A Running Shower!

What changes look like...

In the Nica bus to Chinandega!

Oh and the dumb, HUGE dog we lived with... ya not going to miss him haha. 

I took this after walking around on the dirt roads all day.
You can kind of see the line from my shoes. We get so dirty!

So the day arrived this Tuesday, all too early, when I had to leave my beloved home of LA 14 and travel to Chinandega! It was a long trip in a pretty sketch bus haha. Seriously we attached 20+ suitcases to the top of a beaten up bus with some string... Thankfully everything made it in one piece. My area is about 3 hours outside of Managua and we could all feel it heating up as we left. We passed several Volcanoes and the ocean. We actually have a fairly large volcano in my area. I would love to hike it one of these pdays...wait did I just say that haha.

Well we arrived and I knew after leaving La 14 I would have to adjust to "Nicaragua life" again, but seriously this area is CRAZY! I feel like I am going through culture shock all over again. This is definitively the poorest area I have EVER served in. The heat is OUT OF CONTROL! I never stop sweating and I am already pretty red. There isn’t any shade in our area so that doesn’t help much. We have a TON of cockroaches here.... NO!! But thankfully my companion is brave and kills them. It is all dirt roads out here. The houses are literally made of cardboard boxes. The ppl sleep on the dirt floor and eat when they can. They are a lot less educated here and the families are SO YOUNG! There are 12 year olds pregnant and with a husband already. It is a different world out here.

That being said, our area is VERY SPECIAL. It has such a huge potential and I know we are going to see miracles! The ppl here are SO DIFFERENT! They are very accepting and believing. I have to teach in such a different manner. Our Ward is really special and the members are willing and ready to be part of the work. I am looking forward to getting to know them all better and working with them to carry out this work. THERE IS A LOT OF WORK TO DO HERE! I am so grateful for everything I learned in Managua and the chance that I have to now apply it all here.

My comp is Hermana Baten and she is INCREDIBLE. She is unlike any comp I have had. She is so...simple. I love her! She is from a tiny little village in Guatemala. She comes from very humble circumstances and has such a pure spirit. I love listening to her talk because everything she says is so simple and easy to understand. She has tons of faith and I know I am going to learn a lot from her. We are the TLs for Chinandega and Chinandega Oeste. So we are over a lot of Hermanas. We are a little stressed about the responsibility but we know the Lord qualifies those that he calls. We know he didn’t call us to fail and he is going to help us every step of the way.

This week, as you all know, was General Conference. Oh boy.... General Conference is ALWAYS crazy in the mission. We were running around ALL DAY to find ppl to bring to every session. I don’t think I took a breath all day long. It was so stressful trying to bring ppl I really couldn’t pay much attention to the talks.... sadly. However, I am looking forward to reading and studying them.

Our area is HUGE and we are working with several ppl right now. We are really grateful for all the Lord has already blessed us with and we are going to be praying and working hard to find all the ppl that he has prepared in this area. We want to do our absolute best here. It is a little stressful but we are putting our trust in the Lord and I know we are going to see miracles here in Chinandega this change...if we survive the heat haha.

The time is flying by and I know it will continue to do so. I love the mission, as you all know, and feel blessed to be here. I love you all!!!

Love,

Hermana Kendall
PS Our house is pretty normal. We have a running shower so that is nice.