing called sobar which is kneading. Which means
that if you have a stomach ache or a head ache some one can come and
rub your head and stomach with oil or lard and they will push the pain
out.
16. I set the alarm for 6:25 so I can get up at 6:30. Sometimes I get
up around 6:35 or 6:40 on Pdays to treat myself a little.
17. Cut with a machete. Make baleadas. Mix cement. Shine shoes. Sew.
Kill chickens. Play soccer. And lots of other little things like wash
clothes and house chores that you dont do in the US.
18. I think my favorite area has been Lempira. Just because I had some
great companions and because the ward was working well with us. We had
a lot success I got to see a bunch of the investigators get baptized.
I got along really well with the members and I felt like they cared
about the missionaries a lot.

I hope I answered them good. If you want you can send this as the big
email because I don't have time left to write it any more. But thanks
for all the questions. I love you!

Elder Gessell