February 25, 2013

Pues... Este semana fue super bien!!! So changes.... My comp had changes and I got to stay in Villa Venesuela!! So we went to changes and my comp was super scared that he was going to get shipped off to Puerto Cabezas. But instead, he got put in Matagalpa!! He was there a change before I went there and now he is back! He was super excited and ready to go, especially that in about a month, we hit Semana Santo, which is the HOTTEST week of the year. All the missionaries hope to be in a nice cool place when this time of year comes around. I got a new comp. His name is Elder G. He is from Malad, Idaho. He has 10 months in the mission. I don't have photos of him this week because we have been super busy but I will have some next week. So when Elder M left, my old comp, we had a family ready to be baptized (P and M) and we had the baptism planned for Tuesday night. Well we had planned a big meal and everything after the baptism to celebrate their marriage and the baptism. So we got there and P was there waiting for M to get back home from work. We waited and waited and waited.. Finally he came home at about 10 pm. So we ate really fast and then got this family headed to the church to be baptized. Yes.. it was really late to be doing this but it can be done! So we were halfway to the church when our Zone Leaders called us to tell us that the Lawyer that was going to get them married had turned off his phone and left the church. So now we weren't able to do this baptism. We were really sad and felt really bad that we had dragged this family out late at night to try and accomplish this. So we took them back home and planned to have the baptism the following day, Wednesday. We had our District Leaders come to give them an interview to see if they were ready to be baptized. But by the time they finished the interviews, it was really late again so we couldn't do it that night either. So we planned it for the next day, Thursday. We showed up and M called us to tell us that he wouldn't be able to get baptized that day because he was going to be at work really late again. So we planned for baptism for Saturday.... Think we should have given up? I don't know.. So we kept visiting them throughout the week. One of the member families that live really close to them told us that they were receiving visits from the Jehovah's Witnesses.... So we tried to visit this family and they were either gone, wouldn't answer the door, or would run away when they saw us. So we went by on Saturday to visit with them and to find out what was going on... We haven't been able to talk to them since. So bad news is that we weren't able to baptize this family. I feel really bad because with my new comp, I'm having to teach him the area, the families that we are teaching, etc.. And what makes it even worse, his Spanish needs a lot of work. With 10 months, everyone we talk to thinks that I’ve been here longer than he has. He doesn't like it and I'm trying to help him as much as I can. But despite that fact that I feel like the entire area suddenly fell on my shoulders, we are working hard and working through our troubles. So the other day, we were contacting families in the park and we contacted one family super cool! They names are G and Y. They are from Puerto Cabezas and are here living for the moment. They are living in a house that some people are letting them borrow. They sleep in the house at night and spend that rest of the day outside. They have a little boy of 4 yrs old and his name is J. So the thing is that they speak a different language. They speak Miskito. This is the language of the Indian people from Puerto Cabezas. G speaks really good Spanish but his wife doesn't speak it at all and neither does their little boy. So when we contacted them, we invited them to church. We passed by their house Sunday morning and they were dressed and ready to go! So they went to church, ALL 3 HOURS!!! And they loved it! Y loved what she could understand and heard. We will be passing by their house tonight to see how they are and whatnot. When I talked to G, he told me all the problems that they have. They have very little money, he doesn't have a job, he doesn't have a Cedula (identification card) which allows him to get a job, and his family doesn't understand anyone here, and the house they are living in, the people don't want them there. So on Sunday, we talked to the bishop and he supposedly went with G yesterday to help him get a Cedula and look for a job through the church employment system. So we are going to check up on that. And we are looking for a house or a room that they can live in so they don't have to be living with people that don't want them there.

So I can see that even though the family fell that we were going to baptize, we were blessed with a new family that needs our help, and especially the help of the Lord. We will be doing everything we can to help them and teach them that our Savior will be there for us every step of the way!!

”I am called of God. My authority is above that of the kings of the earth. By revelation I have been selected as a personal representative of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is my Master and he has chosen me to represent him. To stand in his place, to say and do what he himself would say and do if he personally were ministering to the very people to whom he has sent me. My voice is his voice, and my acts are his acts; my words are his words and my doctrine is his doctrine. My commission is to do what he wants done. To say what he wants said. To be a living modern witness in word and deed of the divinity of his great and marvelous latter-day work.”
--Bruce R. McConkie & Elder Daugherty

I love you guys and I am so happy to be here serving the Lord!!

¡¡¡Les Quiero Mucho!!!

ELDER DAUGHERTY

February 18, 2013

Wheeewww... This week went by really fast with little success and a TON of work. But let’s not dwell on the negative, or as Pres Monson says, ''Rather than dwelling on the negative, if we will take a step back and consider the blessings in our lives, including seemingly small, sometimes overlooked blessings, we can find greater happiness.'' So let’s look at the blessing that I have found joy in this week! So the week started and in our house, there are 4 missionaries living there. And we don't have enough beds for all of us. So 2 of us are sleeping on beds and the other 2 are sleeping in hammocks. So when the week started, my comp, who was sleeping in the hammock, told me that it was time to switch. He had been sleeping in the hammock for about a month so it was my turn. So I am thankful for the chance that I had to sleep in the bed and now I am thankful for the few comfortable positions I can find while trying to sleep in the hammock. I'm also thankful that the weather here is just cool enough during the night that it isn't too hot or too cold. So all this week, we have worked super hard, walking to all sides of our area, looking for families to teach and help them progress. So unfortunately, my feet are taking the worst of it and are struggling to hang on. But the work of the Lord is always calling and my feet can wait until nighttime to rest! One of our families that we were teaching didn't turn out so well. We went one day to teach them and they were really open and receiving the lesson really well. They had a date of baptism and it was the day that we were there teaching. So we started to teach and we read 3 Nephi 11, verse for verse. At the end we talked about the importance of baptism and asked them if they were ready to make that promise with the Lord that day. All the sudden, this family turned from really happy, to grumpy and accepting. They said that they didn't feel like they were ready and didn't want to be pressured into doing anything to join our church. We had been working with this family for more than a month and they were really positive. So we don't know what happened to make them shut down on us and not want to do anything to progress. We still go visit them every once in a while (because they live with the lady that cleans our clothes) and we are still good friends with them. We are visiting about 13 other families and it’s really hard to visit all of them within a week, that is if they are even home and not busy. We found another family the other day (the neighbors of the family that turned us down) and we brought them to church yesterday and we have taught them about 3 times. My comp and our District Leader taught them after they went to church and they accepted the invitation to be baptized. We have the baptism set up for tomorrow night. So we will be visiting them tonight to follow up on how they are and if they actually are going to follow through with their commitment to be baptized! Out of a week of little success and with the Change Meeting being on Wednesday, we were able to see some sunlight and some blessing of all our work we have done here. I'm so thankful for my companion and for the determination he has to work here in the mission. If he has changes, I will be a little sad to lose his motivation drive that he has but I have learned a lot from him and hope to become better by using what I have learned. I probably won’t have changes but I won’t know until tomorrow night! And you guys won’t know til next Monday!

So I was thinking about some of the different things that are here in Nicaragua and I wanted to talk about a few of them.

So the schools here are all run through the different cities. So the school with be of Villa Flor, Bello Horizonte, Los Laurelles, etc.. And all of them have a dress code or uniforms. The Boys have to wear a white shirt with black pants and black shoes. The Girls have to wear a white shirt with a dark blue skirt, long white socks, and black shoes. They also have weird time limits here for when someone goes to school depending on the age. Like the older kids go really early in the morning, the younger ones go really late in the afternoon, and the ones in between go at 12ish in the middle of the day. So for the last week or so, the school here just started. So my comp and I look a lot like students when we are walking around, only we have a name tag and a tie. If we were ever looking to blend in, we would only need to take off the tag and the tie and we would look like students. Well my comp would, I would still stick out because it would be weird for a gringo to be going to classes here :)

In Utah, I never saw many drunk people, only on TV or in Ogden when we were walking late at night. But here, you can see tons of drunks every single minute of the day. Beer here is super cheap and anyone who is older than 14 has been drunk at least once. We have to be careful around these people because the drunks can be pretty crazy... We have a drunk guy that lives next door to us that drinks a lot. He is also mentally crazy. So when he is sober, he is just really weird but when he is drunk, he likes to parade down the streets, singing, yelling at dogs, cars, or random people on the street. He likes to sit in front of his house and talk to his flowers too. We past one day and he was fighting with his flowers over what soccer team was better. He then calmed down and started to kiss the flowers... Now, if being drunk and a little crazy can make you do that, it makes you wonder why people still do it.

The different religions here really like people to know when they have meetings and cults. The Evangelicals like to drive the streets with megaphones announcing when and where the meetings are and inviting all to come. The Catholics don't do much but they like to keep to themselves in their church all day every day. The Jehovah Witnesses walk around with umbrellas and are always dressed really nice because it’s a requirement to join their church. The Evangelicals like to have prayer meetings at 4 in the morning every Saturday. And lucky for us, a group of them live across from us... It’s interesting to see the different ways that the different religions go about showing their faith and love to the Lord and God.

I am so glad to be here in Nicaragua, living in the culture and bringing people to come unto Christ!!!

“Preach the gospel at all times and if necessary, use words.”
St. Francis of Assisi

¡¡¡Les Quiero!!!

ELDER DAUGHERTY

Feb 11, 2013

Hno S. cutting open a coconut so that we could drink the water and eat the white meat that is inside.

It didn't taste as good as you might think but it was an experience I wont forget!

 The baby is from one of our families that we are teaching.

We are helping a family tear down walls, dig holes, lay cement, build walls, all so we can make a little resting place outside their house and to add a bathroom to their daughters room.

Feb 11, 2013

Whoooooaa! This week flew by so fast! I cant believe its Monday again! Oh well... the end of Monday anyways... My P-Days have been really interesting lately. Normally, our P-Days are a day that we can rest and ''prepare'' for the coming week. So we normally use these days to play soccer, go out to eat, and write our families. And then at night, we go out to work and have Family Home Evening with some families and visit those people that need any specific help. But lately, my comp has been setting up appointments on this day, which we normally don't do because its P-day. So for the past couple Mondays, we have been waking up and getting ready in Missionary clothes and going to have lessons with the people that my comp has set up. Well today, we had about 4 appointments set up and every single one of them fell threw... Its hard to want to keep working when we have been walking around all day, not doing much, and not having success. This is why my emails are coming a little bit later than usual. My comp only makes these appointments on P-Day because these are the people that are positive and are ready to progress. Bur today was different. So we will continue to work, especially with these families that we have and help them come unto Christ. As missionaries, that is our purpose, to “Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.” We do these things every day, in just about everything that we do. We share these steps with the people we visit and teach them how they can complete them. The phrase, ''Come unto Christ'' is some we broke down and studied in the MTC. We came up with one word to describe that phrase in one word. After a lot of study and prayer, we came up with this. CHANGE means to COME UNTO CHRIST. When one comes unto Christ, s/he is changing some part of themselves or part of their life. This is when we can really see how someone has come unto Christ by how they have changed. Its something really special to watch someones life change and come unto Christ. Its really awesome to see how someone has progressed and has become more and more perceptive to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why we are all over the world. That is why I, Elder Daugherty, am here in Nicaragua, preaching the gospel to those that the Lord has prepared for me.

Something special happened this week that I will never forget. It  happened a lot this week actually. While we teach people about the Restoration, the Plan of Salvation, or of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we ask them between segments if they have questions, if they are confused and if they understand everything. Through these questions, we can know what the person needs to hear and what they are thinking and if they are understanding what we are teaching. We ask them how they feel and what they want to know. And what happened this week was really cool. We asked several of the people that we were teaching how they felt and they told us that we were messengers sent by God to teach them the right path to follow in this life. We agree with them and move on with the lesson. But last night I was thinking about it and its true. We really are Messengers sent by God to teach them the right path to follow. We really are called by God, through his Prophet, Pres Monson, to preach the Gospel to these people. We have been found worthy and ready to serve with all our heart, might, mind, and strength. Every Zone or District Meeting that we have, we quote D&C 4 and D&C 50:13-14. ¿A que os ordeno? ¡¡¡A predicar el evangelio por el espiritu, SI, el consolador fue enviado para enseñar la verdad!!! These few verses have what it takes to be a missionary.

D&C 4

1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.

This marvelous work is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

Those of us that serve with EVERYTHING, are able to stand before God and say without a doubt that we did the very best we could.

3 Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;

Simple, if you want to serve, God knows your feelings and is calling you to serve him, to do his work in the world.

4 For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul;

The world is ready, waiting for those of us that want to work, to hear and come unto Christ. And those of us that work our hardest and seek after the things of God, we will receive blessings and salvation.

5 And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

If we have these aspects, or seek after these aspects in our lives, we will be readied to serve the Lord.

6 Remember faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, diligence.

These are Christlike attributes that all of us need to seek after and have in our lives.

7 Ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Amen.

Follow James 1:5, and ask if you have a lack of wisdom, you will receive and answer. Look for the things of God and you will receive blessings, more than you can imagine.

D&C 50:13-14

13 Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question—unto what were ye ordained?

As missionaries, what does it mean to us to be called and set apart as servants of the Lord?

14 To preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to teach the truth.

This is how we teach, by the Spirit. Because if we didn't have the Spirit with us, we wouldn't be able to teach at all.

Now those of you that read this and are able to serve missions, I urge you to do so!! This work is something that many of us don't get a chance to do, even as normal members of the church! 

"Proclaiming the gospel is not a part-time priesthood obligation. It is not simply an activity in which we engage for a limited time or an assignment we must complete as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rather, missionary work is a manifestation of our spiritual identity and heritage." 

--David A. Bednar

¡¡¡¡Les Quiero!!!!

ELDER DAUGHERTY

Feb 4, 2013

We went to a birthday party of one of the daughters of the Hna. that washes our clothes. We went to take a photo and then my companion and her 2 sisters smashed eggs over her head. 

Apparently that is a big tradition here in Nicaragua.... well she was kind angry with us at first but then she told us that she will never forget this birthday, and thanked us for making it memorable. 

Feb 4, 2013

Ok! So my comp and I have worked super hard this week but we were still not able to bring any families to church yesterday. We have worked day in and day out, contacting families and teaching lessons. We have 11 families that we are teaching so that keeps us super busy throughout the day. We are always running back and forth, teaching and visiting recent converts and less active people. This week, I fasted 3 times. One time last sat-sun, wed-thur, and this sat-sun. We did these fasts as a Zone so every single missionary in Villa Flor was fasting. We have seen a lot of success but we are praying and hoping for more. As I said, we weren't able to bring a family to church yesterday so after we took the sacrament, we left to go look for a family to bring to the church. We walked in just about every single one of the neighborhoods that are in our area. We found a lot of new families to teach and a lot of people that wanted to go to church but not til next Sunday. So by the time we had finished looking, church was over so we headed to our food appointment. And we got robbed... Yes, it happened. But don't worry, I am perfectly fine and so is my comp. So we were walking down this street at 1ish in the afternoon in front of one of our recent converts houses and this guy walked up to us. He was about 21 yrs old and was acting all cool with us. He asked us where we were from so we told him. Just about every person asks us where we are from so we didn't think anything of it. Well when he figured out I was gringo, he started to talk really quiet and in a way that I couldn't really understand him. But he told us that we were going to give him our watches and our rings, and since I was the only one wearing rings, that was directed at me. My comp started to tell him no and the guy told us that if we didn't do it, he had 2 other guys that were waiting in the street, waiting to see if we were going to try to get away. He also said that he was going to break our legs or something but I couldn't quite understand that part. So realize that situation.... We are standing in the middle of this neighborhood road, at 1ish in the afternoon, with all the neighborhood kids and parents walking by us. And the other 2 guys he said he had waiting, we didn't know which ones they were. So my comp handed over his watch, which was a gift from his Dad who is not a member, and I handed over mine. He then motioned to my hands and said to give him the silver ring. He pointed to my Joseph Smith ring when he said this. So I gave it to him. He then asked for the other one too, the CTR ring I got as a gift from Bro. Zito. I was tying to make this conversation last to see if anyone would see and help. So I gave up my other ring. He then asked us where we were going. We were headed up the street to eat. So we told him where and he told us to go straight there and that these 2 other guys would be watching us to see if we would try anything. He then gave us fist bumps and walked away. We turned and walked the other direction toward our food appointment. When we got there, they weren't home so we had to wait until they got there. When they did, we told then what happened and they got really mad that people would do such a thing. One of the members knew who did it and he left in his car to go look for them. He came back a little while saying that he couldn't find him but that he was going to get our stuff back for us. So in all, we got lucky with the robbing that did happen to us and we are safe so don't worry about us!

Ok so I've had the awesome opportunity to teach people English here. Its a lot harder than you think and I myself have a hard time remembering how to speak it sometimes. So after I teach people about English, they like to throw all these crazy words in Spanish at me that are really hard to say. They are called Trabalenguas, or Tongue Twisters.
Here are some examples:
Paranguauterimicuaro
Meteorologo
Odontologo
Arqueologo
Oterrinonaringologo
Descontatinoplapolitamisar
Those are only a few, and they have long sentences that have a lot of words that sound the same or have the same meaning and are really hard to say, especially for a gringo who was raised speaking English!!

So this week was pretty crazy but I loved it! I love being here in Nicaragua, serving the Lord!!

“When you’re on the Lord’s errand, you’re entitled to the Lord’s blessings.” Thomas S. Monson.

¡¡¡Les Quiero!!!

ELDER DAUGHERTY

Jan 28, 2013

This is our family of recent converts.

This is their 1 yr old little boy. He has teeth that make him look like a vampire. He's so cute!

Another "week" in Paradise!! Jan 28, 2013

Ok! So another week has gone by in Villa Flor, Villa Venezuela and we are working hard!! There isn't much to talk about this week. We did find a new family to teach this week and we had a really cool experience with them. Their names are J and A. We were walking down this street in an area that we have never been in, contacting people, looking for new families. We past a house where a little girl was crying and we both turned around at the same time to go contact this house. That's one way to see the spirit working together in a companionship is when both of us turn to go back at the same time. So we contacted this house, and there was a man watching Dragon Ball Z, holding his crying little girl, trying to get her to stop crying. We started to talk to him, introduced ourselves, and he invited us in. He called over his wife, and we began to teach them about the Restoration. They were really interested and loved hearing how the church was restored. We started to talk about the authority of God and how through it we are able to to the will of God. J then proceeded to tell us how he knew there was a difference in all the churches but he couldn't figure out what it was. He was really interested in how Joseph Smith got the priesthood and how he was able to restore the church, in the exact way that Jesus had established it when He lived on the earth. After we finished the lesson, we ended with a hymn, which my comp and I sang. It was Families can be together Forever. They loved the words and what they meant! They wanted to learn how to sing them because they said that they were really beautiful. We invited them to church yesterday but J had to go to work so he wasn't going to be able to make it. So he said that he was going to ask his boss if he could have next Sunday off so he could go to church with his family. The spirit was really strong during that lesson. I haven't felt the spirit quite like that for awhile!! They then invited us over to eat lunch with them on Monday. So today, after we finished playing soccer at the church in the morning, we headed over to their house to eat. When we arrived, they said that they wanted to learn more and we would have to wait til after the lesson to eat! It was really funny the way they said it but it was good because it showed how interested they were in learning the gospel. So we started to teach them about the Plan of Salvation. When we asked them if they knew where they were before this life, and like everyone else we talk to, they said, ''I was inside my mother!'' Then we ask if they knew where they were before THAT and they got really confused, thinking that we were nothing before we entered into our mothers womb, that we never existed until then. I love being able to tell someone about our life before this one! Where we lived with our Father in Heaven, where we all knew each other, and where we had a perfect knowledge of everything. Then we explained the purpose of our life here on earth and what we need to be doing to stay on the right path, to obey the commandments, and to do all the the Lord asks of us. Then we asked them if they had any idea where we would be going after this life, after we die. J sat and thought for a bit and then answered. His answer made me and my comp really surprised and really happy! He said that he didn't believe that there was a hell and that we would be judge the moment after we die. He said that he thinks that there will be a place where everyone will go to wait for the time to be judge of all of our works here on earth. AND he is absolutely correct! That place has a name and its called El Mundo de los Espiritus or the Spirit World!! Where we will all go after this life to wait for the Second coming of the Lord. Where we will be teachers to those in the Spirit Prison who didn't accept the gospel on the earth, where they will have the chance to accept it and know of the blessings and goodness it can bring into our lives!! We talked about the 3 degrees of Glory and how we need to decide now what one of those 3 kingdoms we want to end up in. Now I ask you!!! Of the 3 Kingdoms, which one do you want to go to? I would think that all of us want to go the the Celestial Kingdom. But are we doing what we need to be doing to get there? Are we reading the scriptures, the words of God, every day? Are we praying at least day and night? Are we trying to become more Christ-like through the attributes that He had? If not, what is impeding us? And why are we doing anything to change it? I know that I don't have much to write this week but I feel that all of us could do a little Life Check to see how we are actually doing in obeying the Lords Commandments. Prayerfully read Alma 5 and ask the Lord what you should be doing or need to be doing to be more of a servant of the Lord. We can be a tool in the Lords hands, we just need to make ourselves available.

''The question each of us must answer is ... What shall I do with Jesus? He Himself has provided us the answer: "Follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do" --Thomas S. Monson

¡¡¡Les Amo!!!

ELDER DAUGHERTY