A Special "Treat"

Multi Zone Conference with President this week. My cute comp and I.     Love her!

With the Sisters of La Catorce!!

I realized this morning that I haven’t sent you pics of my house here.
 So I took a few for you!  My desk

Our shower- don’t be fooled by the shower head -it doesn’t work haha.
We take water from the giant trash can in the shower.

And our washing area!

This is a special "treat" they make here in Nica. Our Recent Convert Carlos wanted to teach us how to make it. It is basically mashed up potatoes and a weird cheese all fried up. Then they put a ton of sugar and honey on top of it. I think it is their take on scones. 

The finished product and yes I had to eat all those!

So I just have to share with you what we ate for lunch today...FISH-Nica style.
 When they brought it to me, I audibly said Ugh! And then they all started laughing. 

That is how they do it here. Stick it in a pan of oil and fry it all UP!
I attempted to eat mine but Hermana Gonzales finished off hers pretty well :)

This week I completed 10 MONTHS!!! What the? The time really does pass by way too fast. I can’t believe ten months has already come and gone since the last moment I saw you all in the airport. Seems like a moment ago! Seriously. These past 10 months have been some of the most amazing of all my life. I wouldn’t trade the experiences I have had and am having for anything. I have seen miracles here! I have fallen in love with Nicaragua and the ppl here. But most importantly I have gotten to know my Savior better and I am so grateful for that. The mission is amazing and I love knowing that it never ends. How blessed are we to have the truth and the chance to share it with the entire world?

This week was a little bittersweet for Hermana Gonzales and I. As you know we have been working with a really special family.  We have seen a huge change in their lives since learning more about the Gospel and reading the Book of Mormon. They say their prayers and know the church is true. I LOVE THAT MOMENT. When someone follows through with a commitment and receives the answer that THIS IS THE TRUE CHURCH. They had decided to be baptized and married. I LOVE THIS FAMILY! Every time they went to church they loved looking at the baptismal font and knowing that they would be baptized there with the authority of God. Well this Saturday we all got hit by a truck.....not literally but it sure felt like it. Saturday night we had planned a lesson with them and our Mission leader. We showed up to their house but nobody was home. As we were walking back we saw them practically running to the house with a TON of huge bags in their hands. They told us to run into the house quickly and quietly. Once we all got in, they told us that they were having problems with their neighbors and the owner of the house and they had to move THAT NIGHT. Someone with a truck was on the way and we had to pack up EVERYTHING. We literally packed up all their life in about 20 minutes. Their cousins showed up and started doing drugs while watching us. We quickly packed everything in silence and loaded them up. As we were about to leave the Owner showed up and wanted to "talk with Juan".   It got heated and we had to leave. I have never felt so......sick. My spirit literally felt heavy, sad and sick. They left that night and we are not sure where they went. I know the Lord has a plan and purpose to everything. I KNOW we were supposed to find and teach this family. I know they had to face this trial and that they will learn something very important from it. For right now though, I miss them and am very sad I wasn’t able to see them enter into the waters of baptism. Like I said, everything happens for a reason. We had to learn from this experience just as much as they did, and I know it will help me either in the mission or in life.

Even though we had this unfortunate experience we were able to end off the week with some really sweet simple experiences. I just want to tell you guys about a lady we found last week named, Ramparo. She is a young single mom basically. Her husband works in Panama and returns every year for a week or two. She is raising a family by herself and is doing it beautifully. Last week we contacted her and put a cita to visit her later on in the week. When we returned she wasn’t there. Well Saturday night, after this horrible experience, we had the impression to go visit her. We found her painting her house while all her kids were sleeping and had the chance to share the Plan of Salvation with her. There was a beautiful spirit during the lesson and we knew she could feel it. At the end of the lesson we invited her to pray and ask her Heavenly Father if these things were true. She said " I already did. The day you girls passed by my house I was passing through a big trial. I had been praying for somebody to come and show me the way. When you two showed up at my door my prayer was answered. That night I prayed and asked my Heavenly father if you were His angels and I know that you are." She has accepted baptism and is ready to change her life. I can’t wait to continue teaching her and helping her feel the Saviors love in her life more abundantly. You never know when you are the answer to somebodies prayer.

Well this week as I said earlier we had a Multi-zone conference. It was LA LEY! Seriously, I received so much revelation during the conference and I feel so energized to continue in this work....even though it is outrageously HOT! We learned A LOT about working with the members. It is just so clear to me that this work is the LORDS and he desires that we can all play a part in it, not just the missionaries and not just the members. The Area presidency made a couple of videos that we were able to watch that contained several promises but one that I LOVED was "If the members and missionaries worked together more frequently the number of baptisms would double." DOUBLE! The ppl are prepared we just have to teach them. Today I was thinking about the fact that we have been put here in this area and we don’t know anyone. So we start talking with everybody and try to get to know them. This is GREAT! However, the members have been living here for years. They know the area, they know the ppl and they have the friends! If they can help us find the ppl we can help them teach the truth. It is so simple. The Lord is accelerating His work and He wants us all to be a part of it. Let’s carry this Gospel into the homes of all the families and help the Lord prepare His kingdom. I challenge you ALL to pray for Missionary experiences EVERY DAY. I know the Lord with bless you with the chance to share this Gospel with someone that is awaiting it.  I love this work and I know it true! How lucky am I to be a missionary at this time!