September 19th Chinandega Elder Mendez

This week was pretty good, so I'm sure all of us have had our times where we get used to doing the same things over and over again and over time we just get kind of lazy.  Then there comes a moment where we do a bunch of exercises, it kills our lungs, body, and everything. I know we have all experienced that before, that's basically what happened this week, but I'm talking about missionary work. NOW HOLD ON, I haven't been super lazy but I will admit I have lost the love for working and when my new companion Elder Mendez came I was struggling to keep up. Elder Mendez is a fire spitting animal and he's helping me get back to working super hard. The best part of the week was when we did a competition as a mission to see how many fechas and baptisimal invites we could do in one day.  Our zone got second place with 47 fechas put in one day!!!!!! Elder Mendez and I invited 100 people to get baptized.  It may seem easy, but on average we ask around 15 people to get baptized daily, so it was a big jump. THIS WEEK WE ALSO had a competition between districts. At the end of the week, the district with the most fechas had to invite the other district to Chinese foood. Our district lost, but we managed to see a ton of the missionaries get super animated and start working super hard. This is something i havent seen in them for a very long time. I am very thankful for Elder Mendez, as he is helping me a lot, and helping our zone a lot. I know that this week we are going to work extra hard and we're are going to do even better, we were only warming up this week don't worry guys!!!!

Questions for the week:
How are your converts and investigators doing?
Think of things you would show us or share with us if we were there.

How has your testimony grown, or where have you seen the Lord's hand in the things you are trying to accomplish.

The investigators are doing great and the recent converts as well. It's awesome here, if you bring members to the lessons, the people get baptized much faster, and they go to church by themselves before and after the baptism, it's pretty awesome!!! If you guys were here I would take you to the familia Mungia and hang out with them.  Then I would take YOU GUYS TO EAT PUPUSAS!!!!!   This week I have seen the Lords hand with my companion, before Elder Mendez came I was super disanimated and super tired, but Elder Mendez came FULL OF ENERGYand ready to work.  We worked super hard this week and kicked but as a companionship and as a zone.  I am so thankful for Elder Mendez.  He is definitely a blessing from God!!!

September 12th Chinandega

Hey guys, This week went  very well, we managed to have a miracle. One of the people we have been teaching got baptized but!!! you gotta hear the story. So, two weeks ago she set the goal to get baptized, but days later her little son died tragically. We lost her for an entire week. We looked and looked but could not find her. It was a very difficult time for all of us.  On Wednesday of this week, we finally found her. We could tell she was not doing well. We talked with her for a while, and tried to help her. She told us that more than anything she was confused and didn't not know what was going to happen to her son. We explained that her son would go to the spirit world to rest and learn about the gospel so that he could accept the help of the savior. She understood, but we felt that it was not enough. We felt the need to teach her about the Holy Ghost, and about how it is a comforter and a source of support that is constant. This time she understood and we could see that the spirit touched her heart. We asked if she wanted to follow through with her goal in order to receive the Holy Ghost, and without doubt she said yes!!!! It was an awesome experience and truly was a miracle.  I love sharing the gospel!

September 5th Chinandega

Hey guys,

This week was very difficult. On Sunday I was not able to partake of the scarament, so that kinda brought the whole week down spiritually. Throughout the week I haven't really been able to study. which also brought things down. Basically, the entire week was just low on the spirit. We worked, but no one really wanted to receive us. On Saturday, we did a fast to end the month, and Sunday morning I was dieing guys, just a whole bunch of things not going right. BUT,  I learned a valuable lesson, if we don't partake of the sacrament the portion of the spirit that we are given is greatly diminished. When I finally partook of the scarment this Sunday it wasn't something great and marvelous, but I found the motive to keep working, I found the energy and the hope that I had been lacking the entire week. I also learned the importance of scripture study. For  me, when things don't go right, I get disanimated and frustrated, and as I read the scriptures, the spirit guides me so that I can resolve my problems and have peace in my life. I basically didn't study this week. and a whole bunch of trials went by so everything just kinda flopped guys. BUT WE ARE THINKING POSTIVE THIS WEEK WE ARE GOING TO BE AWESOME LIKE WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE BEFORE, NO EXCUSES ONLY SUCCESS, WE HAVE LEARNED A HARD LESSON AND WE ARE GOING TO PUT INTO TO PRACTICE WAHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE YOU GUYS

ELDER SCAGGS THINKS HIS SMILE IS BETTER WITH HIS TONGUE OUT :)

August 29th Chinandega Oste Elder Cedeno

Hey everybody,
I haven't written in a while, my bad. It was a computer problem but no worries. This week went pretty well, but pretty stressful. Throughout the week we had the semana misional, which is a bunch of activities to bring more people to church. It was really fun and we managed to find a whole bunch of people, so that was a great blessing. On Tuesday, we had a talent show.  Elder Cedeño and I, the Hermanas Atifale and Muños, sang Hakuna Matata  super goofy and crazy. Elder Cedeño and I can't sing at all, so we kind of just joked around singing.  The hermanas sing amazingly, so it was a cool combo.   Everyone loved it, everyone laughed, and it felt really nice to have the activity with the ward. On  Saturday, we had a baptism.  Three were going to get baptized, but one of them decided not to go through with it. It was her decision and everything but it stunk to hear that she didn't want to get baptized. Afterwords, I felt super stressed and disanimated. The whole day was just filled with dumb stuff that disanimted me and my companion, but Elder Cedeño did something super awesome that taught me so much. Instead of complaining he just smiled. I know he was way more stressed than me and all he did was smile and focus on the other people, messing with them making them laugh. That night there was a birthday and we helped out with the party. We did everything we could to forget about the disnimo and focus on the other people. I have never learned to do this and I am super grateful because Elder Cedeño taught me how to do it and taught me that when we focus on other people our problems disappear and we are much much more happy. 

August 22nd Chinandega Oste Elder Cedeno

Questions:
What problem did you overcome, and how?
What miracle happened his week or what worked that you didn't think would work?
Who touched your spirit in a positive way, who did you see that you haven't seen in a while?

This week I was feeling pretty disanimated and thinking about home a lot. To counteract it I set goals to work more. For example,  I do my best to give away at least 2 Book of Mormons each day and invite 5 people to get baptized. There are a few other goals, but it helps me focus and enjoy the mission, instead of thinking about home all the time. This week the goals were a miracle for me. It helped me a ton  by getting rid of my stress, and it helped me have fun and feel accomplished. We also had a miracle on Sunday. One of our investigators came to church and he loved it. That was something that I haven't seen in a while in fact.  Roger came to church because he felt as though he needed more blessings and work in his life. He told us that he recognized that he was not doing the things that the Lord wanted him to do, and that he was committed to making a change.

HEY EVERYBODY!
The week went really well. We were able to see a ton of miracles during the week. In our area we managed to see Hermano Roger go to church after a whole bunch of time not knowing what he should do. The zone is doing good but we need to do a little better, work a little harder, we will work on it. We also began working with the mom of one of our recent converts. Her name is Ester and she is cool.  She's got a  few things to work out here and there.

I got to go though, but next week I'll write a bigger letter.

August 15th Chinandega Oste

I look forward to this day throughout the week. Not much has changed since becoming a zone leader, just a lot more things like papers we gotta send. We work a lot with the stake leaders and bishops. We also make sure that our missionaries don't do anything bad. My favorite part about being a zone leader is that my companion and I are examples, which means we both want to be obedient to the rules and we almost never fight about it. Earlier in my mission, sometimes I would get in arguments with my companions because they wanted to do the stupidest stuff and didn't want to work. Everyone helps me in this position.  I've learned that being a zone leader doesn't mean that you're the baddest of the bad.  It just means that you've been called to manage a zone, and be an example, which means work hard and stay clean. I really gotta hand it to our missionaries, they work hard and they baptize. We rarely have to call them to see what problems they are having. More than anything, the missionaries are those who make the zone successful! Well, this week I learned how to be solid with my decisions. As zone leader, you gotta be tough with the missionaries. No means no. If it's against the rules we can't do it. We have had to call a few people out smoothly.  

Alright guys I don't have much time to write, but this week I gotta give a shout out to the zone, they killed it. Everyone is working their buts off and baptizing good and steady. Elder Cedeño and I are good.  I know we need to work a lot harder, but we have plans to kill it this week. The Lord has blessed us a ton and we are seeing the effects of fasting every week. Every day this week we have found someone, they stop us on the street wanting to go to church and wanting us to pass by their house. It's clear that not everyone is like this, but the Lord is blessing us with a ton of people.

Love you guys!!!!

Zone Leader Chindega Oste August 8th

Easton and his previous companion, Elder Thackeray

This is in response to our family letter to Easton.  I asked him these questions.
Have you seen any of the people you knew when you were last in Chinandega?
Do you have bucket showers again?
You were in this area a long time, and you are a different person now, how?
Share some little ways the Lord has helped you with your missionary work.

When I got the call to be Zone Leader I was super nervous and I have been super nervous this entire week. In the end it all worked out really well. Mom, I cannot thank you enough, you're like the blood of the family. You keep us alive and keep us moving and keep everybody happy, thank you so much for writing me every week of the mission. You are one of the few who have managed to do it!!!! Dude, I actually found someone from my old area, his name is Roger. I'll explain a little of this in the big letter. We do not have a bucket shower here, thank goodness, but the heat of Chinandega is unbearable sometimes. I am so grateful for the time I had in Condega.  I learned so  much there. I learned how to teach finally.  18 months in and I finally learned to teach well last change. I learned how to spot the people who value what we have to share. I learned to how to work hard and work smart. At the end of everything, I finally felt as though I understood missionary work, like I was doing my part, and that God was happy with my work. I felt happy and excited to work. My companion and I always sought the highest goals in the mission, and at the end of it all we made it to the 15 best in the mission. I am incredibly thankful to be with my current companion.



Alright guys, I don't know if you have ever seen Knights Tail, but when William comes back to England and they play " The Boys are Back in Town", that's what it felt like coming back to Chindandega. I know all the cool places to eat. I have a ton of memories from before and I'm back with my old buddy Elder Cedeño from my first change. At first, I was super nervous. Being Zone leader is a big responsibility. The whole week was pretty different and a lil tough, but it was also super awesome. I have seen a ton of miracles with Elder Cedeño. In the beginning of the week we had zero people with baptismal dates. In the first day of work we found an old buddy from my first area. His name is Roger and he is the son in law of my old lunch Cita. He has been to church before, but he says he will prepare to get baptized. Their kid was a little baby when I came, now he is walking and talking. Roger's sister also wants to get baptized, it's so awesome.The rest of the week I spent going to Managua, coming back, and going to Managua again. A whole lot of getting up early. It's all going great though. Our barrio (ward) is super strong and gives us lunch and dinner everyday. The best part is working with Elder Cedeño. This kid is the bomb. He works super hard and teaches super well. It feels so nice to have him as a companion because there is no need to fight or argue. We both do what we need to do and we have no problems. He has taught me a lot and has made the transition super easy. This Sunday we presented a few things to all the leaders of the Chindedgea West Stake. I was super nervous, but Cedeño was super dope and helped me navigate my way through it. This month we're going to throw fire together.  It's going to be sick!!!!