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 06 de Abril

this week i finished the book of mormon as a missionary, and can i say who cool is it to read the book of mormon as a missionary!? it's so amazing to see and listen to the gift of the Holy Ghost that allows all things to be brought to your rememberance, especially when you read it in English inthe morning and can find it in Spanish a few hours later. hermana gomez and i are starting something with the youth here: read the book of mormon in 90 days, or complete it by the 30th of june. its going to be a stretch for some of them, but most of them have only read chapters of it, not all of it from cover to cover. all of them are converts, so we are going to help them build and fortify their testimony of the book of mormon to help them find the answers to lives questions. this is something to help the ward, which is really struggling, so if you're the praying type, *hint hint*

my marcas or suntan lines are getting progressively worse or darker, however you want to look at the glass, and hermana gomez loves to show them to everyone the contrast between my white skin and my not-so-white skin. the line on my neck is probably the best one, because most of my shirts are cut the same way. my feet are getting pretty great too.

   

we had cambios or exchanges this week, which means that we got a new district leader, elder mateo, and a new sister in our district Sister Boulton. elder mateo is from the dominican republic and speaks very quickly. sister boulton is front tooele utah and will leave the same time that hermana gomez will. how sad! we got a few fresh greengos this week in our zone, and it kind of helped me see how much i have really learned and how far i have come. there are times that its really hard to see your progress, but then you lean down to help another, and see how far you can reach. almost all of the people here have nice things to say about my spanish, and that my accent is great. hermana gomez doesn't like to speak to some of the greengos here because their american accent gets in the way. that is my goal, not to sound like a greengo, and so far, so good.

the story behind this: carlos loco, the son of hermana gladis, has a fake eye, and elder mateo and carlos have a great relationship (in three days, mind you). carlos said, here do you want to see my eye!? so, of course elder mateo had to touch it and look at it... eeww gross!

this is the great hermana gladis, hard at work, making the world's best spanish casserole ever. 

​a new pictures of hermana gomez and i. yesterday it started to rain while we were out contacting, but we trudged onward, and ended up seeking refuge in the house of a recent convert, Frank. his abuelo was home, and we got to kind of share photos and wait out the rain. its really nice here when we have rain, and surprisingly i dried quickly.

conference this week was interesting. we as nic man sur missionaries have to bring four investigators to each session of conference in order to stay and listen. we had two planned for each one of the saturday sessions, but both of them fell through with about an hour to spare because of material needs. sunday was great though! we had five investigators in the morning session, and were able to stay and watch the afternoon session without investigators. it was kind of hard because it was all in spanish, but thankfully the spirit works great miracles in the hearts of saints, and i was able to understand a little bit. sister boulton was astonished that i was getting anything out of conference, because apparently she didn't get anything out of her first one, and she had three months in the mission by that point. for all those to know, i did not understand the spanish talk, although i tried very hard to pay attention and get something. i love that they scanned over the stand, and you get to kind of see all of the attitudes and personalities of the apostles. LOVE IT!! something else that i noticed, was that the mormon tabernacle choir has acquired some fairly young singers, which is awesome!.

easter is a great big holiday here, and takes up the whole week before easter sunday. everybody goes home to mom and dad, which means that loma linda was awfully quiet. which means bad things for numbers. but thankfully, we were able to work and have some success. we had to start work an hour early and return to the house an hour early because the borrachos or drunks come out really early. lets just say, that i can see why we have studies in the mornings and not at night.

1.What has been your biggest challenge this week? finding people to talk to!!

2. What has been your biggest concern? having families and people to teach

3. What has been your biggest success? having five people at general conference!

4. Who has been your favorite person this week? Why? jeffery r holland, because even in spanish, the man has great power.

5. What has been your most significant tender mercy? having the opportunity to even sit and listen to general conference, and being able to sing and listen to the hymns. there is just great power in music.

6. What are you looking forward to this coming week? actually having people in the streets to talk with, after a week of nobody...

7. Do you have a goal set for this coming week? this week i have a goal to do an act of service, something small, for someone each day.

8.Which scripture has had the biggest impact on you this week? doctrine and covenants 6:32-37:  Verily, verily, I say unto you, as I said unto my disciples, where two or three are gathered together in my name, as touching one thing, behold, there will I be in themidst of them—even so am I in the midst of you. Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. Behold, I do not condemn you; go your ways and sinno more; perform with soberness the work which I have commanded you. Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit thekingdom of heaven. Amen.

may god be with you til i write again

hermana graves