President Nelson Visit's Nicaragua

Wow.  This has been quite the week. We didn’t have very high numbers but we still had a bunch of success. Everything is still going well here in Matagalpa and I am enjoying every moment of it. My new house is good since it is right next door to our food appointment who does lunch and breakfast for us. She will also play monopoly with us, so we sometimes do that on p-day.

For most of the week we have been visiting the investigators that we had lined up for baptism last week and we were able to get all of them to the baptismal font this week. The first was Zaydi who the missionaries had been teaching for a lot of time and finally decided to be baptized. We are just waiting for her mom to choose to be baptized also.

Elder Gustin, Zaydi, Elder Ferrin 

The other family was the Soza family (Secundino, Gladys, and Sheyla). They have been investigators for more than a year but couldn’t get baptized since they had to wait on a divorce in order to get married and be baptized. This week they finally got the divorce registered and we had the baptism. Then they wanted to be baptized the next week. But I finally convinced to do it this week since I told them we already had bought the cake for the marriage and baptism. So that baptism happened on Saturday.



Saturday was a very long day, but it was awesome. We left at 4:00 a.m. to go to Managua for the meeting with President Nelson. It was just with the North and South missions of Nicaragua. He was in Honduras the week before and did several devotionals for all of Central America, but we didn’t see those. They even gave us McDonald’s for lunch afterwards. Then we had the 2-hour drive back to Matagalpa and arrived about 3:30 p.m. and started the baptism and marriage for the Soza Family at 4:00 p.m. And that took up quite a bit of the day.

I’m not sure if we will have a baptism this week or not. As of right now, we don’t have anyone ready. But we’ll see. You never know. In addition, we get to go back to Managua for a meeting with all of the leaders in the mission. So that will be fun.

But that was the week. Sounds like everything is going well at home.

Love, Elder Ferrin

Baptism of Pedro

Well, this has been a very good week for us. Matagalpa is still treating me well. The area is still very good. We are spending a lot of time on buses to travel from one part to the next. The area finishes in a small community called Quebrada Honda. We are the first missionaries in about three years to go there. So we are going to have a lot of baptisms there. Everything is going well with the new companion, and I don’t think we’ll have any problems.

We spent most of the week meeting a lot of new people so that I could know where all of the converts, less actives and members live. At the beginning of the week, we didn’t have plans to baptize anyone this week, but we were able to have one this week for a cute little old man named Pedro. He is the dad of some members and he is 87 years old and I am not sure how much he remembers about what we have taught him. We had plans to baptize him on Saturday but his daughter didn’t want him to get baptized and he was sick. So we passed by the next day before church and took him to church to be baptized. This was the funniest baptism I have ever had. We showed him to the bathroom to change clothes. We made sure to tell him to take of his pants and put on the white ones. So in time I baptized him but as he got out of the font, the draining water had a dark tint to him. We just thought, wow that is one dirty man. But we get to the bathroom and he is changing but we couldn’t find his pants. So we started searching the church and thought that someone stole his pants. After a bit I rolled up his pants and noticed that he had his other pants on. Pedro got baptized with his normal pants on! So a member went and found new pants for him. Then there was a cake that someone brought and we ended cutting it with a CD instead of a knife.

Elder Gustin, Pedro, and Elder Ferrin

Pedro and his family

But I have gone to Managua way too much this week. I went on Thursday for a new missionary meeting and then today since Elder Gustin had to go and renew his cedula. But we got donuts from this trip. This week I go to Managua on Saturday for a multi mission conference with President Nelson. Then the next week we go back for the leader’s council so that is just a lot of time to Managua.

Also this week when I was in Managua, I baptized Carmen, the Adventist in Waspan. Apparently she had a dream that I had to baptize her. So since I was in Waspan, she got baptized. I was happy to see her get baptized. Now we just need to baptize the daughter. They write me almost every week as well.

But that was the week. We hope to be able to have four baptisms for this week. Almost all of the baptisms here in the zone I have been involved with, in Guanuca as well as Matagalpa. So very interesting. The Lord blesses us and helps us reach our goals. At the start of the week we didn’t have anyone to baptize, but we put our mind to having the baptism this week and it happened. The Lord does give miracles as we trust in Him and do our part.

Have fun. Stay safe.

Elder Ferrin

Elder Grandpa Ferrin

Well hello to everyone. I just noticed right now that I have now completed 11 months in the mission. It just goes by really fast. It is good to hear about the car for Brandton and that Andrew is leaving. It is a great experience with lots of miracles to be seen.

Well, this week we were able to have a baptism for one of the daughters of Nelis Lopez, Rebecca, who was baptized 2 weeks ago. We started the week with no one who was going to be baptized. They all had plans for later weeks. But at one point we had four who said yes but ended up with only one by the time the interviews came around. In church we had four people and should all be baptized by the end of the month. But I won´t be around for that.

Today we had changes so I am no longer in the branch, Guanuca. I got moved really far to the other chapel that is in Matagalpa to the branch Matagalpa. My new companion is Elder Gustin and he is from Las Vegas. I get to be one of the Zone Leaders. Elder Barrios is staying in Guanuca with a new missionary, so I get to be a grandpa. And Elder Valle got sent to Puerto Cabezas. So this morning I got up at 5:00 a.m.  and took my bags in a taxi to the other house and that was the change for me. So I don´t need to worry about the lizard on the door either, Mom.  I will have an lunch appointment with the mom of my old lunch appointment.  My area includes most of the smaller areas outside of Matagalpa in parts called Habitat, 3M, Solingalpa, and Quebrada Honda. So we´ll have fun.

Good luck with everything at home. Keep going on and have fun with everything at home. This is His church that is restored and we should do all we can to follow el Evangelio de Jesucristo. Only then will we receive the eternal life. Until next time.

Elder Ferrin

I’ll send you pictures next week.

My New Pet!

August 10, 2015

Well this has been a very good week for the most part. It sounds like everything is going fine at home. Mom and dad, you probably should never look at the choristers here in Nicaragua. It is really hard to play the piano at a good speed when you don’t know what speed the chorister wants to sing. Or there is always the speed that the congregation wants to sing. You also have to play the hymn the way they sing it since they change how long you hold the notes and occasionally the tune. That’s sad to hear they will close the Jordan River temple for a bit. That is definitely one of the things I am missing being here in Nicaragua. The closest temple is in Honduras and the missionaries don’t go there.

Elder Barrios has been learning English little by little. He has learned more than other elders I have served with. But for me, I am really bad at studying Spanish since I am normally helping Elder Barrios with English. People can normally understand me and I can understand them well. But there is still a lot I can improve on.

On Wednesday we went to Managua for a multi-zone conference. It was a good conference and they talked a whole lot about the obedience and how to improving our teaching.  We won’t go to Managua until the end of the month unless we have changes the next week.

I found my new pet!!! He is very good at watching the door for us when we are gone.

Elder Ferrin's new pet.

My birthday was fine except for the fact that I got sick with a cold. So I was sick on my own birthday, as well as for Elder Barrios´ birthday. But we worked all of the day and that was it. Fine with me in my opinion.

In church we had only Domina and Yahaira, another daughter of Nelis Lopez. We might have the baptism for Domina this week if she is ready.

But that was the week. Congratulations to Andrew and good luck on the mission for him.

Remember that Jesus is the Christ and he felt everything for us. The Lord performs many miracles in our lives. One of the scriptures I read this week was Alma 37:6. It talks about how through small and simple things, great things are brought to pass (it’s easier to say it in Spanish, rather than English now). But it is definitely true. We don’t realize the grand effects that all the little things have in our life such prayer. He listens and comforts and counsels when we need it. I have never been so close to my Heavenly Father as I have been during my mission and wouldn’t trade this experience for anything. See ya.

Elder Ferrin

P.S. Enjoy your picture’s mom!!! ??

August 3, 2015

Well, here we are again on a lovely Monday writing again. This week has been really good. Thanks to everyone who sent the birthday wishes. It’s always nice to receive emails.

We have been working very hard this week trying to find new investigators to teach.

On Tuesday, I went on divisions with the other elders in my district and they went pretty well. While I was gone, Elder  Barrios went and contacted some people with Aldo, our new convert. Apparently Aldo has no fear in talking to people and is willing to talk to everyone. But I guess that is what happens when you used to be a preacher for another church. On Sunday, for testimony meeting, he got up shared his testimony which was amazing. He has changed so much since we first met him.

This week we also had the baptism for Nelis and Meybeline Lopez. It almost didn’t happen since they weren’t home until late at night on Saturday. Apparently she had to suddenly work at the time we had the baptism originally planned. So we ended up doing the baptism on Sunday.

We found a few families this week. One was a reference from Gloria, one of my converts, for her brother and his wife, Felix and María. Felix pretty much already knows everything about the Book of Mormon and has read it all. We just have to get them to church and teach the wife everything and they will be ready for baptism.

Another family we found was when we passed by for the house of a member we have never visited. When we visited, the sister and her husband were there and they had never talked with the missionaries before. They are pretty interested and seem mostly willing to listen and to act. We hope to baptize both of these families this month.

But that was the week. Today we sat around the house and had a movie lunch. We watched the Emma Smith movie, which was very good.

That was my week, not much else to report. Thanks for all of the support.

Elder Ferrin

July 27, 2015

Well, I didn’t even realize that it was the 24th of July and that it was an actual holiday. It only registered in my mind that it was Christmas in July, nothing very official. But this week went okay, not as well as it could have. But we still keep going. Sorry I don’t have more pictures this week either.

Tell Chelsea and Mike congratulations for the baby and Todd for his mission call.

Mom, to answer your questions  . . .  Yes, I still am playing the piano in sacrament meeting. They are nice enough to let me choose the hymns now. I never bought any boots since I am a bit lazy to go and find ones that I like. But I don’t really need them a whole lot. Yes, I have flip flops and an extra pair still. I haven’t really used socks for baptisms.

On Tuesday, we had to go to the new missionaries meeting in Managua. Right as the meeting started, we got call saying that Elder Barrios was supposed to be in immigration to get his cedula. So we quickly did that and returned to the meeting. In the meeting, they talked a lot about obedience which is something that they normally do pretty often. It is still important, and a lot of missionaries never learn to follow the principal. If you can learn to be obedient to the commandments of God, he pours down so many blessings over our head. And sometimes we are just to blind to realize it. I like how in Preach my Gospel it says that obedience is the first law of the heavens. If we can master that, we will be like God and Jesus Christ.

On Friday, we had interviews with President Collado. But this time they came to do them in the house of the missionaries to make sure they are clean. Yes! The house is clean. It was the weirdest interview ever since we did it sitting on the beds. A bit different. But everything went well. I enjoy it when we have interviews.

We had plans to baptize the Lopez family this week but it fell through and they changed it to the next week. So we hope that this Saturday they will be baptized. They have everything done, including the interview, they just need to get baptized.

In Sunday, we only had two investigators in church. Efraín, the son of Efraín y Reyna, and a hermana named Dominga. Also Domingo gave his first talk in church and he was ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood to the office of Priest.

So that was the week. We are still looking for a lot more people to teach and we know we’ll be able to find them. But there you are.

Elder Ferrin

Baptism Again!!!

Well this has been quite the week for me. I hope everything is still fine at home since I still haven´t gotten an email from the parents. But everything in Nicaragua is still going well, still working hard every day. I have sent some pictures. I might have accidentally sent the wrong one for one of them, maybe.

Elder Ferrin has a standing joke with his mom
about the spiders (and other creepy things that he sees).
So it probably wasn't an accident that this photo was sent.

But we originally had the plans to have the baptism for Annyi this week on Wednesday. We had everything planned and ready. She had the interview but at the last minute the branch president told us we had to find a lawyer. So we went to the normal lawyer we use for the marriages and she told us she couldn’t do it for one reason ... Annyi is 15 years old. They just barely changed the law in Nicaragua that you can´t get married until you are 16 years old, even if you have parents’ permission. So she won´t be able to be baptized or married until February of the next year.

We have still been teaching Aldo. We passed by for him on Wednesday and he asked us if he could be baptized on Sunday. So we quickly finished teaching the lessons and had the interview from the zone leaders. He then needed the interview from one of the counselors of the mission, but we still didn’t know we could baptize him until 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. We had the baptism before church and everything went well. All I can say is that the Lord really does forgive us and love us no matter what we might have done. I have been able to see that in my own life and that of so many other people during the mission. We are His children and He will do what He can so that we come back to His presence.

Every week we do an activity called Noche de Hermanamiento in a part of the area called Sabadell. It is a bit farther from the church, but there a lot of members that live there. Normally when we do this activity only about 10 people come. This week the branch president came and we changed the location to a house and this week we had 45 people come. Which is more than the amount of people that show up to this activity every week when they do it in the church. So that was pretty cool. Almost all of my converts were in the activity.

On Sunday with the baptism, we weren’t able to pass by for very many of our investigators, but somehow we were able to have 7 people come to church this week. One of them we the Familia Lopez who we started teaching again which might get baptized this week. And the attendance at sacrament meeting was 113. Which is the best yet seen since I started serving here. When I arrived attendance was around 76 on average. So it has really grown a lot since there has been a lot of baptisms and reactivation on the part of the members. So the church is growing once again.

But that was the week. Not much else to report. Hope everything is fine at home.

Elder Ferrin

End of the World Again

Well, this been a very good week for me. They came and fumigated the house again! So that is always a lot of fun. The house always smells a bit funny afterwards. 

Today we went to the cross again that is sitting on top of the mountain with most of the zone. Then came back and the district president bought us all pizza to be “motivated”, as he put it. It was fun, but I am also really tired. We hike up and down a mountain every day doing missionary work. So hiking up a mountain for fun is not the same right now.

Elder Ferrin and Elder Barrios

This week we visited some references that we got from the branch at church last week. The first is named Annyi who has been going to church for a while . The missionaries haven’t visited her for a while since she couldn’t get her mom’s permission to be baptized. But supposedly she has it now and we have plans for her baptism this Wednesday. She will also be getting married that day.

The other reference is named Aldo. He used to be a pastor in another religion and has been baptized in three other churches. All I can say is that he knows the Bible really well and we learn a lot when we go over to teach. His wife is a less active member. She told him she wanted to go to church last week so she went and he went with her. We have plans to baptize him and their 9-year-old son the next week or maybe this week. So we should finish the month with seven baptisms which is really good.

We also had the baptism for one of the Maria’s we have been teaching. We had the baptism on Sunday before church and it almost didn’t happen. We put her in the taxi and then we ran down the mountain to get the church. But all went well and she was baptized and confirmed.

But that was the week. Mom, I can still send you the pictures of the spiders, if you would like. Or maybe tell other stories, but that wouldn’t be any fun. Have a fun week.

Elder Ferrin

Miracle Week

June 7, 2015

This has been quite an amazing week for me. And everything is going along quite well. Today we had cambios but nothing changed for us. I am with Elder Barrios for six more weeks in Guanuca. I think my legs will defiantly have had it by that time. I am very unhappy that I am  not home to see the new Jurassic Park movie. As long as they didn’t mess it up too badly, I can wait.

Here in Nicaragua, it hasn’t been raining a whole lot this week. Sometimes it rains and other times it doesn’t. I think rains more during the night. Anyway, onto the next chapter in "The Life of Elder Ferrin as a Missionary".

On Tuesday we went and visited Itzayana and her mom, María. When we arrived, we found that the missionaries had already taught everything to her mom, María before. She had even been to church and everything. So at the end of the lesson we invited them to be baptized this week on June 11. Then Itzayana said “I think I can be baptized this Friday, June 10.” So we had the baptism for them on Friday, which was also the birthday of Elder Barrios. We didn’t do a whole lot since we both happened to be sick and didn’t want to eat anything. But we had cake at the baptism to celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Elder Barrios!

On Wednesday as we were leaving the house, a less active member called us over to her house. She attends another branch for some personal reasons. But she presented us to her 76-year-old aunt and told us that she wants to be baptized. The brother of the member, who is a return missionary, has been teaching her some of the lessons. So this week we baptized her on Sunday. So in the short, at the beginning of the week we had no possibilities of having a baptism and ended the week with three baptisms. It was very good.

On Sunday none of our investigators showed up to church. But the ward gave us two references to visit that came to church this week. So we will go visit them. Also this week we will have another baptism for a Maria and anyone else who is miraculously ready.

But that was pretty much most of the week. I have been finding some very interesting spiders in the house. Mom, I can send you pictures of them if you’d like.

The hermanas of Jinotega always have to come down to Matagalpa every week for district or zone meetings. I travel to Jinotega if I have to do baptismal interviews. But that was the week.

Adios

Elder Ferrin

Cascada Blanca

June 29, 2015

Well this has been such an amazing week for me. First of all, President Collado says thank you for wishing him Happy Father´s Day. Everything is still going well with me. I was a bit sick this week, but I am getting better. You have just got to keep working even if you don´t feel like it.

This week we were able to have the baptism for Armando. It was kind of a hectic day. We planned to hold the baptism at 4:00 p.m. But when we stopped by his house to pick him up, he wasn’t home. We called him and said he was in the middle of the woods being stopped by the police for who knows why. But eventually he got home and had the baptism at about 7:00 p.m.

Elder Barrios, Armando and Elder Ferrin

Also on Saturday we are still doing our English class. When we were leaving the room after the class had ended one of the 11 year old girls pulled Elder Barrios aside and asked if she could be  baptized in this church? YES was our answer, of course! We invited her to church the next day and she actually showed up. Without us stopping at her house before church or calling her. Also in church we had Efraín y Reyna and their daughter, Rey. And also María. We are planning on baptizing them on July 11.

We are still working on Efraín y Reyna because they still have a fear to be baptized. But everything will happen at some time. We even had the zone leaders come to talk to them and try to teach them why they need to be baptized in this Church. But they still said no.

We took some pictures with Evelyn's kids bunch of fake mustaches. We can print the pictures and give them to her as a birthday present.

Then today we went to Cascada Blanca which is a waterfall. It was nice to see and pretty. The downside was for the entire bus ride we had to stand.

That was my week. Until next week.

Elder Ferrin.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Well I guess I can start by saying “Happy Birthday Dad!”  And the same day is six months into the mission if that makes you feel better. All I can say is that time has really passed by very fast. But my commentary about the Nicas right now is that they are really good at watering their dirt to keep the dust down. It is like a chore that they do about three times a day, I feel. I just think that it is funny and apparently it is only here in Nicaragua. They supposedly don’t do it in countries like Guatemala. I also found mom’s letter very funny quite. I didn't really think that it could be true. The one that I definitely could believe was the rainbow colored hair. But thank you for the laugh.

This has honestly been a pretty hard week. We have been continuing to teach the Adventists about once a week and I think I have given about five different lessons about baptism to them. We know the mom is going to be baptized sometime in the future, but  I don’t know when. But I did pretty much nail them on a few points of doctrine about why this was the true church. They were asking me to explain some parts in Revelations about how the church in the last days is going to be persecuted. First, I asked if it was important for their salvation to know this and then I explained some history of the church. Then I explained that the Sabbath had to be on Sunday since it says in the New Testament, the first day of the week.  Unfortunately, the mom and the daughter started arguing a little.  And now the mom goes to our church more than her own now.

We have also been teaching their friend Erica some more. We are making progress to a baptismal date. She has moved from May too before the next transfers. So hopefully she will be baptized soon. I have also taught about three different lessons about baptism to her. But she’ll make it soon. Yamileht we had to dropped because she said she was moving back to her hometown.

Church was kind of a bummer this week, since we didn't have any investigators in church. This has been the very first week in my mission without anyone in church. Somehow, there has been some miracle that people have always come though we thought no one would come.

But that sums up the week. Have a good week.  I love you.

Elder Ferrin

Waspán Has Gone Jarrón Azul

Well hello everyone. I guess I can say for the most part that this has been a good week. For the first part of the week we were only in Villa Reconciliation, but now we can go anywhere we want in Waspán. The president said we could mix all the areas. So there are still four missionaries but in all of Waspán. So I got some of my investigators back, since the other missionaries hadn't really taught them yet. And, no mom, I do not have hot water, just pressurized.

We were able to have the baptism for Berta and everything went fine. When it was time to start there were no members at the church. So we waited about 20 minutes and the Relief Society showed up because they were having an activity. Berta was so happy to be baptized and was confirmed on Sunday in church. Church is still at 8:00 a.m. in the morning. We leave our apartment about 6:30 a.m. to pass by our investigators and bring them to church.

We have been teaching the sister of a recent convert who is also the woman who is our lunch appointment. The name of the investigator is Yamileht. We had a date for her baptism this week  but she couldn't come to church this week, so we have to wait another week. We had the AP´s work with us during the week once, which was also good to do.

The Adventists are the almost members. They go to every activity but won´t commit to be baptized. But we are hoping for them in time. But we are having progress with their friend Erica. She goes to all of the activities, but won´t commit to a date since she wants to wait until may to be baptized when her son is in Nicaragua and after she has received an answer to her prayers.

Today for p-day we had a Capture the Flag with water balloons which was good and fun. Then we went out to eat at some Mexican restaurant so that is all of the photos.

Elder Ferrin and Elder Clark

Elder Ferrin and Elder Valle

Sorry don´t have much more time.

Elder Ferrin

Waspán, Wonder of the World

March 2, 2015

Well this has been a really fast week but ended really well. Today we had cambios (transfers) and I guess you can say I had changes. I am still in Waspán but in Waspán Sur. It includes Waspán Sur, Miguel Gutierez, and Villa Reconciliacion. And I still get to be with Elder Valle. I am one of the only few people to have served in every Waspán area 1, 2, and 3. I also get to be District Leader. So I get to run around and figure out a new area again with Elder Valle.

With the Adventists we have pretty much stopped teaching them, only sometimes. They came to the activity, baptism, and church this week. They really enjoy and always take notes, but won’t commit to a baptism date. But we have started teaching their friend named Erica. She used to go to an Evangelic church but was never baptized since she didn’t like it. She also went to every activity this week with the church. The problem is that she thinks it is necessary to study a church for at least a year before baptism. But we’ll see what happens with her.

This week we had the baptism for Orquidea finally. We didn’t have to do anything for it. One of her friends did the program and all we did was bring the clothes. But she was so happy and she already plans to go to the temple, do baptisms, prepare for a mission, get her endowments, and all that fun stuff. So I don’t think we have to worry about her staying active in the church.



 Sunday was great. We only brought one other person to church this week, Bertha, she is planning on getting baptized this week. She went to activity and baptism Saturday as well. We have other baptisms planned now since we just gained more investigators because of the cambios. We also had to change houses by the way, yet again. But this is one of my favorite houses since it has a really pressurized shower. It feels great. But several members wanted to feed us Sunday, so we had four meals. All because it was Elder Zorrilla’s final day. He is now going home.



We have a lot of amazing opportunities this cambio. And I know that the Lord will help us have success. March is going to be a month of miracles. Also we had the Jehovah witnesses contact our house this week, which was funny I think. Happy Late Birthday Brandton. Sorry it is late, I thought today was the first, not yesterday, when I was writing last week. But goodbye all.

Elder Ferrin

February 23, 2015

February 23, 2015

Thank you for the joke mom. I found it quite funny. But everything is going pretty good here and just going about trying to find people to teach. I think my Spanish is getting better, at least that is what I tell myself. And yes, I still play the piano week every week in church. I have had dreams, but I just forget any of them right now right now. Also tell Travis congratulations about his mission call. It is going to be one of the best experiences in his life, as well as a pretty hard one sometimes.

Orquidea is still coming along. Lessons are a lot more casual now, since we are not pressuring her about being baptized. She seems to enjoy the lessons a bit more as well. One of the lessons we just talked and shared all of our favorite scriptures including her favorites. So I think she should be ready to baptism this week.

This week we started teaching a contact we received from Nestor y Valeska. His name is Eduardo. A funny thing is that I already knew him. We taught him a lot my first few weeks here in Nicaragua, but dropped him because he never went to church after three weeks. So this week we taught and he came to church for the first time. He liked it for the most part except wasn’t sure about when he heard that God had a physical body. He also has a baptismal date for the March 14.

Then we have the Adventist who are still not praying, but going to church. They really enjoy going to church. So this week they are going to go to the baptism on Saturday and a ward activity right after. I just want to see them get baptized, but they tell us that we have to be patient.  All I can think is that, as missionaries, we are not patient after you have been to church twice and don’t have a baptismal date.

But that is mostly it I guess. Also, thanks for the message mom. That was something that I think I really needed to hear. The Atonement really has a great power and we don’t recognize it very much even though it is the thing that carries us through our entire lives. To have that hope and feeling of being pure and clean. I feel like it is the greatest miracle any of us could ask for: To be clean at any moment so that we can return to the presence of our Heavenly Father.

But have a good week. Thanks for all of the support that you give me and all of the prayers.

Elder Ferrin

February 16, 2015

Well here I am again writing my weekly email. It has been a pretty interesting week for the most part. We are slowly finding more people to teach that can be ready to be baptized, hopefully in March. My Spanish is still coming along, but it is still a process. My problem with the joke mom is that missionaries can’t have pets either, so technically this is a very disobedient missionary for having a frog. But I thought it was funny.

This week has been adventure in the teachings of Orquidea. This week when we stopped to visit, we brought her cousins with us.  They told Orquidea that if she didn’t get baptized, she didn’t really have any faith. The next visit she told us that she was going to be baptized on March 14 since she prayed about it. But she didn’t pray about being baptized on February 21, this week. So the next visit, I brought Elder Zorrilla to see Orquidea and he did a baptismal interview with her, which she passed, and convinced her to be baptized on February 28.

We also have been kind of teaching a mom and daughter who are the Adventistas. We joke that they are the future Mormons. The husband doesn’t really want anything as far as we know. But they went to church this week and really enjoyed it a lot. They come to church, and during gospel principles class they are taking notes and asking questions, which is not normal for investigators. They really liked but it will be hard for them to change churches when they receive their answer about this church.

This week we have been working a lot more with the members. Tuesday, we had a new missionary meeting.  The President really emphasized a plan to collect 60 names from members, then pray for every name, and have the member there when we visit the person. As we have started to contact people, there has really been a difference in how much more willing they are to listen to our message. The President promise that if we do this, we will baptize at least three people in March. But of course the goal is a bit more than that.

That is all for this week.  Thanks for all the support and prayers. It is something we always need. Gracias por lo que hacen.

Elder Ferrin

February 9, 2015

Well this has been an okay week. A bit better than the weeks before, but as always, we still have to work really hard. But it sounds like you guys have had a busy week for the most part.

This week we got to have interviews with Presidente Collado, which I thought was good for me. I enjoyed having some time to just ask questions or talk with him. It was a bit funny because he kept a little timer so that he would stay within 10 minutes. They originally told us to be at the church at 4:00, then changed to 2:00, and after that to 5:00. We didn’t finish until about 8:00. They had us do a few other things like the area books and agendas but not much else.

Sunday we had Stake Conference which I can definitely say was interesting. We still only had Orquidea come to church this week, and she still tells us that she is not ready to be baptized. At this Stake Conference there was one of the Seventies, and all I can say is that they are a bit more bold than when we listen to them in Utah. First, I felt like I could have been in a different church just by how he spoke. But he was very interesting to listen to. They talk a lot about tithing and fast offerings here, and obedience to all of the commandments of God. When we are obedient to all that the Lord commands that is when we begin to prosper.

We have a few more investigators that we have been teaching, but I feel like a lot of them are not progressing. And we keep finding more and more people to teach. Like we found a woman who met with the missionaries once or twice about 20 years ago and they gave her a Book of Mormon. She has been reading this book and studying it ever since. So when we came by, she had a lot of questions to ask. And now I believe her daughter is starting to study it as well. So hopefully they will get baptized. I have noticed that there can be a fast turnaround with investigators.

We study a bit more since the last cambio. I have been slowly helping my companion learn English, but it is a process. Is it bad to say that I can’t take most of the Latinos seriously when they speak in English, at least when they are learning? My companion sounds kind of like “Gru” from Despicable Me and Elder Zorrilla sounded like Bob Marley.

Well, sorry this is all I have this week. I feel like my letters are getting shorter and shorter. I am still working hard and I know the Lord answers every prayer. The Book of Mormon is true and anyone who reads it can receive an answer of its truthfulness.

Elder Ferrin

February 2, 2015

I´ll be honest that right now I have no idea what to talk about after reading the email from Dad. I knew something had to be up when I saw that there wasn't an email from Mom. I did not expect to hear of the death of my Aunt Allyson. But I guess we will see what will happen in the time to come. Just do what is best for Dylan and Connor so that they can have a good future. You can even take them to Disneyland and ride Casey Jr and all of the Fantasyland rides. But it is probably all going to be a big adjustment to living with new rules. 

I´ll be honest, this week has been much better for me. These past two weeks have been super hard for me, but have passed by really fast. A lot of the people we found the week before, we have ended up dropping since they don´t show up to church or they are really interested. So we were back to pretty much nothing. The first person we had to be baptized, Orquidia, when we went to teach her the first time, she told us that she felt she needed more time. All I can think is that you have been waiting for 3 years to baptized. How much more time do you need? The other person we planned to have baptized fell through. When we went for the interview, she supposedly wasn't there, really she was avoiding us, eventually  we had the interview. Then the next day, a half hour before the baptism, she sends me a message saying she can´t be baptized because of problems with her family and the church. I feel like it is just a big lie since her dad was always nice to us. But there are other people to look for to be baptized. 

Most of the week once again was spent trying to find people to teach. We found a few possibilities, but we´ll have to see with time. Missionary work is extremely hard when all you can do is contact. I feel like the hardest part of mission is the part that happens in your head. But I know that there are some people here that are ready to hear the gospel, we just need to work really hard to find these people, since they are hiding just a bit. It is important to have faith in the Lord that He will provide for you. I know He is watching me and knows what we need. But it is not always what we want. Just trust in the Lord no matter what the situation is. 

Please keep me updated on what happens at home with all that is happening. Just remember to do what is best for Dylan and Connor and trust in the Lord through all of the trials. 

One of my favorite scriptures is 2 Nephi 4:34 and tells us to always put our trust in Him.

O Lord, I have trusted in thee, and I will trust in thee forever. I will not put my trust in the arm of flesh; for I know that cursed is he that putteth his trust in the arm of flesh. Yea, cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm.

Have a good week and remember who you are, what you stand for, don´t do drugs, return with honor. 

Elder Ferrin

My Child

Well this week has certainly been a bit hard for me, but it has helped me to see what I need to do better in the next weeks to come. My new companion (my child) is Elder Valle and he is from Guatemala. Fresh meat for me to work with and help me be a better missionary. I got to pick him up from the Presidents house on Tuesday.  Elder Valle had pretty much got the same experience that I did when I arrived.  We dropped his stuff off at the house, emailed his family, and started to work.  He works really hard and doesn't really care what people think of us when we go to contact them. He has a lot of potential to be one of the best missionaries in Nicaragua.

Sister Corleto, Elder Ferrin, Elder Valle, President Corleto

We spent a lot of time looking for a house to live in and finally found one. It is pretty much where my old house is. We get to move in tomorrow hopefully, but we’ll see.

The new house

The new house

I feel like my new area is a bit harder than it was before. My area pretty much is the part that has not had much success in the past.  Everywhere we tried to work there are changes. I have 5 converts to work with. But it is an opportunity for me to be better and work really hard. We spent most of this week contacting people to be potential investigators. We also try to see if we can teach a lesson in the contact, but almost no one had time. So we end scheduling a return visit and when we come back, they either don´t want to listen or are never home. We found a few new investigators to start teaching and hopefully prepare them for baptism.

Sunday, when we passed by for all of our investigators, they were either not home or didn't want to go. So we went to church with no investigators and a prayer in my heart for some form of a miracle. And that is what happened. When we got there, a member introduced us to a friend, Orquidia, who wants to be baptized. She has been going to church for three years and has listened to all of the missionary lessons. She wasn't baptized because she didn't have permission from her parents. But Sunday was her birthday where she turned 18 so now she can be baptized. We also might have a baptism for another person named Xochilt. She was baptized by the missionaries who used to have my area before, but was never confirmed since she never came to church. So she needs to be re-baptized to be confirmed, were just not sure if she wants it or not. Or if she just wants to talk to the missionaries.

That was pretty much my week, it is a good opportunity for me to see what I need to do better in the coming week. We always need to trust in the Lord, since we really are nothing without Him. Always pray to Him with sincere desire to know the truth or for help, and he will give it to you. Until the next week.

Elder Ferrin

Transfers Again

Well, this week was transfers and nothing happened like I thought it might. I am still here in Waspan, in the same area, kind of. My new area is technically called Waspan 3 instead of 2. I am pretty much opening up a new area since none of the area Waspan areas had investigators here. It includes Jose Dolores, Jorge Cassaly, and on the other side of the highway something Like Gutierez something (I don’t know). And I can’t even tell you who my companion is yet since I will be receiving a new missionary tomorrow.

Today I am with Elder Harris who was in the CCM with me. My new companion will be Latino since only Latino elders are coming. We are going to have to also find a new house for me to live in. As of this moment, I have only one investigator whom I found last week.

This past week has been kind of interesting. I have worked a lot with Elder Corleto since the other two have had to do divisions with other missionaries. But the one guy that I found that is the investigator I have. His name is Yosac and he is really interested in the message. He also came to church but won’t commit to a baptismal date. But I have the plan for February 14. Otherwise, I start from scratch.

I worked with a lot of the investigators during the week.  Some of them are really progressing slowly. But I think they will eventually get there to baptism if the missionaries are patient. That is my concern with changing areas, is that I am worried that they might be just dropped really fast just because they need time. It is good to have people who progress fast and others who are slow.

I don’t really have a whole lot to say this week, but it sounds like Disneyland was a lot of fun for you. I actually think I might have enjoyed the Frozen thing since I would love to watch all of the people. And it is has air condition. By the way, McDonald’s tastes good when you don't get to have a hamburger very often. Tomorrow I get to go to the office for a meeting and then the mission home to get mi hijo. I also have sent a ton of pictures so I hope you’re happy now, Mom.

Until next week,

Elder Ferrin

Really Fast Letter

I am sorry this might be really be a short letter, but we ended p-day late since it was spent with the President Collado. We went to the Volcano Masaya and right now I don´t have time to send the pictures home, so sorry. But it was really cool and we got to go into some of the cave which was nice to do. It is a still active volcano so there was some gases in the air. The craters are also really big.

This week has mostly passed really fast. We got yet another companion so now I have three companions. His name is Elder Corleto and he is from Guatemala. It is kind of nice to have for, since we can do twice as much. We rotate between who we are working with each day, so I pretty much have a different companion each day. Elder Corleto came the mission after me.

We hope to have a baptism this week for Mayra and hopefully her kids. She came to church this week and I think that she liked it a lot. We started to teach a family named Edwin and Rosa, who keep all of the compromisos and seem very interested. They are just progressing really slowly compared to others.

The next week  I will probably be writing from a different area since there are four of us in my area. And since I am finishing my training and in the Zone leader area, I probably will be moved. There have been rumors of where I could go, but we will see what happens. All that matters is that you keep working the hardest you can.

Thanks for all that you do and the support you give me. Until Next week.

Elder Ferrin