Elder Jake Stark's Mission: #21 Managua (Bello Horizonte)

Hey family,

Well I was really glad for your letter again. Doing the email each week is the best. All of the Elders say the same thing. Emailing is the best. Ok, well I was glad to hear that all is well (like always) at the house. It sounds like the same old stuff going on.

So for me, all has gone pretty well so far this week. On Monday I just hung around in Chinandega and worked there. Then on Tuesday, I was working the whole day with the Zone Leader tracting, and teaching, and trying to save the members. The retention is pretty bad here, so we work a lot to try and get people to go back to church. I don’t know why, but sometimes we baptize people, and then they just fall away like a couple weeks/months later. It’s pretty lousy, but it’s their decision.

Anyways, so yeah on Tuesday I was out in La Linea for the last time working with Elder M. We baptized a family there last week, and we visited them for a little. While we were there in La Linea, Elder M got a phone call from the APs telling who had changes in the zone and who didn’t. So I got news that I was getting changed, and we just worked hard for the last night in Chinandega. He was like scrutinizing everything that I did, and telling everything that I should change. He said that he recommended me to train to the President, and he thought I was going to train a new missionary. So yeah, we worked the whole day, and I learned a lot about what I needed to change. But all in all, it was a good day.

Then we visited A and I, and said good-bye to them one last time. They are really cool, and I have their email address (which I set up for them) so I can write them. In the night, I had a little time, so I just threw all of my stuff in my bags, and I was all packed and ready to go. We woke up really early on Wednesday morning, and went to Managua in a bus. I think I got like 2 hours of sleep that night, because we got up so early. So we went to Managua, and hung around in the chapel for a while, while all of the zones were arriving. Then the meeting started, we got to listen to the Pres for a while, and the changes. It was really cool, and I got changed here to Managua in Bello Horizonte.

I asked my comp (Elder B) how we get to the house from the chapel where the changes were, and he said that we just take a taxi. So yeah, we jumped in a taxi and got to our house. That’s funny that you saw the Pizza Hut and McDonalds on the Google earth. If you are in the rotunda (roundabout where the McDonalds and Pizza Hut is), you can go north on the street until it ends. I thing the street is called Ruben Dario or something like that. It’s at the end of the street (like 3 blocks from the roundabout), and its like 3 houses to the west. It’s got like a red porch/sidewalk outside. Pretty cool. So we live in a room that is behind a house. The house is pretty nice, but our room is really plain. It's super super small too. It’s about the size of a parking stall in a parking lot. Pretty tiny, but it's fun. Our neighbors in the room next door are the other elders in another area. So we have a lot us fun (us 4) and we make some good jokes. The other Elders are Elder R from Nampa Idaho, and Elder A from Panama. Pretty fun. The shower here is a lot better than Chinandega too. It’s kind of clean, and it’s cold, but I can actually stand under the water for more than 4 seconds. Awesome!

So yeah, Managua is pretty cool. I didn’t think that I was going to like it, but it’s pretty nice. I don’t really know how to explain exactly how it is, but it’s pretty cool. There are a lot of cars, and they drive like mad men. On the way to the computer lab, Elder B and I saw a car that had caught fire, and had burnt to the ground. All that was left was a metal shell. We were joking about how long we thought it would be until the Nicas cleaned it up (because it was in the middle of the road). Our prediction is like 1 week, but we don’t know for sure. I took a picture of it. Also, here in Managua, it’s a lot cooler in terms of temperature, than Chinandega. It’s probably like 80 degrees or something, but it feels good.

Oh so Elder B is pretty cool. He is from Reno, Nevada and he is a lot like Brandyn. He is cool, and we just make jokes a lot. It's a lot more different being with an American. Like, people are always yelling at us and trying to talk English to us. Even in Managua, white people are a rare sight. So needless to say, we get yelled at a lot. Pretty funny stuff. We both have the same time in the mission, and we came the same day. It's fun teaching and street contacting.

We have an investigator who is super rich. Like, he isn’t just one of the normal rich people of Nicaragua, he is super rich. I couldn’t believe my comp when we walked by the house, and he told me that the guy there was our investigator. So we taught him on Thursday. He lives in like a 3 or 4 story house, and it’s more like a mansion. It’s really exciting, because all of the rich people here are super super stubborn, and don’t want anything from the missionaries. But this guy is pretty open, and he is really cool. I don’t think I’ve ever been in a house as nice as his, even in the US. It’s pretty cool. The better part of the story is that we went by his house on Sunday morning to remind him of church. We were like 99.99% sure that he wasn’t going to go to the church, be when we got there, he was all ready, and his wife too. We got there, and he had his maidservant make us some food, and we left in his big truck. Pretty cool. Teaching a super rich family like his is literally unheard of in all of Nicaragua, so it was a pretty cool thing. And getting them to go to church is unheard of also. Cool cool cool. It’s almost a little intimidating going into his house, because the guy and his wife have servants and everything. On the 3rd story of his house, he even has a room just for praying. I’ve become friends with him, and he really likes me. When I finish the mission, he invited me to go scuba diving with him.

So all is going well here. I was really happy that we were able to get a family in the church this Sunday. We are just working/contacting/teaching. I’m really hoping that we can baptize a family this change. During the changes on Wednesday, we got word from Pres that there will be a change in 3 weeks. I’m not sure why, but in the beginning of February there will be a change. So yeah, fun stuff. Oh during the changes I got 1 package, and like 2 letters. I got a letter from Pres A., and a letter from Hermano K. They sent me 10 bucks. I have no idea how the letter got down here with 10 bucks in it, but it was pretty cool. Tell them thanks for the letters. Because we are here in Bello Horizonte, we get letters and packages right when they come, so it’s exciting. The APs work in our zone, and they have their own area within our zone.

So all is well. We are making a lot of jokes and stuff. During one contact the guy told me his name was Kevin. I don’t know why, but for some reason the Kevin the Cucumber from SpongeBob popped into my head. So I said to him, “Ah, entonces usted se llama Kevin, como Kevin el Pepino del SpongeBob.” I basically said that his name was like the cucumber from SpongeBob. He looked at me pretty weird, but it was funny. During the contacts, people sometimes are like hypnotized and look at us like we are aliens. So we try to make jokes in the contacts and be more human-like.

Well, for P-day today, we had to go to another part of Managua to get our cedula (Nica ID, which finally came). I had to have my picture taken, and fingerprints taken, and sign some stuff. But now I have a cool card that says I’m a residnte of Nicaragua. After that, Elder B and I went to Pizza hut. It was a real treat for us, because it is super super expensive, and I spent like 250 cordobas ($10). But it was good and the soda there has free refills. The Pizza Hut and McDonalds are really close to our house. Fun stuff. We work in the area to the north and south of the rotunda. It’s fun, and we share the area with 2 Hermana missionaries. The members here are nice, and we get fed pretty good. We have both a dinner and lunch appointment, and we eat a lot. I have gained all of the weight that I lost in Chinandega. Good stuff.

Well, all is well and I sure miss you all. I hope that you are doing well. I didn’t think that I'd like Managua, but I really like it here. It’s different than Chinandega, and its a lot more busy and crazy. But it’s pretty good, and we are having fun. The package that I got had a cool drybag that will come in handy when it rains, and some M&Ms. I’m really excited to eat them. It also had a cool poster from the primary, which I have above my desk. Well, I’m glad to hear that all is well and I hope that the next week is good also.

Just to answer the questions that I missed in the email.

-yes we have someone to cook and do our laundry. Its really good and we eat like champions.

-my comp is really cool. He has red hair and super white skin. So he is always sun burnt.

- The ward here is a lot different than Chinandega. Its a little smaller, and we don’t have church benches in the chapel. In the sacrament meeting, it’s just the chairs that you stack. There were like 95 people there this Sunday. The kids were a little loud, but it wasn’t too bad.

- SR. Comp isn’t bad at all. It’s actually more like were both JR comps. We make most of the decisions together, and it works out well. We get up on time, and everything. So yeah, good stuff.

- Our area is like from our apartment, to the north until the lake. To say north in Managua, they say "al lago" (to the lake). Then to the south, from the rotunda, until like a while south of the church. The church is 2 blocks south of the roundabout. Maybe you can see it on the Google maps. It has a big basketball court. The area goes south until the multicentro mall. Pretty cool.

- Were pretty cautious during the night. It’s sometimes a little dangerous here in the night, but we keep safe and stay in the light. The people always tell us that it’s dangerous, but we just stay in the well-lit places.

Audios familia,

Elder Estark

[Movie of going to Pizza Hut on P-day]