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