Oh man! I don’t even know where to start! Well Happy Birthday Dad!!! Getting older! Don’t let the kids drive you too crazy! I don’t wanna see too much grey hair when I get back. That goes for you too Mom! Thanks for all the pictures, it makes me kinda miss home but I really think it helps me keep working hard and focusing on the work of the Lord. This past week went by pretty fast so there isn't much to talk about. So my companion, Elder M, who is really companions with Elder S, is a Zone Leader along with Elder S. Which means that their work that they do in the mission is help all the other districts and make sure they are working hard, have a certain amount of familias progressing, and making sure everything is working out smooth and nice. Well that’s really good and bad at the same time. Since they are Zone Leaders, they are often off in other areas of our Zone, helping the other missionaries. And since Elder St and I are their companions as well, we have to go with them. This is good because it is giving me experience I probably wouldn't get this early in the mission but its kinda bad because we are hardly even in our own area working on getting familias progressing toward baptism. So it’s really hard to have a good attitude about the work sometimes, because whenever we get back to our own area to work, all we do is contact people and make appointments. We hardly teach any lessons. However, my Spanish has really excelled and I am able to understand about 80% of the time now. Out of all the languages to learn, I’m glad I’m able to learn Spanish. It’s a lot easier than it looks and I think Spanish has a lot more meaning to it than we think. Take reading the scriptures for example, if you take an English verse, and compare it to the Spanish verse, most likely, the Spanish verse with be worded differently and have a lot more meaning to it than the English one would. I wish I had an example to give you but I don’t have my scriptures right now, and if I did, I sure wouldn't have English ones with me!!
I figure I might as well tell you a little about the people of Chinandega. There are tons of people here of all ages. A lot of them are Catholic, Evangelical, or Jehovah Witnesses. But about 10% of the people don’t have a religion at all. When we contact people and ask them if they have heard of the Church of Jesus Christ, most of them haven’t, until you say the word Mormons. But that’s about all they know. Everyone I have met believes in God and Jesus Christ but that’s about it. The Law of Chastity is probably the most broken law here. Teenagers starting at about age 12 will have already broken the law of chastity. If we see a couple walking down the street, no matter the age, 97% of the time, they have fornicated. It’s really sad because when we talk to people, we usually ask them if they are married. About 20% are married, but the rest are just TOGETHER. We met a couple a few days ago who are both about 80 yrs. old. They aren't civilly married and have been TOGETHER for about 60 some odd years. No one gets married civilly unless they can afford to buy the marriage papers. A lot of young women down here have little kids when they are about 15 or 16. And usually the father doesn't stick around to help. This is about the most common thing we deal with but the people are really receptive to the gospel too. We can talk to just about anyone and they will be super friendly and loving back to us. The people are so loving here that it’s really easy for us to just walk up to someone and ask them to get baptized or go to church and usually they will accept, unlike the people in America, where you have to gain their trust before asking questions like that. Everyone is super friendly but it’s funny because everyone has huge locks and bars over everything they own. And don’t worry, I haven’t been robbed or anything and I don’t plan on it either. One of the first few days here in Nicaragua, all of the elders were asking the older Elders if they had been robbed. A lot of them hadn't but had had stuff stolen from them. One Elder, by the name of Elder Ricks, who is home now, told me ''That as long as you are obedient, NO ONE will touch you''. And he was probably the best missionary out at the time. All the other missionaries freak out over little things like that, but I just remember those words and the words of my setting apart blessing and my patriarchal blessing. So don’t worry about me, I’m giving all I can to being obedient and serving the Lord with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.
¡¡¡Les Amo Mi Familia y Amigos!!!
Elder Daugherty
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