CHANGES!!!!

OH MAN!!!!
I’ve got a lot to tell you guys!! Let’s start with the change meeting. I had changes which meant that I needed to pack all my stuff up because I was being shipped to a different place. Our change meeting was super fun and spiritual, as always, and I got a new companion and a new area. I will be sending photos after this email with all the stuff I’ve been doing and pictures of my area and my new companion. My new companions name is Elder L. He is from El Salvador. He has been in the mission for almost a year and is excited to be with me and be in a new area. My new area is La Dalia, Matagalpa. It is about 4 hours away from Managua and is super high up in the mountains. The city itself is actually higher than the mountains that surround it. Remember how I was complaining about being hot all the time in Chinandega? Well La Dalia is hot during the day but late in the day, all during the night, and in the morning, its super cold!!! I guess that’s what I get for complaining right?! We still have problems with our water and power but it’s not too bad. We have a nice shower but we can only use it if there is water. And when there isn’t water, I shower out of a bucket!! So La Dalia is super fun y vamos a echar fuego aqui. Our Chapel here in La Dalia is about as big as the houses we would build in Mexico. Last Sunday, we had 7 people go to church. The Branch Pres and his wife, the 1st and 2nd counselors and one of their sons, and us, the 2 missionaries. Tons of people right?!?! Well I got to bless the sacrament, my companion passed it, and we both gave talks and helped teach the lesson in Sunday school. My companion and I are going to work hard on getting the other members and the recent converts to start going to church when they are supposed to. We have a bunch of families that we are teaching but we are trying to get to know the area as well so it’s really hard to split up our time with everything that has been going on.

So now to explain the delayed email!!! Sunday night, me and my companion got on a bus and rode for 2 hours to the main city of Matagalpa where we spend the night in the house of some other Elders. In the morning, we got up super early and rode another bus for 2 hours and got on another bus after that and rode for another hour to a big sports center. The Mission had rented this place out for all the missionaries to use for P-Day. There were 2 fields for soccer, one for dodge ball, and one for baseball/kickball, and a big blowup toy. The reason for this big gathering of missionaries was because it was pretty much our Christmas Day with everyone. After our day of playing, we returned to one of the nearby churches and got dressed in church clothes and had a little fireside and dinner. We had a little Christmas program and all the different Zones sang a Christmas song for everyone. Our zone sang Cantan Santos Angeles, which is Hark, the herald angels sing. I think.... Anyways, after that, we had a huge Christmas Dinner!!! With real food!!!! Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, rolls, etc..... All of it was super good!!!! And then after that, the Mission Pres gave us all a present, one each to every missionary. And then he gave everyone packages that had them!! I got 3 packages. One from the Larson’s, the Brown’s, and from the Family. I love everything you guys gave me and I’m grateful for your love and support. Mom, I split up all the stuff in the package you sent and will be giving the rest of the stuff to Hna. Arredondo as soon as I can. I kept the tie because I have plenty of P-Day shirts. The other Elder will be getting the shirt and half of everything else you gave me. A lot of the other missionaries I was with when I was dividing up the stuff were asking me why I didn’t just keep most of the stuff and leave the rest for the other Elder. I could see how much work you had put into this little package and I know how much you guys love me and I wanted to be able to share that with another Elder that probably doesn’t get packages or doesn’t have a family that supports him. You would think that the other missionaries I was with would have felt the same way but it’s alright. I also got about 11 DearElders. I haven’t read them all but I think that they are all the forwarded letters from Elder Larson. I will find out later tonight when I read them.
I love you all and hope you guys are all enjoying your Christmas Season!!!

Les Amo!!!

Elder Daugherty

PS. Everyone here in Nicaragua has a super hard time saying my name. Sometimes they don’t even try because their tongues are used to making the sound it makes!!!