Feliz Cumpleaños Mom!!!

Happy Birthday Mom! Thank you for all that you have done for me to get to where I am today and the example that you are to me.

All I can say is that this has been a long week, but a very successful one. Christmas Eve was pretty much like every other day. We went and taught all of our lessons. The only difference was that more people gave us food than on a normal day. Christmas Day did not really feel like Christmas to say the least. There are still plants somewhat living here and it is not cold. Not very Christmasy (I don’t think that is even a word).

Most of the week has been spent preparing baptisms, with finishing the lessons, finding the clothes (which can be really difficult), setting up the interviews and everything else. Saturday was a very busy day for us.  First, we went to a baptism for the other elders in our branch.  Then had to all go to the office for a meeting about our goals. Afterwards, we had to rush to the church to get ready for a baptismal service for a family. Before the baptism, Adriana and Ariel were married so that they could be baptized. After this service, we had about an hour until the next baptism for Alejandra, who is the daughter of Misael. Her sister felt she wasn't ready so we are still waiting on her.

Adriana and Ariel's Wedding

Adriana and Ariel 

On Sunday, we had a baptism also in the first hour of church for the son of Adriana and Ariel. They decided they wanted him to be baptized, but we had to find clothes for him to wear for the baptism. So that is why he was baptized on Sunday. Alejandra also brought a friend to church that we hope to start teaching. Sacrament meeting was a bit long since in total, there was eight converts that had to confirmed. Also, that night when we went to visit Adriana and Ariel, their cousin who has listened to one or two lessons, told us that she wanted to be baptized along with her three daughters. So we are now teaching them and are planning to baptize them on January 18.

Just for you Mom, I sent home a lot of pictures including one of our house. It looks clean, since I told everyone that we were going to clean. So you get pictures as part of the result. There is still a bit more to clean, but it is a lot better.

Elder Ferrin's Bedroom (note the coveted air conditioning unit)

Elder Ferrin's Kitchen

Thanks for all of the Christmas messages from everyone and all of the support you give me.


Happy New Year!

Elder Ferrin

Letter & Pictures from Mission Home at Christmas

Dear Marvelous Parents,

We would like to extend our gratitude and happiness to you and your family in this season of joy. Thank you so much for allowing us to have your son with us this special day, serving the Lord with all his heart, might, mind and strength. He makes us very proud, so surely we can´t imagine how proud you must be! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Nicaragua Managua North Mission

Elder Ferrin

Elder Luecero, Elder Ferrin and Elder Zorrilla

Merry Christmas

Well this is going to be a short letter to pretty much answer questions since I will be talking to you all tomorrow. I will call about 10 in Nicaraguan time. I think there is a time difference, so it might be 9 in Utah time. Yesterday we had the Mission Christmas Activity which was pretty fun. They let us watch The Maze Runner, which I was really surprised about. It was good and followed the book pretty well.

This week we have three people that are going to be baptized. Two of them are sisters and the daughters of Misael. The other is a family to complete. The husband is a less active and the wife will be getting baptized.

All of Dads questions now. My area includes the Waspan Norte and bit more. I live in the Jose Dolores area just west of Waspan Norte. The area includes Waspan Norte, Jose Dolores, de la Toña, Hugo Chavez and another area I havenpt visited yet. It is really hard to tell you my address since it is not definite. It is something like this: De la mave, 3 a lago, media arriba. Kind of interesting. I have heard others like 20 feet from the car on only Saturdays. Electricity is pretty reliable here.

I also got the package from mom and the ward. Thanks for all of it and tell everyone thanks you.
Until tomorrow.

Elder Ferrin

Bread Basket Preacher

Well this has been quite a long week for me and I am not really sure why. But I am still going along. For Christmas, I will be calling about 10 on the December 24 or Christmas Eve, so be ready for that. And since we are calling on Christmas we won’t be writing next Monday, but you can still write if you want to. My shoes have been holding up. No, I do not have a Christmas tree. I think that I am mostly getting along with my companions. Let’s just say that I am again learning about patience with other people again. I have not gotten any packages and I might get them next week. 

This week we had the baptism for Misael and I was the one baptized him. It onlyl took two times, but I am proud of that since he is almost the size of Dad, so not too bad. And at the baptism service, Alejandra, who is one of his daughter, said that she wants to be baptized on December 27. We are not sure when all of the others will be baptized. We hope to baptize Cristian, Beatriz, Concepción, Lester, Alejandra, and Cristian (the daughter of Misael and Concepcion) by the end of the month. 

Misael and Elder Ferrin

During the week I had a few interesting experiences with people we contacted on the streets. First, was someone who insisted that Mary, the mother of Christ, was a prophet. I have never heard that. 

The next was a reference house from a member. We visited the son when his mom wasn't at home, and he seemed interested. So we set a time to come back the next day. But the mom wasn't very excited. The first thing she said is I am not going to talk to you since I am Catholic and I don’t want to be confused. So we just went and started talking and sharing the gospel, but she refused to really listen. But as we were talking, an evangelical came and joined the conversation and start to preach to all of us. All the time she was preaching was with a basket of bread balanced on her head. What was weird is that the Catholics were agreeing with the evangelical, even when they didn't actually agree.  Throughout the conservation, I could feel the spirit just helping me to say all I needed and they never said anything that proved that we were wrong. 

But thanks for all of your support and I am glad you had a good time in Disneyworld.  Goodbye, until Christmas eve, December 24, at 10:00 a.m. when I will be speaking to you all. Be ready at the computer that morning since I am not sure of the exact time.  Thanks for everything you do for me. Merry Christmas!

Elder Ferrin

Elder Zorrilla and Elder Ferrin

Elder Ferrin and Elder Lucero

First Transfer

Well it just so happens that  on the day that mom asks what day transfers are is the same day that we actually have transfers. I am still here in Waspan with Elder Zorrilla which was kind of what I wanted because I didn't want to leave all of the investigators we have here. But there was a change, we have an additional elder. His name is Elder Lucero and I think he is from Guatemala. So this we will be an interesting six weeks. Also, they are both the zone leaders so I get to still see a lot of exchanges still.

Everything has been going well here with the teaching and surviving.  Time is definitely flying by. It feels like I just got here, but it has already been six weeks. I am really unhappy that I couldn't go to Disneyworld, but it really isn't that important compared to what I am doing right now.

One family that we have started to teach is named Concepcion and Lester and their daughter Alejandra. Concepcion is actually the mother of our Convert, Nestor. So now we teach his mom and dad.  His parents aren't married any more and she lives with Lester. So we had bit of fear about church with everyone there, but there were no problems. They seem really open to all that we have been teaching and have been trying to do the things we ask.  I think they will be baptized this month or the beginning of the next. With Mizael, we are hoping to baptize him this week, but we still have a few more problems to work out before he can be baptized.

The other families we have been teaching are Eddy and Ester, and Cristian and Beatriz. Cristian and Beatriz went to church this week for the second time and we plan to baptize them next week. The week after we hope to baptize Eddy and Ester if they go to church the next two weeks. It truly is amazing how much the Gospel can change the lives of people. In Cristian I have seen how much he has changed, he just seems a lot happier. And all of this is because of Jesus Christ, our Savior.

Sunday was definitely a crazy day. We went to church, which is slowly getting better. I almost understood everything that was said, but sometimes the teachers just talk and talk. We also went to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, which I understood most of also. But the reason all of this was so crazy, is that it was the day they celebrate the conception of Mary. So there were a lot of fireworks, music, and parties. Elder Zorrilla said this was almost what Christmas is like, only Christmas is a lot louder.  It was lots of fun to watch the people.

I don’t have pictures to send right now. There is not a lot to take pictures of unless you want to see trash, canals, and a dirty lake that aren't very pretty. Good to hear that Katee is home, hope she had a good experience. Also, thanks Sister Oldroyd for the piano music. I greatly appreciate it.

All is going well here, and I know the Lord is really helping me to start being the best missionary I can be. Love you all, until next week.

Elder Ferrin

Weird Dreams

Well this has been an interesting week. The first part of the week always seems so long, normally because there is a meeting. The Spanish is still slowly improving, and I just need more time and more studying.

I actually was referring to piano sheet music for the type of music that I want, and I don’t really need other music. Just music to play on p-day. I would like it if you could send some to me in any form, email or mail.

So I actually had these dreams like two weeks ago. I dream that I was teaching an investigator while I was laying in my bed and I would fall asleep. And then I would suddenly wake up in real life thinking, “Oh no! That is really not good.” Those dreams felt so real. What was worse that it happened multiple nights.  And one night I had the dream two or three times. But that is really all the dreams I have had in my mission.

So Tuesday was a multi zone meeting again with training and something about the Christmas Initiative for the church, “He is the Gift.” Part of it is a video by the church and all of this is to help people remember the true meaning of Christmas. The only problem is that they want the missionaries to share the video. You know how hard it is to do that when no one has easy access to the internet. But I encourage you all to share this video with everyone, it is a very well done video.

For most of the time that I have been here, we have been teaching a family named Cristian y Beatriz. We have been teaching them really slowly but are gradually progressing.  This week we gave them a baptismal date for the 21st of December and they will be married that same day. This week I got to teach the law of chastity to them and Misael twice.  We think that is one thing they are struggling with. Misael could not come church this week, so we won’t be having a baptism this week, but we are hoping for next week. None of our investigators could come to church this week. But we had a family of new investigators come to church named Eddy y Ester, who seem like they will get baptized and are pretty open about religion.

Church was kind of interesting. I still don’t understand everything.  However, I am slowly getting there and understanding more. But sacrament meeting was the really interesting part because I decided I would play the piano, since there wasn't a piano player. And all I can say is that I just slaughtered the songs. Afterwards, they asked me if I would play next week, so I don’t know what kind of mess I got myself into.

Everything else has been going a bit better. I think one reason I don’t speak in lessons is I just never know what to say. Some of our recent converts have commented several times about how I just don’t speak a whole lot even when it is me with another missionary. But that is kind of just me, I have a hard time talking to people, when I don’t know them all that well.

But it sounds like everything is going well at home and Thanksgiving went well. Have fun in Disneyworld, which is one place I am missing right now.

The Atonement is such a great power for all of the people who are willing to use it. My investigator, Cristian, has a strong desire to change his life and other investigators.  All of this is possible through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Elder Ferrin

Don't Know What to Call this Email

Well this most certainly has been a long week, yet a short week. It is possible for me to print things. I am not sure about the pictures. But my shoes have been doing just fun and don´t seem like they are close to dying. I could play the piano if I wanted to do. Sundays are actually really funny to me with the music. It always sounds like a funeral march to me since sometimes we have the piano player and other times we don´t. When there is the piano player, he doesn’t know how to read left hand I think. So he just pounds the same chord for the entire song. I just think is hilarious. Honestly, I am sometimes amazed the some of our investigators come back to church.

The new car looks quite fancy, but I am surprised that you bought a red car, and not like a blue car. But the name little red just reminds me of a scout camp song, “you can´t ride in my little red wagon, one wheels missing and the axel’s draggin.” Brandton probably knows it.

Very slowly I am getting better with the Spanish, but it is hard when you rarely have language study in the morning very much. We just have so many meetings. With the medicine, Im just going to have to make do without it, since the pharmacies I talked to have told me that they don´t have it. So oh well.

On Tuesday, they had a meeting for all the missionaries in their first 12 weeks. And to be honest I do not like this training period, since it is the same stuff I was told for 6 weeks in the CCM. But they talked a lot about obedience to all of the rules. And during this meeting they separated the new missionaries and the trainers, so I felt like it almost turned into a tattle tale session. But they gave us pizza at the end, so that was nice. We had another meeting the next day, which I could not focus on to save my life. So I’m not sure exactly what I got out of it.

One of the investigator, Misael came to church again and we have been working a lot with him. During one of the exchanges that I got to stay in my area for, we gave him a date for baptism for December 6. He truly has been prepared. He is the father of the converts we baptized my second week. We have so many people I think are going to get baptized this next month, but we´ll see. Since there is the possibility of me leaving  at transfers. We think that one of us will be leaving the area, either me or Elder Zorrilla, but you never know. We also had another family come to church and families are the focus of the mission. They are named Christian and Beatriz. And they did not like sacrament meeting very much. But later in the night, we had a lesson with the members who showed us these people and they pretty much gave the lesson and I didn’t say anything.

Drunk people are still really funny, since they will talk to us and is hard to get away. But they sometimes try to preach to us about stuff. And they tell us some interesting things. Like apparently there is and 8 hour time difference between here and Japan, which I don´t think is true.

I feel like sometimes other missionaries believe that I can´t do anything and just always teach the lesson. And you know me, I normally don´t just barge in and talk while someone else is normally. But I kind of am waiting for this training period to be over, and then others might have more confidence in me. But I am trying to learn as much as I can to be the best missionary that the Lord needs me to be. Thanks for your support and love, I probably won´t get any of the packages until about Christmas time or later. I am grateful for all you do for me.

Elder Ferrin

Your son has arrived

Dear Ferrin Family,

It’s a pleasure to tell you that your son, Elder Ferrin, arrived to our Mission the Nicaragua, Managua North Mission.We love him very much, and we know that our Heavenly Father is pleased for his dedication and work. Nicaragua truly is a blessed land and is an excellent example of the scripture (D&C 4:4) “The field is white already to harvest”. We know that your son can have much success through his obedience and diligence in bringing souls unto Christ.

Sister Collado, Elder Ferrin, and President Collado

Thank you so much for all your love and support to your son! He will be blessed for all the work he is doing for the Lord, and many of his children who are here in this country.

His Area: Waspán, Managua.
His Companion: Elder Zorrilla from Argentina.

We love him,
President and Sister Collado

Sister Collado, Elder Ferrin, Elder Zorrilla, and President Collado

Two Months

Well, this certainly been a really fast week for me. No, I have not received a package from the Relief Society. I probably won’t get it until I go to the mission office next since that is where they keep them. So I might not get it until exchanges or Christmas. Who knows.

Well I just keep coming with problems I might have when I come home. I might have overcome the addiction to ice cream and nutella, but new ones begin. They include Oreo's, which taste really good right now. They also have a lot of Fanta and Coke here that everybody gives you in their homes. We will go visit a home to give a lesson and they just end up feeding us. There is a recent convert named Maryenny and she lives with her mom and some of the family. But every time we visit, her mom likes to cook for us and it tastes good. She´ll sometimes see us passing by and tell us to come in and eat.

I might also good also spotting drunk people from far away. They are really funny people, but not good to teach. Most of them just really want to shake your hand.  Mom, you probably did not want to know that though.

Rain in Utah is also really wimpy. It hasn't rained very much yet, but when it rains it comes like you wouldn't believe. A lot harder even than Florida.

I only went on two exchanges, which is normal for me. The first was with some of the AP’s. So I got to go their area, which was not my favorite. The people there were not as nice and wouldn't just talk with you. And when we would go to lessons, I was lost, since the companion told me nothing about the people. So I ended just sitting there trying to understand what they were saying. But there was something good things that came from this. I got McDonald again for lunch which still tastes really good and the best part was a warm shower that was pressurized. The best shower I have had in the mission.

I really enjoyed the second exchange because I was kind of let off my leash and I got to stay in my area and Elder Bran came here. It was good to kind be in charge to decide what needed to be done. I felt that I learned a lot from this, more than exchanges with the older missionaries. We were pretty much running around from house to house, but I am still really bad at talking to people on the street. With Elder Bran I think I learned a bit more about how to better teach. He would use a lot of examples to help investigators understand, so that is one thing to work on in addition to asking questions.

Sunday was quite the interesting day. Before church, we go around and visit everyone we invited to church, mostly our investigators. And none them could come because they were all sick or had to take some who was sick to the hospital. So we went to church expecting to have no investigators. When we got there, a less active convert that we taught during the week decided to come to church for the first time in like a year, because we taught her. And with her, she brought her husband who is not a member and their daughter. And we hope to baptize the husband this month. The people we baptized last week also brought one of the fathers and we have started teaching him and he will get baptized eventually. We have quite a few investigators, we just need them to come to church since that is the big requirement for baptism and giving them a baptismal date here in the mission. The Lord truly blessed us by sending us investigators to church.

I have really been able to see how much the Lord is blessing us while we do His work. I have so much love for these people and desire so much to see start making the steps to eternal life starting with the covenant of baptism.

Thanks for the support and all you have done for me in my life. I don’t think I ever really appreciated how well you raised me while growing up to be pretty independent or being level headed most of the time. Thanks for everything and the weekly jokes.

Elder Ferrin

P.S. If you haven´t sent a package, could you also put in sheet music? I don´t really care what it is. On p-days I play the piano a lot and I am kind of tired of just the hymn book.

Professional Jaywalker

Well, by the end of my mission I will be a professional jaywalker. And really good at sweating through my clothes. The yellow sticker on my name badge was to show that I was leaving the CCM. We send our emails from a little computer place and pay to use the computers, which is the reason for only 45 minutes.

This has been quite the interesting week for me. On Wednesday, I went on an exchange with Elder Spencer (who came to Nicaragua) with me. So you had two missionaries who barely knew anything. I enjoyed it though because there wasn’t someone telling me what to do all of the time. And I had the opportunity to see how good my Spanish is becoming. I was able to understand most of what people say and could teach fine. We were working in Elder Spencer's area and we taught a woman named Carla. Her daughter is a member and Carla and her husband have listened to all of the lessons but can´t be baptized because the husband doesn’t want to be married. They have been living with each other for 21 years and all she wants is to be married and get baptized. I gave suggestions to help by having family prayer and scripture study and family home evening. All I want is for them to get baptized. I feel like this is the first person I have really connected with and they are not even in my area. These exchanges are good experience to learn how to work better by combining strategies of finding people.

On Saturday I had my first baptism for Nestor y Valeska. I got to baptize Valeska which didn’t go too bad for my first baptism. Only had to do it twice and almost one more time. So I will be sending pictures from that. It was so cool to see them baptized and they have two cute children that are so funny to watch. We also found a few new investigators named Miguel y Ester. And they went to church so hopefully they can be baptized by the end of the month.

I wasn't surprised when I heard about Grandma dying. I kind of expected it so I was ready for when the news came today. We had gotten a call to come to mission office, so we went and met with Hermana Collado. She had brought us McDonald's, which tasted amazing to have a real hamburger and fries to eat. The entire time I had no idea why I was there. In the meeting I took what she said completely wrong since she doesn't know English. Instead of hearing that they got a call from home, I thought they said that I was going home and I just did not understand. Then someone translated and I felt a whole lot better.

I know that Grandma is in a much happier place and with Grandpa. I think that it is what she has wanted for a while. I remember during memorial camp always spending time in the motor home playing games. And grandma would always come in and offer us treats and all sorts of things. She almost always seemed happy when I was growing up. I remember when they would babysit us occasionally and I enjoyed that a lot when I was young.

Thanks for all of the support I love you all and I miss you all. (I am also really missing my legos). But this is where I need to be and I enjoy it so much here.

Elder Ferrin

First Lessons Learned in the Mission Field

It is very different here, but I enjoy it a lot. I have learned that if you feel you need to go to the bathroom, you better go if it is nearby, or you might regret it later.

The Zone I am in is Bello Horizonte, and the area is West Ponte or Waspan.  My first day in Nicaragua, we had made it to the area about 5:00 p.m. and started going to work. The branch president gave both of us a blessing, which was nice, and then we were off. We visited a recent convert family named Carlos y Ana, which was quite the experience.  I didn’t understand anything at all. They talked about stuff I didn’t understand. I have decided that the CCM only really prepares you to teach about the Gospel and not much else. Those first few days, I was lost in many ways. The first night, I was lost both mentally and physically. For once in my life, I did not know where I was and wasn’t sure if I wanted to do this. The next day’s got better -

My companion, Elder Zorrilla,  is a zone leader. Because of this, I get to go on a lot of exchanges with other people so he can train other missionaries. I think I have spent as much time with other companions than my own.  I have slept in three beds total here. The first exchange, Wednesday, was with Elder Baldwin and Elder Spencer. The lady for the lunch appointment was interesting and tried to help me with my Spanish. I could teach about the gospel but nothing else. The next day was with Elder Hidalgo and I stayed overnight that night. It was definitely different from sleeping in my own bed in the casa. The third exchange, with Elder Rodriguez, probably was the best. He would let me talk more in the lessons and I could understand the people better. We have been teaching a few people, but we only have two real investigators who are getting baptized Saturday. So I get to have a baptism in my first two weeks. We have others who have a few lessons, but not really are investigators. One is named Jefferson and he is about 14 years old. We teach lessons but he depends on his friend for answers and he needs to get his own testimony of Gospel to know it is true.

Sunday was definitely interesting because I could not understand anything being said, until sacrament meeting.  Sacrament meeting is the last part of the meetings here, and this area is a  branch. I only understood it all because it was testimony meeting which I enjoyed. They were all so simple without fancy stories, and they were direct and to the point. I also was asked to share my testimony since it was my first week in the ward.

It is definitely a different jungle here than in Mexico or the US. The people here are so nice here though. If you want to talk with someone you yell “buenas” through the door and they will talk with you. We invite everyone to church and ask to give them a lesson.  But only a few people will let us teach them. The people here just love to talk. It is hard to get in and out of a house in under an hour because they talk so much. You don’t have much time to say something in each lesson.

I still don’t understand much here unless it is about the Gospel, but it is slowly improving. The place I am living in is nicer than some missionary casas, especially because it has a swamp cooler. I was also right about the germs.  Mom, there is not enough hand sanitizer in the world for you to come here. People just sweep their trash into a canal, and it is a breeding ground for bacteria.

It is great here, and I hope I remembered most of the important things to tell you. I have less time to write here than in the CCM. Only 45 minutes, so I have to be fast and because I have another person to write, the mission president. I love you so much and thank you for your support.

Elder Ferrin

Arrived in Nicaragua!

Hey all,

I arrived in Nicaragua, and it is definitely different than what I expected it to be. I am in Managua right now for the first part of my mission. And my companion is Elder Zorrilla. I am already enjoying it here and am excited to get started.

We are going to be heading off to meet the branch president and some teaching appointments . The president and his wife seem like nice people from how much I have been able to talk to them.

I am kind of struggling to understand everything here but I know that the Lord will help me to be able to complete all things while I am here and learning. My trainer, Elder Zorrilla, is pretty nice but I am not sure how much I understand of what he is saying.

I am grateful for the opportunity I have to be here to serve the Lord. I know that he will help me with all things and is always there. Sorry I don´t have much more time but thanks for all that you do to support me.

Elder Ferrin

Meeting Sister Collado

Loading luggage on the bus.

On the bus.

Filling out paper work.

Meeting Elder Zorrilla for the first time.

Lunch! Pizza! Every Elder received their own pizza.

Learning mission rules.

Learning mission rules.

All the new missionaries and their companions.

CCM Farewell

Well hello to all. I know you guys were not expecting to get an email from me today, but I get to leave early tomorrow for the lovely Nicaragua. It has been such a great last week.  However, I really cannot tell you how ready I am to finally get out of here and do the work of the Lord. Mom, there are a few people who will be sending you emails that are about me, if you haven’t gotten them yet. One is a picture of our district and the other is a video that I think you will enjoy. So if you get some emails that you really don’t recognize, that is why.

One of my favorite things that happened this week was in TRC. I really enjoy this because we get to teach real members about what questions or problems that we have in their lives. This week, we taught a woman who had once served a mission, but for some reason could not go to church or take the sacrament. I don’t know the reason because, I could not understand her half of the time. Anyway, we started of talking about church and the sacrament, and just talking with her. As we got farther in, I began to talk about the Atonement of Jesus Christ.  And how there will always be someone that knows what she is going through and can help her in life and all problems. As I talked about it, the Spirit was so strong in that room. I think that is one of the times that I have felt the Spirit so strongly. It was testifying so strongly to this daughter of God that she has help and she can do all things with Jesus Christ. She felt it so strong that she started crying because of the Spirit. It truly was an amazing experience.

Yesterday was our very last Sunday here in the CCM and they do many different things for those that are leaving to enter the mission field. In sacrament meeting they have us share our testimonies and do a musical number as a district. I was the one that got to arrange the musical numbers so we sang A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief and I Stand All Amazed. It turned out really well for only having a week to come up with something. Each week we get to watch a video on Sunday Night.  This week we watched The Testaments and afterwards they show pictures of all of the leaving districts (that’s what one foreign email is). After  the video and the slide show, they do a testimony meeting with only those leaving. I liked it because they required testimonies to be straight and to the point and testify of truth, which is what I think a testimony should be. The only thing I didn’t like was that almost no one smiled as they bore their testimony. I was sitting right in front of the pulpit just smiling at everyone. They probably thought that it was really creepy. But the Gospel is something to rejoice about. It brings happiness and joy, not sadness. We should always be smiling because we have the Gospel in our lives.

Well I think that is all that I have for this week. You guys will laugh at me for this, but the people and other missionaries in the CCM are really interesting to watch. I don’t know why, but people normally just make me so happy.  And I am so excited to try and bring joy to other people’s lives.

Just to make sure you know, here are my flight plans. I leave the CCM at 2:30 to go to the airport. I board a plane to go to El Salvador at 5:40 then connect to Nicaragua. So I think I will get there about 9:00 in the morning, I’m not sure. I will probably get the chance to email you just to say I got there, but I’m not sure. I am excited for the opportunities that await me and I know that the Lord will be with me always as I am obedient.

Next time I write will be from Nicaragua.

Elder Ferrin

Last Week is Here!!!

So I have finally made it to the last week of the CCM, but this has been an amazing week. I am still ready to leave though. I will be leaving the CCM at 2:30 in the morning on October 28, and my flight leaves at about 5:40 a.m. I have an hour layover in El Salvador and then I arrive in the lovely Nicaragua. I’m so excited to finally be leaving and go to work. So I don’t know when I will be writing next week. It might be on Monday, Tuesday or any other day. I don’t know if I will be able to call from the airport, but you never know. It’s a possibility, but I doubt it.

I think that half of the reason I have been surviving the CCM is because of all the Nutella. I have replaced my addiction to ice cream with the Nutella. I think that I am enjoying being able to eat as much Nutella as I can until I leave. I don’t know what I’ll do when I get to Nicaragua because I might not get Nutella or 5 bananas a day (it’s the only fruit that actually is ripe here most of the time). And yes, mom, I have used my medicine about the second week when everyone got sick in our district, so I used the cold medicine.

This week I really enjoyed Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday, Elder Andersen and Elder Maynes came and spoke to us.  It was one of the coolest experiences ever. When they walked into the auditorium, you could definitely fill the spirit that they carry with them to testify that an apostle is called of God and acts in his name. Elder Andersen also took the time to shake every single one of the missionaries hands, so I had the opportunity to shake Elder Andersen’s hand. I wasn't able to give him a hug or trade ties with him. Apparently if we did that, the CCM president would shoot us on the spot. Of course he was joking though. Elder Andersen spoke to us about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and how it can apply to missionaries. One of the things that he really emphasized was that you cannot teach the Atonement if you have never used it in your life. That is so true, I don’t think I would know anything about the Atonement and how it works if I had not been able to use it in my life. I think that true understanding can only come from action. If you want to know how to actually do something or if something is possible, you have to try it. It is like every single other principle in the Gospel. You can’t gain a testimony of truth or something like the Plan of Salvation if you aren't willing to act upon the teachings and see if it is true. Another thing that Elder Andersen talked said was not to judge yourself based on those around you, but how you have improved from the last day or month. I feel like that is something I always do, and I just need to take a step back and realize how much change has come in my life and that I’m improving because of it.

On Sunday, church was amazing as always. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be able to partake of the sacrament. I liked how in conference, one of the woman talked about how the sacrament should be a spiritual experience and it truly is for me. I also enjoyed the class that we had with the CCM presidency. It was President Pratt and he was speaking about testimony and conversion.  Something I am always trying to learn more about and his class truly helped me. We also watched another devotional from Jeffrey R. Holland and I enjoyed it a lot. It was similar to the last one we watched about Preach My Gospel and how it is made more for the missionary rather than the investigator. You should always have one convert on your mission, and it should be you. He had a lot of funny things to say like if you come from your mission and you fall away from the Church, you better not find Elder Holland in a dark alley. It is so amazing how passionate he is about missionary work and everything about the work of the Lord.  We should all be trying to eventually have same desire and passion for the work of the Lord.

On Monday, we did our service activity which was assembling bags with the language material for the incoming missionaries. And it is much better than scrubbing the walls of the rooms for you service time. After the bags were assembled and we were taking the bags down to the main floor, four of the missionaries used the elevator instead of the stairs. Then they got stuck in the elevator and had to show up to class about 15 minutes late. It was quite funny to see because the elevator has a little peephole into it so you could see four elders crowded together in an elevator. It was quite funny to see.

I don’t know what else to say, but thanks for all the support and love you have given me. Good to hear from the people who have been writing me and telling me what’s happening in their lives. I’m not sure when I´ll be writing next so until next time. Nicaragua here I come.

Elder Ferrin

Temple Tuesday

October 14, 2014

Dear Mom and Dad,

So today has been a pretty good week and I am slowly getting closer to the end. The Spanish is still progressing and getting better and better, but there is still plenty of room for me to improve. Elder Clark and I are still getting along just fine and so far we still haven’t had any problems yet. I was also able to receive the letters from Levi and Kyle. One of the things I keep thinking about how much I write in my emails compared to others, I could have more time write.  There are not as many missionaries (I think by the end of the week there will be about 450 as opposed to the 800 that were here when I arrived). This week on Saturday we also have something big happening. Elder Andersen and Elder Oaks are coming to the CCM and Elder Andersen is going to do a devotional, so I am really looking forward to that.

Our lessons with our investigators are getting better and better. Elder Clark is really improving in his Spanish and is able to speak pretty well, except for when I go off topic from the original lesson plan. We were able to commit our investigator, Wendy, to baptism and she has been reading the Book of Mormon. The other, Teresa, we are hesitant to ask since she told us that she doesn’t want us to focus only baptizing her like other missionaries that have taught her. Teresa is a lot more interesting to teach because she tends to give us more experience of what a real investigator would be like. During one of the lessons we were talking and then decided to say a prayer. While Elder Clark was saying the prayer, she pretended to fall asleep on us and so we had to wake her up. Elder Clark joked that we should have got up, left, and knock on the door again and she could believe she had received revelation about the missionaries coming. During the lesson, we taught about God and how the Gospel  blesses families and this lesson will make you proud of some of your thinking mom. I used pictures of us to show how much I love my family and that it is all because of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I think that it was one of the best lessons we have had and the Spirit was definitely there.

On Wednesday afternoons, we also do this thing called TRC. Member volunteers come into the CCM and you teach them about whatever questions they might have. When we talked to our first person, we asked if she had questions and she had none so we had no idea what to do. So we just taught about prayer. The second person was a lot better. He didn’t have any questions either, but I was able to understand what he was saying and had a good conversation about El Evangelic. I could tell that the Spirit was there as we talked.

Sunday was a great day. We had a devotional recording from Jeffrey R Holland and it really made commit to always try to give my time to the Lord. This isn’t my time, it is the Lords and it is sacred. So we should all live like we are running on the Lord’s time. I also enjoyed one of the videos that we watched which was I think was “For This Purpose Have I Come into this World”. The movie was about the Atonement and my favorite part is the end when Jesus is received into heaven and is greeted by all of the heavenly hosts. That is kind of how imagine happening after death. That when we enter the Spirit World, Jesus will be waiting to greet us in some form.

One of the best days of the week has actually been today. We had the opportunity to go and visit the temple grounds and the visitor center. I wish that we would have had the opportunely to do a session in Spanish, but the temple is closed for reconstruction. But the visitor center was really well done, and there is a very special spirit about everything that is in that place. It is truly designed to help all feel the Spirit and see the need for the Gospel in all of our lives. I even got to go shopping in the store at the grounds. And don’t worry, Mom, I only got three more ties. I got another side bag and scripture cases as well. But overall, it was an amazing experience. I have pictures that I will be sending of the temple and the drive to and from the places. The city is a pretty crazy place with lots of people, but it is definitely interesting. It made me realize just how sheltered we are in the CCM since we never see much of the outside world.

I love you all and thanks for all the support!!!

Elder Ferrin

Halfway Done with the CCM

Well I think that this has been such a great week. I definitely enjoyed watching conference and thankfully it was in Spanish, and I was able to understand everything that was said. Thank you mom and dad for the advice. I think that everything is slowly getting better here and people really do pay attention to what you are doing. If people have questions they will often come to me when it comes to scriptural or doctrinal idea.  I forgot to mention that I am officially halfway done with the CCM.

We have been continuing to teach our investigator teachers and the lessons have slowly started to get better. I think that through these lessons I have been able to really see how much planning is needed to make sure that a lesson goes well. In one of our lessons yesterday, the teacher was amazed at how much better our Spanish has gotten and that we were able to teach pretty well. We also did a couple of activities about practicing teaching with other missionaries in the other distritos. Several of them complemented us for our Spanish and how we were able to teach. My compañero has improved a lot with his Spanish. In past lessons, he has had to read what he wants to say, but now he is starting to just talk. I think that the Lord truly does bless his missionaries as they are preparing to serve Him.

I had a few of my favorite speakers during General Conference which were President Packer about the Atonement, President Eyring about Personal Revelation, and President Uchtdorf in Priesthood Session about self-evaluation. I think one of the themes that I noticed during the Conference was the need of conversion and developing Christlike attributes and personal revelation.

I liked President Eyring’s talk because of how highly he spoke of his mother.  That made ponder just how grateful for both of you mom and dad. I would never be here without you and your guidance. Thank for all that you do for me.

I think that all of these talks stood out to me because they were all answering questions I had about becoming more like Christ.  The first step to that is finding out where you stand through self-evaluation. I also noticed how much we need to strive to understand the Atonement in order to understand Christ. He is always there for us and wants us to strive to be just like him. I was reading in Chapter 6 of PME about Christlike attributes.  It stated that developing Christlike attributes is a life long process, but we need to focus on doing that all the time. And I think that we all have a long ways to reach that goal. I think that we all should study that chapter of PME to understand what we can do to be like Christ and know him personally. It truly is amazing how much the Lord will bless as you try to strive for this goal. I also started reading the Book of Mormon again.  I am using a new copy only searching for ways that I can develop all of these attributes and become like Christ.

Everyday for gym time, I play volleyball and most of my district likes to do the same. But last p-day our district had decided to make a bet with another district over a volleyball game. They originally had decided on the winning team getting two dozens of donuts. I don't know about you guys, but that does not seem like something that missionaries would do. So instead, I was able to convince my distrito to not bet on donuts.  Instead they decided to play for returning the trays of the opposite team at meals to the dish room. The game was a lot of fun to play, but we lost. I found it funny because we were winning for a long time and some of our district started to say we were the Nephites. And just like when the Nephites started to get prideful, bad things start to happen them because they are slow to remember their Lord. So like when the Nephites got prideful and lost battles to the Lamanites, so did our district. I found it quite funny to see that comparison.

You know what, I am also really missing singing hymns in Ingles rather than en Español. I just don’t get the same meaning out of them. One of the nights before leaving the classroom to go to our casas, we sang I Need Thee Every Hour in English. I think that music is truly one of the best ways to feel the spirit, since I could feel it so easy during that song. And the words of that song are so true. We need our God and Jesus Christ to do all things. Without them, we are hopeless and lost. I also think that some of the hymns are odd to sing in Español, such as singing Called to Serve. In Spanish it is Llamado a Servir and instead of having two verses it has four. I feel like we sing several of our funeral marches here because sometime we sing songs so slow. It is also funny because some of the hymns have more notes because there are more syllables for the Spanish version of the song.

Thanks for all of the emails you all send me. When Katee wrote me, I only responded to her in Spanish so you'll have to see what she has to say about. It looks like she is having a great time. Congratulations to Katie and Stuart on having the baby. She looks very cute and I am sad to not get to see her for a few years, but it is all worth it to be here. I am grateful for all of the support everyone gives me and their prayers and emails.

Thanks and love,

Elder Ferrin

Feliz Cumpleaños Katee!

Well I thought I would start this letter by first saying "Happy Birthday to Katee" on Sunday and congratulations on getting into the nursing program. Also mom, I did find my camera. I had put it into one of the hidden pockets of my bag, so I forget where I had put it in. So I am sending some pictures. Thank you for the package as well. Although I am not really sure what some of the stuff is such as all of the Mexican Candy. 

So to answer your questions about Elder Clark, he is from Morgan, UT. So not to far from where we live and he is the same age as me, only a bit older than me. I think that he is struggling to learn the language a bit more than me, but he is getting better and better. I am doing really well with Español here and enjoying it. I am able to pretty much carry out a conversation, if I need to, but I still am working on expanding my vocabulary and knowledge of verbs and their conjugation. We have about 3 hour sessions of class with the teachers. We have one teacher in the morning and got another teacher this last week. Except the new teacher wasn't our investigator. It was one of the hermanas who would help us plan some of our lessons. In the evening, we usually do almost all language study and part of it is with a computer program called TALL, Technology Assisted Language Learning. It is hard and I have already finished most of the courses for grammar in it. As a part of class on Monday, we had to go to the dining room and talk with the native speakers for fifteen minutes. It was a lot of fun and it surprised me how well I was able to carry out a conversation. I could probably write most of this e-mail in Spanish if I really had to, except for then you wouldn't really understand it as well.

I think my favorite part of the week was Fast Sunday. Here at the CCM, we fast from after Saturday lunch to lunch on Sunday. It is amazing how much more you listen to church and the testimonies when they are in Spanish, rather than English. But the most meaningful part for me was a talk I read about becoming a consecrated missionary. The devotional, which was a recording of David A. Bednar speaking to missionaries about the true character of Christ. We watch a lot of David A. Bednar here, but I enjoy listening to him because of how he speaks. This was really the best talk I think I have ever heard. He talked about how Christ, instead of turning in to his selfish desires, he would turn out instead of in. I think that his talk was able to truly change how I look at everything and what I truly need to do in my life. We need to focus on all of those around us and forget ourselves. One of the things he challenged us to do was to get a missionary copy of the Book of Mormon  and look for a specific topic as you read, such as the true character of Christ. I am going to be doing this, but I would like to challenge everyone who reads this to do same. Each time you read the Book of Mormon, get a new basic copy and read it with a specific desire or question and mark all of the things that have to do with your topic. By the end of your life, you could have a bookshelf full of every gospel topic and just imagine the resources those could be used as. I am just thinking of so many ways that I can start to live my life as Christ. It will be a life long journey but it will be well worth it in end for everyone to gain the true character of Christ. We also had devotionals from M. Russel Ballard broadcast from Provo and then another with Elder Stephen Allen, the one in our stake, and then Elder Evans. 

I am excited to be able to General Conference and see what announcements might be made. I don't think I will have to listen to conference in Spanish because most of the devotionals are in English, so I think I will be able to get a lot out of it. We are watching a devotional from David A. Bednar about how to watch conference so I hope that it will help a lot. 

Would also forward me some of the emails that the other missionaries from our ward are sending. I want to be able to hear what their experiences are like. If you would do that it would be great. 

Yo se el Evangelio de Jesuchristo es verdad y yo tengo Cristo es el Salvador. Dios es nuestro Padre Celestial y nosotros somos sus hijos. El ama sus hijos todo la tiempo y nosotros podemos vivir con Dios para siempre. And no my Spanish is not perfecto.

[The Gospel of Jesus Christ is true and I have Christ as the Savior.  God is our Heavenly Father and we are his children.  He loves his children all the time and we can live with God forever.]

 Elder Ferrin

Elder Ferrin & Elder Clark

The Guardian of the CCM. 

Elder Ferrin in front of the Mexico CCM sign.

The Elders in his district.

The whole district.

Get Me Out of the CCM

I know the title might make you concerned, but it should be just the opposite. Believe it or not, I actually am enjoying it here a lot, but I am getting tired of it. The only reason I really want to be here is to learn Spanish. Surprisingly, learning Spanish is actually coming really easy to me and I am remembering a lot of the stuff from junior high. On Thursday night, I couldn't get to sleep because I was talking to myself mostly in Spanish. But no mom, I have not had any dreams in Spanish.

The schedule here is pretty repetitive from day to day. When we got here on Wednesday around 7:30, they let us eat and then started to do the orientation stuff by getting checked in, going over some information, checking our immunizations, and then letting us e-mail. I didn't make to the casa until about 9:30.

The next day was a lot of meetings with people talking to us. We met our teacher, he works really hard to teach us all that we need to know. And we learned that we would be teaching our first investigator in Spanish the next day. In the evening, before dinner, they did an activity where some missionaries came in to help us get to know some "investigators." I'm not sure if the investigators were real or not. They showed a bad example of how to get to know people. Then they switched the investigator and let us, a group of 15, ask questions to get to know and have them want to hear the missionary discussions.

The next day on Friday, when we taught our first investigator, it did not go very well. We tried to deliver our message the best that we could but we just weren't prepared. At that time, I felt like this whole CCM experience has been putting us in a room with no way out and telling us to escape. Like they almost expect us to know everything single thing already. Anyways, with the investigator, we tried to tell about the restoration but just couldn't get our point across and were not guided by the spirit.

On Saturday, we got to teach him again and it went a whole lot better. I think that we had planned a bit better in way that would work between me and my compañero. When he asked some of his questions, I was able to answer some of them without reading off something that was previously planned. For the lesson, we re-taught the restoration and all of the first lesson including the first vision from Joseph Smith History. Reading that even in Spanish has so much power in it with the Spirit. At the end of the lesson we invited him to pray for us after we explained how to do it and then invited him to read a part of El Libro de Mormon and have him pray about it. I felt that this lesson went a lot smoother.

Sunday was pretty good and the part I enjoyed the most was the Sunday Devotional that was a video of a talk by David A. Bednar, given to missionaries about how to be a Preach My Gospel missionary. I liked how he said that if you are willing to open your mouth, it will be filled with words. But he emphasized how you need to seek the knowledge you need in order to have the Spirit bring it to your mind.

Yesterday, on Monday, we were able to teach our investigator again and this was my favorite lesson so far. We had gone in planning to teach the Plan of Salvation, but it changed when he started talking. He had some questions about the beginning of the Book of Mormon and how his mom was unhappy how him and his friends would drink at parties. So instead of talking about the Plan de Salvation, we read the title page of the Libro de Mormon and then discussed some of the word of wisdom. We told the benefits of keeping the word of wisdom and the Atonement can help you with all of your problems. Also that by following the commandments of God, you can become like him and live with in La Reina Celestial. I know that the Spirit was there to help me know what to say so that I could deliver the message we needed to give. I kind of saw that promise from Elder Bednar about being willing to open your mouth. Although my Spanish wasn't very fluent, I knew that it was good enough. The Lord is really helping me to be able to the learn the idioma and how to teach in it. I don't think that this investigator is real because some of the older missionaries tell me that he becomes your teacher soon. I think that will be good so he can tell us what to work on.

The food here is actually okay for the most part (its not my favorite, tastes like cafeteria food almost), except for the fact that I don't know what I am eating half of the time. Almost every meal there is beans, rice, or pasta. As much beans and rice as I can eat, I love it!. They even have nutella to put it on slices of bread or toast. But mom, I am still missing your cooking.

Elder Clark and I are getting along pretty well, but I think that he is struggling to learn the language a bit more than me, so sometimes we will say some things in Spanish just to help a bit. In the district, there are twelve of us and six of us are going to Nicaragua. There is one set that is going to the Salt Lake City Central Mission, which is the mission right next to where we live. Some of the district struggles to stay focused sometimes, but they are all trying to do their best to learn the language and the messages from the Lord.

Mexico City is very interesting in how it looks. On the mountains/hills, are just covered with houses packed together steep streets that are unreal. There are all several sounds such as sirens or cars constantly honking. The CCM is almost in its own bubble since it is surrounded with a wall and we don't know what is really happening outside the wall. But is very nice.

Thanks for all the support you give me and I know that I am doing what is right. I hope I don't offend you be saying that I'm not missing home too much. Most of the missionaries say they are homesick, but I honestly haven't felt it yet. Each day I wake up and look at it as an opportunity to serve the Lord and don't think too much about everything, rather than looking at as being a mission and I need to make it two years. I have just lost track of time since I have been here. But anyways, I know el Evangelio de Jesuchristo es verdadero and I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve him. I love it here and know that He will help me to learn the language and anything else he needs me to learn. I'll be what He wants me to be and go where He wants me to go. Love you.


Elder Ferrin

P.S. I am not sure where my camera is but I'll see if I can find it.