I really don´t have the words to describe this week. It´s probably better if I just give you the whole story.
Tuesday we had zone conference. We´ve now hit a new point of Preach My Gospel. Starting in May of next year, the curriculum at the MTC will be altered. Preach My Gospel will still be the basis, but the focus will be more leaned to better ourselves as teachers. However, from this point on, all our capacitations will be based on this principle of being better gospel teachers. We saw a lot of that in President Gálvez´s capacitation Tuesday. A few other things have changed as well. We will now only be having zone conference every 3 months, and interviews with President will be the month following zone conference. In other words, Tuesday was my final zone conference in the mission. Interviews aren´t until August 31st. Two of my good mission buddies, Elder Mitton from Pocatello and Elder Winward from Salt Lake, gave their final testimonies in the conference. I´ve known them both since the MTC, and it´s was kind of unreal to see them giving their final testimonies knowing I´m next.
On that note, there´s been one major change. This group that leaves in a few weeks will be the last group to go home on a Tuesday. We´re the only mission in central america who holds their changes meetings on Mondays, and the Area Seventies said to change it. So starting with my group, changes meetings will be Wednesday, and because President Gálvez wants those leaving to be present in changes meeting, those going home won´t leave until Thursday. So you´re going to need to add two days onto the countdown, because I won´t be getting home until September 30th.
Now that´s just the news part of my letter. Now for the miracle part of it.
About a month and a half ago, a man named Franklin Mendoza found our branch secretary and asked if he could send us (the missionaries) to visit him. To give you some background on this man, he use to be an evangelical pastor. But to many of those in San Vito, he was more than just a pastor, a lot of people saw him as a prophet. About a year ago he was diagnosed with stomach cancer, on which they operated but he was still declared terminal. His health as decreased ever since, preventing him from continuing his practice as a pastor. With that, he was somewhat exiled from the church he once presided over, and realizing something was wrong, he began to look for something to fill the void he felt within him. Due to his health, his wife ended up leaving him, and he was left to fend for himself and his 3 sons. After talking with a member of the church on a bus, he was told to speak with our secretary, Hermano Chinchilla. The first time we met with him, he told us he was going to San José within a few days, and that the doctors were going ot amputate his leg due to an infection that had occured due to the cancer. We didn´t teach any straight lesson, we simply answered his questions the best we could, after the which he asked us if we could give him a blessing. After the blessing, I gave him a Book of Mormon with a chapter marked that he could read, and a number he could call to contact us. I also gave him the number to the missionaries in the area he would be staying in San José.
A few weeks later, I felt the impression we needed to visit him again. We weren´t even sure if he had returned from San José, but we called the Hermano Chinchilla and went. Franklin was there, and he hadn´t received surgery yet due to some complications in his divorce that wouldn´t permit him to leave town quite yet. He told us he had been reading in the Book of Mormon, and that he didn´t understand why people were so against it since everything he had read so far was exactly what he had been searching for since his illness began. Once again, he told us that he would hopefully be leaving for San José in a few days but that he would meet with the missionaries as soon as he left the hospital. That was on July 7th.
Friday morning I was seated out on the porch studying, when Elder Centeno came out with the phone. He told me that Franklin had called, that he was close by and that he wanted to speak with us. We met with Franklin outside the apartment, and he told us that once again his divorce had delayed his surgery, but that Sunday morning he would be leaving. Without any further hesitation, he asked us what he had to do be baptized before he left. All he needed was the desire and the faith, of which I could tell he had both. Prior to speaking with us, he had separated himself from the woman he had been living with knowing it was necessary to "be right with God" as he put it. He said he had no doubt in his mind that this was what he needed to do.
Not an hour later we were on a bus for Ciudad Neilly. We brought one of the district leaders in the zone to San Vito, and we had Franklin´s baptismal interview Friday night. He made the statement that he might not know a whole lot about the church as a whole, but he had gained a testimony of the Book of Mormon, and he knew it was true.
Sunday morning, August 1, 2010 at 7:30 in the morning, I had to previleged to baptize Franklin Mendoza. He was later confirmed and able to partake of the sacrament before leaving for San José and the surgery that awaited him. But before he left, he said he felt at peace.
There are times in the mission where you question if you´re doing all you can, and if you feel you are, then why aren´t the good things coming? Then an experience like this comes along, and you have to humble yourself for having forgotten to have patience, and feeling blessed to have had part in such a conversion of faith.
Franklin entered the hospital in San José this morning. If you could keep him in your prayers, I would be deeply grateful.
I hope you´re all doing alright and enjoying the few weeks of summer vacation that are left. I love you all.
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Monday, August 2, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Soaked to the Bone
This week went alright, apart from the insane thunder storms that have been soaking us from head to toe. I haven´t come home dry in a while. =P
We managed to finally find some new families to teach, and the search continues this week as always. Yesterday we had 3 investigators in church, although we had to pull some strings so that members would pass by for them in the morning. We did finally have a Sunday with a "decent" church attendance. Friday my companion and I sat down and planned out everything for August. We´re going to be pushing ourselves a bit, but if we don´t no one else will.
Last night as I sat in bed thinking about what all needs to be down for the area, it suddenly hit me that I only have two months left. It just hit me like a brick wall. There´s so much to do here and so little time. If we just follow our plans, little by little I hope to see progress. As the saying goes "No one ever plans to fail; they just fail to plan."
Not a whole lot going on around here right now. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have zone conference in Rio Claro. I´m looking forward to it, especially for President Galvez´s capacitation. Always a good chance to put into play new ideas we haven´t thought of yet.
Have I mentioned how weird it is to do the finances after church Sundays??? It´s one of the weirdest moments of the week, putting together all the financial reports to send to the central offices in San José. Just weird to be the one doing that stuff.
I´m glad to hear you guys have had a fun week. I hope Dad enjoyed his birthday. =D So Ashley is leaving for BSU on the 14th? She´ll be home for Tylan´s homecoming then. He gets home on the 11th (at least that´s what he last told me. I haven´t heard from him since they changed all our email accounts back in March). Just to be saying that sounds weird. Has time really passed like this?
Alright I don´t have much else to tell you guys about this week. Take care, be safe, and enjoy the time you all have together before Ashley leaves for college. I love you all.
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
We managed to finally find some new families to teach, and the search continues this week as always. Yesterday we had 3 investigators in church, although we had to pull some strings so that members would pass by for them in the morning. We did finally have a Sunday with a "decent" church attendance. Friday my companion and I sat down and planned out everything for August. We´re going to be pushing ourselves a bit, but if we don´t no one else will.
Last night as I sat in bed thinking about what all needs to be down for the area, it suddenly hit me that I only have two months left. It just hit me like a brick wall. There´s so much to do here and so little time. If we just follow our plans, little by little I hope to see progress. As the saying goes "No one ever plans to fail; they just fail to plan."
Not a whole lot going on around here right now. Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have zone conference in Rio Claro. I´m looking forward to it, especially for President Galvez´s capacitation. Always a good chance to put into play new ideas we haven´t thought of yet.
Have I mentioned how weird it is to do the finances after church Sundays??? It´s one of the weirdest moments of the week, putting together all the financial reports to send to the central offices in San José. Just weird to be the one doing that stuff.
I´m glad to hear you guys have had a fun week. I hope Dad enjoyed his birthday. =D So Ashley is leaving for BSU on the 14th? She´ll be home for Tylan´s homecoming then. He gets home on the 11th (at least that´s what he last told me. I haven´t heard from him since they changed all our email accounts back in March). Just to be saying that sounds weird. Has time really passed like this?
Alright I don´t have much else to tell you guys about this week. Take care, be safe, and enjoy the time you all have together before Ashley leaves for college. I love you all.
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Monday, July 19, 2010
A Matter of a Few Degrees
Elder Centeno and I actually had a companionship inventory recently, trying to figure out if we faulted something that could be throwing us off in our efforts. Yesterday I was listening to a talk by President Uchtdorf from the April 2008 General Conference. The talk is entitled "A Matter of a Few Degrees" and he spoke on of simply being off-course by ONE degree, it can put us so far off-course from where we want to be. As far as things we can improve on, the one thing that really stood out to us is that we´ve been spending a little more time in our appointments than we need to. I remember in one of our zone conferences as President Gálvez explained we should leave a home immediatly after the closing prayer, leaving those we visit with the lingering of the Spirit and to ponder more on what was taught. When we stick around for the offer of something to eat or even drink, we begin talking about worldly things and as we leave the lingering Spirit we desire to remain with them isn´t as strong or as present as before. As Alma taught: "...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass..." (Alma 37:6)
Once again we suffered in church attendance, but I´m not going to linger on it. My focus right now is to find new families to bring into the fold and fortify the kingdom here in San Vito. The saying "You can´t teach an old dog new tricks" has repeatedly entered my thoughts over the last week. We need new blood to rejuvenate and clean out the pereza that as intergrated itself here. There weren´t many who accepted us throughout the last week, but Im not going to give up. There´s a reason "endure to the end" is part of the gospel.
There´s been a change of schedule within the mission. Turns out Elder Falabella won´t be coming anymore, so our zone conference was changed for the 27th. Elder Centeno and I are taking it easy, bouncing ideas off one another as to things we can do to fortify the branch and what not. Did I mention I´ve been teaching the elders quorum? That along with everything else is a new experience. There´s definately a big difference between teaching the missionary lessons and teaching a class in church. I´m learning a lot, in every aspect of this experience, despite the difficulties we´ve been facing.
Notthing to exciting has happened lately, just know that I´m okay and doing fine. Keep the members of San Vito in your prayers please, along with myself. I appreciate it. =)
I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Tell Dad happy early birthday for me! I´ll talk to you next week. Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Once again we suffered in church attendance, but I´m not going to linger on it. My focus right now is to find new families to bring into the fold and fortify the kingdom here in San Vito. The saying "You can´t teach an old dog new tricks" has repeatedly entered my thoughts over the last week. We need new blood to rejuvenate and clean out the pereza that as intergrated itself here. There weren´t many who accepted us throughout the last week, but Im not going to give up. There´s a reason "endure to the end" is part of the gospel.
There´s been a change of schedule within the mission. Turns out Elder Falabella won´t be coming anymore, so our zone conference was changed for the 27th. Elder Centeno and I are taking it easy, bouncing ideas off one another as to things we can do to fortify the branch and what not. Did I mention I´ve been teaching the elders quorum? That along with everything else is a new experience. There´s definately a big difference between teaching the missionary lessons and teaching a class in church. I´m learning a lot, in every aspect of this experience, despite the difficulties we´ve been facing.
Notthing to exciting has happened lately, just know that I´m okay and doing fine. Keep the members of San Vito in your prayers please, along with myself. I appreciate it. =)
I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Tell Dad happy early birthday for me! I´ll talk to you next week. Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Some Peace of Mind
July 12th email
To answer your first question, no, San Vito isn´t a poor area. In fact this is the first time (not counting Escazú because they were all gringos) that most of the members have their own car. I´ll be honest, if the church was better established here, I would have no problem living in San Vito. It reminds me a lot of John Day, Oregon. Yesterday we continued with a depressing church attendance: 14. We visited three families Saturday evening, an not one of them came to church.
Things continue to be a struggle, but I´m dealing with it a little better now. There´s only so many things we can do for the members to get excited about the work, and we´re doing just about everything. We visit everyone during the week. We call those who are assigned to give talks twice a week. We call everyone Saturday night about church, and a few special cases Sunday morning. What we fault more than anything is bringing new people to church, and it´s been a dead week in trying to find new investigators. Every free minute is dedicated to looking, and I pray we find our golden family soon. We´ve been placing pamphlets (is that how you spell it??? I don´t even remember) in every grocery store, bookstore, and copy shop we pass through with our names and number. The Lord works through small means. I can only hope and pray these small means lead to the results He wants.
President Gálvez called me last night as well. I was kind of taken aback at first, I mean come on, my mission president called me. There´s some pressure in that. He asked me how church went, how the members are doing, and what we have planned. I won´t lie, talking with President Gálvez gave me some peace of mind. I don´t feel like a chicken with it´s head cut off anymore. He agreed with what we´re doing and gave me some advice in other things we can do to strengthen our candidates for branch president. Everything just feels better when you know President is on your side.
Today we spent the day in Ciudad Neily with my district and the zone leaders. We went to a waterfall in the area and then played soccer with the youth. I´m looking forward to playing some soccer on the weekends when I get home. Although I doubt the games will be as intense as they are here.
My new district leader is Elder Perez from Honduras. This will be the first time I have been the only gringo in my district. I do feel my english is only going to get worse in the coming months. I´ve already found myself struggling to pronounce certain words correctly when I was trying to talk with the gringos that came to church yesterday. I couldn´t even remember the word "downtown". I just say "centro".
I dare say my father language is killing the mother language.
Alright well not much else to tell you guys about this week. I hope you´re all enjoying summer vacation and staying safe. Take care, thank Grandma and Grandpa for the money, and know that I am safe and happy. Thank you for everything.
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
To answer your first question, no, San Vito isn´t a poor area. In fact this is the first time (not counting Escazú because they were all gringos) that most of the members have their own car. I´ll be honest, if the church was better established here, I would have no problem living in San Vito. It reminds me a lot of John Day, Oregon. Yesterday we continued with a depressing church attendance: 14. We visited three families Saturday evening, an not one of them came to church.
Things continue to be a struggle, but I´m dealing with it a little better now. There´s only so many things we can do for the members to get excited about the work, and we´re doing just about everything. We visit everyone during the week. We call those who are assigned to give talks twice a week. We call everyone Saturday night about church, and a few special cases Sunday morning. What we fault more than anything is bringing new people to church, and it´s been a dead week in trying to find new investigators. Every free minute is dedicated to looking, and I pray we find our golden family soon. We´ve been placing pamphlets (is that how you spell it??? I don´t even remember) in every grocery store, bookstore, and copy shop we pass through with our names and number. The Lord works through small means. I can only hope and pray these small means lead to the results He wants.
President Gálvez called me last night as well. I was kind of taken aback at first, I mean come on, my mission president called me. There´s some pressure in that. He asked me how church went, how the members are doing, and what we have planned. I won´t lie, talking with President Gálvez gave me some peace of mind. I don´t feel like a chicken with it´s head cut off anymore. He agreed with what we´re doing and gave me some advice in other things we can do to strengthen our candidates for branch president. Everything just feels better when you know President is on your side.
Today we spent the day in Ciudad Neily with my district and the zone leaders. We went to a waterfall in the area and then played soccer with the youth. I´m looking forward to playing some soccer on the weekends when I get home. Although I doubt the games will be as intense as they are here.
My new district leader is Elder Perez from Honduras. This will be the first time I have been the only gringo in my district. I do feel my english is only going to get worse in the coming months. I´ve already found myself struggling to pronounce certain words correctly when I was trying to talk with the gringos that came to church yesterday. I couldn´t even remember the word "downtown". I just say "centro".
I dare say my father language is killing the mother language.
Alright well not much else to tell you guys about this week. I hope you´re all enjoying summer vacation and staying safe. Take care, thank Grandma and Grandpa for the money, and know that I am safe and happy. Thank you for everything.
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Sunday, July 11, 2010
New Lessons in Patience
July 4th email
You´re right, I have been a little frustrated this last couple of weeks. The more we do, the fewer the results. If I hadn´t been blessed with a fun companion, I would´ve tore my hair out weeks ago. Reading through old letters I´ve received as well as continuing in my studies of the scriptures helps me with the daily dose of ánimo that I need most right now, a blessing I am truely grateful for.
This last wek Elder Centeno and I have been praying and playing around with all the callings in the branch, trying to find what the Lord wants to happen. The people and the callings they have now just isn´t working, especially with the youth and primary leaders. I´ve really hit the point we´re I´ve accepted one of my old district leader´s mottos: "If they won´t go to church, find people who will."
Sunday just made me want to cry. We started sacrament meeting with only 8 people present (that´s including me and my companion). I can´t even find words to describe how awful I felt. I don´t know what more we could´ve done. We visited everyone during the week, called everyone Saturday night, we even called people early Sunday morning because we knew they would sleep in. And yet nobody came, and noday cared. Or so it would seem that way. This week we´re dedicating every free moment we have in finding people who are willing to do things the way the Lord wants it done. People who echo the Prophet Joseph´s personal rule: When the Lord commands, do it.
Changes were today. Elder Centeno and I will be together until mid-August, which I´m perfectly fine with. We´re having fun, and although things aren´t going the way we want them to, it´s good to have someone of good humor around to joke around with and lighten the mood. Everyone else int he zone has changes though. In fact, Elder Centeno and I are the only missionaries in the Zona Sur today. Everyone else is in San José. =P
Last night my companion and I revised our plans for the week. I will not allow another Sunday like yesterday to happen ever again. I won´t do it. Of those eigth in church, two of them weren´t even members from San Vito. There´s a student couple from Arizona doing a study here, so they´ll be with us until August. It´ll be nice to have some new faces around for a while at least.
Alright, there´s not much else going on here. I did find out that Elder Falabella of the Seventy will be visiting us on the 22nd. I´m looking forward to that. It´s been a while since we last had a General Authority visit us.
Take care and have a great week. Tell Grandma thank you for the money, I really appreciate it. =)
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
P.S.- Mom and Logan: How are you two doing on your Book of Mormon reading?
You´re right, I have been a little frustrated this last couple of weeks. The more we do, the fewer the results. If I hadn´t been blessed with a fun companion, I would´ve tore my hair out weeks ago. Reading through old letters I´ve received as well as continuing in my studies of the scriptures helps me with the daily dose of ánimo that I need most right now, a blessing I am truely grateful for.
This last wek Elder Centeno and I have been praying and playing around with all the callings in the branch, trying to find what the Lord wants to happen. The people and the callings they have now just isn´t working, especially with the youth and primary leaders. I´ve really hit the point we´re I´ve accepted one of my old district leader´s mottos: "If they won´t go to church, find people who will."
Sunday just made me want to cry. We started sacrament meeting with only 8 people present (that´s including me and my companion). I can´t even find words to describe how awful I felt. I don´t know what more we could´ve done. We visited everyone during the week, called everyone Saturday night, we even called people early Sunday morning because we knew they would sleep in. And yet nobody came, and noday cared. Or so it would seem that way. This week we´re dedicating every free moment we have in finding people who are willing to do things the way the Lord wants it done. People who echo the Prophet Joseph´s personal rule: When the Lord commands, do it.
Changes were today. Elder Centeno and I will be together until mid-August, which I´m perfectly fine with. We´re having fun, and although things aren´t going the way we want them to, it´s good to have someone of good humor around to joke around with and lighten the mood. Everyone else int he zone has changes though. In fact, Elder Centeno and I are the only missionaries in the Zona Sur today. Everyone else is in San José. =P
Last night my companion and I revised our plans for the week. I will not allow another Sunday like yesterday to happen ever again. I won´t do it. Of those eigth in church, two of them weren´t even members from San Vito. There´s a student couple from Arizona doing a study here, so they´ll be with us until August. It´ll be nice to have some new faces around for a while at least.
Alright, there´s not much else going on here. I did find out that Elder Falabella of the Seventy will be visiting us on the 22nd. I´m looking forward to that. It´s been a while since we last had a General Authority visit us.
Take care and have a great week. Tell Grandma thank you for the money, I really appreciate it. =)
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
P.S.- Mom and Logan: How are you two doing on your Book of Mormon reading?
The Goal
June 28th email
Things have been pretty crazy around here. We were suppose to have interviews with President Gálvez on Tuesday, but they got changed to Thursday. So Elder Centeno and I ended up leaving Golfito early Tuesday morning. Luckily, we got back to San Vito by 11 a.m. Elder Centeno got back from San José Monday night, and thankfully, he brought your package along with him. We had some urgent puchases to make, I´m not sure how much money is left in my account and I don´t want to pull out anymore money for fear of overdraft charges.
We´ve been working hard with one family we found a few weeks back. The daughter, Alondra, decided she wants to be baptized, and we set the date for July 10th. One of my zone leaders wasn´t too happy about that, he tried to push into baptizing her this last Saturday (June 26) so that the zone would make it´s goal for baptisms. He was pretty speechless with my reply. I don´t chop investigators heads like a lot of other missionaries do, but I have no problem chopping a missionary´s head for being a number cruncher. If they don´t have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel, I won´t baptize them. Especially when every baptism needs to help the branch GROW. We can´t afford that anyone falls away. My zone leader came back saying that it´important to focus on retention as branch president, but I also need to focus on missionary work.
...I was under the impression retention was PART of missionary work...
In my interview with President Gálvez Thursday I mentioned this to him, and he took my side which gave me a decent confidence boost. My interview with President was good. I ended up asking him a landslide of questions about what I should be doing in the branch. He gave me my objective: When I leave, the branch needs to have a REAL branch president, not a missionary. I´m all for that, it´s not the same when it´s a missionary running the show. We´re only around for so long, and then when the new guy comes, plans change, and you´re pretty much starting out from square one. There´s no real progress that way.
Along with that President gave me some advice on what we can do to prepare and strengthen the leaders. We´re going to be cutting church short one hour, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 11 a.m. (Sacrament meeting and Sundayt school). No one sticks around for Priesthood or Relief Society, and until we get the few we have ACTIVE in the church, there´s no point in following through with that. We need to take everything back to basics. In Sunday school we´re already teaching Gospel Principles instead of the Old Testament. For mutual we´re using activities to teach basic gospel doctrine. In dropping the third hour, it puts more responsibility on our more active members to do their home and visiting teaching. It´s going to be a lot of work, but the hope is in doing this our one major candidate for branch president, the Hermano Chinchilla, will start to work more in the church.
Thursday after interviews we had divisions with the elders of Ciudad Neily. I was wih my district leader, Elder Sperry, in San Vito. I had to teach seminary and then the youth leaders didn´t show, so I directed mutual as well. Thursday nights have proven to be our busiest nights aound here.
Tuesday night I had a craving for banana cream pie, so I bought the stuff to make it. I just made the cream, didn´t want to spend my time on the crust. =P I can officially make banana cream pie now. I do think that is somewhat of an accomplishment. =D
Alright I gotta jet. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week. Take care, enjoy the World Cup, and I´ll talk to you guys next week. ¡Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Things have been pretty crazy around here. We were suppose to have interviews with President Gálvez on Tuesday, but they got changed to Thursday. So Elder Centeno and I ended up leaving Golfito early Tuesday morning. Luckily, we got back to San Vito by 11 a.m. Elder Centeno got back from San José Monday night, and thankfully, he brought your package along with him. We had some urgent puchases to make, I´m not sure how much money is left in my account and I don´t want to pull out anymore money for fear of overdraft charges.
We´ve been working hard with one family we found a few weeks back. The daughter, Alondra, decided she wants to be baptized, and we set the date for July 10th. One of my zone leaders wasn´t too happy about that, he tried to push into baptizing her this last Saturday (June 26) so that the zone would make it´s goal for baptisms. He was pretty speechless with my reply. I don´t chop investigators heads like a lot of other missionaries do, but I have no problem chopping a missionary´s head for being a number cruncher. If they don´t have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel, I won´t baptize them. Especially when every baptism needs to help the branch GROW. We can´t afford that anyone falls away. My zone leader came back saying that it´important to focus on retention as branch president, but I also need to focus on missionary work.
...I was under the impression retention was PART of missionary work...
In my interview with President Gálvez Thursday I mentioned this to him, and he took my side which gave me a decent confidence boost. My interview with President was good. I ended up asking him a landslide of questions about what I should be doing in the branch. He gave me my objective: When I leave, the branch needs to have a REAL branch president, not a missionary. I´m all for that, it´s not the same when it´s a missionary running the show. We´re only around for so long, and then when the new guy comes, plans change, and you´re pretty much starting out from square one. There´s no real progress that way.
Along with that President gave me some advice on what we can do to prepare and strengthen the leaders. We´re going to be cutting church short one hour, starting at 9 a.m. and ending at 11 a.m. (Sacrament meeting and Sundayt school). No one sticks around for Priesthood or Relief Society, and until we get the few we have ACTIVE in the church, there´s no point in following through with that. We need to take everything back to basics. In Sunday school we´re already teaching Gospel Principles instead of the Old Testament. For mutual we´re using activities to teach basic gospel doctrine. In dropping the third hour, it puts more responsibility on our more active members to do their home and visiting teaching. It´s going to be a lot of work, but the hope is in doing this our one major candidate for branch president, the Hermano Chinchilla, will start to work more in the church.
Thursday after interviews we had divisions with the elders of Ciudad Neily. I was wih my district leader, Elder Sperry, in San Vito. I had to teach seminary and then the youth leaders didn´t show, so I directed mutual as well. Thursday nights have proven to be our busiest nights aound here.
Tuesday night I had a craving for banana cream pie, so I bought the stuff to make it. I just made the cream, didn´t want to spend my time on the crust. =P I can officially make banana cream pie now. I do think that is somewhat of an accomplishment. =D
Alright I gotta jet. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week. Take care, enjoy the World Cup, and I´ll talk to you guys next week. ¡Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Go Chile! Go!
June 21st Email
Happy Father´s Day Dad! Tell Derek I said happy birthday as well. =)
I´ve been trying to keep up on World Cup stuff by asking members. There´s been some weird upsets, but I was so pumped when I heard Chile beat Honduras. I just heard a few minutes ago that Chile beat Switzerland as well. That just leaves Spain. That might hurt a bit, but I´m rooting for Chile all the way. =D
To answer your question about Changes, Changes meetings are always on Mondays every 6 months. I´ll be coming home Tuesday, September 28th. I should be getting my flight plans in August, so we´ll know times and everything then.
This week has kind of followed the pattern of a tough week, but I´ve accepted it´s just going to be this way until the end. A lot of work needs to be done, and I´m trying to play out my strengths to where I can help the branch most. It´s not easy, but I´m keeping my sights on the future: to when this small branch can flourish as a ward in a stake of Zion. It was kind of disheartening when I realized that apart from the branch secretary and the seminary teacher, all other leaders in San Vito are less active. The district president gave me some good advice though: Just work with the youth. If the youth are active, the parents will follow soon enough.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have interviews with President Gálvez. I´m for sure going to be asking his advice on a lot that´s been going on here. Yesterday (Sunday) was a bit rough though. We had 2 investigators in church, which I was glad for, but we only had 13 PEOPLE IN CHURCH.
This last week has found us working especially hard with a family we found recently. Juan, Isabel, and their daughters Nuria and Alondra. It hasn´t been easy. Alondra, who´s fourteen, loves everything we´ve taught and wants to be baptized. Juan, the father, is 86 years old and dying. We gave him a blessing a few nights back, and miraculously he was on his feet for the first time in weeks the next day. The mother Isabel is the tough one though. Preisthood authority is her brick wall right now, no matter how many times we´ve tried to lay it out for her. She just needs to pray and ask, it´s really that simple. But simplicity in the things of the Lord are not what people usually expect, sadly enough. I don´t think we´re going to make our goal for the month, but that only means we need to work even HARDER in the month to come. We´re also going to see if we should pick up an old investigator as well. The guy is an sadly an alcoholic, and has been for a very, VERY long time. We set the goal with him that he won´t drink AT ALL tomorrow (Tuesday). If he can go just ONE day without taking a drink, then there´s the chance of progress. This guy has some crazy stories though. He´s gone wetback into the states twice just for starters.
Food for the week is something noteworthy. Wednesdau we had cow tongue for lunch. I knew what it was the moment I saw it, but my companion didn´t have a clue. We started eating and Elder Centeno froze for a second saying "This meat is way too soft to be normal." I started laughing as did our cook. Elder Centeno was kind of shocked to learn he was eating cw tongue. After everything I´ve had to eat in this country, cow tongue was nothing in comparison.
Saturday our branch secretary made us Rice & Bean. I don´t know if I´ve told you about this dish before, but it´s a typical dish from Limón. It´s pretty much the same thing as Gallo Pinto (white rice and beans) but the difference is the good everything in coconut milk and mix in some chili panameños. It´s always served with roasted chicken which is also cooked in coco milk. It has to be one of my favorite dishes here, and it´s usually only good when a black man makes it. Ticos try, but this dish was created and perfected but Limonenses. Our secretary did a good job though, I was really surprised.
I´m in Golfito right now. My companion had to go to San José again to receive his residency. Friday night we got stopped by a couple of cops and they asked to see our IDs. My companion didn´t have any papers on him, but THANKFULLY immigration was CLOSED. The cops didn´t want to go through the trouble of taking my comp in, so they just told him he can´t leave our apartment or else they´ll take him in. President Gálvez got the ball rolling, and finalized my companion´s residency ASAP. The funny thing was Saturday night walking home we saw those same two cops, and they just glared at us with eyes that said "I thought I told you to stay home." They didn´t do anything, as I knew they wouldn´t, and if they had tried my comp had on him the equivalent to "diplomatic immunity" for missionaries. =P
Alright, not much else happening around here. I´m kind of stressed out about what I´m going to do with the branch, but I´m trying my best not to let it overwhelm me. Like I said, there´s just so much to do I´m not sure where to start. I´m going to take the district president´s advice though: just work with the youth and the rest will fall into place.
I love you all and I hope you have a great week, Take care, be safe, and enjoy summer vacation (because some of us have gone 2 years without one). =P
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
P.S.- No, I haven´t received my new debit card yet. I´m hoping I´ll get it tomorrow at interviews.
Happy Father´s Day Dad! Tell Derek I said happy birthday as well. =)
I´ve been trying to keep up on World Cup stuff by asking members. There´s been some weird upsets, but I was so pumped when I heard Chile beat Honduras. I just heard a few minutes ago that Chile beat Switzerland as well. That just leaves Spain. That might hurt a bit, but I´m rooting for Chile all the way. =D
To answer your question about Changes, Changes meetings are always on Mondays every 6 months. I´ll be coming home Tuesday, September 28th. I should be getting my flight plans in August, so we´ll know times and everything then.
This week has kind of followed the pattern of a tough week, but I´ve accepted it´s just going to be this way until the end. A lot of work needs to be done, and I´m trying to play out my strengths to where I can help the branch most. It´s not easy, but I´m keeping my sights on the future: to when this small branch can flourish as a ward in a stake of Zion. It was kind of disheartening when I realized that apart from the branch secretary and the seminary teacher, all other leaders in San Vito are less active. The district president gave me some good advice though: Just work with the youth. If the youth are active, the parents will follow soon enough.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) we have interviews with President Gálvez. I´m for sure going to be asking his advice on a lot that´s been going on here. Yesterday (Sunday) was a bit rough though. We had 2 investigators in church, which I was glad for, but we only had 13 PEOPLE IN CHURCH.
This last week has found us working especially hard with a family we found recently. Juan, Isabel, and their daughters Nuria and Alondra. It hasn´t been easy. Alondra, who´s fourteen, loves everything we´ve taught and wants to be baptized. Juan, the father, is 86 years old and dying. We gave him a blessing a few nights back, and miraculously he was on his feet for the first time in weeks the next day. The mother Isabel is the tough one though. Preisthood authority is her brick wall right now, no matter how many times we´ve tried to lay it out for her. She just needs to pray and ask, it´s really that simple. But simplicity in the things of the Lord are not what people usually expect, sadly enough. I don´t think we´re going to make our goal for the month, but that only means we need to work even HARDER in the month to come. We´re also going to see if we should pick up an old investigator as well. The guy is an sadly an alcoholic, and has been for a very, VERY long time. We set the goal with him that he won´t drink AT ALL tomorrow (Tuesday). If he can go just ONE day without taking a drink, then there´s the chance of progress. This guy has some crazy stories though. He´s gone wetback into the states twice just for starters.
Food for the week is something noteworthy. Wednesdau we had cow tongue for lunch. I knew what it was the moment I saw it, but my companion didn´t have a clue. We started eating and Elder Centeno froze for a second saying "This meat is way too soft to be normal." I started laughing as did our cook. Elder Centeno was kind of shocked to learn he was eating cw tongue. After everything I´ve had to eat in this country, cow tongue was nothing in comparison.
Saturday our branch secretary made us Rice & Bean. I don´t know if I´ve told you about this dish before, but it´s a typical dish from Limón. It´s pretty much the same thing as Gallo Pinto (white rice and beans) but the difference is the good everything in coconut milk and mix in some chili panameños. It´s always served with roasted chicken which is also cooked in coco milk. It has to be one of my favorite dishes here, and it´s usually only good when a black man makes it. Ticos try, but this dish was created and perfected but Limonenses. Our secretary did a good job though, I was really surprised.
I´m in Golfito right now. My companion had to go to San José again to receive his residency. Friday night we got stopped by a couple of cops and they asked to see our IDs. My companion didn´t have any papers on him, but THANKFULLY immigration was CLOSED. The cops didn´t want to go through the trouble of taking my comp in, so they just told him he can´t leave our apartment or else they´ll take him in. President Gálvez got the ball rolling, and finalized my companion´s residency ASAP. The funny thing was Saturday night walking home we saw those same two cops, and they just glared at us with eyes that said "I thought I told you to stay home." They didn´t do anything, as I knew they wouldn´t, and if they had tried my comp had on him the equivalent to "diplomatic immunity" for missionaries. =P
Alright, not much else happening around here. I´m kind of stressed out about what I´m going to do with the branch, but I´m trying my best not to let it overwhelm me. Like I said, there´s just so much to do I´m not sure where to start. I´m going to take the district president´s advice though: just work with the youth and the rest will fall into place.
I love you all and I hope you have a great week, Take care, be safe, and enjoy summer vacation (because some of us have gone 2 years without one). =P
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
P.S.- No, I haven´t received my new debit card yet. I´m hoping I´ll get it tomorrow at interviews.
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