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 

Quick note and pictures

So I ain´t got time to write a thing so just share these pictures, one is in our Branch presidents house, then the other ones are from our adventures Today, we went to managua and hung out with the TLS. 

Tell everyone to read their Patriarchal blessing and be good and read the scriptures and pray. 

I love you!

Love, Hermana Oliphant

"I wanna be strong, so give me mountains to climb."

Real quick! This week was great. Our investigators are progressing and the members are so great in working with us! We´ve had a couple interesting experiences, and it was especially fun to go on divisions in Managua with Hna Lord, who´s still in her training. We had such a great time and I really love working with new missionaries. They´re on fire and want to serve and be obedient, and it´s the best feeling.

Today we had a fun pday as a district (with the ZLs) :) We filled up a piñata and played baseball with it, and then we had a water fight. 

There´s also a super special family in the branch. She has just given birth via c section and they´ve been having some stressful issues. But we and the members have been visiting them constantly and reminding them that trials are for our benefit, and they really are. They´re doing so great and I know they feel our love and support.

That´s one of the greatest things I´ve learned from my mission. Someone wise once told me that if I´m struggling, the Lord must really love me :) Each change brings it´s different trials, and this new area has been a bit of a struggle for me. But I´m fighting every day, and it´s like a song we´ve been listening to. "I know it won´t be easy, but give me mountains to climb. Give me rivers to cross..." Basically asking for trials. Because if we aren´t tried, we don´t get better. Instead of running away from difficulties, we need to face them head on with the help of the Lord. And we´ll see how much he´s willing to bless us. The Lord wants us to progress, so he gives us trials little by little, in exactly the way that we need in the moment :)

I love you all so so so much, and I hope you have a great week!

Love, Hermana Oliphant

Fotos

1. Our divisions group. My comp, Hna Baquedano (She´s my TL, and she also came with me on the mission :)), Me, and Hna Lord.

2. Me with the family I  mentioned. She´s called Anielka, the little girl is Candida, and the dad and son are both Cesar :D

3. PIÑATA

4. Our lovely invention to take the group pic

5. Us all wet after the water war

Quick Note

Sorry, really fast. Here´s my new comp :) Hermana Stubbs. Her parents are from Nicaragua but she was raised in Costa Rica, pretty cool :)

This week was pretty good. Meeting lots of new people. When I got here they had either baptized or dropped all their old investigators. So we´re starting from scratch. Kind of weird, knowing that I won´t be here to see most of these people get baptized, but I know that God always has miracles prepared for us when we´re obedient :)

The members are super cool. It´s still a branch, but it´s a bigger branch, and branch council is so organized, and the members visit each other. It´s beautiful, really :)

It´s also more dangerous here. Which has been an interesting experience. No scary experiences yet, but I´ve got a few more weeks here :)

I´ve been reading a lot of different books, and I can´t think of anything specific I´d like to share. I´d just like to challenge you all to read the Book of Mormon, and ask God sincerely if it´s true. I promise that a testimony and true understanding of the Book of Mormon and the restoration will bless your lives.

I love you all so much! Have a great week :)

Love, Hermana Oliphant

Crazy conference weekend

Hello, Everyone!

This week indeed was crazy. I`ll give a brief rundown.

Tuesday my comp had a meeting for all the leaders in the mission. So I was in Managua on divisions, and guess what area I ended up going to? La 14. My very first area in the mission. It was so amazing to see some old members and old investigators. I showed the new sisters there a couple investigators I had, and one of them accepted a baptismal date! I got to say hi and bye to almost all the people I love there, and it was bittersweet to be back there and helping the other sisters find new investigators :)

Wednesday we had a zone meeting and there was another earthquake...in Momotombo again. Everyone in Nagarote felt it, and the house of the Elders in Momotombo fell down...so there`s that. But we were in Leon and so it wasn`t that strong. And we came back from the meeting so excited to talk to so many people, invite them all to be baptized and hand out Book of Mormons. It was a really good day :)

Thursday was weekly planning. And it was different because a couple sisters in the zone aren`t getting along super well, and they called my comp asking for help, so we had to deal with that. But the rest of the day was pretty normal. We decided in the night time that we were going to be even more exactly obedient, and finally have a normal awesome day, starting with going running in the morning. And that`s where all the craziness starts.

Friday. I wake up early, go to my backpack where my running clothes are at, reach in my hand (remember that I`m still half asleep at this moment) and I feel this giant prick on my ring finger that startles me half to death and knocks me on the floor...five seconds later and it`s still stinging and burning and I`m yelling and I realize it was a scorpion that stung me. I yank my ring off and me and my comp get to work on my backpack. Dumping everything out looking for the culprit. And finally, we found it. A giant, nasty scorpion sleeping calmly inside my running pants. So we shake it outside and kill it. We thought it was all over. And then I start feeling some pain in my lower back, on the left side. It`s the same as a back pain I get after sitting too long in hard chairs, so I figured I`d lay down and it`d go away. As I lay down, my finger swells up and my lips and tongue go numb, and my back pain just spreads. It spreads all the way to my lower stomach area as if I was having normal cramps. But it`s a constant pain that doesn`t subside, and it`s really strong. Both in my back and my abdomen. It`s honestly the worst pain I`ve ever felt in my life. I call the nurse, and she said I might have strained my back in my reaction to the sting. So I wait. Then pain gets worse. I start getting cold sweats, throwing up anything I try to eat, all the while enduring the pain. We had lots of sisters from next door who came over doing everything they could to help me. But nothing worked. Our branch president came over to give me a blessing, and then we go to the emergency room in the health center. They check me out, give me a shot for the pain, and then I wait a bit, and the pain disappeared. Just a little ache in my back. But after 4 hours of almost unbearable pain, it was finally gone, and I felt like skipping, quite honestly. During those hours I had a moment to consider what it would be like for Christ. He suffered all that and more in the garden of Gethsemane. I prayed very fervently that if it be His will, that he`d take the pain away. And after a few hours, he did. I especially got comfort in our branch president`s blessing. That this wouldn`t affect me in my mission, and that it would be a growing experience for me. So as I contact the nurse again, we decide I should head down to the hospital in Managua to see what`s up. She and her husband were down there anyways looking after another sister who was really sick, so we spent the whole afternoon with them. So we`re down there, and in between a urine sample, an ultrasound, and a CAT Scan, and LOTS of waiting, they tell me that I have a...wait for it...

Kidney Stone. That`s completely unrelated to the scorpion sting. So they give me medicine and send me home telling me that it should be out in five days. And I`m still waiting. But it was definitely an interesting experience for me. I learned a lot and have a newfound compassion for those who suffer from chronic pain. Because I definitely would not like to repeat that day.

Saturday was Conference. And after all the sessions, I was sleepy and in a whole bunch of pain, so we ended up staying home and I tried to hold very very still so I wouldn`t start hurting again x3

And yesterday was so great. We all went to conference as a branch, and we all had such great experiences. Because we could only watch it well in Leon, we took a giant bus and stayed the whole day, taking a sack lunch with us. Luis came and also another investigator who we`ve been teachings. Her name is Ninosga, and she brought her niece and her little boy, and I know she had a great time. And later that night there was another crazy lightning storm, the power went out, and we got soaking wet getting to a lesson. But even using cell phone flashlights and candles, the spirit was so strong as we testified about the restoration. I know the Lord needed us in that  house in that moment and not hiding from the storm in our home. 

Today we had a fun zone activity. Making tortas fritas, eating McDonalds, and telling crazy old mission stories. We all bonded and it was a great time, even if we got home a little late :)

I just learned so much from Conference. I hope to truly apply all the things I know I need to do better into my life. The mission has really been a training center for life, and I`m so lucky to be here. I`m strengthening my own dedication and testimony of the gospel by helping others doing it as well, and I know there`s always room for improvement. I invite you all to truly ponder the conference talks that stood out to you and think of one thing you want to do better. I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you all!

Love, Hermana Oliphant

Pics

1. Our delicious microwave lasagna...and pinolio, a corn and chocolate drink native to Nicaragua :)

2. The scorpion that started it all...sorry that we didn`t take pictures while I was in the hospital

3&4. Our branch eating lunch in between sessions at General Conference

5. Zone activity! Making tortas fritas. Basically fried sweet breads native to Uruguay. There`s an Uruguayan Elder in the zone.

Earthquakes, Miracles, and the Gospel :)

Hey, everyone :)

So this week has been so amazing. We´ve been finding so many escogidos (chosens) here in Nagarote. That´s the main thing I´ve learned here is that the Lord puts the chosen people in our path when we´re obedient, opening our mouth, and in the right place at the right time. 

One of our progressing investigators, Luis, is really truly changing through the gospel. It´s incredible to see him come to church on his own, and he´s expressed to us that he´s in his own little repentance process, trying to align himself with the teachings of the gospel. Not in so many words, but it´s so obvious, and we hope that he can make the decision to be baptized :)

And we had a great lesson with a guy named Franklin. Meeting him is a long story. But I´ll be fast ;) We took a triciclo to get home one night, and we contacted the guy on the triciclo. He was really interested, so we put a return appointment and showed up to his house the next day. We ended up contacting his next door neighbors. She was sitting outside talking on the phone, and there was another guy who didn´t look too interested, so I didn´t think about contacting them. But then something urged me to talk to them so I talked to the guy who wasn´t on the phone :) Then once the woman got off the phone, she went to put it back inside and came out to ask us questions. She was actually so interested, and had so many questions about the Book of Mormon and wanted to read it. So we´ve been visiting her and her family this week. (Her name is Hayling)

So Franklin is Hayling´s brother. She wasn´t home last night so we ended up talking to Franklin about the restoration. The Spirit was so strong in the lesson, and when we talked about Joseph Smith and the restoration of the church and the priesthood, his indifferent demeanor changed when he asked this simple question: "Wait, so are you saying that there´s a prophet on the earth right now?" What a beautiful question! We were so happy to answer it, and to keep answering his questions. When we invited him to be baptized, he asked about how long it would take to prepare himself. When we told him it was up to him, and challenged him to prepare for a date in a month from yesterday, he accepted :)

And we´ve been seeing so many miracles from teaching Lesson 1 powerfully, with the Spirit, and then inviting people to be baptized afterward. 

I love being a missionary, and I love the power and authority I have to defend the word and help the world understand the love of their Heavenly Father and the need to come unto Him and to be baptized by the proper authority. 

I love this work, and I love Nicaragua. I hope you all have an excellent week, and don´t forget to count your blessings, and to always remember who gave them to you :)

Con Amor, 

Hermana Oliphant

Fotos

1. So there was a 5.9 earthquake last Tuesday night in Nagarote. We ended up taking our beds outside and sleeping under the stars (behind a gate next to a members house...don´t worry) :) It´s my first big earthquake I´ve been in...don´t recommend it, haha. Thankfully the only things that fell were a ceiling tile and a curtain rod.

2&3. Our little cupcakes for my comp´s 9 month mark :)

4. Us taking selfies while our District Leader talks to us about our week. He didn´t even realize it ;)

I'm Still Alive

Hey, everyone!

Sorry, it`s been so long. I really have no excuse. I`ve just not gotten around to writing a mass email lately. But I`m still alive, I promise :) I hope you`re all doing well and that you`re all counting your daily blessings, cuz we`ve all got tons :)

This past month has been great with Hermana Nova, but changes came again...and Hermana Nova left Nagarote! Everyone`s wondering why none of my companions here can stand me, haha ;) Today I got my new companion, Hermana Knowlton. She`s from Utah, has about 9 months on the mission, and is super great. I`m so excited to work with her, and I`m so glad that I have an awesome area to show to her :) Me and Hermana Nova worked so hard to lift up the area and building relationships with the members. 

This past...month (so sorry) has been so great. Me and Hermana Nova have been working so hard finding new people to teach and taking the advice of our leaders and inviting everyone to be baptized! I wasn`t a believer in inviting people in a contact to be baptized, but actually doing it is what strengthened my faith. I thought that it would scare people away, that they`d reject us, and no one would want to listen to us. But when we started inviting EVERYONE, I began to see the blessings. The instruction made sense, and I`m so much happier and feel so much better as a missionary. It reminds me of what Christ says in John 7:

16 Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me.
 17 If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
 18 He that speaketh of himself seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him, the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him.

I guess I can compare that to the real world, and keeping the commandments of God. We`re all kind of incredulous and prideful sometimes. We think that washing your close on Sunday isn`t that bad, or that saying your prayers lying down isn`t that big of a deal, that the song/movie/book just has a couple bad words and scenes, etc. We hear that doctors say that coffee and red wine is a little good for you, etc. We think we know better. We think that we have a better understanding of life and our needs and our problems than the Lord and that we can boss him around. But...this is God we`re talking about. He knows everything. If you ever feel a small feeling that you shouldn`t be doing something, you should stop doing it. Or if you feel a small impression to do something good, you should do it :) The Lord reveals his will to us in many ways, though prophets (modern day or through scripture) and through personal revelation (most often prompted through studying the words of the prophets or keeping other commandments). The key to making our way through life is learning to listen to and accept revelation from God. Once you`ve got that down, you`re set :)

I love this gospel, and I love the hope it gives to people. I know that not all people are ready to truly accept the gospel in this moment, but one day, what the apostle Paul said in Philippians 2 will come true:

 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Don`t ever lose hope, and don`t stop pushing even when the rock`s not moving. The Lord knows what he`s doing :)

I love you all so much!

Love, Hermana Oliphant

Pics!

1. My new companion, Hermana Knowlton. She`s very tiny. I was crouching ;)

2. Me at the awesome fountain in the central park. sitting there cooled me off from the sun :)

3. My comp in front of the park :) She`s so cute. 

And . . . even more Pictures!

1-4 El Mirador. We got to climb up a little tower on top of the hill and see all of Nagarote...even to the Managua lake, and the volcano, Momtotombo.

5. The statue in Central Park of a lady selling quesillos. It`s a traditional dish here and it`s made of a tortilla, cheese that`s similar to mozzarella, some kind of onions and vinegar, and cream/mayonnaise. SO GOOD. But...it made me sick. So...no more quesillos. But I promise it`s the most delicious thing on the planet.

Even More Pictures!

Being touristy in all the different parts of Nagarote.

El Paseo la Biblia. It`s got a bunch of different scriptures, one from each book in the bible. It`s super beautiful, and I copied down all the verses to mark them in my scriptures :)

More Pictures

This batch is all prepping for a massive water fight with the landlord's son. :)

Hey everyone :)

I hope your week`s been great! Sorry for not writing last week. We went out of town and got back a little late...but these past two weeks have been super great.

We`ve been meeting and finding a lot of new investigators, and it`s been so fun. 

It`s been such a pleasure to preach the gospel here, and lately, I`ve been less afraid to call people out and stand up for my beliefs. Because some people (including myself) just need someone to tell them that they need to shape up. And it`s been great. My comp and I work really well together. We`re both super committed to being obedient and to work intelligently. The area had been struggling before because of my comp`s last companion, but we`ve been shaping it up and our DL told us that "Nagarote es la freakin ley!" Which means that our area is the bomb dot com. That always feels good to hear :) The only real struggle is that people don`t like to make commitments, or keep them. So getting them to church is hard. But they love learning, and I love helping them understand the truthfulness of the gospel. I just hope that the Lord can keep leading us to the people who are truly ready to accept Christ in their lives. And sometimes we don`t even know when they`re ready. We taught one lady this week who, at first seemed super unpositive. She was making lots of excuses about how she couldn`t go to church, but she received us in her house. Then we talked about the restoration, and when we compared Joseph Smith`s search for the truth to her own personal curiosity, her eyes lit up. And suddenly she was interested, and the Spirit was so strong. It was so beautiful, and that`s the kind of thing the gospel can do. Light eyes and fill holes we didn`t even realize were missing. 

Something sad and happy is the Pte and Hermana Collado are going home. They've finished their three years and we`ve gotten our new mission president! His name is Pte. Poncio, and we get to meet him this Wednesday in a multizona. I`m so sad to see the Collados leave, but I`m thrilled to meet our new mission president and see what kind of new miracles we can receive here in Nicaragua :)

This week, I`ve been studying a lot about faith. I`ve started Personal Progress over (in Spanish), and I`ve been reading all the scriptures and studying on what it truly means to have faith. And especially how to apply it. This week was particularly hard because we worked so hard this week and none of our investigators came to church. I was feeling a little discouraged, then I remembered a story I heard somewhere. There was a man, and the Lord told the man to push a giant boulder. He pushed on it, all day, every day, for a long time. But it never moved. Then one day, the man got mad. And the Lord told him, "I told you to push the rock. I didn`t say it would move." And he points out how much stronger he is, and all the things he`s gained from his years pushing on a rock. And that`s what faith is. Even when it seems completely pointless, it`s being obedient and keeping the commandments because we trust in the Lord`s plan for us. And that`s helped me out a lot this week. We get discouraged because we don`t move the rock, but if we remember that we were just asked to push it, it gets a little easier to just keep going, and to keep building those muscles :) Hebrews 10:35-36 is also a great scripture.

I love you all so much. Thanks for everything, and I hope you have a great week!

Att. Hermana Oliphant

Ps...lots of fotos. You`re welcome.

P.P.S. Happy 4th of July! (sorry, we don`t really celebrate it here, but I feel the national pride in my heart :))

Pics.

1. Me And my comp a couple weeks ago at our last multizona with Pte Collado...finally you get to see her!

2. Me with Pte/Hna Collado and their kids...so sad to say goodbye ;(

3. Straightened my hair...holla

4. A few members of the branch Nagarote!

5. Just a selfie of the day...in pants

Sarah and New Comp

Sarah and President and Sister Collado and family

Straight Hair!

Some members of the branch

In pants!

Hey!

Hey everyone! So I`m short on time, again, but this week has been super great. And a little sad. It`s been really hard to get our investigators to church, but that`s always the hard part, right? But we`ve also been working really hard with our futuros elderes, or Future Elders, and helping them get ready for missions! And we`ve been using the members a lot, and it`s so great to see their animo to help with the work. They just need a little encouragement sometimes. 

We also had great divisions this week with...guess who? My MTC comp, Hermana Walborn! She`s my TL now, and so we were companions for a day in my area, and it was so incredible to see how we`ve both grown, teach together, and see so many miracles. She`s an incredible missionary and I hope I can be like her some day :)

So to finish up, I`ll explain the pictures. A couple days ago, we got home at night, and I was getting ready to take a shower...and then got in the shower. I was all ready to clean myself, and then I saw that scorpion on my loufa...and I had a panic attack basically. I was in the shower, and basically trapped by that evil (sleeping...tailless) creature. My poor comp was great enough to throw me a shirt over the wall so I could put some clothes on, and then she passed me a broom so I could unlock the bathroom door, and she calmly coaxed me out of the shower curtain so I could escape before I started crying...and then I started to run out and I tripped and banged my knee against the wall and now it`s really purple. As I calmed down in my bed I told her to burn the scorpion after she smashed it...so she did. That`s the fire picture. Our little firepit for the demon. Funnily enough, we had smashed the tail off a scorpion a few weeks ago that escaped...so maybe it came back for revenge. It definitely did scar me a bit, but it`s dead. So we`re okay. Moral of the story, scorpions are demons. Watch out.

tailless but still frightening scorpion

fire pit for the demon scorpion

But on a spiritual note, I`m in Alma in my BoM reading, and I just read some really great scriptures in chapter 7.

23 And now I would that ye should be humble, and besubmissive and gentle; easy to be entreated; full of patience and long-suffering; being temperate in all things; being diligent in keeping the commandments of God at all times; asking for whatsoever things ye stand in need, both spiritual and temporal; always returning thanks unto God for whatsoever things ye do receive.
 24 And see that ye have faith, hope, and charity, and then ye will always abound in good works.

That basically sums up everything we need to do in life. I want to challenge all of you to pick one of these things to work on, and then pray for the help you need to accomplish it. God really does work His miracles when we show Him our faith. That I`m certain of.

I love you all so very very much, and thanks for everything you do!

Love, Hermana Oliphant