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.