Christmas HO HO HO!

So this week was pretty different. First of all I realized that Christmas here is SO DIFFERENT than in the United States. Fireworks galore! And the ward Christmas party started out with the missionaries singing two hymns and then the rest of it was the young men dancing to rap and then the young women´s dancing to a rap song also. There was no baby Jesus manger nativity but I guess that´s how they do it here. On Thursday we went to a multi- zone Christmas Conference where we played games and ate REALLY good food. I cant remember when I last ate good chicken with rice and mashed potatoes with rolls and cheesecake! Then we exchanged white elephant gifts and I got a relic of Nicaragua which was a piece of tree cut at an angle and painted on it was a cool picture! WAHOO!! Then President gave us Peanut butter and Jelly, which was everyone! And then he gave each apartment a microwave! 

We also learned at the conference that the mission  this year had 2,113 baptism! The year before we had around 1,265. We are the highest baptizing mission in the world. Our goal was 2,035 and if we reached it we would all go to the beach in San Juan! So on January 13 the whole mission is going to San Juan! Anyway I got to Skype with the family which was awesome! The connection was so bad though (sorry mom). 

I just want to tell you people how much I love this scripture Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-8

 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but asmall moment;

 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumphover all thy foes.

One thing that we teach people is Enduring to the end and part of that is patience and long suffering. Patience isn´t a one time thing to learn, it´s an eternal thing that I think we´ll be learning forever!

Hermana Partridge

I Ate Ants!

This week has been crazy! Tuesday we got the call for changes and 2 elders next to us were pulled so our area is huge! Plus the two Hermanas here in the house! So now I am living with 3 Guatemaltecas! Also I got a call from the secretary to the President and he asked me to be in a choir for a huge event at the Presidents house. So on Friday I went to practice for an hour and it was me and 3 other sisters and 6 elders. Small choir. SATURDAY WAS CRAZY!! So after lunch we had to run and buy a cake for a wedding that we were having in the backyard of one of our investigators so he could get married and baptized. So the whole day we were running around and getting stuff ready and we had the wedding and then the baptism and then after all the crazy of everything we went to the church in Alta Gracia and practiced singing for like 20 min. and then we got on a bus and went to Presidents house where he was having this huge dinner with all the stake presidents of Nicaragua Managua south mission. So we sang in front of them and let me just say I was more nervous singing in front of President than any other performance or basketball game in my life! We were all so nervous because if we messed up we would all get macheted.

Sunday was a good day, we had 6 investigators come to church and then after when we were teaching a lesson in the house of an investigator they asked us if we wanted pinolillo (a type of drink here in Nicaragua) and I said, "Estoy bien" which is I'm good no thank you but he heard "Esta bien" which is OK I would love some! (They were an older couple) So we got these huge cups of pinolillo and I took a sip and looked down and there was an ant next to my mouth. No biggy I just flicked it off and took another sip and that's when I saw it! There were a few dead ants floating on top of the water. I don't think they had rinsed out the cup at all but I drank it anyway. Then I realized that they didn't give us Agua Puro and I was praying the whole time that I wouldn't get a parasite. My companion and I were laughing so hard when we left because of the irony of the situation! I think Im good because a lot of missionaries here drink the water without a filter and are fine. We´ll see! BOOYAH!!

Word of wisdom for the day!

Come what may, and love it!

I love this phrase because it gives a message of hope and faith that no matter what happens it´ll get better and that whatever does happen we need to have a good attitude about it. Come what may, and love it! If a challenge comes, love it because it´ll make you that much stronger!

Love you all!

Hermana Partridge

6 Weeks in Nicaragua

This week has been full of surprises. Today is a Holiday here in Nicaragua and as sisters we were given permission not to work today because it's not safe. It's some holiday that the Catholics celebrate about the Virgin Mary.  So many fireworks were going off last night it was a little hard to sleep. 

I have gained a testimony about the hymns of the church and also of Fasting and Prayer. So here in Nicaragua we're allowed to drink Coca Cola and one day I realized that I was relying on it too much. So I decided to fast from it for a week and only drink it when given to me by members. This last week I haven't drank any Coca Cola! Poor Hermana Greenhalgh, because when the members gave me coke she drank hers and mine to help me with my fast! Thank you Hermana Greenhalgh!! But because of this fast I saw so many miracles happen and finally I broke one of the walls of Spanish and I have been able to understand people twice as better and talk twice as good! I'm so happy!

The hymns have been a source of comfort and joy for me here in Nicaragua, even though I can't understand the words being said, it beings me joy and peace just to hear them. I LOVE IT SO MUCH!!!

Some words of Wisdom for the Day:

"It always seems impossible until it's done." -Nelson Mandela

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not. -Dr. Suess

"Don't compare your beginning to someone elses middle." -Jon Acuff

"Nothing carries more potential for change than individual acts of human kindness" -Jamie Winship

"Promise me you will always remember:

You´re braver than you believe

and stronger than you seem

and smarter than you think."

-Winnie the Pooh

Thanksgiving Week

This week flew by fast! Our investigator Manuel who had a drinking problem has finally gotten baptized! He hasn't drank in 3 weeks! He received a blessing of strength from the Elders and hasn't drank since. 

This is Manuel who got baptized! He's super tuanies!

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY need your prayers for a little old lady named Dorothy. She lives with her daughter who is awful and I mean awful. Dorothy had a stroke about a year ago that left the left side of her body without any movement so she's in a wheelchair and can only move her right arm and right leg. She wears a diaper and always smells like urine and her room is so bad. Her daughter won't help her at all. The day of her baptism Sister Greenhalgh had to bathe her and help her with everything. Turns out her diaper was soaked through because it hadn't been changed in 5 days. She's skinny, REALLY skinny, it feels like I'm hugging a skeleton. The other day was so sad. We can't take her to church because her daughter won't get her ready and we don't have time to bathe her and get her ready; but, yesterday we saw her and we went to talk to her outside of her house and she saw us and broke down crying. She asked us why we didn't take her to church and how awful her daughter is and how hungry she was. Hermana Greenhalgh and DeLeon went to make her some food while we found out that she hasn't eaten in 2 days. I think it might have been more but she's also diabetic and her blood sugar was low. She told me how her daughter calls her a pig and other names. She said she has no one but God. We got the phone number of her other daughter who lives in the States and we talked to the bishop and we're trying to find a way to help her. It seriously broke my heart the other day. 

I'm now 6 weeks into the mission and I'm teaching lessons by myself now. If I'm teaching a lesson and don't know what to say next, I usually look at my companion; but, now she just stares at me and so I continue to talk and struggle through it, which is good because how are we going to get anywhere if we don't struggle. 

When I was told before the mission that it would be rice and beans.......they weren't joking. I eat rice and beans for days! WAHOO!! Thanksgiving we did go out as a zone and ate fries, chicken, and finally vegetables! All the while I thought about pumpkin pie. YUM! I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

I love you all and hope you're doing well! 

 Thanksgiving Dinner: Chicken, french fries and veggies.  Yum!!!

Winter in Nicaragua

WAHOO!!! Another week come and gone! So last Saturday I had my first baptism! We went to the church and everything was going great the faunt was full, people were there and Melissa (our investigator who is 15 years old) was excited. She got baptized and after we had cake and orange soda and while we were eating cake and orange soda i was trying to talk to a member and work on my Spanish when I wasn't watching where I was going and tripped and spilled my cup of orange soda all over the floor!!!! I was so embarrassed so we had to go get a mop and mop it up. First baptism was a go! 

It rained so much this week! I was soaked and there was seriously a river in the street! Apparently it´s not even rainy season here yet. Right now it´s winter here and everyone is like its chilly and I´m like it´s hot! It´s cooled down a lot since I´ve got here but it´s still hot enough that I´m dripping sweat.

So here in Nicaragua they have something called Chikungunya which is like a fever you get with joint pain and is horrible and it lasts for a couple months! You get it from mosquito bites and a lot of missionaries have it right now, if you could pray for them that would be great!

If you guys could pray for my investigators that would be awesome! Our first investigator is Manuel who is 67 years old and drinks a ton of alcohol but for 2 weeks he´s been clean and he´s come to church and he cleaned up and shaved! He´s getting baptized this Saturday and we are so excited! 

Then there´s Julian who is 78 years old who loves the church, reads The Book of Mormon and the book he received of principals of the gospel but his problem is he doesn't feel ready to get baptized. We brought the Zone leader over to talk to him and apparently he didn't like that and didn't come to church this Sunday. He loves our lessons though. 

Then there´s Lester and Rosa. This family really needs your prayers. Lester hasn't drank any coffee or smoked for over 2 weeks but last Saturday went out drinking with his friends and felt so bad! But he came to church this Sunday, sadly Rosa couldn't because she´s pregnant and was having really bad contractions. She´s due next month. 

Marta who is the Sister of a great convert Santiago. Santiago smoked marijuana every day of his life before he met the missionaries and we have a picture of the first day we met him and he looks angry even though he does have a smile. He stopped smoking and got baptized and is a completely different person. He also needs your prayers because he needs work. But anyway, Marta, is super hard because the missionaries before really pressured her into being baptized. Her daughter though is super interested in the church.

Luis is 20 years old and hasn't smoked for 2 weeks now! 

I´m still alive and kickin! The church is so true, I´ve seen it change people in ways that I´ve never seen before! 

Hermana Partridge

Drenched Sisters

Two Month Mark

I don't have much time but this past week has been pretty good.My Spanish is getting better!  I'm alive and doing well! BOOYAH!! TWO MONTHS IN THE MISSION TODAY!

Word of Wisdom for the week:

Our business in life is not to get ahead of others but to get ahead of ourselves, to break our own records, to outstrip our yesterdays by out todays, to bear our trials more beautifully than we ever dreamed we could, to give as we never have given, to do our work with more force and a finer finish than ever. This is the true goal, To get ahead of ourselves.

The drinks here come in a bag and you tear the corner open with your teeth and DELISH!

 This is where I sleep, we dont sleep with any blankets because of how hot it gets and we always have a fan running.

This is a picture of my first baptism!

There are a ton of these here, its like a mini taxi with no doors and seat belts, they're a lot of fun!

 Another sort of taxi that they have here. I can't remember what they're called though, also super fun!




 




 




This is Hermana Greenhalgh after she ate the bowl of soup,she was so tired.

This is part of my area. To get to the other side we had to cross this sketchy plank made out of wood and something else but finally they put in a metal bridge! 






Everyone has pictures on their wall of pictures that they've taken and then changed the background.

 We have a ton of these lizards living in every house here and they bark!

 





On Wednesdays, I'm companions with Hermana Greenhalgh who is the mission nurse and she is always on the phone with sick people and appointments. She rocks! She's from Richfield, Utah! 





I love this picture of Christ!

Sister in Area Watches Over Missionaries

These are some sweet missionaries!  Sister Ivi Sobalvarro cooks and cares for these wonderful ladies.

Nice work!

 Carmen helps cook with Ivi. Yum!