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

Happy Late New Years!!!

All I can say is that today has been a really long week, and I am not really sure why. We didn´t have anymore baptisms. We hope to have a few right before transfers, but it all depends on if the people are ready or show up to church. The next transfers are on January 19 and my companions and I are pretty much 100% sure that I will be leaving my area. Since I will have finished my training and I am in a zone leader area. We figure there are a few possible areas in the zone that I could be going to or I might be leaving Managua. But who knows, I’m not worrying about that. I like my area a lot but I want to also move to another area.

With ideas for baptism gifts, today I just printed of the baptism pictures for all of new converts to give to them. For Misael, we gave him the white shirt from his baptism, since we don´t think we will ever use it again. But really the biggest thing I want to give them is full sets of scriptures and hymn books, but to do that we have to visit the Distribution Center which is outside of the mission. We can go with permission, but we haven´t had the time yet.

I honestly don´t remember most of the week. It kind of all blurred together. Since the week before, we baptized almost all of our investigators, we had a lot of contacting to do. This week we found about twenty new investigators with six families. We think a few of them will make it to baptism, but I might be gone by that time. This week we also had two elder from Puerto Cabezas staying with us since they were here for the council leader training. One of them was from Brigham City and he shared a poem that I really liked. It was called “The Fellowship of the Unashamed.” One thing I have been working on is being an example and more obedient.  This has really helped me since I have been struggling just a bit with a lot of things. But really all is going fine.

Sunday was such a long day. This year church changed from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., which is not fun if you are a missionary. It means waking up at 5:00 a.m. to get ready, leaving at 6:00 a.m. and waking everyone in the neighborhood up for church. None of our investigators that we found this week came to church. But the miracle was that when we got there, a member had brought her husband who is a non member, so we will start to teach him. I hope he will be baptized before I leave.

Today we went to the mall after we played soccer at the church. There we got to print pictures, get me my bus card, and eat American food such as ice cream (which was so amazing). By the way, the buses are really crazy here. If you thought they could pack the buses in Disneyworld, you thought wrong. I think that they fit a lot more on them here. I don´t use buses that much, only if I am going to another area normally. Today Elder Clark, from the CCM, was moved to my zone in an emergency transfer, so now 4 of the 6 elders including me that I came with, are in the same zone.

I don´t know what else to write, but have a good week. Have fun. Remember who you are, what you stand for, don´t do drugs, and return with honor. All that sort of stuff. Thanks for the support. Love you all.

Elder Ferrin

Fellowship of the Unashamed

I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast out! I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made; I am a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tainted visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, plaudits or popularity. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, and my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear!

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided or delayed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, or let up, until I have stayed up stored up, and paid up of the cause of Christ.

I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till I know, and work till He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My banner will be clear.