Broom in the Oven

We made COOKIES this week!  My first cookies in the mission.
Yes, we suck at eating healthy. But they were delicious!

We were cooking in the church and after we had PREHEATED the oven to make the cookies I checked it to see if it was warm. I opened it to find a BURNING broom inside. I just gasped- looked at Miller and shut it really fast. I told her about the broom, we looked at it and then thought we should take a pic haha. We were dying laughing! Nicas don’t even know what ovens are for so of course they would store the broom in it!

Okay, I am not going to lie the past couple weeks have been really difficult for us. Miller and I get along SO WELL. We are so similar and have a BLAST together. We are working really well together and we thought we would see a lot of success. However, the past couple weeks have been full of disappointment. We are finding TONS of new investigators every week and having really beautiful experiences with them however, one by one they all fall. As a mission, this month we have a goal for every companionship to baptizes one family as a gift to Christ this Christmas. We are doing lots of special fasts, studies, meetings, prayers.... everything so we can to make this happen. We both honestly believe in our hearts every companionship will baptize a family this month. We just don’t know how we are going to do it. We have been a little discouraged because all of our possibilities keep failing. We want to do this for Christ and we know it is his desire we just don’t know how. But we both have the faith we are going to make it happen. We are just going to continue working hard and searching for los escogidos.

This week we did a lot of divisions with the Hermanas we are over. Now the hermanas don’t work with their DL´s or ZL´s at all. So if they ever need help with a lesson or a family they are teaching, we go and help and teach with them. The only hard part about it is we are over the sisters in Esteli, which is 3 hours from our area by Bus. Therefore, we lose a lot of time each time we have to do divisions with them. We honestly believe if we put the hermanas first and their needs, the Lord will bless our area and us. This week we did divisions with a cute companionship working in Esteli. I worked with Hermana Lesher, who is a newbie. She was super cute to work with and we had a great time together. She is having a lot of the same stresses I was experiencing when I first got here.... Spanish, connecting with the ppl, knowing the material...the norm. We talked a little about it and I shared with her some things that I learned from the scriptures and PMG my first months here. I hope she went back to her area feeling a little better.

This Sunday was the Wards Primary program. I know I was shocked that existed here too. Only in MANAGUA!! Managua es la LEY! Anyways, it was super cute and there was a sweet spirit there. I felt like I was back in Utah watching cute Carter and all the other little bugs.

Well, we are busying getting ready for Christmas here. Christmas here is the 24th so that will be interesting.  We came up with an AWESOME idea to find new investigators and involve the members during this Christmas season. We are going to ask all the members if they would like to send a "Christmas Gram" to a family member or friend, in which we will show up at their friends house sing a Christmas Hymn and then share a 5 minute message about Christ (because who doesn’t want to hear about Christ on Christmas). Then after we will make an appointment to visit them later on during the week to share the missionary discussions. SWEET HUH! We are so pumped. We are also going to the Hospital Christmas Day as a District to sing to the Kids. I can’t wait! Christmas is going to be AWESOME. Oh and at night ALL the missionaries close by are going to meet at our food citas house to have a Christmas dinner. However, to enter you have to make a food FROM your country and you and your companion have to prepare a talent. It is going to be such a good time. We can hardly wait. We are also doing secret Santa in the Zone and our HUGE Mission activity is next Monday. We are going to have a Lunch, talent show and program at the HILTON hotel with the WHOLE mission! Minus the ppl in Puerto because there aren’t planes big enough to bring them all. So pres. and his family are going there later on.
Each zone has to plan a talent for the Mission Christmas activity and we have something SWEET planned! I will try and take a video to send it to you all. I also just got informed today by the AP´s that I will be singing a special number at it.... in front of all 200 missionaries!!! Lets just say I am terrified. I will let you know how it goes!

I just want to tell you real quickly about today. We had Christmas Olympics with our Zone and the Other MANAGUA ZONE!!! SUPER PDAY! It was SO MUCH FUN! We seriously all had a blast. We basically did a bunch of minute to win it games. We all had such a great time. I will send pics next week from it. I just love being with all the other missionaries. I can’t even explain to you how much I love them. We have all seriously just become a family. We all know, love and support one another in this important work. It is so awesome to be with ppl that understand the challenges you are going through and also the incredible joy you feel. Ahh there is nothing like the MISSION!

More than anything though today I want to testify that the Book of Mormon is true. This book has changed my life forever. I feel so privileged to have knowledge of these things and the opportunity to study them every day. I love starting off my day by Reading the words of Gods prophets. The experiences of Nephi, Alma, Ammon, Mormon... EVERYONE, give me the strength I need to face the day. I love Reading the things my Heavenly Father desires that I know so that I can better my life every day. My honest desire is that I can improve a Little every day. Every day I hope to become a Little more like my Padre Celestial and change my heart so I ONLY have a desire to do good. The Book of Mormon contains the answers to all of Life’s questions. I know whenever we need advise or counsel we can turn to the Book of Mormon and Heavenly Father will reveal to us what we need. I love this book and I know with all my heart it is true. I challenge you all to read it Every Day. I promise you that as you do you will see more blessing and peace in your life. You will experience a change of heart and you will feel your Savior nearer to thee. I would also like to challenge you ALL to share this incredible book with someone this Christmas season. Share these inspired words of God, this other testament of Jesus Christ with someone at this Christmas season. I know as you make an effort to find someone that is ready to hear this restored message of Christ through the Book of Mormon, Heavenly Father will bless you and put the ppl en su CAMINO! (In your path)

Okay talk to you next week! Probably just a quick one next week because we have our activity and are skyping during the WEEK! 

LOVES!
Savannah

THE MOST BIZARRE THING I HAVE EVER SEEN

For Pday we played capture the flag in someone’s "backyard". Aka a huge JUNGLE. Yes, they had to pull my teeth to play because I was afraid of all the bugs and yes, I found a giant spider crawling up my leg...lost a few years off my life in that moment.

At my first consejos meeting with the other sisters!

Miller and I "on top of Nicaragua!"

President took us out to lunch this week..... a REAL RESTAURANT.

I didn't even know they existed here. It was a lot of fun! Oh and that is 

Elder Oldrod behind us haha what a goof. 

It sounds freezing there! I must admit I DO MISS THE COLD. I never thought I would say that but I really do. It actually isn’t too hot here right now but I am preparing myself for the upcoming months! Everyone says December is the coolest (I just feel like I am in Matagalpa) and then we all roast in an inferno for 5 months. Literally, Miller told me it is what she imagines Hell to be like......... uh oh 

I guess I should get telling you about this week.  Last Monday after I wrote you we had FHE with the cutest member family! Seriously these ladies are the most adorable ppl I have ever met. They have been inviting us over forever and we haven’t had time to go by. So when we showed up Monday they about through a fit they were so excited. The mom is exactly what you would imagine a Latin woman to be. She kind of has a dance motion in her whenever she moves, is so loving, gives lots of hugs and almost sings while she talks. I love her! She calls us her white babies. Haha so cute. She lives with her daughter and son. They are all members and so pilas. Love them. Probably one of my favorite fhe I've had. The spirit there was so sweet and tender. 

This week we’ve had a ton of meetings with President! Tuesday I went to my first "consejos". That is a meeting with all the ZLs, TLs, APs and president. It was there that I met Dennison and got to chat with him for a bit. It was fun to see all the other missionaries and catch up for a bit. At this meeting we present numbers for our "zones" if you are a ZL or the needs of the sisters if you are a TL. Then we all talk about our plans and what we are doing to have success or how we can improve. It is awesome because everyone participates and receives revelation for their callings and areas and how we can help the rest of the missionaries.  Anyways, after that we started discussing the needs of the mission. This time president presented a "desafio" or challenge to us. In which we all worked on for about 3 hours. It was basically the goals we think we should have as a mission and how we can help all the missionaries have success. It was really awesome actually. I kind of felt like I was in a meeting with the President of the country and we were all figuring out how we can save the world... strangely enough that is exactly what we were doing Hehe! 

Wednesday, Miller and I got invited to another meeting with president and some other missionaries. We were invited so we could discuss what we were doing to have success and how we can help all the missionaries have the same success. It was cool. I learned a lot from the other missionaries on how I can improve and what I can work on. Afterwards was the Pres. took us all out to a Restaurant! It was awesome we ate REAL FOOD. I even got mashed potatoes. Who knew such a thing existed in Nicaragua. It was so much fun to be with all the missionaries and visit. Some of the missionaries I was with in Tipitapa were there and they told me one of the investigators I was working with got baptized last week and Enrique was the one that performed the BAPTISM!!! So cool! They also said he received the Melchezedick priesthood and has just been called to be the Ward Mission Leader. HE IS SO AMAZING!! Ahh I miss Tipitapa SOO much and all the sweet ppl there. I already can’t wait for the last week of my mission when I get to go back and VISIT!  Only bad news is I don’t know if I will want to come home after returning and visiting with them! 

This week we have been working hard to find new FAMILIES and we have been so blessed. We literally found a super positive family EVER DAY this week. So cool. Every new family we found this week has either already received lessons from the missionaries a time or two or one member of their family is a member. How incredible is that. It is so much easier to work with ppl who have a little background with the church. I have to tell you about one family we found. Okay this couple is going to be my new Enrique and Corina. We were walking in the street one-day when Millers sock fell off so she was trying to get readjusted when a family walked pass. I wasn’t going to say anything because my comp was occupied but BUENAS came out of my mouth. We walked them back to their house and found out their son that lives in Chinandega is a member and so is his family. They even went to the temple last year so they are super pilas. They also told us they have been searching for a church to join but they just haven’t felt good in any church yet. They wanted to visit ours but they just hadn’t been invited yet. So we QUICKLY invited them and left them with a pamphlet of the Restoration. When we went back to their house his wife was really sick but he came out and talked to us for a little while. He said he had read the WHOLE pamphlet and he loved everything about it. He then went on to explain EVERYTHING he read. It was AWESOME. Most ppl just read it but he STUDIED it. He said how he didn’t know Adam was the first prophet or that there was an apostasy or that God called prophets hoy en dia. He was so interested about the priesthood and he can’t wait to start reading the Book of Mormon! I am telling you this family is GOLDEN I can't wait to work with them more. We found tons of other special families this week that we are going to continue working with as well. How neat! The Lord is really blessing us! 

Saturday Dec. 7th is a crazy holiday here where all the ppl worship the Virgin Mary. Seriously, this holiday was BIZARRE. It was SO HARD to work. Hardly anyone was home. I would say it is a combination of the 4th of July and Halloween. So I guess it is a Catholic holiday where they all worship and praise Mary. Everybody makes HUGE Alters or Presentations with statues or pictures of Mary in the middle and they put them in front of their house. Then all the ppl go house to house (adults and kids) and they have to do a weird chant or sing a song to the Mary statue. Then usually the owner of the house gives a little sermon or preaching session and then they give all the ppl and kids treats or food. This goes on ALL night! And it is not just Catholics that do it... everybody wants free food. There are also weird dancing guys on stilts throughout the streets with little kids surrounding them playing drums. At 6pm EVERY ONE sets off fireworks or firecrackers to signify it is starting and then at 12am every one sets them off again to signify it is ending. IT WAS THE MOST BIZARRE THING I HAVE EVER SEEN! I honestly felt like I was living in the Book of Mormon watching all these ppl worship FALSE IDOLS. Literally worshipping them. There was such a gross feeling in the air. It was just so apparent that those things weren’t of God. Definitely an experience I will never forget.  Seriously these ppl are crazy. They all start shaking when they are "filled with the spirit" and some ppl even fall to the floor. They also think they all receive the gift of tongues when the "spirit touches them" and they just start talking gibberish. Seriously they remind me of Steve Carell in Bruce Almighty. It is gibberish! But that is what they think the gift of tongues is! 

Yesterday night we were able to go to the Christmas Devotional! We brought 3 investigators and a less active. It was really special to watch it with them. The spirit was just so sweet and tender. It is impossible to doubt that this church is true whenever you enter one of our buildings. The spirit is so clean and pure. Completely opposite of how it feels out in the world. I love how I feel whenever I enter the church it is like all my stresses melt away for a quick second. I loved listening to the talks and songs though.

As a mission we are all working really hard to baptize at least one family per companionship this month as a present to our savior Jesus Christ. We are doing a lot of things to strengthen our faith and our efforts but I know we would love prayers from anyone and everyone... the WHOLE mission needs the help of the prayers of the members! 

Okay I love you with all my heart we will talk next week! 

Loves,

Savannah

PS  Oh I forgot to tell you we have a small family of RATS that lives in our house we just found!! It is so gross! We about die every day when they come running out from under the door. I hate RATS!!!! 

Sushi for Thanksgiving!

This is from the Hermanas only meeting last week! 

With Hermana Chinchilla! She left this change! So sad because she was such and INCREDIBLE missionary. 

I have tons of pics from this meeting! Girls go a little crazy with the camera! 

Justavino and Corzantes! LOVE THESE GIRLS! P.S. Justavino got sent to PUERTO this week! PUERTO! How crazy. It used to only have Elders there because it is super dangerous and nuts. It is like extreme camping everyone says. There have been hermanas there for 3 changes now. The same time I opened Tipitapa. She will be great there and she is learning a new language there! She will only be teaching in Mesquito! 

Miller and I when we got stuck in a rain storm. LOVE MY COMP!! 

Our Thanksgiving dinner, SUSHI!! The perks of living in Managua. There is only one sushi place here and it is actually good! We even had it delivered to our house. We ate WAY TOO MUCH! But hey isn't that what Thanksgiving is about? It was super expensive but worth it! 

Eating my Thanksgiving dinner. I look a little crazy from a long day of work!

This week has been very interesting. Changes were this week and so the whole mission has been a little crazy.  I of course got here a week early so it was a little calmer for me but still a lot going on in the mission. We got a new DL and tons of new elders. We were the only Hermanas in the Zone, but they just put more in this change so it will be fun to get to know them. Our zone is SO FUN! I love everyone here.

Okay so I didn’t really get to tell you about our area last week. It is so interesting working in MANAGUA! We have to get EVERYWHERE by bus or taxi. Everyone here actually has a decent house and usually a car. Our house on the other hand is... horrible haha. We are definitely sporting the bucket shower and the bucket toilet. We NEVER have water so we are always stalking up and we most surely have mice friends living with us... NO! We have a nightly freak out session whenever one comes running out from under the door!

Our lunch and laundry cita is AWESOME! This lady is the cutest & sweetest person in the entire world. She takes such good care of us. She makes fruits and veggies EVERY DAY! She doesn’t even make us eat rice. I love her so much and her family. I wish you could meet her I know you would love her with all your heart too.

We have been working with two young adults.  They are both reading the Book of Mormon and have gone to church enough times to be baptized, they are just a little nervous to take the plunge and get baptized. It is so hard teaching ppl who know it is true but are just nervous to take this step.  Right now we are just trying to build their faith in Christ and hopefully they will be baptized this WEEKEND! They really are incredible and I love them so much. I can’t wait to see them feel at peace with this decision and watch Christ continue to change their lives.

We have also been working with one of the cutest young families of all time.  They are just two young adults, so in love with the sweetest little baby boy. They have such strong desires to follow Jesus Christ and be baptized. They accepted every part of our message so easily. They have been reading the Book of Mormon and know it is true. There is always the sweetest most incredible spirit in their house. We never want to leave because it just feels so good there. They have been preparing to be baptized and were supposed to be baptized and married this Saturday. Well Friday rolled around and they both had their interviews. During the interviews it came up that he is only 20 and therefore needs the signature of his mom or dad to get married. Well...that is a HUGE PROBLEM. His dad doesn’t believe he is old enough to take this step in his life. NO!!!!!!!!!!!!! They can’t get baptized if they aren’t married. Well, we literally talked to EVERY lawyer in town trying to find a loop hole. We also had lessons with his mom and dad trying to convince them to allow their son to get married but they would not BUDGE!!! Long story short they weren’t able to get baptized because we couldn’t get them married. It was the saddest thing every. It broke my heart to see two ppl, a FAMILY that are prepared and anxious to follow Christ have to postpone that moment. Saturday night we were pretty devastated just because we really have no idea what more we can do to help them. We are going to continue to look for solutions though because we KNOW Christ and God want them to be baptized so we WILL find the loop hole and they will enter into the waters of baptism VERY SOON!

So this week we also started our responsibilities as Sister Training Leaders. We are over the Hermanas here in Managua and in Esteli. Esteli is 3 hours away from here by bus and we have to go EVERY week to do divisions! It is going to be really difficult to do so many divisions so far away but I know it is also going to be a great experience for us both to learn and grow. Basically, as Sister Training Leaders we do divisions and meetings with them to teach them how to work more effectively and also to motivate them. This week we did our first changes in Esteli. Miller stayed here in our area with one sister and I went to Esteli. First off, the buses that go there are LEGIT because the ride is so long.  The seats recline, there is sweet music (I heard a new Beyoncé song hehehe), there are bathrooms and treats. It was pretty fun. Anyways, I got to Eateli and it was FREEZING! Seriously it was so cold there I was dying all night long. It was so awesome to work there though. It is GORGEOUS! Tons of trees and mountains. It reminded me of Matagalpa a little bit. It is a really rich area of Nicaragua as well. It was kind of fun to see the rich ppl houses here.
I was there with Hermana Corzantes, she is one of the trainers right now. She has been a little discouraged because they haven’t put very many fechas lately and they have been having a hard time finding new ppl to teach. Well, we worked like LOCAS I tell ya. We found so many new ppl and put 4 fechas. It was la LEY! I loved working with her and I learned so much from the experience. I feel like maybe I was given this calling just so I CAN LEARN. We both ended the day feeling so motivated and ready to face the work once again. I think I am going to love working with all these girls and getting to know them better. I can’t wait to learn a little from each Hermana and implement it in to my own work!

Today we went shopping at the GROCERY STORE here and I have never been so excited to grocery shop in all my LIFE. It was like WALMART!!! I was dying they actually had real FOOD! I was so excited. They also had body wash and soap. I was seriously dying the whole time! I even found caramel kisses!!! THEY WERE SO EXPENSIVE but I had to buy them. I know that is a HORRIBLE use of money, but I just had to do it. They also had GRANOLA BARS and salsa. I haven’t seen real food in so long. It was AWESOME!

Okay I have to go now. MAN the time goes by way too fast!!! I love you with all my heart!  I will talk to you next week!

With all my love,
Savannah

Screaming Like Baby Girls Too!

Well I got moved to Villa Flor, which is in Managua. It is a little cooler here and MUCH NICER! Everyone has houses and most people have cars. Our lunch cita has a microwave and a blender oh and a WASHING MACHINE.   So our clothes will get washed normally!! WOot! I have so many holes in everything right now. Hna. Miller is my comp. She is who I went on splits with.  YES TWO GRINGAS! President met with us when I got there for emergency changes and he told me we had changes because I am now TL, Sister Training Leader.

As training leaders we are over all the Girls in two areas. We have been assigned to Villa Flor  and ESTALI. I am kind of surprised about that because it is so far away from us but it will be fun to work with the girls there and get to know that part of Nicaragua. Right now the Elders can’t leave with or help the Hermanas really at ALL. So we take on all responsibility for them. We go on divisions every week; we are responsible for their progression and numbers. We also have to participate in the Leader meetings with all the ZL´s and president.  We still have our own area to tract and teach, we just leave for divisions once a week.

Usually you are a Sister Trainer for just a couple changes. I hope I get to train again, but who knows.   I learned so much during that time. I know I will learn a lot from all my callings though. It is just super crazy I have already had 3 areas and I only have 6 months in the mission. Most girls only have 3 areas in their whole mission! Sometimes only 2! It is insane Pres. is moving me all over the place. It is cool though, because he told us he does EVERYTHING by revelation and prayer. When I was talking to him this week he said he received revelation last week that I needed to be moved to this area and that I needed to be a training leader. It is so cool to know he is so close to Christ right now. So I just have to trust his lead. 

Being here has actually made me feel good because EVERYONE compliments me on how awesome my Spanish is. I do feel like Spanish just makes sense to me now.  Now I need to build my vocab!  I know I still have so much more to learn but it is nice to know that I am improving.  This week they fumigated our house and we got visited by all SORTS OF BUGS!! The worst was a GIANT TARANTULA! I was getting ready for bed and brushing my teeth when all a sudden I saw a HUGE TARANTULA!!!! I screamed and ran for Hermana Miller. We both hid in a little corner for about 10 mins screaming while we waited for someone to come kill it. The Elders got there to kill it and as soon as they saw it, they were screaming like baby girls too! It was hilarious!!!

My house here is not the greatest. Which is surprising because we are in a nicer area but it seriously sucks. We have no option for a shower just bucket showers with FREEZING COLD WATER! Seriously so cold! I am dying every morning and our toilet doesn’t flush so we have to do it manually. However, we do have a safe place to live. I LOVE THE MISSION! And there are days when I stress because it is going by way too fast and I just have so much more I want to do. There is so much good to be done here in Nicaragua. I love the ppl and the life here!  This is going to be an interesting change-awesome- but interesting. Okay I have to go now :(  I MISS YOU WITH ALL MY HEART AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU AT CHRISTMAS!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Savannah

OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO GET BAPTIZED!

The Elders had to come kill a rat that was living in our ceiling this week! 

Enrique and Corina leave with us every night to go teach their friends! It is AWESOME! Enrique wanted our water bottles in the pic as evidence we are working hard haha. He reminds me of papa. Also do you see their hymnbook- so PILAS! 

This is Maria Felix! She is AWESOME.  Love her so much! She is always looking out for us! She served in Guatemala.  I know she was an INCREDIBLE missionary.  You can just tell.


 

Ready for P-Day

And this is where we play soccer every pday. UGH I HATE SPORTS! Every week I get there saying NO, I am not going to play this week. I am just going to hold my ground and say no. And every week they get me to play again! DARN IT SOCCER! I did make two goals today though Hehe. I admit, I do a lot of my awkward screaming whenever the ball comes in my direction and I still have the habit of closing my eyes when the ball is in the air and headed towards me. I am just not a sportzy girl, this we know! 

So the theme of this week has been... WORKING WITH MEMBERS! Seriously we are doing EVERYTHING possible to work with the members cada dia.   Our most reliable and pilas resource is of course the family of Enrique and Corina! I don’t think a more pilas family exists out there in the world. Enrique goes by his friend’s houses every morning sharing a little bit about what he has learned and then invites them to hear our message. At about 4pm we pass by his house and he tells us which of his friends have accepted to hear our message and then we leave with him and Corina to visit them! I am telling you this is the way to do missionary work! It is so nice when we can spend our time teaching rather than running around trying to find somebody who will hear us. WORKING WITH THE MEMBERS is the way to go. I would encourage you ALL to give 1 referral to the missionaries. Just 1 and I know that will help them in SO MANY ways. I would also encourage you all to go with the missionaries if ever possible. Members in the lessons make all the difference! Enrique is so great in the lessons. I will never get sick of hearing him talk about how much the Gospel has changed his life. He always talks about the day we showed up at his door and how the Testigos had passed by earlier as well as the Catholics but he did not receive either of them. We got there and he knew something was different so he let us in. He talks about reading the Book of Mormon and how this book will resolve any doubt you have. He talks about what a GIFT it is to us all. He talks about how much he has changed.  The challenges and addictions he had to overcome and how happy he is now. Corina always talks about how her life has never been happier and she knows with all her heart this is what they were missing in their lives. My favorite part of the lesson those is when I invite them to be baptized and Enrique always sweeps in with OF COURSE YOU HAVE TO GET BAPTIZED! When Christ asks us to do something the answer No doesn’t exist there is only a resounding YES! I just know they are going to be leaders in this church. They are already part time missionaries for crying out loud. They always have a desire to learn more and are reading all the churches handbooks. I LOVE THEM!!!! I can’t wait for them to go to the Temple and become an eternal family! They can go the end of September but if they don’t end up going until after my mission I WILL COME back to see them get sealed. I could talk about them for DAYS and I will when I get back! I get teary-eyed thinking about saying goodbye to them. I feel like Tipitapa is my home now and they are my FAMILY. I can’t even imagine changing areas now.

I literally finished writing that and then got a call from Elder Estes saying I have emergency changes tomorrow............. I am literally bawling right now. This mission is crazy. It is crazy how you fall in love with these ppl so quickly. It is amazing that we get to see the change the Gospel makes in them. I wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. I will NEVER FORGET any one of these ppl. They have changed my life forever! I know this church is true and that is why I will do everything I can to bring it to EVERY ONE! 
Well I have to go. I will let you know how everything went next Monday. I love you!!!! I miss you all! Talk to you next week!

Loves,

Savannah

Member Missionaries

Pizza with the Elders for Elder Degerings birthday!

A Special Dinner with Enrique and Corina

Hermana Miller and I

It has been an AWESOME week! Probably one of my favorite weeks I have had here in the mission. Last night I had a little cry session because I honestly couldn’t imagine leaving the mission. I can’t imagine saying goodbye to these people and not knowing when I will see them again. They have all become so dear to me. I honestly feel like they are just and extension of our family. I love them with all my heart and never want the day that I must say goodbye to come... The only thing holding me back from staying here forever is YOU GUYS -All my incredible friends and family at home. I wish so badly that you could meet these people- the missionaries, members, less actives, recent converts and INVESTIGATORS! I know you would love them all. It is almost impossible not to. We will definitely be coming back here one day all together!

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

Mission Family

Hermana Justavino with her other daughter, me and my daughter Hermana Tellez. 

 What a cute fam we are.

Hna. Justavino and me.    AHH I MISS THAT GIRL!

This is our family in the mission. Hermana Justavino, her Daughter, Me, my daughter, My great grandma (Justavino's Gma) and her daughter!

I got my Christmas package from you guys! THANKS SO MUCH! I seriously died over the protein bars. DIED! SO tasty and HEALTHY. I almost forgot what it felt like to eat something HEALTHY. I got all my letters and this package at our leaders meeting after a super hard day. IT was AWESOME. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! 

I cant wait for Christmas now haha

IN the taxi to Mission South! We had to go this morning so Hermana Tellez 

could a sign a paper for her visa!

Hermana Justavino's Mission Mom

Sister Rodgers from Texas! Soo Cute!

First off it was fun to read your little email this week and hear about Halloween. I thought about you guys that day and what you might be doing. I was a little sad to miss it but all in due time! They don’t really celebrate Halloween here. However, we had a meeting with all the trainers this week in Managua and Hermana Collado bought all us gringas candy because she knew it was Halloween for us. It was really sweet of her.

So we started out the week with out trip to Managua for the Trainers meeting. IT WAS AWESOME! Seriously probably the best meeting I have been to thus far in the mission. I LOVED IT and learned so much. I just was able to feel the spirit so strongly and the Lords love for his missionaries. I received a lot of AWESOME revelation for this work and our area. It really rejuvenated me to get out there and work. I also got to see all the cute newbies and there SWEET trainers. Seriously there are some INCREDIBLE missionaries here. I always love seeing them and visiting.  At the meeting we watched an awesome video about the Atonement and missionary work with talks from Jeffrey R. Holland and Henry B. Eyring. Incredible! I am going to try and find the talks today to print off and study. Anyways after the meeting we headed back to our area and got right to work. This week I was still feeling pretty stressed out so my district leader gave me a blessing and a few talks to study. It has been helping me out a little and I can at least sleep now for more than four hours. I really was making myself sick from all the stress but I am feeling a little better this week. 

This week we have been working with a great family.  They are all really special ppl and I am so lucky we get to work with them and teach them. The father had his baptismal date for THIS SUNDAY. We had been preparing him all week and working really hard to help him feel the spirit. He was interviewed Saturday and was all set. Sunday we went by his house in the Morning to help him get ready for church and he was so excited to go and had even invited all his family to his baptism after church. He had to take his Granddaughter to her dad’s house so he told us he would meet us at church. Well we got to church and were waiting and waiting and calling him and calling and he never showed... I was SO SAD. We went over to his house afterwards and he wasn’t there either. His daughter told us he left to go to church and then he got an emergency call from one of his nephews and had to go to MANAGUA! UGH SATAN! Seriously it was one of the hardest, saddest days but we have an appointment with him today and we are going to put the date for this Sunday instead. He will be baptized though that is a sure THING!

Socorro and Pablo are friends of Enrique and Corina so we have been visiting with them a LOT. They are such a special family and they love everything we are teaching them. Pablo has cancer and is in a wheelchair right now. He is always really sick and that presents a little of a challenge for us but he and his wife are so receptive to the Gospel, especially during this time in their lives. He can't go to church right now and that is the only thing stopping him from being baptized but we have something AWESOME planned for next week and I am pretty sure he will make it to CHURCH!

Dennis and Isabel are a new family we found this week. They are both pretty shy but very receptive to the Gospel. Our first lesson Dennis prayed to finish the lesson and asked right then and there if Joseph Smith was a prophet. It was so incredible. Most ppl are too nervous to even try praying in the first lesson but he went right ahead and even asked God if our message was true. It was a really unique and beautiful moment for me. The next lesson he said he had been praying all week and is waiting for God to answer. He said he knows God will answer in his own time in his own way but right now he feels really good during our lessons and wants to come to church. We put baptismal dates with them both and hopefully they will be joining us in church this week.

Bydon is a guy we found one day contacting. After talking with him for a few minutes he told us he actually was a member! He hasn’t gone to church for the past 7 years but is willing to go again and give it a try. His wife isn’t a member but is super sweet and loves talking with us. This family is GOLDEN! We are going to reactive Bydon and baptize his wife I tell ya!

So I just wanted to share one other funny experience. 
Thursday night we were at an Investigators house when he asked if we wanted something for dinner. Not wanting to be rude or offend him we said YES! So he comes out with a HUGE plate of rice, a tortilla and 2 FISH!! Fish here are completely different than in the states though. The WHOLE fish was literally on my plate... head, bones, eyes, skin...EVERYTHING. It had been deep-fried and plopped on my plate. I seriously didn’t know what to do or how to EAT it. They all started laughing at me try to eat it. I am sure I had a freaked out look on my face the whole time. I was trying to keep my cool but it was pretty hard as I watched the little kids eat the eyeballs and my comp rip off the head to eat the meat inside! I did my best to eat it but I mostly just did a lot of moving it around my plate haha. It was pretty funny. I did get sick that night though... I wont be eating fish again. 

So other news this week. ENRIQUE got the priesthood! So awesome. He had been so nervous all week. He was studying all the sections in Doctrine and Covenants about the priesthood and working hard to memorize the sacrament prayers. He is so PILAS! Seriously, I think they are going to end up being my two most PILAS converts. He is always leaving with us to go teach ppl and just this week alone he has given us 3 referrals. He talks about the Gospel and the change he experienced in his life with EVERYONE! It is so awesome to see how the Gospel has completely changed his life and his wife’s life. I remember the night we contacted them so vividly. Corina barely said a word and he was so lost. They lost their daughter to cancer and ever since felt a huge void in their lives. The gospel changed everything! Now they know where their daughter is, they know they can be together again forever and they know what they must do in this life to receive these blessings. Now Corina visits with everyone and is always getting all ready for the day. I remember she used to only walk around in pjs. And Enrique is going to be made the branch’s mission leader this upcoming week! YES I baptized the MISSION LEADER! So legit. Anyways, I am just so grateful I have been able to see this incredible change in their lives. I feel so lucky to know them and share in these sweet spiritual experiences. I will NEVER forget them. P.S. we decided on their temple date last night! WOOT!

In short, this week has been bitter sweet...like every week. However, I wouldn’t change this experience for anything in the world. I feel incredibly blessed to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with my brothers and Sisters here. It is hard, scary and exhausting but it is also the most amazing thing I have ever done. I will never forget these moments. 6 months baby!

Love you all!

Hna. Kendall