We also got the awesome opportunity to hike the volcano that is close to our area... San Cristobal. It's the highest in Nicaragua at 5,725 ft. We weren't able to get all the way to the top but we got close. It's actually quite active as well but we didn't have any problems.
So we've been planning this all week. One of the members, Gerardo, told us that he would take us if we were able to get permission. So we tried all week to get things worked out so we and some other missionaries could go. Sunday night, we got permission to go and we got things started. We found out that we were the only ones going due to the fact that the other missionaries had to run some errands in other places of Nicaragua so we decided to go with G, just the 3 of us. We got up at 3:30am to get out of the house by 4:30am to catch a truck that would take us to a town called Las Nubes (The Clouds) where we would begin our ascension. We got there at about 6:30am and headed up. We first passed through some avocado orchards, which were really cool, and then headed into some mountain farm land where they had a bunch of herds of cattle. We just followed the path, marking it so we wouldn't get lost coming back and kept going. Then we got to some old lava river beds. It's where the lava had passed awhile back when it exploded and created these rivers that will with water during the rainy season. They were all covered in black/grey rock and tons of volcanic sand. So we decided to stick to the river beds to go straight to the volcano. We go to a point where we had to go back due to the fact that the river bed ended so we busted our own trail about halfway up the side of the volcano. We could see out over all of Chichigalpa and all the little cities around it. It was so awesome and so silent. Something that we don't normally get working in the city. G had his scriptures and we read Alma 60:21-23.
21 Or do ye suppose that the Lord will still deliver us, while we sit upon our thrones and do not make use of the means which the Lord has provided for us?
22 Yea, will ye sit in idleness while ye are surrounded with thousands of those, yea, and tens of thousands, who do also sit in idleness, while there are thousands round about in the borders of the land who are falling by the sword, yea, wounded and bleeding?
23 Do ye suppose that God will look upon you as guiltless while ye sit still and behold these things? Behold I say unto you, Nay. Now I would that ye should remember that God has said that the inward vessel shall be cleansed first, and then shall the outer vessel be cleansed also.
It got us thinking about all the Nicaraguenses and how we are selected by God to come to this place and teach them. We cant be sitting around watching them fall away in sin around us, we need to do something about it! It teaches us in 23 that we need to repent before we can teach anyone else how to repent, cleaning the vessel inside and then the outside will be cleaned as well. I love these verses and how it applies to us in the mission and in our lives.
After we said a pray and looked out over the creations of the Lord one last time, we headed back down. So everyone knows that hiking up a mountain is one thing, but hiking down it is a whole different story. And walking on uneven ground makes it all the better. So we struggled our way down, got side tracked a bit but we made it back to the trail head at about 12:30pm. It was good timing and we got down safe. I loved the views and how I will probably never get that chance again. I also brought back some things from the top... Pine cones!! Couldn't believe it when I saw pine trees on the side of volcano. Now, whenever any of you get the chance to look at the Lords creations, just think about how much they mean to you and how much you mean to the Lord.
“Like the vital rudder of a ship, we have been provided a way to determine the direction we travel. The lighthouse of the Lord beckons to all as we sail the seas of life. Our home port is the celestial kingdom of God. Our purpose is to steer an undeviating course in that direction. A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder—never likely to reach home port. To us comes the signal: Chart your course, set your sail, position your rudder, and proceed.”
― Thomas S. Monson
¡¡¡Les AMO mucho!!!
Elder Daugherty
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