Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo!

Companions at mission Christmas Party

So, I apologize for my lack of emails these past couple weeks. Lots of traveling and craziness, so I haven`t had time to hop on the computer to tell y`all about my week :) But it has been an excellent Christmas time here in Sèbaco. Lots of food, miracles, rejections, presents, and happiness here in Nicaragua. Last Monday we had our mission Christmas party, and that was a blast to see all my friends and have a party. With President Collados permission and presence, we watched Minions, and we had a talent show. It was so fun, we laughed so hard, and just had a great time. And as our Christmas gift, they gave us a fruit basket of giant apples and grapes. It may not seem much to you, but those things are EXPENSIVE here, and I haven`t had a delicious apple in forever. Needless to say I`ve never been so excited to see an apple before in my life.

Sarah and Hermana Near on Christmas Day

This week we saw so many miracles! Found lots of people, but even though lots of them rejected or lied to us, we found our miracle family. It happened on accident because I needed to repare my shoes. Long story short, we ended up at their house and we taught them and the Spirit was so strong. We came back other days with members and the Spirit is just so powerful every time we`re there. They keep asking when we`ll come back, they have questions, they want to learn. They`re so fantastic, and they even came to church yesterday! It was a miracle that we got both of them, because he left for work because he said he had to. But he ended up talking to his boss and coming back, and he came for the first hour and we all crowded on a mototaxi and even got there before sacrament started and it was so great. Our literal Christmas miracle :) We`re going back with them after we finish up here, and I hope that they read the Book of Mormon together, and that they`ll ending up making the decision to be baptized.

Member family that hosted the missionaries on Christmas

For my spiritual thought, I wanted to share a part of 2 Nephi 26.
 23 For behold, my beloved brethren, I say unto you that the Lord God worketh not in darkness.

shadow posing

 24 He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation.
 25 Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk and honey, without money and without price.
 26 Behold, hath he commanded any that they should depart out of the synagogues, or out of the houses of worship? Behold, I say unto you, Nay.
 27 Hath he commanded any that they should not partake of his salvation? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but he hath given it free for all men; and he hath commanded his people that they should persuade all men to repentance.
 28 Behold, hath the Lord commanded any that they should not partake of his goodness? Behold I say unto you, Nay; but all men are privileged the one like unto the other, and none are forbidden.
I love this scripture. We are so loved, and we can`t even imagine it. Our father loves us so much that he gave his so that we could ALL participate of his salvation, and none of us are denied. We deny ourselves by not learning to live by his celestial standards. He gives us commandments, calls prophets, requires us to walk by faith, all for our benefit. He does EVERYTHING just for us. We are his purpose, just like it says in Moses.

Alright, time to go. But I hope you all have an excellent new year, and that you all write up some resolutions to go share the gospel! Ain`t no better joy ;) Okay. I love you all, have a great week!

Hermana Oliphant

Sorry! I`m alive!

Hey everyone! I swear I`m still alive! We just ended up going to Managua yesterday for a choir practice, and we were there all day! We didn`t leave Managua until 6 pm, and then we had to take the bus back. Normally it takes 3 hours to get to Sèbaco, but we accidentally shoved on the express bus, so it only took an hour and a half (and cost us twice as much...but it`s all good. It was comfy and fast.) So we got permission from our mission president to write you guys today!

This week has been slower than usual. Not sure why, but both me and my comp have just felt like this week draaaaggggeeddd on. It feels like it`s been a month since we became companions...nope. Just a week, haha.

And this comp likes to run to exercise in the mornings...so guess what I`ve been doing. Not my favorite, haha. Mainly I walk behind her as she runs around, but I`ve started to run a little bit more. And we went exploring a bit, and we found this cute little crosscountry trail that leads through lots of crops and farm land and by a little river...it was so beautiful, and it makes me want to go running some more just to go see it, haha ;)

New foods this week! I was given a whole fish by my lunch cita. I didn`t know what to do with it, so she helped me out, haha. And since Hermana Near and I felt a little daring, we each ate a fish eye. And not just the eyeball, either. The entire eye socket and some meat stuff behind it. It was actually pretty good. Not gonna lie. But on a more delicious note, we found this smoothie place that makes piña colada milkshakes. YUUUMMMM.

We`ve really been struggling with finding people who are ready to progress, but we`re still contacting and teaching and doing everything that we`re supposed to, but I guess I`m just going to have to be patient ;) I know there`s a family here waiting just for this two gringas!

For my spiritual thought, I stumbled upon Jacob chapter 4 and I really really loved it. Everything about it. Especially verses 7-14.
 7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.
 8 Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.
 9 For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?
 10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.
 11 Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.
 12 And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?
 13 Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.
 14 But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.

These verses just really stood out to me, about how we can never understand how incredible our God really is. And how often do we seek to counsel him in our daily lives? It`s not literally telling him what to do, it`s the way we revise his commandments inside ourselves by justifying even the slightest sin. If we`re justifying our weaknesses and sins in our hearts, we`re not being humble, and we`re being stiffnecked just like all those horrible Jews ;) But seriously, a big part of being humble is putting OUR knowledge aside and just doing what the Lord tells us to do, because we have faith that he knows better, and he will lead us down the path of happiness.
Okay, so we`ve got to head out now. I hope you all have an excellent week! Remember Ether 12:27 and 2 Nephi 9:28-29 and Proverbs 3:5-6 ;) I love you all so much, and thank you for all your love and support and prayers and everything. It means the world!
Feliz semana!
Hermana Oliphant

Buenas tardes todos!

So this week was pretty great. On Thursday we had a multizone conference, and it was honestly just fantastic. I felt the Spirit so strongly, and I learned so so much about how to be a better missionary. We were urged to use the Book of Mormon more. We read a quote from one of the apostles that basically said that we can`t start teaching our investigators until they have a Book of Mormon in their hands. We hadn`t been using the Book of Mormon that much, but they handed us giant boxes full of soft-back copies and we`re supposed to use the whole box in a couple months. Not wasting them, but teaching with them, and helping our investigators to progress by reading it. It just helped me even more in my testimony of the Book of Mormon, and how powerful it is in teaching and converting. We watched the story of Parley P. Pratt, and his conversion. Basically, he followed another church to New York, and there he met someone who had a copy of the Book of Mormon, and showed it to him, and told him the story. Pratt was intrigued, and once he got the book, read the whole thing in one night. Then he new he had to find Joseph Smith and join his church. Isn`t that incredible? He didn`t even need a missionary. Just that book was enough. Not saying we don`t need missionaries, but we need to rely more on the power that`s already been placed in our hands for us, instead of trying to convince everyone that they need to get baptized. I loved it, and I`m so excited to continue teaching more from the Book of Mormon.
And now I have a funny story. So my old companion just went home this week, so I new I`d be getting a new companion this change. So on Sunday, my comp and another sister from Matagalpa would be going to Managua together for their final interview, and her companion, Hermana Near, would be staying with me in Sèbaco. While we were here, Hermana Near got a call from her zone leader saying that she was closing her area, and she was going to have changes too. Basically, that meant running over to catch a bus to Matagalpa so she could pack and say goodbye to some people. And clean the house and take care of keys and everything. Thankfully there are still Elders in her area, so we just had to hand them the keys to the apartment and they`d take care of the rest. So, in the middle of our running around Matagalpa, my zone leader called me and said that Hermana Near and I were actually going to be companions!! We both laughed, saying that we knew it. We both did have a hunch, but now we knew for sure. That meant, also, that we didn`t have to take the long bus to Managua to pick up our new companions, because we were already together! We just had to finish packing and taking care of a few other details before we came back here to Sèbaco. One of those things was getting the keys to the apartment and her phone to the Elders in the ward, and they were going to meet us at the bus station. But as soon as our taxi (with a BUNCH of suitcases and bags) pulled into the station, we had people yelling at us, asking us where we were going. We said "Sèbaco," and so they just threw our suitcases on top of the bus and yelled at us to get on because the bus was leaving. I hoped on with my mountain of things and got settled, and I realized that Hermana Near hadn`t gotten on the bus, and it started to leave! So I ran to the door, and asked her what she was doing, and she reminded me that we were supposed to wait for the Elders. I didn`t know what to do, so I told her to get on, because that`s where our stuff was. So she got on, and called the Elders and said that they were going to have to get everything another time. They told her that that wasn`t possible, and that we NEEDED to get off the bus. So we headed to the front of the bus and told the driver that we needed to get off and we needed our stuff. So all the guys were all irritated, so the let us off (and I bumped into a bunch of people on that crowded bus...sorry guys. They were laughing at all the stuff I had. Not my fault, haha). And they chucked our luggage off the top of the bus, and also some random bags of plants and flowers and things that were up there too, that they somehow thought were ours...and then it left. We just stood there, thankfully near a gas station so we could tell the Elders where to meet us, and felt so bad for that poor lady who lost her bags filled with things she was probably going to sell. But we couldn`t do anything about it...so we left them there, hoping that maybe she`d think to come back and look. I`m going to be praying for that, for sure. Al fin, the Elders found us, took the keys and phone, laughed at how much stuff we had, and let us catch the next bus that came by where we were. And then, settled on the bus, a little calmer, we realized that we didn`t give the Elders the rent money, or the number of the landlord. We`ll deal with that later. Maybe they`ll find the number on the phone.
Then we got back to the house in TWO mototaxis, then started cleaning our crazy mess of an apartment.
And that was my p-day. Crazy and stressful, but amusing. A day I`m never going to forget, for sure. And we`re so excited to be companions, even though saying goodbye was really hard.
I`m out of time, but hopefully you all enjoyed my story. Lesson learned: Plan things out a little better. But as missionaries, we sure do get pretty good at winging it. We can handle ourselves here, right? ;)
Alright, I hope you all have a great week. I didn`t get to watch the Christmas devotional, but I hope you all take the time to watch it and enjoy it. I`ll sure do my best to get a hold on it :) I love you all, and remember to read the Book of Mormon! You WILL gain a testimony of how important it is in your life, and to the church. I promise.
Love, Hermana Oliphant

Another week in Nicaragua

So I´m out of time this week but it´s been pretty slow anyways. Everyone´s started the Christmas fiestas, haha. Lots of lights and decorating and parties. Christmas here is basically the same, but lots more Catholic statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary. The norm.

I´ve been falling in love with teaching, and just helping people understand the Restoration and the Plan of Salvacion. Especially the Restoration. Just going over it over and over again really helps me understand it better and gain a testimony of how much God loves us, and how inspired everything about the Book of Mormon, the Restoration, and everything is. I love it so much. I also read 2 Nephi 9 this week in my studies, and It was so powerful. I hope you all get a chance to read it and ponder it. It´s kind of long, and it covers a LOT, but take it piece by piece, and it´s a really beautiful and wonderful chapter of the Book of Mormon. 

 

We had an interesting experience this week. We were looking for a reference, and we contacted a house to ask for directions. My companion said, "Sorry to bother you sir, but..." and he´s just like "No, it´s no bother, the word of God is always welcome." and went inside to pull out chairs. We´re just like, well cool. Guess he was ready for us, haha. Turns out he was very very drunk, and basically cried and told us that he was struggling to stop drinking, and that we were his angels sent to save him. We said a few things, gave him a pamphlet, and promised to come back later when he wasn´t drunk so we could actually teach him a lesson. But we went back and he was asleep, and we haven´t been able to visit him since. But we felt in the moment we contacted him that we were supposed to meet him. He turned out to be the brother of the person we were looking for, and so we´re definitely going back again. The Lord definitely knows how to guide us when we´re working under his authority. I´m so glad to have this opportunity to help his children learn about the plan he has for each one of us.
I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving, and I hope your preparations for Christmas go smoothly, and remember to keep Christ in Christmas :) I love you all, feliz semana!

Att. Hermana Oliphant

Eating interesting foods

Hola todos! We went to Estelí today, and this week was pretty slow, so this´ll be a pretty short letter. Just more walking, talking to people, teaching, getting to know this massive area. I´ve also got a picture this week! I´m not sure how good the quality is, since for some reason my camera is only taking blurry pictures.

I got to give a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. I didn´t know about it until 7 am that morning, with church starting at 9. And I didn´t have time to prepare anything, since we had to run around to bring investigators to church. I also didn´t have a topic. So I just picked a couple of related Liahona articles I had found in my search of cool things in old Liahonas. I based it off of "Living with Real Intent" from this October, and just talked about how we need to always have a goal in mind, to keep an eternal perspective, and never stop doing good things of our own free will. I felt the Spirit so strongly, and I knew that the Spirit guided me to know what to say. I urged all of the members to go to the temple, because there´s a trip to Honduras in the district at the beginning of December. Not many are planning on going, and I just urged them with all my heart to go. Because I´m so beyond jealous that they can go to the temple, and I´m over here dying because I want to go so bad and have to wait another year. It´s so far, an 8 hour bus ride, but I´d hop right on that thing if I could. I can´t wait until I can go to the temple again ;) Please treasure that wonderful sacred building. Go as often as you can. Go for me, haha.

 

So also, I ate chicken heart. I didn´t know what it was at first. It´s called Titile, or Piedra. It´s a part of the chicken´s chest cavity, including cartilage and part of it´s heart. They wouldn´t tell me what it was, it looked like some kind of sea food, but I ate it and it was pretty good. Then I learned later what it was. First time I´ve ever eaten anything crazy over here ;) The people are pretty tame with their food, but they eat all of the animal. They don´t understand why we throw their organs away, haha. 

So yeah. I hope you all have an excellent week. Strive for the temple! Keep the commandments! You´ll be so blessed if you do, I promise! That´s really the secret to life. I know it is.

Att. Hermana Oliphant

First week en Sébaco!

This week´s been pretty exhausting. My area really is huge, and the entire city of Sébaco ours! Oh my first day we went up a really steep hill, and there was a gorgeous view of the valley. My comp turned to me and said, "Take a good look, Hermana." And I´m just like...why? Then she responds, "This is your area. The whole thing." And she now only has 3 weeks to show it all to me. But I´ve seriously been helped out by the Lord this week. I´m learning my area so fast. For those who know me, I´m not super good with self-navigation. And I was pretty worried, but I´ve been helped out so much this week, and it´s really strengthened my testimony of prayer and hardwork (and paying attention when we walk).

It´s also super different, because it´s a branch here instead of a ward. There´s about 50 faithful members, but they´re so great. Everyone here is so warm and loving and has accepted me like part of the family. I´m so excited to get to know it even better!

 

Something interesting is also that people are much more fascinated by the fact that I´m a chela, or white. People are always staring at me, as if they´ve never seen a gringa before, and all the little kids I´ve met are so fascinated with the fact that I can speak English. All of them. Back in Managua no one really cared, and so getting here and having little kids all over me going "Talk English! Talk English!" And asking me a bajillion questions is super cool, and kind of exhausting. I´ve never been interrogated so much in my life, haha. But they´re so cute. 

 

And my apartment is much bigger than our old room in Managua. Much bigger. I don´t have pictures of it yet, but I´ll get there. And we do have a shower, (but honestly I wouldn´t mind bucket showering, it´s kind of relaxing), but no one here really has a washing machine...so we hand wash all our own clothes. Which I also don´t really mind. I´ve been washing little batches in the morning throughout this week, since I brought a massive load of dirty clothes from Managua, and then this morning I finally got to washing everything else. And after 2 hours of scrubbing and rinsing and washing and wringing, I finished washing all my clothes. And when I was hanging them up to dry, the clothes line broke. Sooooo I went and rinsed everything off again. Exhausted, but hurrying to get the things that fell into my bucket of bleach (yeah I bleach my own whites). And as I went to hang everything up on our OTHER clothes line, that one broke too, again dumping all my wet clothes in the durt. So, frustrated, exhausted, and feeling a little feverish (I´m really bad at keeping hydrated), I dumped all my wet clothes in the pila(the thing we use to wash clothes, see picture) and went to take a nap, haha :) Hermana Méndez and I basically spent all day cleaning our apartment, but it smells super good now :) I enjoy the cleanness. 

 

I´ve been doing lots of reading on temple covenants and sealings (I´m not trunky I swear), and the more I read, the more I understand how important it is to strive for the temple. It really is the single most important thing we could do, is go to the temple to make those sacred covenants, and then keep them! Remember 2 Nefi 31:19-20. I´ve only got it in Spanish, so you´ll have to translate. "Y ahora bien, amados hermanos míos, después de haber entrado en esta estrecha y angosta senda(here it´s talking about baptism, but I think it can apply to temple covenants as well), quisiera preguntar si ya quedó hecho todo. He aquí, os digo que no; porque no habéis llegado hasta aquí sino por la palabra de Cristo, con fe inquebrantable en él, confiando integramente en los méritos de aquel que es poderoso para salvar. Por tanto, devéis seguir adelante con firmeza en Cristo, teniendo un fulgor perfecto de esperanza y amor por Dios y por todos los hombres. Por tanto, si marcháis adelante, deleitándoos en la palabra de Cristo, y perseveráis hasta el fin, he aquí, así dice el Padre: Tendréis la vida eterna." [19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.]

Once we´ve made these covenants, we can´t quit! We´ve got to stay for dessert. Don´t just eat the salad and then say you´re good. We need to remember and keep these covenants that we´ve made, and then and only then can we have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

 

So that´s about all for this week. I´ll attach some of the fotos of me and Hermana Palencia running around saying goodbye to everyone last week. I hope you all have an excellent week, and read your scriptures. It´s the small things that make all the difference. I love you all, and I hope you all have an awesome week!

Att. Hermana Oliphant

final selfies

final selfies as companions

La Familia Aguirre! We reactivated them and baptized their niece Adela, and they´re still going strong! I´m going to miss them so much.

Jefferson. He´s 18, and less active. We´ve been visiting with him trying to get him back to church, and we got pretty close. He´s my bud. He even speaks a little English, haha. I´mma miss him too :)

La Familia Paredez! He´s in the stake Presidency in Villa Flor, and his wife and daughter. And Elián, his nephew, who got baptized earlier this year, and he´s super excited to get the priesthood!

Hermana Mayra, her daughter in law, and two of her grandkids. Her daughter in law isn´t a member, but we´ve been using the slow and steady method with her. But they´re a super cool family (the ones who fed us lunch every day and washed our clothes), and I´m definitely going to miss them :)

 

Changes have arrived!

Last zone activity in La 14

I´ve finally moved to a new area! It´s called Sébaco and it´s in the department of Matagalpa, in the zone Estelí. It´s actually pretty cool over here, which is so weird after 4 months of sweltering heat. But it´s so beautiful and I´ve fallen in love with my area. Which is good, because I have to get to know it really fast since my new companion, Hermana Mendez, is going home this next cambio. And this next cambio is only 4 weeks instead of 6 weeks so missionaries aren´t coming right during Christmas, so I´ve only got 4 weeks with her to learn this GIANT area, and all the people and everything. But I´m so excited. I´m so sad to leave behind all the wonderful friends I´ve made in La 14, but I know I´m here because the Lord wants me to be here, and I´ll go where He wants me to go. Por donde me mande, iré!

Also, they´re closing La 14. There´ll be Elders working in there de vez en cuando (now and then), but there aren´t missionaries assigned to the barrio (ward). I hate having to leave all of our investigators and recent converts, but Hermana Palencia is still close by in a neighboring area in the same zone, so she can go visit our investigators and keep them animados! I know they´ll all be alright. We have some awesome members in that ward, and they´ll keep the work going, for sure.

 

In my last week in La 14, I just had some awesome experiences. I got to feel the Spirit work through me when I open my mouth. It´s exhilarating to start talking and just feel the words flow so effortlessly and perfectly with a peace and Spirit that practically screams that it´s the Lord talking. It´s such an honor to be able to be his mouthpiece to these people, to be able to help and guide these lovely people in a camino (way) that will lead them to true happiness. I just saw so many small miracles this week because I listened to the Spirit. One of the great things about being on a mission is learning to word hard, of course, even when you don´t want to, but also learning how to recognize and follow the promptings of the Spirit. You don´t always see the results of that decision immediately, but when you do it feels like a slap in the face when you realize that, wow, that´s how it works.

 

Thanks for all your prayers and love and support. I can´t believe I already have 5 months on the mission! Almost a third of my mission. I´ve still got a year to go, but I´m so excited to learn and work and teach and baptize and reactivate these incredible people of Nicaragua!

Hasta la proxima!

Att. Hermana Oliphant

 

(If you want to see the church map to get an idea of where Sarah is at, click here.)

Hola todos!!

So this week has been a little slow, but we´re still working hard! It went by so fast because we went on a LOT of divisions, or intercambios...or exchanges. Not sure how to say it in english. But lots of traveling around, and it´s always fun to work in other areas to meet new people.

We had a super awesome ward council meeting this week, and we´ve got so many plans for bringing less actives back to church and inviting new people to investigate the church, and it was just so fun to see the ward council actively involved in the missionary work. Because after being here, I realized just how much we depend on the members to get anything done. The whole ward is responsible for the missionary work, not just the full time missionaries. It helps us out so much when we have people excited about it, and it´s made me want to be a better member missionary when I get back home :) We´ll see how that goes, haha. But really, I just never want to stop contributing to the edificación de la iglesia!

 

Today was also really fun because we had a zone activity for the last p-day of the cambio (transfer period). Lots of running around buying things to make cake, and then lots of getting wet with water balloons! And sack racing and getting sunburnt and nica cake! And chips and coke for lunch. The best. I´ll see if I can throw in some pictures for you guys :) It might take until next week...sorry. 

 

My spiritual thought. I just went back and reread all of the general conference talks from April of this year, and I loved the talk by Elder L. Whitney Clayton. There was one part that really stuck out to me near the end. I don´t remember it word for word, but it was basically talking about how we don´t choose to believe any more than we choose to pray or pay tithing. Having faith is a choice, and a choice we need to make for the rest of our lives.

 

Sometimes it´s hard to have faith in the midst of doubts. But if we just remember Pres. Uchtdorf´s advice to doubt our doubts before our faith, and choose to have faith even when it seems everything is telling you not to, we´ll be blessed with the reassurance and a testimony. God has promised this to us. I just hope you all can press forward in your faith, even when there are doubts, because we will never cease to have these doubts. It happens. But what matters most is how we respond to these, and we are so blessed when we choose to actively pursue this faith that we desire. 

I love you all, and have a fabulous week!

Love, Hermana Oliphant

Hola todos!

I was totally about to start writing this letter in Spanish...the transition is really hard sometimes.

This week has been really really slow. We`re trying to find new investigators, and work really really hard to get them to come to church and progress. Or, read the scriptures and their assignments and pray. We`re trying, but it`s still hard. It never gets easy. Once you figure out how to be a missionary, and learn the language, you just understand even more how hard it is to help people gain a testimony of this gospel. They need to be ready, and you need to do all you possibly can to help them feel the Spirit. But when you find that pair, it`s so worth it. Even though it`s hard in so many ways that I`d ever thought it would be, I wouldn`t want to be anywhere else. I`ve felt the Spirit confirm to me so many times that I NEED to be here. Not only for what I have the potential to do here, but for all the ways I`m learning and growing here. I needed this so badly, and I`m so grateful for every second I`ve been able to spend here in Nicaragua, serving the Lord, and working and teaching in His name.

We had a visit from Elder Snow of the Seventy, Elder Alonzo of the Seventy also (area Seventy) and Brother Turley. Elder Snow and Brother Turley are the historians of the church, and Elder Alonzo is one of our area seventies here in Central America. They had a devotional/meeting with all of us missionaries in Nicaragua this Saturday and it was so good. I also loved listening to their wives talk, and I just love the Spirit these representatives of the Lord and the church bring. It`s such a privilege to hear from these general authorities :) They talked a lot about missionary work, obviously, and how we need to treasure this time, and record it! I`m starting to get a little lazy about my journal entries, but I`m determined to fix it.

My Spiritual thought. There`s a general conference talk from April of 2015 by Elder Christofferson that I loved. "Why Marriage, Why Family" I just love these talks. They always explain the plan of salvation, and the divine role that marriage plays in this plan. I love the understanding I receive from these talks. My favorite part is a quote from a Christian martyr from the early 1900`s named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He wrote in a letter to his niece, talking about marriage, "Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is more than something personal--it is a status, an office. Just as it is the crown, and not merely the will to rule, that makes the king, so it is marriage, and not merely your love for each other, that joins you together in the sight of God and man...So love comes from you, but marriage from above, from God." I just love that. I love that peace that comes from the understanding that marriage isn`t to please us. It is a divinely instituted part of the plan of salvation, and nothing else can change that, no matter what anyone says. 

Stay true to your testimonies of the gospel, and always remember that the words of the living prophets and apostles mean more to us than the words of dead prophets. They are here for us personally, and they will never lead us astray. Doubt your doubts before you doubt your fears, and you will receive a testimony. I promise you that. It`s happened to me several times in my life, and on my mission. We all need a little reminder every now and then ;)

I love you all. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts and kind words. Remember your faith, and where it came from, and keep an eternal perspective. Have a great week!

Att. Hermana Oliphant

And Yet Another Week

This week felt super slow and super fast at the same time...I don´t know how that happens! :)

But this week was pretty good. We´re having some problems finding people, but that´s how it goes, right? We´re working hard to help our investigators feel the Spirit and keep their commitments! Because if they´re not keeping commitments with us, they won´t keep them with God. And that´s something we´re really working on helping them understand. But we do have some new families that we´re so excited about. They have some real potential, and I know that they can truly find the answer to their questions if they´re willing to put their part.

We also have a couple of less active young men that we´ve been visiting with. Since I got here. They´re both struggling hard core with their testimonies and bad influences. We´ve been trying to help them for months to no avail. But finally this week, in both of them, I saw a change in their eyes. They had actually done the reading we assigned them. And you could tell. We´re still trying to get them to church, but it´s something. Just like a story in the Liahona from a while ago called "The Rescue of the Hummingbird" (or "Hummingbird Rescue". Sorry, it´s in Spanish) By William Hoggan. I´m not sure which issue, but read it. In all your efforts to bring your friends to the church or to bring them back, never discount a single thing you do for them, because it´s making a difference. That´s what the Spirit does. That´s how the Lord works. Sometimes he works big miracles, but not often. Pray for them. Share your testimony or a scripture with them. Help out the missionaries ;) But seriously, you have no idea how much of a difference you can make just by sharing your testimony. Every little drop of sugar water is saving that hummingbird. You just can´t tell until it wakes up again. Never lose faith, and never get stressed or worried or afraid for them. That gets rid of love, and the Spirit, too. (vease también, 1 John 4:18)

I hope you all can do your part to also make the Sabbath a delight, filled only with the things that help you draw nearer unto God and that help you feel the Spirit.

Feliz semana! Los quiero un montón. Gracias por todo!

Att. Hermana Oliphant

We made cake today for Hna Hatt´s birthday! (Nica style...without measuring utinsels. Or hot pads. Pouring oil in a waterbottle to measure it. You know.)

Cute little pastries from a baby shower this week (homemade!)

Birthday selfies!

Another Week!

It´s so crazy how fast this week went! But it was definitely a lot better. I´m working a lot on not being so shy :) Even though I can speak Spanish now, it´s so hard to force myself to talk when I don´t feel like it. That´s for sure when the Spirit comes in. I can tell it´s there when I can talk without thinking about it. So my goal is to really truly have the Spirit conmigo SIEMPRE. That´s what makes me an effective missionary, right? This isn´t my work, it´s the Lord´s. The Spirit does the work, I just have to open my mouth and let it :)

We had a couple of cool experiences this week! We have an instigator who is the friend of a recent convert. He´s progressing so well, and he loves going to church, and he agreed to be baptized! He´s getting surgery this week, so we don´t know when. But he wants to wait until December! We´re trying really hard to help him understand that he doesn´t need to put off something the Spirit tells him he needs to do! But he´s so cool, and we´re working hard with him.

The other thing is we found an old investigator! He agreed to be baptized in the contact, but every time we tried to visit him, his sister would lie to us about where he was, and telling us that he didn´t want us to come back. And we didn´t have his phone number, and she wouldn´t give it to us, so we basically gave up on him. We didn´t believe her, but we had no way to contact him. Then randomly, as we were seeking shelter from the pouring rain, we saw him! We talked to him, he confirmed that his sister was lying, gave us his phone number, and agreed to be baptized again :) We´ll have to work harder with him, because he has a problem with the word of wisdom. But he´s been super positive, and I know how much of an impact the atonement can have on his life.

This week we´ve also been having lots of ants in our room...like a lot. They´re crawling all over everything and even eating our dirty clothes...it´s pretty bad. But we just have to be more careful at cleaning up our food x3 It´ll help.

So, my spiritual thought. I was reading references for lesson 2 (the plan of Salvation) and I found some really good scriptures in Alma 34. The whole chapter is excellent, but the verses that really stuck out to me are 31-35. We can´t put off the day of our repentance! And if we sin with an attitude of "I´ll repent later," we´ve already given our hearts to the adversary, and don´t truly understand what it means to be able to repent. I´m sure you all can find more out of the chapter, but I just wanted to share that little bit I got out of it :)

Thank you all for your prayers and love! Sorry I don´t have any pictures today...again. It´s a struggle to find things to take pictures of. And my comps memory is still on the fritz. But I´ll get you some soon, I promise!

Take care. Have a wonderful week!

Love, Hermana Oliphant

Semana de los Musos...

...Or, week of the flirts. Most of them drunk...I´m not sure what made this week so special, but I felt like I had to quickly walk (run) away from a few this week. But they´re all harmless...no need to worry :)

So I hope all of your weeks have been fabulous! I´ve had a great week. We set a goal to baptize 5 people, two families, and 2 priesthoods this month. We even took a picture ;) It´s kind of bad, but all the good ones are on her camera, and it´s not working. So here´s this for now. Me and my new comp, Hna Palencia :) She´s lovely.

One of our goals this week was to bring a lot of investigators to the conference this week, and I even stayed up all night (well, not quite) making a map so we could do divisions and get them all there. But unfortunately there´s someone very powerful trying to stop the work of the Lord. We only brought a few to the conference, and everyone else had something come up (like always). But the few people who came really enjoyed it, and I knew they felt the Spirit. We had a brand new investigator show up with his little son, and I was so beyond excited. So so so excited. It was kind of ridiculous. I almost ran to the door in the middle of the talks when I saw him come in. But I´m glad I feel that way. I love my investigators, and I love all the people here. I just want them to experience the same joy I´ve been able to experience through Jesus Christ and his atonement :)

So, funny stories. This random guy through a plastic bottle at us and yelled "Oy, profesora!" It was pretty funny. But it was dark, so I´m not entirely sure what was initially contained in that bottle ;)

We were taking a bus to a meeting, and a guy got on a played the guitar and sang. It was pretty funny, and it was super fun to listen to. Normally we get people dressed up as clowns selling candy or preachers shouting the word of God, but this time it was just this guy and his guitar singing. It was super cool. I love taking the bus, even though I have to hold on for my life sometimes. 

Spiritual thoughts, we got an assignment from our mission president in DyC 136, and verse 31 stood out to me the most. I needed it a lot, and I´m pretty sure it applies to all of us even as members. It made me think that if life was easy, the reward would be a twinkie and a coke, just like Elder Holland said ;)

I hope you all got to watch conference. I only got to watch the morning sessions in english, but they´re so good. I can´t wait to read the rest in the Liohona ;) But seriously, we are so blessed to have a prophet and apostles on this earth with all the priesthood keys to guide Christ´s church with his authority. Never forget how amazing of a blessing that is, and treasure it, and show God you treasure it by listening to and applying their words in your lives! I promise that the Lord will bless you for this little you do every day to try and be a little bit better. It´s our responsibility, but we will be blessed for it. 

So I hope you all have a good week. Stay safe. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, go to church. All that good stuff. They really make the difference, I promise!

Take care!

Hermana Oliphant

Changes All Around!

Buenas tardes todos! I don´t have much to say about this week. We´ve been having a lot of trouble finding people who were ready to keep commitments, and so we´re down to almost no investigators, because we´ve had to drop them. That´s probably one of the saddest things, having to drop someone even when you think they´ll change, or when you think that have so much potential, but they´re not keeping their commitments. They´re not reading, praying, not going to church, or still drinking or smoking. You love them so much, but you have to let them go for now, because they´re still not quite ready. Don´t forget about them, just don´t focus your attention on them. Because we´ve been promised that there is a family waiting for us here in our area, we just have to find them :)

And transfers! My first transfer has just happened. I have a new companion now, her name is Hermana Palencia, and she´s honestly just the sweetest thing. She´s from El Salvador, and she´s been out about a year now. She´s so great, and I remember her from my first week here. We were on divisions because both of our comps were in the leaders meeting the mission has every month, and we got super super lost. It was my third day here, and I could barely communicate with her, and I was on the verge of tears most of the day. x3 But now I speak Spanish and we´re officially companions, and I´m seriously so excited. So excited. I have a feeling we´re going to do a lot of good here in La 14.

So I got my hands on the Liahona from October, and I read a really good article. It´s called "Finish with your torch still lit" By President Uchtdorf. I had a hard week this week (I feel like I´ve been having a lot of hard weeks...it happens on a mission, haha), and I read this article when I really needed it the most. There´s a part that I really like, and it says, "As long as we continue to rise up and move toward our Savior, we win the race with our torches burning brightly. For the torch is not about us or about what we do. It is about the Savior of the world. And that is a Light that can never be dimmed. It is a Light that swallows the darkness, heals our wounds, and blazes even in the midst of the deepest sorrow and unfathomable darkness. It is a Light that surpasses understanding. May each of us finish the path we have begun. And with the help of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, we will finish joyfully and with our torches still lit." I just love that so much. Don´t let your trials get you down. And don´t ever think that your torch is burnt out. Because it only burns out if you let it. Just keep going, and keep smiling, and everything will work out the way it´s supposed to.

Lots of love,

Hermana Oliphant

Another week in the life of a future Nica!

So I´m done counting weeks...it takes too much energy and I think getting up in the week 30´s and such is a little much. So I´m changing it up :) I´ve almost got 4 months down in my mission. 14 left! Mi compa has 14 now, and goes home in 4 x3 So she´s starting to get a little trunky. And it´s making me trunky suuuuper bad. Which is ridiculous. I´ve still got half my life left to live here :)

So, this week feels like it lasted a life time, and also no time at all. It´s super super weird. But it was really good. I went on LOTS of divisions this week. 3, to be exact. Which is more than I´ve ever had in a single week :) But they were all good.

 

I haven´t got a lot of time, so I´ll get to the good stuff.

Soon I get to get my cedula! Woohoo. Or basically my Nicaraguan ID card, saying that I´m nica. I had to wait 3 months after I got here, and that´s in 2 weeks! So, in a couple weeks I won´t be American anymore, officially. Sorry guys.

 

This Wednesday we had an interesting zone activity. We´ve been struggling a little bit as a zone lately. We had an awesome month in August, baptizing over 30 people. Which is more than we´ve ever done. But because we baptized everyone in August, we didn´t leave anyone for September ;) So it´s been a little slow. So President Collado came and talked to us, just saying, "I know you can be better! We´re going to try something. Right now you have about 30 investigators with a baptismal date. We´re going to go on inter-zone divisions, and you and your new companions are going to think of a goal of faith. How many investigators can you commit to baptism today?" So that´s what we did, with the main number being 3. So with 10 companionships, we all commited to commit 30 more people to baptism that day. Something we´ve never done before. But, we did it. As a zone, we commited 34 people. In one day! It was incredible and inspiring, honestly. What we can do if we have faith and work toward our worthy goals. 

I´ve been having super good days lately. I´m a naturally shy person, so contacting people makes me super nervous. But on Friday, I just kept walking up to everyone and talking to them like it was nothing, with no fear at all whatsoever. I surprised myself, and then remembered that it was from the Lord. I for sure didn´t have that strength before, but when I promised that I´d try harder to get out of my comfort zone, I was given the strength I needed to get the job done. I felt so empowered and happy that I was doing all I could to be the mouthpiece of the Lord and share the gospel with the world.

I did some good studying on the Atonement. And I´ve never understood before how exactly Christ suffering and dying for us actually worked as the atonement. Why did it have to be like that exactly? Why was that the only way? Why did He have to be perfect? And then I was reading from the teachings of Joseph Fielding Smith (in Spanish), when a phrase caught my attention: (I can´t remember exactly how it went, but it was a letter to his son. It said something like:) "Estaba pensando mucho en lo que hizo Jesucristo por mí." Which means, "I was thinking a lot about what Jesus Christ did for me." Now, in English, the word "for" has a lot of different meanings. But in Spanish, there are two ways to say "for." "Para," which is used as more of gifts, like you made something for someone, or it can also mean "in order to." And then there´s "por." That means, "in place of," "because of." And, all of these definitions can fit to "for" in English. I always assumed that when we say, "Christ suffered for my sins." it applied to the first definition. Or, like, Christ suffered in order to atone for my sins. But that´s not it at all. Now that I´ve realized it, it´s seems so painfully obvious. Christ suffered because of my sins, in my place. It had to be done that way. He had to feel the pain, the weakness, because we were destined to be weak. He had to die, because we were going to die, too. But because of his role as the son of God, he could do it all so we couldn´t have to, so that we could pay our meager sum of money that we had, for Him to pay the debt in full in the way that He could. Our sins are erased, because he already paid them. We will be resurrected, because Christ, through his own power, overcame death first. But as I´m saying and thinking all this, I´m just thinking, "Duh. That´s what they´ve been telling me this whole time. Christ is our lawyer and mediator with the Father. In did it all in place of us." I just never really understood it until that moment that I took into account the different meanings of "for." I really love the new insights I receive by reading in Spanish. It´s so interesting how differently we understand things based on the way it´s expressed in a different language. I love it.

To conclude, I read some cool verses in the new testament about both missionary work and love. In John 15:8-18,26-27. Take a look :)

That´s all for this week :) Thanks for the prayers and love and support, as always. I´m so glad I have this opportunity. I really am. I also learned a bit this week about how little time I really have to have the power and authority I do as a missionary. I should never take it for granted, or waste a precious second of the Lord´s time that I´ve been given. I hope I can apply this to heart during the day as I´m working :)

Have an amazing week!

Love, Hermana Oliphant

P.S. Sorry, no more pictures this week. I really never do anything interesting. I´ll try to get something for next week ;)

Week 10!

I also forgot to mention a couple weeks ago that I made it to my 3 month mark! In just two weeks I´ll have been on my mission for 4 months. Only 14 left ;) Honestly it´s crazy how the time flies, and I´m going to stop talking about it starting now because I think we all realize that for missionaries time just doesn´t exist the way it does for everyone else.

This week has been interesting for sure. Lots of emotional challenges. I´ve learned that patience, what it truly means, and humility are not my strong suits. I already kind of knew that but I got to see it thrown in my face a little more. x3 But just like it says in Ether 12:27, we are shown our weaknesses so we can be humbled, come onto Christ, and be made stronger through the atonement of Christ. And like it says, also, in Hebrews 12:5-7, 11 we receive chastening (or knowledge of our faults) because our Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to improve. So I´m just working on studying these two things, and a few others; what they really mean, and then prayerfully applying them to my life. I definitely challenge each of you to take a look at the things that you´re probably not that great at. We´re here on this earth to improve, right? And what´s the best place to go for help to improve? Our father in Heaven :) He can help us in ways that others can´t. And if we are sufficiently humble to want to improve ourselves, he´ll help us out. We don´t have to be embarrassed about being imperfect because, let´s be honest. No one is. And if they seem to be perfect they´re just really good at pretending :)

 

This week´s also been interesting because of the build up to today, La 14 de Septiembre. Or, Nicaragua´s independence day. People have celebrations for that ALL week long here. And that means lots of drinking. And lots of drunk guys wandering around. I had a couple interesting experiences with that, for sure. Nothing bad, but they gave me a chuckle. We were in a lesson and this one guy was begging for water and telling us how drunk he was. But he was also speaking English. I got to hear some lovely words that I hadn´t heard since I left the states. x3 Oh how I haven´t missed those swear words. 

And we also ended up having a lesson with a couple of guys who were probably high on something other than alcohol. We were teaching some recent converts outside near a spot where all the drunks like to hang out, and a couple saw us and decided to join us. They were relatively respectful, and as we prayed (most people here say their own prayers out loud during the main ones) one of them mentioned his daughter, and so Hna Miza and I asked him what he wants for his family. Of course he said happiness. So we gave them two of them a pamphlet on the word of wisdom and left them there to celebrate how they pleased. I´ll be surprised if they remember our lesson with them, but hey, the Lord moves in mysterious ways. If they´re ready to change their lives, I´m down to help them out. We´ll have to see where that goes :)

 

So other than the massive amount of rain we´ve had, and discovering a new part of our area that none of us new existed, this week´s been relatively normal :) We´re struggling on finding people who are really ready to commit to the gospel and be baptized. People are so ready to accept baptism initially, but then they disappear off the face of the planet, or they don´t feel like coming to church, and so we have to drop them because they haven´t been progressing. That´s honestly one of the saddest things for me. Now that I understand the language better, my main struggle is dealing with the sadness that comes from watching people reject the gospel. Especially the members that I can see falling inactive. I wish I could give them my testimony and the feelings I have. I try, but if they´re not willing to do anything, there´s not much I can do to change them. I can pray and share my testimony, and try not to get discouraged. But it really does hurt my, almost physically, to think that so many people won´t be able to experience the happiness and peace that I and so many others have felt. But that´s the part of being a missionary that comes naturally. You see lots of happy endings, but lots of sad ones too. Just always remember how blessed we are as members to have this happiness. I want to also challenge you all to go our of your way to share the gospel this week. No one will ever be offended by your testimony. And you really never know who´s struggling and needs the hand of Christ in their life. And, you know, help out your local missionaries. They work hard, and it´s harder than you think to actually find people to teach. They love references, I promise:)

Alright, that´s all the time I have. I hope you all have an excellent week. Remember how lucky you are, share the gospel, be humble, and be safe, always. I love you all, and thank you for your prayers and support. It means the world.

- Hermana Oliphant

Semana 9...oh wow!

9 weeks and 2 months later...oh my goodness where did the time go. I seriously felt like last Monday was yesterday. This is actually kind of terrifying.

So what happened this week? I put my first fecha! Or, in other words, I asked someone to be baptized, and he said yes! It was the first time that someone had actually accepted the invitation when I extended it. I was actually really surprised, because we had just contacted him, but he felt the Spirit and was ready and said yes, so hey, I´m all down for it. It felt so good.

 

I tried turtle for the first time. It was actually really good. Super tough, but flavorful. I highly recommend it :)

 

We had an interesting experience with an investigator this week. He used to be taught by the missionaries, but they stopped visiting him. We´re like, hey, let´s go teach him. We found out why the missionaries before stopped going. What he basically wanted to do was listen to us talk, and then drill us with questions and try and get us to argue, or to prove us wrong. It was really irritating, listening to him ramble about how the bible doesn´t say anything about the church disappearing from the earth (it does, but, you know. We´re not supposed to bible bash ;)). It just gave me a headache. But Hna Miza did really well, and just bore her testimony, and did her best to leave on a good note and get out of there as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there are people like that. But all we can do is bear testimony, and try our best to leave them with no bad memories of us. We still are representatives of Jesus Christ, whether people are ready to accept His word into their lives. That definitely was an interesting experience.

 

Oh, and another funny story. We had an investigator with a baptismal date when I got here, but he stopped reading and going to church so we dropped him. We randomly decided to go visit him again, and while we talked, we found out something very important. He doesn´t speak much Spanish. He´s from Puerto Cabeza, which is up in the north-east part of Nicaragua, where they speak Miskito. Some people also speak Spanish and English there, but he happened to only speak Miskito and was learning Spanish. So, basically, the reason he wasn´t progressing was because he wasn´t understanding us. Hna Miza was so frustrated with herself. "4 months! We´ve been teaching him for 4 months and I had no clue!" It was pretty funny, but now we know and we have members in the ward who speak Miskito, so we´ll be able to teach him again and hopefully he´ll get baptized soon :)

 

So, we found a special Book of Mormon in the copies to give out. I carry one with me to use, and to give to people if we find someone positive, and we were in a lesson with a RC. She´s 10, and super cute. We left her something to read in Mosiah, and I was looking it up to read with her. And then I burst out laughing. Why? Because that special BoM didn´t have Mosiah 4. It did have Mosiah 11-27 twice. right next to a single page of the book of Alma. And we have two of those bad copies of the BoM. I literally just laughed out loud for 5 minutes in that lesson. With our RC and Hna Miza of course. I just wanted to preach the gospel. Be gone, Satanás!

 

So, I did some good studying on Charity. It´s more than just love. I´d share all I know about it, but then I´d deny you all the opportunity to study it for yourselves ;) Plus I´ve only got an hour on here, so you know. Priorities.

 

I also read this really awesome little book on missionary work. It´s called Member Missionary Work: Finding the Elect of God. It´s not published by the church, but it´s this random talk given by Brother Scott Marshall. It´s amazing. Honestly, reading that book converted me to the gospel again. President Collado gave it to me when we were studying with other companionships, and it´s a super fast read. I´m not sure how to find it, but if you don´t mind knowing the dirty secrets of missionary work, and coming to have an intellectual testimony of the gospel, give it a read. You won´t regret it.

 

I also reread the conference talk from last April on Music and the Gospel. We can teach our kids (or investigators) how to dance, but if we don´t also teach them how to hear the music for themselves, they´re going to quit dancing eventually. I absolutely adore this talk, so go ahead and read it again. I think it´s on the front page of lds.org right now.

 

Alright. Time to go. Thank you for all your prayers and love and support. I feel it every day. Have a good week, and remember always how much you are loved by our Heavenly Father. 

Feliz semana!

- Hermana Oliphant

 

Sarah's Neighborhood, La 14

Our Heritage in Spanish, current personal study

Sarah and Hermana Near on divisions while their comps were at training

 

Hola Todos!

Wow, it`s already been another week?? Crazy sauce. Enserio, el tiempo pasa súper rapido aquí. No sé cómo ganar más...haha. No voy a preocuparme...tengo un montón de tiempo aca en Nicaragua. Voy a disfrutar todo. [Note from Mom: Translation--"Seriously, time goes by super fast here. I do not know how to earn more...haha. I will not worry...I have a lot of time here in Nicaragua. I will enjoy it."]

For those who already know Spanish, or for those who are interested in learning ;) Spanish is an awesome language. I love that I get the opportunity to learn it :)

 

So lots of things have been going on this week. Lots of finding people, lots of being let down by people who say they´re going to church that don´t show up...lots of house hunting (President says that we need a room/apartment/house that can fit four beds, since Hermana Miza is the STL [Sister Training Leader]...so you know. Gotta look. No luck so far), and lots of being a missionary. But the highlights of my week have been super awesome, and the main one was the appearance of President Russell M. Nelson at a conference for the missionaries on Saturday :) He´s been traveling all over central America lately, teaching and giving devotionals and such. I also got to be in the choir at the missionary meeting :) We sung Lead, Kindly Light (or, Divina Luz), and it was awesome. I love the meaning of the words in Spanish more than in English. It`s just a beautiful testimony of how much we really need the light of Christ in our lives. 

 

Anyways, President Nelson. It was incredible. He shook all of our hands, and he called me by my name when I got to him, and he looked right into my eyes and all I could see was pure love. And when he spoke, the Spirit was so strong. He really is called of God. He was the mouthpiece of the Lord in that room, and I will testify of that for the rest of my life. Our prophets, seers and revelators truly are such. We are so privileged to have the truth here on the earth, and that we have men worthy enough to hold the priesthood and receive revelation. We members don`t realize what we have. We really don`t. Why on earth would we have missionaries if it wasn`t important? Read 2 Ne. 2:6-8. Maybe 9. Not sure. But yeah. Right there is why we have missionaries. Don`t forget how blessed you are to have that truth in your life.

 

[Another Mom Note: In a separate letter to me, she included this about meeting President Nelson. "It was amazing. We all got to shake his hand, and when I got to him, he looked at me and said, "Hello, Sister Oliphant. Thanks for being here." Or something like that, as he looked right into my eyes. Oh man, that was cool. And when he spoke...holy cow. He is a prophet of God, Mom. Not THE prophet yet, but he was the mouthpiece of the Lord Jesus Christ for us in that little capilla in Antigrasia, Managua. I felt it with every ounce of my being, and I got to listen to his words specifically for us missionaries in Nicaragua, and I got to shake his hand and have him call me by name. It was incredible. So worth waking up at 3:30 in the morning ;)"]

 

Some other cool stuff that happened: We got to go have companionship study with President Collado and some other missionaries. It was super great, and I left with a newfound energy to just be an even better missionary. Studying with the mission president can do that ;) It`s so hard, but being a missionary is the best and most rewarding thing a young adult could do with their life. I`m serious. Being here is the best. I`m trying to treasure every moment, but it feels like trying to hold sand in your hands. You feel like you`ve got it, but it just keeps going, no matter how hard you try. 

Or maybe it feels like soap. You`ve got it and then it`s gone. And then you slip on it. 

 

Nah, missionary work is better than soap.

 

We also had a really cool experience. It was almost time to go back to the house, and we both randomly decided to stop by the house of a less active. We`ve been visiting her recently, and she´s happy to have us, but still isn´t going to church. When we showed up to her house, her daughter was there. So we´re all, Oh, cool. Here, have a hymn. So we sung a hymn. It`s Jesús, Mi Gran Amor. I can`t remember what it´s called in English, but it´s relatively well known. [Mom note: It is Jesus, Lover of My Soul.]

So we sung it and talked about it. Then we asked her daughter what she thought. She told us that she was over here with her mom because she was struggling and needed someone to talk to. And we showed up right in time with a perfect hymn and perfect thoughts. She´s just like, "Who are you guys?" Hna Miza just said, "We´re missionaries. We´re here to help people and follow the Spirit." It was so awesome. I´m so glad we did listen to the Spirit so we could help her in the time she needed it.

 

Okay, my spiritual thought of the week. I´ve been reading in the Liahona for August (I snagged one in English!), and I read a fantastic article on The Family, A Proclamation to the World. It´s called "The Proclamation on the Family: Transcending the Cultural Confusion" by Elder Bruce C. Hafen. It`s incredible. Lots of statistics, doctrine, and a little bit of sass that seriously made me laugh out loud. It`s awesome. And really enlightening, honestly, on just how important the family is. Not just in the church, but for society, and the world. Read it. Seriously. It`s the best use of your time :) Just read the whole Ensign. It`s amazing.

 

Alright all. Time to go. I love you, and I hope you´re all doing well. Thank you for  your love and your prayers. I feel them. I´m learning so much, and I´m so happy to be here. Treasure your loved ones and your blessings. Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are so incredible. Never forget to take time to thank them for all they do. 

¡Feliz semana!

Att. Hermana Oliphant