Monday, October 28, 2013
10-22-2013 Sorry this is late
Hey there family! I hope you are all doing well!! This week was just another normal week in the missionary life!
Monday
we went to the park with all of the Elders that we are friends with
because 4 out of the 5 had transfers. So we went to the park and the
Elders got hamburgers I got myself a big cup of cacao- It is like
chocolate milk but 100 times better-
Tuesday was just a normal day. We had our last lunch with the
Elders and then said goodbye. Then we worked like usual and we were both
kinda having a bummer day so we decided to make it a "eat like an
American night" I got a super delicious hamburger and Hermana Lopez got a
hot dog. It was so so delicious!
Wednesday we had a meeting for the Zone to meet all the new people.
We played mafia and had introductions and I told people that I was from
Nicaragua haha. I think some of them actually believed me too... That
day we found Rina y Leonardo. They were standing outside and I got this
overwhelming feeling that we needed to talk to them SO we did. Turns out
they live in the area of the Elders. But the Elders gave us permission
to teach them :)
So Thursday we went looking for their house. They live in what is
called "La liña" it is a much poorer area then ours and is a little
dangerous so the Elders have to accompany us. It is all dirt road and
tin shacks, but oh my lanta it is beautiful. There are plam trees and
flowers and the people are so incredibly happy and friendly. I love it
so much there. Anyway they are going to be baptised and married in
December because Leonardo has to go to Managua for a month for his work I
am praying I will still be here. They are so awesome.
Friday we were walking and out of no where this guy asks us if we
have anywhere to go for the next half our because he wanted to talk
about Jesus with us... so we said sure and went with him. He invited us
inside and told us to sit down. Before we knew it there were 7 more
people that came through the door. Turns out it was a meeting for a
different church haha... but by that point we couldn't leave... hahaha
so we polietly sat there as they sang and prayed. As we were leaving we
ran into the Elders.... that was a little awkward to try to explain.
Haha that night the Bishop fed us dinner, he wanted to make me feel at
home so he got us hot dogs. But with jalepeños inside. It was a spicy
hot dog.
Saturday was pretty normal, we were out tracting and out of nowhere
came this huge storm. Normally we can tell when it is about to rain
because there are clouds but this time it was just like the movies where
there was a random crack of thunder and then downpour!!! We were soaked
within minutes. Haha its a good thing I know how to swim.
Yesterday we had 3 lunch appointments... I have never been so full
of gaillopinto in my life. Hahaha. We had to roll ourselves home.
Today
we had to go to Managua in the morning to renew the identification for
H.Lopez, we left here at 5:00am and I am very very tired. We had to walk
through the market to get to the bus and it was really exciting. It was
like in the movie Aladdin, I enjoyed it but it kinda smelled like old
fish so that wasn't super enjoyable. And now here I am writing you all.
Sorry this email isn't super exciting!! Just living life in Nicaragua
:) I hope you know I love you all!
Love,
Hermana Willardson
10-28-2013
Mi familia chelita!
Man can you
believe that I hit my 3 month mark this week? Time is flying so fast! I know
that before we all know it I will be living back at home. That is a scary
thought hahaha just kidding! This week was good as usual J
Tuesday we
were helping Manuel with smoking because he is having troubles again. We helped
him destroy a whole pack of cigarettes!! It was the first time I have ever held
a cigarette haha who would have thought that the first time would be on my
mission ;) It was awesome to see him take more steps to change. I know it was
hard for him but it was great to see how happy his family was.
Wednesday
we did splits with the teenagers of the ward, I really enjoy working with them
because a lot of them want to go on missions so this gives them an opportunity to
see what a mission is really like. As we were visiting Hazel in the night she
told us that she wanted to be married and baptized the next day. You can
imagine our surprise and exceeding joy! So we called our District Leader and
she had her interview. We have been working with her husband as well but he is
tough. He believes that he doesn’t need a baptism, so we have met with him a
few times.
Thursday we
had the marriage of Hazel y Jinmey and the baptism of Hazel. The bishop was
there and he bore testimony of how important baptism is and it was perfect for
Jinmey!!! After Hazel was baptized we were waiting for her to get dressed and
the ward mission leader had me directing hymns. He came up to me after we sang
a couple and asked me what my favorite hymn was, so I told him it was How Great
Thou Art. To which he turned to the people there and said “Hermanos y Hermanas
vamos a cantar por ustedes.” (brothers and sisters we are going to sing for
you.) You can imagine my confusion and shock. He counted to three and we both
started singing Grande eres tu! Hahaha. Talk about always having to be
prepared, you’d think I was a boy scout or something. Anyway after we were done
the bishops wife told me that I am learning Spanish because I am supposed to
marry the ward mission leader… Awkward… haha. People always love to joke about
me marrying people here. But anyway I laughed about the surprise duet for the
rest of the day.
Friday we
had a meeting with the other Chinandega zone and President Collado. We also had
the privilege of hearing from an area 70 Elder Maravilla. It was very spiritual
and I learned a lot! I also got my
package (Thank you mom) J And I don’t know if Sarah Young reads these
letters or not, but if she does I just want to say thank you for your letter!
Mail means so much to a missionary, I don’t think people understand unless they
have been on a mission. So if anyone else feels like sending a letter feel
free! Haha, but seriously….
Saturday
was pretty normal, there was a soccer game on that everyone was watching and it
reminded me of how Utah is on the day that BYU plays U of U. It made me miss
sitting on the couch with Dad watching the games. I have decided that I really do like watching
soccer though. So that is something else new that I have picked up from here J
Sunday was
another day of rain. In the morning we did splits to bring more people to
church and at 1:30 we did splits again because one family told us that they
could only go to the 2:00 meeting. So Hermana Lopez stayed at the church with
one of our families and a teenager and I set out with another teenager into the
monsoon. I kid you not the taxis were like boats. The water was up to our mid-calf.
So we swam to the house and it turns out they weren’t there. I gave my umbrella
to the teenager I was with because she was in a white dress and by the time we
got back to the church I literally had to wring out my clothes. I felt like I
had jumped into a pool fully clothed haha. Oh the life of a Nicaraguan
missionary. That night we had dinner at the family of Jerry (the Escorsias) and
her food is always so good. It is nice to have good food on Sundays because it
makes me feel like home. Anyway all of their family came over and we were all
laughing and having a good time. It reminded me of how lucky I am to have
family that all loves each other and the good relationships that we have. I
know that we are incredibly blessed to have the family that we do. I know that
Heavenly Father blessed us with our family because He knew that we would need
each other. I am grateful every day for the love and support of my family. So
thank you to my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Parents, Brothers,
Sisters, Nieces and Nephews for your love and support. I know I couldn’t do it
without you all and the help of my Father in Heaven. Until next week J keep on smiling!
Hermana Willardson
Monday, October 14, 2013
What the Bat?
Hola
Familia!!
I am still here in Ayapal with Hermana Lopez J We hope to be together until she finishes the mission. That would be awesome. Our area is really starting to thrive and I am grateful. Cambios were today and some of my friends that I have grown close to are leaving which is sad. The mission is a strange time. Haha but I am grateful to be having the experiences I am having here in Nicaragua!
Tuesday we had our normal District meeting and it was a pretty normal day. It started pouring rain in the middle of the day and we were drenched in about 2 minutes haha. It’s a good thing I know how to swim because the streets literally turn into rivers when it rains here. It is crazy, I think I am going to buy a raft and when it rains we will just paddle ourselves to our different appointments haha. The Bishops dad died and the Bishop invited us all to the funeral, I tell you what if you are ever looking for an awkward experience go to a funeral of someone you didn’t know. It was a little awkward… haha
Wednesday we were walking to another appointment and it started pouring again so we took shelter on the front porch of one of our investigators. While we were waiting out the storm drunk Joseph found us again. ( I told yall about him last week) Anyway this time he had a bowl with him and he would scoop up the water from the street and drink it from his princess bowl. Then he proceeded to tell me that he knows 4 different languages. He is quite the funny guy, but he always seems to find us and he will always try to speak English but I swear he is always drunk. It is quite humorous to be honest.
Thursday we were with Emanuel for his baptismal interview and there has been an outbreak of Dengue so they are fumigating like crazy. The funny thing is that they fumigate very differently here. So we were sitting outside talking to Ingrid while Elder. Vivas talked to Emanuel and all of a sudden there was this loud buzzing noise. Ingrid stood up and ran into the street then came back and started yelling, in what I think was Spanish, grabbed the chairs and ran to the other side of the road. You can imagine my confusion. Naturally we followed and coming down the street was this pickup truck with a big tank in the back. It had a mister attached to it and it was spraying all the houses, kind of like a big sprinkler, but only one side of the street at a time. So as it passed we were all coughing up a lung because we were inhaling the pesticide, don’t worry I am sure it’s safe to breathe... Haha It was a fun experience
Friday we did splits and I was with Hermana Rojas. She is from Costa Rica but served in Nicaragua and was back visiting her recent converts. I learned a whole bunch from her and it was really good for our area. We went back to the house for a second to get stuff to do splits and we walked in and there was a bat flopping around on the floor. Scared the crap out of me and Hermana Lopez haha. We had to sweep it out with our broom but very carefully because we didn't want it to bite us. It was a little frightening I won't lie. It was also the Cumplimes of Hermana Lopez so we bought a pizza and Coke and for a moment I felt like I was home again. The pizza was super super tasty J
Saturday Emanuel and Jerry were both baptized. I tell you what there is nothing quite like watching people you have worked so hard with finally take the necessary steps. It was a very tiring but rewarding day. Both families wanted to feed us after plus we had our lunch appointment so we ended up having 3 lunches. I almost barfed haha I haven’t been that full in a really long time.
Sunday was a normal day, nothing too exciting happened. We were looking for people in the morning to bring to church like usual and I invited this random old man and he told me that he would come (which is what they all say.) and then we were sitting in church and what do you know Julio walked in (the old man). I was pleasantly surprised. As I was playing the piano for the Hymns the fan was on high so the pages wouldn’t stay. So I had to use one h and to hold the page and the other to play. It was really exciting. I will have to try to figure out something to do about that.
Anyway I hope you are all doing well and know that I love you! I am loving Ayapal and things are going really well! I am taking extra precautions with the mosquitos because 8 people have died in the last 2 weeks from Dengue.. don’t tell mom… haha just kidding. Anyway I am sorry this email was a little boring. But I love you all!
Love Hermana Willardson
I am still here in Ayapal with Hermana Lopez J We hope to be together until she finishes the mission. That would be awesome. Our area is really starting to thrive and I am grateful. Cambios were today and some of my friends that I have grown close to are leaving which is sad. The mission is a strange time. Haha but I am grateful to be having the experiences I am having here in Nicaragua!
Tuesday we had our normal District meeting and it was a pretty normal day. It started pouring rain in the middle of the day and we were drenched in about 2 minutes haha. It’s a good thing I know how to swim because the streets literally turn into rivers when it rains here. It is crazy, I think I am going to buy a raft and when it rains we will just paddle ourselves to our different appointments haha. The Bishops dad died and the Bishop invited us all to the funeral, I tell you what if you are ever looking for an awkward experience go to a funeral of someone you didn’t know. It was a little awkward… haha
Wednesday we were walking to another appointment and it started pouring again so we took shelter on the front porch of one of our investigators. While we were waiting out the storm drunk Joseph found us again. ( I told yall about him last week) Anyway this time he had a bowl with him and he would scoop up the water from the street and drink it from his princess bowl. Then he proceeded to tell me that he knows 4 different languages. He is quite the funny guy, but he always seems to find us and he will always try to speak English but I swear he is always drunk. It is quite humorous to be honest.
Thursday we were with Emanuel for his baptismal interview and there has been an outbreak of Dengue so they are fumigating like crazy. The funny thing is that they fumigate very differently here. So we were sitting outside talking to Ingrid while Elder. Vivas talked to Emanuel and all of a sudden there was this loud buzzing noise. Ingrid stood up and ran into the street then came back and started yelling, in what I think was Spanish, grabbed the chairs and ran to the other side of the road. You can imagine my confusion. Naturally we followed and coming down the street was this pickup truck with a big tank in the back. It had a mister attached to it and it was spraying all the houses, kind of like a big sprinkler, but only one side of the street at a time. So as it passed we were all coughing up a lung because we were inhaling the pesticide, don’t worry I am sure it’s safe to breathe... Haha It was a fun experience
Friday we did splits and I was with Hermana Rojas. She is from Costa Rica but served in Nicaragua and was back visiting her recent converts. I learned a whole bunch from her and it was really good for our area. We went back to the house for a second to get stuff to do splits and we walked in and there was a bat flopping around on the floor. Scared the crap out of me and Hermana Lopez haha. We had to sweep it out with our broom but very carefully because we didn't want it to bite us. It was a little frightening I won't lie. It was also the Cumplimes of Hermana Lopez so we bought a pizza and Coke and for a moment I felt like I was home again. The pizza was super super tasty J
Saturday Emanuel and Jerry were both baptized. I tell you what there is nothing quite like watching people you have worked so hard with finally take the necessary steps. It was a very tiring but rewarding day. Both families wanted to feed us after plus we had our lunch appointment so we ended up having 3 lunches. I almost barfed haha I haven’t been that full in a really long time.
Sunday was a normal day, nothing too exciting happened. We were looking for people in the morning to bring to church like usual and I invited this random old man and he told me that he would come (which is what they all say.) and then we were sitting in church and what do you know Julio walked in (the old man). I was pleasantly surprised. As I was playing the piano for the Hymns the fan was on high so the pages wouldn’t stay. So I had to use one h and to hold the page and the other to play. It was really exciting. I will have to try to figure out something to do about that.
Anyway I hope you are all doing well and know that I love you! I am loving Ayapal and things are going really well! I am taking extra precautions with the mosquitos because 8 people have died in the last 2 weeks from Dengue.. don’t tell mom… haha just kidding. Anyway I am sorry this email was a little boring. But I love you all!
Love Hermana Willardson
Monday, October 7, 2013
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