Week 9 in Chinandega, Nicaragua

¡¡Hola Mi Familia!!

I don´t even know where to begin..... Ok, lets start right after I finished phone calls in the Miami airport.
I got on the plane, for the last time to go to Nicaragua. the flight was long and dark. I was sitting next to this guy named T, and he was flying to Nicaragua for the first time as well. He was going there to do eye screenings for the little kids so they could get glasses if they needed to. I gave him a pass-along card and talked to him a lot about the gospel. We arrived at the Nicaragua airport and it was super hot and humid. The AP Missionaries met us at the door and took us to McDonald's (yes they have one in Nicaragua) where we ate and met the Pres. and his wife. They are really cool and I actually think Hna Arredondo called you? not sure... anyways,  after, we went to the mission home and slept. In the morning, we went to a big intro meeting that lasted like all day and then we went out contacting in the streets of Managua. It was pretty nerve racking and difficult. I have no problem with my Spanish here. I can speak and anyone can understand me, but when they talk back to me, I can´t understand ANYTHING!!! It´s really frustrating because I really want to understand and I´m trying so hard to but it doesn´t seem to be coming just yet. I´m sure in time, my ears will adjust and I will be able to understand everyone. I just can´t give up. after we went contacting, we went back to the mission home and slept. In the morning (Wednesday morning) we woke up really early and went to another big meeting, but this meeting was for Changes in the mission. Which meant I was getting a new companion and a new area to go to. After the meeting was over, the Pres announced all the changes. My new companion(s) is Elder M. Elder M is really companions with Elder S but M is my trainer and Elder S is a trainer for another missionary named Elder St who was is my district in the MTC. So technically I have 3 companions. Elder M barely speaks English so I have to really struggle to communicate with him sometimes because he likes to talk REALLY fast and I can never understand him. He is from Guatemala and is about 4 inches shorter than me. After we got paired up, we got assigned to new areas. My new area is Monserrat in the city of Chinandega. This city is one of the HOTTEST cities in Nicaragua and also one that has the biggest wards and stakes in the church. We had to take a 3 hour bus ride to our area from Managua. When we got there, we went contacting for the rest of the day. It started to rain and when it rains here, it RAINS. Like street flooding type of rain. I was walking in a down pour in about 4 inches of water. I was soaked for the rest of the day. It hasn´t rained like that since I got here so I´m taking it as a welcome gift from the city. The next day, we went contacting some more because we don´t have any families that are progressing. This mission is SUPER strong on families because the retention here.... sucks. The whole country of Nicaragua has a huge baptizing rate but only about 20% of the people actually stay active. So the Pres. has us focus on FAMILIAS because if we can baptize a full family (which is a father, mother, and kids, or just father, mother) the retention rate goes up and the family is more likely to stay active in the church. So when we go contacting, we pass a lot of solo people in the street because we are looking only for families. It's hard to do this because I was taught otherwise in the MTC but I´m learning that since it's what the Pres wants, then the Lord must want it too. It´s funny though because as soon as we find a family, we swarm to them like flies and really try to get them to take the lessons and go to church. Friday and Saturday we did the same thing. We walk A LOT!!!! It really sucks because I've got some big blisters on my feet, that are recovering now, that make it hard to walk but I´m pretty sure we walk like 15 miles a day. So on Sunday, the Pres said that we need to have families come to church with is. And if we don´t have families with us, as soon as we take the sacrament, we have to leave and not come back until we have a family. So Sundays really suck here (every missionary in the area hate Sundays  because all you do is walk and contact people. My companion and I contacted about 4 families that said they were going to go to church and when we returned to pick them up to go with us, they weren't there.... Every single family we find is nearly impossible to find again because they are never home, or don´t answer the door even though you can hear/see them inside. That is also frustrating but we are trying our very hardest and if no one wants to accept, then at least we are doing what we are suppose to do and working as hard as we can. So now that Sunday is over, this leads to Monday. Mondays are my P-Days. Mondays are assigned to be P-Day because it´s hard to get missionaries back to work after Sundays because Sundays are the worst. After we woke up this morning, we were deciding what to do. We decided to go fishing in Corinto (west coast I think) and play on the beach. So we hitched a ride on some guys truck and rode to Corinto and went fishing (no success) and played football and soccer on the beach. I´ve got some pictures that I will send after I send this. Also, STEPH JENSEN, I have a letter that I wrote you on the plane but I haven´t figured out how to send it yet.... I´ll get working on that. Mail usually takes about 2-3 weeks to get here and packages can take about 2-3 months so..... Plan ahead! Also, I figured I would tell you about the weather and the day light patterns down here. The sun rises at about 5 am along with all the birds, dogs, people, roosters, taxi drivers, you name it. If it makes lots of noise, it will probably be doing it at 5 am. The sun sets at about 6 pm and it is super dark for the last 3 hours that we have to be working out in the city streets. The weather is super hot in the morning, super hot in the afternoon, even hotter when the sun sets, and super hot all night long. The coolest part of the day is probably in the mornings. This heat, combined with the humidity is KILLER!! We get back home at night drenched in sweat and it takes forever to dry off because its so humid. So I hope you guys enjoy your cold weather and don´t complain about it!! I´d rather be super cold than be super hot. Also, the showers here only have one temperature  COLD! For example, sports players like to take cold showers after games and such because it feels good. Well take the temperature of that water they shower in and turn it down by about 20 degrees. That is how cold the water is here. Showers sure wake me up in the morning!!

Bueno, I´m doing really well so don´t worry about me.

Les Amo!!

Elder Daugherty

BTW, tell everyone that if they want to send me small emails, they can, I probably wont have time to reply but I know that mail is going to be really slow...... Love you!!!  mitchell.daugherty@myldsmail.net

I forget that Halloween is super close!! Only a couple more days!! I hope everyone has fun and is safe!! I hope the guys are doing good, give them all big hugs for me!!! And guys, give my family hugs for me!!
Love you all! 

Adios!