News from Honduras

Family Outreach Newsletter

October 2003

Note: This letter was written in August

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

The work has been going fairly well here. We are averaging about five baptisms every three or four months and retaining about 80 to 90% of those baptized. Here in Siguatepeque the church is slowly growing, mainly among the youth and children. Last Saturday night for example, we had only three adults at church, but we had seventeen children! Church attendance for the last few Sundays has been down because the students and the directors of the Internado (church boarding house) went to their homes in other towns for a school break.

Our family lives between Siguatepeque and a small town called Los Chaguites. We bring about eight children and youth with us each time we go to church other than our own six. We have about 13 -20 children, 14 -15 youth, and 5 -8 adults who attend church regularly. Families here always have to leave someone at home so that thieves don’t break in and steal everything while they are at church. As a result, even though there might be six people in a family, usually only four or five of them attend at any one time.

Every week we visit a town called Agua Azul Sierra. We have an adult baptismal class and a children’s church school class. Our two oldest children go with me to help out. Elizabeth teaches approximately twelve children. She just turned thirteen years old and has been teaching Sunday school classes by herself since she was nine. I teach the adult class with Charles´ help. Right now we have only one family in the adult class, but we hope that soon there will be others attending. The family who is attending is very interested in knowing everything they can about the restoration of the Gospel. Please pray for them.

I just returned from a mission trip to Meambar. It is a municipality about 1 ½ hours to the northeast of Siguatepeque. We have never had any members or contacts there before. Shortly after we moved to Los Chaguites, I began to feel that someday the Lord would send me to Meambar to do missionary work.

About six months ago, I began to feel the leadings of the Spirit that I should begin planning a visit. I talked with the priesthood in our last monthly national priesthood meeting about visiting there over the first weekend in August. One of the other priesthood men said that he would go with me since he had lived there many years ago before he had even heard about the church. A couple of days before we were to leave, he received a phone call that his sister would be arriving that Sunday at the San Pedro Sula airport. He did not go because he had to pick her up at the airport.

There are no buses to Meambar, so the only way to get there is by pick-up. I caught a ride at about noon after a wait of an hour or so. While traveling, I was able to share a little with one of the other passengers. He was not too interested though. When we arrived in Meambar, the driver of the vehicle told me where I could get a room for the night and also where there was a cheap, clean comedor (diner).

While I was eating lunch, I struck up a conversation with a man who was there. He is a professor in one of the schools and invited me to visit him after I finished eating. When I arrived at his house after lunch, he and another teacher were constructing a homemade microscope. I helped them work on it and after we finished I began sharing with them about Jesus Christ and His gospel. Neither one of them was Christian, but as I shared they became more and more interested; especially when I explained about the Book of Mormon and that it was not a Mormon book. (I have found that one of the easiest ways to prove to people that the Mormon church is a different church than ours is to just to show them a Mormon Book of Mormon and our Book of Mormon at the same time and have them read excerpts from both of them. Of course I explained that basically they are the same book, but that the Mormon Church just changed the chapters and versification in 1876. It still proves to most people though, that the two churches are different.)

We talked for almost 3 hours. When we finished, they both wanted Book of Mormons and any pamphlets that I could leave with them. They also invited me to return in two weeks to talk with them some more. I told them that I couldn’t return until the second week in September because I was visiting other places also.

After visiting with them, I walked around town a little bit, getting to know the streets and places. Suddenly, I realized that I was at the house of the man I had talked with on the trip to Meambar. I knocked at the gate and he invited me to come in. His wife is also a professor.

We visited for a while about the gospel and he became more interested. He shared with me that he had been a pastor of the Sala Evangelica church for almost seven years, but that he had to move and that now he was attending the Cristo Misionera church. I then shared with him about the Book of Mormon. Immediately he became quite reserved. I got out the Mormon Book of Mormon and then he was convinced that we were Mormons! …until I showed him our Book of Mormon, at which time he began to ask questions again. The visit went excellently and he invited me to come back and share more with them when I return in September.

As I was returning to my room that night, I passed by a group of about ten young men on a street corner. One of them said something as I went by and it sounded to me like he was trying to talk to me in English. I walked back to them and asked him if he had tried to say something to me in English. We began talking about various subjects. I shared with them about Jesus Christ. None of them were Christian. I asked them what I could do to help them accept Christ as their Savior.

Almost every single one of them asked me to come back and have church services with them. I told them that I would be back at that street corner the second Saturday in September and we would have a church service there. All in all, it was an excellent trip.

I will be going to Santiago de la Paz the first weekend in September with Juan Argueta. He grew up there and his parents and family still live there. He has been sharing with them occasionally. Last time, they asked him if he and I could go there for church services and have classes with them. Please pray for them.

We would like to invite you to attend a Latin American Family Camp here in Los Chaguites the 19 -21 of December 2003. Please pray and ask the Lord if you should attend. The cost will be minimal. The only charge will be for food and will probably be voluntary. We, as a church, are collecting money in special offerings during the next few months to pay for most of the food costs.

Please pray for those who are having their first chance to hear about the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and support as we share with others. Que Dios les bendiga.

In Christ’s love,

Carlos Sperry

(and family)

Prayer Requests

Hondurans in Meambar, to accept the gospel

Raul Argueta, and daughters Brenda and Ingris

Announcements

Another Family Camp will be held in Honduras this year, December 19-21, 2003. All who can attend are invited to come and fellowship with the Honduran saints, or if you can’t come but would like to sponsor someone who can - please contact Family Outreach.

LAMB is sponsoring a family dinner on November 7, 2003, 6:00 PM at South Crysler Restoration Branch, for an opportunity for those interested in Latin American ministries to fellowship together. Families are requested to bring a dish to share. Table service will be supplied. Live entertainment will be provided, along with reports on the activities of missions in Latin America.

Family Outreach

P.O. Box 22

Independence, MO 64051

If you are currently receiving this newsletter by mail and would like to receive it by e-mail instead, please write or e-mail us to let us know. This will help us keep our postage costs to a minimum. E-mail: familyoutreach@earthlink.net