March 25.2013

 

1- photos from hermana silma and her kids (missing 1) Ricardo, Eduardo, Fransisco, Moises and la niña Silma too. Less actives that reactivated before I left Masaya

The Noguera family. Less actives that reactivated while I was in Masaya

blurry but in front of the house in Masaya

With Elder Reini! He was my first district leader and his mom is friends with my mom through missionary moms... haha

 

Dinner with a family of investigators... Look mom! Fish!! Hahaha

The first with Elder Lopez and my trainer Elder Garcia

Both are from Nicaragua. Elder Lopez, flaco, is called to serve in Argentina, but just waiting on his visa.

 Elder Yat, my companion, and I sleep outside haha Its the second story.

Thats where we study, its actually really nice.

 

Riding in a mototaxi. Yeah, a motorcycle with a mini cab.

The two kids we baptized this week (Axel y Engel). The bishop baptized them (dressed in all white).

aaaaand... the other photo is with a recent convert. We celebrated his 1 year of not drinking the 23 of March. Hno Vayardo.

 Hermanito Andres with the guitar haha

the bishops family in San Miguel, Masaya

 



Well, I sent a bunch of pictures finally haha... Been couped up in the camera for quite some time... Hope they are enjoyed. I send them to also have a back up in case I get robbed too... just in case.

Anyway, this new area in Ciudad Sandino is really awesome. We baptized two little boys this week after teaching them a bit about the gospel. The service was really nice actually, it started about an hour and a half late... but thats normal and it doesnt really bug anybody. I sang a ´special number´which was just ´mas cerca dios de ti´. I love singing in the mission. Its such an amazing thing. I dont know what changed about singing but its not just sing to perform, but sing to bring the spirit and it surely works. Also, I really like teaching the kids because its more fun. We move around and do activities and the like. Its fun with the word of wisdom to teach them that, except when the kids shout ´Cocaine!!!´ when I ask what we shouldnt do...

This next week the ward is celebrating the establishment of the Relief Society. The bishops wife, president of the society, has planned a little drama act and asked me to play the role of Joseph Smith haha (Told ya I´d be a prophet, Rinna... and for the good of the sisters too ha). Im just going to read a little part from the meetings. She also asked me to bring my uke to play the hymns (we dont have a pianist in the ward), so Ill be doing that too. Thank goodness for the uke! haha

Oh yeah, since last week was my birthday and I wrote before the end of the day, a little something happened that made my day. I told a family that we met in one of the first days of coming to this area that monday would be my bday and we put a family home evening lesson with them. We went to their house and the family had bought a little mini cake to celebrate. Haha it was so amazing!!! I didnt expect it at all. It was also great because the son, with 13ish years, plays the keyboard, so we played I am a child of god with the keyboard and uke haha so I thoroughly enjoyed that.

To explain a little about what Im doing as a district leader, the main function is to serve the district. I have 4 companionships, or 8 missionaries. Each night, they call me and report to me the ´numbers´ of the day. ie how many lessons they had, how many references they received, how many people they contacted, etc. I also direct the district meetings every friday and assign who will do what in the meeting... and I report the numbers of the district to the zone leaders. With that side, its only technicalities. The other part is to animate, inspire, elevate, and encourage the missionaries. Hypothetically it should be easy because we are all serving God and we love what we do... but realisitcally some missionaries are still finding their purpose, blame others for small things, and have issues with authority... so its a learning experience for all. It is something that I know is helping me become a better person. Stronger in this gospel and I am cultivating the attributes of Christ.

In short, sé que esta iglesia es la iglesia de Jesucristo. Todas tienen buenas cosas y todas enseñan algo que es una bendición a alguien, pero Cristo establició una iglesia, y la restauró en actualidad. Espero que busquen la verdad, que oren a Dios en el nombre de Cristo que es lo que deben hacer para ser mas feliz. El dinero no les sirve despues, pero este evangelio les sirve por ahora y para siempre.

Muchas gracias y tengan una buena semana

Elder Mann

Nicaragua Managua Sur

La Mejor Misión del Mundo

 piñata for my bday

 

 dont remember which I chose...

 

 

 

 

 

March 18, 2013

Happy gracias to all who wished me a happy birthday haha Sorry I couldnt reply to all, one hour is a pretty short time to write weekly... buuut Ill let you know I had a good birthday so far. Played uke, ate lots of candies from the goodie bag from Aunt Julie and the Utleys... and ate more candy... lunch, hair cut nica style... and now writing to all of you.

It was amazing to hear from all of you, and here are a few notaries:

Hermana Diane Heyman- I am so glad to hear from you and to know you are doing much better.

Elder Sage Aiono- Thanks for the chords to the song and I hope your parents can send you your uke too haha

Mac and Kristen- I love you both very much without limits or conditions. You are both the best brother and sister I could have.

Mom and Dad- You know I love you haha

Elder Heyman- Glad you were honest, and yes my birthday is the 18th

Hermana Corrinne Clement- Be strong, we´ll see eachother soon (hahaha just kidding everyone, shes doing great haha)

and los demás- gracias.

Just a few notes from this week. We participated in the temple dedication of Honduras because Nicaragua doesnt have a temple and now this country will be going there because it is the closest temple now. It was an amazing experience to be part of that dedication and I loved to feel the spirit of the temple. If you are a member of the church, go to the temple please. There are millions of people here that have to work for years to save enough money to go to a temple.

Also, we have found some interesting investigadores. One is 99 years old... his parents lived to be 111 and 115... So we are going to see if we can baptize him, he can still walk with help and is quite coherent for being 99 years old. He´ll be 100 in May.

Another is from Illinois or something. She teaches here. It was super weird to teach her for the first time because she understood everything very well. In the sense that we didnt have this experience

´Jose smith was a prophet of god. Who was Jose smith?´

´I dont remember´

That really happens... often. Haha Less often here because we are in a city and schools are more common, but it still happens.

And one investigator that loves Oldies music, like the songs dad sings. He knows I love it and so when we have an appointment with him he plays the music so we hear it when we walk up. haha

In the end, really awesome. We have three baptisms this weekend. It will be a stakewide baptism so we are all going to travel to Managua to baptize together. It will be a big event, and we aaree really excited!

Love to you all!

Hope enjoy your week!

--

Elder Mann

Nicaragua Managua Sur

La Mejor Misión del Mundo

March 11, 2013

Its a new world.... Haha

So I had my first transfers to a new area. Im now in Ciudad Sandino, part of the main city Managua. Its a bit hotter, not as breezy, nor near as dusty. There is running water almost constantly (except for when Im about to rinse off in the shower and I have to wait 5 minutes just standing there...) and there are many, many churches. Not just evangelico or catholic but mixes of churches. For example christianic Catholics. Evangelical pentocostales. etc...

When we contact people in the street and shake their hands they say ´blessings. blessings.´ and every time we say something religious they say ´amen´. Its been pretty interesting these past few days haha

Also, I have been assigned to serve as District Leader here. Basically, I organize the weekly district meeting, do splits with each companionship to help in their area at least once a week, and report their numbers from their lessons they had during the day, contacts, baptismal dates put, etc. The district here has many challenges, but i have faith that through the small and simple things great changes will come to pass. More families will be taught and be baptized to this true church.

We also live in a two story house. The first floor lives a family, not members, but really nice and pass the majority of the day working. We have a shower as I said earlier, so no more buckets!! Wooohoo!!! Hahaha, even though that was pretty fun, and Im actually not accustomed to a shower now... Anyway, I have pictures of the house, but thecomputer doesnt read my memory card, so... another week without pictures. Sorry. One of the coolest things of the house is that we have our own little patio or ´backyard´ type thing on the second floor. And a mango tree hangs over it. So every morning one of us goes and collects the mangos haha We eat a lot of mangos. And because that area is closed off from everything else, we sleep outside haha Its pretty awesome. Probably one of the few times in my mission that Ill be able to do that. We just take our mattresses and sheets and sleep under the stars. Even though I fall asleep within 2 minutes, its still worth it to look at the stars...

We had a good transfers meeting the last week with a strong message about faith. If we have the faith to find people to teach, we will find them. I have faith that we will baptize families and many people here in Ciudad Sandino. I know that because we preach the truth and the truth cannot be denied by an honest heart. I know that God still works miracles and we can see evidence of that every day.

Best of luck and pray well

--

Elder Mann

Nicaragua Managua Sur

La Mejor Misión del Mundo

March 4, 2013

Weeeeellll this week in Marzo es la primera ha

7 months in the mission this month. Weird. Especially when I looked at pictures from the MTC on my camera, there seems to be a lapse in my memory of time.

This month Ill be completing my 20 years of being here haha And this is my mix of spanish grammar and english words. But there are transfers this week and having been here for 5 months in the same area, it is highly possible that I will get transfered out. I hope not because we are finding new families to teach and Im learning a lot in determining who feels the spirit when we teach. Thats a major difference in whether theyll be baptized or not. Today two member families are celebrating my birthday haha One bought a piñata of a tiger and put the name of my companion so that I can hit him with a bat haha Again, Id love to stay here with this family and with this area, but still iré y haré lo que manda el Señor.

I remember reading a while ago a letter from Taylor that my mom sent me, one of his weekly letters like this. He made a comment on how as he sits in a lesson truths about the gospel come to him and he just understands. I didnt fully understand what he meant when I read it. This week, I had many experiences in the lessons or just as we walked to appointments of what he said. Just discussing a topic, or hearing my companion bearing his testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet, small details of church books, doctrine and covenents, etc come to my mind and make it extremely clear in how true it is. I love this gospel. I know it is true. I know it cannot be proved wrong by means of men because it is made by God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that even though many people say that the church doesnt save the soul, its the faith in Jesus, the faith in Jesus leads us to do what he needs us to do to be saved which only exists in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

For those of you that are members, go to the temple. If you cant enter for whatever reason, just go to the temple grounds and pray silently, ask what you should do. I know that God will answer your prayers. Little by little I am realizing the power of an answer. I know it is not instantaneous, but that I have to search for it.

Esto es mi testimonio de la iglesia verdadera. Se lo comparto en el nombre de Jesucristo. Amen.

                                           Elder Mann

Nicaragua Managua Sur

La Mejor Misión del Mundo