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| This is the font in Tipitapa. It is a foam hot tub that we have to fill with water from a hose every time we want to use it but the halls of the church fill with water and it takes a lot of time to clean it all up. |
Monday, June 24, 2013
June 24, 2013
Ok well my comp just tried to scare me just now. He took my backpack that had all my stuff in it while we were sitting here in the cyber and hid it. My backpack has my iPod, cords, camera, usb with all my photos, headphones, wallet, money, etc. I just about died when I couldn't find it. It took me about 10 mins to find out that my comp had hid it and I just about killed him. Well now that's over, lets see if I have the will to write about what happened this week!! And I figure right now I will apologize to those that I haven't written back or haven't written in a while. Its just that I don't have all the time in the world here nor the money to be in the cyber long enough to write every single person every Monday. I will be trying my best to write those that I haven't gotten to. If I take awhile to write back, its because I'm working hard and the people of Nicaragua need me. I do miss all of you, I'm not ignoring your letters, I'm just putting them off to the side until I have time to get to them.
So lets start with the oldest news and move up from there. So on Wednesday, we went to Managua and had a Farewell for the Mission Pres. He leaves this Saturday so all the missionaries got together and we had a meeting where we gave him gifts, watch little videos of photos that people had put together, listened to the Pres and his wife talk and then we all said goodbye. It was pretty cool and we are going to miss Pres Arredondo. He has served his calling and the Lord needs him in another place right now.
On Saturday, we were able to baptize another family into La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. This family had been listening to the missionaries for a long time so when we showed up, we just asked them what else they needed to know before they got baptized. They had no doubts and had been going to church for awhile now. So Saturday morning, we filled the font, and set up the church for their marriage and their baptism. It went really awesome and they were super excited to finally be able to get married and baptized.
On Sunday, we had the chance after church to baptize yet another family into the church. This family is a miracle to me. This past week we have been teaching this family and helping them get ready to be baptized next week. On Thursday, we taught them and they didn't seem to want anything from us. The next day, Friday, we taught them again and they didn't pay any attention to anything we said to them in the 40 minute lesson. After we had asked them what they had learned and if they had any questions an they said they didn't learn anything and that they had no real desire to know anything from us. The husband in this family is the son of the family we baptized 2 weeks ago. He is 20 yrs old and his wife is 15. It didn't help that she is so young and still acts like a small child but neither of them really wanted anything. So we dropped out hope of baptising them. Well the next day, we passed by to talk to the sons parents, who we baptised 2 weeks ago, and this family happened to be home at a time that they normally aren't there. So my comp started to talk to them because they didn't want to talk to me at all. I had slightly offended the 15 yr old wife the night before during our lesson and she was quite angry with me. Well my comp turns to me after talking to me and says that they want to get baptized Sunday after church at 3pm. I was shocked and really confused that this family after not wanting anything at all, wanted to be baptized and start following the Lord. Well after church and after the baptism, I sat the wife down and I asked her what had changed her mind. She said that her husbands family had talked with the 2 of them about the church, about how it is the right path to follow, how much the Lord has blessed them in the church, and how much they wanted that they could be able to receive the same blessings and feel the same spirit that they had. They were able to do what we couldn't do. They had taught them the things that they needed to hear about the church and that information and testimony touched their hearts and they decided to take the first step and that was to be baptized. The Lord really worked a huge miracle with this family and I'm so happy that I had the chance to be a part of it.
Now to blend into this next part, I'm sure just about all of you have heard of the new changes that are coming concerning the mission and the way the church is going about working to bring more people into the church. Sunday, there was a world wide broadcast about this. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to go to it but I have heard alot about it. I don't know that much to tell you details but I do know that the Lord is hastening His work!!!
“We work together in faith and unity, faith that the Lord will guide our steps and unity with each other and the missionaries, always motivated by our love for Him, our love for one another, and our love for those we serve.”
—Elder Neil L. Andersen
¡¡¡¡Les Amo Mucho!!!!
Elder Daugherty
So lets start with the oldest news and move up from there. So on Wednesday, we went to Managua and had a Farewell for the Mission Pres. He leaves this Saturday so all the missionaries got together and we had a meeting where we gave him gifts, watch little videos of photos that people had put together, listened to the Pres and his wife talk and then we all said goodbye. It was pretty cool and we are going to miss Pres Arredondo. He has served his calling and the Lord needs him in another place right now.
On Saturday, we were able to baptize another family into La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos Dias. This family had been listening to the missionaries for a long time so when we showed up, we just asked them what else they needed to know before they got baptized. They had no doubts and had been going to church for awhile now. So Saturday morning, we filled the font, and set up the church for their marriage and their baptism. It went really awesome and they were super excited to finally be able to get married and baptized.
On Sunday, we had the chance after church to baptize yet another family into the church. This family is a miracle to me. This past week we have been teaching this family and helping them get ready to be baptized next week. On Thursday, we taught them and they didn't seem to want anything from us. The next day, Friday, we taught them again and they didn't pay any attention to anything we said to them in the 40 minute lesson. After we had asked them what they had learned and if they had any questions an they said they didn't learn anything and that they had no real desire to know anything from us. The husband in this family is the son of the family we baptized 2 weeks ago. He is 20 yrs old and his wife is 15. It didn't help that she is so young and still acts like a small child but neither of them really wanted anything. So we dropped out hope of baptising them. Well the next day, we passed by to talk to the sons parents, who we baptised 2 weeks ago, and this family happened to be home at a time that they normally aren't there. So my comp started to talk to them because they didn't want to talk to me at all. I had slightly offended the 15 yr old wife the night before during our lesson and she was quite angry with me. Well my comp turns to me after talking to me and says that they want to get baptized Sunday after church at 3pm. I was shocked and really confused that this family after not wanting anything at all, wanted to be baptized and start following the Lord. Well after church and after the baptism, I sat the wife down and I asked her what had changed her mind. She said that her husbands family had talked with the 2 of them about the church, about how it is the right path to follow, how much the Lord has blessed them in the church, and how much they wanted that they could be able to receive the same blessings and feel the same spirit that they had. They were able to do what we couldn't do. They had taught them the things that they needed to hear about the church and that information and testimony touched their hearts and they decided to take the first step and that was to be baptized. The Lord really worked a huge miracle with this family and I'm so happy that I had the chance to be a part of it.
Now to blend into this next part, I'm sure just about all of you have heard of the new changes that are coming concerning the mission and the way the church is going about working to bring more people into the church. Sunday, there was a world wide broadcast about this. Unfortunately, I did not have the chance to go to it but I have heard alot about it. I don't know that much to tell you details but I do know that the Lord is hastening His work!!!
“We work together in faith and unity, faith that the Lord will guide our steps and unity with each other and the missionaries, always motivated by our love for Him, our love for one another, and our love for those we serve.”
—Elder Neil L. Andersen
¡¡¡¡Les Amo Mucho!!!!
Elder Daugherty
Monday, June 17, 2013
June 17, 2013
So the grand and amazing news that I received from changes is that..... I don't have any!! And neither does my comp! So both of us will be here in Tipitapa for another 6 weeks.... maybe... I shall explain. So this past week was Changes. So we had the meeting on Wednesday and all the missionaries went to Managua to receive changes. So this week, the Mission President is leaving, or finishing really. The new mission pres is coming this week and there will be another big meeting in Managua to say goodbye to the old pres and say hi to the new one. And then next week, there will be some changes in the mission. These are called Emergency Changes, when a missionary changes areas within the 6 weeks of the normal change. So who knows if me or my comp get emergency changes this next week. I don't know but its a high possibility. So we will see next week what happens.
So about this week.... Unfortunately we didn't baptize anyone but we have plans to do it soon. We have been helping 2 families out this week, the 2 that we rent able to be baptised last week. They are looking pretty positive and they both went to church yesterday!! When a family goes to church, its something awesome. That means that they can get rid of all the lies that the other churches make up about our services on Sundays, they can see how reverent the meetings are and they can feel the spirit. It also means that they are closer to the goal that we are teaching them about. Baptism. They know from the beginning what our purpose is and we are helping them to get there through all the teaching with the help of the spirit and through the help of the members. We continue to look for new people to teach so that we can help bless their lives. We love to work with the people of Nicaragua because they are really accepting, those that are prepared anyways, to the gospel and they love the Lord. I'm happy to be here and happy to serve the Lord!!
"The mortal experience will enable us to fly if we will let it, help it, use it with faith in the Christ who "descended below all. The message of the modern prophets, to a man, (and none of them, if you look closely, have been spared any of the vicissitudes) is this: that there is meaning and purpose in all things we suffer. That "all these things" can be for our good, however empty and barren they now appear. The elements of truth in the classical theories have been caught up in a greater whole. The Lord is not playing games with us. The outcome will far exceed the price; the "chastening" will be visioned as our blessing, the fiber of soul-quality will leave no regrets, only infinite and eternal gratitude, and the partnership we forged with Him before we entered this refining fire will loom as marvelous to us as does the face of a loving mother in the eyes of a child who has just emerged from his fever... healed, alive and prepared for life, eternal life, life like God's.
"All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection if you continue faithful... By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it (Joseph Smith Quote)."
--Truman G. Madsen
¡¡¡Les Amo Mucho!!!
Elder Daugherty
So about this week.... Unfortunately we didn't baptize anyone but we have plans to do it soon. We have been helping 2 families out this week, the 2 that we rent able to be baptised last week. They are looking pretty positive and they both went to church yesterday!! When a family goes to church, its something awesome. That means that they can get rid of all the lies that the other churches make up about our services on Sundays, they can see how reverent the meetings are and they can feel the spirit. It also means that they are closer to the goal that we are teaching them about. Baptism. They know from the beginning what our purpose is and we are helping them to get there through all the teaching with the help of the spirit and through the help of the members. We continue to look for new people to teach so that we can help bless their lives. We love to work with the people of Nicaragua because they are really accepting, those that are prepared anyways, to the gospel and they love the Lord. I'm happy to be here and happy to serve the Lord!!
"The mortal experience will enable us to fly if we will let it, help it, use it with faith in the Christ who "descended below all. The message of the modern prophets, to a man, (and none of them, if you look closely, have been spared any of the vicissitudes) is this: that there is meaning and purpose in all things we suffer. That "all these things" can be for our good, however empty and barren they now appear. The elements of truth in the classical theories have been caught up in a greater whole. The Lord is not playing games with us. The outcome will far exceed the price; the "chastening" will be visioned as our blessing, the fiber of soul-quality will leave no regrets, only infinite and eternal gratitude, and the partnership we forged with Him before we entered this refining fire will loom as marvelous to us as does the face of a loving mother in the eyes of a child who has just emerged from his fever... healed, alive and prepared for life, eternal life, life like God's.
"All your losses will be made up to you in the resurrection if you continue faithful... By the vision of the Almighty I have seen it (Joseph Smith Quote)."
--Truman G. Madsen
¡¡¡Les Amo Mucho!!!
Elder Daugherty
Monday, June 10, 2013
June 10, 2013
Alright family and friends, here is the account for the week of the life of Elder Daugherty in Tipitapa, Managua. This week went by really fast, which seems to happen alot but I guess when you are having fun and working hard, the time seems to slip away. We have spent all week trying to help some families out by letting them enter the waters of baptism. So on Tuesday, we went out to work and during the day, we found 4 families that wanted to get baptized the coming weekend. That is something that we would normally not see anytime in a mission but because Nicaragua is the Best Mission in the World, it is possible and it is done alot more than you think. So every day was a struggle to find the time to go and teach these families that things that they needed to know before they were to be baptised. We taught them all the Restoration and the Plan of Salvation and the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that they would know the basic truths that they need to build their testimony. This caused alot of stress in my daily schedule that I definitely didn't need. It helped me to stay alert on what needed to be done but it left me with headaches every night and a rough nights sleep worrying about everything and how it was all going to lay out. On Saturday, we had the interviews for all of the people that were going to be baptised. This interview is just like any other baptismal interview that asks about your belief in God and Jesus, if you will follow the commandments, if you have committed any crimes, had an abortion, etc, and if you are ready to take the name of the Lord upon yourself. Well all of the people passed and were doing awesome. We found out however that one of the families, the man might be married already to another woman so we need to check if he is or not before we marry him to someone else... We are talking to a lawyer that will find that info out for us but he wasn't able to be baptised this weekend because of that. SO now we are down to 3 families. The other 3 were alittle difficult that morning of church but we were able to get 2 of them there and the wife of the 3rd family. After church, we had the baptism planned for about 1ish in the afternoon. The 2 families were there and we were able to marry them and baptise them right then and there. I was talking to the families after about how they felt and they began to tell me how awesome it felt to be able to start over and to feel so clean and be able to live without sinning now that they were married and such. I was amazed at how string their testimonies are and how much they wanted this change in their lives. Now imagine all your family and friends that aren't members of the church and how awesome it would feel to know that they changed because of what the missionaries helped them do through the Spirit!!! The Church is a missionary church and we invite all to come unto Christ! I remember the talk by Elder Russell M. Nelson where he says ''Ask the missionaries! They can help you!'' He taught how any of us as members or nonmembers can find the help we need by asking the missionaries. So what are you waiting for?! Ask the missionaries! They can help you!
''Some of you may feel that life is busy and frenetic, yet down deep in your heart you feel a gnawing emptiness, without direction or purpose. Ask the missionaries! They can help you! They can help you to learn more about the true purpose of life—why you are here on earth and where you are going after death. You can learn how the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will bless your life beyond anything you can presently even imagine.''
--Elder Russell M. Nelson
¡¡¡Les Amo Mucho!!!
Elder Daugherty
''Some of you may feel that life is busy and frenetic, yet down deep in your heart you feel a gnawing emptiness, without direction or purpose. Ask the missionaries! They can help you! They can help you to learn more about the true purpose of life—why you are here on earth and where you are going after death. You can learn how the restored gospel of Jesus Christ will bless your life beyond anything you can presently even imagine.''
--Elder Russell M. Nelson
¡¡¡Les Amo Mucho!!!
Elder Daugherty
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
June 3, 2013
Ok!! This week flew by way too fast!! Not much happened but it was still an eventful week. On Tuesday, we worked alot with the families that we are teaching to see if we could help them progress in the church by putting a baptismal date with them. It worked with a few people that accepted the date and we have a family that is planning on being married and baptized this weekend. I really hope that the Lord will help us out with this family!! They both have been to church varies times and are really strong! They go to church by themselves and don't need us to come by to get them. Some recent converts who are family of this family decided to pass by and help them get ready and help them actually want to go to church. On Wednesday, we found alot of new families that we went to go teach during the night but it started to rain. Now when I say rained... it RAINED!!! Like so much rain that the streets were rivers and the canals that they build to guide the water, don't work because there is too much water!! There were some parts of the street where the water was up to my knees and sometimes higher. I sent a couple photos home so you could see how much this place gets. And this rain wasn't even that bad from what I have heard the people say here. I'm excited to see what rain actually is then!! Thursday was Mothers Day here in Nicaragua so there was huge parties going on every where! We visited alot of recent converts to wish the mothers a Happy Mothers Day and to see how they were. We also spent alot of time inviting all the people that we talked to, to an activity that the church was having on Friday. On Friday, we spent alot of the morning, passing by those people that said they wanted to go to the activity at the church. We then went to the activity and had fun. There were alot of people that performed songs or dances to dedicate to the Mothers. We even had a Mariachi Band show up and play. But there were a few problems with this activity. They didn't plan it well enough to have enough food and drink for how many people came. They ran out of food and drink and alot of people were kind of angry that they came to something that didn't have food. That's one thing about Nicaragua too... If you want to get someone to go to church, they usually say no, but as soon as you tell them that food will be served, they show up with friends and family!! That is why the others religions have so much success here. All they do is bribe their members into going to church with food, money, and who knows what else. Anyways, the activity went pretty well other than the fact that they didnt plan it the best. On Saturday, we visited alot of people. mainly the ones that went to the activity to invite them to church. We had about 7 families committed to go to church with us. Well Sunday came and we were able to bring 4 of the 7 families that had committed to go. We were really excited to be able to help those people get to know the church and how our meetings are so they came start to grow their testimony and their faith!!! I love this mission and the changes it has made in my life and how much it has helped my family as well. I love the Lord and all the blessing He has given me and all those that He has prepared for me and my family.
''The 2 most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.''
-- Mark Twain
¡¡¡Les Amo!!!
ELDER DAUGHERTY
''The 2 most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why.''
-- Mark Twain
¡¡¡Les Amo!!!
ELDER DAUGHERTY
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