Hola!
Well, I had my first cambio in the field this week! Now we
have a new District Leader and Zone Leader...and now I'm the only chela (white
person...) in my district. I didn't go, since only the people with transfers
go, but it means I have over 6 weeks in the field! Pretty crazy!
This week was awesome! After I emailed last week, we went to
my chapel and played sports with the district. We started out with baseball,
but someone hit the ball over the gate (I wasn't too bummed...baseball isn't my
sport) and then we played...basketball! It was so funny playing basketball with
a bunch of latinos, since they don't play very much...and they are
significantly shorter than the nortes in my district. It was great. I also got
a ton of letters that day...so awesome! But it'll take a while to respond to
them all.
On Tuesday, we got to adopt a new missionary for the
afternoon! there are 6 new sisters in the mission now! And rumor has it that 10
more are coming next transfer! Hermanas are slowly taking over! We worked with
Hna V, who is from Guatemala. She is already an awesome missionary. But I
think she may have had a misconception about missionary work in Nicaragua after
her day with us...because all of our citas with people involved drunks. A
collapsed to peer pressure and when we went to teach him on Tues, he was
chilling with ... buddies. But he was still coherent, so we talked to him
for a while. It was pretty disappointing, but we aren't giving up on him! The
perk was that he was calling out to all his friends that passed by to have them
talk to us...we have a potential investigator thanks to that. Haha. Then
afterwards, in a lesson with a member, a drunk came into their house and
started talking to us. That was a strange day. Hopefully Hna V has had
better experiences in her own area...haha. We had a lesson with a recent
convert this week and his friend was there when we arrived. His friend
was...interesting. When he shook my hand, he said, "You're beautiful,
beautiful, beautiful" (in english). I thought he was trying to practice
his English, since lots of people like to test out their English phrases on me.
But then during the lesson, he kept getting closer to me. Rather creepy. Then,
he had to leave early, and when he shook my hand, he said "I love
you" and I just ignored him and said "Adios!" But then he looked
me in the eye and said, "No, I LOVE you!" Luckliy the recent convert
cut in and sent his friend on his way. Oh the blessings of being a Norte in
Nicaragua! Haha there are definitely some characters over here. But there are
also tons of people ready to receive the gospel!
This week, we taught a lot more lessons than usual! It's
still to early to tell how positive they all are, but September is looking
rather full in regards to baptisms! E isn't progressing very quickly,
since we had trouble finding her this week, but she went to R's baptism on
Friday...speaking of which, R is now a member of the Church of Jesus
Christ of latterday Saints! He had to work on Saturday when there was a Stake
baptismal service, so instead, he was baptized on Friday! It went really well!
There were a ton of people there to support him, even lots of less actives and
investigators! The only nerve-racking part was when R showed up 30 minutes
late! We were getting pretty nervous. But all went well! He bore his testimony
afterward and it was really powerful. I felt the Spirit so strongly. It was so
awesome to have the entire experience of working with an investigator and
helping them toward their goal of baptism. This Gospel is so powerful and it's
amazing to see how the restored gospel of Jesus Christ can influence people's
lives.
This week was so hot, but it also rained more that usual. I
love it when it rains, because it cools off for a least a little while. But on
Saturday, it was insane. We were teaching a lesson and suddenly, there were
huge strikes of lighting and super loud thunder. Then it started pouring! The
woman we were teaching was scared to death because her abuela passed away
because she was struck by lightning. She wouldn't let us leave until it calmed
down a little. But it didn't stop raining until morning. We walked to the stake
center that day to support the people in our zone who were baptized in the
Stake baptismal service. Pres. and Hna Russell were there! I started talking to
Hna Russell and after a few sentences, I realized she looked really confused
and that I was speaking in Spanish. She still doesn't understand very much
Spanish. I feel bad for her. But she's really sweet! She was amazed that we
walked in the rain...haha. It's a normal ocurrence for us. But the baptisms
went really well. There were about as many people there as there were for
R's baptism, which is pretty sad since it was a stake activity. But
overall, it was awesome!
That's pretty crazy about the flooding in Alpine! Rain in
Utah? Unheard of! I hope that Karen is enjoying school...enough. Now she has
less time to think about how much she misses me...just kidding. So weird to
think school is starting up for everyone. I miss BYU, but I know I'm supposed
to be here in Nicaragua right now! I love being a missionary. It's such a
blessing to be able to serve as a representative of Jesus Christ. People really
do recognize that we're here to help them...random strangers that we meet feel
comfortable telling us their life stories, to which we respond with doctrine.
It's amazing! I'm trying to participate more in lessons, and I'm starting to
feel more comfortable as I find the balance of listening and teaching. I have a
long way to go, but I'm getting there! I know that the Book of the Mormon is
the keystone of the gospel. We focused on that aspect a ton this past week in
our studies and it helped me a ton.
I hope all continues to go well at home! Love you all!
Love, Hermana MacKay
(Posted by her Mom)
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