15 September 2014 - Rain is Falling All Around

Happy Nicaraguan Independence day! Yaaaaay! Supposedly there were a ton of parades this morning, but I didn't see anything...haha. But this was a good week...happy moments...stressful moments...WET moments! You wouldn't even believe how much it has rained this week. So Hermana Vasquez has now been in the field for 11 days. and of those 11 days, we have gotten COMPLETELY soaked a total of...9 days. Yep. This must be some type of Nicaraguan iniciation process, because it hasn't rained like this for a looooong time. And we didn't have umbrellas. Remember that raincoat I brought with me? Well, for 15 months I've dragged it from area to area and never actually used it. Actually a few times I was tempted to leave it behind when I had changes. Thank goodness I didn't because it came in handy this week, even though I was already drenched by the time I got to the house to pick up my jacket. The good news is that we finally found umbrellas today! It was pretty funny though because the members tried to take care of us and not let us leave their houses if it was raining, but the work must go on! So one night I left a recent convert's house wearing a huge parka to keep me from getting wet. Never thought I'd wear a parka in Nicaragua...haha. But I am REALLY sensitive to the cold now. As far as the house goes...we're still in the same house (cupboard) after searching for a new house without results. I'm actually used to my little cupboard now. Although there are SO many zancudos (mosquitos)...it's ridiculous. I hate zancudos so much! That's cool that you had stake conference this week, because so did we! It was so fun, because since Diriomo is part of Estaca Masaya, I got to see all my Diriomo friends! I didn't realize how special some of those families were to me until I saw them again. I don't think I ever mentioned Familia Mora, but they're a recent convert family from Diriomo that I became really close with. Only the parents were members and I fought so hard to teach their 21 yr old daughter and their 13 yr old son. But they were baptized last month! I almost cried when I saw their family get off the bus and enter the stake center. I LOVE THIS WORK so much"! I may not have stayed in Diriomo to enjoy the benefits of all my work, but so many people that I taught there have been baptized recently and it is such a joy to see! We worked with our leaders 2 days this week. First, the zone leaders worked with us, then the next day, the district leader and his comp worked with us. I learned a lot...about patience. That was interesting. But my district leader is really cool. He's from Brazil and goes home the change after I do. My district is pretty great, actually. We've got a crazy (in a good way) hawaiian sister, lots of guatemalans, 3 americans, and a nicaraguan sister. It's an interesting group! My companion is great. So far, each hija has been completely different, which is interesting to compare and adapt the training style. She actually is a lot like I was when I first started, which makes it fun to see my progress. At first, I thought she was really serious, but she's starting to feel comfortable to joke around. So I think I already mentioned it, but she's from Santa Barbara, Honduras, which is even hotter than Nicaragua apparently. She's a convert of 2 years, but knows the scriptures really well! She's already planning my trip to Honduras...haha. This week, we've had some ups and downs as far as teaching goes. One day, we taught Odiseo and he FINALLY prayed and read all the pamphlets we'd left behind and his countenance had seriously changed. It was an amazing lesson. But then the next day we taught law of chastity and it turns out that he is living with his girlfriend, which he had hid from us this entire time. So he wasn't too fond of that commandment, but we'll see what happens there. But we did find an incredible investigator named Javier. We met him on Tues. and talked a little about the restoration. Then on Thurs. we visited him again and left behind a Libro de Mormon...then on Saturday, we followed up with the LdM and he said ''well, i haven't been able to read too much, because I'm only at 1 Nefi 18''...what! That's better that a lot of members! He loves the Book of Mormon and feels the Spirit when he reads it. So great! And he said that whatever we said, he'd transmit to his family, so that's awesome! We'll see how things go! I got news this week that Jose Fernandez, my first convert, was ordained an Elder on Sunday! AHHHH! I'm soooo happy and proud of him! I love hearing about how people progress. Miracles truly do occur. I know that I'm here for a reason and even though it's hard sometimes, it's all worth it, because seeing a Diriomo convert at stake conference, or hearing that Jose received the Priesthood, helps me keep my optimism up and going. It's all worth it. I hope you have a great week! Love you all! Hermana MacKay