June 6, 2016

Well how are y'all this week? This week nothing too big happened. It rained everyday of the week, I got soaked and sick but its all worth it right? We ended up not being able to baptize the families because they lacked papers to do their marriage but we have got all them now so well see what happens this week! it rained demasiado so I don't really have much other noticias. But my companion and I have been really doing well.. this week with the lessons we had with our investigators and recent converts/less actives, we had over 130.. it was amazing, we worked super hard and we were able to see the results greatly in the area. We found a less active member that has the priesthood and everything and we were able to get him reading the book of mormon more and seeing him grow spiritually everyday of the week was super animating. This week we will baptize the future branch president!!

May 30, 2016

So this week was pretty interesting! We have got 2 awesome families again that will be getting baptized this week and its going to be really awesome! One of the men, named Rony, I've been secretly preparing to replace me as branch president! So for a little over a week we have been teaching them about the temple and they're so animated to go to Honduras in a year to the temple. Friday Rony told me " so in a year when we go to the temple we want you to come with us to watch us get sealed" and how in the temple prep book it teaches that we shouldn't just go for curiosity, but to make covenants and it really hit me how chosen they are. here in the mission we work a lot on finding the chosen people who God has prepared in these days to hear the gospel. and I am so grateful for my heavenly father for putting me here in Nicaragua, where he has a lot of children waiting to repent and make covenants with him. I've had a few converts now that have gone to the temple and its sad not being to go with them because we still lack a temple here in Nicaragua, but its just a great feeling to know that someone's not just baptizing to be baptized, but really doing it to come unto God and live according to his gospel. I love my Nicas!!  I was able to help a hermana build more on her house by making adobes, which is just mud blocks that are put out to be dried... that is how the houses are made here! super neat! then today we went back to Dipilto and climbed the mountain! super exhausting but fun at the same time!! talk to y'all next week! remember the sacredness of our purpose in this life!

May 23, 2016

Well! things are going great! we've been doing excellent in our area! this week we were able to bring 9 of our investigators to church and it was a miracle because of this 9, about 7 went to church by themselves and they all liked it and are willing to continue visiting and be baptized! I had to travel 2 hours away from my area to an area called Jalapa to do divisions for 2 days and it was pretty fun, I got a little sick though but I guess that is all part life... haha, I hope all are going well! this week I will be going to my first new missionary meeting in over a year because of my greenie that I am training! It is gonna be super weird but I guess I'll be learning bunches too! This week in church after everyone left we found a chicken in the church and so us missionaries decided to teach him and all haha and in the end decided to throw it over the fence so he wouldn't poop all in the church. I am already tired of traveling in buses....in my time in Ocotal I have already spent about 40 hours in a bus and I am learning how to position myself perfectly to be able to finally sleep in the journeys haha. have a good week!

May 16, 2016

Well I'm a proud father of an Elder Santizo from Guatemala! Hes legit and super ready to get going in his mission. This week we have put super high goals and we were able to achieve the majority of them which gave us a lot of excitement! So this week past by super fast and it's weird how much just flies by us sometime. Also highlights from the picture is that we made a little convoy of members and brought them to like a little fireside that we did and brought about 60 people to it! One of my recent converts makes bricks and I was able to help him a little this week and I've got a pic of the kiln that we had to use to burn the bricks! We have found some really cool families this week and we had a lot of them come to church which was a miracle. things are getting speed up her in Ocotal and I am glad that I am here to be one of the Lords servants helping spread the gospel in these days. There's going to be a lot to say the next week! i love yall!!


















(Mom speaking) I downloaded the following pictures from the Mission President and his wife. I think that it is so wonderful that when a brand new missionary comes into country, that there is a welcoming from the companion that they are assigned to. Michael traveled from Ocotal to Managua to meet his companion and just look at the greetings that he gave him! What a great feeling to those moms (and families) to know that their son/daughter is welcomed and being taken care of! What a great example that is set!!

                                     

May 9, 2016

I did a little investigating and in the end of 3 days of 8 missionaries searching, I finally found my camera and had to buy it for 100 cords haha. but yeah! lots of prayers to find that joker haha. This week was pretty good! we had district conference and we filled a bus with about 100 members from ocotal and hit the road to Esteli and we FILLED the chapel, a small chapel with almost 480 members/visitors. So this week Elder Choque officially became my comp and then in Saturday they called him and told him we was flying BACK TO PUERTO CABEZAS! he's super lucky so in my email to president today i told him " so its possible to go back to puerto after you've left right?" hahaha. But good news is.......IM TRAINING!! Im going to Managua tomorrow to get my first son in the mission! I'm super excited haha my first son. It only took me like 19 months haha, kinda stinks that I am not gonna be able to see him grow in the mission to much, but were gonna throw some fire together! Weve got some really cool families this month to baptize and all. Also I am searching for a member to replace me as the Branch President. .. President Collado told me that I have 6 weeks to find a member and to prepare him. I am super excited and praying hard to find this chosen man, to baptize him or reactivate him. hope things are going good for yall! I love yall take care!! the pics are of a kid I saw with red hair at the conference and I told hims mom I needed a picture with him haha, the others are of the baptisms I had 2 weeks ago. He lives and loves us! Always remember that!!!!!

May 2, 2016

Well this week has been great but super different. I was told to do divisions with an elder named ELDER CHOQUE from Utah. It was super chill because we were really good friends when we were in Puerto. We threw some fire this week too which was great, the lord has worked some miracles with us in these divisions, we were able to baptize 3 people in the family of a less active that we've been reactivating! but not all got confirmed so we have to wait for the next Sunday. Also found a lot of nice families that accepted baptismal dates, the month of may is looking great! buttttt, someone robbed my camera :/ doing all I can to get it back though cause I think I know who! pray for us to find it! I love ya'll and hope things are going great! tomorrow I travel to the capital and then back at night!! so tomorrow is a good 12 in total of bus rides haha, love yall!

Hopefully I can get my camera back so that I can send pictures next week or soon after. 

April 18, 2016

Semana de Milagros. como Siempre!! :)

Well This has been a week of miracles! we had a cool couple to be baptized but we had a lot of problems finding all the papers for the wedding and had to travel a little to find the right papers. The judges all said we wouldn't be able to marry them because they needed more info, so we found a lady that said she could marry them and then Saturday morning, called us and said no :/ so we prayed hard and left to go find a judge to do it that same day, and we found one. It was a miracle. So Saturday afternoon we finally were able to baptize them, they're super legit and already looking for ways to serve the Lord, so a calling is coming their way! haha. Today we went to the border of Honduras and it was... not what we thought haha, we went to take pictures of the "bienvenidos a Nicaragua" sign but there wasn't even that, they just asked for our cedulas and told us to leave. So we hopped back on the bus and decide to get off in one of the communities and find something to do! so we found a mountain and we climbed it.. about 2 hour hike, I felt so dead. but i made it! we went with another companionship and it was a fun day! took lots of pics and videos. it was super steep too and we all fell down the mountain some haha, but great experience! this week we found some cool families also that want to be baptized so we've got some good future in plane here in Ocotal! I know that this is the Lords work, and it is greatly increasing, I know that this is true church, I know that God loves YOU, and he wants the best for YOU. have a great week! Write me!