Last Week. Goodbye everyone!

Well, here we go. I didn´t really think this day would come, but here we are. Writing my last email as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It honestly doesn´t even feel real yet, but maybe it´ll hit me in these next few days ;)

I just wanted to share some of the awesome experiences that have happened in this past week! First of all, we´ve been experiencing a tumult of natural disasters lately. Well, just two. Well, three. A hurricane, an earthquake, and an active volcano threatening to erupt. But where I´m at, we haven´t been hit too hard. Just hearing a bit about everything. The hurricane passed more through the south part of the country and Costa Rica, and the earthquake had its epicenter in Masaya, or even more south. Which is pretty far away. And the volcano is somewhere over in that area as well. So don´t worry about me. I´m doing great up here in Tipitapa :)

Then, we´ve been working really hard with one of our investigators. Her name is Ana Julia, and she´s an older woman with 6 or 7 kids. She lives about half an hour away from where we normally work, but it´s still inside the area, and there´s an active member family over there, too. Another member who lives out there brought her to church last Sunday, and it´s been the most incredible experience working with her. She said that she almost got baptized in another church several years ago, but she felt something stop her. She felt that it wasn´t the right church. So she´s been looking for years. And her first day visiting the church with us, she felt this great peace. She felt something fill her heart, and she knew that this was what she was looking for, that this was the church that she needed to be baptized in. We´ve taught her the first three lessons (The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, and The Gospel of Jesus Christ) and she´s accepted them wholeheartedly and with great humility and dedication. She´s helping us teach her children and their families, and she´s preparing to be baptized on the 10th of December :) I know I won´t be there, but honestly it´s been so incredible to meet her and see her grow. She´s been looking and searching for years and in a single day at church she found her answer. She´s going to be an incredible converted member, and I´m so happy that I got to be a part of her journey. Hermana Stubbs is going to send me pictures for sure, so I´ll make sure you guys can all see her :)

This past Saturday we had a baptism! It was a little miracle. Her name is Bertita and she just turned eight a couple weeks ago. Her parents aren´t members, but her two older sisters are recent converts, and they´ve been going to church for the past several months. She told us that she wanted to be baptized too, and the Branch President baptized her, and her whole family showed up to support her. She was so excited that she borrowed the white dress and the white shoes from her sister so she could show up all in white :) She doesn´t really have that many sins yet, but I could see the pureness of her heart as we took all the pictures and got her ready for her baptism. I know she´ll remember this day for the rest of her life, and I hope that one day her mom can join the church so they can all move forward together :)

We had special interchanges of companions this past Thursday :) I got to go back to my first zone (again) to work, but this time I was in Villa Venezuela. It was so fun working with Hermana Pehrson and I learned so much. We got along so well and we had an awesome day together! Then we finished the divisions with Pizza :) Pizza Hut it something I haven´t really missed from home, to be honest, haha.

And to finish off the week, I had my cumplemes 18  (I completed my 18 months) yesterday. Wow. Time flies by :) And to top it all off, the primary program was yesterday, and it was so cute. The primary is a decent size here in La Bocana. And so many less actives and investigators came to church. It was so wonderful to see the chapel full!

So I just want to share my last missionary testimony with you all :) I know that this is the restored church of Jesus Christ. I know it with all my heart. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, and that the Book of Mormon is the keystone of our religion and the best way to come closer to God. I know that the greatest miracle that we can ever witness or experience is that of conversion and forgiveness. Conversion to the gospel and forgiveness of our sins. Christ is the reason for everything, and if we truly believe and understand that, we can accomplish many wonderful things. You will never experience true peace until you come to rely wholly upon the Savior Jesus Christ. I love this work and this gospel. There is no better work than that of salvation. And be it full time, part time, or how ever much time you´ve got, missionary work is for all of us. Never stop sharing the gospel. Never stop sharing your testimony. I love you all so much. Thanks for all your prayers and your advice and your support. This past year and a half has changed my life, and I´ve been able to witness firsthand in my own life and in the lives of others the miracle of the atonement. I´ve been forgiven and made whole from my sins and mistakes and weaknesses, and so can you. And so can everyone else. Never lose hope :) Just keep searching. He loves you and will answer your prayers. 

I´ll see you all soon!

Love, Hermana Sarah Oliphant

Pics

1-3. Bertita´s baptism :)

4. Pizza hut!

5. Hermana Pehrson!

6. Goodbye Nicaragua 

Miracles Siempre :)

Hey, everyone! This week was really great. 

Not just because Luis got baptized...that´s just part of it :)

Our week started off with interviews with President, which are always great. I always feel like he really cares about me personally and wants me to progress. I´ve got so much to learn and I´m always learning from him :)

We´ve had a hard time getting a hold of our investigators, but we keep looking for them. We want them to hear our message :)

We went on divisions this Friday, and, finally, Luis decides that he´s going to be baptized :) Saturday was his birthday, and his friends had planned a giant trip to Granada for the whole weekend. He knew that baptism and church were more important, but he didn´t want to disappoint his friends. But he came to the realization that this was a trial the Lord had given him to test his faith. And he passed :) At about 9:45pm we called him (as he asked us to) and told us that YES! He would get baptized that day.

I decided to keep it a secret from Hermana Knowlton, just to surprise her :) Until the next morning when she got back and we had "An important appointment with Luis". She was so nervous, but then so relieved when he told her that he´d be baptized.

And so he was :) He was so nervous at first but afterward, he was smiling and taking pictures of everything. And of course we sang to him because it´s his birthday :) He´s giving up so much to be a member, he´s even having problems with his job. But he´s passing the tests with flying colors and I know he´ll keep growing spiritually.

We also watched the Women´s session of general conference. It was so beautiful. I loved every single bit of it and can´t wait for this weekend :)

And then there was a crazy storm and the power went out. And we walked home for 20 minutes in literally pitch black darkness. The only light we had were the lightning bolts every now and then, haha.

And yesterday we had two fabulous lessons. One on the temple with Adriana and her boyfriend and their family, which was great for her to learn more about the temple, to give her an idea of where she should get married, and also for the family, to remind them of their ultimate goal, to be sealed in the temple.

The other lesson was with a new investigator family. They weren´t so positive until we taught lesson 1, the Restoration. They understood everything perfectly. They had so many questions, and when we testified about Joseph Smith and the first vision, something changed in the mom´s eyes. I know the kids are all curious, but the mom was truly touched, and they all committed to reading the Book of Mormon. I´m so excited to see how they progress in the gospel :D

Alright, time to hop off now. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Don´t forget to prepare spiritually for General Conference, and then have some paper and a pen handy! You´ll get so much out of it that way :)

Love, Hermana Oliphant

Fotos:

1. Our baptism set up :) The pila just barely got painted and they added stairs. "I knew they did it just for me!" - Luis

2. Taking selfies on a setting that gives us flawless skin...I like it

3. Before the baptism...he was kind of nervous

4-6. After when he was feeling better :)

Mibebecitotanlindo...eseplupblu

Hey everyone! Sorry for not writing last week. We went to Managua and time flew away from us...so I didn`t really get a chance to write about my week. And sorry for the title. That`s my comps favorite little baby voice she uses with everyone, haha. So the past two weeks have come and gone pretty fast. We`ve had another set of changes, but for the first time since my training (and I`m getting ready to finish a year on the mission), I haven`t had any kind of changes, comp or area. Thank goodness. But, that means I`m killing again. Which I`m happy about, because Hermana Barron is awesome. But I`m not going to lie, killing is tough. Talk about trunky, hehe. 

We`ve been pretty preocupied these past two weeks helping two of our investigators get ready to get baptized. Rudy and Fernando. And Rudy did end up getting baptized on Saturday! It was such a great day, and we were so happy for him. However, he wasn`t able to go to church yesterday, so we`re working real hard with him to make sure he gets confirmed this next Sunday. We`ve just loved working with him and getting to know him and helping him find the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Fernando is getting ready to get baptized this Saturday, and he`s also super excited. He`s 11, and his Grandma`s a member. He loves going to church, and he`s such a cute kid. We call him my son, haha. Or, Mijo, I`d call him. He`s in the first picture :)

Yesterday we also started a music class! Only 5 people came, and we didn`t study anything beforehand, so it was a little confusing...but it went really well. The members who came were great and so patient, especially since explaining music in Spanish is hard, especially since I don`t really know how to teach music, since it`s just been a part of my life for as long as I can remember...haha. We just taught how to direct music, and they were such a good class :) We`re going to get into reading music, playing the piano, and working the electric piano to automatically play the hymns for sunday! This next week we`ll do a little more studying ;)

For my spiritual thought I just wanted to share one that reminds me a lot of one of my absolute favorites of the Book fo Mormon, Moroni 10:32. This one is in Omni, and when I read it in my study of the Book of Mormon it just really stood out to me.

 26 And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption.Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying,and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will besaved.

That`s pretty simple and self explanatory, haha. I just love this invitation. That we offer our souls to Christ. We stop doing the bad things, fasting and praying for strength to do that, and keeping at it. Always humbly looking for ways to improve. Because even though we want to think we`re perfect and know everything...we don`t. Ha. 

We`ll I`ve got to head off now. But I love you guys so much. I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Hermana Oliphant

Fotos

1. Our little band of misfits. From left to right (excluding me), Rafa, Lauren (a recent convert), Fernando. We brought those boys together :)

2. Taking selfies after church! Left to right (excluding me and my comp), Rudy (on the bottom), Pablo (on the top), Valeska (we`re finally getting her back to church, and she helped Rudy get baptized!!)

3.Baptism! It was one of the craziest nights of my life, but it was so great. We`re so excited for Rudy to get confirmed!

Hey!

Hey everyone!

So I`m a little short on time this week, but this week has been relatively normal. We`re still working on helping our large family get to church, and its a struggle. BUT, we got to see the 13 year old daughter get baptized! She was baptized when she was 8, but somehow her records got deleted, so she had to get baptized again. But, she`s been pretty inactive and rebellious lately. But with lots of love and the Spirit, she`s been coming back to church and was so happy to get baptized again. I love seeing the miracle of conversion on the mission.

I don`t have a scripture today, but I just want to encourage all of you to sincerely pray to your Heavenly Father today. Kneel down on the ground. Pray to know if he`s there. To know if he loves you and is aware of you. Plead forgiveness for your sins and the help you need to stay strong and resist temptation. Plead for the blessings you need. Then stop and listen. Feel. I promise you that if you do that, you will feel something. I promise you that the moment you kneel down to sincerely pray to your Father in Heaven, even if you`ve already down it before, He will answer you again. Or if you didn`t receive an answer the first time, He`ll bless your faith and diligence with an answer if you keep trying. But I know that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us and is waiting for us to exercise our faith and come unto Him.

I love you all so much. I hope you have an amazing week!

Att. Hermana Oliphant

P.S. no pictures because the computer isn`t cooperating. Sorry! Next week!

Bautismos y Carpinterìa (Baptisms and Carpentry)

[Comment from Mom: Last week the missionary email system had a massive glitch, and thousands of emails home never made it. This is last week's letter that Sarah did send, but I only received yesterday.]
Hey guys!

This week was pretty normal. We did have some interesting intercambios this week. Our zone and the zone right next to us had divisions amongst all of us! I ended up staying in my area (that I barely know) with Hermana Morales, who just barely got to the mission field two weeks ago. It was kind of interesting, training for a day. Talking to her brought back so many memories of when I just started (which feels like yesterday...oh dear). She`s the cutest. We worked hard together, and it was just a great day overall.

Jose' Before baptism

dressed for baptism

After baptism with the member family that introduced Jose' to the gospel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Then on Saturday...we had a baptism! His name is Josè, he`s 17, and he was a reference. He works for the family business (making pupusas) of a member in the ward. He`s also really good friends with her two oldest kids. Together with their help, he readily accepted the gospel (starting just a couple weeks before I got here) and made the decision to be baptized. He`s already talking about a mission! It`s been such a privilege to be a part of his growing testimony. But I know for sure I didn`t really do much. The Spirit and this amazing family brought the gospel to this great kid, and I was just there to teach him the principles and invite him to act. He was so shy throughout the whole process...hates pictures, and the idea of being confirmed in front of everyone scared the bejeebies out of him, but he did it. I`m so happy for him and can`t wait to see his progress :)

Earlier on Saturday, we decided to help this lady carry large wood slabs into her house...and she almost didn`t let us, but we forced her :) And then we go out in to the back, and it`s a carpentry. We ask if we can help them with the work, and they gladly oblige. I ended up sweeping, and we both sanded a bed frame. It was super random, but it was so fun meeting all the people who live there and talking to them and getting to know them. Who knows, maybe one day they`ll get baptized ;) We`re going to go back this Wednesday to sweep again, haha. But this time to leave a message as well. 

Sanding a headboard

 

In my BoM study this week, I found some great scriptures that really stood out to me in 2 Nephi.

Ch. 8
3 For the Lord shall comfort Zion, he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.
 24 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
 25 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.

Ch. 9
18 But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel,they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the world, and their joy shall be full forever.

 19 O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel! For he delivereth his saints from that awful monster the devil, and death, and hell, and that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.

I know the Lord WILL comfort Zion. But for us to be comforted by the atonement of the Savior, we need to become a part of Zion. It`s not a location, but a people. The people of the Lord. I know this gospel is so true, and we`re all so blessed to be a part of it. I hope you all have a great week! :)

Love, Hermana Oliphant