First note of this email, various
symbols on this keyboard are not functioning, one being the exclamation
point, so if it seems like I am lacking emotion in this email, that
could potentially be the reason.
Wow this week was a busy one. As I think I mentioned
last time, we set some pretty high goals, so we had to work hard. Our
most difficult goal was to have 40 lessons with a member present this
week. That basically meant that we would have to teach the majority of
the lessons with a member present. We also had another stumbling block
in the road, we had to go to Managua on Tuesday because
Elder Alfaro had a leadership meeting ``PARENTHESIS``he is the district
leader``END PARENTHESIS`` so that meant we would lose almost an entire
day of the week. But even with this obstacle, we arrived back home at
about 6pm and
decided we could get a good amount of lessons in with our
investigators. So we taught 4. That left us with needing to teach 9 per
day to achieve the goal. We did get 9 on day one which was excellent, but
then Elder Alfaro started to lose steam. The next day we got 7, and the
next 6, and the last, a whopping 4. On Sunday, we
didn't really know who we should visit, and no members were really available so we only got one. All in all, we ended with 31, which is an excellent number, but we weren't quite able to achieve the goal.
BUT, that being said, our work really paid off. Sacrament meeting yesterday was one to be remembered. To begin, we got a call on Saturday night
from the ZL informing us that President Collado and his family, along
with Elder Maravilla would be present in our Sacrament meeting this
week. So basically it was do or die with bringing investigators to
church. And as I said, our work paid off, we had 9 investigators at
church.``PARENTHESIS´´
Our Fridge. We are well stocked with ``Tropical´´ juice, because it has special meaning. The Mango flavor is bautizar, baptize, and the Mixed Fruits is for establecer, establish. That is part of the reason we are having success, because we are drinking our ``bautizar y establecer´´.
Walter and Lidia, as you asked, were at church, as
usual. Sadly they, like I mentioned, need to get married, and Lidia is
all for it, but Walter is not really, so we are going to have to hold
that one off for just a little bit. He knows he wants to get married and
baptized, but he is just a little hesitant to make the commitment.
Enrique and Lupe were the family that we found 2
Saturdays ago and have already been to church 2 times, the minimum to be
baptized. For that reason, they have committed to be baptized this Saturday at
4. Woohoo. They are truly a miracle, because they came to church the
day after we found them, they came to a noche de hogar, or family home
evening, on Monday night, and they came to the Thursday night activities that we have every week, all in less than a
week. They are truly the golden investigators that are rumored to be
true.
Cesar and Belsabet were also at church with their little 2 year old son. This was their first Sunday.
They are a young couple that we found through a reference, and they are
super nice and love us. They complain when we can't stay and talk with
them for more than 20 minutes or so. I think that the talks were
super good for them to hear They didn't stay all 3 hours but I have
a good feeling about them.
This is a quilt picture thing that was in the house ofCesar y Belsabet. We really liked it, so we took a picture with it haha.
Carlos is the soon to be husband of one of the
recent converts in the area. This was his first time coming to church,
and hopefully something will come of it. We haven't really taught him
much though. The other was Freddy, a man who has been investigating the
church forever, but just won't do the things necessary to be baptized.
Anyway, President and Sister Collado both spoke and
also Elder Maravilla. Although I couldn't necessarily understand
everything, their talks were super good.
The
other investigators that didn't attend church this week, well, we will
have to determine if it is worth it to continue visiting them or not. If
they are not going to progress, than sadly we have to move on.
As I mentioned earlier, we spent all of Tuesday in
Managua. It was really just an unfortunate situation that I had to go.
First of all, it costs 150 cordobas for the bus trip there and back. The
bus ride was a total of 5 hours there and back. We had to pay a taxi to
get to the location of the meeting which was 50 cordobas. And all for a
meeting that I couldn't even attend. I had to sit in another room in
the church building that it was in with another missionary, and we just
studied for the 4 hours that the meeting lasted. SO pretty much the
biggest waste of my time and money
...but on the bright side they did
bring pizza from Pizza Hut for the people in the meeting, and we took
some.
As I've spent more time here, of course I have
gotten closer and closer to the people. This is great and all, except
when there is a 9 year old girl who I'm pretty sure has a crush on me,
and all she ever wants to do is give me a hug or hold my hand. I
constantly tell her that she can't do that because it is against the
rules. She really doesn't like that, so then she always ``gets mad´´ and
doesn't talk to me. Elder Alfaro finally told me that there was an
elder here before that wasn't necessarily the best example of the rules,
because he would let her hold his hand all the time. ANYWAY, the point
of all of this: One night they wanted to come home with us, but we told
them they couldn't. They didn't care, so they followed us home, yes two 9
year olds. Luckily there is a locking gate outside of our apartment
complex, so we were able to keep them locked outside. But they decided
they had nothing better to do so they waited around screaming
``ELDERES´´ for the next 30 minutes until finally Elder Alfaro
threatened to call their dads. They finally left.
The two kids that decided to chase us home and try to come into our apartment. They are just funny little kids, and wanted to wear our backpacks.
For the next two stories, you can decide which is
the ``Funny Story´´. Whatever appeals to you more is the funny story of
the week and the other is just a story. To preface, Elder Alfaro has
glasses, that sometimes he decides he doesn't want to wear.
1. On the way to our lunch appointment every day there is this part
of the road and sidewalk that has a huge irrigation cement ditch. It is
probably about a yard or so deep. We walk past this area at least once a
day, and lately we have been working more around that area, so
sometimes we pass it as many as 4 or 5 times a day. On Thursday night, we were heading to an appointment at 8 PM and
to get there we had to pass through this area. Mind you it was dark
outside. Almost no light. I was walking and all of a sudden I realize
that Elder Alfaro is not at my side anymore. I turn around to find him
fallen into this cement ditch , because he wasn't wearing his glasses
and it was super dark outside. The only part I don't understand is the
fact that he has walked through that area every day for the last 4
months, so how could he have forgotten about this ditch``question mark´´
2. Last night, Sunday, we were visiting some recent converts and a
few investigators. We were at Gabriels house first, and we were hanging
out talking for a little, and then they offer me a mango... for those of
you that don't know, I really really don't like mangoes... but of
course, as a missionary I could not turn it down. So I struggled for the
next 20 minutes putting this mango down. Finally it was over, or was
it``question mark´´ We then moved on to Enrique and Lupes house, and
after about 2 minutes of being there, he offers us mangoes, but these
ones were different. They were green mangoes that literally tasted like
bark. But being a good missionary, I accepted the offered food and put
yet another one down the hatch. As we were leaving their house, they
told us to wait, and oh so thoughtfully gifted us with a bag of 3 mangoes
each... luckily Elder Alfaro likes them. haha But its not over. Those mangoes did something to my digestive system that pino-lio couldn't do,
something that nacatamales couldn't do, something that Fritanga could
not even do. Yes you already know, I will spare you the details. Luckily
it was a very quick phase of ``issues´´. Only lasted one trip to the
bathroom...
But to update the count: Elder Moser-2, Nicaragua-1
Spiritual Thought:
So
this week I was reading in Mosiah 29, and it reminded me in verse 12 of
a very important topic. The scripture says, more or less, that God is a
better judge than man, because God is a perfect judge and man is not.
Often we get caught up in doing things to conform to the people of the
world, so that when man is our judge we will be viewed as a good person.
But God is our Judge in the end. He is the perfect judge with a perfect
balance of justice and mercy. We will be judged according to his
commandments, and according to his will. We need not care when we are
criticized for keeping the commandments we know are true. When the
thoughts of the world are contrary to the thoughts of God and his commandments, we should not hesitate to stand firm in our beliefs and
stand up for our cause. We will all be judged according to our works in
the end, and not by man, but by God. I don't know about you, but I don't
want to be found on the wrong ``team´´. So all in all, don't let the
influence of the world and the judgements of others affect you, your
beliefs and your actions.
Have a Great Week``Exclamation Point´´
Love,
Elder Moser
Pics for the week...
This is a horse. There is no significance to this picture other than that there is a horse on the side of the road, and I wanted a picture with it.
Random one of Elder Alfaro and I on P-day. If you look carefully, the baptismal font in our church building is behind us.
A pic with Gabriel, father of Gabriel, the professional welder. He's awesome, and the whole family are such strong converts.
Me learning how to weld. He is making a metal door thing that you have as your ``second door´´ so that you can leave your real door open. I don't really know what they're called. haha He says he can make about one every day, and he installs them in the houses as well. They sell for about 3000 cordobas each. Sounds like a pretty good job to me. haha
No, your eyes are not deceiving you. This is the Crustaceo Cascarudo, or in English, the Krusty Krab. It is real, and it's actually pretty good for Nicaraguan hamburgers. haha
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