May 30th

VIEW OF CONDEGA
FROM THE TOP OF THE TOWER

In his letter this week, I asked him what he does as Branch President to prepare for church each week.

Well I don't have a ton of time today, sorry guys, but Sundays work a little like this.  We take the chairs to church.  We set it all up in this little house, and then we pass by our investigators.

TRANSPORTING CHAIRS TO CHURCH

We prepare the agenda a day before and sometimes Sunday morning if we forget.  During the week we ask people if they are willing to speak or do prayers, it's pretty cool. We actually got sick this week. We had the flu and my back kinda hurts, so that was a tough, but other than that we are doing good. We bought some food, and I had to go to Estelli.  This week has been a little stressful, but it's all good. I love you a ton!!!  

P-DAY WITH FRIENDS

We hung out here in Condega with our converts today.  We took pictures, went sight seeing, and ate carne asada at their house, it was really fun.  

(It's so nice to have access to the mission blogs in Nicaragua.  The nurse, Sister Bell, posted this in her blog after they went to Condega, and I sent it to Easton.)
The members meet every Saturday Evening for a group social, like a Family Home Evening. It was supposed to start at 5:30, but it didn’t start until after 6pm….. Nicaragua time. The Elders reviewed the Plan of Salvation, making it a game. It was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves. The Elders have a lot of energy, work well together, love the people and the people love them, especially the youth. 
This was his response when I asked him if he read that part of the letter.  Ya it made me feel happy.  We had a blast with the Bells when they came.  Hermana Bell is just like Grandma. It made me think about you guys a lot.

May 23rd

Hey guys,

DISTRICT HIKING TRIP

Everything is going good down here in Nicaragua. This week was awesome!!!!!! Even though we did not spend a ton of time in the area, we managed to make a difference with the help of the lord!!!! Something that I learned this week is that we gotta learn from the people we are with. I love my companion, but sometimes we fight because of differences of opinion.  

I'm a pretty prideful guy, and always think I'm right, so I have lost a lot of opportunities to learn from him. This week I have done my best to just let things go and be humble, to learn from my companion.  He has taught me to love the people and teach with true intent. This week, we learned together that to have the spirit in a lesson you gotta be listening to the needs of the people and you got go into it with joy. If we teach without happiness, without joy, without being excited, talking with the people and involving them with activities and examples, nobody will want to listen. We have found that as we better our way of teaching, the people commit and follow through more often and more easily. The Lord had blessed us immensely in these past weeks, and we will do our best to receive the blessings of the Lord here in Condega!!!!

Condega May 16th Family Baptism

Hey guys we had a killer week this week!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The family Benavidez got baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was super cool but a ton of work. We had to find a lawyer and get the papers together and on top of all that make sure everyone was ready for the baptism. In the end everything worked out, almost the entire branch showed up to the baptism. We took a bunch of photos.

After words we ate chicken with rice, pretty dope. We are very grateful for this family.  From the beginning, they have had the desire to get married and baptized, and have come a very long way. Hermana Nubia has been reading the Book of Mormon for 3 or 4 weeks, thanks to that, her testimony and desire to change has been solid. She took out her papers, she animated the family,  and thanks to her, we were able to have this miracle.

I know that anyone who reads the Book of Mormon will feel the power of the spirit and will know the truth. You don't have to read a ton. You don't have to understand everything, you just gotta have the desire to know and you're golden!!!