Wednesday, July 16, 2014

#96 El Naranjo

July 14, 2014


Hey family,

Can you believe that it’s almost coming to an end? I can't... It will be really weird not reading the weekly letters from you guys and it will be weird to see you guys in person and talk to you face to face. It really weirds me out. I also think that it will be really weird not chilling with people in Spanish. Today my comp and I went and did the grocery shopping, ate some pizza, and my comp went to some guy in the market to get his watch fixed. While the guy was fixing it we had a pleasant conversation about Nicaraguan watches and the immigration problems/racism in the United States. I really enjoy just hanging out with the Nicaraguans and talking with them. The people here are so laid back and they are always down to chat it up. That’s something that I’ll miss. Also, while my comp was getting his watch fixed, I just sat down in front of someone’s store and the guy came out and was asking about the US. The people here are always really interested in the US. There aren’t really many white people here, and whenever the people see white people they get interested and always want to chat it up. The Nicas really get excited when they figure out that I can speak Spanish, and they just want to talk.

So today was pretty laid back. We were doing some grocery shopping, and we each bought a giant 4-pound bag of cereal and lots of milk. Also, there was a giant 10-pound bag of pancake mix, so we bought that too. It’s not any pancake mix either, its American. I think that it’s the Krusteez brand or something like that. I can predict that we'll be eating lots of pancakes and cereal. I'm pretty excited. When I first began the mission we didn’t get very much money, and we would only eat cereal on special occasions. But now I have a 4-pound bag to finish it off. I'm pretty stoked!

So not much has been going on this week. We've been working pretty hard and contacting a lot and teaching a lot. I feel like I’m doing a pretty good job, and I enjoy preaching the gospel. It’s really fun to be honest. I can’t really think of any crazy stories that happened this week, but it all went pretty good. We had ward council on Wednesday and one of the sister missionaries was looking at the pictures on my camera. When the council began, she turned it off and put it in her lap and forgot about it. But when it was the Hermana’s turn to speak, she stood up and the camera fell and smacked the floor pretty hard. It broke. Haha! I just shrugged and didn’t really care. It's not really a big deal. I was surprised that the camera made it this far, and its funny that it died when I had 23 months. Anyways sorry, I now don’t have any pictures to send home. But yeah, all is well. We're working and doing our best. 

I've now read the book of Mormon like 7 times in my mission, and I want to finish it again before I go home. But one of the main messages that I’ve seen in the book is to not be prideful. I feel like humility is the opposite of pride. In DyC38:39 its says something like "beware of pride, lest ye become as the Nephites of old". Something like that... Also in Moroni 8:27 it says that the pride is what made the Nephites fall. Basically there are a lot of people that become stuck up on silly little things and it gets to them. They can’t comprehend that maybe they are wrong, and they can’t see it from any other perspective. I see that a lot as a missionary of Jesus Christ. It’s a really interesting thing, and I try to be humble and teach the people the truth. I recently was listening to the talk by president Benson about beware of pride. It’s a really great talk, and I really recommend it. 

But life is good here. I love the people and I really love this work. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. As I look back on these two years, I am really grateful for having chosen to come on a mission. I now don’t really think of it as having been a sacrifice, but rather as a privilege. I've learned numberless things here, and it's impossible to describe how these two years have changed my life. If I hadn’t gone on a mission, sure I might be farther in school, but I would have forfeited so many blessings. So yeah, life is good. Real good. 

Thanks for all your help, and I’m really excited to see you guys. Have a great week.

Love,

Elder Stark

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