29 de Febrero 2016

leap day!

this week was actually long. which is not normal on the mission. and let me tell you why!

tuesday was an adventure. we started the afternoon off with some really delicious 

potato salad, with beets, eggs, carrots, and potatoes.yumm... we had some plans to 

help nelson, a young man about my age, get baptized this weekend, but when we 

got there to do an interview, we had some troubles finding him. so we went and 

contacted some less actives while we waited for him to get back to the house. while 

entering a less active´s home, the neighbor started screaming that he was going to 

call the police because he had a signed document saying that we weren´t allowed to

 be there. funny, because i had never met the man. while saying the closing prayer, 

he came running out, screaming and shouting that we were violating the law and that 

he was going to call the police. the less active and her daughter came running to the 

door to try and hide us and while the cranky old man went running in the get said 

document, we made a speedy exit. come to find out that nelson was sleeping and so 

we made a ¨quick¨ visit to carlos´s house to verify everything. (quick note, nelson and 

carlos literally live on opposite ends of our area...) but we made it, like an hour late, but 

he was waiting for us, book of mormon out and the seats all ready. it was soo adorable. 

we taught him the gospel of jesus christ, and then were on the run back out to meet with 

nelson. all in vain, because nelson had gotten drunk on sunday after we had called him 

and left for rivas on wednesday morning.... fallen baptismal date for this weekend. what a day.

wednesday was a weird day because we did our weekly planning session. we had our lesson 

with carlos to verify some commandments and some loose ends for the baptism this saturday. 

a member, sister maria esther, even let us use her patio to have the lesson because the church 

was closed.

thursday we spent all day in managua practically. we had a multizone meeting with Elder Ochoa, 

the first counselor in the Central America Area Presidency. talk about a neat experience. there

 just aren´t words for the all the questions that i got answered. i got a package and got to share 

some valentine´s day love from the family with the whole zone. (don´t worry, the m&m´s stayed

 in my and sister naumu´s control...) we had some quick lessons and then had to call it a day. i 

was so exhausted that night that i was literally falling asleep in our less active lessons....

friday was a busy day, starting with sister naumu´s magical rain poncho. she had a lot of fun trying 

it on, and i busted a gut the entire time... a district meeting, and then going to work, trying to make 

up for numbers and to get things ready for the baptism. but we were able to find a member reference 

and have a great opportunity to teach the restoration to them. then it was an emergency trip out to 

carlos because he couldn´t make it to el rosario, where we taught him the plan of salvation. he was 

waiting for us, even if we did have to have the lesson sitting on the curb.

saturday, my companion completed two weeks without a voice. the nurse said that it should 

be coming back any day now, so she prescribed some mucinex to help with the cough for now. 

then we got a call at 9am, ¨hermanas, no hay agua en la capilla.¨ translation, sisters there is no 

water in the chapel. AAHHHH. start the search with the bishop for water **here**. the district 

leader came and got lost in our area trying to help us sign our baptism record, and was able 

to help us organize with the zone leaders to have carlos´s baptism with them at the same time. 

the only member we had from el rosario present was the ward mission leader, but i am not going 

to complain. it was super last minute. it was raining, but i didn´t have to shout over the rain this 

time. by some miracle, we got everything figured out and CARLOS GOT BAPTIZED! repeat, 

we had a baptism. see attached gleaming photos, please. then it was back to work, and to run 

some errands, which proved pointless because the medicine was rancid... gotta love nicaraguans.

sunday was a joy because we had a confirmation. carlos is now a member! but we also didn´t 

have progressing investigators in church, so now we have to work double time and smarter to 

prepare for march. also, yesterday my first convert, Andy, completed his first year as a member. 

the missionaries in loma linda tell me he is still firm and steadfast in church. :)

today, we had a district activity, so we went to lunch and played soccer. this is our fail at a 

championship football team picture. three latins and six wannabes. whatcha gonna do?

2 timothy 2:3-4

::Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth 

entangleth himself with the affairs of this life;that he may please him who hath chosen him to 

be a soldier.::

lots of love,

hermana graves

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 07 de Diciembre

the biggest challenge, continues to be the itching. but thanks to some 

doctor´s loving guidance, i know that i have some mosquito bites infected 

from itching and letting them stay opened. i have now repented, and am 

on a new medicine cycle for the itching, with diligent applicance of bug spray!

some goals... get used to a new house! we changed houses from a little 

room, to a cute little house with hot running water and everything. 

welcome to el rosario´s cutest little house ever. and it´s all ours for only a 

hundred a month. love it!

a scripture for you from the old testament. to go with the church´s campaign 

for christmas, a savior is born, from isaiah 9:6
::For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall 

be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, 

The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.::

please go to christmas.mormon.org and share the two videos with your friends. 

the animation personally is better than the video, but they both have a powerful 

message for us this time of the year.

favorite people: the cute javiera and mariela. they are soo great to help us with 

divisions, and help us get the work done here in el rosario. especially at seven am 

on sunday mornings to bring investigators to church. such dolls!

a tender mercy... the elders who helped us move houses all without using a truck 

up until the very end. they moved almost all the heavy/hard stuff by themselves 

and gladly accepted a glass of coca cola and some cookies as recompense.

i love this time of year. make sure that you give lots of hugs to your family, because 

there will never be a christmas quite like this. i love you!

hermana graves