Solutions

Another week in the life of this missionary has flown by! I was thinking about how weird it is that we are in September now, which is just so strange of a concept for me. I remember last September as if it were yesterday. So bizarre that so much time has passed by. Also, Ben is at BYU starting his first Fall Semester...that was me 2 years ago. Ahhhhh! I am getting old. And let's face the facts, I'm getting bald and thin. I think that old age has already set in. ;) But I'm still just as cute as ever. Hahaha.

My new companion is from San Francisco, California (well, Concord to be exact). He is Tongan. He's pretty big, I feel even shorter now. His name is Elder Taufa. We have had a rather crazy week this week. Hopefully things will be semi normal this week. We did baptize a large family (in number, not size of people). There were seven people in this one family. And it would have been two families, but one of the women decided to go rebellious on us. We'll try to prepare her for this week. I don't let people run away from me too easily.

My companion and Elder Lundquist's companion left on Tuesday morning so we worked together Tuesday and Wednesday and my companion came Thursday afternoon. It was very hot. He came from the city of Matagalpa (the mountains), so he was a little shocked by the heat he felt when he got here, but he's been a trooper about it.

I am excited about this change and the new challenges and trials that await me. I know that changes are still rather bothersome, but I am getting used to being in a constant whirl of change. The constants: the people, the missionaries, the Gospel. However, the variants are strange and unpredictable: emotions, culture, understanding, etc. I am glad that I am adapting to other people's needs and wants and that I am learning to solve problems. Another fantastic realization. Generally when there's something that needs to get done, or there's a problem that needs to get fixed, people come to me. It is a truly humbling thing because it teaches me to listen, respect and love; it also teaches me that sometimes I really do not have any answers and that divine help is what I really need. Sure I may get tiffed at times when I get like five problems thrown at me at one time, yet I step back (figuratively, of course) and think, "This opportunity will never come again. How should you act? How do you want to remember this situation, with regret or with joy?" I try to keep myself in line.

We are preparing a fun baptismal activity this week. We might go to a little community about 5 km. away to go to a little pond to baptize. The goal is a family per area, or 9 families as a Zone. Now, this is not too difficult in theory considering the monthly baptismal statistics for this zone per month. Lately, however, things have been happening and the zone has been slipping into a little bit of a hard time. Some of it is due to the people we teach and other uncontrollable circumstances, while others like pride, disunity, and selfishness lead us father away from the miraculous successes we've been experiencing here. I am also trying to get like 5 men to receive the Aaronic Priesthood this week. That is so crucial for activity in the church here.

Receiving the Priesthood here allows the people to actually get to know the Branch President and receive a responsibility. The only problem out here is finding ties and white shirts. We try to make sure that the men have ties and white shirts, but they are very hard to find. I have found a place that sells used ties for $1, but the shirts are almost impossible to find.

Okay...so there are some ways you all could try and help the people out here a little bit. Saving one of those used white shirts that your husbands or sons never wears, getting rid of some of the ugly ties they decide to buy from China for $2 just for the bargin. Save those things, ask people in your wards, or your neighborhoods to do the same. Then, put them in a nice carboard box and send them out here! Also, out here, due to local circumstances, the Church provides a year's subscription to the Liahona for 20 codobas, or $1 (like 92 cents really). If you would like to help, talk to my mother about how to donate even a dollar to this fund. Then, I will make an order from Nicaragua for the Branches I help out. Two service opportunities, little sacrifice, HUGE meaning to these humble members and missionaries living out here.

Have a great week! Read your scriptures. Read with your families and spouses. Discuss how you feel and what you learn from the scriptures with the ones you love and you will be doing your own kind of missionary work! Pray hard. Serve even harder. Act. Decide. Be.

Love, Elder B