The Lord Will Fulfill Your Every Desire

Long time no writing. I'm currently typing this on a plane headed back to Honduras after being home for a month. It was great to be home, relax, see friends and family, and eat really good food like tator tot hotdish and lasagna. Before leaving the Finca a month ago I began writing this blog post, but didn't finish it. So this blog span a few months, but still very relevant to my life and will hopefully give you an insight into life in Honduras.

It was during a nightly holy hour that I came across a piece of scratch paper that I had tucked in the back of my journal after making the decision to stay at the Finca a second year. On it was a list of goals that I had for myself for year 2 of mission. It was beautiful to read my list and see how so many of my goals/dreams had come to fruition- even some that I had forgotten about. Here are some of the things I had on my list:

Ride a motorcycle

As the main form of transportation i didn't want to leave Honduras without experience riding a motorcycle on the dusty dirt roads. But don't worry I've had many opportunities specifically when going to visit a friend in a nearby mountain village that I can't walk to by myself. She understands our security policies and generously sends either her husband or eldest son down to pick me up in order for me to visit her.

Visit Roatan

The tourist spot of Honduras was a place that I wanted to go and visit just to see. The first part of my vacation was spent in the part of the island that has a small town feel with a collide of American and Honduran cultures.

Visit Missioners of Christ

I wanted to see another Catholic mission in Honduras that has missionaries from the United States. I thoroughly enjoyed my time of retreat with them getting to see a bit of what their mission is like, seeing town central and it's grand cathedral, and getting to talk to the missionaries and hear about their mission experiences.

Teach Kindergarten full time in person.

What a joy it has been to be able to teach 13 kiddos. I absolutely love seeing their progress as they learn their letters and number and practice counting and writing their names. The job comes along with so many glory stories like getting a struggling student to finally count to 10 correctly by herself, and having other kids showing me the letters they know on the chip bag or juice box. After a month of being away I'm excited to see their smiling faces as the come running through the gate on Monday morning.

Go to Communion Service in Mojaguay

The neighboring village of Mojaguay used to celebrate their Sunday Communion Service at 8, the same time that I was in Trujillo for mass. This meant that I was never able to go and worship with women that are in women's group and families that I've gotten to know. But they changed the time to 2pm which has been a blessing for me to be able to go occasionally and spend time with neighbors that I love and care about.I also was able to take two kids to Communion Service occasionally. Their parents don't always go, but they are always willing for me to take the kids. And their three kids, ages 10, 4, and 1 just got baptized a few week ago.

See a mountain village

I live in a pretty rural part of Honduras and essentially live next to a "beach village" with the mountain villages being very nearby. But I knew that there are parts of Honduras that are poorer and more remote and wanted to experience what their reality is like. Back in March a spring break mission group from Franciscan University of Steubenville came through. They go to the same remote villages every year and I had the opportunity to go along with them. I spent a week sleeping in a hammock, playing with kids, doing catechesis classes, and just talking and praying with people. Towards the end of the week a few kids invited me to their home to eat coconuts. The next day I went to visit the family again and some of the kids were going down to the river to wash clothes and as it was secretly on my bucket list to wash clothes in the river I went along with them. We scrubbed jeans against a large flat rock and rinsed the clothes off in the river. It was a fun experience and insightful to see how much joy that family of 7 had even when they were drastically lacking materially from my American perspective.

Have family come and visit

In March my parents came down for a 10 day stay and just recently my brother was here for a week. It's been awesome getting to show them this place I love and them being able to see it with their own eyes and understand it so much more. Their vacations were comprised of helping in Kindergarten and giving the kids lots of pushes on the swings during recess, swimming in the ocean, hiking to a waterfall with some kids, cooking a meal over a fire, and making cookies in the outdoor oven. 

Learning how to wash clothes

Learning to make tortillas

I'm not sure what's in store for my future yet. I may just be at the Finca for another 4 months or another year and 4 months. Either way, I know that God is going to keep working at checking off my dreams/goals. He will fulfill my every desire. What goals or dreams do you have on your heart to share with God?