Thou Shall Not

Chapter 1: Damn Suspenders!

The updates I reference below are now about a year old just FYI.

A/N I have made changes to reflect the changes I made to the plot later on in the story and updated the character's name. And just made some improvements. Hope you enjoy!

Wednesday, June 13th, 2018

Damn suspenders!

I woke up the morning of April 24th still exhausted and sore from the day before, thinking that it would be another routine day of our mission trip in Honduras. Maybe a little crazy since any day with our team was never boring, but I never guessed that I would end up having sex with Kristian, especially considering we were on a mission trip for goodness sakes, you know where you tell people about Jesus and the Bible. The same Bible that says no sex before marriage... Well great job Ira, you, one of the team directors, got busy with your secret boyfriend... inside the church... well, not inside the church... more like on the church... but still, of all places! It's amazing God didn't smite you on the spot. I think to myself...

Flashback (Two Months Earlier)

Tuesday, April 24th, 2018

I got up at 5:30am with the rest of the girls as we started our morning ritual of 'freshening up'. Part of our objectives on the trip is to also give the village access to clean water. We had our own clean water in those large five-gallon containers that you see on water dispensers that we used to fill our personal bottles. We all eventually make our way to the back of the church where we brush our teeth over the dirt. After brushing my teeth I take a swig of my water, rinse my mouth and spit it out on the dirt along with everyone else's mouth water. I go back inside the church and change into my 'digging' clothes which consists of jeans, a t-shirt, and tennis shoes. Each morning we dig trenches for four hours to set up pipelines for the clean water. I loved doing this mission trip, that's why it's my fourth year coming, but honestly the digging was my worst enemy. I loved connecting with the people and the daily ministry activities we did. However, I can't let anyone know I actually hate the digging, I need to be an example as a leader! I only hate it because I have no athletic strength whatsoever, so naturally I suck at digging and get exhausted easily.

After grabbing a scone and some tea or coffee we head out for our first two hour session of digging. We hike up into the hills of the village and resume where we left off yesterday. I can't help but think of "hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go" from Disney's Snow White. After our first two hours are over we head back to the village church to eat an authentic Honduran breakfast. Beans and tortillas, with scrambled eggs, plantains, and chorizo, and of course some fresh fruit on the side. After breakfast, we head out again to our digging stations for another two hours. When finished we go back for lunch. Another amazingly delicious authentic Honduran meal.

We have a short break to clean up and rest before we have to be ready for afternoon ministries. I give myself a once-over in my small mirror before leaving the church. I look at my complexion in my small handheld mirror. My eyes are brown. I have a mix of my mother's white freckled covered skin and my dad's dark brown skin, which gave me a nice olive tint with freckles here and there. After I'm satisfied with my appearance I walk out to the gathering area.

Out of respect for the culture the girls wear shirts with short sleeves (it's too hot for long sleeves) and long flowy skirts. The women here don't usually wear pants. However they are understanding that we do, and why we do when we dig. In the afternoon, the team essentially breaks up into 3 groups. Men's, Women's, and Children's ministries. The men play soccer with the Honduran men and each day, a team member would share his testimony. The women split up between the Women's and Children's ministries based on their preference. The basic outline was a message, sometimes a testimony, and then an activity. This was my favorite part of the day as we built relationships with the Hondurans.