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 18 de Enero

this week was fun. we went to san juan del sur, or playa gigante to be more 

specific. we had lots of fun, and even made pancakes the morning of to be 

all ready to go. i loved it though. i found that one of the sisters who came 

with me here to nicaragua from the states, had to go home for some health 

problems. if you could get hermana cornell in your prayers, i am sure that 

would mean a lot. i got to chat it up with the sisters that i haven´t seen in a 

while, and take a three generation picture with my daughter. the last one that

 i will be able to take because mom dies on thursday.... which means that i am

 just one change closer to my own flight home. what is that!?

my companion´s spanish moving along. just keep praying. it´s hard to do 

sometimes.

a big success though. she actually said phrases without looking at me or 

doubting what she said. it was a little miracle. #proudmommymoment

a tender mercy. we were able to get a fecha and an baptismal interview put 

together for an eternal investigator. it is something that could still use a lot of 

prayers, but please. just keep yamil in your prayers as well.

a favorite scripture. john 16:33
::In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome 

the world.::

i loved working with our zone leaders and having fun with our whole mission on 

wednesday. it´s great to have a personal connection with our elders and sisters in 

our district so that we can all be helpful one to another. but this picture turned out 

pretty sick of my favorite person, hermana naumu.

goals: have a baptism. complete with the normas. work with the members.

pretty much normal.

lots of love from sunny nicaragua.

hermana graves

because who doesn´t like a good ol´ el sol picture at the beach.. 

el 12 de Octubre

this week was a little bit of a roller coaster. we went to managua on tuesday and ended up spending almost all day in managua, i.e. we only had an hour to go to work. repeat, we had less than an hour of work. to all my missionary friends, you know what that means.

my investigators are progressing well, with one looking really postive for this weekend. lots of prayers that she can get her reassurance that this really is the truth.

my greatest success... i slept with a mosquito net and didn't suffocate. let me explain: the mission gave us mosquito nets and made it obligatory to sleep with them. although my mom had sent me one at the beginning of my mission, i never ever got my life together enough to pull it out of the package and hang it up. well, wednesday morning that we had to do. turns out that i have a little bit of clostrophia, but i made it to bed without too many problems. here's to not getting bit by a bed bug at night!

 one of my goals for the coming week is to become a more consacrated missionary. it's one of the things that we talked about during our meeting in managua on tuesday and i really look forward to putting it all into practice for the last half of my mission.... wait for it. that's right, you read it right...

i have been out on the mission nine months. 

crazy right?!

a favorite person... the person that decided to put a twist on minute to win it games and allow us to play them during our multi-zone meeting on tuesday. zona granada put it in the bag, eating five oreos, removing the tissues the fastest, and moving the cups the fastest.... 

elder mataalii and elder hartley, our zone leaders... sharing the load to work the hardest

hermana chi, strengthening her facial muscles to make a smile ;)

(this picture didn't load- oh,how I wish it had though) and me, working on who knows what... but just take a second and look at how much i look like my mother in this picture.... thank you..

a favorite scripture, lost but then again found in second corithians 5:6-7, 

::Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: For we walk by faith, not by sight.::

while we are away from the lord, may we take confidence and walk by our faith, nothing wavering, to be led back home to him.

i know that this work is true, and may we all look for ways to share our lights with others

hermana graves