Elder Christian Joshua Roberts in Honduras: Week 16: Semana Santa

Roberts' Redneck Flamethrower! ...but seriously, the flying ants are all over and need to be exterminated

So this week was a slow one with it being the Semana Santa (Holy Week) and all. The Catholics and pastors come out in full force and I think it is pretty weird. First of all, they have a parade everyday for the last five days of the week. It´s interesting and weird to have a fake Jesus walking the streets.

Semana Santa (Holy Week)
The parade marched right in front of our house.
A Jesus, the grey are supposed to be apostles, and the red are seventy

My comp says that this is nothing compared to what the parades are where he's from in Colombia, the city shuts down.
There are parade marches the last five days of Holy Week.
One day is the crucifixion, three days in the tomb, and the last the resurrection.

Family Lozano is doing good they are now under the invitation to read the Book of Mormon, which is an important step. When we visit we ask them how it's going, and if they didn´t read we read with them. Marco loves it, which gives me a lot of hope, but Nijelly isn´t really into it so there is some worry there. Marco is constantly asking questions about the verses and what we believe at only 9 years old. I swear he´s older. So that´s the update on Familia Lozano.

We had some pretty interesting contacts this week. Two Pastors. Yes, we contacted Pastors. I was kind of timid at the start, but once they tried to argue the spirit gave me scriptures and words to say to defend our faith. We didn´t go to these pastors looking to "throw down", we went to contact. I honestly feel that on one of them it was the spirit telling us to make the contact and teach this man about the restored gospel.

I´ll start with Wilmer who was the weirder and maybe the one who will have a change of heart. He is a pastor and apparently constantly talks bad about our church, about Joseph Smith and all of it. He was asking questions, a lot of them, it was hard to keep up. He was interested. It wasn´t until Sunday that the ward members told us he was a pastor. We went back on Tuesday to visit him. He started talking about the church he "attends". (Funny that he used the word “attend”, not lead.) He wanted information about our church about how we started our rules and the format of our religion. (my companion and I both looked at each other... random questions, I don´t think anyone ever asks that.) In that moment I felt prompted to talk about prophets and their role in our lives. I bore testimony of Joseph Smith being a chosen prophet. Like all the prophets before, they didn´t choose to start the work on their own, God chose them. A pretty strong example we use for the people here in Honduras is, "you don´t just wake up one day, read the scriptures and decide to be a pastor, and the next an apostle, and the day after a prophet," the Lord decides who is ready and gives them the authority to direct His church and the ordinances of His church. This put our investigator (if he is investigating) on edge. We remained silent until his next question, the Spirit was definitely speaking to him in this time and to my companion and I. We got the impression to keep going, keep talking about God choosing his prophets and teachers through revelation. We did, we told him that if a man does contrary to being chosen, and tries to choose for God he condemns himself and all those who follow him. Yes, there might be a time after to hear the gospel and choose for themselves, but their hearts will be hardened to the truth if they hear it. This really shook him. I felt bad, but the spirit (and I will say it was the spirit) was directing us. On my own I would never try to hurt the faith of these people. If they believe the Catholic church is the Church of God so be it. But I want to share what I believe and KNOW to be the truth. It takes just 10 minutes. ;)

SO this was really weird... yesterday, the last day of the Holy Week another pastor called us aside and wanted to talk. He wanted to argue. He didn´t like that we believed Christ´s church was restored. He believes Christ had a church and wants us to follow the Sabbath but that He didn´t give us a way to follow His church. We shared a bit about the restoration and of the prophet Joseph Smith. We asked if Christ created and established His church for the betterment of mankind why would he give us no way to follow him and condemn us? Then he went on to say only the bible was the word of God. We then shared Ezekiel 37:15-19 about the prophesy of two forms of scripture. I would say the pastor was bewildered. He was astonished of our knowledge of the scriptures. He asked what institute we had attended and I said "the one I was born in."

I know the home is sanctified when we follow the principles of the gospel. I know we have a Father in Heaven who blesses us with His spirit when we study to help His children and ourselves. The spirit was so strong during these visits. I strongly believe the words we said are the ones they needed to hear. I know the words, scripture, and testimony I shared were the ones I learned by studying in my home with my parents. So my reply was correct when I said the institute that shaped me and taught me was "the one I was born in." I learned a lot about the gospel in Seminary, from my Sunday School and Primary teachers, and was taught in Spanish in the CCM (MTC), but overall they confirmed all that I was taught and learned in my home.

I know the Lord helps us in our times of need and truly gives us the words we need to say when we prepare ourselves with study and prayer. I love you guys and hope you can all have the courage to stand tall. I hope and pray that you will start preparing now for the moment the Lord needs YOUR testimony to touch the heart of another.

Stay strong and be prepared...

KEEP TRUCKING´

Service for a random lady that need help moving tree trunks. We got to share a message with her after.

We moved 30+ logs down this sketchy path (see 30 foot drop on the right)
Believe it or not, this path is a way for some of the people of Campamento to get to their homes.