Mi Gente!

Date: September 27, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua

Okay!

This week we had activities planned for every single day (takes some time away from the work, but animates the people so well). SO the events were going very well for us until Thursday, when the STORM hit. Hahaha. It was actually rather pathetic. We slept in the church, made an emergency plan (thanks to my Eagle Scout power) and ate basically nothing. But the storm was whimpier than a Nor'Easter! I was so surprised. Anyway, after it passed, we went back to the house and dropped everything off and then I headed back out to work with my companion.

Saturday we baptized two little girls and then on Sunday we baptized a couple. All-in-all a great weekend for baptisms in my area!

I love getting emails from you all, especially when Sunday night rolls around and I think to myself, "I really want emails tomorrow...". Yeah, pathetic but true.

This week I really thought about converts and baptisms here in this area of the world. The people here know and understand what we teach them, even if just in a general sense, and then I realized something amazing after our baptisms were all done and over with on Sunday afternoon. The blessing and curse here is that the conversion begins at baptism. The people have to keep going to church and praying otherwise they don't grasp the gospel, they start to falter and then just stop coming altogether. I assumed in the States that when there was a baptism it was amazing and the people basically had testimonies before they got baptized, and over the past 15 weeks I've been repenting of that thought. ;)

The Lord has a lot in store for these humble, amazing people and I just hope that in the future I can be part of it. I love these people here so much it's hard for me to explain how much I care for them, worry about them and just desire them to have everything and become better than myself (my [companion] included!). I am so grateful for all of the opportunities that I have been given in my life to learn and to grow and prepare for this mission service, and I am SO grateful now that I have to opportunities to serve and use the talents I've been given and be able to develop myself more to become a good dad, husband and life-long servant of the Lord.

I love you all. Stay strong and keep the faith. Do whatever it is you need to do to have the Spirit with you at all times. Also, live life to the fullest...don't waste your time on foolish whims and desires.

Love, Elder Braden D. Bolton

The Service

Date: September 14, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua

Wow, another week gone by in my mish. The weeks seem to just fly right on by me and off into the non-existent nica sunset. :( Jk. I love my time out here in Puerto! It is fantastic! This week is going to be tough though because we're going to [fly to] Managua because Elder Clarke from the Quorum of the 70 is coming and apparently he wants to ask us what is going on with the area. I'm kinda nervous because our Mission President is not happy with us...so this week is going to be very interesting (especially if he takes us all out of Puerto and does E-Changes).

Anyway, I continue working hard. Trying to learn Miskito--a little at a time but still progressing--as well as trying to be a good [trainer] and a good missionary. The Lord has blessed me with a lot of responsibility and I'm just now getting into the habit of everything, which means that a change might be coming... Although I do enjoy having the ability to be the main Elder speaking while we're teaching, etc. Sometimes it seems so stressful having to do a lot of the things by myself, regarding the language, but it's a work in progress.

We just finished organizing all of the important auxiliaries in the branch this week, as well as counted the real CIMI (recent convert list) and divided it from some of the other units. We've also planned some great activities for the branch over the rest of the month. We should be seeing a lot success in regards to our church membership this month.

I still cannot get over how many lessons the Lord is teaching me day by day, week by week here in the mish. I honestly wonder how many I will remember and how many I'll forget; if I should [write] them in a book or just hope not to forget them, I know not what I need to do.

Well, I love you all and hope that all is well wherever this email finds you. Stay in touch with the Lord and with me and we'll all see each other sooner than we can imagine!

Love,
-Elder Braden D. Bolton

So...NOTICIAS DE ELDER BOLTON e HIJO!

This week we had planned on baptizing two families and getting some really strong potential priesthood holders into the church, yet we had some problems Saturday night and I had to fight to get one baptized (and unfortunately in all the mess I forgot my camera in the house!). How sad. Anyway, it was fantastic, as we got a couple married and then they got baptized together and then I bought a cake and we had a little party with the members. It was quite the event.

Last week our mission president came and spoke very frankly to all of us here in the zone, kinda humbled us, and then left. I learned quite a bit in the two hours that we had to talk to him as a zone and individually when we were doing some practice lessons with him. He was rather impressed by my teaching (even though I was SUPER nervous to practice teaching in front of a mission president) and then old me to keep up the good work training. WHEW! Apparently even though I have so much on my little plate and I feel like I really never know what I'm doing, the Lord has been blessing me and guiding me the entire way. That sometimes seems so hard for me, especially being who I am, uptight and a perfectionist...but I have had to change and grow up a little, relax a little. I have truly learned that all we can do sometimes is trust in the Lord and give Him our all and then hope that tomorrow He will help me give even more.

I keep fighting everyday to prove to the Lord that I am learning, growing and changing. Maybe, if He wants me to be a leader here I will be, but until then I'm going to enjoy my simple life.

I cannot even explain how much stuff I am learning and how much I am growing out here. I love my Heavenly Father and thank Him for everything He gives me. I know that He not only loves me, but that he trusts in me and my abilities. With Him I can do anything and overcome everything, so right now I live as if tomorrow were my last day here in Nicaragua and give my all.

Love you all and hope that all is well.

Love,
Elder Braden D. Bolton

After Transfers

Date: August 23, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua

Well, transfers have come and gone! And...I'm training this change! Weird. It's my 2nd change here in Puerto and I'm a daddy. The Lord has interesting ways of helping us to learn, but at the same time they feel so right. It's hard to explain, but I hope that somehow you might understand me. Sometimes the Lord puts us in positions that surprise us because we cannot understand why we are being asked to do something or how on earth we might be qualified to do such a calling, but the Lord has prepared me and has been preparing me for a long time to do the work that I'm trying to do here. I have been able to see that my whole life has been in preparation for this mission service; not to mention the Lord's hand has been very "visible" in preparing me for this missionary service as well.

The area I'm working in is proving to be challenging right now, but I know that I can handle all the stress that is being thrown at me right now. My families aren't coming to church, my ZL's are getting upset because we aren't baptizing as much as we used to and they're getting flack from the AP's, and my comp must think that I'm the worst dad ever. But I'm still working hard and still trying to do my best and I think that as long as the Lord knows that it's all that matters. The interesting thing is that right now we are being asked to baptize a ton, but we are also asked to retain them, and here the two do NOT come hand in hand, you get one or the other. Maybe eventually the leaders will understand, but for now we'll all take a verbal beating.

The culture here still shocks me sometimes and it also shocks me how much I've become used to it (as my kid is not like I was, everything seems to be so much worse). I love this country and the people here and want to help them so much, so just know that I'm doing my hardest to change their lives.

I hope that my email finds you all happy and well. Know that I love you all, that I love this work, and that I'm working so hard!

Love, Elder Braden Bolton

Short Note

Date: August 16, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

This week has been crazy, and I messed up...this week is transfers. We know that my comp is leaving and that one of my ZL's is out (as well as 2 other elders). I don't have a lot of time to write because I've been helping do stuff around the zone so much, but I do just want to tell you how amazing being a missionary is to me. I love the relationship that I am building with my Father in Heaven, my Saviour and the Holy Ghost. I love the scriptures so much and I love how simple the Book of Mormon explains the doctrine to us. I have loved the time that I have spent with my comp and I look forward to whatever experiences the Lord is ready to throw at me now.

Know that I love you so much and want the best for all of you (and that in time I will answer your emails, hopefully next week). Stay strong and keep the faith.

BTW-it hit 105º here this week. Death.

Update

Date: August 09, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

Regarding the Miskito: This week has been a great trial for me, as I have been trying to learn but Satan keeps making me feel as if I cannot do it (as well as putting obstacles in my way so that it becomes challenging). I have wanted to learn it so badly and feel as if it is very important for me to learn, not just because I might have the opportunity of opening TONS of areas here on the coast if I do learn, but rather I want to learn so that I can help the people understand the gospel of Jesus Christ and become truly converted. Also, who am I to deny these people the right to have prophecies in Alma 29:8 and D&C 90:11? I want to help fulfill that prophecy and help the people, but only if it is the will of the father. Anyway, maybe when I get back I'll be trilingual! ;)

My investigators are so humble and are trying to change their lives, it motivates me to work so much harder. This week my comp and I contacted into a witch. The people here on the Caribbean have strong beliefs regarding witchcraft. It just so happens that a lot of it here is dark, dark stuff. She wants to change her life around, she wants to get baptized; however this is serious stuff and especially serious when a church gets involved. We talked to my mission president about baptizing her, and we can do it so long as she doesn't do it EVER again. I'm stoked because it'll be great when we baptize that family.

Well, my transfers/changes are next week and I'm kinda nervous...my trainer's leaving me and something big is happening in my zone, and apparently it involves me. Buchica. Oh well, whatever happens needs to happen. I've realized lately that in my life I tend to depend so much on my own strength, intelligence, etc. and that now I need to turn everything over to the Lord. Everything seems so much easier when someone helps you, especially someone who knows and understands exactly how you feel. I really think that faith is one of my struggles, for I am a person that acts and wants immediate action as well. In that regard I'm very impatient: I like things to get done when I want them done. The Spirit has been guiding me to do things and say things that I know I never would be able to do/say/know without it, so I have determined that I just need to be more patient, trust in the Lord in all I do, and let the Spirit guide me. Also, when I was reading my Patriarchal Blessing I realized that some of the things that I was told that used to make me nervous only make me feel more comfortable now and make me realize that everything happens for a reason.

Baptisms: We are still struggling with our numbers, but that doesn't bug me as much as how many true converts we have. I believe that we have a number of strong converts that we have baptized, but the mission office requires more. I just need to work harder and give my all. I love having the opportunity to baptize people and enter the waters of baptism with others.

I love to work, I love working hard and I give my all when I set my mind on doing something. Remember that I am a man of my word and that I have given my word to serve these two years. I am so happy when I help the people here, and when they let me help them wash their clothes by hand (mom, I'm gonna be like a machine when I get back).

Love you all!
Elder Braden D. Bolton

Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua

Date: August 02, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

Well, it sounds like all is well in the Bolton fam and I am glad to report that I am doing well. Finally starting to learn Miskito (apparently the proper way to spell it). It is so much fun, despite being very difficult. Structurally it resembles German, in that the nouns conjugate as vell as the verbs, etc. If I learn this language then they will keep me out here in this area for my whole 2 years, quite possibly. They need Elders who speak Miskito to go and open up new areas, so as soon as I get most of the language down they might start sending me out with one of the other 3 Elders that are learning it (in total those of us who care to study this language are 4).

I am beginning to teach the English classes this week, as well as missionary preparation for the youth. Fun!

My comp has been rather sick this week, so the work has been going rather slowly, but hopefully things will pick up after he starts to heal (he has an ulcer!). I got my clothes when the new mission president came to visit (the APs brought them to me, but left some of the clothes in Managua). As for the packages, I haven't heard anything, but I can ask this week. Oh, and the money...they have made me a card, I think, but for the past little while they have put the money on my comp's card. The money I've been spending from my card (Sov.) has been for things like extra water that I want, some treats that I wanted to buy, etc. I need to take out like 1400 Cords ($70) for some books and a rechargeable batteries...I might do that today...

Well, I love you guys so much. Thanks again for all that you are doing for me, I can truly feel the influence of your prayers in my life.

Love, Elder Braden Bolton

Puerto Cabezas...Update

Date: July 26, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

Mom, isn't the Doctrine and Covenants amazing! I love it, and it is going to be the next book I read, for I have set a goal that I want to read the Standard Works twice through before leaving the mish. Right now I'm reading the Book of Mormon and my goal is to read it and finish on Dad's birthday (my "present" to dad). ;) I am also going to try and read Jesus the Christ twice (first time in English and then in Spanish).

Okay, so this week has been so crazy, and to be honest the past 3 weeks have been too! My comp and I have been working so hard to teach so many people and each week we end up baptizing like one person a week! We have no idea what the drop-off is, nor what it means. And the weirdest thing is that it's happening all over our entire Zone! I think it's because the church is about to build a second chapel and start a stake here. We are encountering so much opposition, so I am trying to fortify myself, but right now I think we just need to work hard and puch through it. I prayed the other day for like 45 mins. (which seemed like FOREVER) about what I need to do, and the answer surprised me. I never really expected the answer that I received. Basically, I need to just do my best to figure out what the heck is happening here and why Satan appears to be stealing all of the souls we are trying to save.

I am so glad that you are enjoying your personal study of the scriptures so much! I wish I had just set aside an hour or two every day when I was at BYU. I did like a 1/2 hr. constantly, but I should have done more.

I just love this mission so much. I am so glad that I have the opportunity to serve my Saviour and to preach the gospel to souls that are yearning for it. I love this church and all it does for the people that follow those who lead and guide it, that is Jesus the Christ and our prophet, Thomas S. Monson. I am so excited for more trials and more opposition to come so that I can prove to my Savior that I am willing to fight hard for the souls of those that I desire to save.

Be strong and keep the faith.
Love, Elder Braden Bolton

Short note

Date: July 19, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

I FINALLY found a cord for my camera. I'll load some pics right now. My house right now is on a cliff over-looking the ocean!

I have lost weight! Yet the Latins seem to mock me daily for being a "gordito" and sometimes it bugs me, but I know how much I've lost. The tortoises are for food!!! You would love tortoise! It is so much richer than other seafood and tastes like sirloin steak! (Editor's note: See the link on the right side of the page for the recent pictures.) I love you so much and I love the letters that you send me! The information is great, exactly what I want! Right now I need to leave, but I will email you a great email next week and add some photos!!!

Just know that I am well, I am working soooo hard this week and that I love this church.

P.S. Go to Mormon.org and make a Mormon Profile for the Church! Support them in this effort. I am going to do it next week.

Love,
Elder Braden Bolton

The Work and the Glory

Date: July 12, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

July 12, 2010

So, this week has been great! I am still struggling with learning Misquito, but I have the help of my Father in Heaven so I know that I will be able to learn rather quickly. The information that you sent me is very interesting, especially because I didn't know that the languages were so similar (Sumo, Misquito, etc.). The Sumo people don't really live near us, and their race is interesting: most have clear eyes, or blonde hair and more features similar to Asian cultures. The Misquito people are very dark and characteristically Caribbean.

So I would also like to bug y'all about getting me a new, cheap watch as someone stole mine. The old house I lived in was in a very dangerous part of the city, and someone broke in and stole my watch and clothes from some of the other missionaries. So if y'all could help me out a little I would be very happy. I'm sorry I keep asking for so many things, but I can't go out and buy and some of the things out here. And when you do send boxes, put Bible references like crazy and photos of Christ all over it too.

In your next email could you send me some family photos? I regret not printing out photos before I left, but as long as they are on the internet I can always access them and nothing can happen to them! ;)

So my baptisms have been fantastic. I've baptized three people: two have been amazing and one has been, well nothing special. The two women I have baptized have been amazing, super ready for the gospel in their lives. Whereas the man I baptized I think only got baptized because he thought I was cool. He lives in Honduras for part of the year and the rest here in Puerto, but he never knows when he's going to come back.

Some of the amazing baptismal experiences that I've had have been at the baptisms of other missionaries. We now have 12 missionaries in Puerto! I go to some of the baptisms, and when I do I generally talk about the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation. I also get to bear my testimony a lot. Apparently the people love it when I preach out here, so they ask me to talk because they can tell that I love what I'm teaching and know that I believe what I'm teaching as well.

The people I teach are generally amazing. Some of them are so ready for the gospel it amazes me. For example, Saturday night we went to go visit one of our investigators, and we walked in and she said, "So can I get baptized tomorrow instead of next week? Is that okay? I just really feel like I need to take this step." And yesterday we went to go visit a family of like 4 that I had contacted into the other day when I was doing changes, and when we got to the house there were 14 people (9 possible baptisms) and they were basically asking how they could become members of the church because they've heard a little bit about us, want to visit and possibly join the church. I love these experiences, I am only wary of what might become of the people. We try to help them get testimonies of the things we teach and have real experiences with the Holy Ghost. That is where we need to be creative.

I had a revelation the other day on how to get more investigators for our zone too! I'm going to teach English at the chapel once a week, with gospel-themed messages (the lessons) and members are invited, but they need to bring a non-member (or a family). People are stoked because English lessons here are super expensive and many cannot afford to pay for them. This can also help us to bring in SO many new investigators.

I am so excited about all the work out here, sure it's hard, but I know that my Heavenly Father has been preparing me a very long time for service like this, and I know that it will benefit my life and the life of my family now and my family to come so much.

Out here, the main thing we teach is the Restoration. The people here all "believe" in the bible, so we have to lay the Book of Mormon down hard on them. We also have to explain to them what prophets are and how we can pray and receive revelation. They don't always get it, so we have to be very exact and concise in how we explain it. Also, the people here are poorly educated, that is, the older people are poorly educated so we have to teach as if they were primary-aged children. It helps me a lot because it helps me keep everything simple and pure, and I love that. Right now I just have to memorize the scripture references. A lot of the elders here mark their scriptures as if they were some kind of weapon...and I don't really like that, I like to keep mine simple and clean not cluttered with post-its and such. So it's going to take me a little while longer to memorize some of the key references, but oh well, the Lord will bless me with the mental capacity to that which I desire.

Prayer is amazing and I am so happy that you are working on communicating with our Heavenly Father, now we all just have to remember to read our scriptures, as He communicates with us a LOT by means of the scriptures.

Thanks for the scriptures and for the Hymns, they will help me so much to remember you in little ways that doesn't distract me from the work.

I love you all so much, and thank y'all for all the prayers that you have offered in my behalf.

Kliwol Prawbia (Hasta Ver) 'Till We Meet Again

Found luggage

Date: July 05, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

So another missionary had all of my stuff. They found my suitcase in their house when they were moving stuff around. It had my boots, ties, every single letter/envelope I got while in the MTC...my extra diaries, etc. SOOOOO much stuff and I had been praying for a while that I could get it soon, but I know that God was teaching me patience. As you all know, patience is one of my weak spots, so this has been a good experience for me: I had to learn that sometimes I cannot do anything besides pray, have faith and hope that all will turn out well. And that's exactly what I did, I prayed that I could learn the lessons that I needed to learn and that I could just turn my life over into His hands.

I wrote up a list of things that I wanted to tell you, so brace for impact (and I'll get to your new questions soon). HERE WE GO!

Okay, the way people pray out here is so interesting. I'm one of the only people that cross my arms and bow my head, etc. The people here pray with their hands in their pockets, hands over their faces, hands on their head and so on. Oh, and there's an elder in the zone who puts his hand over his food (they hover over his food) when people pray to bless the food. Very interesting. However, I love what they say when they pray: they are very sincere, open and honest. I almost cried when we were visiting a youth the other night. We had gone to visit him to ask him why he hadn't been at church for a little, and he talked to us for a little. Then my companion and I spoke to him about how he can change and I bore my testimony about changing lives, about becoming who we need to be and leaving our past behind us. At the end of the meeting, he prayed that he could change and make take the steps necessary to change. It was beautiful, and very powerful.

They say it's Winter here. Weird! It's like a constant 90ºF and at night it gets to be about 80º. Ugh. Sometimes I just want to die because I sweat so much! But I keep working, thinking about all the weight I'm losing. And, we don't do daylight savings, so I'm on Mountain Standard Time right now.

Okay, I live near an area called Las Colinas (behind a school called Marvin Mitchel). It's a dangerous area, but we're being protected. I will take lots of photos, and when I can, as I am in a technologically retarded area, I will send some to you. I'm sorry, but there's not a lot that I can do in that regard. You might even have to wait a couple months...unfortunately. (I forgot my camera cord at home...and for that reason I might have trouble uploading them and might just have to send the card via mail).

The Culture Shock. Yes, I did have a bit of culture shock at the beginning. People throw trash on the streets, they spit EVERYWHERE and they whistle to get your attention. To me, all of those things are gross or rude, but I'm learning to ignore them and just stay in my own little bubble still. And, I almost forgot, they don't flush toilet paper, they throw it in a trash can next to the toilet. WIERD! And they love fat people. A lot of the people here are overweight, so being chunky is kind of accepted. Nice.

I love the food. Then again, I've always loved rice, and I've learned to love beans over the years. They have a plant called yucca that's like a potato, but it has no natural flavor. Completely bland. The water is nasty. I'm allergic to it because of all the parasites. I've gotten sick a couple of times because of the food, but for some reason the water doesn't affect me as much as the food. Mom, we have someone who cooks for us. She cooks shrimp and seafood all the time and I love it! We also have someone to do our laundry for us, it's rather lovely.

Being sick here, in general, is awful. However, the drugs here are so cheap. You can buy amoxicillin, 6 days worth, for $1.10. Cheap. But the colds here are awful. The diarrhea is mean, and relentless. TMI, but at the same time you wanted to know. ;)

Another interesting thing that I've noticed is that the Lat-Ams don't waste money, they're very frugal and smart with they're money, whereas the Americans in my zone practically throw their money away. I'm being very careful with the money I get; however, I have been using money from my account because the APs didn't make me a credit card so I've had to wait to get money from my comp's card...I still have quite a bit left in my account, I'm just letting y'all know that I've been using my money.

Regarding how we're working: Mom, I think that your friend was right because my companion doesn't realize that he just misses the appointments, he just plans and then we go and do other things. We still teach a lot, but we do miss other opportunities, it's like picking between good and good, how do you choose between two equally good opportunities? He means well, and he is a hard worker, it's just different for me, as I've been raised to make plans and then follow through with them all, not just change them as the day goes along. We've actually offended some people out here because we haven't been in certain places at certain times.

Thanks for the quotes that you sent me. I love them! And that stuff about the Holy Ghost is so true! Some of the most important things that I have learned have come to me while I've been traveling around my area contemplating things. I've come to learn some truly amazing things, and I will share some with you at another time, for I don't have much time left to write to you.

I really think that you would love to visit here. It is hot, but not as hot as it is during the summer here. Maybe you could come and pick me up, we could just stay in one of the hotels with air conditioning!

I forgot to tell you that I had my first baptism yesterday! It was amazing and I was able to confer the Holy Ghost on her too! All in Spanish!

We have like 8 baptisms set us for this week and hopefully 10 for the week after.

--
Love,
Elder Bolton

Update...Puerto Cabezas

Date: June 28, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

28 June 2010

Okay, I am doing SO much better than I was last week. I talked to a few of the missionaries that I'm serving with for advice, and thanks to them I have been doing so much better out here.

Puerto is totally different from all of the other Zones in my mission. For one, everyone speaks Miskito! It's crazy. I am learning little by little, and this week I'm going to acquire a Bible in Miskito and a dictionary. The people here have noticed that I love learning the language and I have had a few people ask me to study well so that I can translate the Book of Mormon into Miskito. The people here can speak Spanish, but that's about it. They can speak it and nothing more; it's very hard for them to understand scriptures and deep conversations. I have been praying that the language will come quickly, as I really do not know how long I will be here.

We get out new president in 2 days! Ah!!! Crazy! I love our current/soon-to-be-gone president. He has seriously helped me so much in like 2 weeks. A couple things that he has told me that have really struck me as important in this life are:

1. The Scriptures. We need to read the scriptures as families, then as couples/spouses, then individually.

2. Trials. We all go through trials, but we have all been given people to help us: companions. We need to go through a weekly "companionship inventory" with our families and our spouses. We need help fixing our problems, and who better to help us than those whom we love?

Okay, full story. After transfers I went out to get my bags and one was gone! So as of right now I have like 4 short-sleeved shirts, three pairs of pants, 3 pairs of socks and a number of garments (almost all have been purchased by the mission for me). Someone took my bag on accident, and they have it in their house. This doesn't happen a lot, but it's awful when it does because one is left without clothes for 6-18 weeks! Then, when I got to Puerto I found out that the Branch I'm serving in is solely a Miskito-speaking branch. Wierd. Then, when we were heading back to Managua, I found out that we were going to fit 13 people in one Toyota truck. We were all crammed in there for soooooo long. I lasted 13 hours in the bed of the truck, then spent 2 hours inside. My back was completely bruised and I couldn't sleep well for almost 5 days. Painful, but soooooo much fun. The Hunger Strike that we encountered was totally savage: everyone there had weapons and machetes and were not very kind. But we got through. It was a miracle. Many people here in Puerto have been telling me that they fear the war is starting again. Sure, there's always the fear that the war will commence again, but the people here feel as if it is imminent. This saddens me, for I just want to help the people here and how can I do that if I'm in some other country?

We got back to Puerto Friday afternoon (after being in Managua for 4 1/2 days!) and went back to work. I've been working so hard so that every night when I pray and report back to my Heavenly Father I can tell Him that I worked my hardest. I have been trying so hard to be a great missionary, but to be honest it's hard to be fantastic when you have others holding you back. I mean, we plan and plan and plan but then we end up not doing what we planned at all and sometimes it feels like we're wasting time. I'm sure things will get better over time.

Letter--I will only get dearelders when I go back to Managua or when someone from Managua comes to visit our zone, so if you all want to keep writing, go ahead, they'll sit there in the office for a little bit longer, but I can enjoy them later.

New address:

Oficina Discover
Oficina 2D
Apartado Postal 3600
Managua, Nicaragua

Okay everyone, time is up for me. I love all of you so much and cannot explain to you the love that I can feel from you. It is amazing how much help I have received from your prayers, the scriptures, my prayers and my Patriarchal Blessing. Remember to read your scriptures and pray like I said, family, couple and individually as well as read your patriarchal blessing. I shall await more emails!

-- Love,Elder Bolton

Letters from Puerto Cabezas

Date: June 22, 2010
Area: Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua
Companion: Elder Velásquez

There is so much to tell you and I seem to be so limited in
words at this point, but I will try and explain to you how my first week as
been as well as I can.

So on the plane ride I spoke to a woman and bore my testimony about eternal
families, as her father had died that morning so she was flying from Miami to Managua
to cremate him and scatter his ashes. Weird, but it was a great experience.

I got into the airport and had to go through customs then have my bag hand
checked by the Nicaraguan government and then I could go out and meet my
Mission President and his wife. It is hot in Managua. Dad, maybe it's a good
thing that you guys aren't coming out here, you would die. It gets to be like
95 by like noon or 2 o'clock and only cools down when it rains (basically). So
we got picked up at the airport and then went to McDonalds to get dinner. After
that we went to one of the 2 mission homes, the South Home, and got ready for
bed. It took me forever to fall asleep; I mean it was 85 degrees after all.

Tuesday we had some training and some orientation stuff to do, I had a 5 second
interview with my mission president (and I mean literally 5 seconds). Then we
went out tracting with one of the Managua Zones--there are 4 Zones in Managua.
After that we went back to the mission home and ate dinner and slept.

Wednesday was transfers. I am in the Nicaragua Managua North Mission! My
trainer is Elder Velásquez, from Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. I'm serving in the
highest baptizing area in the church right now, it’s called Puerto Cabezas.
Last month they baptized over 100 people and like 12 families! Crazy! It's a
lot colder than Managua, by like 5 degrees and it rains a lot more. Oh, and
it's a 24-hour bus ride from Managua to Puerto, that was tough. The people here
are fantastic. Such hard workers, they make me feel like I was such a lazy
member before the mission. They go out every Sunday and make sure that the
recent converts are all coming to church and that a lot of the less active
families are coming.

I love my mission president. He is so frank and blunt and says everything as it
is. It's fantastic.

Um, so lots of random things have happened to me, but I don't want you to every
worry about how I am doing. No matter what trials we have in this life we can
overcome them with our faith and determination. My APs have told me that I
might quite possibly have had the most difficult first week of any missionary
they have ever met, but I know without a doubt that I am being blessed with
trials; they strengthen me, humble me and draw me closer to the Savior.

One of the coolest things that has happened to me happened just last night. We
were driving back to Managua (seriously a 16 hour journey by car) so that we
can see the president and say goodbye to him at his departure devotional and
there was a strike going on. A hunger strike against the government. They were
turning ambulances away! But we got through. We prayed together, we sang hymns
in Spanish together and some people went out and talked to the people while
others guarded the truck, for in Nicaragua you always need to watch your stuff,
everywhere you go whatever you're doing. But I was praying fervently with
Heavenly Father when I remembered a line from my Patriarchal Blessing that
states basically any righteous desire of your heart shall be granted, so long
as it is needful (paraphrase). So I basically said to my Father in Heaven,
"I really want to go to Managua and need to see the President one more
time. This is not just something I want, but my whole Zone hasn't been to Managua
and won't be able to see those in the South Mission if they don't see them now.
Please help us to get across." And eventually, after a while the people
softened and let us pass, but I was praying and I did not doubt in the power
the Lord has given us as missionaries.

Remember this lesson, prayer is the only way we can be close to our Father in
Heaven. It is the only way we can keep our relationship strong with him.

Family, I love you so much and I miss you terribly. If you can all pray not
just as a family, but personally as well that I might be buoyed up during these
trying 2 years I will be eternally grateful.

Mom, I will try and get more info to you guys about how to get letters to me
and stuff. I just need the new address. So if you could like send a little
Facebook note to Heather Thomas and ask her to tell other not to send stuff to
the old address and tell them that they can still send stuff through pouch to
the NORTH mission, that'd be great, that'd be fantastic, just let them know that they need to send mail via pouch to my new mission.

I love you all so much, and I think about you all the time. It brings me such
great happiness to know that we are such a beautiful family. Please, do not
worry about me, pray for me and the people of Nicaragua.

--

Love,

Elder Bolton

P/S

Really, do not worry about me, simply pray that I can be
effective and not get too homesick

Also, they have officially extended my mission 3 weeks, so technically I get to
serve out my whole mission in Nicaragua.

--

Love,

Elder Bolton

Letters from the MTC

Date: June 08, 2010
Area: MTC

Life is great here in the MTC. I have had some amazing experiences the past week that I want to recap really quickly for you (having only 30 minutes to write really makes me nervous...).

1. Teaching. I love teaching. My companion and I have become rather good at teaching with each other and teaching with the spirit. Our teacher told us that we still have some things to working on, but that if we work hard the rest of the district will follow us (apparently we're like the leaders at teaching, pretty cool).

2. THE SPIRIT. I have had such a spiritual week. I've had a lot of interesting experiences in my life that have led me to need to rely on the spirit to live, and for that I am so grateful. I have been able to use that to my advantage to help teach and to have scriptures come to my mind or have simple phrases of power be at the ready when I need to help an "investigator" learn something, or know that I have a testimony of it. I have also been able to receive so much personal revelation about my life.

3. Music. So, it's kind of sad that we are not allowed to listen to our own music here at the good old MTC, but it has helped me to rely on singing hymns and the music of the heart. We also had some of the old Church Hymnal Committee members come and talk to us about singing and brining our lives in line with Christ's (the speakers included the people who wrote the music for Press Forward Saints, Our Savior’s Love and Thy Holy Word). AMAZING. I shook all of their hands and thanked them for the work that they had done for the church and then thanked them, being the music enthusiast that I am, for having brought that music into my life. I told one of them that I had been in choir since I was 9 and he said it was a shame that the MTC Choir isn't running right now. So true.

4. Classes. The cool thing about being in the advanced class is that I have the opportunity to simply be taught in Spanish, rather than having to learn Spanish half the time and learn how to teach the other half. Yesterday we had a substitute teacher, as one of teachers was taking his LSAT (yikes!). He was amazing and really helped me feel comfortable. He asked us if we felt like we had received too much information yet. I said "Um. YES! I feel like I'm being inundated." (Forgive the rough English, I’m trying to remember what we were saying and then trying to translate everything into English...) He then told us that the MTC is like a fire hydrant, the hose carries the information to us, and then we have the hose put in our mouths...and VOILA! Our heads are getting blasted with information that we don't know how to use yet. But then he testified that when we get into the field so much of it will make sense, obviously not all at once, for that is too easy; however, over time we will remember what we have learned here and it will help us out.

My district is fantastic. After a few weird incidents--an Elder joining us for his last week being here after being here for 14 weeks, and one of our Sisters going home--I have realized that my life is now truly in the Lord's hands and that I need to get used to having my life just tossed about like a ship on the seas.

Mom, the Doctrine and Covenants are amazing! They give us so much guidance for these times, as well as give us hope for the life to come. I love that quote that you sent me from President Hinckley, it was exactly what I needed to hear about the doctrine contained in that precious book. And THANK YOU for using Preach My Gospel. In reality the whole ward should use it, but they don't understand that it's not solely for the missionaries or missionary work. Everything in there is amazing and can help us so much in our everyday lives: whether it is studying, teaching with the spirit, or even listening and teaching skills, every chapter in that book is meant for the betterment of our lives.

I see Ellis, Elder Hunsaker, daily. He's in my ZONE! I was so excited. It was such a wonderful tender mercy.

I have gotten all of your letters and I'm so excited that you have all gotten mine! I will write a few more before I leave on MONDAY! WOHOOO! Okay, itinerary, because I know I need to send it: I leave SLC at 6 in the morning on Monday June 14th. I arrive at Dallas at 9:35 and then have a 3 hour lay-over. Then I head to Miami and land at 4:35 and then stay there for my 2 hour layover. Anyway I leave Miami at 6:50 and arrive at Managua at 7:30. Flight #'s: American Airlines 1868, 795, 986.

I buzzed my hair, 1/2" all around. Weird. The girl cutting my hair asked me how long it had been since I had it that length, I told her I was 10 or 11 the last time it was that short.

Well, my time is almost up. I love you all! Keep studying your scriptures and praying for me!
--
Love,
Elder Bolton

Letters from the MTC

Date: June 01, 2010
Area: MTC

Okay, brace for impact! I'm going to unload everything you want to know in the 17 mins I have left thanks to the BYU/MTC IT department. (They were very rude today...silly people).

I am in a district with 4 other Elders and 3 Sisters (Hermanas). We're the only district in the Zone with Hermanas right now, but we get two whole districts of them this Wednesday. I live with one other Elder, my companion Elder Flores from California. We have an entire room to ourselves, so I get to have two pillows all to myself.

Schedule (the basic low-down):

6:30-Get Up and prepare for the day.

7:00-Be to class for personal study

7:30-Breakfast

8:15ish-Class or Gym Time (gym is about an hour)

12:30-Lunch

1:15-Class (or Study Time)

5:30-Dinner

6:15 Class (or Study Time)

9:00 Plan

9:30 Bedroom

10:15 Quiet Time

10:30 in BED

We have devotionals and firesides and stuff intermittently spread all over our very chaotic schedule. But the worst of it is over! I have now been here for almost a week exactly and I am supposed to leave the 16th of June! Side note: I had to go give some blood today because Nicaragua requires a blood check to see iv we have HIV or AIDS. The nurse said that they were just doing it as a precautionary measure, as they had already told Nicaragua that I was clean and they had checked my blood. ;)

Mom, that experience that you had at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple reminds me of my life at BYU. Every day I would walk out of my building when I was heading out to class or work I would see the temple as I was leaving my building. It is so amazing how many blessings we can experience for literally (or figuratively) facing our "tents" to the temple. And that temple is absolutely gorgeous! All I remember is seeing the chandelier when we were at the dedication last august (which feels like yesterday, by the way). And you have the worst luck when you travel. After reading your letter I feel the need to emphasize that life is interesting when you travel...

Your letters and thoughts/prayers help me out so much here; I can definitely feel your influence in my life as you are all trying to help me.

I love you all so much and cannot wait to send you letters and photos (as I really do not have much time to email every day).

Look up D&C 49 (about the Second Coming) and when you read verse 24 think of me!

keep praying for me! Love,
Elder Bolton

(The rest of this is from a brief one page letter we received from him in the mail, the same day as his email.)

Dear Familia,

I just wanted to let you all know that I'm doing well! Today was chaotic and so busy.

I love you all so very much! Everything here is what I expected and more!

My companion is very kind and very patient with me. There are all native Latinos in my class and the Spanish that they speak is VERY different from the Spanish that I speak. I love them all so much and I love my Branch President and teachers so much.

Love you lots. Stay strong.

Stories:
1. I saw who my companion was, and I knew him! I met him randomly at school and we connected real well. At first I was nervous because I didn't know him extremely well, but I love him. He is a fantastic Elder and now, District Leader (even though I am Senior Companion).

2. I got into class on Wednesday and was super nervous. Dad, I was not ready for the advanced program then, but I am now. I think in Spanish and I practice it all the time. I get to have fun with it a lot because I with all natives!

3. I told my Branch President that I felt inadequate in that classroom, but he told me that he knew that I was fulfilling prophecy. Check out D&C 49:24 for more information!

Languages

I LOVE this website. I just found it, and despite the fact that i will only be able to go on it for like the next few days...you can bet your life that I will be on it. all. the. time.

http://www.transparent.com/wotd/

Confusion

life is confusing. feelings are constricting. love is baffling.

i look forward to having certain situations alleviated, taken off my burdened shoulders, yet when it happens i feel terribly empty. i was so excited to get away from school, to leave the stress and a lot of the annoying situations behind me so that i could start preparing for my mission.

however, i feel somewhat hollow. i am still doing the good things in my life, praying, reading my scriptures, but i still have this empty spot. it took me a while to understand why it existed, then it dawned on me like the bright sun over the green haze of the New England horizon: i'm missing something that i made and integral part of me. i'm missing the connections that i made at school.

much like trees rooted firmly into the ground i am strengthened by the connections that i make. i will not foster a relationship if i feel it will just wither and die. much like trees i plant my strength deeply and do not expected to be uprooted, to be surprised and then suddenly without feeling. numb. gone.

i am no longer connected to my roommates in the same manner. i am no longer part of the everyday lives of my coworkers. the teachers that i hated at times and yet loved because they challenged me to be better than i am. i miss the great friends i had contact with almost every day, and people that i could talk to about all the craziness that was going on in my life/head. i no longer have the same pull in their lives...

at times i feel like a ghost, one that solidifies and touches someone's heart. then, after time, i slowly fade to let them live the rest of their life while i watch, totally helpless in the background (no other influence permitted). at times i wonder: have i been a good enough example? have i led them to understand their potential? will i ever have someone reach out and pull me back into mortality?

i also want someone to love me. someone here, with me. i yearn to be needed as much as i need others. that is my weakness. that is my kryptonite. love. i like to spend time with people, but it's always hard for me to tell if someone just likes to be around me or if they want to be closer to me. i guess i shouldn't worry about that now that i'm going to be an ambassador for the gospel i live and love. but still, the feeling persists.

Rant

after last week (and its spill over into this week) I feel like i need to express my feelings.

sometimes my blog seems to be a giant forum for me to RANT.

other times I feel as if people actually read what i write and relate to what I'm trying to communicate.

for whatever reason y0u are reading my blog...thank you...hopefully i'm not the only crazy one out there...although i think i'm not the only crazy in provo...

things that have bugged me over the past couple weeks:

i don't know why it is but i feel as if everything i do make people so react so dumbly. like today, i had JDawgs for lunch and when i eat fatty foods my tummy hurts.was well aware of this side effect. yet i wanted it so badly that i got it anyway. so, in short, i wound up getting hot dog burps and i accidentally burped in my work vehicle and my coworkers made fun of me the entire way...even though my other coworker burped, no joke, seven times after mine. they told me i smelled bad, i apologized and felt bad, but they wouldn't leave me alone.

also, it's totally fine for them to just be lazy and not do deliveries and study in the van when they have quizzes to prepare for, but when i ask to not do a delivery or to not drive they get upset. and they can joke around but when i try to be funny they think i'm weird. they find it weird that i actually PAY ATTENTION TO DETAILS. people don't really understand that they can tell me a story once and i'll remember it pretty well, yet for some reason that makes me weird? sorry, the last time i checked a memory like that was pretty awesome. most people cannot remember things like i can...whatever.

i also don't understand why it is that people are so rude and sarcastic all the time. sarcasm really bugs me, especially when people follow it with the phrase "you know i'm just kidding. don't take things so personally!" that bugs me more than the sarcasm. i don't know if most people understand that sarcasm is truth wrapped up in a seemingly funny package held together with the sticky "SCREW YOU" and "YOUR IMPERFECTION ARE HILARIOUS" tape all over the nicely decorated gift wrap. i know that i'm not perfect, so i don't need your jokes to help me realize quite how imperfect i am, thank you.

i just wish older people would grow up. you may be 22 or 23 or 24, i don't give a fart. you can act a little bit older. there are times to have fun and to act younger; however, as a general rule acting your age won't kill you. i hate that i can act older and slightly more mature than those that are older than myself and for acting in such manner makes me mock worthy.

i also do not like people who cannot keep secrets. secrets are meant to be shared between people who trust one another. if there's one important lesson that i've learned at school it's that i can only trust a select few people. i have a mental list. and for some reason men suck at secret keeping...it's just not in their hard wiring...keep that in mind women.

and this wouldn't be complete without a post about my two PSYCHO roommates. i love two of my roommates but i have two that are like legit crazy. one has tried twice to force me to take him to the bus stop on the edge of campus (once he woke me up and i think he learned NEVER to wake me up--well, if you're not my mom it's not a good idea). the other is just like bipolar and for the past week has come home and gone to bed after me, generally waking me up around 3 or 4 a.m., then getting up and leaving around 4 p.m. i wonder why he complains that he's getting bad grades when he doesn't study, he plays video games and stay up until all hours of the early morning. he has also started to use my roommate's shampoo because his "disappeared" (i.e. he used it and doesn't want to replace it).

so, to all you who choose to be rude, overly sarcastic, immature and just dumb, this is me saying that i'm glad to know you. you make me grow. you make me learn. you force me to remind myself that i'm glad that i'm different and that i may be stupid, but that i pale in comparison to your example.

Parts and Pieces

My mom is soooo right (and it's odd that we've both been thinking about this). I often wonder if I give too much of myself to people, or if I give too much of my heart to things that really don't matter. I wonder if I spread myself too thin trying to accomplish everything I can, being a perfectionist like my momma.

Will I ever be whole again? After Siovhan left for college I felt like part of me was gone, then after leaving for college I felt even more incomplete. Slowly I started feeling better as I became closer to my roommate, but now he's gone too (as well as numerous other friends).

Sometimes I miss being 11 years old. I miss being innocent and young. I miss crushes. I miss not worrying. Everything seemed--and probably was--so much easier then. Love. Hate. Faith. Intelligence. Friendships. Family.

But, I know that everything happens for a reason. I am meant to struggle sometimes so that I can remember help is no more than a prayer away. I find solace in President Hinckley's words:
"I come to you tonight with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we try to "accentuate the positive." I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. Now I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man or woman who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his or her course.

What I am suggesting is that you turn from the negativism that so permeates our modern society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom you associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my wise father would say: 'Cynics do not contribute. Skeptics do not create. Doubters do not achieve.' "

This talk helps remind me to have faith, to trust my Father in Heaven with my life (especially with a mission right around the corner) and to hope for a brighter tomorrow. I need to be a little bit more optimistic than I have been lately...

Catharsis

I have had a rather cathartic week...work, classes, friendships, etc.
I feel like a mess...a chaotic jumble of human emotions all thrown into one being.