Mission Blog |
A dangerously acute account of 18 months in Nicaraguan Territory.
|
from "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles This last week was way better than a fire hydrant exploding on a hot summer’s day! That actually didn’t happen, but it seemed to because the Spirit was just so strong!Yesterday, we went and tried to have a spiritual lesson with a reference from the Stake President. He accompanied us, so the Spirit was a very looked forward to companion. We got to the appointment and before we could even ask to begin with a prayer, the husband jumped in and said, “Look, I’m Catholic, I’m not going to change my religion, I’m completely closed.” Because he was a reference, we kept trying, talking about eternal families, God’s plan for us, the Atonement, etc. We did just about anything to help them feel the spirit. In the end, President Narvaes lost his patience. He said to the man “martin, do you believe that the Catholic Church is the true church?” Martin replied “Yes”. President Narvaes said “I invite you to share with us your testimony then. Give us your testimony.” Martin just kind of stood there stunned and without words. Pres. Narvaes stated, “You can’t share your testimony because you don’t really know Martin. You just go off what every preacher has ever told you. But when you ask God and He tells you , then you can say that you really know.” The poor guy didn’t want to admit that Pres. Narvaes was right, so he quickly stated, “I’m closed.” How sad it is to think of people who really believe that God is “closed” like a dusty Bible on a shelf, or an old rundown theatre. The great news is that He’s not! God is just as ready to speak today as in times past!Speaking of such, yesterday was also the Stake Conference of Chinandega Oeste Stake. It was so amazing, we had Elder Alonso of the seventy with us and he shared the story of Mary Magdalene’s search for Jesus’ body. Three times she asked/assumed that someone had taken His body from the tomb. She was seeking a dead Christ. What she didn’t understand is that He Lives! Now, personal question: Do we seek a dead Christ? Do we live the gospel because of what’s happened in the past? Or do we anxiously look for a living, breathing, smiling Savior”? Do we wake up each morning praying this be the day of His coming? Just as He asked Mary in the Garden, whom sleekest thou? May we all seek the Living Christ who loves and cares for each of us!--Hermana Beatty *my companion dressed up like the Snow White Witch...she looks pretty authentic
*Nicaragua cookies! *a lovely Nica family
2 Comments
I seriously feel like my life is a comic strip with my new companion! Here are a few of this week’s funnies: *We were given a delicious Jicaro drink (it’s milk with sugar and crushed up orgeat seed). Upon tasting it, my companion’s face lit up and she loudly exclaimed, “This drink is like a candle!” * We saw the Elders walking away from us on the street. She commented, “Hey, it’s us, but a guy version.” So true! * We finally finished all the day’s work at about 10:15 p.m. When we had prayed to finish our planning, she quickly grabbed her tang filled water bottle and exclaimed “To Life! To Life! Laheym!” (See play “Fiddler on the Roof”) * She was really nervous about contacting, so we decided to practice…with the trees. They totally accepted a baptismal date ;) There were so many other wonderful moments and I’m so grateful that I’m the one who got to be her companion. If I’m not wrong, Thanksgiving should be somewhere around this date, so I would like to express my gratitude for a few things in particular.
There are so many more things to be grateful for: beans & rice, technology, the scriptures, fortune cookies, living prophets, and so much more. Obviously, the number one thing would be Jesus Christ. I’m grateful for His Atoning sacrifice and His infinite love. Now, may all of us take these immense ‘gratitudes’ that we each have and channel them into ACTION. May they fill our minds with Heavenly inspiration and ideas in how we may help in the Lord’s work, perhaps making someone else grateful for this gospel which we share! --Hermana Beatty Companion fun!
Corn pudding...you would love it! Visit from classic Nica family! Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale.... Just sit right down and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful ship that started from this tropic port aboard this tiny ship.... So we just finished our first week in this change and it was AWESOME! I was really super excited because I was given the charge of being a trainer (which I´ve done a lot) but this time, it was fresh off the boat (or Fresh Off the Barge if you´re Samoan) The mate was a mighty sailing man..... My companion is named Hermana Speas from Montana! I love how all the North Americans pronounce her last name like peas with an S in front.... all the Latinos, including our loving Nicaraguans usually end up saying ´´eh-Space´´. She´s soooooo WHITE, just getting started on her mission tan! And so fun as well. She has such a strong testimony of this gospel and is so excited to share it with the entire world. The Skipper brave and sure..... For those of you who haven´t been keeping up on the companions I´ve had, I´d have you know that this is my first North-American companion since MY trainer...... that was a long time ago..... It´s kind of helped me improve my English and see how I probably was when I first came in the mission. We make such a great team, I´m soooo happy to be learning with her. Five passengers set sail that day for a three hour tour...... Well, we didn´t have exactly five people go to church yesterday, but we did have lots of miracles show up. First off, Javier is so.... different. He showed up by himself, went to a baptismal service to prepare himself, gave us a popsicle and a cracker, and basically said ´´God wants me to be baptized on the 28th of November, is that alright sisters?´´ Heavens yes Javier! You´re awesome! We also had a miracle when we passed by to make sure Fransisco was good to go to church and he was. He was all ready to go, cane and all. He had polio when he was younger so he can´t walk too far, but he really wanted to go to church. We had previously arranged for a member to pass by, but when we went to look for the member, he wasn´t there..... NOOOO!!!! We said a quick prayer and the Spirit said ´´Hno. Blanco´´ So we called Hno Blanco and he came and basically worked everything out, befriending our investigator as the hours rolled along.... twas miraculous! Being a missionary is something that just brings a joy to your heart and a smile to your face, no matter how draught things may appear on the outside! I hope you can all start your own adventure by sharing the gospel with someone else and seeing the fun that the Lord will bring to you! Have a fabulous week! -Hermana Beatty *Delicious fruit smoothies...you have no idea what you are missing!
*My new companion...Hermana Speas *Visiting one of my first convert families...such a special treat! Talk a lot, Pick a little more! (Music Man) This week was quite witchy for being a week after Halloween. It mostly had this feeling because one of our investigators was telling us her life’s story and part of it included her 4 year old sons tragic death. She just kept commenting on how “the devil robbed me of my son.” It twas rather odd, but in the end everything worked out great and the investigator went to church with us. (but only after giving us one of her strange brews and presenting us to her similiarly, witchy neighbor.) Did you also know about the unusual chickens here? They come in all shapes, sizes, except one: NORMAL. They’re usually bald with few feathers, or have really large hobbit-chicken feet and a tiny body. They’re actually a rather interesting variety. I just loved how the owner of the house we rent responded when we had told him about the man on top of our roof, walking in the night. He just replied and said, “Don’t worry, it’s just the chickens. In my head I was thinking “what a Chick-zilla we have!” :) Something I really love about missionary work is seeing all the changes people make in their lives and how happy it makes me. Like when Javier just shows up to church and we didn’t have to do anything. Now, just imagine, if a little change makes Hermana Beatty happy, how much happier is our Father in Heaven when he sees us conquer our own egotism, make small changes and become more like Him. May we all change this week! :) --Hermana Beatty Pizza Day!!!!
Christmas has arrived in Nicaragua! "...Commencing Countdown, Engines On" Inspired Question of the week…NO, wait a second...first off, Happy Late Halloween! Hope you all enjoyed trick-or-treating with the kids and then suffering through Fast Sunday the next day (ha ha ha). In Nicaragua, no mystical events occurred on the 31st, but I had an abnormal amount of people ask me “Hermana Beatty, you’re from the United States, right? Why do you celebrate the day of witches? Do you pray and worship evil spirits or something?” Not having done my Halloween background research, but knowing that I definitely never participated in such nonsense; I simply responded “No we don’t do that stuff. Halloween was invited to have an excuse to give candy to kids.” Most of them accepted that answer with a pondering look and then asked me for candy. Oh silly Nicaraguans. Ok, back to the inspired question of the week: When people say “Next Sunday” what do they really mean? Do they mean seven days from this Sunday? Do they really mean “the-next-Sunday-that-I-don’t-have-anything-to-do”? Are they trying to send us the message that the “next Sunday” really means never? I feel like we received that answer quite a bit yesterday while we were passing by for all the less-actives, recent converts, and investigators. With every “Next Sunday” that I heard, my desire to give them a spiritual ice-bath increased tenfold. I wanted to make them see that procrastinating the day of their repentance is a really bad habit to get into because one day real soon, there won’t be a “Next Sunday”. Christ will come and then we’ll be living in a time of eternal- Sunday’s, where we will pass the time listening to His teachings and obeying His commandments. I imagine that one of these “next Sunday” people, if they manage to survive all the interesting happenings of Christ’s coming, living in the Millennium will be rather uncomfortable for them if they have not learned how to put the Lord first, family second, and leave the rest. I think that they have yet to understand and feel the true rest that comes when we keep the Sabbath Day holy and use it as a day of worship to our God. BUT, we managed to work a miracle yesterday with a new investigator we’re teaching. She’s the mom of our recent convert, Yamilett. Her name is Hilda, is 65 years-old, has a huge hernia and barely walks from her hammock to the bathroom. BUT SHE CAME TO CHURCH!!!! It was awesome to see her there, with her daughter and three grandkids. I wanted to use her as an example for all those “next Sunday-ers”. Look! If this old fragile lady can do it, you can to!! Well, I hope you all had an enjoyable day of rest and passed some time with the family. Love each of you soooo much! The gospel is true! (Even though there are people who always say “Next Sunday” ;) --Hermana Beatty We had a ghost pinata...he was mystic!
|
Archives
November 2015
CategoriesAuthorhola! I'm Naomi and I love reading, my amazing family, and the color green. |