"Down these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean. Who is neither tarnished nor afraid. He is the hero. He is everything. He must be a complete man, a common man, and yet an uncommon man. He must be, to use a rather weathered phrase, a man of honor. By word, by deed, without thought of it and certainly without saying it. He must be the best man of his world, and a good enough man for any world."
-Raymond Chandler
Iba a escribirles en inglés, pero ésta siendo mi última carta de mi misión decidí escribirles en el idioma de mi papá. El idioma en cuál mi testimonio está escrito en mi corazón.
Hace dos años dejé mi hogar y mi familia, mis amigos y mis sueños. De verdad dejé por atrás mi vida y entré en algo que nunca había imaginado. Salí de casa en pura inocencía y ahora, después de todo siento como por fin he aprendido algo de la vida. Me falta mucho todavía, sin embargo sé en quién he confiado.
No quiero dar una historia entera de lo que ha pasado en estos dos años, sin embargo deben sentir y conocer todo lo que siento en este momento.
Fui tirado en un país hablando nada del idioma y más perdido que un pez en tierra seca. Fui asaultado no sóla una vez, sino dos, con pistola a mi pecho. Fui rechazado y maldicido. Conocí personas que habían perdido su esperanza por completo y negaron la posibilidad de una vida mejor, y a las vez tuve la gran previlegio de conocer los escogidos del Señor en este pais que tomaron la decisión de cambiar sus vidas y luchar adelante cada día, los cuáles están a la par nuestra perseverando hasta el fin. Atrá vez de cada tristeza, de toda dificultad y prueba que he pasado en estos últimos dos años, lo haría TODO otra vez. Si supiera de todas estas cosas de antemano lo haría de nuevo. Porque ésta es la obra del Señor.
He visto milagros, y he sentido y visto el Espíritu de Dios literalmente trabajando a la par mía, y no puedo negarlo y nunca jamas lo haría. Sé que no soy nada, y siempre me he visto a mi mismo abajo de tódo. Sigo así porque así es. En las palabras de Ammón del Libro de Mormón "Sí, yo sé que nada soy; en cuanto a mi fuerza, soy débil; por tanto, no me jactaré de mí mismo, sino que me gloriaré en mi Dios, porque con sufuerza puedo hacer todas las cosas; sí, he aquí que hemos obrado muchos grandes milagros en esta tierra, por los cuales alabaremos su nombre para siempre jamás ." De verdad no he hecho nada en este país, porque vi la mano del Señor en tódo. Él que es el Todopoderoso realizó su obra, y doy gracias por ser el instrumento en Sus manos.
Mis palabras no son suficientes para testificar de tan grandes cosas. Sólo puedo decir lo que he dicho a todos, y seguiré deciéndolo por el resto de mi vida:
Ésta es la iglesia de Jesucristo. La única sobre la faz de la tierra guiado y dirigido por Él que creó el cielo y la tierra. Sé que el Libro de Mormón es la palabra de Dios y que en él se encuentra las respuestas de todas las preguntas de esta vida. Por 180 años éste ha sido atacado como ningun otro libro religioso en historia y todavía está se sostiene, porque es un testimonio más de la divinidad del Señor Jesucristo, y fue sacado a la luz cómo José lo dijo, por el poder y el mandamiento de Dios Omnipotente.
Dos años han pasado y me siento como acabo de venir. No quiero irme. Hay mucho que hacer y almas que salvar, pero mi tiempo está al final y viene el momento por alguién más para continuar lo que empezé, y lo que alguién más empezó antes que yo. Con este pensamiento en mi corazón, les dejo con estas palabras más.
"It is not the critic who counts; not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of good deeds might have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who if he wins knows the triumph of great achievement, and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat."
-Theodore Roosevelt
(quoted by John F.Kennedy in his inaugural address)
No ha sido facil, pero valió la pena. Estoy a punto de entrar una nueva división en la vida, pero tengo la base por la cuál venceré el enemigo de mi alma. Y ahora, me despido de todos. Hasta que nos veamos una vez más en la tierra de la restauración.
Adios.
Elder Ryan R. Nuñez
-Misionero del Señor Jesucristo
Misión Costa Rica San José 2008-2010
Monday, September 20, 2010
Opposition in All Things
September 13 email:
This last week was insanely busy. Thursday I had to do baptism interviews in Grecia for the hermana misioneras. We ended up doing divisiones with the zone leaders since their planned divisiones with another area fell through (the bus route was closed). Elder Nelson and Elder Hoyt ran some errands for us in San Ramon in the morning as Elder Logan and I left for Grecia. I did one interview as Elder Logan did the other. It was interesting working with Elder Logan again after being companions. Some things have changed, others not so much. The four of us (Nelson, Logan, Hoyt and myself) spent the night in Naranjo. I slept on the tile floor as usual. I miss carpet. I think I´m just gonna throw myself out on the downstairs carpet for a good half hour when I get home. I might even sleep there at some point. =P
Friday morning Elders Nelson and Hoyt took off for San Ramon to fijar our baptism for Saturday as Elder Logan and I went to San José to pick up some legal documents for a wedding we had planned for Saturday. That turned out to be a frustrating mess. From one office to another, not once, not twice, but four times before we finally figured everything out. We treated ourselves to some Taco Bell since it was close by, and I realized my body just doesn´t deal well with fast food anymore. Not that that´s a bad thing. =P
Elder Logan and I continued working in Naranjo for the rest of the day. I met quite a few people that just made me depressed and frustrated to talk to. One lady went so far as to say she´s happy with life and doesn´t want any blessings from God. This is after having told us how her not-husband beats her and how they´re about to be evicted from their rotting wood shack.
Saturday morning I got back to San Ramon. We played some early morning soccer with some of our investigators, after which we stopped by to drop off our dirty clothes with the Hermana Mildred. Mildred had made us a surprise breakfast of flapjacks, which we thoroughly enjoyed. The rest of the day didn´t go as planned. I can honestly say I´ve never seen Satan working so hard to stop a baptism, but he was definately against us every step of the way. The wedding was planned for 3 p.m. At 2:30 p.m. the wife-to-be was not to be found and no one in the family was ready to go to the church anyway. They asked if we could wait until 4 p.m. We called the lawyer, who had another wedding to do at 4:30 and said it would be impossible to wait until 4. So we had to wait until 6 p.m. We ran back to tell the family, after which we had to call all the members and tell them of the time change. Then came our ropa bautismal problem. The hermana who was getting baptized is..."bigger" than those we usually baptize, and the issue came that we had no baptism clothes that could fit her. We found 2 dresses, one that was about the right width, just not long enough. We had the Hermana Mildred had one to the dress to make it just a little longer, and it was ready just in time for the wedding/baptism.
But even then Satan didn´t stop. First there was issues with the man´s ID, but we got over that issue and started the wedding. The couple had invited several family members to the wedding, and after they were wedded we began the baptism service. As one hermana spoke on baptism, a drunk cousin of the family apparently didn´t like what she was saying and yelled out something I didn´t understand through the drunken slur. The son of the family led the man outside as we finished with the talks and continued on with the baptism itself. I had the pleasure to baptize the Hemana Laura, and following that Elder Hoyt and I sang a duet of "How Great Thou Art" in spanish.
After all was said and done, Elder Hoyt and I felt exhausted and drained. We had had a few other issues with the branch presidency at the baptism as well, all of which I discussed with them yesterday after church. Luckily, the district president was with us. The man was so stubborn and so set in NOT doing things as they should be that I told him straight out if he didn´t listen, I´d call President Gálvez right then and there to set the record straight.
It´s been a long week, but the month isn´t over yet and we still have a goal to meet. We´re gonna be running ourselves dry, but we found a new family that´s just incredible and we´re working to get them all baptized by September 25th (it´s a family of five). The work keeps going despite the opposition. That´s all I can really ask for.
Today were just chilling with the district here in San Ramon. About 2 weeks ago Elder Hoyt and I found and carried home and huge stalk of bananas, of which has been all we´ve been eating ever since the bananas ripened a week ago. There´s still a lot of bananas and they´re soon about to over-ripen, so we invited everyone over to the Hermana Mildred´s house to make banana cream pies and banana smoothies. =P It´ll be good to kick back and rest for a few hours before we start killing ourselves at 6 p.m. tonight with all the work we still have left to do. =D
I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Time really is flying. I just hope I can finish what I´ve started here before hitting the end.
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
This last week was insanely busy. Thursday I had to do baptism interviews in Grecia for the hermana misioneras. We ended up doing divisiones with the zone leaders since their planned divisiones with another area fell through (the bus route was closed). Elder Nelson and Elder Hoyt ran some errands for us in San Ramon in the morning as Elder Logan and I left for Grecia. I did one interview as Elder Logan did the other. It was interesting working with Elder Logan again after being companions. Some things have changed, others not so much. The four of us (Nelson, Logan, Hoyt and myself) spent the night in Naranjo. I slept on the tile floor as usual. I miss carpet. I think I´m just gonna throw myself out on the downstairs carpet for a good half hour when I get home. I might even sleep there at some point. =P
Friday morning Elders Nelson and Hoyt took off for San Ramon to fijar our baptism for Saturday as Elder Logan and I went to San José to pick up some legal documents for a wedding we had planned for Saturday. That turned out to be a frustrating mess. From one office to another, not once, not twice, but four times before we finally figured everything out. We treated ourselves to some Taco Bell since it was close by, and I realized my body just doesn´t deal well with fast food anymore. Not that that´s a bad thing. =P
Elder Logan and I continued working in Naranjo for the rest of the day. I met quite a few people that just made me depressed and frustrated to talk to. One lady went so far as to say she´s happy with life and doesn´t want any blessings from God. This is after having told us how her not-husband beats her and how they´re about to be evicted from their rotting wood shack.
Saturday morning I got back to San Ramon. We played some early morning soccer with some of our investigators, after which we stopped by to drop off our dirty clothes with the Hermana Mildred. Mildred had made us a surprise breakfast of flapjacks, which we thoroughly enjoyed. The rest of the day didn´t go as planned. I can honestly say I´ve never seen Satan working so hard to stop a baptism, but he was definately against us every step of the way. The wedding was planned for 3 p.m. At 2:30 p.m. the wife-to-be was not to be found and no one in the family was ready to go to the church anyway. They asked if we could wait until 4 p.m. We called the lawyer, who had another wedding to do at 4:30 and said it would be impossible to wait until 4. So we had to wait until 6 p.m. We ran back to tell the family, after which we had to call all the members and tell them of the time change. Then came our ropa bautismal problem. The hermana who was getting baptized is..."bigger" than those we usually baptize, and the issue came that we had no baptism clothes that could fit her. We found 2 dresses, one that was about the right width, just not long enough. We had the Hermana Mildred had one to the dress to make it just a little longer, and it was ready just in time for the wedding/baptism.
But even then Satan didn´t stop. First there was issues with the man´s ID, but we got over that issue and started the wedding. The couple had invited several family members to the wedding, and after they were wedded we began the baptism service. As one hermana spoke on baptism, a drunk cousin of the family apparently didn´t like what she was saying and yelled out something I didn´t understand through the drunken slur. The son of the family led the man outside as we finished with the talks and continued on with the baptism itself. I had the pleasure to baptize the Hemana Laura, and following that Elder Hoyt and I sang a duet of "How Great Thou Art" in spanish.
After all was said and done, Elder Hoyt and I felt exhausted and drained. We had had a few other issues with the branch presidency at the baptism as well, all of which I discussed with them yesterday after church. Luckily, the district president was with us. The man was so stubborn and so set in NOT doing things as they should be that I told him straight out if he didn´t listen, I´d call President Gálvez right then and there to set the record straight.
It´s been a long week, but the month isn´t over yet and we still have a goal to meet. We´re gonna be running ourselves dry, but we found a new family that´s just incredible and we´re working to get them all baptized by September 25th (it´s a family of five). The work keeps going despite the opposition. That´s all I can really ask for.
Today were just chilling with the district here in San Ramon. About 2 weeks ago Elder Hoyt and I found and carried home and huge stalk of bananas, of which has been all we´ve been eating ever since the bananas ripened a week ago. There´s still a lot of bananas and they´re soon about to over-ripen, so we invited everyone over to the Hermana Mildred´s house to make banana cream pies and banana smoothies. =P It´ll be good to kick back and rest for a few hours before we start killing ourselves at 6 p.m. tonight with all the work we still have left to do. =D
I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Time really is flying. I just hope I can finish what I´ve started here before hitting the end.
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Monday, September 6, 2010
Blessed in both body and spirit
This week has felt like a week of blessings, in more ways than one. One the temporal side of things, last Monday we discovered the first and ONLY Jamba Juice in the country, which happens to be found in my lovely area of San Ramon. The zone leaders changed our district meeting location to San Ramon for just that reason. =P We had a "district Jamba fest" and the zone leaders went crazy. Everything is about half the price it is in the states since it´s so easy to find fruit here. The look on the Hermana Ho´s face (she´s from Guatemala) as she took a drink was hilarious. A look of pure shock and bliss. =D
It´s felt like we´ve been working a "reconstruction" of the area this last week. Since February the missionaries have been focusing in one neighborhood, and things are starting to slow down there. We´ve started to work one other area, where Eduardo and Jeannette live, teaching other family members of their´s. To tell the truth last week was just hectic. We´ve run into some legal document issues on top of that with 3 of our investigators, all of which need to be married. I´m praying the Lord will show us the way in how we can fix all of that, but I also have to accept His will if I´m suppose to be here when they get baptized or not.
Friday was work as usual, but we did celebrate the best we could. The fair was in town, so we treated ourselves to some churros and, of course, some Jamba Juice. It was raining all day, but I´ve gotten use to the daily downpours of Costa Rica. Friday morning our wash lady, the Hermana Mildrid, and her two kids called around 6:30 a.m. and sung me Happy Birthday. Later in the day we stopped by quickly, which was my mistake, because they all egged me 5 minutes before our next appointment. =P Friday night I made banana cream pie and Elder Hoyt made the crust. I´ve definately gotten better at that, it turned out great and we ended up sharing it with the Hermana Mildrid and her family, and they too loved it. =D
Saturday the Hermana Mildrid invited us to a "2-in-1" birthday party. Since the 3rd was my birthday, and today (the 6th) is her daugther, Tatiana´s birthday, the Hermana made a chocolate cake for both of us. It was pretty good. I´m not much of a cake person, but I did enjoy celebrating my birthday with good friends.
As I said this last week has been hectic. There´s so much to do and so little time to do it. Too much for just one companionship to tell the truth. San Ramon really needs four missionaries here. The work is progressing and last week we just couldn´t do EVERYTHING we wanted and plan to. It was simply impossible. We ended up teaching 30 lessons last week, and there were some other 10 lessons we ended up missing due to lack of time. Despite running around like a crazy man the Lord kept us going and we didn´t feel exhausted until lasy night (Sunday). It all hit me at once then. Elder Hoyt has been great though, I´ve been truly blessed to have him as my companion at mission´s end. He´s here to work and he knows what he´s doing. He only has 4 months in the mission, but he´s far from being a "greenie". Plus our common interests are off the wall, it´s been so much fun. I haven´t had a companionship like this since I was with my trainer, Elder DePriest.
The work keeps going and life keeps coming. Today we went to Volcan Arenal and took some pictures there. We all wanted to kill the zone leaders for making us go in ropa misional, knowing we´d be hiking around the volcano. One of the hermanas in San Carlos, the Hermana Turnbaugh, and I were plotting what we´d do to the zone leaders IF we could catch up with them. =P
I love you all and I hope you have a great week! It´s so weird that school has already started. Time really is flying. Cuídese mucho a todos. ¡Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
It´s felt like we´ve been working a "reconstruction" of the area this last week. Since February the missionaries have been focusing in one neighborhood, and things are starting to slow down there. We´ve started to work one other area, where Eduardo and Jeannette live, teaching other family members of their´s. To tell the truth last week was just hectic. We´ve run into some legal document issues on top of that with 3 of our investigators, all of which need to be married. I´m praying the Lord will show us the way in how we can fix all of that, but I also have to accept His will if I´m suppose to be here when they get baptized or not.
Friday was work as usual, but we did celebrate the best we could. The fair was in town, so we treated ourselves to some churros and, of course, some Jamba Juice. It was raining all day, but I´ve gotten use to the daily downpours of Costa Rica. Friday morning our wash lady, the Hermana Mildrid, and her two kids called around 6:30 a.m. and sung me Happy Birthday. Later in the day we stopped by quickly, which was my mistake, because they all egged me 5 minutes before our next appointment. =P Friday night I made banana cream pie and Elder Hoyt made the crust. I´ve definately gotten better at that, it turned out great and we ended up sharing it with the Hermana Mildrid and her family, and they too loved it. =D
Saturday the Hermana Mildrid invited us to a "2-in-1" birthday party. Since the 3rd was my birthday, and today (the 6th) is her daugther, Tatiana´s birthday, the Hermana made a chocolate cake for both of us. It was pretty good. I´m not much of a cake person, but I did enjoy celebrating my birthday with good friends.
As I said this last week has been hectic. There´s so much to do and so little time to do it. Too much for just one companionship to tell the truth. San Ramon really needs four missionaries here. The work is progressing and last week we just couldn´t do EVERYTHING we wanted and plan to. It was simply impossible. We ended up teaching 30 lessons last week, and there were some other 10 lessons we ended up missing due to lack of time. Despite running around like a crazy man the Lord kept us going and we didn´t feel exhausted until lasy night (Sunday). It all hit me at once then. Elder Hoyt has been great though, I´ve been truly blessed to have him as my companion at mission´s end. He´s here to work and he knows what he´s doing. He only has 4 months in the mission, but he´s far from being a "greenie". Plus our common interests are off the wall, it´s been so much fun. I haven´t had a companionship like this since I was with my trainer, Elder DePriest.
The work keeps going and life keeps coming. Today we went to Volcan Arenal and took some pictures there. We all wanted to kill the zone leaders for making us go in ropa misional, knowing we´d be hiking around the volcano. One of the hermanas in San Carlos, the Hermana Turnbaugh, and I were plotting what we´d do to the zone leaders IF we could catch up with them. =P
I love you all and I hope you have a great week! It´s so weird that school has already started. Time really is flying. Cuídese mucho a todos. ¡Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Monday, August 30, 2010
"That I may heal you"
We´ve been really busy this last week. Monday night Eduardo and Jeannette were married, and it was incredible to see them together taking this step. Monday was a long day, what with all the preparation and what not, but it was well worth it to see their little family unified like that.
Late Monday night we received a call from the Hermana Soto, wife to the first counselor of the mission. The daughter of one of our members had been beaten (we later found out she had been beaten by the younger sister) and that she was in dire need of a priesthood blessing. Tuesday morning we left, finding the poor girl in horrible condition. Her nose had been broken, she had a high fever and she was having problems breathing. My heart was wrenched seeing her like that. Elder Hoyt performed the anointing and I sealed it with a blessing. We then had to leave pretty quick for Naranjo because we were already late for interviews with President Gálvez. I couldn´t get that girl out of my head for the rest of the day, and I found myself praying for her nonstop.
Interviews were great, I had a good talk with President Gálvez. He explained to me his wishes for my mission´s end, of which I totally agreed with. Working hard, giving everything I have, until that last day comes and I get on that plane absolutely exhausted, but unbelievably happy at the same time. I asked him how I should work with the hermanas in my district, since I´ve never been in a district with hermanas EVER, and he explained to me that little bit and then went on further in saying that we want me to end the mission flying, but it would be even more incredible if the district has a whole took off flying as well. Three of us are possibly going home this change: myself, Elder Nelson of course, and then possibly the Hermana Ho from Guatemala. President wants all three of us to have the most amazing month ever, and I´m totally on board with it.
The Hermana Gálvez also gave me an added responsibility: I am now the english tutor for the hermanas. It´s been fun so far practicing my teaching skills. I´m having fun with it.
Wednesday morning we left early to see how Victoria, the girl we had given a blessing to the day before, was holding up. Words cannot explain how I felt as I saw the same girl, who a day before was painfully trying to breathe from a beaten body, now eating for the first time in days with a smile on here face and breathing fine. In one day she had pulled a complete 180 from where she had been. I had never before borne witness of such a miracle, and the impact of it rested with me for the rest of the day. The power of the priesthood, the power of faith, it was just too much for me. I´m still in awe of it. Elder Hoyt started to sing softly has we left their humble home: "How Great Thou Art".
That same day as we were sitting in a visit with one of our investigators, Marta, the zone leaders and the APs showed up. We had been trying to put a baptismal date with Marta for quite some time, but the last time they had tried back in July the cold water had made her sick and flat out couldn´t do it. The cold water made her severly ill. Marta very sincerely told us she wanted to be baptized, but she couldn´t get into cold water again. I put Elder Hoyt with Elder Trost to set in stone a baptismal date for the coming Saturday, as the other AP Elder Christensen and myself started making calls looking for a place with warm water to perform the baptism. Our plan didn´t pull through, so Elder Hoyt and I started to brainstorm on how we could heat water and throw it into the baptismal fount. After hearing that Eduardo and Jeannette were to be baptized Friday night, Marta asked if she could be baptized with them, of which we were completely up for.
Thursday we spent in the chapel/house installing shower duchas in two of the three bathrooms in order to heat water. Thursday night the zone leaders showed up to perform a wedding and a baptism in our church since the baptismal fount in theirs was out of comission. The zone leaders spent the night with us and Friday morning, at 9:30 A.M. we began the long process of filling our baptismal fount with 4 cubic meters of water by hand. We had the two shower duchas running nonstop, filling tall garbage cans, while we had two HUGE pots of water boiling over portable stoves. Nine and a half hours later, the fount was full and the water was nice warm temperature. The four of us were dead tired, but when we began the baptismal service, I felt incredible content with what we had accomplished. I had the privileged of baptizing Eduardo, and Elder Hoyt baptized Jeannette and Marta. The first words Eduardo spoke as he came out of the water filled my soul with a joy I cannot explain: "Maravilloso".
This weekend we have yet ANOTHER wedding to prepare for, along with our plans for the month. In July there were 8 baptisms in the area. We finished out August with 9. There have been 36 baptisms in San Ramon since January, and Elder Hoyt and I want to hit 45 before I leave. But 45 means 9 baptisms, and seeing how these last 2 months were 8 and then 9, we´re aiming for the stars a going for 10. Ten sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father brought into the fold of the Good Shepard. I believe that would definatly be ending the mission "flying" as President Gálvez put it.
I love you all. Come Friday, I´ll be 22 years old. These last 23 months have been filled with experiences of every kind, and in this, my last month as an ordained messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ, I can only pray to bare witness of His healing touch in not only my life, but in the lives of all those who are willing to listen to His words and feel His love. To accept His loving call to us all:
"...will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?" (3 Nephi 9:13, italics added)
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Late Monday night we received a call from the Hermana Soto, wife to the first counselor of the mission. The daughter of one of our members had been beaten (we later found out she had been beaten by the younger sister) and that she was in dire need of a priesthood blessing. Tuesday morning we left, finding the poor girl in horrible condition. Her nose had been broken, she had a high fever and she was having problems breathing. My heart was wrenched seeing her like that. Elder Hoyt performed the anointing and I sealed it with a blessing. We then had to leave pretty quick for Naranjo because we were already late for interviews with President Gálvez. I couldn´t get that girl out of my head for the rest of the day, and I found myself praying for her nonstop.
Interviews were great, I had a good talk with President Gálvez. He explained to me his wishes for my mission´s end, of which I totally agreed with. Working hard, giving everything I have, until that last day comes and I get on that plane absolutely exhausted, but unbelievably happy at the same time. I asked him how I should work with the hermanas in my district, since I´ve never been in a district with hermanas EVER, and he explained to me that little bit and then went on further in saying that we want me to end the mission flying, but it would be even more incredible if the district has a whole took off flying as well. Three of us are possibly going home this change: myself, Elder Nelson of course, and then possibly the Hermana Ho from Guatemala. President wants all three of us to have the most amazing month ever, and I´m totally on board with it.
The Hermana Gálvez also gave me an added responsibility: I am now the english tutor for the hermanas. It´s been fun so far practicing my teaching skills. I´m having fun with it.
Wednesday morning we left early to see how Victoria, the girl we had given a blessing to the day before, was holding up. Words cannot explain how I felt as I saw the same girl, who a day before was painfully trying to breathe from a beaten body, now eating for the first time in days with a smile on here face and breathing fine. In one day she had pulled a complete 180 from where she had been. I had never before borne witness of such a miracle, and the impact of it rested with me for the rest of the day. The power of the priesthood, the power of faith, it was just too much for me. I´m still in awe of it. Elder Hoyt started to sing softly has we left their humble home: "How Great Thou Art".
That same day as we were sitting in a visit with one of our investigators, Marta, the zone leaders and the APs showed up. We had been trying to put a baptismal date with Marta for quite some time, but the last time they had tried back in July the cold water had made her sick and flat out couldn´t do it. The cold water made her severly ill. Marta very sincerely told us she wanted to be baptized, but she couldn´t get into cold water again. I put Elder Hoyt with Elder Trost to set in stone a baptismal date for the coming Saturday, as the other AP Elder Christensen and myself started making calls looking for a place with warm water to perform the baptism. Our plan didn´t pull through, so Elder Hoyt and I started to brainstorm on how we could heat water and throw it into the baptismal fount. After hearing that Eduardo and Jeannette were to be baptized Friday night, Marta asked if she could be baptized with them, of which we were completely up for.
Thursday we spent in the chapel/house installing shower duchas in two of the three bathrooms in order to heat water. Thursday night the zone leaders showed up to perform a wedding and a baptism in our church since the baptismal fount in theirs was out of comission. The zone leaders spent the night with us and Friday morning, at 9:30 A.M. we began the long process of filling our baptismal fount with 4 cubic meters of water by hand. We had the two shower duchas running nonstop, filling tall garbage cans, while we had two HUGE pots of water boiling over portable stoves. Nine and a half hours later, the fount was full and the water was nice warm temperature. The four of us were dead tired, but when we began the baptismal service, I felt incredible content with what we had accomplished. I had the privileged of baptizing Eduardo, and Elder Hoyt baptized Jeannette and Marta. The first words Eduardo spoke as he came out of the water filled my soul with a joy I cannot explain: "Maravilloso".
This weekend we have yet ANOTHER wedding to prepare for, along with our plans for the month. In July there were 8 baptisms in the area. We finished out August with 9. There have been 36 baptisms in San Ramon since January, and Elder Hoyt and I want to hit 45 before I leave. But 45 means 9 baptisms, and seeing how these last 2 months were 8 and then 9, we´re aiming for the stars a going for 10. Ten sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father brought into the fold of the Good Shepard. I believe that would definatly be ending the mission "flying" as President Gálvez put it.
I love you all. Come Friday, I´ll be 22 years old. These last 23 months have been filled with experiences of every kind, and in this, my last month as an ordained messenger of the Lord Jesus Christ, I can only pray to bare witness of His healing touch in not only my life, but in the lives of all those who are willing to listen to His words and feel His love. To accept His loving call to us all:
"...will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?" (3 Nephi 9:13, italics added)
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Monday, August 23, 2010
The Reasons Why
I won´t lie...that foto of Tylan walking into the airport was too much for me. I can´t believe he´s home!!!!
Oh yes, I know the return mission in Pocatello. Elder Mitton, he ended the mission as my AP. He´s a super cool guy, I actually plan on hanging out with him when we go down to Pocatello. And I love Elder Holland´s talk from last conference! I downloaded that the Monday after general conference just cause I could get enough of it. Elder Holland has such a commanding voice when he speaks, I love it!
My sudden change of area was a surprise, but the night of changes and all of last week made me realize instantly the reasons why. Hopefully I don´t leave anything out.
Monday night we visited a recent convert that my MTC companion Elder Trost had baptized, the Hermana Mildred and her family. I love that family! I´ll explain more on that later. Tuesday we visited another recent convert family who had been jehovah witnesses, and just to hear the mother´s testimony and how she had been sharing the gospel with literally ALL of her neighbors, I was just in awe. That night we visited a couple that we have on board for marriage and baptism, Eduardo and Jeanette. Another amazing family.
Let me start with some background on the area. For the past year San Ramon had been in a drought concerning missionary work. Not a single baptism for over a year. Then they sent Elder Trost here. He turned the area around, giving truth to my MTC teacher´s (Hermano Crane) words "Attitude makes the missionary." Elder Trost had the right attitude, and over the last 8 months there have been 33 baptisms in the area. Elder Trost baptized the Hermana Mildred and her family, she shared with me her conversion story and I have to give kudoos to Elder Trost, because he really was the only missionary who could have baptized that woman.
We spent the week finding new people and putting baptism dates left and right (we have 4 baptisms planned for September right now and we´re working for more). Our couple, Eduardo and Jeanette, were to be married Saturday (Aug 21), but Satan played his cards in trying to ruin it. First we had a back run in with mold that had infested all of our baptism clothes on Thursday. The Hermana Mildred called us at that moment of freaking out, telling us she had felt we needed help and if there was anything she could do for us. I count my lucky stars and thank the Lord for giving her that prompting of the Spirit, because otherwise we would´ve been left with NO baptism clothes for Saturday. About an hour before the wedding Saturday the lawyer called us, and gave us the unfortunate news that he absolutely couldn´t do the wedding that day. Eduardo and Jeanette had been counting down the days to their wedding, and there was no way I was going to wait until NEXT weekend for the big day. We´ve sacrificed our P-Day to get them married tonight, finalizing everything beforehand. Last night we passed by to check on the them, and luckily we did, because Lucifer had found his way back and had started to plant the seeds of doubt. I´ve said it before, I´ll say it again: I don´t know how many more times I can pour my heart and soul out in testimony. We spent a good two hours building up faith and testimony again until all was well and the wedding was back on a firm foundation. Elder Hoyt hugged me after we had left their house for joy. I guess he loved the way I bore my testimony to them. =P
Eduardo and Jeanette are getting married tonight at 7 p.m., and baptized Friday at the same hour. I ask for your prayers that they can stay firm in the faith until both these events pass.
There are so many people here I know I needed to meet before going home. So many tesitmonies I needed to hear, stories I needed to be told, and from day one in the area hasta la fecha, I´m still singing it.
I LOVE SAN RAMON!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Oh yes, I know the return mission in Pocatello. Elder Mitton, he ended the mission as my AP. He´s a super cool guy, I actually plan on hanging out with him when we go down to Pocatello. And I love Elder Holland´s talk from last conference! I downloaded that the Monday after general conference just cause I could get enough of it. Elder Holland has such a commanding voice when he speaks, I love it!
My sudden change of area was a surprise, but the night of changes and all of last week made me realize instantly the reasons why. Hopefully I don´t leave anything out.
Monday night we visited a recent convert that my MTC companion Elder Trost had baptized, the Hermana Mildred and her family. I love that family! I´ll explain more on that later. Tuesday we visited another recent convert family who had been jehovah witnesses, and just to hear the mother´s testimony and how she had been sharing the gospel with literally ALL of her neighbors, I was just in awe. That night we visited a couple that we have on board for marriage and baptism, Eduardo and Jeanette. Another amazing family.
Let me start with some background on the area. For the past year San Ramon had been in a drought concerning missionary work. Not a single baptism for over a year. Then they sent Elder Trost here. He turned the area around, giving truth to my MTC teacher´s (Hermano Crane) words "Attitude makes the missionary." Elder Trost had the right attitude, and over the last 8 months there have been 33 baptisms in the area. Elder Trost baptized the Hermana Mildred and her family, she shared with me her conversion story and I have to give kudoos to Elder Trost, because he really was the only missionary who could have baptized that woman.
We spent the week finding new people and putting baptism dates left and right (we have 4 baptisms planned for September right now and we´re working for more). Our couple, Eduardo and Jeanette, were to be married Saturday (Aug 21), but Satan played his cards in trying to ruin it. First we had a back run in with mold that had infested all of our baptism clothes on Thursday. The Hermana Mildred called us at that moment of freaking out, telling us she had felt we needed help and if there was anything she could do for us. I count my lucky stars and thank the Lord for giving her that prompting of the Spirit, because otherwise we would´ve been left with NO baptism clothes for Saturday. About an hour before the wedding Saturday the lawyer called us, and gave us the unfortunate news that he absolutely couldn´t do the wedding that day. Eduardo and Jeanette had been counting down the days to their wedding, and there was no way I was going to wait until NEXT weekend for the big day. We´ve sacrificed our P-Day to get them married tonight, finalizing everything beforehand. Last night we passed by to check on the them, and luckily we did, because Lucifer had found his way back and had started to plant the seeds of doubt. I´ve said it before, I´ll say it again: I don´t know how many more times I can pour my heart and soul out in testimony. We spent a good two hours building up faith and testimony again until all was well and the wedding was back on a firm foundation. Elder Hoyt hugged me after we had left their house for joy. I guess he loved the way I bore my testimony to them. =P
Eduardo and Jeanette are getting married tonight at 7 p.m., and baptized Friday at the same hour. I ask for your prayers that they can stay firm in the faith until both these events pass.
There are so many people here I know I needed to meet before going home. So many tesitmonies I needed to hear, stories I needed to be told, and from day one in the area hasta la fecha, I´m still singing it.
I LOVE SAN RAMON!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
One Last Run
Above Photo is of the bautism of Franklin
This last week ended with a lot of success, which is what I like to see. Tuesday morning we had a combined district meeting to discuss a few of the new points of focus we have as missionaries. Everything is still based out of Preach My Gospel, however they are 8 new focuses that haven´t had the attention they have well needed. And I personally bore witness of that Wednesday.
Wednesday we had received a referece from our cook, and since we happened to be working in that part of San Vito we took advantage of contacting the family the same day. Right from the get-go we began to apply a few of the new teaching methods we had discussed the day before, and we shared possibly the best lesson of my mission up to this point. The family we found is golden, and I would´ve loved to have baptized them for my birthday. Sadly that won´t be possible now.
Thursday we put a fecha with a joven we´ve been visiting, Miguel Ángel. We started planning his baptism for the 28th, which he accepted. Thursday night the missionaries from Ciudad Neilly came to do a blitz in San Vito. I finished Thursday night working with my district leader, Elder Perez from Honduras. Friday I continued working with Elder Perez while Elder Centeno worked with another salvadureño, Elder Garcia, in another part of San Vito. Elder Perez and I sealed in stone a baptismal fecha with Alondra once more, also for the 28th. The Spirit was there and she accepted the fecha readily without hesitation like past attempts. We also began teaching Miguel Ángel´s dad, who although very opinionated, was great to talk with and answer his questions.
Saturday we had the branch mother´s day activity (Sunday was Mother´s Day here in Costa Rica, HAPPY SECOND MOTHER´S DAY MOM!), which turned out really well. The new family we had found came and participated, making friends with the members and enjoying all the silly games we had planned. Hermano Chinchilla made "rice and bean" (gallo pinto cooked in coco milk and with chile panameño) which was incredible. All in all it was a great activity.
Sunday we had a great turn out, which I was deeply appreciated to see. We had 33 in church, with 3 investigators present.
Now for the surprising turn of events. Friday morning around 8 a.m. I received a phone call from the assistants. I was pumped when they told me I was the first in the mission to know about changes. I was sorely disappointed when they told me I HAD CHNAGES.
Sadly it was so. Once again, just as in Escazú, I was being taken from my area with only 3 short months, and being sent to who knows where. Elder Centeno is still in San Vito, he´ll have 7 and a half months before he leaves his first area now.
We got to San José Sunday night after a 6 hour bus ride from the zona sur. I spend a good part of the night talking with two of my good friends who I knew in the MTC, Elder Mitton and Elder Winward, who both go home tomorrow. It´s so weird to see this group going home right now, because they were with my group in the MTC for 3 weeks. This morning in changes meeting I meet up with my whole MTC district. Elder Litchfield and I started to make plans for BYU-Idaho and the whole nine yards. I said goodbye to my friends who are going home tomorrow: old ZLs, old DLs, an ex-secretary, and an ex-AP.
Then changes happened.
However disappointed I might have been about having to leave San Vito so soon was replaced by a sense of purpose as I was on the bus headed to my new area. I am now in San Ramon of Alajuela. San Ramon was part of my zone when I was in Cañas a year ago, but now it is part of Zona Central. Elder Nelson, who was with me in the MTC, and my old companion Elder Logan are my zone leaders. My new companion is Elder Hoyt from Houston, Texas. I´m the district leader over the zone leaders in Naranjo and the hermanas in Grecia. Once I saw I was district leader my only thought was "Oh snap, I need to teach district meetings now." =P The only thing that changes now is I can perform baptism interviews, which will be quite the experience.
Elder Litchfield had changes as well, he´s still in San José. My MTC companion, Elder Trost, is the new AP. We all saw it coming, and although he himself said he was nervous, I know he´s the man for the job.
Being in a new area for my last 6 weeks of the mission has given me a new jump of ánimo. San Ramon has been progressing ever since Elder Trost turned the place around, and I wll throw everything I have on the table, going "balls to the wall" as Elder Litchfield would put it, to keep it going and finish hard and strong. Elder Hoyt is a pretty cool guy. He only has 2 months in the mission, but he learned spanish before so language isn´t much of a barrier for him. He´s a percussionist like myself, he leaning more towards marimba, but we´re going to have a lot of fun.
I´m ready to go until I just can´t give anymore. To get it all I got and have no regrets.
It´s the Final Countdown. And I´m not going down without a FIGHT.
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
It's been rough, but we're alive
This is going to be a little quick, I don´t have a lot of time because I still need to make the tithing deposit in the bank before it closes. Oh the stress of being in charge.
I love how our family always has strange animals who make their home in ours. I hope you named that racoon like we did "Dinner" back at Grandma and Grandpa´s place. =P
Sounds like you guys are getting everything ready for the new school year. I won´t lie, it sounds crazy that school is about to start again. When I got to San Vito you guys were just getting out of school. No time has passed at all and you´re all getting ready to go back. What´s up with that???
This last week was tough, but we pulled through. This is the last week of the change, so Elder Centeno and I sat down last night after a really rough day and began to plan out every individual lesson with members we have scheduled for the week. My thinking is based off what the APs touched on in zone conference. 20 to 30% of those that members find get baptized, while only 1 to 2% of who we find enter the waters of baptism. If that´s the case, we need to be working through the members more than anything. But to do that we need to be visiting them and sharing lessons directed to strengthing their testimonies and understanding of the gospel. We´ve already started along that way, but we´ve kicked it up a notch due to our poorly depressing let-downs we had to experience over the week.
This upcoming Sunday, August 15th, is Mother´s Day here in Costa Rica. We´re planning a small dinner and activity for the mothers of branch, it should be pretty fun. I´m learning more about how to manage the funds of the branch, although I never imagined I´d be doing this kind of stuff.
I´ve been suffering from odd illnesses throughout these last few weeks, but I´m afraid it could all be from the same cause. Last Sunday I almost fainted while teaching Priesthood. I started seing stars, my hearing became an echo, I lost feeling in my limbs, the whole 9 yards. I felt better about an hour later, after having ended church a half hour early, but throughout the rest of the week I´ve just felt really weak at weird times. Every afternoon my head has just been killing me (like it is now). I´ve been taking some cold meds, hoping they´ll do the job, but so far nothing´s kicked this bug from my system. I hoping it´s nothing, but if I continue this way or somehow get worse, I´ll need to call the Hermana Gálvez.
I´m fine with visiting Derek, Ashley, Grandma and Grandpa October 8th. I´m itching for a nice road tirp, and to be the one driving (from Boise to Pocatello, verdad, no me gusta a manejar por las montañas mucho). It´s so weird to be making plans like these. This morning on the bus to Ciudad Neilly (I´m in Neilly right now), I realized I don´t even feel like I´m not in my native country. Everything´s so normal to me here, I don´t know how it´s gonna be when I get home. Mom, Dad, just so you two know, I might only be speaking to you in spanish for a while on my return. I don´t like speaking in english for too long, I prefer speaking in spanish. It´s just easier for me, I have to think to much to use english.
Alright, I gotta get going. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Take care, have fun, enjoy these last couple of days together before Ashley takes off for BSU, and be safe on the trip down. I can´t wait to hear from you all next week. Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
P.S.- Hey Ash, take care and be safe in Boise. I´ll be seeing you ASAP when I get home. And just so you don´t forget, buy plenty of shampoo before your birthday. Egg can be messy. =D Love ya Sis!
P.P.S.- Tell the Carton´s I miss them and give Tylan and big hug for me. =P I can´t believe he´s coming home. That´s just too much to take.
I love how our family always has strange animals who make their home in ours. I hope you named that racoon like we did "Dinner" back at Grandma and Grandpa´s place. =P
Sounds like you guys are getting everything ready for the new school year. I won´t lie, it sounds crazy that school is about to start again. When I got to San Vito you guys were just getting out of school. No time has passed at all and you´re all getting ready to go back. What´s up with that???
This last week was tough, but we pulled through. This is the last week of the change, so Elder Centeno and I sat down last night after a really rough day and began to plan out every individual lesson with members we have scheduled for the week. My thinking is based off what the APs touched on in zone conference. 20 to 30% of those that members find get baptized, while only 1 to 2% of who we find enter the waters of baptism. If that´s the case, we need to be working through the members more than anything. But to do that we need to be visiting them and sharing lessons directed to strengthing their testimonies and understanding of the gospel. We´ve already started along that way, but we´ve kicked it up a notch due to our poorly depressing let-downs we had to experience over the week.
This upcoming Sunday, August 15th, is Mother´s Day here in Costa Rica. We´re planning a small dinner and activity for the mothers of branch, it should be pretty fun. I´m learning more about how to manage the funds of the branch, although I never imagined I´d be doing this kind of stuff.
I´ve been suffering from odd illnesses throughout these last few weeks, but I´m afraid it could all be from the same cause. Last Sunday I almost fainted while teaching Priesthood. I started seing stars, my hearing became an echo, I lost feeling in my limbs, the whole 9 yards. I felt better about an hour later, after having ended church a half hour early, but throughout the rest of the week I´ve just felt really weak at weird times. Every afternoon my head has just been killing me (like it is now). I´ve been taking some cold meds, hoping they´ll do the job, but so far nothing´s kicked this bug from my system. I hoping it´s nothing, but if I continue this way or somehow get worse, I´ll need to call the Hermana Gálvez.
I´m fine with visiting Derek, Ashley, Grandma and Grandpa October 8th. I´m itching for a nice road tirp, and to be the one driving (from Boise to Pocatello, verdad, no me gusta a manejar por las montañas mucho). It´s so weird to be making plans like these. This morning on the bus to Ciudad Neilly (I´m in Neilly right now), I realized I don´t even feel like I´m not in my native country. Everything´s so normal to me here, I don´t know how it´s gonna be when I get home. Mom, Dad, just so you two know, I might only be speaking to you in spanish for a while on my return. I don´t like speaking in english for too long, I prefer speaking in spanish. It´s just easier for me, I have to think to much to use english.
Alright, I gotta get going. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Take care, have fun, enjoy these last couple of days together before Ashley takes off for BSU, and be safe on the trip down. I can´t wait to hear from you all next week. Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
P.S.- Hey Ash, take care and be safe in Boise. I´ll be seeing you ASAP when I get home. And just so you don´t forget, buy plenty of shampoo before your birthday. Egg can be messy. =D Love ya Sis!
P.P.S.- Tell the Carton´s I miss them and give Tylan and big hug for me. =P I can´t believe he´s coming home. That´s just too much to take.
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