#37 Managua (Bello Horizonte)

May 20, 2013

Hey family,

It was great to get the email again. I don’t know why, but I was totally looking forward to reading the email this week. But anyway, it sounds like it’s all going well, and that this week has passed by pretty quickly. I really liked the photo of the seminary graduation. It sounds like Bailey is a stud and has been having a good time his senior year. I wish I had paid more attention in Seminary in high school. I think that I just kind of goofed around the whole time and didn’t really pay too much attention. But yeah, it’s cool that Bailey will be graduating soon.

So it feels like the time goes by pretty quickly. I had been telling people that I have 8 months in the mission, but after reading your letter, I realized it has been "9 MONTHS!" So yeah, basically we just do the same stuff every day, but we get to talk to a ton of people each day so it’s pretty fun. 

We were walking by some guy one day, and he said something in some choppy English, which is pretty normal. I said something back to him, and we started a conversation. The guy was an Indian dude from here in Nicaragua (a true native), and he was walking around the streets screaming "yo afilo cuchillas!!!!!!" He had his grinding wheel slung over his shoulder, and had a couple machetes on his hips. Pretty awesome. But he knew a lot about the American Indians in the US, and I told him that I live in Idaho. The first thing he said was, "Ah.... the Nez Perce. They ride the Appaloosa.” I was thinking... how many Nicaraguans know who the Nez Perce really are...? But yeah, it was pretty funny. As we were walking away, my comp asked me if there really were Indians where I live. I said yes, and he asked me "do they even hunt white people......” I thought that was pretty funny, and then I explained that the Indians are just normal people. He had the idea in his head that there were still savage Indians in the US.

So I think that I already told you all about the dog that attacked me and ripped off my sleeve. I was in Cuidad Jardin (literally, Garden City) and I was just walking by a fence, and a huge dog jumped through the slats of the fence and tried to bite me. Luckily he just ripped off my shirt sleeve. It was pretty scary at first, but afterwards I just started laughing because it was so ridiculous. After, I walked over and quickly stuck my camera through the slats of the fence and took a picture of the man-eating dog. It was awesome. I was with Elder F, and he happened to have a needle, so I ripped a thread off of the shredded shirt and sewed it up. Then I just worked the rest of the day with my sleeve all messed up. Pretty awesome story.

Oh and last Saturday, we baptized M and M and their daughters, N and J. So we went to their house, and then walked with them to the church. We had already filled up the baptismal font, and everything was already set up. It was awesome, and there were a TON of people at the baptism because a priesthood meeting had just ended. So we drew names, and I ended up baptizing M and M, and my companion baptized N and J. It was super cool, and they are some of the best converts I've had here. After the baptism, Manuel said, "I plan on staying in this church for the rest of my life". This family is awesome. They read their scriptures, pray each night, and go to church.

Oh and last P day, we went to the National Palace which is the Nicaraguan equivalent of the White House. It was cool, and there was some huge ancient cathedral and some nice statues, and a giant flag. We took about a million pictures, and right after that, we jumped onto the bus and went and Skyped the family. That’s about all that happened last P day. Oh and we had a FHE with M and M. 

So right now we are just preparing another family to get baptized. Their names are J and O. They are older people, and O cant walk so J just pushes her around in her wheelchair. They work in the cemetery as gardeners, and in the mornings we usually try to go and help them. They are preparing for baptism, and we have had some good lessons with them. On Sunday they said that they would go to church, but we stopped by the cemetery, and it was going to be impossible. So we were like... dang it! J was waiting to get water from the tiny hose sticking out of the ground, and he was waiting in line with all of the other gardeners. There was no way that he would be able to finish his work in the cemetery and still get to church. So my companion and I were thinking, and we had an idea. Our food appointment lives about 2 blocks from the cemetery, so we ran over to her house and got a few old 5 gallon paint buckets. We filled them up with water, and carried them to the cemetery to fill up J’s big 55 gallon drum. My arms were pretty much dead for the rest of the day because it was hard work, but we finally finished everything, and got them to church!!!!! Awesome!! We arrived just as sacrament was ending, and my companion and I were soaking wet and all muddy, but it was awesome. J and O stayed until the end of church, and then we got them a taxi and sent them home. The hard work was worth it.

So yeah, those are just some of the things that have happened this week. I am having a good time, and it’s all going well. Today my companion and I got permission to go to the south mission to the distribution center and we got my comp some things. Then we went and made some pancakes, and now I’m here. I am 99% sure that I'll get changed this transfer because I have been in Bello Horizonte almost 6 months. But we'll see... Anyways, I love you all, and I hope that your week was good. Let me know what’s new!!!!!

Lots of love,

Elder Stark

P.S. The rainy season still hasn’t started. Who knows when it will actually begin? People are pretty confused that it still hasn’t rained. Also, it sounds like Dad is starting to get the groove of things with the Bishop calling. I’m glad that it’s super rewarding, and I bet it’s fun at times. I love my job, and I think that at times, its pretty similar to what Dad does. Good times.

#36 Managua (Bello Horizonte)

May 6, 2013

Hey family,

Well it’s all going really well here. The big news is that during the changes meeting, I DIDN’T get changed. During the meeting, in front of all of the missionaries, President Arredondo said, "Can Elder Stark and Elder P please stand up?" So we stood up, and President Arredondo said in front of the whole mission "Elders, your bishop has requested that I don’t change you".  OBISPO!!!!  So I'm still here in Bello Horizonte for my 4th change. It’s pretty crazy that by the time I leave this area, I'll have been here for about 6 months. That’s like 25% of my mission in the same area. But yeah, it’s all going very, very well. My comp and I get along well, and we work super hard. The family that we have right now (M and M) is the best, and they are getting baptized this Saturday. It is amazing! Last night, my comp was already asleep and I was sitting in my bed (I sleep on the top bunk) writing in my journal, and I was thinking about how awesome it is to have another family baptized. Like truthfully, this family is super awesome, and they will defiantly be future leaders in the church here in Nicaragua. I was thinking about how baptizing this family will be a big impact in their posterity. Just like Dad was saying about the missionary who baptized him, and how later he served a mission, had a temple marriage, and so on... This baptism is going to leave an impact on the future of this family forever. Also, not only are we going to baptize the parents, but we are baptizing 3 of their kids. So this week, we've been pretty happy.

We teach this family every night at 7 or 8pm. For the longest while, the husband was the holdout. He kept saying that "I want to get baptized, but I just want to be 100% sure that its the right thing". Basically the only thing that he was lacking was the answer to his prayers. So we explained that what he needed to do was pray with real intent, with faith in Christ, and with a heart sincere. After teaching him this, he was all like "ahhh.... I understand now. I’ve been lacking in some of those areas.” So we kept teaching the family each night. Then a couple days after teaching the husband about the prayer, we noticed that one day he just kind of changed (Saturday). While we were teaching the family, M just kept saying things about how Joseph Smith was a prophet, and about how the church was restored. It was super cool, because he wasn’t just reiterating the things that we had taught him, but he was actually saying these things like he knew them to be true. Also, while we were talking, he would say things like "So what time is this baptism service on Saturday" or "what kind of clothes do we need to bring?". As a missionary, when your investigators start to ask questions like that... Well it’s just awesome! Although M never said anything about receiving an answer, we could tell that he had prayed and received an answer. So yeah, Saturday is going to be like Christmas for me. Last night we went and taught M and M again. We watched the 1 hour version of the Joseph Smith movie, and it was awesome. After the movie, the family was saying things like "that dude was a stud.”

So the missionary work is going well here. In church, we had M and M and their family in the church with us, and we also had another family investigating in the church. So we're hoping to get another family lined up for the baptism later in the month. Basically, it’s all going pretty well. I’m pretty stoked to Skype you all next week. I’m pretty excited to see the family, but more than anything, I just want to see Rusty... (Just kidding, I’m really excited to see you all!!). Also, what did you think of the package that I sent home? Did you ever open it? If so, what do you think about the Daniel Ortega communist shirt? Pretty awesome right? Who's been wearing it?

So I hope that all is going well at home. I imagine that Dad stays pretty busy with all of his stuff going on. I was sitting in church yesterday, and it was awesome. We were sitting with 2 families who are investigators. I got up and bore my testimony and while I was talking, I was wondering what it will be like when I finally come home and give the homecoming talk from the Edinburgh ward pulpit. That will be crazy! But yeah anyways, it’s too early to start thinking about that. I was comparing the Edinburgh ward and the Barrio Bello Horizonte. In our ward here in Nicaragua, there is usually an attendance of like 90 - 100 members, but there are like 400 inactive members. So the Obispo spends all of his time (literally ALL of his free time) visiting the less actives. He doesn’t really hang around church for super long on Sunday, but rather, he spends his time in the streets looking for the less actives. It’s a different world down here, really.

Its super hot here, and summer is coming to an end. Winter is about to start here. The people say that in this month, the rain should begin. I have been here for 6 1/2 months, and I’ve seen rain maybe 3 times. But the people say that it rains really hard here. They say that the storm drains don’t really do anything, and that you pretty much just walk around all wet all the time in the flooded out streets. We'll see.... 

Well, I love you all. I hope that all goes well this week. Stay safe, and I will see you all next week.

Elder Stark

#35 Managua (Bello Horizonte)

April 29, 2013

Familia,

Hey, well it’s Monday again. Crazy how the time flies. We have just been working as normal, and it’s been pretty cool. Nothing very new to report to you all this week. Just work, work, work. We have a super cool family that we've been teaching named M and M (and their 4 crazy kids). It’s awesome, and we have visited them EVERY night of the week at 8pm. They are super positive, and we always have a good time. When we show up, we end up spending like 30 minutes of "chill time" and then like 30 minutes of "teach time". More than anything, they are people that just need to have some friends in the church, and we've gained their confidence by becoming their friends. It’s awesome to have legitimate friends here. They are reading the Book of Mormon, always have honest questions, and have gone to church several times. After church, Hermana M told me that they want to get baptized on Saturday. It was so awesome, and I really, really hope that I don’t get changed so I can see them baptized. Every night they end up sending one of their kids out the back door with some money, to buy us some soda or food. They try to feed us every night (which is a huge sign of respect here). They are so very kind. So yeah, hopefully we can get them baptized, and I’m just praying that I don’t get changed. 

Speaking of baptisms, we didn’t get a change to baptize the brother of the lady who cooks for us. We showed up on Friday, and the guy isn’t ready. But we will keep visiting him and help him to become ready.

So here is a funny story. On Tuesday, there was the "consejo de lideres" which means (council for leaders). So all of the ZLs were here in Managua, and they did something different. After the Consejo, they send all of the ZLs with the zones in Managua. So on Tuesday, I went on splits with the ZL of Matagalpa, and my comp, Elder P went with the ZL from Puerto Cabezas (Elder M whom I was with in Chinandega). So when Elder M and Elder P were together, M said to P "I’m junior comp, and only have 5 months in the mission.” Complete lie, but for whatever reason, Elder P actually believed him. So during the day, when Elders M and P were together, Elder M would walk around contacting just men or just women. Apparently my comp, Elder P went and macheted Elder M for not contacting families. So for the whole night, my comp was scolding Elder M for not doing things 100% perfect (and for the whole night, P thought that M was just some young junior comp who didn’t know anything). Then around 9pm when we were all together, I told Elder P that the Elder M is a ZL. It was hilarious because my comp Elder P had been reprimanding Elder M (who is a very good missionary and leader) all day for not doing things 100% perfect. Very funny. It looks like Elder P is a pretty good missionary. Later in the night, we were all hanging out with the ZLs in the mission. All of the ZLs were super impressed with Elder P and I heard a ton of times "you're comp is nuts. He is TOO good".

Basically all of the ZLs were very impressed with my comp. My comp is a super good missionary, and is going to the next AP.

So on Friday, our food appointment gave us "chichi de vaca" or "cow nipple" again.... It wasn’t great, but whatever. Then when we went to M and M's house later in the night, they gave us more "chichi de vaca". So I ate a lot of cow nipple on that day, but whatever. I took a picture of it and sent it home. Tell me what you think. When we were at our food appointment, we were making tons of jokes when we were eating it like "I can already taste the milk" and stuff like that. Good times.

On the hot plate that I bought, we have been making pancakes a ton. They are cheap, and are amazing. For $1 I can buy a box of instant pancake mix. Also in the supermarket they sell chocolate pancakes, vanilla pancakes, and a lot of other flavors. They are super good. We make some chocolate pancakes and they were almost the same as brownies.  We had an empty can, and we cracked some eggs into the can, and made scrambled eggs in a tin can. Pretty sketchy, but they were good.

So not much is going on. We are just preparing for changes. I really don’t want to leave, because my comp is awesome and we are planning on baptizing this family soon. Yeah... Oh and they say that there are only going to be 8 sister missionaries and 2 elders coming this change. Not a ton, so I doubt that I’ll train again this time. 

It sounds like all is going pretty well at home. Sometimes when I think about it, I’m still super amazed that Dad is the bishop. Its pretty crazy, but it is awesome too. I bet that he'll do a great job. I also bet that it will get easier each week. Once you get the routine down, it becomes something normal. I remember that when I came here to Nicaragua, it was super crazy and I didn’t really know what was going on. But now that I have some time here and I know what’s going on, it’s easier and the time flies. Can you believe that I’m already 1/3 of the way done? But yeah, it seems to be getting easier now that I’m in the groove of things. It sounds like this week was pretty productive for you all at home. I was super stoked to hear about the Henry’s pinewood derby car. That’s really awesome to mount it with speakers. Style points are the best. Hopefully you all took some video. I would love to see his car someday. I mentioned to some of the missionaries here the idea of his car, and they all agreed that it was an awesome idea. Also that’s nice that Mary got a new bed. Is it still a trundle bed?

So I really miss you all, but it’s all going well here. Its super awesome, and I like my area and everything. We went to the market today to get my comp a watch, and I had him take some sweet video of us walking through the market (probably not the best idea, but we were really close to the end of the market, and I didn’t think there would be any problems with robbers). So yeah, now you have a little taste of what the Nicaragüense market is like. There are super crowded stalls, and people are always harassing me because I’m white. The cool part is that they don’t expect me to speak Spanish, so when I open my mouth they're always super surprised. Fun stuff. There are a TON of souvenirs and cool stuff. We spent a little bit of time looking at the switch-blades and stuff like that. Bailey and Owen would love the market.

PS: Dad you seriously need to come down here to pick me up. There are a TON of super cool things to do, and sometimes when I’m walking down the street, I brainstorm about things to do when you get here. Going to the market is on the list. It is pretty sketchy place, but would be a good representation of Nicaragua. The name of the market is Huembus if you want to look is up.  

Well, that’s about all for the week. Love you all and I miss you. I wonder where I'll be next Monday. Hopefully I’ll still be in Bello Horizonte, but we'll see. I would love to go to Puerto Cabezas where my comp from the MTC is. Sometimes we call each other and exchange stories. Good times.

Peace out family,

Elder Stark