June 17, 2013
Hey family,
So what’s been going on this week? It
sounds like you all had a sweet fathers day, and that the fishing was good.
That’s always great to hear. I really loved the pictures, and it looks like it
was a total blast. I remember for my first p-day here in Nicaragua, we went to
the beach and went fishing off of the rocks in a port named Corinto. It was
awesome, but all we had was a reel and hooks, nothing else. Obviously we didn’t
catch anything, but it was fun. I’m glad that it was a success. Also it sounds
like you have a sweet new grill. That’s good, because we used the other grill a
ton. Is this new one like a big stainless steel one? Either way, cool stuff.
So I guess the big news that you're all
wondering is what was up with the changes. Here is the story: So on Tuesday
night we went out contacting with the new missionaries. I was with a Latino
missionary and we contacted some families. I showed him around and showed him
how to contact. He was pretty surprised at some of my techniques. It was
awesome. Like sometimes, I'll ask people for help with the addresses, or
sometimes I'll ask how to get to the supermarket, stuff like that. He was like
"whoa elder, that’s awesome." Ok, well yeah, I’m already getting off
topic. So we contacted, and went to a meeting with the bishop that we have
every Tuesday at 5:30pm. While I was there, I got a phone call from my DL.
Obviously it was about the changes. So I put my cell phone on speaker phone,
and we all sat there, and the DL said that I had changes. So I was like
"Ok, that’s expected. I’ve been here a long time, and I’m pretty ready to
leave". But anyways, the bishop was all put out, and kind of sad. I think
that he really likes me. So he pulled out his phone and started texting a
bunch, and then called someone and left the room. But anyways, after all of
that, we had our meeting, and it went well. While I was still in the church, I
went to get a drink of water, and I got a phone call from my ZL and he said
something like "Elder Stark, President Arredondo just called me, and he
reversed the changes, so you will be staying in Bello for another change".
I was super shocked, and I am 99% sure that the bishop had left the room and
had called President Arredondo. But yeah, I just kind of rolled with it, and it
was cool. It was also nice not having to pack, because my suitcases weigh a
ton.
So we got to the changes meeting and a
little ways into the meeting President Arredondo made me stand up again in
front of the mission and said something like "Elder Stark, your bishop has
again requested that I don’t change you. But I know that you have a lot
of time in your area, so I will leave you there until the 27th of June, and
then I will take you out of your area on Emergency Changes." Crazy stuff.
So yeah, it looks like I have 10 more days here in Bello Horizonte, and then
I'll be leaving. Even more funny, is that right now we are in a trio. President
Arredondo assigned another missionary, and right now we are 3. His name is
Elder T from Alaska. So yeah, it’s pretty crazy right now, but I'm still happy
to be here.
Oh, and this change is the last change
of our mission president, so it was interesting. He is leaving the 28th of
June, and the new President (Pres. Collado) will take over on that date. I
think that we are going to have another big mission conference in a week where
the official change will take place.
So the missionary work here continues to
go along as normal. We don’t have a ton of families teaching, so we have been
contacting nonstop for several days now. Its tough, and whenever we are
contacting, there is always a psychological border you have to overcome. Like
to contact someone who is sitting down relaxing is easy, and to talk to them is
easy too. But it’s sometimes a little freaky when someone is walking in the
street, and you have to stop them in their tracks, and then they are always a
little ticked off. But such is the life. Sometimes we will contact 10+ families
in a day, and we won’t find any new person. It’s pretty tough, but yeah, you
can know that we are working hard.
So here is a pretty cool story. On
Saturday we were in the supermarket doing some shopping. We also found the
other Elders from Ducuali there, and we chatted it up with them for a while. So
we were there, and I decided that I wanted to buy a little bag of skittles.
There is pretty much any type of American food that you can buy here, but it’s
sometimes a little spendy. So I was looking at the prices of the skittles
(19 córdobas by the way), and while I was looking at the prices, the
building started to shake pretty bad, and everyone started screaming and
panicking. Everyone just mobbed their way to the doors, and there were alarms
going off and stuff. I remember that there were all kinds of groceries falling
off the shelves and it seemed like something from a movie. I think that some of
the ceiling panels fell from the roof too. But yeah, obviously it was an
earthquake, and it was pretty crazy. I think that it is the first time that
I've ever felt an earthquake, and it seemed like something from a movie.
Everything was normal, and all of the sudden in a matter of seconds, everything
just snapped and it got crazy. The funnier thing is that all of us Elders just
kind of stood there together with dumb looks on our faces and waited it out
while everyone else was panicking/crying/rushing out of the building. Fun
stuff. And a couple times throughout the day there were aftershocks, and the
ground would shake some more. I think there were 3 earthquakes in all that day.
Our Elders Quorum president told us that the quake happened in the Pacific
Ocean and it was a 6.3 (not that I really know what that means). But yeah, it
was a cool experience. Most of the people here are still really scared of
earthquakes, because of the huge quake that happened here in '73 that destroyed
all of Managua and killed thousands. Whenever you talk to old people here, they
will always say stuff like "I remember how Managua was, before the
earthquake".
We didn’t have any families in church.
It was brutal. We went on divisions, and left Elder T in the church with a
member, while Elder P and I went out looking for the families. We have a super
cool family with a baptism date for the 22nd, but in order to be baptized on
this date, they had to go to church today. We found them in their house, and
they REALLY didn’t want to go. They were just giving all of these excuses, and
it was really sad. We waited there for 2 hours in the sun, and it was tough. I
was really sad, and so was my comp. It’s tough to do a bunch of work, and
sacrifice everything, and then just see it go down the drain. But at least I
know that I'm working super hard, and that I'm doing my part. It’s kind of like
what Dad has said before about agency. Obviously I can’t make the decisions for
the other people. But yeah... anyways. I spent 6 hours in the sun on Sunday
morning, and it was tough, but that’s just how it is. After church, I stood up
in the ward council meeting and said to the members (we were planning an
activity next week where the mission president is going to come and talk to our
ward), "You all need to bring your friends, neighbors, family, and
everyone who isn’t a member. We are working our tails off, and we were in the
sun for 6 hours, and still didn’t get a single family in the church. So if you
can please bring some of your friends, that would be a HUGE help to us as the
missionaries.” The ward pretty much doesn’t help us at all, and after I said
that and sat down, everyone was just kind of silent for a while. I really hope
too that we can get a little more help from our ward.
So I am doing well here. It’s tough a
lot of times, but we are always making jokes and laughing which helps a lot. I
hope that you are always doing well at home. I’m always praying for you all,
and that all goes well. Yeah it’s pretty crazy that I’m coming up on 1 year
here. Oh, and to answer the question of dad, there are not any Americans here
or Euros. There might be in the south in the touristy areas, but here, NO. Days
and weeks will pass by without seeing a white person. But the people here tell
me that in places down south like Granada or Masaya or San Juan del Sur that
there are tons of cheles there. But yeah, if you come here, I can show you the
REAL Nicaragua. (or whatever you want)
Well, it’s good that there are tons of
missionaries from Edinburgh Ward going out. That’s cool too that Jake S came
home. It seems like he just left. Also it’s crazy to me that Elder Rodgers just
has a little while longer. The time seems to go by really quick sometimes.
Hopefully you can send out tons of missionaries from our ward. Oh and I got
that package that you sent me Mom. It was the best!! I've totally been chowing
down on the Cliffbars, and they are really good. I also loved the Edinburgh
Ward program. I think I was pretty trunky after reading it. It was very cool.
You've got to be grateful that we live in a place where the church is so developed.
But more than anything, I think the thing that I loved the most in the
package was the General Conference Ensign in English. It’s super, super
awesome, and right after opening the package, I just sat down and
read/highlighted/studied like 4 talks. It’s the best. I didn’t get the chance
to see hardly any of the conference, and it is so, so, so, so awesome. I hope
that you are studying it too and getting the same enjoyment as I'm getting.
Good stuff.
Well family, I love you all, and I’m
always really glad to get your emails each week. I hope that Father’s Day was
good, and that you're all happy. I’m working hard, and having a good time. So
yeah, thanks for the email, and I'll talk to you next week.
Love,
Elder Stark
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