August 11, 2015

August 10, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad!

That is awesome that Elder Merrill's mom wrote you guys! hahaha! Well I'm sure you guys are dying to know if i had changes right.... :) Well....................... I did....................Not have changes! 

I am going to complete 6 months walking the sammmmeee street hahaha :) I put a picture of the area on Dropbox! Elder Merrill and I have one more change together! hahaha this will be the my longest companion in my mission! Crazy! But he is the greatest! We work super hard together and get a lot done! We have a new edition to the companionship though... :) Elder Gomez! Elder Rodriguez had changes, and we received Elder Gomez! He has 9 months in the mission and is a pretty awesome kid! he is my comp! Elder Lopez is still with Elder Merrill! Elder Gomez is from Guatemala! 

Well anyway we have been super busy these past few days! Ill see if I can remember everything that happened!

Tuesday: We received the changes around 1:30pm, then we went out and worked! We got the bus ordered and then started the very long night...! Elder Rodriguez packed until 1:00 am, 

Wednesday: Elder Merrill and I slept for about an hour before we had to get up again and go and pick up all of the missionaries from Rivas and from Nandaime, then to Managua! We left Jinotepe around 3:00 am to start the pick up! We got to the change meeting, picked up the new zone and made the same trip, just backwards to drop everyone off! Long day!

Thursday: We worked like normal, and started again to work in Dolores, because our little area has not been producing, so we have changed areas again. We are going to baptize a super cool guy this Saturday named Juan! He is 20, and has a ton of friends in church, and loves it! He is kind of nervous about baptism, but we are going to go and encourage him super hard this week and build him up so that on Saturday he is ready! :)

Friday: We had District meeting, and I taught (We are ZLs and DLs because there is no DL up here, just down in rivas) about how as missionaries we need to do a better job at verifying! A lot of times we make commitments, and the people accept the invitation, and say they will complete, however when it comes time to complete, the investigators dont a lot of times because as missionaries we are not verifying and reminding! PMG says we need to pass by everyday to help the investigators remember who they need to put first in their lives! So that is what I shared, and committed the missionaries to do that! We will be verifying on the progress! :) After District meeting I went to go and work with this super awesome RM to go and visit Juan! While we are were walking, the RM told me a very cool way to study the scriptures! What he did on his mission was study from 3 Nephi 28 to the book of Ether. But he read every single foot-note, and wrote down the references that applied to one of the five lessons we teach! Super awesome! In like 2 days my knowledge has grown a whole lot! I will keep this up and hopefully I can get some sweet new scriptures cause I'm so bored of using the same ones! :)

Saturday: We worked again, and committed everyone we are teaching to come to church! Kind of a normal day! Night time came around and after planning we ordered pizza from our favorite pizza shop here in Jinotepe! Nummmmm Elder Merrill does not like extra stuff on his pizzas, so we just get cheese, which is super good! 

Sunday: We left early to attend a baptism of the Sisters here in Jinotepe. Super cool kid! We then went out and looked for our investigators! we ended up bringing 11 to church! Much better than prior weeks! :) With hard work comes great results! 2 cor 9:6! 

Today: We deep cleaned the house because interviews with President are coming up! Sister Russell always comes around to check how clean the apartments are! If they are up to standard, then we get one of Sister Russells home-made Brownies YUMMMMMM :) so we worked super hard to get the house clean! It is amazing how much stronger you can feel the spirit in a clean house than in a dirty disordered house or apartment! :) 

Well those are my adventures for the week! :) 

Anna just sent a picture of one of your peach raspberry pies.....#Day Ruined AWWWWWWWWW i miss those pies.... :)

I'm doing great! 

Thanks for all of your prayers and strength through these hard times! :)

Elder Naisbitt

August 4, 2015

August 4, 2015  - (an email from Sis. Merrill, Garrett's companion - they are both Zone leaders)

Hi Julie!

My name is Jenny Merrill, my son is Elder Merrill.  My cute mom recently found your blog.  Our boys are zone leaders together and my son loves your son!  I can't remember if he wrote it or mentioned it when we spoke on Mother's day but he said, "We will for sure be friends after the mission!".  Thanks for sharing your blog and for having a wonderful son!

Jenny Merrill

Here is Sam's blog if you are interested

Elder Merrill's LDS Mission

				Elder Merrill's LDS Mission First off, I want to apologize for not saying anything last week. We really were so busy, but this time all is good to write about everything that happened last ...
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August 3, 2015

August 3, 2015 

August 3, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad! 

well you both wrote super awesome letters! I was cracking up about Ashes experiment and his "crack pipes" HAHA Mucho LOL here in the Cyber! :) Thanks for the advice Dad! That is something I definitely need to get better at! If I could just look at the small good things that happen everyday, I think a lot would change here in this area! I will pray so that the Lord can bless me with those kind of eyes. Thanks! I love you guys! 

Well here we are, another week bites the dust! This week went incredibly fast, and I hope I can remember everything that happened! :)

On Tuesday last week we had leadership council, like always at the end of every month. Its a time of humility and taking the responsibility for the things that happened in your zone. Our zone did not do as good as it should have (hence the blue ties) haha Usually we try and wear red ties because its a power color, and it looks good with the suits, but we did not do as good as we should have. We explained it all and promised a high, but reasonable goal for the month of August! We got back late that night from Managua, so we went and worked for an hour, and went home, took numbers and crashed.

Wednesday was a good day, we went out and worked, trying to find as many new investigators as we could, but we did not find any that day. That night, Elder Merrill opened up the bible randomly and said, This is what God is telling us right now, and he opened up the book of Haggai verse 9, which said,  "Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little;

HAHA we were laughing so hard! That is the story of this area, but we know that the Lord expects us to keep working hard, even in the tough times!  So that was Wednesday!

On Thursday, we planned to the zone meeting we would have the next day, We had realized a few challenges that the zone had, especially with the problem that, The missionaries are serving the Lord, but as D&C 4:2 says, we need to serve God with all our heart might mind and strength, but the missionaries had been working with just their strength. and might. their bodies were working as hard as they could in the work, but their minds and hearts were in other things. 

On Friday we had the Zone meeting. We planned the meeting to include the video of Elder Holland's talk, "Do you love me?" (Thanks Dad). We hope we can see a change in the way we as missionaries work, and just like I have said since the beginning, don't let yourself pass through the mission, but let the mission pass through you! We made some cards that will help us remember the that, "The worth of souls are great in the sight of the Lord" D&C 18:10. After that, I had to go to Rivas to help pump up some people for their baptism the next day, and then a Sister got sick and had appendicitis, so The district Leader and I were running around till about 10:00 getting her to a clinic. The Assistants showed up around 11:00 to take her to Managua. Crazy! Late night again! She is doing better now!

On Saturday I came back from Rivas, worked the area, and got people committed to church! We have very little investigators, so we are trying to protect them and teach them well so that they don't fall either. 

On Sunday we ended up bringing this really cool family to complete (Dad is member, wife and kids not) to church! They are awesome! The wife is a little on the not interested side, but that should change through the course of the teaching! We brought 12 investigators to church, all thanks to God. I do not know how we receive so many blessings! Sometimes i feel like King Benjamin, in Chapter 2: 22-24! We are so in debt to God! My favorite hymn here on the mission has become, "I stand all amazed" Its amazing! We worked the area, and found a cool family, and two young boys that are interested in the church and what we teach! THAT!

Today we cleaned the house, got something to eat, and now we are here!

This week are changes, and I think I will have them...:,( I am going to miss Jinotepe if I do have changes! The people here are the greatest! 

Ill let you know next week what is going to happen!

I love you guys! Thanks for all your support and love!

Elder Naisbitt

July 27, 2015

July 27, 2015

Back to the Books

Hey howdy hey! :)

Well I about died hearing about Elfy! poor dog! Hopefully she is better! I hope everyone is doing good too! Sounds like you guys had a great week at Little E and at the neighborhood party too! Fun fun!

This week was kind of a hard one. We have been working our heads off trying to find new investigators in this area of ours.... we always joke that this area is the closest area here in the mission that is the closest to an area in the States. It is so HARD to find people here.... this week we contacted 302 people, and not a single person was willing to have us visit them. We had the APs come and turn the area over, and the could not find anyone either. It is kind of frustrating, but I always remember a quote from Pres. Packer that has always helped me in these moments. A missionary had come into his office and had had a little over a year in the mission, and had not baptized and had not had very much success in his mission, and the missionary came to Pres. Packer to ask what he was doing wrong, and Pres. Packer told him, "It is not that you're doing something wrong, but you just have not been doing the right thing long enough." I just am trying to keep being obedient and working as hard as I can. This next month is looking kind of sad in the area because all of our possibilities fell this past week. *sigh* But we are working and you know me, I'm always happy :) Just keep the good attitude up and something good is bound to happen haha :) 

I also have been putting my head in PMG and in the Scriptures trying to grow my knowledge of the Gospel. I have focused a lot on Chapter 4, which talks about the Spirit. I have been really trying to make my prayers more sincere and meaningful, and I have found a new light that has come into my life by praying with faith, rather than just talking with God. It has been a really great experience, and I hope to keep studying that chapter to be more attentive to the Spirit. Praying by name for investigators has helped a lot too! We had a huge miracle yesterday though! :)

As we went to church with literally NOBODY... A super awesome guy we are teaching showed up on his own, as well as a few non-members, so that was awesome! The non-members are unteachable mostly because they were brought by members outside of our ward, so other missionaries will start to teach them. But this guys name is Juan! We are teaching his wife and him, but his wife is always out-of-town on Sunday, but He is one of the first people I have met that does what he says here! Most people say they will go, but end up never going hahaha :) He has a baptism date for the 15 of August!

A return missionary this week also told us about his mission in the Dominican Republic, and told us a way to find new investigators here in Jinotepe. He told us that we should start teaching straight Catholics because they convert into really great members! The only problem with that religion is that they are very stuck in their traditions that they have, but we plan on using the BOM to help build a testimony of the Restored Gospel. I will give you an update next week on how our new plan went haha. We are so desperate so we are willing to do whatever it takes! :)

Anyway we are doing great like always, we are just passing through more trails, which is something normal that I have learned to get used to here on the mission! Just be obedient and everything works out great! 

I love you guys!  I hope everything is going good! Have a great week! Talk to you in a very short week again!

Elder Naisbitt

P.S. there is no space on dropbox for new photos! Ill get you the new ones next week! :) 

ASH IS GETTING SO TALL!!!! :)

July 20, 2015

July 20, 2015

Well I finally got my camera cord! I am sure you have seen most of the photos, but at the end of the letter I will explain all of them! Sounds like you guys had a good week, and all is well in Zion :) Moms tires disasters sounds awful, Dads concert sounds great! Soccer in the front yard, and Elphy in the back! Sounds like regular life back home! :)

 This week, Elder Merrill let me read this very cool talk called, "The Fourth Missionary" I recomed that all of us read it and try to not only apply it to missionary work, but to our lives in General! I was able to realize what I needed to change and how to go about doing it. I know how to have a successful mission and be a successful missionary not only now, but for the rest of my life. I challenge all who read this letter, to also read "The Fourth Missionary" and you will see what needs to be changed in each of your lives!  

Attached is the Document! Seriously it has changed my life :) Super great! 

On Tuesday like I mentioned we had that multi-zone conference in Managua with the whole zone! There are a few pictures of the zone coming back from the multi zones at like 9:00pm! Elder Merrill and I had to make the whole trek to Rivas and back again like we did in changes, which was exhausting! We finally got back to the apartment around 10:15 pm and we had been awake since 2:00am... long day! We also taught a class at the multizones about how to better present the Book of Mormon! We made little cards that the missionaries could put inside of their scriptures and use in lessons! Pres. said he liked the class, so I guess we did ok :) 

There are also some pics of our new apartment, without any furniture, I have not gotten around to taking another picture with everything in it! Its a nice place! :) 

We were going to baptize this past weekend, but we got to the house of our possibility and she told us that she had been fighting with her boyfriend, and did not feel ready to be baptized that day. We tried to help her understand that she was ready, but she just needed a little more time. She promised she would get baptized this weekend. We will see what happens. 

Sunday we hoped for a good day in church, but it turned out to be not as good as we would have hoped. We did not commit as hard as we should have all of our investigators and for that reason they did not come to church and decided to go to Managua for a huge celebration. Yesterday was the 19th of July, which is the day the revolution ended here in the 80s, so everyone and their dog go to Managua to the plaza, and celebrates. Bus rides are free so most people take advantage of the free bus ride and go to Managua. Free Beer too, so it attracts people better than bees to honey. We had 10 investigators, but only 4 were progressing and had a baptism date. Kind of disappointing, but we are going to work harder this week so we can do better next week! 

I don't think anything spectacular should happen this week, but there is never a dull moment here in the mission! Keep you head on a swivle as President Russell says! :) 

I love you guys! I hope all is welll health wise as well! 

Love you so much! 

Elder Naisbitt

July 13, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad! 

Crazy weeks for you guys! I can not believe either that Lauren is going to be a senior!! I left and she was just a barley a sophomore! SUPER LOCO! How sad that the Allreds are moving.... They will definitely be missed! Tell them I said hi! 

Well I forgot my dumb camera cable again, so I pulled some of the baptism pics from Elder Lopez!  sorry on Wednesday I will try and send the new pics of our apartment! The apartment is really nice, and it stays pretty cold because it is surrounded by lots of trees! There is a sweet Avocado tree outside, so we are just waiting for the avocados to get ripe, and we will start putting them in some eggs for breakfast! yum! :) #NewHouseProps!

The past week was pretty crazy! I went on divisions for two days down in Rivas with a few companionships! I learned a lot from them, and I hope they were able to learn something from me! hahaha They improved on their numbers and how many investigators they had in church, so I am happy! :) That was on Tuesday and Wednesday! On Thursday I came back and got to work in the area! :) 

We had been preparing Kevin, our possibility for baptism, for about a month! But he was so ready! He had listened to missionaries before hand, and by the time we showed up, he was ready to go! He got baptized Saturday morning, and afterwards, to celebrate we went to this american diner place at the park as a companionship and bought Pancakes! Saturday is usually spent committing all of your investigators to go to church! We are teaching this awesome family right now named Humberto and Carmen! They are great! Humberto is working through some issues he has been having with Word of Wisdom, and cannot get baptized this Saturday, however Carmen is wanting to get baptized to be an example for Humberto! She told us that yesterday and that completely caught us off guard! We had been putting a lot of focus Humberto, and all of a sudden she steps up to the plate like a champ! :) So we should be baptizing her this weekend! :)

Tomorrow we have a big meeting in Managua!  This week we are going to visit a lot of different areas to get to know the possibilities for baptism that are coming up in the next two weeks! Lots of fun stuff!

I love you guys! Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Elder Naisbitt

July 6, 2015

July 6, 2015

Hey Paps y Mom! :) 

I loved the pictures! Looks like everyone is doing great! I wish could see a picture of Grandpa! 175 lbs! That is awesome! he looks better than I do now! ;) Snowbird... fun times! Crazy stuff with the cars though, that is too bad about Laubs car! Hopefully this week that gets fixed! 

On Tuesday Elder Rodriguez and I went to a meeting in Managua, which was good! I saw some of my buddies! We are all doing great! Elder Roney and Naupoto! During the meeting Elder Merrill was stopped by our house owner and she threw the biggest worst news she could on four missionaries....we had 5 days to look for a new house....NOOOOOOOO! So when I got back we began to search, and that day ended in vain! that day was good in the zone! We had a great lesson with Angel! He was all good to get baptized!

On Wednesday was dedicated and devoted to finding a house! However we came up with some possibilities, but none were up to the standards. Everything here in Jinotepe is very expensive, house speaking, and as missionaries we have a limit of 140 bucks a month. so that limits everything! We found this lady who was "to die Catholic" that was very sweet, and kept calling the church and organization haha but she had some rooms that were nice, and not to speak hot water, however the rent was 300 bucks a month! YIKES! and not to mention the rooms were littered with figures of Mary and the Pope haha. Bad news bears! ( that is my new saying )

Thursday was again spent looking for houses! We found another possibility that night, which looked really good, especially in the description the neighbors gave it, by saying there was Air condition!!!! We were so pumped and ready to go for it, until we saw the house..... Small, and NO AIR CONDITIONING! Gyarrrrrr But it was still not that bad, it had a good view of Jinotepe, and was only 130 bucks a month. But the thing that got it rejected was that there was a newly wed couple of one month living in the other half of the house.... again, Bad news bears!

Friday I taught our district how to improve putting baptism dates the first visit, and being bold about it. I hope it was a good training. The missionaries liked it! Friday was the dead line on the house, it was either we find a house or we are going to be in hot water with our house owner. So we divided and conquered once again, and found two possibilities, the first, a two story house that we loved, and again had HOT WATER!! We were super persistent on getting it, however it was rejected because to get to the rooms you have to go up a flight of stairs that does not have a banister..... Darn! But as we were sitting down on a corner, Elder Merrill and I looked up and miraculously there was a sign that said they had apartments to rent a few blocks away from where we lived at the moment. We called the number, went and looked at the house. The house is quite nice, big, no air conditioning, nor hot water, but spacious, and it has a nice kitchen area! We sent the pics the sister Russell, and later that night it got APPROVED! Finally!!!!! We moved most of our stuff in today and yesterday. The house is nice. I do not have my camera with me, left it in the house charging...sorry, but ill put pics up tomorrow in the morning when we are sending numbers to the office. 

During this whole time we had been searching for some new investigators, we have great possibilities for July, but we are dry right now in August. The search never ends! Every night we visited Angel and everything went great! Seriously he is one of my favorite people here in Nicaragua! Very very very shy, but friendly and sincere! On Saturday he got baptized! He did not want anyone in his baptism, but out of nowhere everyone in the entire world decided to show up and watch his baptism haha! That poor kid was so scared, but he pulled like a champ! On Sunday he got confirmed and was super happy! :) I LOVE THE LORD AND HIS WORK!! :)

The District in Rivas is getting better, tomorrow and Wednesday I will be down there on divisions. Hopefully I can help the companionship, I will work with! I know I will learn lots of stuff from them! I always do! I love the missionaries in my zone! They rock! They are so dedicated to the work! 

I love you guys! You guys are the best! I hope you guys have a great week!

Elder Naisbitt (Zone Leader)