November 16, 2015

November 16, 2015

Dear mom and Dad! 

Well this week literally FLEW by! I cannot believe that it is Monday again! Seriously, I have never imagined time would go by so fast! I'm glad everyone is doing good and that everyone is happy! That's so cool Mom went down to Arizona! It sounded like it was a blast! I have so many movies to see when I get home... We were in at our lunch appt, and the little kid was watching TV and a commercial came on and it was the trailer for hotel Transylvania 2, we could not hear it, but I was laughing so hard! The first movie was hilarious haha. Anyway, I'm glad all is marching well in Zion!

So this week went by so fast for a few reasons, first and foremost, we baptized Grichard! Whoo Hoo! He is such a cool kid! we invited his grandma to come to the baptism and I think she liked the church, we need to give her some follow up on what she felt during the baptism! Anyway the baptism was great! I'm so grateful for the opportunity to be able to help people come to Christ! 

Well the sad part of the week is that, darn Manuel was going to come to church this week, but his work called him in and he had to work.... So he cant get baptized because he does not have sufficient times in church. If everything goes as planned and we have some miracles, we will have a great baptism Saturday on the 28 of November! 

On Friday were interviews with President Russell! Each three months we have zone interviews! Most of the time its pretty calm, and nothing happens, other times President gives you lots of things to get better at! I came into my interview, and President tells me, well we will be talking in a few weeks, so we ended up just talking about the zone and the missionaries, and my mission haha. It was easy. But that ate up all of Friday, and Saturday was the baptism! The week was so fast! 

Anyway, another week bites the dust! 

I love you guys and I'm grateful for all that you do! Keep on Keeping on!

Elder Naisbitt

November 9, 2015

November 9, 1015

Dear Mom and Dad! :)

Darn I was hoping to get home on the 4:30 flight haha I ordered all those darn things in the office! Come on secretaries!! :) kidding! but 7:30, I'm going to be BEAT! I can not tell you how tired I am haha, I'm' going to  keep working obviously, but I just want you guys to know that when I get back I am going to sleep for a week straight! #EyeBags haha I have loved serving the Lord, and I know that as I serve him harder and better here in the mission he will serve me afterwards! I just want to give everything I have! I have a ton of people I am going to stay in contact with, and I have never loved a people more than I have loved the Nicas :) if you cut off my hand, instead of blood, gallo pinto and this drink that they always drink that is super awesome called Pinolillo would fall out! I am 100% Nica :) Once a Nica, always a Nica! :) 

Well our poor possibility, Eliezer just cant stop drinking coffee! We have tried everything, but he wont stop! His mom is not very happy we are still teaching him, so I think we are going to drop him for a time, and let his mom calm down before we go back. Its always hard dropping an investigator, but sometimes its what is necessary. Its like when a car is overheating, its better to just turn the car off and let it cool down, rather than just drive it slow. Investigators are super touchy, especially if they have a baptism date and they cant complete that goal, its frustrating for them and for us, does not matter how much patience and love you have, its frustrating. Sometimes, an investigator recovers and will get baptized the coming week, but the majority fall and don't get back up for a time. During that time its a good time for them to reflection and think about everything. Usually in two to three weeks, they are ready and good to go again. So that is our plan with Eliezer. When he feels the difference that his life is without the Gospel, he will come back with a new determination to fallow it. As a child falls, he realizes that the ground is not a happy place after being on his feet, so they get back up! I love the Gospel and the impact it has on people and on their lives! :) 

We have quite a few possibilities for this coming month! I'm super happy with the people that the Lord has given us so many great people teaching! We had a bit of a struggle in the church this Sunday! I really have no idea what happened, we worked SUPER hard this week in the area trying to get a ton of people ready for baptism this month, but it was like everyone cool we were teaching just decided that is was a great day to, visit family, get sick, go work, sleep in..etc! I think I heard it all on Sunday. We ended up bringing 7 investigators to church which was a big disappointment for me, but we are going to work even harder to get new investigators, and bring them to church. The next investigator that should get baptized this weekend is named Grichard! he is 13 years old, and always goes to church with Freddy and Marya and their family! we are going to focus on his needs this week, and get him pumped for his baptism on Saturday! We are also teaching this super awesome guy named Manuel! He is like in his 50's but he is a reference from a member in the ward, and he is awesome! He has two times in church, and is ready to take the step on the 14th of November!

I just want you guys to know that I'm doing great! I love my mission, and I love the Gospel! I love the Nicas, and I love the Lord! Thanks for all of your support and prayers! I know that you guys will be blessed, and have been blessed by my service! I don't want to leave Nicaragua, because I know that Mom is receiving more blessings than ever, and i want her to always be good! I represent two things in my mission, First, the Lord, that's why i carry the title, Elder, and secondly I represent you guys! The Naisbitt family! I love you and I'm grateful for everything! 

Elder Naisbitt

p.s. I am pulling out some money last week, and tomorrow for a new suit I am having made here in my area. it was like 50 bucks. the last suit I bought, was supposed to be grey, and that was the color ( I  thought) of the fabric, but it ended up being a green grey suit. This one is going to be grey. I tried it on today! should be sweet! :)

Love love!

Pss no photos, we had nothing to take pictures of! next week I promise!

November 2, 2015

November 2, 2015

Hey Mom and Dad! 

 Well  this was an interesting week! we had changes, and I am going to "die" here in Altagracia! As the Nicas would say, "Gracias a Dios" hahahaha the Nicas are my favorite! Sounds like everyone had a pretty good week too! Halloween is not celebrated here, and "Dia de los Muertos" is not really celebrated either! Nicas only like Christmas, and Independence Day! haha and a bunch of Catholic holidays! Basically any holiday where you can drink! Alcohol is super popular here! I'm sure you remember seeing pictures I have sent with the drunk people sleeping on the side of the road! its a huge obstecal here for the work of the Lord. I'm glad you guys had a great week! It makes me happy to hear that every one is doing great!

Like I said this week was super interesting! I stayed in the area, and so did Elder Guzman, and we received Elder Heileson, who was one of the District leader in our zone, he is my new Zone Leader comp. and He received a new kid from the states, Elder Black from Montana! I'm pretty dang happy that these guys are my comps! Elder Guzman stayed to finish his training with me, and Elder Black is right out of the MTC :) Super fun! :) Elder Heileson is one of the only other Americans in the mission that is a Ute fan, so that has been fun to talk about, and he used to live in Utah, but now he lives in Arizona! He has 16 months in the mission! He is awesome, I'm learning a lot from him!

So we worked like normal Tuesday, Wednesday were changes, and Thursday! On Friday we went over to Freddy and Mayras house to visit them, and they tell us as we walk in, hey come check out what we bought for the birthday party tomorrow! so we go walking around the back of the house, and they had bought a LAMB! haha awesome! so we took some pictures with it, then out of no where the two brothers of Mayra show up with knives and sheets of metal! So we decided if we are here, might as well get some action shoots of the killing :) hahaha it was pretty  barbaric how they killed it hahah They cut the throat and they cut it apart! hahaha at the end of it, we took some pictures of the head! Once in a life time experience there!

On Saturday they had told us to come at 5:00pm to get something to eat before the party started, so we came, ate some the of the lamb, which was on kabobs and left fat and happy! The birthday party was their daughter, Dulces, Quinceñera! I took a few pictures with Mayras brother, Norlan who is a super awesome guy! he helps us out a lot! around 5:30 we were out of there because the music started, and people started to show up, we came back around 8:30 to get a piece of cake, and we headed home!

On Saturday we were going to baptize a kid named Eliezer, however we showed up and we reviewed all of the baptism questions with his mom their so she could see that he was truly ready, but he confessed that in the morning he drank coffee! GYARRRRRRR which is a week of repentance, so we are planning the baptism for next Saturday! Hopefully everything goes as planned! we could get another Sister we are teaching, who is in a city super far from Managua, but if she comes back, we can baptize her this week! :) Lots of Prayers and Fasting! :)

Well I hope you guys have a great week! :) I love you guys! :)

Elder Naisbitt

October 27, 2015

October 27, 2015

Hey Mom and Dad!! :)

That's so good to hear that Christian and Jake are back, and doing good! I cant believe that everyone is home but the Gerbs! Sounds like you guys had a good week, and the pics of Ash are awesome! #Boy Scouts Hopefully that this coming week is going great! Hey can you guys see my pics, I was looking at my blog. and I did not see the pics...hopefully you can, I would feel bad if you had not seen them. Let me know! 

This week was AWESOME! Everything went as planned for the baptisms and everything! We ended up getting 3 baptisms, one of ours will do it this coming week, Eliezer. But we baptized Freddy, Adalaida, and Jenifer! It was an awesome baptismal service, and the spirit was super strong! we bought like 8 liters of Coke afterwards and cake to celebrate with everyone! Pics on Drop box! :) The Family of Freddy and Mayra are now complete! In one of the pictures has the whole family, and the brother of Mayra, Norlan, who is member too! Freddy and Mayra are the Parents, then their oldest son is Kevin (not present), then their daughter, Dulce, then their son, Bryan, and finally, the last Emma. They are by far the greatest family in the entire world, minus my family! they are the best!

I cant remember if I told you about Jenifer last week or not, but Jenifer is a girl we have been teaching for about a month now, and has made lot of changes in her life to get where she is now! she is a super strong convert, and will stay active in the church! :) AWESOME! and finally Adalaida is an older lady we have been teaching too. She was supposedly baptized like 20 years ago, but she said she did not get confirmed. We talked to the secretaries to verify if she existed in the records kept in Guatemala to see if you had a record number, but she did not appear! so we started again to prepare her for baptism! We are working with her daughter, Scarleth, who has been to church now three times with us, and is wanting to be baptized, we just have to catch her up on her teachings! SHES NEVER HOME! haha but she will be baptized on the 7th of October so that we can finish teaching! 

We are looking for new investigators right now, and this week we are trying to put into a plan that the missionaries use "Plan:Whitness" which is a plan to find new investigators. You find a street, and go from house to house trying to get in and put baptism dates with whatever moves. You may be wondering why its called, Plan: Witness, well its because here in central America, the Jehovah Witness are super strong, and the JW's, go from house to house when they are out preaching haha :) So that's the plan this week, "Burn" the area!

Ill keep you updated on all new stuff next week! 

I GOT YOUR AWESOME PACKAGE!!!! THOSE TIES ARE AWESOME! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! LOVE YOU MOM AND DAD! 

thanks for everything you guys do!

Love ya tons!

Elder Naisbitt

October 19, 2015

October 19, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad!

That's awesome you found Laub´s car!! Too bad though that it took a joy ride down the Las Vegas though....In Nicaragua when someone does something dumb, instead of saying idiot, or dummy, they call people horses haha, don't ask me why because I  have no idea! But that's what they say! So in this moment I would say HORSE! :) I love the Nicas! :) I can't believe that Christian and Jake are home! I can't believe how fast time went! GO UTES! One of our district leaders here is a faithful Utah fan, so we chat about that when we get a free second haha! GO UTES! 

So I added some photos of that super cool family! Freddy, the dad will be baptized this Saturday! WOO HOOO! :) we have 3 other baptisms too! We have a solid four! maybe five if one comes back from a city outside of Managua! The Lord has helped us out so much and we have seen so many miracles in the past few weeks, and we have tried to work as hard as we can to get new investigators, and we know we can work SO much harder! I am trying to give every last drop before I'm gone, and I cant be am Elder anymore! The mission means to world to me, and I am trying hard to give it all in the little time i have left! We are having a lot of success, the ward is doing great, and I feel like the Lord is helping me replace the 6 months of basically no baptisms now! I'm so grateful for all that He gives me and all the help He offers me! 

We baptized a very cool kid, who is a the kid of a recent convert that just got baptized, Mariela! The kids name is Ronald! He should be receiving the Aaronic Priesthood soon! He was an easier baptism He wanted to get baptized, he had no issues with Word of Wisdom, and obviously Law of Chastity! Super cool! 

I have began doing something that I did a few times before the mission, but I started doing it again! I have started reading the Sacrament hymns while the deacons pass the Sacrament. It is a very spiritual way to enjoy the Sacrament! I have grown a big love for the hymns, and the spirit a person can feel while you listen to them! I also have realized that if you want to bring your thoughts directly back to the Lord, does not matter how lost or confused you feel, just start to sing your favorite hymn! My favorite hymn has become Hark All Ye Nations!! I promise when I hear that song when I get back home, I will cry! It is a very popular hymn here in the mission! It was also the first that I had memorized completely in Spanish! The Spirit hits so hard when you sing hymn! 

Anyway I just wanted to share that experience with you guys, and a suggestion as well! Do it, it makes Sacrament time much better! :)

Oh, I have not gotten any packets yet, but its because I have not gone to the office in a while, but maybe on Friday the secretaries will bring the packages to district meeting! 

I love you guys! :) Thanks for everything you do! Thanks for all the birthday wishes!

Elder Naisbitt

PS….

Oh and I forgot to mention, my birthday was great!

In Nicaragua there is a tradition to throw eggs on the heads of people that have their birthdays, so that's what happened to me! We had a meeting Thursday morning, and all the missionaries in the zone brought eggs, and they smashed eggs on my head outside of the church on the grass hahaha! That was a mess, but all good! :)

That night we went to a Freddy and Mayras house and taught Freddy, and then they surprised me by buying a pizza for us and their family! YUM! :) They are the greatest! The youngest kids, Byran and Emma got me a gift of Chocolates :) that is what that little blue package is! :) They are the greatest! :)

October 12, 2015

October 12, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad!

sorry I could not see the video of Mormon Tab. Choir.  We cannot get on YouTube!  I'll watch it in two months! That is so bad that Laub's lost her car!!! :( Its true though because if you look at my key for the Honda, its super bad, haha! I don't know the word to describe it, but its DULL! That's the word! :) anyway, that's hard to hear, I'll keep her car in my prayers! I loved the pics of you guys at the birthday party! :) you look awesome! And that's awesome to hear that the Utes won! GO UTES! :) Wish Laub's luck as she goes to state! Hopefully you feel better dad after working hard with Kelly! 

This week has been one of my favorite weeks in the entire mission! I think I mentioned that we were going to have a few baptisms this week, but we are teaching this family, and the Mom got baptized on Saturday! Most of the family is already members, except the mom and dad (The 2 people in the middle!) The mom, Mayra, has been an eternal investigator since January, and she decided after listening to the law of chastity, she decided she would separate herself from her husband because they still are not married. Before the Husband, Freddy, did not want anything with the missionaries, but as Mayra took the leap of faith to tell him that they could not live together anymore, he became interested in the missionaries, maybe at first for the wrong reasons, but we have been teaching him for two weeks now, and he is AWESOME! :) They don't live together anymore, but he comes over to listen to us, and then goes back home! Three weeks ago we committed Mayra to get baptized on the 10th, and she accepted! She got baptized on Saturday! :) Super happy moments! :) I love that family so much, and if they get sealed in the future I'm going to try everything I can to come and see that! :)

We also baptized a little girl named Anjery, she is the daughter of a recent convert that decided as well to get baptized on the 10th! shes is awesome! Her mom, Brenda is the one in the photos with her! :) I love that family too!

In short words, "My joy is full" :) 

Thanks for all of the birthday wishes! Here in Nicaragua, they break eggs on peoples heads for their birthdays haha, so I will be in the worst church clothes I have! :) I will make sure to write grandpa John, and Grandma Jackie, and thank them for the birthday money.

Love you so much! 

Oh, btw, no packages yet, maybe next week!

Love you!

Elder Naisbitt

October 5, 2015

October 5, 2015

Dear Mom and Dad! 

Hey before I wrote the letter I wanted to tell you that I wrote ash a letter last week for his birthday, but I'm not sure he has checked his email. I just wanted to let you know so you all don't think I'm the worst big brother in the world! 

well its good to hear that everything is going well! Travis you are working so hard! shout out to my buddy Kanyon! :) Ash´s party looked fun too! Good to see everyone is doing good! I'm glad you guys are doing good! 

This week went by so so fast! We had been keeping all of our investigators pumped about conference! it all paid off though because we were able to bring 21 investigators to church! we had a few miracles that showed up by themselves, and were kind of sad we did not pass by and take them, but they all loved conference! I had to listen to it in Spanish so I could not hear Pres. Monson, but I could tell he was slumping over and that the microphone  was like half way up his face. Elder Merrill was listening to it in English in Jinotepe, and he sent me a message that he thinks it was Pres. Monson's last conference. Lets keep up the prayers on his behalf that his life can be extended as long as the Lord needs him here! I loved the talk from Elder Duran as well about Ponderizing the scriptures! I felt like that was written for me because I struggle so hard to be able to get the scriptures profoundly in my heart. I am going to be putting them on my study desk once a week, and always be memorizing more!

http://www.saladeprensamormona.org.ni/articulo/%C2%A0visita-del-presidente-nelson-a-nicaragua

(Garrett's in the photo 8 of 29 once you click on the link.

This weekend we are going to baptize two people! A lady named Maira, and a kid named Andres. Maira is a mom of a bunch of recent converts, and is super awesome! we were able to teach Law of Chastity to her, and she chose to separate herself from her partner, so she is doing awesome! I love that lady and her family! We have tried teaching her partner, but he was not to open, but since she has left him, he has been more willing to listen to us. He went to conference with us and the rest of his family, and loved it! He has been looking at the changes that his children have made, and that his future wife has made, so he is super open now. he accepted a baptism date for the 31st of October, and is on fire! His name is Freddy. Andres is a kid we have been teaching, and is super pumped as well to get baptized! :) Hopefully we can dunk 4-5 this month! :) 

well that is about all we have done this week. we are trying to find a bunch of new investigators and keep the old ones progressing! its a struggle, but the Lord always provides the strength and power to keep doing this. I want you guys to know that i love you and I am forever grateful for all that you do for me! Your guys are awesome! :) 

I love you!

Elder Naisbitt