el 14 de Septiembre

another change has come and gone, which marks me at eight months in the mission. this change i will go over the hill, and i have mixed feelings about it all!

a big success... we brough eight people to church yesterday! exceeding the normas, people! whatcha gonna do.... when they come... the missionaries!

a tender mercy... wednesday we went adventuring into the extremities (sp!?) of our area, looking for less actives. we found one... reading his scriptures. it touched my heart to see him, and when we called "buenas!" (their greeting here), looked at us, and proceeded to get all teary eyed. he's been a member for more than fifteen years, and has been less active for almost a year. he has a strong testimony, but has had some unfortunate things happen in his life that have pulled him away from the church. it was raining wednesday, we got lost in a bus, and almost left zone boundaries in the search, but the lord knew that hermano carlos needed our visit. just another testimony that it all works out for the best. even if you scare your junior companion into thinking that we have to walk more than five kilometers back into granada...

we had a lot of fun doing each other's hair one night while we were waiting for dinner. i'll give you a hint, this is a man. (a gay man, but a man.)

oh to have his hair....

some favorite people... we had the opportunity to work with our zone leader and his two children.   we visited karla, and her son jose, and had a lot of fun watching the little two year old wash the dirty clothes in the dirt... mom and grandma have taught him well! (this picture didn't load)

a goal this week, walk without killing myself. last sunday night i tripped while having a foot race with a couple of investigators. at first, i treated it like any other wound, making sure that it was clean and i put some antibacterial cream on it and everything. needless to say, tuesday it was all oozy and pussy and we ended up having to call the nurse. a hydrogen peroxide torture wash later and a week of the same treatment, it has stopped oozing and i am able to have full flexibility again. it still hurts, but there we are! (picture didn't load)

a favorite scripture... 1 corithians 3. one of the councils that our zone leader gave us is that we need to make sure that we are feeding our investigators the milk first, and slowly adding in the meat. i read this chapter in my studies today and finally understood what he meant. i know that i was called to this area for a reason, and i have learned some valuable lessons here, now to just find out what it all boils down to.

this week we have changes, and prayers that nothing happens. i know that everything happens for a reason, and if we have faith in the lord's timing, everything will work out for the best.

hermana graves

el 20 de Julio

this week was a rollercoaster. friday i got sick, with one of those 

moments that you just want to curl up in a ball, and never move. 

but the thought of curling up in a ball is painful, and it was just 

awful. i took some pepto bismol and some tums to help relieve 

the pressure in my stomach, but it just got worse and by lunch-

time i was in tears from the pain. i called the enfermera (or the 

mission nurse) and she prescribed me some drugs to buy at the 

pharmacy. they didn't immediately take away the pain, but they 

definitely helped! by saturday afternoon, i was in one piece again, 

ready to go to work. 

our biggest challenge continues to be bringing six people to 

church. this sunday we can blame a nationwide party in 

managua for the foundation day of one of their policital parties. 

the political party pays for the gas so that the buses can bring 

people to managua. starting saturday night, every two hours of

 so, a train of buses left for managua to gather, so that sunday 

afternoon they could be present when the president spoke. can

i tell you how frustrating it is, and how spiritually devestating it 

is to only bring two people to church when another set of 

missionaries brought 14?! yeah, it's very humbling. and my

 investigators aren't going to know what hit them when the

 machete drops this week. 

our goals for this week: work with the members.

a favorite person: the sweet enfermera who was calm, when i was 

in pain. she sent me a message with the drugs names, because 

there was no hope of me writing the names down correctly.

a sweet moment this week... yesterday i was sitting in sacrament 

meeting in the middle of four little kids, a recent convert and his 

brother, and our two investigators. they are only ten years old, 

so it was difficult for them to pay attention, so i handed them 

my gospel principles book and for the strength of youth so that 

they could look at the pictures. one of our investigators, about 

five minutes later, asked me "hermana, que es este?" which is 

spanish for "sister, what is this?" which pointing to a picture 

of the salt lake temple. i quietly explained that it was a temple, 

a sacred place that she could enter when she was baptized. 

she sweetly asked me for the book so that she could have the 

picture. i told her that it was my book, but if she would like, 

i could give her another picture of the same temple for her 

own. sweet little girl, wants to be baptized but a mother who 

baptized her catholic, doesn't want to let her get baptized 

again. prayers?

speaking of prayers... it's something we do about ten bajillion 

times a day. and i was reading today in luke, about the last 

supper. the Lord turns to simon peter and says, 

::but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when 
thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.::

the lord has prayed for us, that we may be strong. and 

have the strength one day, to lift another. 

food for thought.

lots of love, 

hermana graves

our district!

elder agustin (guatemala, district leader), 

elder jungers (california)

hermana day (idaho), hermana quezda (el salvador); 

hermana martinez (el salvador) and me; 

hermana suret (guatemala), hermana mejia (guatemala)

Here are some pictures of Janelle's apartment

in Granada, Nicaragua

a real shower!

el 08 de Junio

what a week, but one worthwhile.

we really struggled this week to manage our time well, and partly
due to the fact that douglas, who we will discuss later, lives in the 
other extreme of our area, and is like a wandering dog, not always 
in the house. and as part of it all, we have to visit our investigators 
each day the week before their baptism because the spirit of 
temptation is the strongest, so we chased the wandering dog each 
day and helped him find a home to stay in the Church of Jesus Christ 
of Latter-day Saints.

after sunday, we were really concerned about hermanos roberto
and veronica, a couple who are investigating the church. roberto 
has problems with alcohol, and for fifteen days he resisted all of 
the temptations to drink. but last sunday morning, all ready for 
church, he sat with liquor in his hands. so, saturday we gave him 
this: 

his personal calendar to count the coming 21 days to his baptismal
date. here, investigators have to attend church three times, and go 
for at least two weeks without alcohol or cigarettes before they can 
be baptized, hence the importance of the coming three weeks and 
his recovery from this addiction.​

another great success, would have to include helping this little
guy into the waters of baptism, as the pioneer of his family. his 
brother will be baptized next week, and his parents are starting 
to open up to listening to our message for themselves, so we 
may have a  wedding--baptism party again! (no Photo)

jose daniel and me, all ready for his confirmation the next day!
(picture didn't load from her)

a great tender mercy here is not having a fault of food. the
people here are humble, and also willing to share with us. they 
understand the principle that daniel taught, that if they share 
with the Lord's servants, they too will be blessed with the 
nourishment they need. this is usually what we receive for dinner:

eggs, rice, beans, and bread. something simple to show their
simple offering.

hermano neftali makes the list this week as favorite person,
because he cares enough to travel a great distance to travel 
another great distance to visit investigators. a great ward 
mission leader!

this week i did a little study about the cross that christ asks us
to take upon ourselves in matthew 10:38-39

::And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not
worthy of me. He who seeketh to find his life shall lose it: and he 
that sacrificeth his life for my sake shall find it. He that receiveth 
you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that 
sent me.::

but what is this cross that we are asked to take? we read later in
matthew 16:24-26

::Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. And 
now for a man to take up his cross, is to deny himself all 
ungodliness, and every worldly lust, and keep my commandments. 
Break not my commandments for to save your lives; for whosoever 
will save his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come. And 
whosoever will lose his life in this world, for my sake, shall find it in 
the world to come. Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls; 
for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and  lose 
his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?::

take up our cross, deny yourself all ungodliness, keep the
commandments of the lord. 

and the next part is probably my favorite: break not my
commandments for to save your lives. for whosoever will save 
his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come. 

the lord invites us to take upon us our own responsibility and
take action. our salvation is individual. 

james e. talmadge says

::a cross was a symbol of ignominy, extreme suffering, and death.
however, should they lose their lives for His sake, they would find 
life eternal.::

the lord's grand promise is life eternal. take up your cross, and
come to him.

hermana graves