August 1st, 2016 Zone Leader

Questions:
How did your testimony grow this week even though you had trials?
How was the conference in Managua?  
What is different this time because of the spiritual growth you've made? 
Who did you see that you haven't seen in a while?

Tell us funny things that you would tell us in person if we were there?

Thank you so much for writing me guys I really appreciate it. This week went really really well. We went to Managua on Tuesday for the new missionary meeting. It went well, Elder Thackeray, "my son", showed off his Spanish by answering questions and teaching. We got to hang out with all the awesome elders who were heading home this change, like Elder Knight, Jennings, and Sirian. We headed home, but got back super late, which kinda messed with the whole week. After the meeting, the week just kinda went down hill because we got a little sick.  That sucked the excitement out of us.

Hermano Cristobal's Baptism

But at the end of the week we  had the baptism of Hermano Cristobal!!! That kid is awesome. Ever since the beginning he has been going to church with us without us having to pass by a million times. He's about 16, but he wants to serve a mission and I know he will be able to. I can't wait to see the pics later. My testimony grew this week, not a lot, but it grew.  I realized that even though there are times when we have crappy weeks we can always do better the next  week. This week  I saw Elder Cedeño for the first time in a couple months, and it's because I'm in Chinandega west as Zone Leader with him!!!! I'm so pumped and super nervous, but like you said Dad I just gotta enjoy the time and help other people make things happen. Elder Cedeño and I go home together and we are going to throw fire together as well!!! Hayden congrats on the license, And Alex you gotta send me pics of scout camp and Legacy dude its going to be sick!!!!

This is from his letter to friends, family, and Elders.
Hey everybody this week was super super super dope, but at the same time it was super super difficult. Monday was awesome, we had a little lunch with the elders of the zone then we kinda just chilled. On Tuesday we went to Managua and that ride was a toughie (Easton gets car sick). It was so worth it but it was tough. We had an awesome meeting with President Poncio and learned a lot, but after Tuesday we were just tired, a little sick, and kinda disanimated. We did everything we could to work hard, the truth was I was not to excited to do it, but we did it!!!!! At the end of everything we killed it, we had a killer attendance, and we had a ton of investigators come to church. The hardest part was leaving the area. The converts were sad, but one family almost broke me. It was Hermano Freddy and Virginia. I was going good but when Hermano Freddy and Virginia cried, I almost lost it. With them, we worked super hard to get them to take the step of baptism and they are true converts. Freddy is so dope, I can picture him as a leader some day!!!!I went to Chindandega again with Elder cedeño, as zone leader, but leaving was tough.  Cedeño and I are going to kill it here in Chindandega!!!!.

http://sandmbell.blogspot.com/

This is also from the July 31st blog post for Elder Scott and Sister Michelle Bell.  I find their insight most helpful.  They often include details our Elders and Hermanas don't have in their emails.  This mission is blessed to have them serving in Nicaragua.

"There was a huge change this week-end as we have 28 missionaries going home and 27 new missionaries coming. We will miss many of these missionaries who have been leaders in the mission. But we are excited to see many of the missionaries we have been working closely with receive other assignments. Elder Scaggs from Condega is headed for Chin Oeste as a new zone leader. His personal touch will be missed in Condega but his enthusiasm is needed in Chin Oeste."

July 25th Condega Thackeray Companion

Questions:
Weather: How do you handle the rainy season? (shoes, boots, jacket, umbrella)  What do the streets look like when it floods?  Or is it the hot season right now?

Converts: What do you do when you teach them?  Do you start with your Go To scripture, or do you have a prayer first?  Of your coverts, who warms your heart, and who gives you yummy food?  

Couple: I think there is a new missionary couple in Esteli, do they work with you? 

We are in the rainy season down here. Here in Esteli it does not rain too much as compared to Chinandega and Leon, where it flooded every week. When it floods, the edges of the street fill first then expand outward until it's like a big river. When it rains hard it floods guaranteed, but here it just sprinkles. In fact this last week we were doing divisions and my companion Elder Thackeray got soaked in a flash torential rain flood.  All his shoes got wet, but it's all good now. With converts we try to keep it short so we can find more people but we pass by and read a scripture then ask for references. We play a game where everyone has to touch a part of the body and the one who touches the part last has to do the prayer, everyone likes that. There are a few converts like Hermana Virginia and Nubia, they are always very loving, always go to church, and always help us out when we need them to pass by members or give talks. Whenever we pass by, food is guaranteed!!! There is a missionary couple in Esteli, but I have not met them yet. We work with the Bells a lot. I GOT YOUR PACKAGE!!!!!! THANKS GUYS In fact, when we got it we were fasting and the next day we dug into those chocolates!!! They were so good, oh my gosh, thank you so much. 

The week went pretty well, Jade was baptized.  The photo is of her and her family.  

This next part is taken from a Blog post by Elder and Sister Bell regarding Jade's Baptism.

Sunday, July 24, 2016
Happy Pioneer Day…. We started with a baptism in Condega. A young 11-year-old girl was baptized in the River. We started with singing “I am a Child of God”. The members that were there did not know this song, so Sister Bell and I sang it for them. Then Elder Scaggs had us sing together all the verses. They seemed to pick up the song very well. Then Elder Thackeray found a deep spot without any rocks and performed the baptism.  She was confirmed that afternoon in Sacrament Meeting by Elder Scaggs. 

After the baptism, we picked up the chairs at the store where the Elders rent them and helped set up the sewing factory for church. While the Elders went to their lunch appointment, 

Sunday, July 31, 2016
This was a long and fulfilling day. We left Esteli about 8:30, headed for Church in Somoto. We made a quick stop in Condega to give Jade, a young 11-year-old girl, a picture of her baptism that we had taken the week before and framed. She was very excited and showed the Elders later in the day the picture. They said she was very excited to have it.

This next part is from their July 23rd post.  Their blog is such a blessing. 
We then went to Condega for the Friendshipping Meeting. Elder Scaggs taught a lesson about the Sacrament and then played a game. He comes up with the most entertaining games. This game had two people standing facing each other, with the arms stretched up, touching each other, forming a church. Then one person stands underneath them, being a member inside the church. There was one person that was out. This person yelled Iglesia, Santa Cena or Apostacia. If they said Iglesia, then the persons who were the churches had to move and create new churches. The person that was out tried to become a church, therefore leaving another person out. If the person yelled Santa Cena, then the people in the middle had to move, with the person who was out, trying to find a free spot inside a church, leaving another person out. If the person yelled Apostacia, then everyone had to move. It was a lot of fun. Where does he come up with these games…. He is amazing.

We visited the home of the grandmother of some of the new members. She has been investigating the church for a couple of months but has had a difficult time stop drinking coffee. She had not been feeling well, so we gave her a blessing. Elder Thackeray anointed her in English and Elder Scaggs sealed the anointing in Spanish and gave her a wonderful blessing.

This next part is from the letter he sends to friends at home and Elders he's met on his mission. I enjoy working with Elder Thakeray because he has high goals and is ready to work hard no matter what.  We are not going to be able to get the 13 baptisms this month, but we are loading up the next month. This week we have been working a lot with a few very awesome people.  We have Hermano Asdrubal, he needs to get married, but has been reading the Book of Mormon a ton, even more than some of our members. He understands it all and is ready to get baptized but he's just gotta get married. He even helps us bring his family to church on Sundays. It's really awesome to see how people who are very positive and full of doubts read the Book of Mormon. Little by little it has the power to change people.  We have another couple who are preparing themselves to get married and baptized. They are Darwin and Magali. They are very young,  they went to church already, and they love the lessons. We just need to get them a Book of Mormon to get them studying. They have a little baby who is so funny he laughs and laughs and is always smiling. We also have Darling and Kevin. They have gone to church and they love the hymns. They were singing and everything. Whenever we pass by to teach lessons it's super fun and they learn super fast. Normally at church we sing acapella, so it sounds pretty bad.  I'm leading the music, so we get lost a lot, so we bought a speaker, and now we're bumping hymns in the church. Everyone is able to follow along better. We also have a super dope family  leading the troop here in Condega. They are called the family Ramirez they have been passing through a ton of problems, from losing their job to getting the son- in-law thrown in jail. They have gotten really sad but they always go to church and they help us teach when they can. We will help the other families follow their example!!!!! 
Peace out guys love you

   THANKS FOR STICKING WITH ME THROUGHOUT THIS AND GIVING ME GUIDANCE, IT HAS HELPED MORE THAN YOU THINK!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

July 18th Condega

Questions for this week:

What scripture do you share most often, and why?

Tell us why going on a mission is a good thing.

What do you now know is true that you did not know 18 months ago?

Answers:

Well guys, I share Mosiah chapter 2:41 a lot. It talks a lot about obedience, it's easier to share and you can connect it to a lot of things. The mission is super awesome because it helps burn out all your character flaws and makes you realize what matters in life.  When I came out I had an idea about what life should be like, what was cool, what I wanted to do, but now a lot has changed.  I no longer have the same goals, and all the things that were really important before are not as important now. Now I know why, how, and what we get out of fasting.   I'll explain that in the big letter.  (The big letter is what follows)

Hey guys, another week in Nicaragua. Everything went super well, it was a lot of work like always. More than anything this week, we learned you gotta work hard, but you gotta work smart as well. When we started the change we had a lot of people that lived pretty far out of town and we were working ourselves to death trying to get out there everyday. In the end they just never came to church.

Looking back on it now they weren't really very ready, and to get to them we overlooked a ton of really positive people. This week we have been trying to get all our eggs close together and connect with members to get them to church. The best part is everyone came without us having to walk with them to church. The meeting went smooth and everyone loved it. The people we have lined up to get the Melchizedek priesthood are being super cool and helping us out with the other members. This week we also learned part of why, how, and what we get out of fasting. For this month, we have been fasting every week.  When we started we didn't really know what to expect, but as we studied and did it over and over again, we began to realize and learn from the scriptures that fasting makes miracles happen. More than anything it blesses us with revelation and ideas so we can make our dreams and goals become a reality. It also shows us what God really has in store for us, so we can correct our vision. Thanks to our fasts we have realized who we should keep working with. This has helped us tremendously, saving time, and conserving time for the people in Condega who want to hear our message. I personally, have received a lot of revelation during the fasts while reading and just thinking about the stuff we are having trouble with. I don't get miraculous ideas, they are just ideas that help out a ton!!!! This week was dope guys!!!!! 

Keep having fun

July 11th Condega

Hey guys,
We had a killer week, but it was also really tough.  At the beginning of the month we were loaded with possibilities, but at the beginning of this week they all kind of just dropped off. We were kind of expecting it because they really weren't doing anything to progress or learn more.

Freddy and Edgar

 This week we had the baptism of Edgar and Freddy!!! It was so awesome, all the family from El Valle de Jesus came and all their friends.  We took a truck to the river and everyone enjoyed it. Both Freddy and Edgar are thoroughly converted, and the truth is that we really didn't do much with them, we showed them the stuff they read it and that was about it.

Thackeray and I think that that's how it should be.  If someone wants the gospel they read and they get converted, but if they don't want it they don't read, they don't go to church, and they just don't want to be a part of the 13!!!! That's what we learned this week.  We gotta look for the people who want to learn and want to change, and not hold on to the people who say they want to get baptized, but sit at home doing nothing. This Sunday we had an attendance of 30. They were almost all members!!!!!!!!!  

Carrying the Chairs to Church

At the end of it all Elder Thackeray turned to me and said "well, time to get some new ones, everyone got baptized." So, right now we are going to find some references asking for big families, and teach the gospel!! Working on 13 baptisms this month!!! 
Love you guys

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!!!