el 8 de agosto del 2018

every once in a while, life comes running at you

and you get this funny feeling that you knew it was coming.

that's how i felt when i finally got my mission call.

it was a feeling that i didn't realize i was missing, but

one, that as soon as i felt it, knew i was looking for all along.

i was one of those people that didn't do research about my mission before setting off for the mtc.

i didn't even ask questions about what the mtc would be like. 

i decided to just go along for the ride, and let it take me where it would.

fast forward through the rollercoaster that was the mtc, 

and the first couple of weeks of my first "cambio" (or exchange) with my companion.

(for those of you who don't know, a mission is divided into sections, called exchanges,

usually six weeks long. every mission calls them something different, but 

being spanish-speaking, we called them cambios.)

my companion and i had had great success finding people to teach 

and helping people come unto christ. 

but i felt like we were lacking on something i felt like we, as missionaries,

should be taking a bigger effort to do: service for those in our area.

so we set off to an appointment one day, without really thinking too much about it.

andy, my precious andy, wasn't home, so we decided to spend some time

 meeting a few new people in the surrounding area.

we ended up behind a school not far from andy's home,

and i felt prompted to knock on a giant red door.

it was the only one on the whole street i felt like we should knock, too.

when i did, guess whose big, adorable black eyes answered the door?

andy.

andy had gone over to his grandma's house after school 

because she had been sick the last couple of days.

he would spend the afternoon in her company, 

before it got too dark and he couldn't make it back home safely.

when we got there, we spent some time with andy,

but something wasn't right. 

we felt the need to talk with andy's grandma and help her in her need.

as sister missionaries, we could only pray and ask in faith

that she would be healed, but there was something more we could do:

serve.

andy's grandma made a small comment about not being able to offer water

because all the cups and other possible cups were dirty.

that day was the day i learned the word traste,

the word the nicaraguans use to describe the dishes in general.

my companion and i spent an hour washing all of her dishes and putting them away with andy.

when we were done, she offered to make us jugo or refresco

but by then, we felt like our work there was done.

we excused ourselves, and went on our way.

little did i know, that andy's grandma was a less active member

and that andy had been begging her for months to come to church

(ever since he started taking the lessons, really).

the next sunday, guess who was sitting next to andy at church:

grandma.

in the remaining months i was there in loma linda,

grandma's health came and went. 

but andy never failed to come with grandma to church.

there are many times in my life, that i wonder what it would be like to go back to nicaragua

now that i have lived on my own again for two years.

a lot of things have changed, and a lot of things have not.

people would still view me as fachenta, or rich, because of my white female status.

i often dream though of yelling buenas over crude fences and doors of zinc.

of the smiles and cries and abrazos that would be inevitable when they recognized me.

i can't decided if i would want a party or just a few minutes at each home to catch up, pay my respects, and move on.

there really is no other way around it:

soy nica y nada me va a cambiar.

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 30 de Marzo

i didn't think i would get excited about a new agenda, and then we got a new one, and all that went out the window. i am so excited for my new agenda!! i have come to find out that "a normal day in the mission" doesn't exist. a normal day is a day that doesn't go as planned at all. and thank goodness for the little space each day called ::back up plan:: or we would be up a creek pretty much everyday. my district has it right when he says that your agenda is the order of how you are going to see people, not the time. and that's almost 100% accurate.

its always an interesting week, and i have really come to love my study time. this week, i found the november 2012 liahona, which is the conference edition where President Monson changed the mission age, and planted the seed for me to even be here. i have been reading through some of the talks. i can't help but love Elder Anderson's talk. Something we talk a lot about with our recent converts is trials and perserving in ALL trials, especially those of our faith. Elder Nelso quotes President Benson when he said "every person eventually is backed up to the wall of faith and there must make his stand." and that is so true, hermanos. our trials are here to help us grow and learn. Moroni asks for our forgiveness for his weakness in writing, but also says "give thanks unto God that he hath made manifest unto you our imperfections that ye may be more wise than we have been." *mormon 9:31* we are given trials to help other people through theirs later in life. Spencer W. Kimball said "God does notice us. and He watches over us, but it is usually through another person that he meets our needs." and i believe that wholeheartedly. we weren't meant to walk this path alone. family, friends, the Church, and Jesus Christ are here to walk this path alongside us and support us in our times of need. Elder Anderson goes on to say "when you are faced with a test of faith, stay within the safety and security of the household of God. no trial is so large we can't overcome it together." and that is so true. "distancing yourself from the kingdom of God during a trial of faith is like leaving the saftey of a secure storm cellar just as the tornado comes into view." we are here to help and support each other. the scriptures say "the church did meet together oft, to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls." *moroni 6:5* our job as friends and church members is to support each other. be the answer to someone's prayer today. pray for opportunities to serve, and then go out and look for them.

this week was weird, but i have come to realize that missionary work is weird. but weird is great! i love it here, and changes are hard. this week is transfers and we found out tomorrow night who is leaving, and who is staying. all good things must come to an end, and my good thing gets to stay just a little while longer. these are some pictures of my district, hermana abadilo and hermana mcarthur; elder weyand and elder valesquez; hermana gomez and i.

lots of love friends.

hermana graves

El 9 de Marzo

i have figured out how i am going to countdown my mission, something that i really didn't want to do, but everyone here does it. i will be counting transfers, because months is too long, and there are waay too many weeks between me and home. transfers are six week periods in an area, and i will be with hermana gomez for two of them. i will spend another transfer here in loma linda after, so in total, i will spend about 4 months here in loma linda 1. this week marks one and a half transfers of the 12 i will have in my mission. woo hooo!

i have decided that missionary work is hard, but that i can do this. its very interesting to plan for 28 investigators on thursday morning and then have 13 fall through on their baptismal dates on sunday. but we did it, and we will be passing by every single house to let them know what happened. it's really hard to keep track of that many lessons, and what pamphlet you left for homework with which investigator, so god made planners. and thank goodness for that.

we will be holding three baptisms as a companionship on Saturday: Angel, Frank, and Emily. Emily is the most likely for this goal to actually happen, because Angel and Frank have kind of lost the flame for it all. we have appointments with both of them tonight to hopefully get them back over the flame, and to help them in their struggles and doubts. Emily is very excited to go, though. her original goal was the 21st, but we felt that she was ready, and friday afternoon talked with her and came to a decision to hold the baptism this week. she is really excited, very receptive of the doctrine, and totally on board for Saturday!!

a new word for the week: the spanish word for "burnt offerings" is holocaustos and i found this very depressing/interesting/disturbing because it looks likeHolocaust.

helado means "ice cream" in spanish, but in loma linda, helado is really just frozen juice. and it's amazing on a hot day!

i found out yesterday that the universitaria stake will be taking a temple excursion the end of june, and it will cost USD $37. to do the math for you, thats about 1,100 cords. a lot of money, but the stake will do fundraisers and such to help those who would like to attend, do so. i really would like asucena, frank, angel, and some of the other recent converts attend. because the temple is amazing. no questions asked.

it rained here on friday, and i thought i was going to die and go to heaven. it was probably around 70 degrees, light breeze, and very little humidity, and i was soo happy. hermana gomez was freezing, but i was in heaven!! and then it was hot the next morning, and i was dying of heat again. one day i'll get used to the heat

but that's all for this week, folks! 

thanks for your prayers. love you all!

hermana graves