#30 Managua (Bello Horizonte)

Hey family,

Well this week has been really good. It has also been very busy. On Tuesday we got to take the new missionaries out contacting. I was thinking that a bunch of new guys from the states would come, but it’s not true. We got 20 plus new missionaries, but not a single elder from the US. So yeah, we all took them out contacting. I took out an Elder from El Salvador and it was pretty cool. He was good at contacting and teaching, so I pretty much just let him do everything. Then later in the night we got the call from the leaders of the mission telling us if we have changes or not. I didn't have changes, so I am still in Bello Horizonte in Managua. But my comp was transferred. So anyways, after we took the new missionaries back to the APs we went and packed the bags of my comp. On Wednesday we all went to the meeting. It was a fun change meeting, and we heard some good words from President. Then the changes happened. So I was sitting there and President Arredondo was announcing the trainers. I was pretty sure that I was going to train, but I was still surprised when my name popped up on the screen. So yeah, I got my new comp and we hung around for a little after the changes meeting, and then went to the area to work.

Oh, so Dad asked for some info about the comp I've got. His name is Elder P. and he is from Santa Ana, El Salvador. He is 19 and is a pretty cool guy. He was baptized 13 months ago, and came on the mission as soon as he could. He said that the missionary who baptized him is still serving in his mission in Belize as the ZL there. Maybe Elder Schriever would know him. His name is Elder F. from Honduras. Maybe you can ask Elder Schriever if he knows him? He is the missionary who baptized my comp. So anyways, Elder P. is super new to the church, but he is super excited to teach people and baptize them like he was baptized. He already knows a ton of stuff about the mission because he served a mini mission in El Salvador for 3 months. He said that when he was serving there in El Salvador, his ZL in the mission was the same Elder F. who baptized him. Cool story. And yeah, he likes to work hard which is good.

 So this week we have been working in the area. My Spanish is finally getting better. There are many words though, that they use in El Salvador, that they don't use here. So I always have to ask him what words mean. But it’s alright. We get along really well and it’s pretty cool. He doesn't really speak any English, so its all Spanish, all of the time. I’ve been teaching him some phrases in English though, and its fun.

Well not too much else has happened. Sadly, we didn't have a family in church this Sunday. We just had 2 investigators, but it’s all right. We had 9 families who promised to go to church, and we worked our butt off on Sunday morning. We woke up at like 5:30, and left the house at like 6:15 to search for the families and bring them to church. We stopped by each house a couple times, and walked several miles in that little time. Sadly though, all of the families fell, and they all bailed on us. It was no bueno, and my comp was a little sad. But I explained to him that a lot of times, people use their agency and choose to not go to church. And we worked our tails off and worked hard, so it was nothing that we did wrong. So it was sad that we didn't have a family in the church, but we worked really hard, so the blame doesn't fall on our heads.

Well fam, I hope that your all doing well. It sounds like you are all super busy this week. I'm excited to hear about all of the mission calls coming to people in the ward this week and next week. I don't really have predictions on where people are going, but it would be cool if some people came down here to Latin America.

So it’s crazy that right now its spring break in the US. Here there is something going on called the Semana Santa. It’s a Catholic holiday where the whole week is a party. Pretty much everyone goes to the beach and we will see how successful we can be this week. I had never heard of the Semana Santa, but all of the Latinos here are well familiar with it. Supposedly it’s a pretty big deal, like Christmas or something like that. Oh to respond to the other things that you all mentioned in the email: I still haven't gotten a haircut. I just bought some gel (here its pronounced H-E-L-L) and started gelling my hair to the side. I really need a haircut though. I'm just waiting for the new month to get some money. Oh, and when is Bailey going to send in his mission papers? I'm super excited to hear about that. And tell Mary that she is super brave for getting her teeth out. That's crazy that they put her to sleep and whatnot. Felizidadez to Bailey for winning the egg drop. Sounds fun. I miss the man-lift and driving cars. Oh, and send me a picture of the new machines that BriCon has. I was thinking about the tractors the other day... Still haven't gotten my package, but I'm hoping soon. The propel packets you sent me last time were fantastic. And also the cliff bars. So they say that the Semana Santa is the hottest time of the year in Nicaragua. I believe it. I can’t explain how hot it is here, and I've forgotten what its like to be cold. It is super, super hot. Super hot.

So the funny thing about the lesson that dad mentioned is that we had the same lesson in the elders quorum here in Nicaragua on Sunday. It’s something about (I don't know the translation) but its like "see people as they could become, not as they are currently."  It’s a cool story, and it’s a good practice to do as missionaries. If you can imagine the people without the alcohol on their breath, and in white pants and a white shirt, it’s a good practice. But yeah, awesome stories. And yeah, training is pretty awesome. We have a little mini DVD player, and we can watch some church movies every once in a while. Yesterday we watched the 1 hour long Jose Smith movie with the family we baptized named W and C. We visited them during the week, and W said "look, I don't understand why all of my friends are turning against me and saying that I'm a member of a devil church." He also said that some religious group came to his house and was saying bad things to them. So we explained how there is opposition in all things and I shared some scripture in Corinthians 10 or something like that that says "I wont suffer you to be tempted above that that ye are able". Then W got up and stood up and gave a cool speech to us saying "I don't care what my friend says. I’ve never attended a church, so this is my first time going through all of this. If my friends say something bad to me, it’s because they don't understand. I used to be a bum who would walk around the streets drunk. But then the missionaries came into our lives. (He also mentioned that we arrived at their house the 14th of February... the family remembered the first day). Then my life changed and it’s a lot better. I now am married to my wife and have left behind all of the sins. I'm now a member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and I am going to church every Sunday." It was a really cool speech, and the man has become converted, which is the best. So yeah, yesterday we watched the Jose Smith movie and we pointed out all of the persecutions that Jose Smith had. It was really cool. Then after they were like "we want another movie" so we left as they were popping in "The Testaments" movie to the DVD player. Cool stuff.

Oh I'll forward some pictures of the G baptism too. Cool stuff. But yeah, thanks for everything and all of the email. I really loved it. Take it easy, and be safe. I'm always praying for you all. Thanks.

Elder Stark

#29 Managua (Bello Horizonte)

Hey family,

Well this has been a good week for me. I was really glad to hear that it was good for you all too. It sounds like there have been some lacrosse games which I bet are fun. I see fairly often, people with old lacrosse jerseys or shirts. It’s funny because a lot of old US clothing somehow works its way down here.

So this week I tried to take a bunch of pictures and videos when I had my camera with me. I bet most of them are just boring or whatever, but it should give you something to look at. So it sounds like Henry is enjoying the "bear grills side" of him. He is totally getting into fires and survival or whatever? That’s pretty good that he knew how to purify water. This week has been super jarrón azul, and I have been working in all of the other areas, because my companionship already baptized a family. So I’ve just been on divisions all week and whatnot. It’s fun though helping the other people. So I was with my DL in a lesson. I just got a new DL from El Salvador. So we were teaching or something like that, and he asked the people, "hey can you get us some water, because we are really thirsty". So the lady brought out some water, and it was in some cup with like ants and stuff in the water. I think that there was like some floating stuff in it that I didn’t know what it was. I just pretty much was like "well.... I hope this doesn’t kill me" and then I just drank the water. Later that night I woke up and was about to throw up, but then I just took some stuff called Sal Andrews that made the barf feeling go away. So it’s all good. I think my body has gotten pretty used to the water here. Usually in about every lesson, they will bring out water, and we just drink it. Its kind of a joke that they give us water purifiers in the MTC, because they break after like 3 months here. 

OH side note... Did you say that the Survivor show filmed here was in San Juan del Sur? If so, well that’s pretty funny. San Juan del Sur is like the most cushy/American/laid back/tourist place in Nicaragua. They need to go to the Atlantic side of the country where there are gorillas and tigers and crazy things.

So here is a cool story. Earlier this week I was praying for someone to baptize. Pretty much all of our possibilities were empty, so we didn’t have any baptisms scheduled for this Saturday. So I was praying that we could find someone to baptize on Saturday, or that someone would be lead to us. So as we were walking to our food cita on Tuesday, some guy stopped us in the street and told us his name and said he was from San Juan (south mission). He gave us a business card with someone’s name on it and number and address. The guy told us that this lady was ready for baptism, and that we had to go visit her. So it was really awesome. On Tuesday, we tried to call this woman (her name is G.) but she didn’t answer. On Wednesday we got a call back from her. She said we could visit, and at like 1pm we went and visited her. We found this woman, and she was in a wheel chair. She is around 30 I think and has a 2-year-old boy. So we began to teach this woman, and she said that she was in an accident and lost her husband and now is paralyzed in the legs. So she was in a pretty unfortunate situation. We sat down and the first thing she asked us after telling her situation was, "how can I become a member of your church?" I explained that anyone can attend church, but to be a member and to receive all of the blessings, you need to be baptized. Then I invited her to be baptized Saturday (in 3 days). She 100% accepted and we bore testimony, gave her a blessing, and left. When we came back the next day, we taught lesson 1 (the restoration) and watched the video. After, she said, "I knew that God wouldn’t create all of this confusion in the world between the churches" and then said something like, "I’m really glad that there are prophets in the earth today". So this lady was pure golden, and accepted everything that we taught. We came back on Saturday, brought the DL along and he did the interview. Right after the interview our DL, Elder G came back and said that we were going to do the baptism right now. So I got on the phone and called the bishop and told him that we were going to the church and were going to baptize. We got to the church, filled the font, and both my comp and I got dressed. We had a little service, and we both picked up this lady and got her into the water and I said the prayer really quick and we baptized her. Because she can’t use her legs, they are just like dead weight, and she was a lot heavier than you’d think. But we put her in the water and had her on our knees and then I said the prayer and we baptized her. After, we brought her into the bathroom and the sister missionaries got her changed. Right after, we gave her the Holy Ghost, and it was literally the best baptism of my mission so far. (Oh, cool side note, Elder Christopherson the apostle said that for this week, Nicaragua can do the confirmations right after the baptism, because on Sunday there was the Honduras temple dedication, and generally you do the confirmation on Sunday. But we got permission from on high to do the confirmation right after the ordinance). So yeah, this lady was 100% an answer to the prayer I had earlier in the week. We got some reference, taught her like 2 times, and then within 4 days of getting the reference, baptized the woman. She had already been to church and everything a couple years back. So it was awesome. I didn’t have my camera when we did the baptism, but one of the sister missionaries took some pictures, and maybe ill get them to you all later. Very cool.

Well, that is about the coolest story from the week. The other cool thing that happened was on Sunday was the Tegucigalpa, Honduras temple dedication. I think that it’s the first temple in Honduras, and it’s definitely a lot closer to Nicaragua than Guatemala. So it’s super cool. Church here was canceled on Sunday, and we didn’t have to worry about bringing investigators to church. So for a little bit this week, we got to focus on the RCs. On Saturday night, there was a huge cultural celebration in Honduras that was on national television. It was really cool. Then on Sunday, we went to the first session. It was awesome, and the person who dedicated it was President Uchdorf. Also Elder Holland was there. So we got to watch it, and for a little while, the chapel in Wespan where I was, became an extension of the temple. I know for a fact that in the US we really take the temple for granted, so you should all go a bunch. I would love more than anything to go to the temple, and for that little hour and a half I had in the chapel of Wespan on Sunday, well, it was just awesome. There were some good talks, and they prayer was super awesome. At the end, we all sang "el espíritu de Dios" and the chapel just came alive. It was really awesome, and the spirit was super strong, maybe the strongest of my mission. Also, the Centro America area presidency was there in the temple, and I’ve met Elder Martino and Elder Amado, so it was funny to see them in their white suits. Ok so here is the funniest part of the dedication. President Uchdorf was doing the "sealing of the corner stone thing" and he was like putting the mortar around the last block of the building. He invited the area presidency to help, and then some niños, and other important people. Ok here is the funny part. So Uchdorf says in English "ok, now where are those 3 pilots that landed us here in the country". And then like 3 guys in the crowd raised their hands. He said, "come over here and help us out." So Uchdorf had the pilots that flew them there help seal in the corner stone. Classic Uchdorf. The Nicas in the chapel watching all of this on TV didn’t know what was going on, because Uchdorf was talking really fast in English, and the interpreter couldn’t keep up, but us American missionaries were laughing pretty hard. I only attended the first session, because there were some families in another area that we were trying to baptize. So I was on splits with the DL helping him. But my comp said that during the last session, Holland got up and took off his glasses and gave like a 5 minute testimony in Spanish. According to all of the missionaries who saw it, they all said that it was the most awesome thing that they had ever seen. 

Well not much happened other than the most awesome baptism in the world, and the temple dedication. So on the last session of the temple dedication, we (the DL and I) arrived at the church, but the session already started, and so we just sat on the curb outside the church and waited for a little.

So yeah, the temple thing was awesome. I hope that someday there is a temple here. But anyways, the temple in Honduras should help more Nicas get their endowments, which is good. Yeah, you should all go to the temple, because we live super close and there is really no excuse for not going 24/7. 

Yesterday after the temple dedication we stopped by the lake, and one of the Elders with us promised us that there was a crazy hike to the lake. So us, the other elders, and the sister missionaries walked to the lake and did like a 5-minute hike. We arrived at the lake, and took some pictures. It was nasty the lake, but the pictures were cool. 

So for P-day today we woke up and went to the area of the ZLs. They said that there was an area where we could go race go-karts. So we were all pretty hyped up, and we boarded some ghetto school bus and went somewhere far. The ZLs didn’t really know exactly where this place was. So we got off the bus, and took a moto taxi somewhere. NEW RECORD: 10 fully grown adults in a moto taxi. I took some video and it was crazy. So we got off somewhere, and then we figured out that we were in the south mission. So the ZLs were like "ok... we should probably go back". So we never found the go-kart place, and that was about the extent of our expedition as a zone. It was fun though. Then we just went back to the area of the ZLs and ate some pupusas at a restaurant. It was all good. 

Well this is about the extent of the week. I think that tomorrow we take the noobies out contacting, and then Wednesday we have changes. I really have no idea if I’ll get changed. So next week you'll all know. Maybe I’ll still be here, or maybe ill be somewhere else... who knows?

Thanks for the email. I have the pictures uploading to dropbox but the internet is slow today. So yeah... cool beans. Take it easy and read your scriptures.

Elder Stark

#28 Managua (Bello Horizonte)

MARCH 11, 2013

[Consists of two letters.  One to Mom and one to Dad]

Hey mom,

Well, I really liked your story of the temple. I really wish that I could go to the temple right now. It would be awesome, and we could recharge the spiritual batteries. On Sunday in like 6 days, we are going to have the dedication of the temple in Honduras. It’s super exciting for here in Nicaragua, because it’s a lot closer than Guatemala. Anyways, cool stuff. They make the chapels here in Nicaragua an extension of the temple, and yeah, you need a recommend to get in. So I got my card, and we can go to the temple dedication and watch it here in Nicaragua. I’m pretty stoked. I know it’s not the same as the actual temple, but it’s as close as I’m going to get during my entire mission. Plus church is canceled, so it’s all temple, baby!! Good stuff. Yeah, I’m really hoping that someday there will be a temple here in Nicaragua. They have a plot of land, and they would build one, but the inactivity of the members is a huge problem. Like it’s really tough. I carry around a list of members for our ward, and there is like 600 members or something like that, but generally in church we only have 70 people. And most of the time, at least 6 of those people are investigators brought by the missionaries. It’s really weird being here in a country where the church is really undeveloped. Like, without the missionaries, the church would completely fail and burn here. There are a handful of faithful members, but the majority of the assistance at the church is a result of our work. It’s really tough, and a lot of the times, its pretty overwhelming. You would think that it would be really stressful, and a lot of the time it is. But truthfully being here is totally worth it. Like seeing the family that I baptized in church on Sunday, and confirming them members yesterday... well there aren’t really words to describe how awesome it is. But we are really lucky to live in Idaho where the church is 100% established, and where there isn’t a ton of falling away. But anyways, sorry if I sound like I’m complaining. It’s pretty crazy sometimes keeping the church afloat here in Nicaragua. But anyways, it’s all good. 

So truthfully all is well here. We are just working and doing pretty much the same stuff that we always do. After our baptism, like all of our families that we were teaching fell, so we are pretty much from ground zero right now. But it’s alright. We have been doing a lot of contacting, and not a ton of teaching. Basically the goal is just to get some new families that we could baptize. We'll see what happens. I have a feeling that I’m going to have changes, but I don’t really know for sure. The changes are a week from this Wednesday. So in like 10 days. I really want to get out of Managua, and get to the mountains. Coming up is the “semana santa”, which is like the Easter week. It’s the hottest time of the year, and its brutal apparently. So I’m really hoping that I can get changed to the mountains where it’s cooler. We'll see. 

So yeah, that’s about what’s going on. I’m having a really good time, and this week went by really quick.

Love,

Elder Stark

Dad,

Well, the first email that I read was the email of mom, so I didn’t see your "p.s" that said that I can just send one big email some. Anyways, I guess I’ll send you your own email. I was glad to hear that the toilet experience was a victory. The house we live in has a pretty nice toilet, so it’s all good. It actually gets cleaned regularly, so it’s awesome. Now you are like an expert at all things toilet. Also, I am glad to hear that the temple was awesome as usual (nice subject change right? toilet to temple). I told mom that this Sunday we are having the Honduras temple dedication and the church is canceled. I really hope that we can get our RCs to the dedication this Sunday. This is literally the closest ill ever have to going to the temple in my mission. So I’m super excited. 

Well, to be truthful, I still love wearing normal clothes. It’s like a special treat that I only get once a week, and it’s the best. Today we went "paca shopping". Pacas are pretty much like thrift stores. They're where the Nicaraguans get all of their clothes. Basically there are a ton of charity places that send clothes down here, and they end up in the Nicaraguan thrift store. So I bought a Barcelona fútbol jersey. All of the Nicas love Barcelona, and it was a little treat to myself. Its pretty cool, but I feel like a total poser wearing the jersey. All of the Nicas have the exact same jersey. I’ll send a picture of it home. 

So last night, I was walking by the McDonalds with my comp, and we saw Elder B in the window with some other American guy. So it was kind of funny, and we were like, "why are you here in McD's on Sunday?” It turns out that he was there chatting it up with an American friend of his that he knew from Utah. So half of the day of Sunday, and half of today, we have been hanging around with this American guy. He was a missionary here in Nicaragua like 10 years ago, and came back to visit. So Sunday night we went and visited the rich guy F. and we dragged along this old ex-missionary. He is like 31 and is really cool. So he is like backpacking around here, and was looking for a place to stay. So we actually called up our investigator, “F” and asked if this guy could stay the night at his house. It was pretty funny, and F. said yeah. So on Sunday night we went to F’s house, and visited for a while, and dropped of this ex-missionary there. Good stuff. We talked with F for a little, and he just bought the iphone 5. I played around with it for a little, and its super awesome. I have been blind to technology for a really long time, and the iphone 5 is awesome. Have you bought it yet? Here in Nicaragua, the iphone 5 costs 1500 dollars, not even exaggerating. It’s super expensive. But I got to play around for a little, and it was cool.

Yeah sorry if what I just wrote was kind of scattered, I just reread it, and my English is pretty bad. Whatever. So my life is pretty much the same. I’m just doing the same old stuff pretty much every day. Yeah like contacting and whatnot. This week I’ve been really tired, and I’m just kind of worn out. This week went by really quick, and I don’t really know what to write about.

So on Thursday we got a call saying that there was a meeting in Managua with pres. All of the Managua zones were there, and one zone called Esteli. We went there, and the president macheted us a little. I guess some missionaries have been a little disobedient, and its not bueno. But I know that we're obedient, and that we're baptizing. So we were kind of exempt. But that was what happened on Thursday. Either way, it was still cool to hear the president speak

Well, it’s all going really well. We haven’t really eaten any weird food, just gallo pinto and rice and some meat. Our food cita told us that we ate "chichi de vaca" or "cow nipple (udder)". I don’t remember eating it, but she assured me that we all gobbled it up and loved it. So I guess I’ve been eating some weird food, but I can’t remember. So we finally got tired of the diarrhea here at the apartment, and we got our dueña to hook us up with a 5-gallon drum of bottled water. It’s only 35 córdobas for a 5-gallon bottle of the purified water. Not bad. 

Also, I bought some milk, and I was testing out the chocolate milk straws that you sent me. They are totally awesome, and I really love them. It’s the best drinking some cold, cold chocolate milk!!!!! I really loved getting the packages, and its sweet to have some American stuff.

Well yeah, this is what’s gone on this week. Truthfully I’m pretty tired and my brain is a little fried, so sorry if this email is a little bland. Anyways, thanks for your email. I’m doing great and I’m happy, but at the moment, I’m a little tired. Thanks again for the email, I really loved it, and I hope that you have some sweet experiences the next week. 

Audio,

Elder Stark