March 16, 2015

March 16, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad!

And another week bites the dust! Crazy huh? Mom, the physical address is correct, if Tracie tells her taxi driver that direction, they will get right there with out any problems! The other shorter address is:

AP 3527

Managua, Nicaragua

If you send that there, it will come just as fast, just to a different location, but the office missionaries go and pick up all of the mail that is sent there.

Poor ash! I feel bad about that girl that he "liked" but im sure he will be fine! How funny he just called Anthony and invited himself over for a sleep over!!!! Hilarious! I was laughing so hard here in the little cyber haha! And Dads comment about Korv getting hit in the nose! #InstantBlood. Funny stuff!

Well I hope that you guys have been able to rest and everything is going well! I'm happy that mom is feeling good, and not having any serious side affects! that relives me! Just crappy diarrhea  There is this little house near our house that sells really really good banana smoothies! But the only downside is that every morning after eating one, you have wicked runs for like an hour, but it is totally worth it! I usually put oatmeal and nuts in my smoothies, and it makes them so good! haha :)

We had some good news this week too! One of our investigators, named Ayoleth had something super awesome pass in her life! Her and her Husband (less active) have been wanting to get married, and Ayoleth wanted to get baptized in the church as well, but there was a massive kink in the plan, Huebert (husband less active) was already married, and never got divorced. And the X did not want to get divorced, so we were kind of in a stand still waiting to see what we could do. So Huebert went to Costa Rica, where he got married with this lady, and ordered a document from the government to see if he was even married legally or if the papers never got submitted. So Huebert finally came back from this trip with the papers, that said he was Single!!!! I guess when he originally got married, the lawyer never submitted the papers, so technically he is still single and not married, which means that we do not have to worry about going through the divorce junk!!!!!! She is going to get married and baptized this Saturday! That was a huge tender mercy we saw from the Lord this week!!

We had one baptism of a kid named Raynor this past week! There are photos of him on drop box! He is a super awesome kid! he was a member of a less active family, and everyone had been active before he turned 8, but then the whole family went inactive, and he just kept getting older until we found him! He is now 12 years old, and loves the church and has a ton of friends!

This coming weekend we will have 4 baptisms! Ayoleth, and three guys named Jerry, Curt, and Ricky! They are super awesome guys that have been preparing for a long time for baptism, and are super pumped to get it done! :) we are on track to have 10 baptisms this month! I thought last week we were not going to hit anywhere near 12, because everyone we had progressing fell, and did not want it right now. But we were able to move a few baptism dates up from April to March, including an awesome family, named Family Wagon! They are one of the greatest families I have ever met here in Nicaragua! They love the church and are super pumped about becoming members of the church in two weeks! So with them we will end this month with 10 baptisms! The lord has blessed us so much! But like I said last week! Ya gotta be obedient! :) We rely so much so much on the Lord in this work!

Also this week, we have to come again to Managua, but this time it is for a good reason! Bishop Davies (GA) and one member from the area Presidency are visiting Nicaragua! It will be a huge conference with the north and south missions! nearly 400 missionaries! It will be a cool experience! We are leaving Wednesday morning from Bluefields, but this time were are going by plane! Whooo hooo! Much better than 8 hours through bus and boat haha :) In plane it is only an hour :)

Well everything is going good for us! I hope you guys have a great week! I love you!

Elder Naisbitt

Dead mouse

March 9, 2015

Monday, March 9, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad,

Sound like you guys had a pretty good week! I hope mom you keep receiving the blessings from the Blessing you received! I know and have seen miracles from giving blessings here on the mission! I know that whatever was said was inspired from our Heavenly Father!! I saw those photos on drop box of the temple! It looks great! My Comp knows Chris Lund, and wants to say hi haha :) Small world! :) I guess they are family friends, idk!

Well this week went by super-fast! and long at the same time! Just some cool stuff that happened first! Here in Bluefield’s there is a plate of food called "Ron Don" which is like a soup made with coconut milk! And then they cook the fish, crab lobster, turtle, whatever it is, in the coconut milk broth! IT IS SO GOOD! So on last Monday we had that with one of our investigators, her husband is a less active, and is a fisherman, and had just gotten back from a fishing trip, and brought this huge fish back, and cooked it up! It was delicious! THEN, on Thursday, another member who’s a fisherman as well, invited us over for food, and we thought it would be just the normal Nica food, rice beans, chicken..etc. But to our surprise it was another Ron Don, but without fish...it was with Lobster tail, and King Crab legs!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was the greatest plate of food I have ever eaten here in Nicaragua! All the Lobster was right from the sea, and he gave us each two lobster tails, and half a crab! WOW! It was amazing! I’m sure this is killing you guys, but it was so good! :) I put some pictures on drop box of the lunch!

As far as investigators go, we are crushing it! We are just riding this Spiritual wave of Obedience! We brought 12 people to church, and now we have 14 people progressing for baptism!!! It was a great Sunday, minus a few parts; first off, we will not be having twelve baptisms this month! Everyone that we have for this month is kind of falling though... we are going to get as much as we can for the month of March, but we know that the Lord will keep blessing us with Miracles if we are obedient, and keep on moving forward! I have figured something out about the work of the Lord, all of your success as a missionary of the Lord, all depends on two aspects. First and Primarily, is your personal and companionship obedience! We always say here in the mission, that obedience brings blessings, but Obedience with exactness brings Miracles! I know that is so true, and i know that is true for life after the mission! I love a Scripture in (Ecclesiastes 12:13) that basically says, the only thing we need to do as men is fear God and keep his commandments! The second way to have success here in the mission is your attitude. I could be the most obedient missionary in the world, but it will do me no good if I have a bad attitude about being obedient! We are working our butts off; I have lost like 15lbs here in Bluefields from walking so much and walking fast! I think most of it was water weight from me neck and face haha :) But I am happy with how hard we are working, and even happier with the blessings and help we have received from our Loving Heavenly Father!

I love you guys!

Hope you have a great week! May God bless you and keep you safe!

Elder Naisbitt

 

March 2, 2015

March 2, 2015

Mom and Dad!

Well another week went by in a flash! This week we had to go back to Managua though to pull out our Nicaraguan Residency! I had lost mine when I got robbed, and Elder Hanson needed his as well as Elder Soifuas companion Elder Rodriguez! So on Thursday morning, we climbed back on the "Pangas" and went back to Rama, then in Rama we caught the 7 hour "Express" Bus to Managua haha! It went like 30 miles per hour the whole drive haha GRRRRRR :) Bu then in Managua we got to stay in the office house, where all the secretaries sleep. That was super awesome being able to hang out with Elder Mataalii again! I love that kid! Then on Friday we went to Immigration and got our cedulas, and then got back on a bus to go to Juigalpa, where we stayed the night on Friday before going back to Bluefields. On Saturday we got up at 3am to get on the bus back to Rama, to catch the panga to Bluefields haha :) It is such a huge process! But to answer some of your questions, first, Bluefields is MASSIVE! And there are only 4 missionaries here, so it is a ton of walking! When I got back to Managua, I weighed myself, and in a week I had lost 5 lbs!!! haha Elder Hanson walks super fast too, but I'm catching up slowly but surely! So to get stuff from Managua to Bluefields, the office Secretaries just put the mail for us in a mail bag, and send it through the national mail service. and we usually get it in about 4 days, so not too long. When Tracie comes to the office, she can just put the stuff in a box or a bag, and give it to the secretaries there in the office. We usually never leave Bluefield's unless it is necessary because of how much time it takes to get to Managua and back! We are kind of isolated out here haha :)

The branch here in Bluefield's is very very strong! We think President Russell is going to divide the branch into two separate ones because every week Attendance is 190-200! That is better than most wards in the mission. So things here in Bluefield's are going great! The Branch President is Great!

So on Saturday, after 2 hours of getting back from Managua, we had a baptism of a lady named Maria Ester! She was super great to teach! She wanted to get baptized last week, but she drank coffee, so she had to wait! But she loves the church! We are going to be baptizing a lady this week named Ofemia! She is awesome! She has her three times in church, and is ready to be baptized as well! She lives out in the water though! like literally in the water! Her house is built on stilts, and the only way to get to her house is by crossing over so laid out 2X4s about 5 feet off of the water! haha it is pretty sketchy! And when you are in her house, her house moves with the water! She is very  humble and lives a humble life with her dad, and her daughter! Her daughter is preparing for baptism on the 21st of March!  We are also preparing the Mom of Maria Ester for this weekend as well. Her name is Dionisia. She is kind of crazy, and old, but she likes church, and wants to get baptized haha :) Muchas Blessings from  the Lord!

Elder Hanson and I are getting a long really really really well! I think the Lord is blessing me now for dealing with dead lazy missionaries the first half of my mission, so now he is giving me great comps that work really hard haha :) I did not think my old comps were that dead until I left them and got an even better companion....Elder Sanchez, Elder Mazariegos, Elder Kersey, and a little of Elder Hayes... Muchos Muertos haha but I know that the lord has made me a stronger missionary and servant of him for what I have passed through!

Well I hope you guys have a great week! I'm glad that everything is going well! I will be praying and fasting for Mom in hopes of no side affects of this drug! I love you Mom! You're so strong!

Love ya tons!

Elder Naisbitt

Bluefields

2-23-2015

2-23-2015

Dear Mom and Dad!

Well I had changes! haha But you would not believe to where I had changes! BLUEFIELDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!  this place is so awesome! It is on the eastern side of Nicaragua, on the Caribbean coast! It is just like being in Jamaica! 90% of the people speak English/Jamaican English! or just Spanish! Because a lot of these people came from the Caribbean, there are a ton of black people, that speak English! It is a whole different culture over here! Fish is super super cheap, and we will eat everything with some sort of fish! I have yet to eat sea turtle, but one of our investigators husband is a fisherman, and will be coming back this Saturday from his 2 month fishing trip, and will bring us Lobster, Sea Turtle, Crab, Shrimp, and a variety of fish :) This has been my dream area since the begging of my mission, and now I'm here! Whooo Hooo! It is really safe by the way, so you guys do not have to worry as much now! :) We are writing from a little cyber cafe right now, about 10 minutes from our house!

Speaking of we, My new companion is Elder Hanson. He is from Sandy, Utah, one of those gross Brighton high school graduates.... j/k :) He has like 6 months in the mission and is going strong! He is super great! I laugh sometimes because of the lack of Latino Companions I have had on my mission, and the Lord has blessed me with this good of Spanish! but Elder Hanson is a work horse, and we both are ready to tear up Bluefield's! We have a goal of 12 baptisms this coming March, and hopefully we can get even more than that! :)

Well ill just fill you in on first how a person has to get to Bluefield's. From Managua, to a little city called Rama, it is 8 house in a bus. Then at Rama, there are no roads that go to Bluefield's because it is all swamp, so the only way to get here is by boat, but this is not just any boat. It is called a Panga. I put a photo at the end of the email of what that is! Any way so that is another two- three hours taking this boat from Rama to the Bluefield's haha :) it is quite an adventure! :) So it is overall, like a 10 hour trip to get here! Here in Bluefields there are four missionaries. Elder Hanson and I, and you would not believe who the other two are hahaha Elder Soifua, my MTC Comp and his companion, Elder Rodriguez, from Belize. Elder Rodriguez speaks Fluent English because in Belize it is the National Language haha. We four live in the same house, and work our behinds off everyday!

This last Saturday, we had two baptisms! A girl named Maria Auxiliadora, and her little brother, Olman! We had to do everything possible to get them baptized because the neighbors of them, told them a bunch of lies about getting baptized, so they ran away. All day we were looking for them, until the Sister of Maria called us (she is less active) and told us where she was hiding. We found her and sat down and pulled out all of the donuts for an hour and a half! It was super crazy! but right around 8:30pm we got her out of her house and got her and her brother baptized at like 9:00pm in the church! They got confirmed on Sunday, and are much happier now! The Lord really does bless us, we just have to go through the trail of our faith before we see miracles! (Ether 12:6). This Saturday we will have 2 more baptisms! and like I said we will be baptizing 12 people in this coming month!

I love you guys! I'm so happy that Mom got approved her medicine! I will be giving thanks to the Lord all day! I am talking the Mitch right now about his new move into Grandpa and The Michaud's ward! That is so awesome! When I saw those photos I was so happy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY IN 4 DAYS MOM!!!!!! you are the greatest Mom anyone could ever ask for! Seriously! I love you so much mom! You have always supported me and been behind my back, even in the hardest times! I know the Lord will keep blessing you and helping you in your trails! I could not have been born into a better family! I know that We will be able to be together as a family for the Eternities! I'm so happy for this gospel and the strength it gives me and the courage to stand strong in times of trails! I am so grateful for you mom and all that you are to me! Have a great Birthday! I promise I will be there for the next one! :)

I love you Guys! I hope you have a great week!

Elder 

2-17-15

2-17-15

Mom and Dad, 

Well I have a few seconds to let you know that I am doing great! Changes are tomorrow and we are just waiting for president to finish them up before we see where I go! Please send a camera with Tracie!!!! Just tell her to come to the mission office it in a package. She cannot see me. BIG PROBS haha But she is more than welcome to come and drop off the camera at the office and then it can be put into the mail bags to my area, or I can come to the office in the coming weeks to pick it up. Either way! But I think that would be the greatest way to get a camera to me. Electronics are Extremely expensive down here. I love you Guys a whole lot!!!

Elder Naisbitt

February 12, 2015 --- last letter from serving in the office

February 12, 2015 --- last letter from serving in the office

Dear Mom and Dad,

 Sorry the internet went down yesterday as i was about to write you!

But hey I'm actually writing you guys for real this week! Whoo hoo! :) Well its official, this is my last Pday in the office... :( Im going to miss this place a lot... It has been so much fun and so much hard work, but I have so many memories here. I am trying to figure out where i am going... Dang I feel like I just got here in the office, and im even more upset because I just got here in San Judas!!! DARRRRNNNNN! But I know where i am sent is where in the Lord wants me to be! Who knows what will happen though in the next week, but so I will be writing not this Monday, but the following week on Monday! Now I should have zero excuses to not write you guys every week! But this past week we had Elder Duncan here, which is why we were not able to write, but that was an incredible experience having him here! We learned a whole lot about how to accelerate the work here in Nicaragua, and not only baptize 2000 every year, but more into the 3000s. Nicaragua has such a high potential, we just needed to know to get to that potential. It was really awesome! I think the whole mission is really excited about this new plan that Elder Duncan gave us. He was very pleased about our job as secretaries, and sent president a very personal letter about us, specifically he said that we would go very far in life! Super awesome and kind of him to say that! Any way we had a great week, even though we did not sleep that much, nor participate much!

Well this week we have one baptism of a kid named Jose Luis! He was chosen to be baptized! We found him the we past week, and he chose to be baptized this Saturday! He had been to church before, however the missionaries never mentioned baptism (silly missionaries) so when we brought it up, he got really excited, and convinced his mom of this decision! He has been going to seminary for the past 2 two weeks and loves that as well! He will be a great convert!

 I have been really studying this week on getting back to the basics, since now I have new scriptures now :) I am doing fine, im not mentally scared or anything haha! It could have been a lot worse. Sister Russell was really freaked out as well, and grateful that we are not hurt. 

 There have been other people here in the mission that have received cameras, so I know it is possible, it just depends on if we want to make the risk. I am good either way. Ill go to the mall and Pricesmart and see what they have in cameras. Hopefully it is not too spendy!

 Ill let you guys know where I ended up in the coming weeks!

 Im super excited and super antsy!!! AHHHHH 

 I love you guys, thanks for all of the support you guys are for me!

 Elder Naisbitt

February 7, 2015

February 7, 2015

Well I'm writing you today in the hopes that you get this email shortly. Ill share what actually happened when I get home from the mission, we are all fine, but I lost my backpack and wallet. In the backpack was my camera. In my wallet I lost my debit card (I just canceled that) as well as drivers license. Like I said I'm fine, mentally and physically, but i just wanted to let you know that if you guys could work on getting a new black backpack, as well as a new camera, that would be awesome! :) I love you guys

Elder Naisbitt 

"Hey Dad,

Well I trust you and mom , I just don't want you worrying. Well we were held up at gun point, so we just gave everything up. like I said we are fine! I'm fine! :) just a little frustrated that it happened haha.

I would love to have some money wired to me if it is possible. Next to the office we have a Western  Union, which is the safest and most secure way of receiving money. I think the idea of the refillable credit card would be a great idea. Whatever you think is best! Thanks so much for the support! If you would like to chat about all this today, I will be on the computer in the afternoon around 1. I love you dad!

Elder Naisbitt"

**Travis and I are working on the backpack and debit card.  Travis wired money to Garrett.  Hopefully, on the next change/transfer, he'll be sent somewhere safer.  Managua is very dangerous.