August 17, 2016

Hello family!

  So this week was pretty good.  Very interesting.  Because Elder Petty hurt his knee he had to sit out for a week so I worked with various different people this week.  On Tuesday and Wednesday I worked with Norman, the priest I talked about last week.  Then I worked with Elder Hanson on Thursday and it was great to work with him again.  On Friday and Saturday I worked with Norman and the bishop´s nephew named Octavio.  Octavio was pretty cool and I didn't feel like I was dragging him around.  On Sunday we couldn't find anyone from the ward the could or was willing to work with me all day so I ended up working with the bishop all day which actually turned out pretty cool.  He was appalled when he asked what I was going to eat for dinner and I said nothing and explained to him that after six we aren't allowed to eat dinner.  He got baptized after he was married so he never served a mission and doesn't really understand those types of rules.  So when we finished we went back to his house and he gave me some juice and a donut.  Don´t worry mom and blog readers, I do eat dinner.  Just after I get home at night usually.

   

     Elder Petty went to the doctor yesterday and got cleared to work again, he just has to take it easy and not wear his backpack.  So guess who gets to carry two sets of scriptures in his backpack now:)

     This week we saw a lot of really positive changes in Aaron and he got baptized on Saturday.  He's turning into a really cool convert.  He's been going to seminary, he asked me for those colored sticker things to mark pages on your scriptures and a marking pencil (which I happily bought for him).  Now we´re looking for a white shirt and some pants for him.  

  We passed by last week every day for Zeneida and she just wasn't home.  Her daughter had a serious medical problem and they went in and did a surgery that turned out really bad.  So we found her on Monday and gave her a blessing.  We also found them yesterday and got Zeneida interviewed for her baptism this week.  During the interview Zeneidass sick daughter, Candy, and her sister wanted to sing some hymns they learned when the missionaries taught them.  They are the ones that got baptized ten years ago and haven´t been active for a long time.  So we sang the songs they remembered and a few more (How Great Thou Art, I Know That My Redeemer Lives, Lead Thou Me On, etc.) while Zeneida was being interviewed and it was really spiritual.  I really think it helped Candy and she looked a lot happier when we left.  Please pray for her.  

   In case anyone was wondering, I decided to have a paisley tie week so this past week I've worn a different paisley tie every day.  Tomorrow is the last day.  I have a lot of paisleys:)

   The saddest part of the week was Sunday night and Monday.  On Monday Elder Hanson and Elder Nave went home.  They were probably the two most influential comps I've had up to this point as Elder Hanson was my trainer and Elder Nave was my comp right out of my training.  Also Elder Hanson has been my ZL for all but two changes of my mission.  That was sad but I was able to go to the airport with them early Monday morning and see them off.  Also I think Kyle went home this week.  (Kyle is Cody's friend from High School)

   It sounds like you all had a great time with Matt, Taryn, and Myles over.  I'm jealous you got to go boating and kind of disappointed you only got out once this year.  I promise you we'll get out more than once next summer though:)

 Love,

Elder Smith

p.s.  The ward and sometimes stake has about 4 trips to the temple every year and they charter a bus and get hostels.  It costs about 50 bucks each plus food. 

Cody, Aaron, Elder Petty

Cody, Aaron, Elder Petty

Aaron's front yard

Elder Hanson, Elder Nave, and Cody at the airport as they go home

August 10, 2016

Hello family,

  We had a good week.  Good job mom on getting the package here just in time and for the awesome stuff in it.  The ties and pics were awesome and the candy and food wasn't half-bad.  I loved it.  We also celebrated by burning shirts and buying a papa John´s pizza.  And Dr. Pepper.  And Doritos.  And chips and queso.  It turned out pretty dang fun.  We also found a small tarantula and fried it with our bug spray and lighter flame thrower.  

   For those that read the blog:  Don't worry about my parasites.  The meds kicked in and within a day they were gone completely and the symptoms was just a bit of diarrhea.  I can now proudly say that I´m parasite free.

   Today is the last day of Managua's Santo Domingo celebration and a lot of Managua is closed for it.  They just parade the saint through the streets while everyone gets drunk.  I literally counted over 100 alcohol vendors getting ready on one section of street. 

  Zeneida is really cool.  She went to church on Sunday and is very excited for her baptism on the 20th.  Also we had a really guy show up to church on Sunday named Carlos.  A few months ago the missionaries just invited him to church and on Sunday morning he woke up and, "something woke up inside of him" and he knew he had to go to church to see what it was like.  The only problem is that in priesthood a couple members started talking about some stuff that is definitely not church doctrine and I think might of left a bit of a bad impression.  Fortunately when all was said and done he said he had a good experience in church and wants to come back this week.  Aaron was out of town and couldn't come and Oliver had to work so they didn't go.  Aaron did pass his baptismal interview and is ready to be baptized but he´s still not 100% sure he wants to.  So we´ll do everything we can to help him be ready for this Saturday.  Please pray for him!!  Also Mercedes, who is ready for baptism but can´t get permission, didn't get permission from either of her parents.  Please continue praying that they can soften their hearts and let her get baptized.  If not, we´ll have to wait until she turns 18 in December and no longer needs parental permission.  We struggled finding new people this week.  

  We've been teaching Rosa and Coco about the temple and they're really excited to go but they're concerned they won´t be able to save enough money in one year for them to take the trip out to Honduras.  We broke down how much they´d have to save every week to save up enough money to be ready in one year and then we had a really spiritual experience.  The spirit told me to promise them that if they remained faithful in the church and always paid their tithing that they'd be able to save sufficient money in the one year to go to the temple together in Honduras.  It was one of the first times in my life I felt like the spirit was actually talking through me and that I wasn't the one actually talking.  It´s a feeling I´d like to have a lot more.  It was a big testimony builder for me that us missionaries are here more than anything to be a means by which the spirit can teach people.  

Elder Petty has a hurt knee and will be out for about  a week resting it so he can't work in the area. I'll probably be working mostly with priests this week while Elder Petty stays at a member´s house.  Yesterday I worked a bit with the mission leader and then with a 16 yr old priest named Norman. He´s pretty cool and I think I´ll be working with him for several days.  Hopefully this will help him want to serve a mission later because right now I don´t think he´s too excited for it.  Please pray for Elder Petty that his knee can get better so he can get back out and work.

We finally have a senior couple that´s coming in the end of October.  If the guy is going to be financial sec like Elder Beals was then I´ll probably have to be in the office until he comes and still have to train him for 6 weeks.  I had kind of thought I´d be getting out of here in the beginning of October.  It´s obviously still undecided but that would be very difficult if I was in the office for 11 months of my mission.  The current record for a single missionary in the last 3 years is 8.5 months which I´m already on track to beat.

Love you!!

Have a great week!

Elder Smith

Celebrating hump day with a pizza party.

Little tarantula

Boys love fire!  And bug spray. Combined!

Big lizard iguana thing that Elder Hernandez caught 

PARASITES!!!

August 3, 2016

Hello Family!

  Thank you for your great emails and updates.  It sounds like you're all keeping plenty busy up there.  

  

   So definitely not the highlight of the week was having some awful diarrhea, having to take a poop test, and finding out that I have two parasites.  They're called Blastocystis nominis, and endolimax nana.  So the nurse had me buy 6 pills that I took for three days and they seem to have cured me.  

  We had a pretty uneventful week though...  Zeneyda (Luis's mom) went to church along with her other daughter that's a member and hasn't gone to church for 12 years.  Also, Aaron went to church.  His fecha is for the 13th and he's pretty excited.  We're still teaching his mom but there are some problems with his dad not letting his mom listen to us or go to church with us and stuff.  We're trying to have the young men make church more interesting for him because he always gets super bored.  Also Mercedes went (AKA Reubenia, the two names are used interchangeably) and truly wants to get baptized and is ready but  lacks permission from her mom.  She's still 17 and we can't baptize her without parental permission until she turns 18 (in December) so we're having her talk to her mom and keep trying to get permission.  Pray for her.  And Oliver went for the 2nd time and really liked it.  He's the 19 year old positive one I mentioned the other week that we found while teaching WAMMY.  He started school again and got a job so it's been hard to find him and teach him.  Christina also went like always but she won't get baptized any time soon because her partner isn't divorced and hasn't even started the process.

 
 I don't really know what else to say...  There was a big holiday on Sunday and Monday for Santo Domingo.  They just had big parties and everyone got super drunk.  Basically here they just find any reason to get drunk and it's really sad.  

Oh well.  

Have a great week everyone!!

Love,

Elder Smith

Lunch at a Chinese restaurant

Chinese food in Nicaragua isn't that great.

Making cookie dough

July 27, 2016

Hello Family!!!

  We had a good week.  Saturday was probably the most interesting, out of the ordinary day.  We went at 9 to the church and had comp study with the priests we worked with that day.  I worked with Walter, who got baptized in December, and Manuel who got baptized about two years ago.  They're both 16.  It was a bit of a challenge with Manuel because he can't read or write but we got through it.  We spent the morning going door to door contacting and walking super fast to give Manuel and Walter a genuine experience and to make them sweat a bit, then at noon we went to the bishop's house with all the other priests and missionaries and had a pretty good meal.  Then we went back out and got everything ready for Luis's baptism.  We set up the chapel while Elder Petty and his comp went to get Luis.  Everything went fine in the baptism and Luis was super excited.  Also Brizza got baptized.  You probably don't remember her but she's Kirby and Monica's daughter who turned 8 this month.  Her baptism was with the ward and wasn't one of ours because her parents are members and she's 8 but I was still very happy to see her get baptized because she's really cool.  Then we contacted some more and at 6 the activity ended and the priests had a wrap-up meeting to close the two-day activity they had done and we left to keep working.  

   On Sunday Luis and Brizza got confirmed.  Aaron went to church but his mom lied and said she was sick and his little brother Melvin wouldn't go either.  Mel went (Veronica's husband) and Cristina went to.  We found out that Cristina's partner isn't divorced either so that will push her baptism back even farther.  Luckily she goes to church every week and her family that is baptized is a good support for her.  

   On Monday we passed by to talk to Luis and we also taught his mom.  She said she doesn't like the church because we're so insistent that she get married and not just live with her partner but she loves everything else about the church.  Eventually she randomly asked us what day the 22nd of August was and we're like, ummm a Monday.  She just said I'd like to get baptized that day if it's ok with you guys.  So we're like yep, that would be just fine.  But we have to work on getting her married and to church.  She's just made dumb excuses the last few weeks to not go to church so we'll see what happens.  Pray for her!!

  Oliver said he was going to do something for a new job Sunday morning so he couldn't go.  So we passed by later and he said he didn't even go because he slept in.  Come on!!  That made me really mad.  So we'll see with him.  Also WAMMY didn't go to church but they felt really bad and say they'll go this week for sure.  I sure hope so.  They are such a pain to teach haha.  They have an extremely small attention span.  We'll be looking very hard for new investigators this week.

   Something funnyish that happened... Manuel gave a talk this week and basically said,  "Working with Elder Smith was great, we got to go and do what real missionaries do and we walked a lot and it was hard.  And we got to fight with like two Testigos!"  Well, apparently Manuel doesn't really understand what it is to fight with people because I just talked to them, found out they weren't positive, shared a little about the restoration, bore my testimony and invited them to church.  I didn't even fight with them, accuse them, or pull out the bible on them.  So now the ward thinks I just go around picking fights with the other religions.  Whatever.  

Today we had interviews with President Brown and mine was really good.  He´s a very spiritual guy and I love him so much already.  He´s making it so we don´t have to come in to the office until 10 every day so we can have enough time to do legitimate studying every morning which I think will help me a lot.  

Remember how when President Chugg set me apart he blessed me to reach the parents and families through the children?  Ya that´s totally being completed.

Real quick answers to some questions from mom:  On Sundays after church we eat lunch with a member until like 2 then we go out and work as if it were any normal day.  Usually we find a member or convert to feed us dinner and give us coke.  In the office I get here at nine and usually just do crap on the computer and call people about housing stuff and deal with the problems that come in and stuff.  Then we go to McDonalds or Subway at 12 and come back and do the same thing until 3 then go work.  Usually I end up taking a trip to do something like go to the bank or pay light or water bills and stuff.

Well, have a great week everyone!!  In exactly 1 year I´ll be in the Atlanta airport waiting to board my flight to SLC. 

Love,

Elder Smith

Cody, Luis, Elder Petty

Cody, Brizza, Elder Petty

Zona Universitaria

July 20, 2016

Hello Family!!

   We were really blessed this week.

   So on Thursday I got up at like 2:30 in the morning to go to the airport with the departing missionaries to help them pay their extra bag fees and stuff.  That made me kind of tired I guess but after we were able to sleep for a bit.  The airport is always weird because it´s full of white people.  I heard some super deep southern accents and was trying to teach Elder Alcerro what a redneck is.  I don´t think he got it very well. 

   On Thursday and Friday after the office we found quite a few people.  We found four pretty cool people, three sons and their mom.  Lula is the mom and her sons are Jonathan (22), Aaron (16), and Melvin (8).  The mom already had a commitment for Sunday morning and couldn't come to church but we put fechas with all of them and committed the three sons to church.  On Sunday they lied and said that Jonathan was gone (we found out later he was hiding next door) but Aaron and Melvin came with us and LOVED church.  We also went and played soccer with Aaron today at the church.  It was funny because Aaron wore a shirt to church with a Giraffe by a tree with Marijuana leaves that said (in English) "smoke trees every day".  Luckily hardly anyone in the ward understood it but all of us missionaries.  The mom is going to go to church with us this week.  

   Also when we were teaching the girls that came to church last week (their names are Wendy, Alejandra, Marta, Mercedes, and Yovannah so from here on out I´ll refer to them as "WAMMY") we invited a friend of their brother, who was just hanging out to join us in the lesson and he accepted.  His name is Oliver and is 19.  He is quite the opposite as WAMMY because he´s very intelligent, well-mannered, and sociable.  He also went to church on Sunday and stayed all three hours and loved it as well.  He´s really cool.  Also three of WAMMY went.  I think it was Wendy, Alejandra, and Marta.  They were still super shy but not as bad as before.  I´m not sure what will happen with them, please pray that they´ll keep progressing and go to church again.  If nothing else, at least they led us to Oliver.  

Also Luis went to church and got interviewed for his baptism which is set for Saturday at 3.  Also Christina went to church like always.  We think the lawyer might finally finish her divorce this week and if so, she´ll get married and baptized too.  Also there´s a guy that lives in our area that has gone to Elder Hanson´s ward in Altagracia two times now and is apparently pretty positive.  We called him and have an appointment with him tomorrow.  Hopefully he´ll just beg us to baptize him on the 30th:)  But we´ll see.  

  Yesterday was a big holiday here and basically every Daniel Ortega lover in Nicaragua gets in a bus and rides down to Managua to hear Danny speak.  Literally every bus in Nicaragua just loads itself up with people and drives down to Managua.  We saw hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of busses just wreakin havoc on traffic.  This day is also an excuse for everyone to get super drunk.  So, for safety reasons, everyone in Managua had to stay in their house after 3pm so yesterday in the house was pretty boring but before we left I bought a bunch of mountain dews so I was ok.

   Today we went to the church and played soccer with Aaron and a bunch of other young men.  It was fun but I´m pretty bad at soccer.  I do have a bit more color now.  And I was reminded how pitifully out of shape I am and how hot Nicaragua is.  We had Papa John´s for lunch and their BBQ Chicken pizza is pretty good.  

   On Friday and Saturday the ward is doing something pretty cool.  On Friday the YM teachers will be doing a mini MTC for the priests and teaching them the basics of how to be a missionary and then on Saturday all six of us missionaries in San Judas will be going to the chapel at 8 and we´ll each have a Priest as a comp for the day.  At 8 we´ll study with them and then we´ll go and work all day with them.  Us and San Judas 1 baptisms on Saturday so 4 priests will already have a baptism.  I don´t think it really counts though but it´ll be cool for them to say.  

   Tomorrow I have an Accutane appointment so I´ll let you know next week how that goes.  I think I´ll probably get off of it in about a month.  

  Dad, I´m glad lake Powell was so fun and I hope you have fun in Idaho mom and Peyton and in Provo Delaney and Rich and in Vegas Taryn and Myles.  { We don't know if he wants Matt to have fun or what :) }

Love you!!

Elder Smith

Enchiladas at Kirby and Monica's

July 13, 2016

Hello!

Changes were pretty laid back and easy.  It helps that I know the routine with this much time in the office, and it also helps that the Browns are super laid back and humble and they don't really have expectations of anything yet because they don't really know how things are supposed to work.  The Browns actually remind me a lot of you and dad.  They´re just as laid back, loving, and nice and President is as meek and humble and loving as dad.  It´s awesome.   It´s been a great experience so far to see them and get to know them.

I really love the Browns.  At the dinner today it was supposed to start at five and at the Hilton the reservation was from 5-8 PM and we can´t go over without substantial extra charges.  And the bus got a flat tire that was bringing the missionaries to the dinner and it arrived 45 minutes late.  I waited in there with the Browns, the APs, and the Browns´ three youngest kids and they were calm and fine.  They didn´t get mad or stressed or anything, just waited patiently for the bus to arrive. The kids are also really fun, they have a lot of energy.  They were running around and got put in time out, each in a separate corner.  It's interesting to see American discipline of children, because it's not the same here.  So we got to plan, coordinate, and execute this dinner at the Hilton and when the missionaries arrive we just have to leave.  That´s one down side of being a secretary.  Making the cool stuff happen but not usually getting to participate and then later having to go and clean up after.  I didn´t get changes and I´m not training anyone else to be the finance secretary so I´m here at least another two changes.  This one, and then the next one I'll probably train someone to be finance secretary.  So I'll have spent about 9 months in the office by the time I leave and I'll already have 14 months.

Interesting thing that you probably won't like:  Today I found a bunch of bed bug colonies in my sheets.  Basically there are these tick things that come out during the night to suck my blood and then go hide during the day.  When you squish them a ton of blood explodes out of them.   Tonight I´ll change my sheets out and tomorrow I´ll spray some permethrin.  

Also, you might not be proud of me on this one either but...  Last week from Monday through Saturday I ate McDonalds five of the six days.  And I feel great!!  But the last two days I ate Subway to make up for it.  

We don´t really have any new investigators except for some teenage girls that came to church with us.  We´ll see if they´re positive or if they just wanted to go to church because I'm such a hunk ;)

We haven´t been getting as much proselyting time as we would like lately because of office stuff.  Answering your question about baptisms:  the mission leader leads the baptisms, usually missionaries talk on the Holy Ghost or baptism and direct the music and pray during the services and the mission leader asks a member to baptize.  I´ve only baptized once in San Judas and that was with Maria Del Carmen.  

Love You!!!

Elder Smith

PS Myles and all of the rest of you look pretty dang cute in those photos.  It was weird though, because I didn't see Bo in those photos either.  I'm starting to think he's dead or something.  :) Jk I know you sent pics of him last week or the week before.  Does Myles recognize you, dad, Delaney, Rich, and Peyton as special people that aren't strangers?  Poor guy isn't going to know me.  Do you show him pics of me?  Do you show pics of me to Bo?  Poor Little Bo.  He must still be so distraught without me.

Coco's baptism

Hanging (working) in the office

 

Lovely bed bug

Dinner set up at the Hilton for departing missionaries.

July 6, 2016

Hello family!

  So the highlight of this week was the baptism of Hazel, Jasmin, Carmen, and Guadelupe.  It was a great service and everyone was really excited for their baptisms.  We also successfully supplied them all with their white clothes and everything fit and nobody got mad which is pretty rare for baptisms here.  So it was really good.  

   On Sunday everything went well with the confirmations too.  There was a small scare when Carmen and Guadelupe said they were going to go on their own at like 8:40 and we came by their house at about 8:50 to make sure they had left and they had.  So we arrive at church and they weren't there and we didn't see them on the way.  So we started freaking out wondering where they went.  So we got in a taxi and headed back to their house to make sure they didn't lie to us or anything about where they were and to interrogate the family a bit and when we got their the family and some drunks on the street confirmed that they had indeed left to go to church.  So I called Elder Aitken who was at the church and he said they weren't there.  So we went back to the church because there really wasn't anything we could do and when we were almost there Elder Aitken texted me and told me they showed up.  Apparently they just walk really slow and they took a different route than us so we missed them but it was very scary.  

    Hazel´s 8 yr old nephew Luis, who I think I talked about in my last email went to the baptism and to church with Hazel and Jasmin and he´s really excited about everything.  Unfortunately his mom didn't go.  We´ll see how he does.  We put a fecha with him for the 23rd of July.  

    Coco passed her interview for her baptism and is super super excited for it on Saturday.  I think it´s at 3 PM if I remember correctly.  I´m really happy for her.  

   Also Christina went to church again but we´re still waiting on her divorce for her baptism.  She´s gone over 10 times now.  

   Family Murillo (who got baptized in the beginning of June) went to church again (they haven´t missed a Sunday since their baptism).  They´re so cool.  But Elizabeth is going to leave to Costa Rica on Monday to work and she´s going to have to find her ward there.  I was able to do divisions with Elder Diaz in San Judas III where I was last change to visit them for the first time in about a month and it was really great to teach them again and see their progress.

   President Brown and his family are going around the mission and doing three total multizones so he can meet everyone and so they can meet him and the family and I´ve had to go to those this week.  On Tuesday I went to Granada, today we went to Jinotepe, and Friday we´ll have it here in Managua.  Also I've been having to deal with a lot of really stupid, rude landlords that are yelling at me and being really necio {foolish or idiot}.  It´s all part of the job I guess.  

   President Brown is really going to focus on helping establish the church in Nicaragua and focus on making it so we´re not just baptizing a crap load of people, but retaining a crap load of people as well.  All of it with the focus on getting a temple here in Nicaragua.  I´m really excited and ready to jump on board with his vision of the mission.  

   I´m glad you had fun at the party, the parade and everything.  Although nobody really gave me a report on the parade, if you made everyone honk, called out random cheerleaders we don´t know etc.  Did you go somewhere to watch the fireworks or come home on Monday night?

Love you!!

Elder Smith

Left to Right: Me, Carmen, Guadelupe, Jasmin, Hazel, Elder Petty