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