Legal hoops

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Amigas del Señor

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Mar 18, 2026, 3:53:04 PMMar 18
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From Sister Confianza

I don't believe I mentioned that the Honduran lawyer who was helping us with my name change and Annette's residency dropped out in January.  He had done the permanent residency process for Sister Alegria and me back in 2014.  We have a new lawyer now, Thomas Brooks, who is bilingual in English and Spanish.  He believes that there is a process to get Annette to Honduras even though we have not found a way for her to get to a Honduran consulate that will extend a visa.  Yesterday I put him in contact with someone from Comunion H, the organization who is sponsoring Annette for us, so they can line up all the documents and letters of request.  I suspect it is time for us to register the monastery legally in Honduras so we can sponsor new Sisters in the future. That will cost money and some hassle, but should make things smoother for future Sisters to obtain Honduran residency.

By the way, in Spanish, Sister Annette goes by Hermana Anita.  She eagerly participates in our prayer times when she is not at work (and when everyone's WiFi is working), reading aloud from her French Bible. It's not that hard to follow along in Spanish!

In the meantime, I've been working to get my name changed on my Honduran ID card.  At the end of February, I got my documents all together and notarized by a lawyer in Tocoa, then sent them to Thomas.  When he took them to the appropriate office, he was told that although I had clearly changed my name legally in the US, Honduran law makes no provision for name changes!  They have told us to get another legal document that shows the various names I go (or have gone) by.  I hope it works.  Whenever I go to a bank or business, I have to show my Honduran ID.  Then they try to call me by my name.  Using Spanish pronunciation rules, "Prairie" ends up sounding like "PRY-ree-ay."  It grates my ears, when all I want is to be called by my religious name, Confianza, easily pronounced in Spanish (cone-fee-AHN-sah).  

Unfortunately, all these legal documents that I have to then send on to Tegucigalpa cost money. Plus the new lawyer charges more than the last one, so this name change is going to cost almost twice as much as anticipated -- nearly $1,200.  We thank you for your continued support through prayer and monetary donations.  

Bendiciones,
Sister Confianza




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