#78 Nagarote

Hey family, 

So yeah, it looks like I only have 5 months left. It feels like just yesterday that I was saying that I only had 6 months left. Man, the time really flies by. I can’t believe it. I remember that when I began my mission, I would hear all the older missionaries talk about how the 24 months flies by, and I didn’t really believe them. But now that I’m where I am, I can see that it’s true. The time really flies.

So this week has been pretty cool. We have been working a lot, and I’ve been going on divisions and all that fun stuff. On Tuesday I went on divisions with Elder G who is from Malad. Man he really got me trunky. The guy is dying (in other words, he is ending his mission) in 4 weeks, and all he talks about are guns and getting back to Idaho. It’s really tough to not get trunky around him. But yeah, on Tuesday I was with him, and it was pretty cool. Its fun being around gringos. And on Thursday I was on divisions with one of the ZLs named Elder H who is from Las Vegas. I was able to have some good gringo parties this week. We had 4 baptisms planned out for last week, but only one guy was able to get baptized. The guy who got baptized was A, the super rich lawyer. He is a pretty awesome guy. I bet that he'll be a future leader in the church.

On Friday we had a multi-zone conference with Villa Flor. I got to go back to Managua and see my old chapel where I was for 6 months. It was kind of cool. I also got to see a bunch of elders that I knew, and that was great. We were with President Collado all day, and it was fun to hear from him and take notes and learn by the Spirit. He committed us to start waking up at 5:30am, and leaving the house one hour earlier than we normally would. So that's what we've been doing, and it’s pretty cool. It makes me kind of tired, but it’s a good way to start the day. So we're working a lot harder and we should have a lot more success.

Ok, so here's a cool story. Sunday at about 3 AM there was an earthquake. I woke up, and my comp was freaking out in his bed. The whole house began shaking quite a bit, and while I was lying in bed, it was like someone had grabbed my bed and started shaking it as hard as they could. It was really crazy. The power instantly went out, and it shook pretty well for about 30 seconds. Then it calmed down, and there were just some after-shocks that shook a little. A couple seconds after the earthquake I got like 4 text messages from a bunch of missionaries and even from our investigators (the family that didn’t get baptized). So yeah, that was kind of cool. After the quake, the power was out for like 45 minutes and we were just lying in our beds roasting. It was really hot and humid, and without the fans, it becomes miserable. 

And on Sunday, it was pretty good. All of our investigators bailed on us, so we didn’t have any investigators in church, but we did confirm A a member. I taught elder’s quorum, and it turned out really good. In the afternoon at like 4PM the zl’s called me and wanted to do a meeting with the leaders in the zone, so we went to the highway and were able to flag down an espresso bus (the normal buses end early on Sunday), and we went to Leon and I was in a meeting with the other leaders for the rest of the day. Then, I slept in the zl’s house, and we all fell asleep at like 12 because we had to do the telephone report in all of our districts, and that took a lot of time. Then at 5 in the morning we had a conference call with President Collado. So today I’ve had like 5 hours of sleep. I’m a little tired, but yeah, it’s all-good. We ate at Burger King while we were in Leon, and then came back to Nagarote, cleaned the house, and now I’m here in the cyber. I had wanted to go to the ocean today, but there wasn’t time, so maybe that'll be next week. Oh and when we came back from Leon, my comp and I paid an extra 30 Cordoba (that’s like an extra dollar) and went in a microbus. Those are the 18 passenger vans, and the thing had AC!!! It was awesome, and we were able to relax a little. You should see how the nicas drive. Freeways don’t exist here, all there are the two lane highways, and they drive like maniacs. They will pass other cars and semis, and you will be pooping your pants with fear, because they do it with just inches of space. Fun stuff. But yeah. 

Anyways, life is good. We're working hard, and now were just trying to find some new people to teach. I imagine that I’ll probably have changes this next change, but who knows. So yeah, that’s all for this week. Thanks for your letter, and I am glad to hear that all is well. Have a great week!

Elder Stark

Pictures:5998,5997,5988, 5987