el 22 de Febrero

I will start off by saying sorry that you received lots of emails this week, but 
myldsmail supposedly freaked out. All is well in Zion, well almost.

This week was a long one, but mostly because we didn't have a normal schedule. 

Monday we spent all day cleaning the house for interviews, and then Tuesday we 

spent all afternoon in the Stake Center in Jinotepe waiting for interviews and things 

of that sort. My interview was something that I needed to hear, and was a huge eye 

opener to the things that I still have to change. Wednesday and Thursday were, 

thankfully, normal, and Friday we spent a great part of the afternoon with our possibility 

for this weekend, giving him the commandment download. Pray that Carlos stays strong 

with his commitment to keep the Word of Wisdom, please?

I did not get transferred, but transfers aren't for a few more weeks. The day after Mom's 

birthday will be the faithful day to know if I will be leaving El Rosario. 

My companion continues to be having lots of health problems. Her stomach continues to 

hurt, and her voice has completely disappearted. We (well, I) pray each time we pray 

together that she gets better, knowing that the Lord will answer the humble servant's 

prayer in his timing. 

Our biggest success, is that we had a successful baptismal interview. We will have the 

opportunity to help Carlos be baptized this Saturday, with the hopes of having another 

as well. The Elders came and helped us (after getting semi-lost in the El Rosario Backwoods) 

and failed several times to make contact while attempting to high five. I decided it was funny 

enough to take a picture... Elder Sanchez is from El Salvador, and he's our District Leader. 

Elder Mattaalii is my faithful Zone Leader and he's from LA, California. (He's a BYU fan... ewwww)

A tender mercy was my interview with President Russell. He made some good points of

things that I need to change to change my stress level. He asked me, "How much more 

does He need to put on your shoulders before you come unto Him?"  And that's the question 

that I would like to do to all of you... How much more does He have to put on our plates 

before we ask for His help?

Nelson may have to take the prize for favorite person. We called him on Thursday and he 

made all the changes so that he could come back to El Rosario to talk with us. We called

 him again last night, and he's keeping all the commandments. Now to just help him get baptized....

A favorite scripture goes along a little with the question... hebrews 2:18

::For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.::

a favorite thing i ate: tuna noodle salad. we changed lunch citas, and this sister has been 

great to give us new things. this was straight out of my childhood, so i was all good.

i love you all and wish for the best!

hermana graves

The Elders' failed high five, and the delicious lunch!

el 11 de Enero

thanks for all of your prayers, i really have gained a strong testimony about 

the power of prayer since i have gotten out on the mission. absolutely nothing 

that can take it´s place. we had.... wait for it.... ten investigators in church. 

absolutely fantastic to see the blessings of hard work and trust in the lord. 

now to just have the same success this next week!

we don´t have p-day today, because wednesday we are going to the beach!

 i will explain more next week with pictures!

my companion´s spanish continues to progress. if you are the praying kind, it´s 

always nice to have a little bit of extra help. we are getting along great, even though

 she is someone completely opposite of what i am.

but really great news guys.... my memory is all clean and healthy and not a bug in 

sight! with all my pictures present and accounted for! i am soo excited! also found 

out that i have taken over three thousand pictures on my mission... yea, that's 250 

pictures a month roughly. and i still have a ton of room left on my camera!

most tender mercy... yikes. there were a lot. but probably having ten investigators 

in church and having the members´ help every step of the way. there are not enough 

words to exhort every one of you to do your part to help your missionaries bring 

people to church, fellowship, or even sit with your investigators. it makes everything 

so much easier as a missionary when the missionaries and the ward can work in unity 

to bring people to Christ. there is no other alternative.

one of my favorite scriptures from this week... 2 nephi 31:20-21

::ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of 

hope, and a love of God and of all men.Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting 

upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall 

have eternal life. And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is 

none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom 

of God.::

it´s a powerful scripture that teaches us the power of enduring to the end. there really 

is no other way to enter into the kingdom of heaven. just through our obedience and 

our steadfastness in Christ.

some goals... speak spanish to sister naumu. read the scriputres at night, and don´t fall 

asleep after we plan. it´s killing my neck and i wake up before the alarm which drives me 

nuts!

i love you all!

a couple of the delicious plates of food we have eaten this week!

hermana graves

el 24 de Agosto

this week i found a jehovah's witness. for all of you ex-missionaries, you know what an interesting conversation that can lead to. it turns out that this jehovah's witness is from the states, and that my companion and i were the first mormon missionaries that he had come into contact with. what a privilege! the conversation in english made me realize how accustomed i am to talking and sharing my testimony in spanish. it was really, really hard to talk about the church in english! (i haven't decided if that's a good thing, or a bad thing, yet. i'll keep you posted!

this week the lord showed me just how humble we need to be. we didn't have a single little duckling in church yesterday, and i could have strangled the bulls that caused the problem. let me explain. it's a grandadian tradition to allow bulls to run the main streets once a year, like the running of the bulls in spain, just this bulls are a lot more lazy and less aggressive. but, nonetheless, everyone goes. but the twenty people we had lined up to go all told us, "si, yo me voy a la iglesia este domingo; no me voy por la carnival." translated (yes, i will go to church this sunday; no i will not go to the carnival) but needless to say, they are all liars. come tuesday, they won't even know what hit them!

since mom forgot to write me this week, i don't have anything else to say, just to tell mom, that i am getting fed. the sister who makes us lunch and dinner is heavenly, and i am now getting my daily portion of gallo pinto again :)

i love you all, and look forward to all of your repentance letters next week.

hermana graves

el 08 de Junio

what a week, but one worthwhile.

we really struggled this week to manage our time well, and partly
due to the fact that douglas, who we will discuss later, lives in the 
other extreme of our area, and is like a wandering dog, not always 
in the house. and as part of it all, we have to visit our investigators 
each day the week before their baptism because the spirit of 
temptation is the strongest, so we chased the wandering dog each 
day and helped him find a home to stay in the Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-day Saints.

after sunday, we were really concerned about hermanos roberto
and veronica, a couple who are investigating the church. roberto 
has problems with alcohol, and for fifteen days he resisted all of 
the temptations to drink. but last sunday morning, all ready for 
church, he sat with liquor in his hands. so, saturday we gave him 
this: 

his personal calendar to count the coming 21 days to his baptismal
date. here, investigators have to attend church three times, and go 
for at least two weeks without alcohol or cigarettes before they can 
be baptized, hence the importance of the coming three weeks and 
his recovery from this addiction.​

another great success, would have to include helping this little
guy into the waters of baptism, as the pioneer of his family. his 
brother will be baptized next week, and his parents are starting 
to open up to listening to our message for themselves, so we 
may have a  wedding--baptism party again! (no Photo)

jose daniel and me, all ready for his confirmation the next day!
(picture didn't load from her)

a great tender mercy here is not having a fault of food. the
people here are humble, and also willing to share with us. they 
understand the principle that daniel taught, that if they share 
with the Lord's servants, they too will be blessed with the 
nourishment they need. this is usually what we receive for dinner:

eggs, rice, beans, and bread. something simple to show their
simple offering.

hermano neftali makes the list this week as favorite person,
because he cares enough to travel a great distance to travel 
another great distance to visit investigators. a great ward 
mission leader!

this week i did a little study about the cross that christ asks us
to take upon ourselves in matthew 10:38-39

::And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not
worthy of me. He who seeketh to find his life shall lose it: and he 
that sacrificeth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth 
you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that 
sent me.::

but what is this cross that we are asked to take? we read later in
matthew 16:24-26

::Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. And 
now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all 
ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments. 
Break not my commandments for to save your lives; for whosoever 
will save his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come. And 
whosoever will lose his life in this world, for my sake, shall find it in 
the world to come. Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls; 
for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and  lose 
his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?::

take up our cross, deny yourself all ungodliness, keep the
commandments of the lord. 

and the next part is probably my favorite: break not my
commandments for to save your lives. for whosoever will save 
his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come. 

the lord invites us to take upon us our own responsibility and
take action. our salvation is individual. 

james e. talmadge says

::a cross was a symbol of ignominy, extreme suffering, and death.
however, should they lose their lives for His sake, they would find 
life eternal.::

the lord's grand promise is life eternal. take up your cross, and
come to him.

hermana graves

el 18 de Mayo

this week, what a week it's been!

a big challenge this week was working with a new companion, hermana carranza, from guatemala. 

she has the same about of time in her mission as hermana gomez, and so they will actually leave together. hermana gomez is in didiamba, as one of the hermana leaders and she sounds like she is having fun too!

all of our investigators ability to choose has also been really rough this week. we haven't had the success we have wanted for this month with baptisms, especially with the people that we have been working really hard with. but pray that all goes well this week!

a great success would be tasting a nacatamale for the first time this week.  

imagine having a tortilla, chicken, tomatoes, and rice all together. with lots of spices, and you have a nacatamale. they aren't half bad...

my favorite person this week is hermanito alejandro, who was baptized on saturday, and after a little bit of pulling teeth, was confirmed sunday morning. this little fireball has been asking to be baptized since i arrived in the area, but hasn't had permission from his parents until recently. he is one of the few investigators who i have placed a baptismal date with and then they actually complete with that baptismal date. he's such a great little chavalo. 

a tender mercy is the time i spent with hermana gomez, helping her prepare to leave tuesday night. i miss her soo much, but know that it is time for a new companion, new adventures, and new experiences. 

our plaque picture!

i am looking forward to getting to know hermana carranza better this week. we have some things in common, and i can't wait to find out more!

a new goal is to go running every morning at six am. for those that know me, know that i hate running, but because my companion likes to exercise, and because i should, we will leave the house early and go running. 

one of the scriptures that i studied this week was in matthew chapter 7, with its corresponding chapter in Jesus the Christ. can i just say, how awesome is James E. Talmadge!? reading along, here's what i learned!

v.1-5 you can't force another person to see your prespective, especially when you have a skewed or beamed view of the world. 

v.6 we are given pearls to share with those who are worthy. as missionaries and disciples our "duty would be to discern the spirits of those whom they essayed to teach and to impart unto them in wisdom." james e. talmadge we can't share everything with everyone up front, because their hearts aren't ready to hear the word. they will just trample it under foot. 

v.7-12 we used these verses to answer a parent's concerns for the baptism of his 10-year old daughter. our zone leaders compared the fish to her plea to be baptized, the serpent to his father's denial of permission. the bread to her desire to follow Christ and be cleansed from sin, the stone to his utter refusal to give us permission. the scriptures are clear; ask/act, and through your faith and obedience, you will receive. seek the Lord, His truth, and He will put it in your path. knock and He shall enter. 

some fun moments of the week:

after getting kicked out of the cambios meeting, we went back to hermana machalan's house, and made FRENCH TOAST! we watched part of the other side of heaven in spanish, and then listened to the cambios meeting from a source on the inside. after we got the word we came back, and i was able to grab a photo with this little ray of sunshine! 

during one of our interviews, we passed the time by choosing beans, or being very racist and cruel. each beans has to be inspected for perfection, and if they aren't the right color, smooth, or don't have all their parts, they are cast out. how cruel! but elder velasquez seemed to enjoy it...

until next week friends!

hermana graves

el 13 de Abril

remember tang and the gorilla? well, tang here is a like kool-aid, urbdy gotta have some. five gallons of water, five tang, and 2 litros of sugar, and you have five gallons of happiness for any nicaraguan native. it's either tang, mango juice, this drink with water and a type of oatmeal, or soda pop to drink here. water is something saved for Hermana Gladis if I can at all avoid it. It's kind of been an unspoken rule for me here: try it, love it, drink/eat it all or try it, hate it, drink/eat it all. because the people here sacrifice their FOOD, which is not a lot, to share with you and it's the least I can do. the mom of Jose Javier, who I will talk more about, shared this with us this week, and everything minus the plaintain was delicious! it almost tasted like Grandma's Lake Powell Chicken. 

tuesday we got to get up and go to a "reunión de nuevos" which means meeting of news in english. all of the missionaries that entered the field with me were their with our trainers. we had the opportunity to receive some guidance and also to verify our progress/training. i was one of about half of the missionaries that completed my 42 lesson plans for the 42 gospel principles in the 5Preach My Gospel lessons. Let me tell ya, it was a long process, but definitely worth the time. It's really nice to be able to pull scriptures out of a hat and use them in lessons. we talked about a lot of things, but one of my favorite take-aways was a comment made by President Russell: he asked Hermana Garfield who we are supposed to invite to come unto Christ, and who we are to contact. she replied, "chosen families." lovingly the response came, "no. your purpose as a missionary is to invite all to come unto Christ, talke with everyone, and that's how you find the chosen ones." i love the connotation in that, we don't get to make the decision who is chosen and who is not, we just get to be a hand in their conversion. and maybe right now, they aren't chosen and they aren't ready for baptism, but one day they will be. of the six baptisms i have been a part of, three of them were antiguos or old investigators who the missionaries had stopped visting. you read that right, only half of my baptisms have been someone cold contacted, first time ever talking with the missionaries. 

and speaking of baptisms......

Jose Javier was so ready for baptism during his interview Friday, that the district leader decided we could baptism the following day! let me tell you how stressful that is! my companion was in alta gracia, on splits while I was working with the Sister Training Leader, and I had to get all the details put together because hermana gomez wouldn't be back until saturday afternoon, just six short hours before the baptism. i called sister gomez right after we left Jose Javier's house and together we got the water figured out (because we haven't had water in the church for two weeks!), who was going to baptism him, who was going to be there as a member of the bishopric, and calling of the young men I could think of to see if they could be there to support him. believe it or not, Jose Javier is 14 years old, and is all ready a great example for his sister, who has a baptismal date for the 25th. 

and now for mom's favorite part: questions!

What had been your biggest challenge this week? my right foot is really bothering me, and the pain is making walking rather comical for hermana gomez. i have tried the last couple of days to just work through the pain, but yesterday was a little much, so i caved and took some tylenol to help the pain.

What has been your biggest concern? our baptism for this week, who needs to put a ring on it, but she's underage, so we are working with our beloved friend, Howard, to get it all squared away.

What has been your biggest success? handling the situation of Jose Javier for the most part rather calmly, and not freaking out about the stress of it all.

Who has been your favorite person this week and why? Jose Javier, and can you guess why?

What has been your most significant tender mercy? the opportunity to read Jesus the Christ and nurture my relationship with Him through learning more about His life.

What are you looking forward to this coming week? another baptism! and some better health

Do you have a goal set for this coming week? Tell me about it? as a companionship, we have a goal to use more the points of Preach My Gospel in our teaching efforts

Which scripture has had the biggest impact on you this week? doctrine and covenants 18:10, 14-16

my purpose is to cry repentance to all people, not just those who i choose. my purpose is to invite all and follow the Spirit to find those chosen few.

may god be with you til i write again,

the tennesse hermana

this is Elizabeth, the mom of Andres, the little boy whose picture I sent a couple of weeks ago with my tag. Elizabeth is probably my favorite ward member, and is currently preparing to enter the temple!

El 23 of Marzo

the lord knows that i needed a filter for my testimony, and he found one in spanish. it's quite frustrating some days to try and share my testimony about some deep doctrine, and not be able to, but that's the thing: my job is not to teach the deep doctrine: its to share the simple truths of the doctrine, and let the spirit do the testifying of the other stuff.

i started teaching some of the jovenes piano lessons on Saturday, and the hope is that they bring their non-member friends as an opportunity to assimilate them into the gospel using music. i am soo excited, and it's a great opportunity to learn new words as well!

for all those that want to know what a day in the life of a Nicaragua Managua Sur missionary looks like, here is Tuesday of last week. We were supposed to have divisions this day, which means we were supposed to work with two other sisters, and split the work in the afternoon, but that fell through, so we ran from appointment to appointment, trying to get them all in. and by some great miracle of faith, it happened.

this cutie, is andres. he is the little boy of two recent converts, Elizabeth and Santiago, who are preparing to enter the temple in June. he is absolutely crazy, and loves me. he wanted to wear my plaque, but i only would let him hold it. so of course, we had to take a picture of the new Hermana Graves.

another great miracle this week: hermana asucena was cleared to be married! we found all the information we need for a divorce, and got it to a point that she could be married to hermano luis on saturday, and be married later that afternoon. it's kind of sad, but it was a quaint ceremony. she, her husband, one of her boys, two friends, and two of her sisters in law and their children. i am so glad for the blessing of the knowledge that my wedding can be for eternity and for the opportunity that i have to help hermana asucena have the same experience. her baptism had a small crowd, but that's exactly how she wanted it. she's so incredibly humble like that.

​these are my favorite nica food. they are called tostones, and they are fried green plantains. fried yellow plantains are sweet, and when fried are not my favorite. (the picture would not load)

there is one way back to live with God: living the gospel. as missionaries, we invite others to come unto Christ and receive the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. this is the same Church that was on the Earth in the times of Jesus. I know this to be true. the book is blue, the church is true, and i have the amazing opportunity to share this message with the whole wide world of Nicaragua.

i love you all, and wish you the best this week,

the tennessee hermana