el primero de febrero 2016

this week was long. probably because we didn´t have lot of breaks, it was just 
go, go, go every moment. i finally had a good study this morning and i feel so 
much better. we worked with the sister leaders, we went to managua and were 
almost late for a meeting with president because of a traffic jam, we had a chat 
with our zone leaders about sister naumu´s health, what else. soo much more.

the next transfer date is not until march 9, so sister naumu and i still have some 

time together. :)

a favorite person this week... karen and keyling are making another appearance.

 it´s great to have some members who understand us and who have been on the 

mission before so that they can help us give us new ideas. last night, they came 

and picked up some stuff from our house, and we had fun taking pictures in the street... 

karen, hermana naumu (who doesn´t like pictures), keyling, and me.

big success, well. we made it to managua on tuesday in time and safely. we got 

stuck in a really bad traffic jam after an accident. lots of hurried cars and not a lot 

of room to keep the traffic moving, it took forever to get into managua. a forty 

five minute trip took us almost two hours.... 

tender mercy. i got to get better! we found out that the stomach pains i have been 

having are due to a little parasitic friend that i picked up, but thanks to some heavy 

duty, human approved parasite killers, i am feeling much better. it´s ruined my appetite 

for dinner, but i'm getting better.

the scripture that wins the title is doctrine and covenants 30. i read it this morning, 

and my head immediately turned it into a tiny little interview...

have i feared man more than God?

do i rely on them for strength, or do i rely on Him?

is my mind on the things of the earth or in the things of my Maker?

is my mind in the work i was called to do?

have i given heed to the spirit?

have i been persuaded by those of whom have not been commanded by my Maker?

do i fear in my moment to open my mouth?

do i head the words and advice of my leaders?

am i afflicted with my companion in her afflictions?

do i pray always?

am i diligent?

do i open my mouth to proclaim His gospel with the voice of a trump?

do i fear what man can do?

because the blessings are these::

i am with you

the power to build up His church among the Lamanites

an eternal life.

i know these things are true. we were called to be here in these days to share our testimonies.

love

hermana graves

el 23 de Noviembre

let´s just be real for a second. saturday i completed a year since i got 
my mission call. this time last year, i was telling the whole wide world 
that i was going to nicaragua for eighteen months. and here we are, 
almost eleven full months later. i have almost been away from home 
for a year... yikes people.

i am doing great! the medicine that the doctor helped a lot, and then 

i got permission to buy a cream especially meant to treat sarna, and 

that has done miracles to clear it all up. i continue to take benadryl to 

stay on top of the itching, but i am no longer calling attention to myself 

with all the itching. our ward mission leader noticed and gave me an 

antibacterial liquid that is supposed to help with the itching as well, 

sweet man. the parasite is something that i got from the mattress in 

granada, but the mission yes, had a doctor actually look at it in person

 because the first round of medicine didn´t do anything to calm the itching. 

the rash, with all the symptons that i had, were enough evidence to know

 that i had the parasite. with the conditions that are granada, it wasn´t 

overly surprising really.

the greatest success this week, would have to include the fact that we 

completed with all the normas. thanks to some great return missionaries, 

and willing sisters, we were able to do quick spurts of divisions with the 

members to cover more ground in less time. can i please ask all those that 

can, to please do divisions or visits with the missionaries like once a week. 

having that kind of support from the ward makes such a great difference in 

all aspects of the work.

a tender mercy... we were able to teach harold and his children about prayer, 

and it just went swimmingly. harold showed up to church four sundays ago, 

looking for a church where his kids could have a realtionship with their savior, 

and where they would have the opportunity to interact with clean kids... 

something every father wants, right? well, we have been focusing on only 

teaching this family with members because it just makes such a different in 

everything. we taught them about the power of prayer, and it was great to 

see the power of the spirit that was there to help us.

a favorite scripture: philippians 4:8

::Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, 

whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are 

lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there 

be any praise, think on these things.::

just remember that when we think after these things, we will be able to know 

our savior better. because these are his attributes.

::

a favorite person.. let´s go with the ward mission leader. his name is ricardo, and 

he is pretty much an optime of every missionary´s dream. he goes out looking 

for references for us, and when we were wating on thursday to have our weekly 

coorelation meeting, he was contacting the people that were passing by, helping 

us work as well as giving us a larger teaching pool. what an example... he reminds 

me a lot of grandpa bingham in his ability to talk about random church history 

and deep doctrinal topics, and the ability to capture you in a conversation for an 

hour.... amazing really. i attached a picture of the great man deep in thought. (yes,

 those would be his g´s hanging out... good ol´ nica for ya)

goals this week... be a better example for my companion. something that i have 

learned on my mission is that so much of your desire to do something has to do 

with what you see around you. if your companion doesn´t go to bed on time, it´s 

harder to do it. if your companion doesn´t do exercises, it´s almost impossible to 

have the will to do it. but when you do it, they will too. 

some challenges... getting through all the normas. but like i said early, thanks to 

some great ward members, we were able to complete! also, getting our investigators 

to church, but that is something that shows through because of our lack of work 

before sunday afternoon.

we celebrated hermana quezada´s birthday with cake! delicious, whipped 

creamed iced birthday cake... yummmmmmm

i love you guys so much, and make sure to remember about the christmas wish 

i have for you!

hermana graves