04 Oct
04Oct

It’s almost time to go to the Finca; to finally start the mission, meet the kids, and get acclimated to life at the Farm. These two weeks spent at Tranquility Bay may have dragged on a bit, with a low point being me really wanting to pick weeds at the beach to fill some time and be helpful, but they have also been filled with blessings. My days have been spent saying morning prayer, taking in the view of the ocean, swimming, and playing endless hours of cards and board games to the late hours of 10pm. Along the way I made a Honduran friend, 9 year old, Matthew.* He helped switch up my mundane schedule by adding in afternoons passing the soccer ball back and forth, evenings playing the card game War with an unfortunate twist where he can look at his cards to ensure he wins, and helping me hold a monkey on my shoulders. There have been plenty of fun stories of adventure during my time here at T-Bay, but here are just a few:

One of the highlights of my time here was going paddle boarding on the ocean. Britney and I went out, staying close to the shore, but paddling towards the Finca where we could see many people playing in the water. As we were paddling we saw dozens of clear jellyfish bobbing up and down in the water. Never seeing jellyfish, except for one the day before while we were swimming, I was amazed at the sight. Our view got better and better as we got closer to the Finca, waved to the kids, and saw a sneak peak from afar of the Finca with our own eyes.

I took a second trip out to the Finca about an hour later with Georgi. The kids were back on land inside the Finca gates, but we wanted to see the buildings of our future home. The smile could not be wiped off my face as we looked at the buildings. I have no idea which buildings are what or which one is the Missionary House, but it was incredible to see the place that I will be living for the next year and a half. This is the place that I will call home and make countless memories. 

Our easy 20 minute paddle boarding ride quickly became much harder when we turned around and realized how strong the waves were. The wind had picked up and we had to paddle hard against it. We were so close to shore that it would have been easier to ride the waves to shore and just walk the paddle boards the short distance back to camp, but we would not give up so easily. Using all of my core and arm muscles we inched our way back to T-Bay stroke by stroke. By the time we finally returned we were paddling through white cap waves and I had gotten an unexpected workout in for the day. 

The Internet and power here is somewhat finicky. It's a part of Honduran life. The power frequently goes out in the evening and we hear the generator kick in. One night we got to use our headlamps to navigate around our cabana getting ready for bed because a whole region of Honduras was without power for the night. You have to go outside to connect to the wifi and making calls can be somewhat difficult. It wasn't too surprising when the wifi was down for most of the day and we missionaries found ourselves with some extra time on our hands. We were able to put this time to good use by taking a tortilla making class from two of the workers here. Greta and Veronica are incredible at making tortillas and it's mesmerizing to watch their hands work the dough so quickly. They modeled the process for us and guided us through making our first ever hand-made flour tortillas. In theory this is what you do:

1. Watch Greta mix two bags of wheat flour, a teaspoon of baking soda, half a teaspoon of salt, a hunk of butter, and water into a bowl and mix the batch by hand.

2.Roll a small ball of dough with the palms of your hands working out the imperfections and making it very smooth and round.

3. Pinch the outside of the dough ball with your thumb and forefinger beginning to make a small, circular tortilla.

4. Pass the tortilla back and forth between your hands quickly to create a perfectly round tortilla. 

5. Cook your tortilla in a pan for a few minutes, let it cool slightly, and then enjoy the deliciousness you have created. 

Optional: add refried beans, crumbly cheese, and spreadable cheese for extra deliciousness.

That's basically what happened leaving out the part where our tortillas were triangular and oval shape and riddled with holes. We handed them over to our hysterically laughing Honduran experts to repair our mess. No matter the size, shape, or number of holes, these tortillas turned out delicious and we enjoyed a nice traditional Honduran meal of baleadas for supper that evening. 

Two days before leaving T-Bay we entered into a desert day. This was a day set aside in intentional silence in order to listen to the Lord more closely, reflecting on our time so far in Honduras and preparing to enter into our Finca life. 10 hours of silence was a lot, but it was filled with beautiful graces. I got to spend the day by the ocean watching the waves roll in, begin reading an incredible spiritual book by Fr. Dave Pivonka called Breath of God and filled multiple pages of my journal. I took some time mid morning to pray my rosary on top of the outdoor gathering space near the ocean. It's been my rosary spot as I can walk around up there and meditate on the life of Jesus while looking out at the ocean and up at the mountains. I prayed through a few decades of the rosary up there before the sun began threatening me with burnt skin and I had to return to my seat in the shade. As I walked back to my seat downstairs, I was met by the cute grin of a 4-year-old staring at me from behind a pillar. Breaking my silence (because how could you not when you have a face grinning at you) I said "Hola" to Sarah in a whisper. This lead to a one-sided conversation where I only picked up bits and pieces of what she was saying. One of the few things I understood was that she had a rosary at home of her own, so I asked her if she wanted to finish praying my rosary with me. With wide eyes, she nodded her head and took her place in the seat next to me. 

Just a few Hail Mary's in, Matthew, my mischievous best friend here at T-Bay, spotted that I had broken my silence and was Johnny on the spot to remind me that I was suppose to be spending the day in silence like I had told him the night before. I explained that Sarah and I were praying the rosary and asked if he wanted to join in too. Soon we had the three of us gathered closely around quietly saying the rosary with Matthew helping Sarah keep track of the beads. The highlight of my desert day may have been the time that I broke the silence and was talking, but what a blessing from God it was to be able to pray with those to kiddos.

Here’s to many more Jesus moments as our 15 month commitment at the Finca officially starts! I can’t wait to see what He has in store.


*Honduran names changed for privacy.

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