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