September 23, 2013

Well another week has passed as well as another month of my mission. Yesterday, I completed 13 months in the mish. And to mark that 13 months, we had a baptism!! A family that we have been teaching for the past 3 weeks. Their names are E B and T M. We married them and baptised them yesterday afternoon. They were so excited to finally be able to take this step and start to receive the blessings of the Lord.

I have had a lot of spiritual experiences with this family. One day we showed up to talk to them about the Restoration and how it is important. He told us that he had read the pamphlet we had left behind several times and he liked the part where is talks about the truths that are lost when there isn't a prophet on the earth. SO he figured it would be logical to have a prophet now in these days and that it was important that the Lord needed to call another one to restore his church in the earth. He had pretty much taught himself the first lesson just by reading the pamphlet. We finished explaining the details and talked about the BoM. We read the intro and explained what it is and why we need it. They understood all of it. We then read in Moroni 10:3-5, the challenge to pray and ask God. Well after we read it, I asked him and his wife what they understood from it. They said that they needed to read it, think about it, and then ask God through prayer if it was true or not. And then he said something that I haven't heard from anyone here. He said that after we find out that it is true, we need to start living it and showing God that we truly want to follow him. I sat back and didn't speak because I didn't know what else to say. He had said it all himself and his wife knew it too. We committed them to read 3 Nephi 11 and then to start reading from the beginning if they wanted to.

The next day, we returned to see how they were and everything. We asked him where he was at in his reading and he surprised us both. He had read 3 Nephi 11 with his wife (she doesn't know how to read) and then they had read 1 Nephi 1 through 7. It was amazing!! Yesterday I asked him where he was in his reading and he said that he was in 1 Nephi 17. I asked him what part he liked best and he started to tell me about when Nephi and his brothers went back to get the family of Ismael and how his brothers got angry with him when they were headed back. When he was explaining it to me, he was using names, places, etc that any normal person would have to go back and reread it to remember. Him and his wife are extremely good at reading, listening and retaining the information that they get. They understood the need to be married and baptised and how the atonement of Jesus Christ is able to help them to become better in their lives. I love this family so much!!

I love the work of the Lord and I love being able to serve Him!!

Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.

--The Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 2:8

¡¡¡Les Amo Mucho!!!

Elder Daugherty

September 23, 2013

Another marriage and Baptism.

My companions birthday pinata.

We smashed an egg on his head.

September 16, 2013

We went to a members house and made hot dogs for dinner.

The zone went to play pool for p-day.

September 16, 2013

Well the week flew by way faster than I wanted it too... We didn't do much this week but we worked pretty hard. We have been working pretty hard to get some people ready for baptism these coming weeks. We are working super hard but we aren't seeing much success. We are praying to the Lord that he will help us to complete our goals that we made for this change together.

So I finally got the package that you sent me. I had to go top the office in Managua to get it. Thanks so much for the new socks. And Wes, the picture you drew of me, did you do it for a contest or something? I love it and I now carry it with me in my scriptures. Elder E is really jealous that I got the peanut butter because he loves that stuff. The laffy taffies had melted so I just threw them in the freezer for a bit and ate them cold. The other elders in the house enjoyed the package as much as I did. The books were a nice edition. It made my personal study really interesting thinking about the basic gospel principles that we sometimes forget about that are so important. I also asked the office about the Ensigns that you are sending me and they say that they haven't received anything with my name on it. Oh well, I always have the BoM to read. I'm working my way through the BoM again. I have read it once in English and once in Spanish.

Spiritual experience for the week...
So last Monday night, a week ago, we went to eat dinner at our food appointment. We eat at one of my converts house, E and S. We were sitting outside eating and E started to talk about his friends at work that used to bother him for being Mormon. He told me how they used to invite him to drink beer all the time to bug him about how he had stopped drinking due to the church. He talked to them about how they all go to other churches but don't get any help with these types of problems and how the moment he started to join the gospel of the church, that he could see changes and no longer had the desire to drink or be that type of person. He then went on to tell me how the young men and young women were putting together some money to go to the temple to visit and how he would love to go someday with his wife. According to the date that they were baptized, they could go to the temple before I return home. Can you imagine that? Someone that you help join the church, going to the temple because you helped them go in the right direction? It makes me feel like I did something right and even better to know that I was able to be instrument in the Lords hands to give someone salvation. I know this happened a week ago today but I thought it was the best experience this week.

Ive been thinking about some things that have been going on lately in my life as a missionary. I was thinking about how sometimes we get mad because we aren't seeing the results of the work we are doing. It can be frustrating sometimes but we need to stop and think. What about the success you did have to get you to where you are? What happened that actually got you to that point? We need to be grateful for the success that maybe we haven’t been able to see. Count your many Blessings is one of the songs that reminds me of that things that we may be receiving but aren’t seeing in our lives. So be grateful for what you have and stop whining about what you don’t have!!!!

"King Benjamin’s teaching had a miraculous effect. Gratitude for what they had led to faith unto repentance. That led to forgiveness. That produced new gratitude. And then King Benjamin taught that, if we can remember and so remain grateful, we will retain a remission of our sins through all the losses and the gains of life."
President Henry B. Eyring

¡¡¡Les Amo MUCHO!!!

Elder Daugherty

September 9, 2103

MY NEW COMPANION!!! The best one I've had so far, we get along awesomely.

The zone out to lunch for p-day.

September 9, 2013

Well I don't think I have ever worked so hard in my life. Ever since I got Elder B as my new comp, we have been working our butts off!!! Almost all of my mission, I have been with comps that have been very hard for me to get along with and to work with. Well after a year of that, I get the chance now to work with a missionary that WANTS to work and truly wants to help other people. I think I have felt the spirit more in this week than I have most of my mission.

Elder B is the best comp I have had so far and we get along awesomely. We never have problems and we seem to always be thinking the same thing. Every lesson we teach, it seems like everything he talks about go along perfectly with what I had just shared.  Sometimes he starts to look for a scripture so I keep talking and helping the people learn,and then I let him read the scripture and it is exactly what they needed in that moment. One time we were teaching a lesson and we were about to put a baptismal date. We hadn't talked about this before but it came to our minds during the lesson. My comp put the baptismal date and they accepted. He put the baptismal date for the exact day that I was thinking would be good for them. After the lesson, I was talking to him and we both noticed how in tune we are not only as companions but with the spirit as well.

We had a possibility to baptise this week but they live super far away and didn't show up to church. So we weren't able to baptise this weekend. My record now is 13 weeks in a row of baptisms. My comp and I have plans to baptise 2 families this change. We have alot of work to do and we are so ready to do it!!

So I'm going to try and put a spiritual experience that I had during the week to put into my letter home each week. So here is the first of many!!

One day we were out looking for new people to teach and it started to rain. We happened to be talking to a older lady and she let us in to take shelter from the rain. We sat down for a while, planning what we were going to do during the week and setting some goals. Well the rain got harder and harder and it seemed like we would never leave this Lady's house. So we decided to teach her a quick lesson about the Restoration. The moment we ended the opening prayer, the rain died down to a drizzle. halfway through the lesson the rain stopped completely. It seemed to me that the Lord didn't want us to leave that house until we had at least taught the older lady about the gospel. We hadn't really thought about it in the beginning when we first entered her house because we are used to teaching families so this old lady didn't seem like much we could work with. After, I realized that as missionaries, we should never exclude anyone from being taught the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Even an old lady.

A day or two later, we were teaching a mother and her two teenage kids about the Book of Mormon. This was the first time we had taught them and there were really interested in what the Book of Mormon had to say. So my comp had an idea to have them pick one page out of the 600 and some odd pages that the BoM has. And then we would take that page and teach according to what that page had to talk about. They chose page 521 which in the BoM in Spanish in the ending of 3 Nephi 11 and the beginning of 3 Nephi 12. We were able to take chapter 12 and talk about Jesus and how he called the 12 and how he gave them power to preach and to baptise. This led to teaching them the ending of chapter 11 which is all about baptism. We didn't put a baptismal date with them that night but they did grow to understand the meaning of baptism and why it is so important.

Through these experiences, I have learned to follow the Spirit on the first impression and to follow my companion and support him. We both teach evenly and we teach with the Spirit. It has been awhile since I have been able to wok so hard and have the Spirit with me where I can recognize it often. I feel very blessed to have Elder B as my companion so that the Lord can work miracles through us in our little part of Nicaragua. I thank the Lord daily for this and pray for more experiences that will help me grow spiritually. I have learned that it is not the Area that makes the Missionary, it is the Missionary that makes the Area. No one can say that their area is hard. There are no hard areas, just missionaries with little faith.

"No force in the ENTIRE world can stop THE WORK of God"
--Elder Neil L. Anderson

¡¡¡Les Amo MUCHO!!!

Elder Daugherty

September 2, 2013

Ok friends and family!! A new month is starting and I believe that a new path is going to open for me and the work of the Lord. I will be receiving changes here pretty soon tonight and maybe if your all lucky, I will get them while I am writing this email. I'm pretty sure that I have changes so I'm sure that I will be headed off to a new field, all white, all ready to harvest!!!

Well lets start with my week and how it went!! So the mission office called us the other day and told us that we need to move out of our house where the 6 missionaries of Tipitapa are living and we need to find a new one. So we have spent almost all of our week looking for a new house that we will be moving into. Or the new missionaries that coming in anyways... Also we happened to have a meeting in Matagalpa again with Elder Ochoa of the Seventy. Here are some of the teaching that we received.

Some of the last but yet most important things that we learned during the meeting were about the enemies of Faith. Faith is something that we need to have to grow, to take the steps needed to progress in the Gospel. But there are enemies that fight against our ability to have this Faith. These enemies are Doubt, Excuse, Pride, Fear, and Disappointment. 5 small things that can tear our Faith apart. In 3 Nephi 11:10-11 it tells us where we need to put our Faith.  10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world.

 11 And behold, I am the ^alight and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter ^bcup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in ^ctaking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the ^dwill of the Father in all things from the beginning.

We also learned about the tings we need to have to be a missionary.

1. One with Christ

John 14:12

3 Nephi 11:21-29

2. One with your companion

John 17:20-22

3. One with the Bishop

Preach my Gospel pg. 218

4. Focused

Invite other to come unto Christ...

5. Take Responsibility

Alma 42:22

6. Listen and Bless

Preach my Gospel pg. 4

7. Gain a Perfect Faith

2 Tim. 1:7

1 John 4:18

Ether 12:14

D&C 3:7-8

D&C 67:3

Reading the scriptures, listening to the Mission Pres, the Prophets, and learning from your companion can help you to gain the Perfect Faith.

These scriptures will give you a good idea on what the topic is. I challenge you all to look them up and see how they can help you during your life.

So I just got the call for changes. My comp and I have changes!! But I'm not going too far! I get to be comps with my District Leader, Elder B. And I get to be in the other area of Tipitapa!! The Lord must want me to do something here in Tipitapa. I'm excited to start working hard with my new comp and being able to help all the people I can to come unto Christ!!!

“Patience is tied very closely to faith in our Heavenly Father. Actually, when we are unduly impatient, we are suggesting that we know what is best—better than does God. Or, at least, we are asserting that our timetable is better than His. We can grow in faith only if we are willing to wait patiently for God's purposes and patterns to unfold in our lives, on His timetable.” 
― Neal A. Maxwell

﹛‥es Amo Mucho!!!

Elder Daugherty

September 2, 2103

Two girls we baptized this weekend. One is the daughter of a recent convert and the other is their niece, her parents are currently receiving the lessons.