el 07 de Marzo 2016

first off, happy birthday mommy!

Today was a lot of fun, we went to Nandaime, Granada and had a lot of fun 

playing kickball, SOFTBALL, and just rocking out to some (sshhhhh) Disney music. 

It was a great day. We had lots of actual lunch meat sandwiches, Pringles, and Pepsi 

for lunch. well played Elders, well played.

a favorite person this week, the zone leaders. they are always lots of help and 

encouraging us, and it´s something that has been really interesting to see because

 Elder Mataalii has literally been in the same zone and/or one of my leaders for my 

entire mission. repeat, the 14 months (today, i complete them!), that i have been in 

Nicaragua, we have been together. just so many things that have happened. 

a tender mercy. we were able to find some really great new investigators, but 

unfortunately none of them came to church. the opportunity to fast (for what could be 

the last time) for el rosario was a humbling experience because we were able to see the 

lord´s hand in it all. when we really do sacrifice it all, he can be there to help us along the 

long and dusty paths of nicaragua.

a favorite scripture... which to choose.

james 1:5-6

::If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth 
not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth 
is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.::

let us not be moved like the waves of the sea.

goals for this week... i have to be better about giving less information in lessons. now that i 

understand people, and have a relatively good grasp on the spanish language, i can express 

all of those deep feelings that i have; and sometimes i information download instead of 

explaining it effectively.

i love you all, and i can´t believe the time is flying by!

hermana graves

el 15 de Febrero

This letter had to be resent from our missionary because there was an
issue with the ldsmail server this week and we didn't get it the first time.

this week i will celebrate one year in nicaragua.... what is this, people? time is just 

going by waaayyy too fast.

this week was one of the harder ones of my mission. after monday´s excursion into 

managua, we got back to a chilly el rosario, and after all day in managua´s oppressive 

heat, it put my companion in a bad health state. tuesday we spent almost all day in

 the house, while my companion tried to keep her internal organs inside and tried not 

to die because of the pain. i was able to leave her in the capable hands of some 

members for a few hours in the early evening so that i could cover some appointments, 

but she was still doing rough. wednesday wasn´t much better, although the overall 

body aches were gone. the nurse is still confused on why all this happened because the 

only test that came back positive was one for a UTI. thursday and friday continued to 

be bad, and saturday and sunday were worse because she lost her voice due to a throat 

infection... a mute, struggling companion makes sister graves a very stressed sister 

missionary. pray for us?

favorite person... the eskimo guy on thursday. it was my companion´s first day back 

in the field after three hard days in bed, and the day got a little bit better because 

there was just enough money to have some ice cream. sister naumu´s first in nicaragua!

some goals this week, prepare our investigators for baptism. we have some people

 preparing for this next week who are looking strong. lots of prayers for us?

i do think that i will be a part of the next transfers, and it´s something that will be majorly 

dependent one what happens with my companion´s health. if she doesn´t get better soon,

it´s possible that they will send her home to get better and then allow her to come back.

 if she doesn´t get better, it´s almost a given that i will be leaving the area. but that´s still 

a little under a month away, so i´m not too worried about it. today is the halfway point 

for the change, and it will be interesting to see what happens. 

i am doing well, just extremely stressed out about my companion, the area, and our 

relationship with the ward. with these new standards of excellency, it´s been a real blessing 

to see how much we really can do. it´s hard to do just a little bit more each day, but the 

lord makes it all possible.

this week´s scripture comes from the 26th chapter of 2 nephi.

first, verses twelve and thirteen, and then verses twenty-three and four...

::And as I spake concerning the convincing of the Jews, that Jesus is the very Christ, it 

must needs be that the Gentiles be convinced also that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal 

God; And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power 

of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty 

miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith. For 

behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in darkness. 

He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, 

even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he 

commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.::

he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. for he loveth the world, 

even that he layeth down his own life. he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in 

him, by the power of the holy ghost.

i know that this is true.

be strong, only believe. and he shall manifest himself unto you.

hermana graves

side note. look at this dog´s eyes and tell me that he doesn´t look like an alien. this photo is real

sister naumu´s first ice cream!

el 7 de septiembre

that's a mouthful... septiembre... aah! today marks eight months in the mission... i can't believe that i'm almost to the halfway hump. yikes!

this week? a biggest achievement! seven investigators in church! i will never cease to see the miracles that come when we put our faith in the Lord and then go and work for our goals. i have always been one of those people who believes that if you want something done, you pray and then you go and work for it. and if it doesn't work out, it wasn't meant to be. this week, we prayed, fasted, and then went to work to bring eight people to church. of a list of 16 people, we brought five planned and had two unexpectedly. not going to complain!

a biggest challenge continues to be to find new investigators. we had the opportunity to have interviews with President Russell on tuesday, and i expressed my concern about our area. thursday afternoon we worked with the district leaders in our area, and then worked with the hermana leaders (like a zone leader, but just with the sisters) on friday. what an amazing opportunity. our teaching pool in those two days doubled, going from six little fishies to fourteen! yippeeee!! there is still room for improvement, but the ball is rolling again.

three generations: my mama, me, my baby girl!

favorite person... hermanito efrain. he is a young man who was baptized in january of this year. little kid is a strong example for the entire branch, and for that, the entire mormon church. he shows up two hours early for church. TWO hours early, so that he can be on time, ready to pass the sacrament, and to help with whatever else. this sunday, he brought his mamita (his grandma) to church all by hisself. i was such a proud missionary.

this week i was studying through the book of mormon, looking for specifically how it testifies of Jesus Christ. i had the opportunity to read mosiah 12-16. i invite everyone to read these five chapters tonight. wherever you are in your reading of the book of mormon. pause it, read it, and tell me that chapter 14 does not just absolutely change your life. 

welcome to granada! where the greenga and the loca roam the streets inviting you to change your lives forever

a tender mercy? getting to see julia and elmer be baptized. julia and elmer were going to be our golden family for august. but because of family problems due to elmer's old habits, they decided to move to a little colony in the boonies... of the area of the zone leaders. not okay! but friday night, elder mattallii (one of our zone leaders) called us and cordially invited us to the baptism and wedding of a special couple. sister liberato about cried. saturday afternoon we bought a cake, and had the grand adventure of making it to the chapel on time for the baptism. we unfortunately missed the wedding, but were able to be there to support them in their baptism. i won't be able to report this baptism to president, but their names are going in front of my preach my gospel. and that's final. (her pictures of this event didn't load)

as always, we always look for adventures. forty cords was looking really pricey, so we went looking for a bus to get back to our area. while walking to the bus stop, we saw a member and her family in their little toyota pickup leaving the market. i shouted "where are you headed?" "the house!" paola shouted back... "dela pues!" and away we crawled into the back of a pickup. no shame, no gain!

this week, i look forward to getting back into the habit of studying a little bit of the scriptures each night and writing in my journal. i have gotten into the bad habit of falling asleep while waiting for our leaders to call, and i need to get away from that. it's causing me to wake up in the middle of the night.... ugh..

                                                                                 i love you all!

hermana graves