Find it Within

Mon, January 31, 2011 6:48:12 PM

Well.. I am sorry but I truly don’t have time to write a blog entry today so I will share with you a quote....

You can’t teach a man anything. You can only help him to find it within himself.
- Galileo

In one way or another, the answers are all within ourselves. Us + A little help from above = UNLIMITED AND PHENOMINAL POWER. We have a power and capacity and capabilities beyond imagination. Sometimes it is hard to remember that. Just tell yourself - "I am exceptional"!

Testimony of a Witness

Mon, January 24, 2011 7:44:05 PM

So this week was very special. We had the opportunity to have a conference with the apostle Elder Christofferson, as well as a member of the seventy and other important people and, of course, their spouses. He (Elder Christofferson) shook each of our hands individually and we got to take a photo with him but I don’t know when we will receive that. I personally learned a lot and received answers that I had been looking for. He also gave us many areas that we can focus on which I am excited to put into practice. At the end he opened it up for questions and one of the elders asked a question about how we can become true converts ourselves in the mission. President Arredondo´s answer to this was that he believes it to be more of a whole life process but that one key indicator of true conversion is how constant the spirit is in our lives. As I was reviewing my notes over the weekend I realized that we had already been told indirectly how to do that in the overall message given throughout the conference by all of the speakers. If you combine all the speakers, the message was: You can become a true convert if you truly live the gospel by changing habits to be able to seek the will of the Father through personal revelation (which we receive through prayer, study, and sharing the gospel), and if we follow His will and that revelation in faith, leaving the rest of the world behind, we can trust that He will guide us for good in our lives and provide all we truly need because He lives and knows more about us than we do and loves us.

Also in the choir, we were given the opportunity to finally sing `I´m trying to be like Jesus´ (in Spanish) which we have been practicing for the last 3 weeks. In the end it was definitely worth the sacrifice of P-days. The spirit was so strong and Elder Christofferson took a moment of silence and then told us that it was one of the most beautiful missionary choirs he has ever had the privilege of hearing. And he ¨has heard a LOT of missionary choirs¨ in his days. Wow. How special. He later commented to President Arredondo that what really impacted him the most was the song and all of us - the translation doesn’t really do much justice but yes, it was awesome.

Courtney and two good friends from the choir: Hnas. Wilford and Crosland

This week was amazing. I am learning every day how to have more faith in the Lord and how to grow and develop myself as a person. We are here learning how to be the best people we can be through service to other people and truly living the gospel constantly. We are here to learn how to incorporate the mission into our own personal lives. The Lord will provide everything if we are prepared to seek his will, act on the answers we receive, and follow Him in faith. We must labor and live so as to obtain the spirit constantly in our lives. If we do that, we will succeed in every aspect of our lives necessary in the eyes of the Lord.

I also want to include something that was probably one of the strongest confirmations I have ever had the privilege to witness. As Elder Christofferson gave us blessings, he concluded with his testimony as a special witness of God. He told us that God loves us, and that he knows us better than we know ourselves. He testified that he knows that Jesus Christ is the active leader of this church and that it is the most important thing on the earth right now. And to conclude he testified that he knows Jesus Christ lives. And he shared that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Faith is Real

Mon, January 17, 2011 7:30:34 PM

We baptized a family. Wow. It was amazing. This last week was a rollercoaster of ups and downs - there were so many instances when we were just like ¨oh my gosh.. REALLY? Is this necessary?!¨ But of course it was necessary, we just didn’t know why. Just about everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong and sometimes we didn’t know the how in the overcoming of a challenge but in the end the Lord got us all through. The enemy was attacking at every front, spiritual and temporal etc etc and the situation seemed out of our hands and abilities many times but we just worked hard and put our whole everything in the hands of the Lord. This family, Karla and Aldo, are amazing. The gospel has affected their lives in a very real way and they have now taken the first steps towards being sealed in the temple for eternity. They are excited about one day entering and even as we speak Karla is putting forward her every effort to plan an FHE for her family. She does not have the support of anyone who lives with her (in fact, she has open opposition) but her mother finally gave her permission to host an FHE in their home (with more than just her, Aldo, and the kids).

The wedding was beautiful, and after seeing the ups and downs of this couple and seeing them work through it and overcome it together, I was so happy to see them finally be able to make marriage a reality. Aldo in particular was just sooo overwhelmed - he almost couldn’t stop smiling.

Then the baptism brought it full circle and wow it was gorgeous, even though the baptismal font it turned out had a leak and they had to sit down to be able to be baptized because it was soooo freaking low (just another one of those lovely challenges). Karla cried multiple times. She just kept on saying how happy was that she could have a second chance, that she could become clean again.

In the end the daughter Itzayana was also baptized, and check out the pinata that she had at her birthday!

After this week of working with all our hearts and minds and everything that we have and giving it all I feel a peaceful exhaustion if that makes sense. We feel the need to recover but we have another boda/baptism to work on before this change ends Feb 2nd and so we are steppin’ on it!! The Lord has trusted us with a lot of trials this last week and we have been able to prove that we are in it to the end - we are willing to do all He requires because we know the importance of this work and the blessings that can come for these people. We only have a little bit of time to be able to do this. I already have 7 months in my mission, and every day more is a day less here participating in the work/opportunity/miracle of a lifetime. I really feel blessed that the Lord can trust me with these experiences and has confidence in me that I will fulfill what He has asked, no matter how hard or bleak the situation

Also.. I bet you all have noticed it has increasingly become more difficult for me to express myself in English. I have been having a hard time going between languages and now speak pretty much only Spanish. It is hard for me to remember to speak English in the house, which is a rule as part of the English-learning system in this mission. My comp is progressing in her English which makes me happy. I bet you all will get a good laugh when I come home and ´can’t talk good´ hahahaha.

love you all! cheers!

Mom's p.s. Based on her letter, I'm pretty sure Courtney meant to attach pictures. However, probably in her rush to get all her letter-writing done, they weren't there. If I get them next week, I'll insert them then. : )

NOTE: Pictures came : )

AVANZA

Mon, January 10, 2011 5:54:10 PM

Anyways so we are having a few hiccups in our baptisms for the families but they are still going forward. The families come to church on their own and stay the whole time, and they chat and become friends with the members.

We found this investigator named Martin, who is amazing. Golden! Apparently, he had been taught before by missionaries. What happened was the missionaries both must have gotten switched out and his paperwork got lost so no one came to visit ... until NOW! And he is prepared. Every appt. is awesome and he always has a lot of questions for us. This last time we watched a movie clip from some movie about football that is really good as a comparison between this life and our relationship with the Lord. At the end of the appointment he said I think that video was meant especially for me - and we didn’t even know that would happen! I just had felt it would be a good way to introduce the plan of salvation, especially for his type. And he started saying that he was reminded of all the things he should be doing and what the Lord expects of him and holy cow it was a realllly cool experience. I wish I could explain it but it just seems impossible. It was pretty awesome because the spirit talked to him.. not us.

I am having the time of my life. I have my personal battles but in the big picture they don’t show up much. Looking back at the 7 months I have had, I can’t think of anything really except happiness and love for the Lord, as cheesy as that sounds. I am in a great, well balanced, healthy companionship that I love, we are working with FAMILIES, the president and AP’s think we are awesome, and I am beginning to really know what to say when the opportunity comes. I have had a lot of spiritual experiences that feel amazing, even if they are small. I love you all and wish you the best!

WE ARE FAAAMILY

Mon, January 3, 2011 7:01:01 PM

I want to introduce ya'll to a few special people today. First, to my `boyfriend`:

Haha completely kidding. This is a Nicaraguan tradition that I am going to adopt. What they do is they build a `viejo` which is a person with old clothes and stuff and then at midnight they light it on fire and it burns signifying the old year going away I guess. What makes it awesome is that they throw fireworks and stuff inside so when it burns, its quite a show. LOVE it!

Second, our first baptism together here in Managua.. Jairo!

We are also teaching his sister Fabiola who is pictured with him.

Next - FAMILIES!! These guys are amazing and I have loved being able to have the opportunity to work with and teach and learn from them.

The first is Norlan and Maryuri. Norlan has really had a thirst to learn more and more and is eagerly reading the Book of Mormon. He always talks about how clear everything is and how much it makes sense to him and how he feels the spirit when he reads. He has loved the church and has adapted easily, already making good friends. He is a pretty personable guy.
His wife Maryuri is a bit reserved and doesn't say much but she is a gem. She also has enjoyed church, especially the relief society--and the women cannot get enough of her little girl.

Then there is Justin, their son. He is a HOOT! He was really quiet and shy and wouldn't even smile at first but that has all changed. Now we are BFF's and he is always telling me secrets and smiling and giggling. Absolutely gotta' love the kid.

Then we have Aldo and Karla. These folks are great! They cook and sell food out of the house - which is delicious by the way - and they are just the cutest.
I have no doubt that these two families have been prepared by God at this very time for the gospel. One thing that has just about blown our minds is the fact that Aldo y Karla, after beginning with the missionaries, have had family home evenings (spiritual thought and learning together etc), companionship inventory and decided to fast together for an answer the first sunday of the month, without the knowledge of those things in the church! We were like.. YOU JUST HAD A FAMILY HOME EVENING! That's what it's called! And it was something new for them and idk-maybe I cannot explain it. Well, it was just awesome. They have begun naturally to do the things we do in church, without previous knowledge or anything about it. Awesome. They are very personable as well and just very good people, and very funny as well. They each perfectly compliment the other. The oldest child, Ixa, loves reading the Book of Mormon and loved when her mom was reading it to them in their little FHE and explaining and everything. She is only 10.

And the littlest is the biggest personality ever. I cannot explain his personality but Jeremy just makes me laugh every day. Look at him show you his muscles! He is SO strong! Haha.

We are teaching more folks as well but these are the only ones I have photos of right now so there you go. They are awesome! I feel extremely blessed to be able to participate in this work.. I really cannot think of anything else I would rather be doing even though sometimes I feel like I don't know what I should do! But all we have to do is put in the effort and the rest is in the Lord`s hands. I like missions. I think they are one of the absolute best things a person can do in their lifetime. I highly recommend it. ANDO FELIZ!

Also the rest of the pictures are from Christmas - sorry they are a bit behind!

The folks in the photos are the family Medina, with whom we eat lunch and dinner. She`s amazing! And the drink with fruit in it in the pic with my comp is Ponche, the Christmas drink of Guatemala I told you about.

Happy New Year! I have lots of personal goals this year to achieve, one of them being that my comp and I are going to redo Personal Progress. Our goal is to start and finish it this year, and we have already begun. Bishop Newbold - I expect the bee necklace you get by redoing the program when I get back in a year okay?? Hahahah. Wow. I only have one year left.. I come home supposedly on January 5, 2012. Weird. It feels like I've only been gone like 2 months, MAYBE. Has the time flown for ya'll as well? I love it. I love being busy. I am just happy and I hope ya'll are happy too. BUT it feels like there is still just so much to do! I can't only have one year left! Ahh! Hahahah. Anyways, wish me luck and keep these folks in your prayers cuz they are a special people. I LOVE NICARAGUA. With all the cheer that I possess, PROSPERO AÑO NUEVO!

I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas

Mon, December 27, 2010 5:45:58 PM

Wellllll, Courtney and Ronald, not a hippopotamus

I got changed. But it was for the better. I feel so refreshed now and remember what it was like to feel like a new missionary. Change of scenery and people was good for me. I am now in Managua..it is tranquil. It's freakin' fachente (rich) in comparison! I had no idea it would be so different. Also it is awesome because my comp is like.. almost the same page as me. Awesome! Hna. Cano is Guatemalan and doesn't speak English and came a transfer after me but we are on the same level and she is cool. I like our compship but I don't like being the one with responsibility now.

I am still learning and I'm loving the ride. I don't want my mission to end..... I only have 1 year left. Buuuummmmer.

Hnas. Rippstein and Cano

We had this drink (from Guatemala, for my companion) called ponche and it was like I was drinking Christmas.... amazing. My Christmas was actually one of the best I have ever had, even though I had changes 3 days before it. Except for they fed us a ton holy cow I have never had so much in my life... they make a national dish that I don't remember how to say but it's basically chicken with veggies in a special sauce with bread and rice. I am so thankful for the privilege to spend Christmas among these people 2 times. I really.. really love it.

I was actually really humbled last change... zero baptisms at all. But now I have been changed we have 2 really really positive FAMILIES and a couple individuals as well!! I am sooooo happy to be able to participate in this miracle. Freak... I am just happy in my new area. I think more than anything what I learned last change was my eyes were opened to the power that Satan has, and how hard he works against us. It is really depressing. I think the biggest miracle I have been able to see is how you can still be happy even when everything is coming against you. I know that the Lord works in miracles. I know this is His plan. And I know that if we keep on doing our part.. His success (whatever kind he wants) will come. We really ARE just instruments.

I hope that things are magical and that you are smiling as always! Prospero año nuevo my friend!!