June 18th, 2012

What’s up everyone? How is it going?

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!!! LOVE YOU DAD- YOU’RE THE BEST!!!!

Another week has come and gone, time really does fly - haha. It sounds like you are all just doing great and staying busy. Things have been super busy for us here and that just makes everything go that much faster.  This last week was a good one for us and we had a lot of fun.  On Tuesday we had a district meeting with Rio Lindo.  Elder Diego and I did it all for them just so then we could teach them how to do it.  Elder Sommer (my old comp in Utila) is the District leader there and is doing a good job.  We made the meeting fun and did a few things out of the ordinary just to switch it all up.  We practiced our training that we had to give the next day in the ZL council too.  The ZL council was good and I think Elder Diego and I did a good job on our speaking assignment.  We talked abut the importance of working with members.  It was mostly just a review of what we have learned as a mission in the last few months but it was fun and I enjoyed it.  In the ZL council we always think of new things we can do as a mission to get better.  One of the weaknesses that we came up with is our planning so two things that we are going to be doing in the month are:  we are going to do our weekly planning with each district to show them how it is done; and also at least once a week we’re going to go the houses of the missionaries in the morning to study and review their plans. So those will help us out so that our planning will be more effective.  Planning is just one of those little things that we do everyday but if you don't do it, it makes everything a lot harder.  This week we had 3 baptisms.  Maria and her son Jossuar and Mario.  Mario got baptized on Thursday because it was his birthday but he won’t be able to get confirmed until the 1^st of July because of his work.  He is a really cool guy and is really smart.  He just turned 20 so we’re going to work with him so he can go on a mission.  Then Maria and her son were on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. They’re great people too.  This week was a struggle for us to find knew investigators but on Saturday we found a great lady who needs this gospel.  We were walking down a dirt road going to one of our appointments and we contacted this lady that was walking to her house.  While we were talking she told us that her daughter died about 4 months ago from drowning.  So we found out where she lived and went back a little later.  We just got to know her a little more and we obviously talked about the plan of salvation and eternal families.  You could see the hope that our message gave her and the spirit was really strong during the appointment.  She wasn't able to come to church because her sister came from Tegus to see her but next week she'll go. We just played soccer at an artificial field.  We rented it for 2 hours for 600 limps so we played for about 40 Limps per every person.  It was fun.  I’m starting to like soccer a lot and I‘ve lost all of my basketball talent. Well – everyone, thanks for everything, especially dad and grandpas -  I hope you had a happy Fathers Day.

I Miss and Love you All!!!!!!!!

Elder Kapple

June 11th, 2012

Hello Family and friends how are you all?

Things are fine and dandy and really hot here in Hondo - haha. It was great to hear from all of you and it sounds like you are all keeping busy and doing just great. Things went alright this week. We’re pretty worried about the baptisms right now. As a zone we have only had 5 baptisms for the month. We do have some dates coming up but it is still a little scary that we only have 2 weeks left in the month and we only have 5.  We will have 2 baptisms this week, Maria and her son Josuar.  She has changed a lot. The first few times that we taught her, she had a lot of apostasy in her but has she has now read the Book of Mormon, prayed, gone to church, and listened to our message.  She has had a change of heart. We are also working with the Machado family.  The mom is a member and was baptized at the age of 14 but went inactive.  They are really positive and are always happy when we show up.  This week we found out that he smokes a lot; like a pack a day.  He said that he has been wanting to leave it but hasn't been able to.  We took his cigarettes from him on Saturday and then he told us Sunday that he hadn't smoked so he's doing great. Keep him and his family in your prayers. We have a date for the 23rd of this month.  We really need to focus on finding new investigators. We found some this week but they’re not too positive, and some of our investigators aren’t progressing very fast.  We had to drop a really possitive family this week. She really wants to get baptized but she is living in sin with her boyfriend and isn't willing to leave him because he doesn't want to get married. We also found out this week that he has killed 2 people.  It was mostly in self defense but he didn't even feel bad for it so he hasn’t really repented.  I remember in Utila when President Veirs was out there with us, I asked about how people can just kill like it is nothing.  He said it's because they have lost the light of Christ.  We all know that the Holy Ghost and the Light of Christ are different.  The Light of Christ is what people feel before they have recieved the Holy Ghost.  There are a lot of people here that have lost the Light of Christ.  We have another family too that is doing alright and in these last few weeks have started to progress more.  But a lot of things need to change before they get married.  Some more info about my companion.  He is 24 and I think that he has 4 sisters.  All of his family are members but his dad is inactive.  He was also inactive for a little while before his mission but then changed.  That's why he came late.  He goes home in November and that’s about it.  This week the 2 of us, Elder Diego and I have to talk in the ZL conference on Wednesday so that should be a blast - haha.  Keep me in your prayers for that.  Today we went to the alligator farm again.  It was fun.  I touched a lion, a baby alligator and a big one too.  Not everyone can say that- haha.  I have been going to the gym every morning, I feel bad sometimes because we sometimes overhear a little worldly music but man do I feel good working out.  We wake up at 5:30 am every morning.  It was hard at first but I’m used to it now.  Lately, I have focused a lot on health.  I try to avoid snacks and I try not to eat a lot.  Thanks for everything.  You guys are the best and I miss and love you all!!!!!!!!

Elder Kapple

June 4th, 2012

Well, how are you my good family?

Things have been good and we had some good changes here in Villanueva.  Elder Guzman got a change and was sent to Utila, pretty lucky!  We have a lot of great missionaries here in the zone.  We have 3 news, 2 sisters and 1 elder.  I was hopeing that Elder Hafen was going to be my new comp but he got send to La Ceiba.  My comp is Elder Diego from El Salvador.  He's a cool little guy and we get along.  We came together to Honduras but I have more time because I had 2 months in the MTC and he only had 3 weeks here in the MTC.  His famly are converts but he was baptized when he was 8 because that's when the missionaries found them.  We’re still getting to know each other but he's a cool guy and I really like him and he likes to work.  We did a lot of good work this week and found some good new investigators.  We were super sad this week because hermano Ponce didn't get baptized. All week he was saying that he was going to do it then the day before he told us no and he doesn't have any reasons at all, he made us pretty sad but he has his agency.  He said he'll do it in a month so we'll see what happens. But we were blessed on Sunday. We had 3 families come to church. The Pineda family, they weren't really progressing much but this Sunday they looked like they had had a change of heart and seemed a lot different; then a new, young family that we found and another one that we have been working with who seem really positive.  We have a baptism date with Maria and her son for the 16^th of this month. She finally understood that she needs a baptism with the proper authority and we should be able to have a few more this month if we keep working hard. This area has probably been one the hardest for me.  In my other areas the baptisms have always come and have been successful areas but this one has been a fight for me but I know that my comp and I just need to keep on working hard and Lord will bless us.  We are getting to know all the members and we’re going to work with them a lot more so that we can have more help in here. Yesterday all we did was visit members so that we can have the confidence of them all. Without them this work can't progress to its full potential.  Not much else happened this week with changes and sorry there are no recordings because I forgot the cable to connect the recorder so until next week.

Thanks for everything, I Miss and Love you All!!!!!!!!

Elder Kapple

PS (for the friends letter) – Wow, how the time sure does fly. It is crazy to think that all of us are on the downhill side of our missions. It was great getting the letter from you all last time, I always enjoy reading them and seeing how much everyone of us has changed and how the gospel blesses all the people around the world.  It's amazing to think about how this same gospel blesses all sorts of people and that it doesn't matter where they’re from, what beliefs they used to have, or what kind of customs they have; this gospel is always the answer.  Elders, enjoy your missions and give it all you’ve got.  Always remember what your purpose is and who you are serving. 

DO THE WORK!

Les quiero mucho

Cuidense

Elder Kapple

May 28th, 2012

What’s up family?

This week was a busy one for us and it just felt like we were running around doing errands and stuff all week but it was all worth it because we had some great success as a zone.  As a zone we  ended up bringing 37 souls unto Christ. We were really blessed this month- well, mostly this last weekend.  We had 33 baptisms this last weekend as a zone.  So during the week we were running all over the place picking things up and dropping things off so that all these people could be baptized.  We weren't able to work in our own area for 2 days so that didn't help us out too much.  On Friday I was with the missionaries in Paraiso to do all their baptismal interviews and we had a few weddings too.  We first had the wedding for our area for the Ponce family.  The wedding went good.  We had a scary experience on the way there in the bus.  There was a drunk guy and he started arguing with the bus driver over something stupid and the guy pulled out a gun, but then he ended up getting off the bus and everything was good. (Mom, don’t worry - nothing bad happened to us).  Then I went to 2 more weddings in Paraiso and that night I had to do all of their interviews.  They baptized 2 families that are really awesome.  I also did an interview with another older lady this week that had been sexually abused earlier in her life.  We talked a lot about the atonement of Christ and what Christ did for us.  It was cool; I could see how she started to feel better when she read the scriptures about the atonement and as we talked about it.  It was just a cool experience about how the gospel brings that change and joy in people lives.  This week in our area we had 2 baptisms.  The day of the baptism, hermano Ponce opted out.  We went to pick them up and he wasn't ready and just said that he wasn’t going to get baptized that day and wait until the next week and he wouldn't tell us why.  It was really weird because his wife had been the one that was more negative and he was always excited about getting baptized.  So this week were going to be working with him a lot.  Changes are this week.  My companion, Elder Guzman has a change so I’ll be here for a change more with a new comp.  Most of the areas in the zone have changes and they’re closing an area too so we'll see what happens.  Changes are always exciting - haha.

Thanks for everything.  You guys are the best.

I Miss and Love You All!!!!!!!!

Elder Kapple

May 21st, 2012

Hola,

How is everyone doing? Things have been just fine and dandy here in Villanueva but it has been pretty rainy too. The rainy days are kind of fun sometimes. Everyone thinks that we’re crazy because we’re out walking in the rain. This week was good though. We had the baptism of Elian.  He's an awesome little guy and he really loves going to church and understands what we have shared with him very well. The baptism was kind of crazy because we forgot clothes for him but we finally got some.  The water pressure was really bad so the font didn't fill up to quickly so there was only about 2 feet of water but we still managed to get him all the way under - haha. This week we did a lot of traveling.  On Tuesday I was in divisions in Rio Lindo and we had to get get a partida from San Antonio so we were traveling until about 4 and then we were able to work for a little bit. Then on Thursday we had to go to Concepcion de Sur in Santa Barbara and it was a long day.  We left at 6 in the morning and didn't get back to our area until about 4 in the afternoon.  We went all the way around the lake Lago de Yojoa but it has some beautiful sights to see and then the next day we had to go back to pick up the partida because the first day we only paid for it to be prepared.  But we mastered the route so it only took us like 4 hours the second day haha.  We also did the Baleadas activity this week to raise money for the Ponce Family. We sold about 75 Baleadas (tortillas) and we were able to make about 750 Lempira.  It's enough for a wedding and for a cake for after the wedding.  That’s what we need to focus on most this week; getting the fecha set with the Ponce family and helping them get their testimony stronger. The zone is doing great right now. We have 19 fechas for this week already set and we have great possibilities of baptizing about 32 people this next week. I know we can do it; everyone just needs to work hard this week and help these people feel the spirit.  The hard part about all of these baptisms is all the interviews that we are going to have to do - haha. So no one has responded about the reference challenge that I gave you in last week’s e-mail.  Has anyone done it?  If not, you have to do it this week.  Well I hope all is well back home.  I hope you’re not to sore from the half marathon Dad, and congrats on the new calling. You'll do a great job.  Mom you’re the best ever!!!!

I Love and Miss you All!!!!

Elder Kapple

Villanueva Zone Conference

May 2012

May 14th, 2012

Hello Everyone,

First off, Mom - happy Mother’s Day, you’re the best and I LOVE YOU and you’re THE BEST MOM EVER!!!!!!!!!! and grandma Georgia -  HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was great to talk to you all for Mother’s Day yesterday.  It was awesome to see you all on Skype too.  I think that it was the first time that I have seen Mom and Dad for a year and a half since I don’t get any pictures from them - haha. But you all looked great and happy.  This last week was a good one for us. We were finally able to get some fechas set for some baptisms.  This week we have one with a little kid that has come to church for 2 or 3 months.  We were trying to work with his parents but they live up in the mountian so the mom doesn't want to come to church because it's a little far and the dad just left a few weeks ago to the states so hopefully he'll find the gospel there.  The Ponce family also accepted a baptisiml date for the 26th of this month.  We had challenged them early but she wanted to wait until June but this last week we challenged them again and they accepted for this month.  The guy is awesome and has been really receptive through all of the lessons.  She was a little harder but as she went to church she began to change. Usually it's the opposite - haha. They are a really cool family.  This week I went on divisions with an Elder named Elder Polendo.  He's from Mexico and is the DL here.  He only has 6 or 7 months in the mission so is still learning a lot on how to be a leader and all that good stuff.  We had a lot of fun together and had some good appointments.  His district has been doing alright but he has had some problems with a few a little things and wasn't really doing anything about it because he didn't want to be hard on anyone.  What I really like about him is how he takes counsel. We read together in D&C 121:43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;  46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.  We focused on the reproving part but doing it with love.  He said he did it the next day and that the missionaries were going to change.  I'm glad he did it so then I didn't have to - haha.

Well this week should be a good one. We have a zone conference on Wednesday so I’m excited for that.

Thanks for all that you do. I Miss and Love you All!!!!!!!!

Elder Kapple