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| Pizza with the Elders for Elder Degerings birthday! |
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| A Special Dinner with Enrique and Corina |
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| Hermana Miller and I |
Okay so we started off this week with DIVISIONS! Hna. Miller is the Sister Training leader in charge of our area. She came here to work with me and our comps (the two newbies Hehe) were off working in her area - Managua. Hna. Miller is AWESOME! I didn't think I ever wanted a Gringa comp because I really want to work on my Spanish but I would LOVE to be her comp. She is about to complete 1 year in the mission and is the sweetest girl you could ever meet. She is 26 and the first missionary in her family. She is also a hairstylist so she gave me a quick trim YES! Anyways we had such an awesome day together. Neither of us have great Spanish but we both have time in the mission. It is so fun to work with someone else that has been here for a while and knows how the work is. I felt like I was in a Preach My Gospel video haha. Seriously we just taught together exactly how it should be. I felt such an incredible spirit the whole day. It was so awesome to see that even though we can’t speak the language perfectly the spirit was able to testify to these ppl that we taught with SUCH POWER! Every lesson was a spiritual experience for me. We taught a ton of investigators and put fechas (baptismal dates) with almost ALL OF THEM! We had a lesson with Freddy that day and he was super sad because his daughter from Costa Rica had called him and said that she was coming to visit this SUNDAY. So he had to go to the airport Sunday morning and wait for her all day. Meaning he wouldn’t be able to be baptized until the NEXT week because he still needed to attend church one more time. Well we were pretty sad too, but we just started teaching how the Lord always provides a way. Mid lesson Freddy got a call from his DAUGHTER! She said that something had come up and she wouldn’t be able to make it here until DECEMBER! What a miracle! Seriously the Lord couldn’t have been more obvious and generous in that moment. Freddy had been saying how much he wanted to be baptized he said "Can't we just do it tomorrow? I want to be baptized in the LORDS CHURCH!” The Lord always provides a way! So this Sunday Freddy was baptized. It was such a beautiful service and he is so excited to now be a member. He is already talking about going to the temple and serving a mission! Look at all these future leaders!
This week we have been working a TON with members! Seriously some of the members here are so PILAS (Awesome)! When I say some of the members I am referring to my AWESOME converts Enrique and Corina. They have left with us EVERY NIGHT this past week to introduce us to their friends, share messages and visit other investigators. Enrique’s testimony is SO POWERFUL! Seriously this guy just blows my mind. He gets so excited every time he can talk about the Gospel and the incredible changes he made in his life thanks to this Gospel. He is one of my favorite ppl of all time. Corina is amazing as well. She is always saying how grateful she is for the missionaries. She always talks about the day we showed up on her doorstep and how everything changed that day. And now she can’t imagine her life without the Gospel. They are both so excited to go to the Temple and are doing everything to prepare themselves. Oh and also Enrique is getting the Melchizedek Priesthood in two weeks! PILAS!
Anyways thanks to Enrique we have found a TON of new investigators. It is awesome to always have SO MANY ppl to teach. I have really been trying to focus on putting the FECHA in the first lesson this week as well. I am trying to master the perfect way to put the fecha (baptismal date) so that the ppl feel the spirit, feel the urge to act on it and then accept the invitation to follow Jesus Christ and change their lives. We have seen so many miracles in this aspect as well this week. I have decided the key is just to FOCUS on Jesus Christ and the ATONEMENT. If these ppl really understand that Christ can CHANGE their lives and He will if they just follow him then they will almost ALWAYS accept the fecha. I have also been trying to perfect teaching PEOPLE and not lessons. I am really trying to listen to ppl, their needs and then teach them how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can help them with ANY challenge they have.
Anyways, last night we were teaching a friend of Enriques. He has a lot of problems with drinking and smoking. He feels a void in his life and WANTS to change. While listening to him and his problems as well as his desires to change I just kept thinking. Jesus can help you change. He wants you to be happy. He is waiting with his arms open to receive thee. After listening to his needs we started teaching the Word of Wisdom. At the end of the lesson we testified that through the atonement he could be CLEAN. He can feel this weight lifted from his shoulders and then... I put the fecha. And you know what? He accepted! It was insane. We almost always teach the Restoration for the first lesson and it is a lot easier to lead into baptism when teaching it. However last night I learned that if we really listen to the ppls needs, teach accordingly and show them how Jesus Christ and the Atonement can change their lives then THEY WILL FEEL THE SPIRIT. And with this sweet spirit they can more easily make the decision to change their lives and be baptized. It was such a learning experience for me and so INCREDIBLE!
So needless to say we have seen a ton of miracles this week. We accomplished ALL OF OUR GOALS! We have a ton of ppl with fechas and we are having an amazing time working with them. One family I just love lives in front of Freddy. P.s. He is super pilas (awesome) as well and is inviting EVERYONE to church. We had and extra family of investigators in church this week thanks to him. This family is so fun to work with and watch change. We have only been teaching them for two weeks but I have already seen such a change in them both. Ahh that is my favorite part of being a missionary, watching the Gospel change these people’s lives. Not just spiritual but in EVERY aspect of their lives. How could this Gospel not be true?
Okay quick last story I want to share. Corina and Enrique are struggling right now financially. He has been looking for work for 4 months now and just is not having much luck. Every once and awhile he will find a one day thing but nothing solid. I know some days they go with out food and they never know when the next little odd job will come along. That being said they are the most generous and loving ppl I have every met.
We got to their house one night and Enrique started telling us how he had a little work for the day. He didn’t make much but he made enough to be able to buy food for dinner. Right as he is explaining this Corina comes walking out with two HUGE PLATES full of food for us and Frescos. He said that as soon as he got home from work he told Corina "I have money today. Lets make something special for the Hermanas"! AHH how incredible are they. I was holding back tears while eating. The ppl here have nothing yet they are the most giving ppl I have ever met. I am definitely learning a lot from them and hope I can possess this attribute. I am so grateful that I get this chance to visit these ppl and get to know them better EVERY DAY! I wouldn’t trade this opportunity for anything. I love Nicaragua, I love the ppl, I love the MISSION and I love the Lord!
Well I have to go! As always I miss you with all my heart and can't wait to see you again soon. I keep you all in my prayers EVERY DAY!!! I LOVE YOU! UNTIL NEXT WEEK!!
Loves!
Savannah
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