Life is GOOD!

Monday, September 19, 2011 6:02 PM

I am getting such fulfillment from every single day recently, in spite of the fact that we don’t have any resulting successes still. We were studying 3 Nephi 7:15-20. People got angry cuz Nephi taught with such power that they could not help but to believe and know that they were in the wrong and that what Nephi taught was true. The thing is, if you choose not to change, it won’t happen. It’s our job to provide the conditions in which they can feel the spirit and help them to recognize it. From there, it’s up to them. Sad when they don’t accept it.. but we have had such a great change so far. We have spiritual experiences that leave us AMAZED quite often, like more than any of my other changes so I feel great.

I enjoy being involved in the moment. The mission goes by pretty fast, and if you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it. Especially in these last 6 months.. at first in the mish the weeks almost seemed to extend to the eternities and now I hardly notice that a week has passed by and Monday is here again. And that conference is also here again. I’m just flowin’ and goin’. It’s insane. Here comes a change and there it goes... It is a very special feeling and I don’t want that feeling to end. I am enjoying it. Life is better when you live it for other people. Especially if that person is the Lord.

Mission Life Goes On...

Monday, September 12, 2011 5:56 PM

Well. Life in Managua continues. Our only amazing investigator has disappeared - which is not common in Managua - and so that is upsetting. It has been difficult for me as of late because I have not felt as if I am making any difference here, not really.

We did however teach a purely AMAZING once in a life time lesson with a recent convert where we taught by power and authority with the spirit so strong you could like reach out and touch it almost. We could promise her things and feel the spirit speaking through us and everything and she cried and felt the spirit and it was great. Problem was it was Tuesday, so, she forgot about it by the time Sunday came around and went to the market instead. D´OH!

I told a contact I was from Texas and he was like TEXAS PETROLEUM and he laughed hysterically and skipped away. Weird.

It’s amazing to see how God works in the mission.. My comp and I studied ch.4 of PMG in comp study this week and we had been discussing how really agency is what decides everything and it is primarily our responsibility to bring the spirit with us and create an atmosphere in which it can teach. She mentioned that if we can feel it, then the investigator should be able to feel it too. So that SAME night we taught this one family and had exactly that experience. At the end of it all, the man said he won’t ask God if it’s all true ‘cuz he feels that is too big of a question to ask Him. He will just keep asking for health and work and that’s about it. He says he will keep on keepin’ on with life and hope a change magically appears (didn’t say the last part exactly that way but might as well..)You could literally feel the air get depressed when he said that. I just thought it was interesting and lovely and amazing that God prepared us in our study for that cita that night.

God lives and this truly is His work and I’m feeling the reality of that more and more every day as I get nearer to the end. It really is a shame that it is only 1.5 years to serve for sisters.. I feel like I’m just starting to open myself and discover the possibilities in my mission. I don’t want to miss a moment and I’m learning how to make the most of the day while it is called NOW.

Another Party and Another Change!

Monday, September 5, 2011 7:21 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO GRANDPA!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hope it is a magical one and that the day is rich in family and spirit.

Sooooo this is picture week!

Last week in Bello Horizonte we surprised the zone with a mariachi - it was for that elder´s b-day (but this we kept a secret from everyone except us 4) and they were all like WHAAAAT cuz the trumpet just started blasting and next thing you know there is a mariachi right in the middle of the zone meeting. You should have seen their faces.... priceless! It was sooo great though. My area in the Rotonda was always crawling with Mariachi bands.. they were ALL OVER THE PLACE which is uncharacteristic of Nicaragua for those of you that have shiny ideas of what Latino culture is like. Also in my area there was a cookie factory (Nabisko) and it always smelled really delicious to pass by there.

And, also, I got changed. Again. To 10 minutes away. I can now say I have been in all areas of León and now Managua as well. Haha well what can you do.. you just gotta’ serve in whatever capacity the Lord calls you, even if the place isn’t your favorite. No but really I love my new area. I do really, really, really, really miss my old zone and the investigators that we had finally built up there. I had very good relationships with them and I don’t think the new sisters have located them all just yet but I know God will provide a way. I think God in these recent months has just decided I’m here to prepare areas. Again I’m in an area that doesn’t have many possibilities going for it so we are in the search. I wonder if I will just area hop and prepare a lot of seeds instead of baptizing them the rest of my mission? This really teaches humility and patience, which is honestly what I need. I LOVE my comp (traded in the tiny comps for a tall whitey!!), love my bishop, love my RCs, love my area, love what I’m learning, and idk. It’s great. I am senior comp again.. Hna DeCoursey (Utah) came with Hna Garff. She is so great and we are a good team. She has been here for 2 changes already and yeah, so I’m stoked to be here. I have had 5 areas in the last 5 months..... crazy.

Also, Hna Platero, who trained me, was also the trainer for Hna DeCoursey. Hna Platero left the mission this last Wednesday for her homeland of El Salvador. Off to get married!! hahah. I can’t believe that my trainer has now finished! I feel very happy for her though because she was able to serve a very good mission and inspired many people. She was a light to all those who followed.





Right now the task is mainly to find new people to teach, but we do have one family we are teaching. The woman was inactive but now is reactivated and her boyfriend wants to be baptized. He even cries because he is not able to participate in the sacrament because he is still living in sin. But they are waiting for her divorce to finish so that they can get married and he can be baptized so our other efforts are in pressuring the lawyers here to get their butts moving so this guy can have some relief.

Say your prayers.
Read your scriptures.
Go to church.
Be diligent in those few things and the Lord will trust in you many grand things and you will be prepared for something even greater your imagination.
God loves us.
He provides for us as well.
In everything.
Truly.
The gospel is true.
(This stuff really works)

Celebration...

Monday, August 29, 2011 7:25 PM

Note from Mom: I owe Courtney an apology for being so late posting to her blog! She is very diligent in sending posts; however, with the beginning of school and such, I got behind. So, although it's a little late, here is an update (with this week's to follow shortly!)...

So we decided to do a piñata for an elder´s birthday because his family doesn’t write him and stuff so we wanted him to have his first birthday party ever. It was really fun. And delicious. It was a blast beating up Barney too!! hahahah. We didn’t have a stick or anything but I think that punching the piñata is much more entertaining (and less dangerous for spectators) than batting it around.

My area is a difficult area with a lot of rich people - because there are no necessities in life, because they have no tribulations, they do not feel it important to go to church or to learn of His gospel or to do anything for Him at all for that matter. I’ve actually found it very interesting how here in Nicaragua, the people that have problems really realize and recognize that the reason they are where they are is because God expects a change out of them. I wouldn’t wait up for something like that back home, personally. Anyways, we have still been finding a few families and individuals that we can teach. My comp and I have found and taught 2 great investigators for our District Leader and it is a joy to see them progressing. They are to be baptized these next 2 weekends. I like seeing people accept the teachings of the Lord and to make real changes in their lives. One of them compares himself to Joseph Smith, really being able to identify with how it feels going from church to church looking for something real that sticks. Miguel feels that this is what he has been looking for all this time.

In the mission, we aren’t just missionaries. We aren’t just representatives of our families or of the church. We aren’t just guides, or instructors or teachers. We don’t only preach the gospel. We don’t just strengthen and organize the church. We don’t just study and plan and we aren’t just counselors or servants. But beyond all that, we are the answer to the prayers of the people that have pleaded with the Lord for something better. We are representatives of Christ Himself in the world. There are people waiting for us. We are their superheroes, their angels. Most of the time it’s just working to become perfectly united with the Lord to find those chosen. He needs to be able to entrust His children to us. It really matters where your heart and interests are at.