¡Hola!

 

This week was definitely one of my favorites in the mission so far. Elder Ayala and I worked our butts off and we saw many miracles. We have really felt like the Lord is working through us. We have found many new families to teach, and they are really positive. We brought a new family to church yesterday and they loved it. Way before I was even in this area, I heard missionaries say things like "Ah the zone leader's area in Granada is impossible...no one ever baptizes there." Or, "That area is SO hard, no one wants to listen." Elder Ayala and I decided a long time ago that we weren't going to listen to any of that. We decided to become missionaries of faith and dedication with an attitude to baptize. After all, why would the Lord continue sending missionaries here if he wasn't preparing the people to receive the gospel?? Does God break His promises? NO!! As missionaries we aren't just here to plant seeds...God has promised that the field is WHITE, already to HARVEST. We're here to REAP what God has already sown. What does that mean? We are here to BAPTIZE!!

 
Last Wednesday was mission transfers and we got a lot of new missionaries in the zone. They are all really excited to be in the zone. Wednesday and Thursday were VERY interesting for me. I woke up Wednesday with a sore throat and my voice was completely gone. All Wednesday and Thursday my companion had to talk all day long! It was horrible. It was so frustrating not being able to talk. I felt like I went back in time to my first few weeks in Nicaragua when I could not speak any Spanish!  How grateful I am for the ability to open my mouth and testify!

Bird poop!
 

Elder Ayala and I work great together. And we are confident that the Lord will continue to bless as we work hard. I have never found so many prepared people to teach in all my mission until now. We now have 6 families with baptismal dates for the month of May. We just need to keep working with them and helping them to receive answers to their prayers.

Love and miss you guys.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

I LOVE YOU!



Nicaraguan Creatures

Hello!   This week went by really fast, and Elder Ayala and I are continuing to see miracles in our area.  We had a pretty incredible experience yesterday and Saturday. We stopped by the house of a family named Marlon and Elizabeth that we had contacted a while ago, but had never really been able to teach them a good, solid lesson. They had always been a little cold towards us, but I kept getting the prompting that we needed to keep trying. When we walked up to the house, they were both sitting there, and it was obvious just by their facial expressions that they didn't really want to talk to us. We started talking to them, and they told us that they didn't want us to come by anymore, because they were Catholic and their parents (who live right next door) don't like it when we visit them. They told us we would be better off spending our time teaching other people instead of them. We immediately took that as a chance to share our testimonies with all we had! We first expressed our love for them and our desire to help their family progress and receive more blessings of the Lord. We boldly and very directly shared our testimonies about the restoration of the gospel. I told them that the Lord had sent us to their house with a message for their family. We asked them to give us 15 minutes to share our message. After seeing our sincerity and persistence, they let us in. We taught them the message of the restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith and how the restored gospel could bless their family.  The spirit was strong! By the end of the lesson, they had completely changed their countenances. They both told us that they felt these things were true, even if they weren't completely positive yet. Right as we were about to put a baptismal date with them, we received an emergency phone call and had to leave, but we put an appointment to stop by the next day (yesterday).

 

When we got to their house on Sunday afternoon, they were both outside waiting for us. We sat down with them and the first thing Elizabeth said was, "Well, I've been reading the pamphlet you left me...All last night I was praying to ask if these things were true, and if the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints really is the true church. And I think I received an answer. I feel like this is true. We decided we want to go to your church...but not just once. We want you to keep teaching us about these things." She had a smile on her face, and so did my companion and I! We watched the video of the restoration through the prophet Joseph Smith that lasts like 30 minutes. After the video, we answered a few questions they had. They told us they felt a lot of peace and happiness that they hadn't felt in a while. We explained to them that the spirit was testifying to them of the truth, and that God was answering their prayers. They both recognized that our message was true. We put a baptismal date with them for the 11th of May. After the lesson they thanked us for never giving up on them, even though they had been stubborn. I told them that now that they had received an answer to their prayers, Satan was going to try and steer them off the path in any way they could (even through family members if possible), but that the answer to their prayers was something that no one could take away from them.

 

I LOVE MISSIONARY WORK. I know that I am teaching the truth. I'm learning more and more about the POWER of the message of the restoration of the gospel. There is nothing like it. If people open their hearts and are humble, they will receive an answer to their prayers that these things are true, just like Marlong and Elizabeth.

 

Elder Ayala and I have been doing a LOT of contacting and have found a lot of positive new families to teach. We are really excited! This Wednesday is transfers...I'm hoping I get to stay here in Granada at least one more transfer! I love it here.

 

Today for P-day, we went as a zone to the volcano Mombacho. I took tons of pictures but unfortunately left my cable at the house to upload the pictures..whoops! Sorry folks. Next week I'll send the pictures :)

 

Love you guys!






ZONE GRANADA VISITS VOLCANO MOMBACHO