Stand Firm

Bueno pues!!! Another week has gone by!! changes came and gone. There were lots and lots of them. 25 misionaries left, and 22 came. That is a lot. We got a new AP and lots of new elders were made zone leaders and a new hermana leader. I was SURE it would be Hermana Anderson but it was Hermana Edwards!! She came with me, and I know she will be great. But we stayed the same!! I was not shocked because I have to finish training!!!! We will see what happens in another 6!!! 

Nothing much happened this week. The same old, same old. Chugging along here in good 'ole Rosario. I must say, I am grateful for the members here and the energy they have to help us, and to have Hermana Escobar here with me. The Lord seems to always surround me with people who give me animo and are great examples to me. 

Do you remember Larry? We had to drop him and his wife this week. They just do not want to keep their commitments and right know don't have enough faith in the Lord to marry and get baptized. It is sad because we saw how excited he was for such a long time. But something happened. After all the time he has had with missionaries this was the first time he really went to church and kept at it. We just hope that they will let the missionaries in again in the future and that they will be more ready and willing to change their lives. 

Our family is progressing well even if they did not go to church yesterday. They are willing to change, at least he is. She needs to gain confidence in him to be able to marry him, but he is willing to do the changing and show her that he is. We had a very good lesson with them and the ward mission leader and they passed the SAME situation. It was perfect. They were able to see that it is possible, and necessary. So we will keep working with them. It is funny because Bismar is a big burly man with tatoos and who has done all sorts of bad stuff. But as we teach him he is soft and quiet. After teaching the law of chastity I thought that leaving the pamphlet to read would be enough, but before leaving he asked 'aren't you going to leave me something pretty to read in the Book of Mormon?' That was cool!!! they will get baptized, I know. 

Other than that, things are the same!!! It was interesting too. This week I read a talk from Conference about standing firm in our faith. I don't remember who wrote it. But it talks about how even if the world thinks it is okay and 50 million people are doing it, it still is not okay. Then we were in a lesson that day and a woman told us, but everyone here in Nicarauga does it, so we don't have to get married!!! I just had to laugh a little bit to myself. Sometimes we just don't understand that the Lord's way is the  ONLY way. 

so that is all. I hope you know that I love you!!!! Hope things are going well and that you are all happy and loving laugh :) Keep smiling, keep swimming :) That is what  I have to do! 

love, Your nica sista!!!!!!!!!!  Hermanita Morey

Answers to Prayers

Hola, como están ustedes!¡? Espero que todo bien, y que están felices y progresando bien. I will write quickly because there is not much time! 

Saturday was a big day here. It is the day that Nicaragua obtained independence. Sandanista is the political party that is in power right now. Everyone who works basically is obligated to go to Managua to celebrate (very different, no?) If you have a good job, you have to declare yourself as sandanista and show that you are to be able to get the job. So buses after buses passed by to take all the people there. Managua is PACKED and really just lots of partying goes on. So Rosario was pretty calm and quiet but we were able to get some work done¡! So that was exciting. 

But the big news..........WE FOUND A FAMILY!!!!!! Really, we had taught them once and they had come to church....but they accepted a date. It is Bismar and Kristian. SUPER super prepared. The  Lord really blessed. us. And I know that it is for your help, prayers, and fasting. Thank you SO so much for caring about the work I do here and giving us the extra help we need. REally. the Lord has blessed us, and blessed them, and all because we have been working hard and doing our best. They do need preparation and need to get married and he needs to stop smoking, but they have had good experiences and want to keep going!!!! We passed by Tuesday and Bismars uncle started telling us Mormons werent welcome there because they were catholic. Bismar said no, no, no. I like this church. You be nice to them! That was pretty cool. They are obtaining a testimony!! We will let you know how that goes!! 

REally, I love you all. I love this work. Sometimes it is terribly hard, boring, frustrating, but the good moments really make up for all the bad. This work really is a demonstration of the love the Lord has for ALL of his children. I know that we can find the answers we need in the BOM. That the Lord will comfort us when we need it and lift our burdens. If we feel bad....that is satan, he wants us to feel bad about ourselves. Look for the small blessings and miracles around you, I know that that has helped me in my life! I know that in this Church we have the true authority of God restored by Peter James and John, to Joseph Smith. Even though we, as members are very imperfect, the church is perfect. It brings me such joy and happiness....how can it not be true!!! 

Have a great week. Keep up the great work!!! I sure love you and pray for you!! 

Love always and Forever (Name that movie!)

      Hermanita Morey

p.s. I got my TRUNKY papers!!! AHHHH! 

Another Talk; https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/a-priceless-heritage-of-hope?lang=eng&cid=email-shared

Learning Life Lessons

Hello!!! I hope you are doing well and enjoying life. We, here are desperate for some rain....It is the time of rain and it hasn't....so we are a little worried about that. Hopefully it rains soon or Nicaragua will be in big trouble!!! 

How do you feel about Germany winning the world cup? Here everyone is super bummmed...they wanted Argentina. But what can you do when the Germans are just so awesome :) But at least people won't have the excuse of watching fútbol to not listen to us :) 

It has been a good week!! I notice that we have been working harder and harder. Trying to keep up with the reglas de exelencia (goals of exelence). It is hard sometimes because I feel like I am working the hardest I have ever worked in my mission, but seeing less results. I try to analyze the work we do to see if maybe there are things we need to change. We have lessons, contact, invite people to be baptized but they just are not interested!!!!Saturday while we were walking trying to find people to teach the thought came to my head that I am learning things that will help me after the mission. The Lord has things for us to learn here, so we just gotta do our best and make the best of it!!! But really, at the end of the day there always is a little miracle that we just have to look for them. But we know there are people waiting for us, we just gotta keep working, working working, and walking, walking, walking, contacting everybody. 

WE were able to have another miracle in church Sunday. 2 of our families actually came!!! One husband told us that he wanted to get baptized when he was 9 but his uncle told his mom no. Then he stopped going and got into bad habits. He told us he really likes the church and that his whole life would have turned out differently if they would have let him get baptized. They both enjoyed it a lot. We hope they and the wife of a less active accept their dates tongight!! They want to know more, now they just need to demonstrate their faith by accepting the goal!! Thank you for all your prayers for us!!! They really do help. 

I was asked to teach District Meeting on Friday (which I don't love too much) But I really had had one planned for a long time. I had them write down a name of somebody they loved who isn't member then they practiced inviting investigators to do something. Then I talked about the importance of the goals we put but how we cannot get so lost in the numbers and trying to impress others that we forget that they are people. Aksing them to analyze what is our true, deep desire. Help people, or have high numbers? Then we practiced again, this time imagining the investigator was this person they loved. Trying to emulate that love they feel for that person, to their investigators. AS they practiced the spirit was SO stron. I could feel them realizing that it really is important. That they are children of God and we cannot forget that in all the work we do. They need salvation and the blessings we have. It was a good experience. Now we just have to put it into practice!!!! 

Other than that nothing too much is happening. I can't believe the change is ending and we will see what happens for the next 3 months!!! I am doing well and determined to work hard up until the last day!! I know I can rest to my hearts content at the end, but here I cannot get the time back. 

I know that this is the true Church. I know that our HEavenly Father loves EACH and every one of us. He is willing to reach out and give us a little push when we need it, hold our hand when we need it. I have felt that love that he has for me, and the love he has for his children. I hope we can all feel it. I am SO grateful for the gospel. Grateful for el Libro de Mormon which helps me feel that love. I know that our Savior lives! and that through him we can do EVERYTHING!!!! 

I sure love you all. Thank you for everything!!!!! Have a great week!!! 

Love, your nicaraguan sister 

        Hermana Morey

P.s. If you want a good talk to read. https://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/06/improving-your-personal-prayers?lang=eng

The Power of Words

Hello!! I hope you were able to have a good 4th of July!!! I kind of forgot about it :) 

This week has been a week of testing our faith, diligence, and obedience. The goal is to find new families (that means inviting them to be baptized and them accepting and we don't have ANY) So we spent lots of time contacting and searching for that family, putting faith in the Lord that we would be able to find that family. Friday Night we actually spent until 9:30 out working trying to find them. Sadly we were not able to find them, but we will continue working. The Lord has some people prepared to listen to our message. WE just have to keep going until we do. It was hard to not have any families accept the invitation we made for them, but we felt good knowing that we tried our best. And that is all we can ask for: the Lord's approval. 

But we did have a miracle Sunday. WE had about 11 people commited to come to church (the goal is every week 5). And they were for sure about 9 of them. As we left the house to look for people one by one they fell. Not at home, not ready...etc. I felt SUPER frustrated but kept my calm. Praying for a miracle. We were able to bring 2 and a convert brought his son. Then as the reunions ended, we found that 2 more really had come. One that we had commited, and a less active we met Saturday brought her husband. I was shocked. It didn't turn out as we planned, but the Lord blessed us for our hard work and faith and fasting helped. I just told my companion that the Lord blessed us with a miracle and we could see the blessings of fasting. It showed me that Lord has his own ways of doing things!!! 

We are working super hard, and enjoying the work. REally forgetting ourselves and giving everything of ourselves. It isn't always easy...it really never is easy, but we just keep chugging along :) We are happy together and happy in the work!!! 

I was studying a talk by Eler Holland this week about the power of the words we say. REally they have a power and effect on the people around us. Saying something nice and lift somebody's day and help lift them out of their gloom. Saying something harsh and biting can hurt someone for years to come and very hard to take back. Christ is an example to us of the type of words we need to use. I know  I can always work on the way I say things and thinking before talking. 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/04/the-tongue-of-angels?lang=eng

I sure hope you know how much I love you!! The time is going by SUPER fast. I can't believe I almost only have 2 changes left. But we are making the most of it here in Rosario. You are all incredible examples to me!! Keep up the awesome work!! I love hearing your stories. Have WONDERFUL weeks!!! 

Love, 

  Hermanita Morey  

Paying Attention

Hello, Hello!!! this week has been a good one!! It wasn't so good in numbers, but I know we worked our hardest. I can't believe about Clair. My heart sunk a bit. We don't always understand why we have to pass the things we do, but he is always there to help us and NEVER will give us anything that we cannot bare. He truly loves us and wants to help us. I will be praying for you tons!!! I love you!! 

We were able to have the baptism of Estiven this past Saturday. He was SUPER excited. Everything went well. Neither of his parents came :( But his cousin and one of his friends from the ward baptized him. He was nervous and wanted to go last, but his face was the best when he came out of the water. Then he kept telling us he was a member now. he will be a GREAT missionary. The joy they feel makes it ALL worth it. All the hard times. Hopefully his family will feel the desire to go to church and join him in this great Evangelio (Gospel). (And guess what....we completed with the goal as a mission to baptize 200 people. Exactly 200 people got baptized!)

We had Zone meeting this week and talked about how we can better complete with the goals that President has established. We have been working on seting better commitments so that the people really do follow through with them. The key really is asking them what their hopes and dreams are, and then helping them see that the Gospel brings them all those things (the things like peace and unity in the family, not really cars and money :). And then they really have a desire to complete and really do it, because these are the things they REALLY want. And this week in training (the 12 weeks) we have been studying about teaching people, not lessons. I love learning that. Sometimes we forget that they are people. They have lives and problems. We get caught up in completing the goals we have set and don't realize they are people, not numbers. Like Elder Holland said they are not lifeless objects. We must treat and think of them as children of God, our brothers and sisters. That will help them progress, when they feel the love we have for them. Something that every missionary needs to work on no matter where they are!! 

I am really loving the work here. 2  surprise people came to church yesterday! One had a dream about not being able to go and woke up feeling the need to go. She loved it. The other was the wife of a less active (that was a surprise!). They both could feel the spirit of going to church. We are working super hard. We don't always see the results we want, but the Lord ALWAYS blesses us in some way. Maybe just feeling content that we did our best that day. Maybe it is someone accepting. There are so many frustrations in the mission and life, but if we look for the good things, we will be able to feel happiness. 

   You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one, each day brings a miracle of its own. It's just a matter of paying attention to this miracle.   Paulo Coelho

One more thought. I was studying this week about using the scriptures in teaching because I am not always that great at it. And I found a scripture in Jacob 2:8. It is really good. The scritprues really heal us and help us feel peace and the love God has for us!!! They are really were written for us!!! 

I sure love you all. I know there are always crazy things going on, but thanks to the Gospel we can find peace and joy and happiness. Things that material things can never ever give us. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father that I have this oportunity to share the Gospel with His children in nicaragua!!!! 

I love you!! 

Love, tu chelita, gringa, Hermanita Morey

P.S. Happy Birthday James!!!!!