#85 El Naranjo

April 21, 2014

Hey family,

So it’s going well here. I liked your email, and it sounds like it’s been a pretty mellow week back at home. You directed that letter to "bailey" which I thought was kind of funny. It must be crazy having two kids on a mission. Anyways, fun stuff.

So this week felt like it went by pretty quickly. We've been working pretty hard, and the time just flies by each day. I felt pretty happy, because this week we found 5 new families to teach that are pretty positive, and I imagine that many of them will be baptized in the coming weeks. Two of the families we found are neighbors of a family that we found last week. These two families live in a poor area called "las champas" and they make these ghetto french-fry kind of food, but they're made out of plantains instead of potatoes. Do plantains exist in the US? But yeah we were walking by the house and saw that they were chopping a ton of plantains into little french-fries so we offered to help, and stayed there for like an hour doing service. They were really grateful and made us dinner. At the beginning of my mission I used to feel awkward when the family would give us food and then just sit there watching us eat, but now I am kind of used to it. It’s a big sign of respect when the families sacrifice their own food for you, and it is really nice. But yeah, we helped them out a lot and they seem pretty cool. The mom only has one leg. Her other leg was amputated like a year ago because she has diabetes. But they really like us. The family said that before, they were super anti-Mormon, but they really like us. They say that we're really well educated and that we've got good manners. Kind of cool. Yesterday we brought 5 people (four from this family) to church. The cool thing too is that we're teaching two families that live next door, and one of the families would like to be baptized. Cool!

So it’s going pretty well here in Chinandega. On Tuesday I held a district meeting, and then we went and took the mission money out of the ATM, Then on Wednesday I did divisions with one of the areas in El Viejo and it turned out pretty good. We ordered pizza in the evening and it was good. On Thursday we just worked hard, on Friday I did some baptism interviews and there were some baptisms on Saturday. And on Sunday we brought some investigators to church. The APs were in town and worked with us a little on Sunday so that was kind of fun. They picked us up in the Hilux and it was weird being in a nice truck. It had air-conditioning and even a little screen in the dashboard. But yeah, it was fun. Later in the night on Sunday some members in the ward gave us food. There is an 18-year-old guy in our ward who just got his mission call and leaves in about a month. We've been working with him a lot and his family gave us dinner on Sunday. His name is M and he was called to the Guatemala Quetzaltenango mission. But yeah, he's stoked and its fun to work with the members. 

So it’s all going well here in El Naranjo. My comp and I get along really well, and we've been working hard. My comp really wants to get better at English, so I talk to him in English a lot. He actually speaks fairly well, and understands everything when I talk a little slower. Fun stuff! But yeah, it’s going well. I am actually happy too with my Spanish. When I first began my mission I didn’t think that I’d ever be able to speak well, but now everyone tells me that I speak really well and have a good Nica accent. So yeah, it’s awesome to be here. Tomorrow I’ll have 20 months in the mission, and the time just flies by. One of the ZL’s here is Elder T whom I’m really good friends from the MTC. We talk a ton each night and its fun to have some good friends here in the zone. But yeah, it’s all going well. Today we went to the stake center, played some guitar, and then went to Burger King. I think that I spent like 10 bucks (whoops, sorry about that!!!! Oh and the only bad thing that happened this week was that I opened my suitcase to take my baptism pants out and they smelled kind of bad. So then I asked my comp to verify, and he agreed that they smelled really bad. So I started digging around the suitcase and found a dead mouse in the bottom. I think that the neighbors had put some rat poison around and the mouse had eaten some and then climbed into my suitcase. But yeah, it was gross. So we threw the mouse away and for the past few days I’ve been airing out the suitcase and last night I bleached all of my clothes that smelled bad. Haha funny stuff. Only in Nicaragua! But it’s all going well and I’m happy to be here. I love this place, and I love teaching the gospel. I’m seriously going to be super devastated when I finally have to leave this place. And I’m really happy that I now have a super strong testimony of the gospel, and I love reading the scriptures. Well, I hope that you're all doing well and that life is good. Stay safe and stay "pilas puesta" in the church!

Audio,

Elder Stark 

#84 El Naranjo

April 14, 2014

Hey family!!!!

It was awesome to get your email today. It sounds like you're all having a pretty good time back at home, and that dad is pretty busy with work and the stuff in the ward. Fun stuff. We've been pretty busy here too. It’s been fun working in El Naranjo. The area is a lot different from the other areas that I've been in, and it’s been interesting trying to change my teaching style and all that stuff.

So yeah, the cool news is that in this week there have been a lot of earthquakes here in Nagarote. The first one that I remember feeling was on Thursday and we were standing outside the house of a family teaching them the restoration and all of the sudden the dogs started barking, and everything started to shake. I was leaning against a cinderblock wall, and it was moving quite a bit so I got away. It was a pretty cool experience, but only lasted for like 7 or 8 seconds. Kind of funny stuff. Anyways, I didn’t really think much about it. But yeah, later that evening we had ward council and we were sitting there and J and Y from Nagarote tried to call me, but I cut the call because I was busy. Later they called me again. They explained that the epicenter of the earthquake was in Nagarote, and that it had caused a lot of damage. They explained that they were alright, and that they were helping the other members in the branch. J and Y are the only members in the ward that have a car, so they were driving around helping all of the members in the branch. They told me that the quake had knocked down some of the houses of the members, including a chunk of the sister missionaries house. But they said that everyone was alright, and that it turned out ok. Supposedly nobody died. But yeah, they are awesome converts. I was really impressed that they had gone and helped everyone in the branch. Anyways, that was the first earthquake on Thursday. On Friday I was on divisions with the ZLs and at like 2pm we were planning a little of the day, and while we were sitting on the bed planning, the windows started to shake a ton and the dresser almost fell over. It was a really weird experience again. I'd never felt an earthquake until I came here, and yeah, it was kind of cool. Same thing though, it only lasted like 8 seconds. But all of the Nicaraguans are really, really scared. It’s turning out pretty good for us though as missionaries, because we can call the people to repentance easier. :)

So last night there was a high warning that in Nicaragua there would be a large high magnitude earthquake in the night. Our neighbors came over and warned us, and later in the night I got a bunch of phone calls. Also I got a bunch of texts from President Collado and had to call all of the missionaries in the district and warn them. That was at like 11:30 at night. I kind of felt bad for having to wake them all up. But yeah, my comp and I were all pumped up. We were super excited. We were going all Rambo and planning up some cool plans. Anyways, we didn’t get to bed until late that night, because we were all excited. But nothing happened, so it was kind of a letdown. Anyways, that’s the word on the streets. It’s pretty exciting! And we're all doing perfectly fine here. President Collado said that if we're doing the right thing, none of the missionaries would get hurt in the event of an earthquake. So I'm not worried. :)

Today I got a little email from Y, but it was a really short email because apparently the power keeps going out in Nagarote and its not very consistent. She said that they are alright, and the J is pretty nervous about his new calling, but that he accepted and they are going to keep helping out the branch. I am really, really grateful that I had the opportunity to go to Nagarote, and to baptize them. As I left Nagarote, I was kind of bummed that I hadn't baptized more people, but now I feel really happy for the people that i was able to baptize. I’m really happy.. That was probably one of the happiest moments of my mission. Very cool.

Anyways, on Sunday we kind of got skunked and we weren't able to get any investigators to church, but we're working hard and finding new investigators. It’s awesome being here, and I'm really happy. My comp and I get along really well, and he is one of my coolest comps. We're always joking around and having a good time. We have some cool investigators. We found a cool new family the other day. One of the families that we're teaching is a family to complete. The wife is a member, and the husband isn’t. He wants to get baptized and everything. They even have a daughter that just left on her mission about 3 weeks ago. The only thing is that the wife doesn’t want to get married to the husband... Kind of a bummer. So we're working on that and teaching a lot about the law of chastity. The cool thing is that they own a panaderia (bakery) and they've been giving us bread all of the time. I took some pictures of their bakery. It’s pretty ghetto, but that’s how they are here. They gave us about 100 cords of Picos (triangle sweet bread with cheese inside). Cool stuff. So hopefully they can get their issues resolved and get married. The guy really wants to get baptized. So we'll see what happens.

 Let me know what’s up! I love you all and I'm glad to hear that all is well. Have a great week!

Elder Stark

#83 El Naranjo

April 7, 2014

Hey family,

It’s been great to hear from you all. I was glad to hear that you're doing great, and that life is good. That is kind of stinky that you're all so busy, but sometimes that’s just how it is. But anyways, I’m doing pretty well. 

I got here to El Naranjo on Tuesday, and I like it here. It’s really different from any other area that I’ve been in before, but that’s ok. Basically for me, I’ve been in super rich areas (relatively) my whole mission. El Naranjo is pretty dang poor, and it’s way different, but I like it here. I feel kind of weird though because I have to change my teaching style and teach to a different manner. Basically, I need to teach a lot more simply and direct. A lot of people here don’t know how to read, and most of the people live in little tin/cardboard/plastic wrap houses. It’s pretty humble here.

But yeah, it’s going well here. My comp is Elder R from El Salvador. I think that he's my 4th Salvadoran comp. But he is really cool, and we get a long really well. This is one of the first times in my mission that I’ve had a comp with more time than me, and its fun to teach alongside with someone who knows how to teach well. Fun stuff. In my district I have 8 missionaries, and they are cool. My district includes a city called El Viejo, and I’ve got 2 companionships of sister missionaries and 2 companionships of elders. Fun stuff. Here in the ward, its just me and my comp, and two sister missionaries. But yeah, I’ve been getting along well with all of the members. The elder who was here before me was a punk and everyone disliked him. So now that he's gone, everyone is in love with me. On Sunday we went on divisions with the bishopric to try to bring investigators to conference, and I was with the 2nd counselor. He was telling me about how good it is that I’m here, and I really like the members here. The bishop is a good guy too, and seems to enjoy working with us. I'm really, really happy because I’ve never had a bishop in my mission that's wanted to work with the missionaries and teach investigators with us. Very cool!

Today for p-day we went to El Viejo where the stake center is, and we played soccer and basketball as missionaries, and it was pretty fun. I have a lot of friends here in the zone, and it’s fun to see them. The zone if full of "dying" missionaries who are ending in 2 or 3 changes. I think that there are like 7 missionaries in the zone who are going to end in this time frame. So its really fun, and we're all having a good time. In the zone Chinandega Oeste there is pretty much no supermarkets or restaurants or anything, so we can usually get permission to go to the Zone Chinandega. That is the same zone where I began my mission. It was like deja vu walking around the old places where I was over a year and a half ago, and it was really weird. We went to the supermarket and did some grocery shopping, and in this town there is a small tiny subway restaurant so we got some of that. 

So yeah, it kind of sucked leaving Nagarote. I went to the house of J and Y on Monday night, and Y had made like a going away poster with pictures and stuff like that. It was really sweet, and they really love me. Y said the last prayer before I left, and broke down crying in the middle of the prayer. I was super sad too. The funny thing is that they've been calling me/texting me like every day this week asking how I am, and how the area is, how the members are, stuff like that. I opened up my inbox today and had 3 letters from them. So yeah, basically they're like the coolest converts. Y wrote me today and was super, super excited that you (Mom) had responded to her email. Fun stuff. Anyways, that’s about all for today. Sorry that I didn’t take a lot of pictures, but I’ll do better this week. I love you all and hope that all goes well.

Elder Stark

#82 El Naranjo

March 31, 2014

Hey family,

It was great to get your email. I only have like 4 months left, and the time seems to fly by so quickly. So last night I got the changes, and I'll be going to Chinandega Oeste. It’s a different zone than the zone that I began in, but either way it should be pretty fun. I think that my area will be called El Naranjo 2, but I can’t really remember well. My comp is going to be an Elder R. I don’t really know him well, but he was here in the Zone Leon for my first change here. I never really talked to him, but everyone says that he's pretty chill. So yeah, that should be fun. It’s really weird, because I know that I’m going to my last area. So yeah... strange stuff. It feels so weird to be ending the mission.

Anyways, yesterday when I got the phone call telling me about the changes, I was with my converts J and Y. It was really sad, because I was sitting with them when I figured out that I would be leaving the area. Anyways, they both got really sad, and started taking a ton of pictures of my comp and me. Then J gave me a blessing, and it was a really spiritual moment in my mission. I was really grateful to have the opportunity to have taught/baptized them. They are amazing converts, and they were both really sad to hear that I was leaving. They want to throw a party for me today, so that should be fun :)

So not too much has happened this week. I did the last district meeting, and we took some pictures and it was pretty fun. Then we went to eat some quesillos. On Thursday I went on divisions for the last time with Elder G. Man that guy is trunky. He is ending his mission tomorrow and he got me super super trunky. We stayed up late talking, and he is a really good friend of mine. While we were in the Paz Centro we went to Momotombo and I did a baptismal interview for a family that they baptized on Saturday. It was really fun. Then the next day I went on divisions with the ZLs and Elder O and I got super trunky again. It was crazy. But anyways, in these past few days, we've been working hard and having some success here in Nagarote. This week we found 9 new families to teach and like 21 new investigators. Pretty cool. We have been teaching a guy and he said that he got his answer from God, and that now he wants to be baptized. Fun stuff! Also on Saturday at 4pm we did a branch activity. It was called "El Plan de Salvacion" and basically the people showed up and didn’t know what was going on. The invitations just said that there would be games, food, and fun. So basically they just show up with no idea what is going to happen. When they enter, they get like 3 tickets (1 green and 2 yellows). With their tickets, they could buy stuff like games, food, play the Nintendo, go to the movie theater room, etc. Every time that they'd buy something, their tickets would get changed to a red or yellow ticket. But my comp was in a room as a preacher, and whenever someone would enter into the church, their red tickets would be changed for green tickets. I was the "devil" and I was hanging around the game rooms changing people’s green tickets for red tickets, and tempting the people to hang around and play games. The two sister missionaries were like missionaries, and were inviting the people to the "church-area". So it was basically just like a giant plan of salvation game. Green = celestial, Yellow = terrestrial, Red = telestial. Then after an hour, everything stopped, and we all went into the big room and everyone that had red tickets were put on one side of the room, yellow on another side, and green on another side. Basically it just shows how we come to the world not knowing what we're going to do, and then all of the sudden our time runs out and we're left with our "tickets" which are the evidence of our actions here in life. It was fun, and I was able to "condemn" a ton of people being the devil. It was really fun, and everyone loved it. I think that like 60 people showed up, which is really good for a small branch like Nagarote. There were also many investigators who attended. 

Oh today for p-day we went to Leon, got some burger king, and went to the cathedral of Leon. It’s the biggest cathedral in all of Central America. I had been there before, but this time we paid some money and did a tour and they took us up on the roof. Its huge, but that is an under statement. Its ginormous. I'll take you guys there. But yeah, my cameras battery dies right as we got on the roof. Kind of a bummer. After that we went and got some smoothies that were amazing, and I bought a sweet cake. Leon is a really cool tourist city, and there are millions of backpacking Europeans there.

So I don’t really know how much "weird food" I’ve been eating recently. I'm addicted to Jocotes, which are these fruits that don’t exist in the US. I was trying to find the translation and it says that they're called "Spanish plums". Who knows, but they are really good. I will just buy a big bag of them in the streets and chow down on them for the whole day. While Elder G and I were in Momotombo we were just finding them in the streets and eating them (probably no the most sanitary thing to do... but whatever...). 

So yeah, life is good. I feel really really weird to have changes, and I’m super sad to have to leave Nagarote. The first week or so in a new area always kind of suck, but after that it becomes your new home. So yeah, no worries. It will be fun to go back to Chinandega and I've got a lot of friends that are there. So yeah, good stuff.

Thanks family,

Elder Stark