June 2, 2014
Hey family,
So how's it all going? It sounded like this week was a
pretty cool week for you guys. That’s really cool that Dad got to go to the
east coast and party it up. Is it totally different on the east coast? Here in
Central America, every country is completely distinct and different. Like the
Nicas are way different from the Hondurans. I can’t really remember what its
like back at home? Are the people from the other parts of the country way
different, and do they talk differently? Kind of a funny thought. But anyways,
here this week it was pretty good. We've been working pretty hard as normal and
we've found some cool people to teach. The really cool part is that a family
that’s been waiting on a divorce should be able to get baptized soon. I'm really
stoked. So yeah, needless to say we've been running up and down and right and
left trying to find new people to teach and trying to get some people that are
positive to go to church.
So here are some cool stories that happened this week:
On Monday last week a missionary was set apart from
our ward and left for his mission in Guatemala Quetzaltenango. We went to his
setting apart and were talking to the stake president for a little. All of the
sudden he was like "hey elders, can we go on divisions on Thursday to
visit the seminary students". Of course we said yeah, and it was all good.
The stake president is in charge of seminary for Chinandega or something like
that. But anyways we shows up to the church and went into the bishop’s office
and there was the stake president and another guy who I recognized, but
couldn’t remember who he was. Anyways, I went with the stake president, and my
comp went with the other guy. As we were walking out the door, someone said the
other guy’s name. His last name is "Amonestel". In that moment I
remembered who that guy was. He was the ex mission president of the South
mission here in Nicaragua. I had met him once before. But yeah, he had driven
up here from Costa Rica and is in charge of the seminary and institute for all
of Central America. But yeah, it was fun to be with the big wigs and do some
visits. I took the stake president all over my area, and I think that I wore
him out a little because he was super tired. Funny stuff, but we were making
jokes and it was good. I had never gone and worked with a stake president
before like that.
The other funny thing was that on Saturday we were
waiting on the side of the highway for a taxi to take us to the church for a
baptism. There weren’t any taxis, but all of the sudden a sweet SUV stopped and
told us to get in. It was Elder Maravilla (the 70 that is in charge of all of
Nicaragua). He took us to the church, and it was crazy to have a 70 just give
us a ride.
So the coolest thing that happened this week was that
today we went to a volcano named Cosigüina. It is super far away, and is right
on the Honduras/El Salvador border. I was on divisions with Elder Taylor on
Friday and we made planes to climb it. So we woke up super early today at 5 and
jumped on a bus and went to Potosi, and then found a Nicaraguan that would be
willing to take us up to the volcano. Truthfully we had no idea what we were
doing, but we're all kind of adventurous so we just went to Potosi and found a
random Nicaraguan that offered to take us up for 16 dollars. It was awesome,
and was a total crazy hike. We're all in pretty good shape so we basically just
ran up the mountain. It was 7 kilometers each way. We got up in a little less
than 2 hours, and got down in about 1.5 hours. The tour guide was totally blown
away. When we asked him how we were doing for time, he said "I’ve never
seen people that hike so fast....". I think that we wore him out too. But
the coolest part about the volcano is that there is a giant lake in the crater.
The view was totally amazing. I sent home about a million pictures, but it was
totally awesome. I'm glad that we got the tour guide cause there were snakes
and all kinds of animals on the trail. The guy would go in front with his
machete and chop away all of the vines and growth in the trail. It was totally
like a rainforest kind of experience, and the canopy kept us cool. It was
really cool and was probably one of my favorite p days here. But from the top
of the volcano, I could see El Salvador, and Honduras. Maybe you can look up
the volcano on the Internet. Let me know what you think.
But yeah, it’s all good here. To answer your
questions: When you come, just bring shorts and a pair of jeans. And basically
you can wear whatever you want for a shirt. It could be a tee shirt or a button
down shirt, or if you want you don’t even need a shirt. You don’t need ANYTHING
long sleeve, because it’s just too hot. And don’t worry about rain gear. Maybe
just a small umbrella.
For cash, you can bring dollars here if you want. It’s
probably more secure to bring cash, because it would be suckazoid if the ATM
didn’t take your card. I bet that it will, but you can bring dollars here and
change the money in almost any place you go. You could probably bring a couple
hundred in cash. What I do after going to the ATM is I leave most of the money
in the house, and I only carry around like 500 cords at the most. I've never
been robbed or anything, but I’m always still a little cautious. Nicas love
dollars, and they're super easy to change to Cordoba’s. And yeah, you'll
probably want to change most of the money to Cordoba’s. But definitely bring
one or two cards just as backup. You can carry around the money in your wallet
in your front pocket.
I'm pretty sure that I’ll be able to meet you at the
airport. I haven’t talked to anyone, but yeah, I bet that I’ll be there waiting
for you guys.
For medicine, just take some anti diarrhea pills and
maybe some anti nausea. You can buy basically any pills you need here in the
pharmacies in the streets (remember Mexico?), and it’s easy to find drugs.
Pepto is also pretty easy to find down here, so don’t worry about taking that
with you.
With your phone, don’t worry too much. About 50% of
Nicas have big smartphones with android, and it shouldn’t be a problem.
Obviously you will only use the phone in secure places, like the mall, member’s
homes, and in the car, and stuff like that. I'll be with you guys, so don’t
worry too much. I don’t know how much Verizon charges for phone calls made from
outside of the US, so maybe you'll just want to ditch the phones in the hotel
room and buy a cheap Nica phone and use the local companies here. Its all pay
as you go, so its super easy.
And yeah, sorry for writing shorter letters. Sometimes
I just sit in front of the computer and I don’t know what to write. It all just
seems really normal to me, and I forget that for you guys, Nicaragua is totally
crazy and different. But yeah, I’ll try to do better at including more details
and stuff like that. And no, I’m never ticked off with you guys. I still love
going to the cyber like I did when I began the mission, and it’s awesome to
read your email. But sometimes I just don’t have a lot of time write giant
emails and chat, so that’s why. Sorry, and I’ll do better. :)
But yeah, I love you guys, and I really liked your
emails. I think that it’s hilarious that the guy in charge of bike safety hit
Isaac. What a funny thing. But anyways, thanks for everything. I’m super stoked
to see you guys!
Elder Stark
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