Hello everybody, Jarrett here!

What a week! I just got back last night from a week long stay in Plan Grande, a small 'aldea' or village. The village is basically one long road along the top of a ridge with houses spaced along either side. (By the way, Dubuquers - you don't even know about hills!) While there I got to stay with two separate families. The first live in a house right next to the church, and the mother - Gloria - is in a lot of ways the spiritual leader of the community, which is saying a lot for a woman to hold that role here. While with that family I got my first experience of the campesino lifestyle, the food, the family, the faith, and the work. My second day there I got to go out with Nicolas (the father) and weed their 'finca integrada' - which is a rare but interesting farming practice here in Honduras. Instead of only having one type of crop, he had spaced out four rows of plantain trees, with several rows of coffee trees in between each, and several rows of corn and beans between each of those.
Also while with that family I got to run Totus Tuus Honduras! On the other side of the church from the house is the elementary school - so actually my first experience in Plan Grande was a mob of kids on recess. At first they were shy and were just staring at me, so I started explaining how to play tag to them, which turned into "La Mosqua." Over the course of the week I ended up teaching and playing about ten different games with them ranging from Mercy, to Possum, to fingerfencing, to 'Pato Pato Gonzo.' Definitely a lot of fun :)
Over the weekend the family's daughter came home so I ended up moving to a different family. Again, a lot of fun there. This family was a little wealthier and when I first came in they were watching Titanic on a rather nice TV (somewhat rare for the villages, which are fortunate now just to have electricity and running water.) That Saturday night I got to watch the band, the 'Gran Familia', practice in the church - and they are really good (like on the radio good!) After watching and actually recording them, they asked my to play for them so I played 'By Your Side', which is about the only thing I know well enough to perform without my music.
The next morning I got to experience their Sunday celebration of the Word, which is something they do when they don't have a priest, which is a lot. I was amazed by the experience. First of all the church (which some cyclones helped build) was beautiful and was packed full. Also, the Gran Familia was providing the music. But the best part for me was after the readings Gloria got up there and gave a reflection on the readings. I was blown away by this young grandmother with only a fourth grade education who gave one of the best reflections I've heard. It was simple, starting with just a recap and talking about how wonderful the promises which God gave to the Israelites, and then moving on to the Gospel and how God had hidden from the wise and revealed to the sencilla, the simple, speaking to her fellow people about how marvelous it is that God has revealed these things to them, the sencilla! It was powerful, and it was in touch with the people. And even I could understand it! Oh yeah, and at the end of the service, they asked me to play By Your Side for the whole church!
That night Fernando, the father of the second family, asked me to go with him to visit his dying father. Words cannot express that experience. This man, exhausted, in pain, and bedridden giving thanks to God with his little breath for all that God had blessed him with in his life, including good sons. How powerful too to receive his blessing when he was told I was a seminarian. Also that night we visited another woman who was recovering from surgery. Apparently they have custom of visiting the sick in their communities on Sunday.
The next day I went with Fernando to plant beans on a rather steep hillside, which was quite and adventure. The day after I moved back to Gloria's and asked if I could follow her around to experience what life is like for a woman here. It was quite interesting. I learned above all how to cook corn tortillas from scratch, although I'm not sure I could do the whole process by myself. She also showed me how to was clothes by hand. As for the men, life for the women is hard work, but surprisingly for both there is a lot of free time to rest and be with family, which is partly because they don't have as many diversions (like TV).
The next day Fernando wanted to show me his milpa (corn field) which was a long ways away. We went all the way down to the stream, crossed it, and then up the other side. All along the way he would stop me and tell me to take pictures, or tell me to do some work so he could take a picture of me doing it :) So funny the way people are with technology here! While there we got into a deep conversation about vocation, about my discernment as well as his when he was my age, his early spiritual awakening, reading the Bible be candlelight and how God had called him to have a family. Quite powerful. Later he also showed me his finca, coffee field, and I helped him weed his little coffee trees in his nursery.
Later that night, after visiting his father again, we found out that there was a muchacho my age in the next village who was dying, so after dinner we got our flashlights and walked the half hour there in the dark crossing another stream and taking little trails through people's properties. It was quite moving to meet this person, to see the fear and the tears welling in his eyes, but also the faith that he and those around him had in God's will. It was hard and it was a sombre atmosphere. I didn't really know what to say to him, but just to be with him was good, and when God gave me the words I spoke them. I pray that he get's better, but it's not looking good. He's been to the hospital twice and they can't figure out what's wrong. His stomach is bad, he couldn't keep down food for a while, and his throat is really bad too and he's lost a ton of weight. At that moment I wanted to be a priest so I could have done more for him.
Overall, I was deeply impressed by these people who, in their poverty, showed a deeply rooted faith. I shared several deep and intimately spiritual and personal moments with several of the adults, and shared a lot of joy with the kids on many, many occasions. Though I didn't get a chance to get to know some of the poorer people in the town, I did walk away with a sense that, though these people are poor and live a hard life, they really are blessed, and rich in the things that matter. I kept saying with them - it is a beautiful life.
On that note I will sign off for the night. It will be a few days before we are back in touch. We will be going to the Copan Ruins, which are Mayan, over the weekend, and then off to Gracias, an old Spanish colonial town, for the next week to shadow the priest there - including jail visits. Thank you for your many prayers, please keep them coming as we often running only on the grace of God. Also, feel free to update us on your own lives so that we can pray for you more. Know that you are all continually in our prayers here. God Bless!

Your Brother in Christ,
Jarrett Wendt

PS: By the way, if you know of any Spanish alternatives for my name, let me know because the people here have a terrible time with my name. The closest we've got is 'Jerry' - which is nice because it's my grandfather's name.