Pretty Awesome Sabbath

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August 22, 2009

Today was a very fun Sabbath. I was asked a few days ago to sing for Sabbath school at the church so I asked Paul if he could accompany me with his guitar. He agreed, but we did not get around to practicing until Friday evening after Bible study. Ya know, typical Honduran style of getting things done. Bible study was in some person’s yard a block or so from the church. Since it was already night fall (The sun sets here at like 6:30 p.m. every day), there was no light except for a work light hung from the laundry line. People showed up in groups of two or three and somehow more chairs appeared out of no where. I mean really. Some guy would pop around the corner of a house with a stack of plastic lawn chairs, which they use in the church, plop them down, then disappear and suddenly do it again. Anyways, it was very long. They asked me to pray so I prayed for about 15-30 seconds thinking that was sufficient because it was a group thing not an individual prayer. I was wrong. They had also asked a few others to pray after me and they prayed for about five minutes each. People pray here very often and for very long. After the prayer, they asked each other what their joys and sorrows had been that week. When they got to me, I said my joy was being accepted into a new church family so readily. Instead of leaving the missionaries at home to fend for ourselves, they have invited us many places with them and have made us get involved in their church and lives. I appreciate that. I did not share any sorrows because I am not one for airing my dirty laundry. We also played a fun Bible game. A person has to choose a Bible character then gives clues as to who they are then whoever guesses gets a turn to choose. I chose Esther and everyone guessed right away. I had trouble guessing many of the other characters. I remember the story, but not the names. I need to read my Bible more often. After Bible study, I brought down some music and guitar chords I packed with me in case I could get my hands on a guitar. I chose “Grace Flows Down” to sing for Sabbath and ran through it a few times.

This morning, I was so nervous that I was breathing heavy while walking to the church. Since there is a wedding this evening, we had to have church in a different building because the regular church building is all decorated. I sang during Sabbath school right before they broke off into small groups. Everyone enjoyed it. I am happy I was able to share my passion with them. It is sad to say, but no one has a good voice at that church so I am hoping it was a blessing for them to hear someone with a half way decent voice for a change.

Since Paul was preaching at a different church, he wanted us missionaries to go hear him so we all piled in a car and went down some dirt road to the Iglesia Tres Camino. Paul enjoyed our duet so much, that he asked me to sing again at this church right before he preached. It was fun and the people really seemed to enjoy it. One thing that is very weird is the lack of musical talent here. In the churches, there are no instruments at all. They play recordings from iTunes for the hymns and so forth. If there is no music for a song they want to sing, they sing it A cappella and poorly at that. I guess the schools do not have enough money to have professional music teachers come in and start bands or music programs. The locals probably do not have enough money to pay for lessons or even an instrument itself. Paul is not from Comayagua, but from the islands so he must have a different story behind his talent and money.

After church, we were invited to Yavonnia’s home for lunch. She made pizza, salad, plantain chips, beets, and beans. Since I am vegan, I just kind of loaded my plate with all the yummy vegetables and beans and avoided the pizza with out the lady of the house noticing. The others ate plenty of the pizza, however, so she probably never knew. The rest of the day was spent on her back porch vegging out on her hammock or trying to calm down her crazy daughter Naomi. This child is insane. She changed out of her church dress into a lime green swimsuit and they do not even have a pool. She brought down her stuffed giraffe and made it attack you. It was fun, but strange. Naomi also loves bubbles. She is not very good at blowing them so she just got the floor all wet with soapy water. Yavonnia had to leave so we were just left at her house with Paul and the kids. We cleaned up the kitchen for her then left with Paul because it was already dark and we did not know our way home. It is very late now and I am tired, but it was a pleasant Sabbath. I have to get up early tomorrow because the people from Iglesia Tres Camino have invited us for a nice Honduran hike starting at 7:00 a.m. and I am very excited.