August 17th La Paz de Centro

Well guys this change has officially begun, and I'm with Elder Lopez for another 6 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We are super pumped for this change and we plan to make a lot of changes to the way we do things. This week went pretty well. Elder Lopez and I found out how difficult it is to work with families who want to get married and want to get baptized BUT literally do not have money to eat, let alone take out papers and pay for a lawyer. We have been working with Hermano Felipe and his wife Hermana Margarita for a while now. They have been to church and are still working towards their baptismal goal in the end of the week. We also have a family in Killombo that is going to get baptized this month. It is a mom with her three kids. We have been passing by their house for 3 or 4 weeks now. The mom has always been firm in her goal to get baptized along with her youngest son Kevin. Sometimes they want to listen sometimes they want to get baptized, but not until yesterday did things change. Yesterday, we passed by their house to see how they have been. We began with simple small talk. Talked about the mish , their family, the work of the mom. Eventually the small talk led to tithing and fasting because the oldest son asked us what are the things that he needs to do to go on a mission. We told him its simple, first you need to get baptized then pay tithing and fast offerings, go to church and talk with the president of the branch and stake. After a year he can go on a mission. This led to a short lesson on tithing and the sabbath day, really we talked about the powerful promises God has for us if we keep doing the basics. This family has been struggling for years to keep their heads above the water financially. She has told us on multiple occasions that she is always stressed and always looking for ways to work and find more money because the things she is doing just aren't good enough. We shared some thoughts of ours with her because we always pray for her family, think about her family, study for her family, and look for ways to help her out. My companion shared his thoughts and I shared mine. Guys!!!! I saw the gift of tongues man!!!. I will be honest I struggle to speak Spanish. I do everything possible to better my Spanish, but it's a lot of work, and I am not super talented with it.  BUT, I was able to speak my thoughts clearly to the family and I didn't use words that were crazy or new. The experience was not magical. My mind was cleared, and I was able to think clearly about the problems this family had and about the words I needed to use to communicate the message I needed to communicate. We continued to talk  afterwords, and in the end everyone had tears in their eyes due to the spirit that was present. In the end the oldest son told us with conviction that he was going to get baptized with his mom. I won't forget that experience and I am very grateful for the divine help I received so that we could help this family.

So, our investigators have a well by their house but there is no water in the well. The family throws garbage into the well and when they do that smoke erupts from it. It turns out the well is surrounded by lava but is not directly exposed to it  and gets super hot inside. The family told us that during the civil war here in Nicaragua people threw bodies and dead animals into the well to burn them.

Also my comp and I got pretty sick this week. When we were talking with some less actives I felt the urge to puke. After a couple minutes of pacing back and forth in the street I let loose.

Post Sick Pic

The members gave me some Alca Seltzer with lime and we headed back to the house. The next morning I pounded a bunch of Powerade to flush out my system. We thought it was because of the large amount of rice and beans we've been eating.  MY COMPANION AND I HAVE SKIPPED LUNCH FOR THE PAST 4 DAYS BECAUSE OUR BODIES CAN'T TAKE IT!!!!  It's all chill though, we are back on the pulperia diet of Ritz crackers, Oreos, and bread.

This next photo is our area and a pulperia.  We buy snacks and drinks at the pulperia.  We don't have things to cook with.  No worries, we don't get sick that often. Pretty much everyday is like we are camping.  Oh my gosh I miss your cooking so bad, the other day I smelled pancakes and I almost died!! We do have a new lunch cita though, and she's great.

You asked for a photo of a banana tree.

Got to go, 
Love You