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| Christmas Entertainment! |
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| Christmas Cheer with Herbie! |
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| Christmas Dinner! |
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| Christmas Mission Party at the Hilton! |
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| Sushi in Managua! |
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| Christmas in Managua! |
Hermana Howell
Monday, December 30, 2013
F A I T H - 5 letters that brings miracles!
Hermana Howell
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Dig Deeper!
Hola familia!! Can you believe that next Wednesday I will be seeing you lovely beautiful people and guess what I found out, I definitely can Skype you longer. I AM SO EXCITED! Seriously, December has flown by. I love the house with all the Christmas decorations! So gorgeous! It doesn't really feel like Christmas time here in Nica because there is no snow but people have Christmas decorations so that is fun. Still, sadly we don't have any but today we went Christmas shopping and wow! I definitely remembered the stress of buying people presents. So because we were Christmas shopping, I am short on time today so I apologize in advance that this letter will probably be a little shorter than usual. Also for the Skype thing, I am not exactly sure what is going on with that but I think I will know more info on next Monday. So plan for Christmas to Skype your lovely sister and daughter! What time do you guys want me to Skype? I am stressing because there isn't a cyber with Skype but don't worry I will look for one this week. AH I AM SO EXCITED!!!
Funny moment of the week was we were teaching a lesson and this teenage boy shakes my hand and goes to kiss me on the cheek. Side note, here in Nica we greet each other by kissing on the cheek. ha ha anyways as he leans in to kiss my cheek, I start shrieking and backing away from him! He pulled away looking sooo confused. I explained to him that as missionaries we cant hug, kiss, etc the opposite sex; oh man it was so funny!
We have been guided to so many women who are ready to accept this Gospel. We taught a woman named Irania who committed to baptism and also Angelica, which we gave her a BOM and right after we left she started reading it! We are mostly teaching women but whatever. Girl power! Another woman we taught, Osyilla Ahora, said she felt that everything we said was true and committed to baptism. So awesome!
Funny moment of the week was we were teaching a lesson and this teenage boy shakes my hand and goes to kiss me on the cheek. Side note, here in Nica we greet each other by kissing on the cheek. ha ha anyways as he leans in to kiss my cheek, I start shrieking and backing away from him! He pulled away looking sooo confused. I explained to him that as missionaries we cant hug, kiss, etc the opposite sex; oh man it was so funny!
This week as a zone, well only like 10 of us, started doing Insanity every morning. For those of you who don't know what that is, Missy you should know, it is like the hardest workout DVD in America. So every day we wake up at 5:20am, go to the capilla, workout for an hour, and then go back to our houses. It is so much fun! The trainer in it always yells "dig deeper" which explains the title of my email. Other than there is literally a puddle under everyone after working out. But hey we gotta do something to fight off the rice!
So this week has kinda been a struggle. My faith has been a little struggling and I have felt that no one is there when I need to talk. I have felt distant from my Father in Heaven and have felt very alone. However, in church on Sunday during the class of recent converts and investigators I was teaching, we sang "I know that my Savior lives." These lyrics to this hymn touched my heart so much. As I sang this song I choked back tears because of the beautiful lyrics. I would type all of the lyrics but I don't have time so look them up! I was especially touched by the line "El vive mi amigo fiel." (He lives my faithful friend). Christ is always there for me and will always be mi amigo fiel who can help me through my challenges. I remembered the story, "Footprints in the Sand" when Christ tells the man that when he saw only one set of footprints in the sand in his life, Christ was carrying him during these difficult times. I have been blessed with so much; especially with many tender mercies that testify to me that God knows me and is always there for me. I know that as I continue pressing FORWARD , having my testimony firm in Christ, I will be able to do all things. Many times we experience trials that make us "dig deeper" and realize we need to always have our faith built upon Christ. (Don't you like how I added the Insanity theme in there? Clever I know:)
My mind is racing right now with a billion different things to do. Plus this week hasn't been too exciting. However I was going to do divisions with Wilsynn this week but it kinda fell through. So she came to my house and Mendez went to hers. So we had a little sleepover which was so fun! But in the morning they found out they had to be in Tipitapa for a meeting so Mendez returned. Divisions were fun though while it lasted!
Well I want you to know how much I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU SO STINKIN MUCH! I think I don't feel like it is Christmas because all of my family and friends aren't here. I am so grateful to have such an amazing family and wonderful friends. I hope you all have a wonderful week and guess what. I WILL LEGITILY SEE YOU NEXT WEEK! Warning: most likely I will cry. I will try my best not to. But cry happy tears of course. So just a warning. Well I love you all so much! Enjoy the holiday season! And remember Christ during this time. Okay I love you all so much!!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Howell
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
All Dressed in White
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| Pair of an Elder's shoes left in the apartment |
So luckily everything went well with moving houses this past week. The elders in my zone and district, who are awesome, helped move all of our stuff. Our new room is a million times better than our old house. So the house we live in is kinda like the house we stayed at in France in a way. A woman and her daughter lives there and other families board there as well. There is a member family living there, us, and then the woman and her daughter. The house is pretty nice and all of the people are so friendly! Since where our house is located is little relatively safer, we go running sometimes in the morning which is so awesome!! Hermana Ligia cooks our food and does our laundry still. Literally she is an angel! I love her to death!
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| Hermana Ligia, my comp and I |
One thing that I love about serving a mission in a different country is learning about a new culture. The culture here is definitely different than America. The ways, ideas and lifestyles are completely opposite of how things back at home. All of the women here think bows are like the prettiest things ever. Like the bows babies wear. I have received sooo many bows as gifts but I have never worn a bow in my life. So I don't know what to do with all the bows I get. Another cultural fact is the people here live off of rice and soda. I probably am fed a small pot of rice a day and two gallons of soda a day as well. Oh man it is killing me. Yesterday I had fried pig skin with yuca. Let's just say it is not my favorite.
This week we had an interview with Presidente Collado in front of like a panel of other missionaries which included zone leaders, district leaders, and sister training leaders. The interview went so well! Presidente was really happy with our numbers and especially the miracle we had with Marcos and Marivelle last week. I am glad that we are having some success here in La Primavera and I know that the Lord is helping us so much!
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| Carmen dressed in white. |
So this week was my FIRST BAPTISM!!!!!! Ah it was such an amazing but crazy experience! Our investigator Carmen was baptized. My comp and I arrived at the church earlier and filled the baptismal font and set up chairs. While we were waiting for everyone to come, I was playing the piano in the chapel. We saw Presidente Frech, our presidente de la Rama, arrive so we went to go back to the room with the baptismal font. Well to our surprise there are two dirty boys bathing/swimming in the font in their underwear!!! Are you kidding me?! Presidente Frech came and ordered them out and they left. So we had to clean the baptismal font again. After waiting for Carmen and members to come for an hour, I started to freak out thinking that Carmen was not going to show up. My district leaders went to her house and luckily she was there so they brought her to the church. Only three people from the Rama showed up which was disappointing but at least someone came. The baptismal program was very beautiful and the spirit was strong. My comp and I sang "Press Forward Saints" which went well. It was such an amazing experience to see Carmen enter the baptismal waters and get baptized. I felt the spirit so strongly and just wanted to cry of happiness! It is so true that bringing others to Christ brings so much joy. Knowing that I was the hands of the Lord in helping bring someone into this church and attain eternal life is priceless. Every struggle I have means nothing compared to the moment of seeing someone begin on the strait and narrow path to our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me to be a part of this experience!
Marcos and Marivelle are continuing to progress! They are seriously the most wonderful people ever. One day they called, telling us to come to their house, that they had a surprise for us. We arrived and they had made us lunch! Marcos said "we don't have very much but what we have we want to give to you both." Awww, seriously the sweetest people ever! They attended church yesterday so we are planning on them being baptized this Sunday! AHH I am so excited! I know that God has prepared them and we were guided to find them.
Saturday in Nicaragua was a huge holiday called La Policima. It is kinda like Halloween where families go house to getting candy. However, when they go to the houses they worship the Virgin Mary and sing and chant things to Mary. On this holiday people do fireworks all day and night and blast music. So we received literally zero sleep which killed us the next day. All night the house next to us was blasting Spanish rap and Enimem so I was trying to hum some hymns. However it is hard to stay in tune with the spirit when "apple bottom jeans and boots with the fur" is being played…can't remember the name to the song but hearing it I just wanted to dance! Overall, not one of my favorite nights in Nica!
Well, I hope you all are doing wonderful and have a great week! Keep up the hard work in school, work, and whatever else you guys do. I cant believe Christmas is just two weeks away! I can't wait to hear all of your beautiful voices!! Have a spectacular week and keep pressing forward!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Howell
Monday, December 2, 2013
La Primavera
Hola familia!! First off, I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving! I absolutely LOVED all the pictures you sent me. Seriously it looked like you guys had a lot of fun...without me...my Thanksgiving was pretty good. I kinda bought whatever food I wanted to, that was fun! I love this time of year because we realize what is actually important in our lives. Yes friends are important, but what is more important is our family and I am so glad that I get to live with you guys forever!
I am going to be honest. Thanksgiving was pretty tough for me because it was my first holiday away from home and I knew exactly what you guys would be doing for that day. That morning I was reallyyy homesick and was crying and being a baby ha. However I turned to my Heavenly Father and the scriptures for strength and was comforted. I turned to the scripture in 3 Nephi 7, 3 which says, 'For the Lord shall comfort (Jessica), 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 there in, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.' When I read this scripture I thought of the lesson Hermana Pratt gave in the CCM. We are constantly put in new places which at first are like the lone and dreary wilderness but become our garden of Eden. Throughout the day I was strengthened and could feel the love of my Father in Heaven.
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| My Shower! |
So, after a long day of traveling, getting forgotten about, and waiting for someone to bring us to the church building for changes, I finally made it to my new area - La Primavera. I love being in the city! The houses and streets in my area are the same in Leon but it is fun to have McDonald's, Subway, La Union, a mall and American stuff close by. However, the only one bad thing is that I live close to the airport so I hear airplanes a lot here...talk about trunky. La Primavera is by Lake Managua so I can see the lake at some points in my area but we aren't allowed to go there because it is dangerous. My zone leaders and district leaders are awesome! We are the only hermanas in our district but there are six companionships of hermanas in my zone. And guess what? WILSYNN is in my zone!1 AHH! Seriously how fun is that! I was dying of happiness when I found out. So our house is straight up disgusting. There is a layer of dirt everywhere, the mattresses look like they are from the 1800s, cobwebs are everywhere, we don't have running water in the morning, I bathe with a bucket, I flush the toilet with the bucket, my comp got sick from our house, my skin is going crazy because of the dirtiness of the house and our house used to be a bar! FUN huh! And it is in a dangerous part of town. Well luckily, after a long day of walking around our area, we found a place we can move to which we are actually moving later today. We are moving into a room with a member family so hopefully that will be a little better. Honestly, showering with a bucket isn't that bad. It is just the dirt that bugs me. hahaha every time I go to bed I think of you mom and how you would die if you had to live in the house I live in.
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| Indoor Plumbing-Almost! |
The church in La Primavera isn't very big so I am in a Rama. Church this Sunday was empty. Like only thirty people came! But our goal is to make this rama into a barrio! The members here are just incredible! This one member we are with a lot. She is 24 years old and has the cutest daughter. Her family is so awesome! She is just the cutest chica ever! She cleans our clothes and cooks our lunches and has come with us everyday to help us which is so nice. haha cultural fact of Nicaragua. Novellas are HUGE here! When we go to her house to eat, all of the family is gathered around the TV watching La Tracion. All of the members are so excited to have us HERMANAs and are so willing to help us in this work. La Primavera has never had sisters before so we are the first! Woohoo represent! So there were elders before us and they left no information of investigators or whatsoever so we are legitly starting from scratch. So this week we have been contacting a lot to get investigators. The people here though are so ready for this gospel! One woman we are teaching now we met the first day here. We found her standing in the street and asked her for help with directions. We ended up making a teaching appointment with her which was amazing! We taught about the restoration and she said she knew the BOM was true, Joseph smith was a prophet, and she wanted to come to church. (which she didn't.) We found another woman and she is stellar! She visited a little with elders before and has been going to church here and there. Well, we have committed her to baptism this Saturday! AHH my first baptism! She attended church Sunday and I guess the Sunday before so we can baptize her.
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| Weary Feet-Lovely Tan lines |
I had the most amazing experience ever in my mission yesterday! So since it is the first week of December (say what!?) it was fast Sunday. Presidente Collado asked the mission to fast that we could find a family to baptize before Christmas. So my comp and I were fasting for this purpose. So, two days ago (Saturday) we we were contacting in the street and we decided to go up to this house and see if anyone was there. Well, it was dark in the front porch so we only saw this older man sitting in a rocking chair. We approached him and introduced ourselves. While we were talking to him, a man and a woman came out of the darkness. They told us they wanted us to come and visit them so we went yesterday to teach them about the gospel. The lesson I had with them AND THEY ARE A FAMILY, I will never forget. We started out the lesson just getting to know them and then transitioned into teaching about the restoration. After we finished giving the lesson, the father opened up and shared how when he was 6 years old he left home because of the bad family situation he had. During this time he experienced many trials and began to wonder which church is true. He got baptized in the Baptist church but he didn't feel good about it. He then said he felt like he was supposed to meet us. He saw us in the street, particularly me, and was curious. When we approached the door of the older man, he had this strong urge to get out of his chair and talk with us which he did. He told us of many experiences that day that guided him to be in that chair at that exact moment we walked by. Everything he shared I could see the hand of God guiding him and directing his path. All of his questions, the church had the answers. He then told us he had a dream; his wife was in a white dress and he was wearing a white tie, shirt and pants and they were in this beautiful building. They were surrounded by people wearing the same clothing. He told us he wanted to stay in this place and he remembers being so happy. He dreamt of the celestial room in the temple! HOLY COW. Throughout the rest of the night he kept saying he felt a warmth in his heart which we told him was the spirit testifying that what we were saying was true. I invited him to be baptized on the 21st of Diciembre which he answered, no. My heart just dropped. Are you kidding? We just had this amazing, really spiritual lesson with you and your answer is no. However, he then replies saying he wants to get baptized BEFORE the 21st. I just had the biggest smile on my face and so much happiness. We set a baptismal date for them on the 15th of Diciembre right after church. I know that God has prepared this family for the Gospel and that I and my comp were the ones that they needed. I know that fasting and prayer has power and that when we have faith and hope, all things are possible. Bringing others into the gospel truly does bring true joy. (I was tearing up the whole lesson, embarrassing I know,) I know I am suppose to be here in Nicaragua and specifically in La Primavera.
I am so grateful for you all and your love and support! Especially I am so grateful to have such an amazing family. I can't wait to see your beautiful faces in 23 or less days!
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Definition of a Mission: Constant Change
Hola to the best family in the world! How is everyone doing? As always I can't wait to read your emails later today. I don't have time to read your emails so I print them off and read them before I go to bed! And before I forget....HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! I will be eating who knows what. Have so much fun! I will be thinking of all of you eating good food!
So I was going to save this for the end of my email but I am freaking out so I am going to tell you now. Today is cambios which is where we learn who is getting changed. Just when Hermana Jess gets used to things and is starting to adjust, God decides nope she needs to keep growing. So Hermana Jess leaves for her new area tomorrow morning. AH! Biggest shock ever to hear because I wasn't planning or even thinking of getting changed. I am going to Managua! I am assigned to the area of Primavera 2. What makes this even crazier is Hna Mendez is coming with me and we are opening up this new area. UM WHAT?! No, I have only been in the mission field for 6 weeks and I am opening up a new area. It is so strange that my comp and I are going together and "whitewashing" but in the long run it is good because we know each other and know how to work together and such. When I found out I just started crying. I love Leon and now have to leave. I am leaving Hna Behan and Hawkins too which just breaks my heart because they are literally like my sisters here. But I am excited too! God knows I can do this which brings me peace and strength. There is someone who needs me in Managua so I will be obedient to the call of the Lord and "go where he wants me to go." So that is the craziest of today! It doesn't even feel real. So we leave tomorrow morning so I have to pack and go to all of our investigators and members' houses to say goodbye. Noooo, I love them but promise me we can come back to Leon so I can introduce them to you! Here I come Managua!
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| I finally meet Wilsynn! |
On Tuesday and Wednesday this week I was in Managua for meetings. I got to see Hermana Rogers again which always makes me so happy! And I FINALLY got to see Wilsynn!! AHHH it was sooo good to see her! We definitely attacked each other when we saw each other. It was so fun to talk to each other and share our experiences. Ah I love her. I love all of the hermanas in my mission! So it was really fun to go and see everyone and now I will be returning to Managua! Ah crazy.
One of my favorite lessons this week was with our investigators. We taught them about the Savior's love, the Book of Mormon, and then answered questions they had. When we were testifying of the Savior's love and the BOM, the spirit was SO strong like my heart was on fire. The Husband then says "My heart is really warm." I freaked out and jabbed my comp in the side with my elbow. We explained the role of the Holy Ghost and the feelings we receive from him. I knew he felt the spirit. Now it is his responsibility to act on those feelings. I hope they get baptized!
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| Drink served in bag. |
One of my absolute favorite things of Nicaragua during this time of year is "the star." Amidst all of the stars, there is this one star that shines so bright and is always constant; it never changes and is always in the exact same place each night. Apparently this star is only here during the months of November and December which is so cool because a bright star appeared in the Americas when Christ was born. I am in the Americas during the time Christ was born! So cool. This star symbolizes so much for me. It reminds me of the birth of our Savior and all he has done for me. The star reminds me to "look up" during difficult times and rely on the constant companionship of Christ.
In addition to teaching the Gospel, I am teaching English as well! Well I guess no mas aqui en Coyolar. I taught an English class with Hermana Hawkins and we were going to teach every Saturday together. In the class only four people came but I think it will be a great way to find investigators and hopefully baptize people. We taught the alphabet and how to say a prayer in English. It was really fun teaching English! It made me feel like I knew something haha because my Spanish is far from perfect.
I never guessed how much running I would do here in Nicaragua! This week we have run from so many men haha. One of the times we were trying to contact a referral when this one baurracho kept on following us. We would walk one way and he would follow us. So once we turned the corner of a street, we just broke into a full-on sprint! Luckily, we lost him and weren't followed by anyone else for the rest of the day. My comp and I were laughing so hard when we were running! Everyday is an adventure here in the mission field.
This week I was reminded that faith is a power. When we have faith, "and hope for things," all things are possible with our Father in Heaven. Today four of our investigators came to church in addition to two menos activos familias. This is a miracle! We have struggled so much getting investigators to church which usually we end up dropping them because you can't progress in the Gospel without coming to church. My leaders have been telling us to have a lot of faith. I am going to be honest my faith has been lacking. I was so used to not having our investigators come to church that I just kinda gave up hope. I was reading Ether 12 that morning and was impressed by the phrase, "by faith." This statement was repeated multiple times throughout the chapter. By faith miracles happen. As we were inviting our investigators to church that morning, I remembered the scripture in Alma which states, "exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you." I offered a prayer to Heavenly Father in that moment asking him, through my desire for my investigators to come to church, that our investigators would also have a desire to come to church. My heart was so full of joy and gratitude when I walked in the chapel and saw our investigators. This experience was a reminder to me that when we turn to our Father in Heaven for help, he will help us. Faith is a power in a real sense and when we have faith, miracles can be brought to pass.
Well, wish me luck during transfers! Ah I am so nervous but with Christ I can do anything. I love you all so much! Have a wonderful thanksgiving! I am so THANKFUL for all of your amazing people in my life! LOVE YOU SO MUCH!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Jess
Monday, November 18, 2013
Hello to the best family in the world! How has everyone been doing? I hope everything is going well at home! I can't believe it is already Monday again. And summer is officially here. It has been so hot here! And apparently it is just going to become hotter and hotter. Yayyy....Time is starting to go by a little faster here. Everyone tells me that after the second cambio time just flys by. Speaking of changes, changes are in a week. Ah. I don't know what is going to happen! I have a feeling my comp may be changed because she has been here for eight months but we are hoping she doesn't leave.
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| Delicious Fruit! |
All struggles and difficulties on a mission are worth it when you have amazing days. On Thursday we worked so hard and taught eight lessons and contacted sixteen people. We broke our record! We taught our investigators and the lesson with them was just amazing. We taught about the word of wisdom and as usual they asked a lot of questions which is the best! I bore my testimony and felt the spirit so strongly. I was impacted during the lesson when I realized that the message I have to share is so marvelous. I get to share this message that Christ lives! It couldn't get better than that. Also, I just have this immense love for this family! They are such wonderful people and I want them to experience the joy of the gospel. I can feel love growing for the people and want to bring everyone to christ!
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| Carrots grow big in Nicaragua! |
We had divisions again this week and I went with a sister who is in her twenties and is in my ward. She is the sweetest and cutest muchacha! Love her. We taught some menos activos which went pretty well. We had a little miracle when we were walking to teach another lesson. About three weeks ago, we meet this woman. She was interested in our message so one day we went to teach her but apparently she doesn't actually live in Coyolar. She lives in some other part of Leon but her mom lives here so she is with her mom a lot. To make a long story short, we lost contact with her and I honestly forget about her. Bad I know. While we were walking, this lady came running out of nowhere yelling "Hermana!" She told us she has been praying and hoping that she would find us again. I guess her son has been diagnosed with cancer, he is about 16. This sprouted something in her and she wanted to learn more about our religion. We set up an appointment to meet with her this week. She read the pamphlet about the restoration and she is so excited to learn more. I am so excited to teach her this week! I feel like she is ready to accept this gospel.
My comp and I went to go teach our investigator. She is an older woman and comes to church every Sunday, takes all of our lessons but is hesitant to get baptized. So we gave her a lesson about baptism and the spirit was SO strong. The strongest I have ever felt here in the mission. I know she felt the spirit too
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| Birthday Cake frosting dyes our tongues! |
Anyways, I am doing well and am loving my mission! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve the Lord in Nicaragua in this time of my life. This work is amazing. I love you all SOO much and hope you have a wonderful week!!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Howell
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Rats and Chicken Feet!
Hola mi familia!! How is everyone doing?! This week has been quite a roller coaster. As always, I am short on time and I have sooo much to say. So I am just going to get into it.
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| Trompo-popular toy all the kids here play |
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| Streets of Leon |
So everyone has been asking a lot about the members and my investigators. The members in my ward are awesome! We have family home evening every night with a great family. They are my favorite couple ever! Felipa is so sweet and always willing to come and help us teach. Rosendo is just the funniest guy! Dad you would get along really well with him. The members are so friendly. So we are trying to find ways to get the ward excited about missionary work. Now for my investigators...I don't even know where to start. We teach a lot of people but the thing is the people always listen to us but don't want to do anything we say. So not a lot of my investigators are progressing. However, I had an amazing lesson with a family this week. The husband and wife have two cute little boys. I never have felt here that what I say helps any one until this lesson. Anything that I said the family, and especially the husband absorbed. He asked me a lot of questions about the Book of Mormon. We had an hour and a half lesson with them just asking questions the whole time. It was so awesome! I felt that we were answering a lot of his questions in life and he wants to know more. I felt the spirit so strongly during the lesson. This teaching experience was so amazing and showed me there are people in Nicaragua ready to hear the gospel!
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| Hermana Rogers and me |
Well I hope you all had a good week and a wonderful week this week! I am excited to read your emails you all have sent me! They are the best. I love you all so much!!!
Love,
Jess
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
TAXI MAN, DEMENTED CHICKENS and MIRACLES!
Holy cow this week just flewww by! I have so much stuff to say and not a lot of time so I am just going to get down to business! So how is my amazing family doing? I hope every had a happy Halloween! So before I start about my week I am going to answer every ones questions first. Yes you can tell Cindy she can use my experience...I don't know why they think it is so inspiring. Just real life haha. But yeah I don't mind at all! If it can help someone else in their life then go for it. So the food is great! I am obsessed with fried plantains. Honestly I am so sad if I don't some every day. You guys should try to cook some at home. They are so rico! (that is the word for really good here in Nica). The only bad thing is that my sita gives us so much food. Like one day this week she basically gave us two big Macs, fries, and bananas. Then I had a whole freaking footlong from Subways this week. Yeah I am going to get at. It is sad how big my stomach has grown. I love La Union! I go there every P-day to get my groceries. They have everything from Nature Valley to good cereal to shampoo. So I am all set! AND I GOT THE PACKAGE THIS WEEK!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU!! I loved it! So my church is the stake center so it is big compared to other churches and it is pretty nice. I go to an internet cafe to write emails every Monday and i print off the emails i get after i email. Okay moving on...
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| Beautiful Sunset! |
So this week was filled with meetings. We really didn't even teach that much because we had so many meetings. Wednesday was quite an interesting day for me here in Nicaragua. We had a trainer and new missionary meeting in Managua so we woke up at 4:30 am to get ready and hop on a bus to Managua. I hadn't really seen Nicaragua during the day because every time we travel is at night. So, I was finally able to see the country I will be living in for the next 16 months! Nicaragua is drop-dead gorgeous. The sunrises and sunsets are stunning. The sky is a pastel blue and is lit up with vivid shades of orange and yellow. There is so much foliage and all of it is a dark lush green. So, at the meeting today with President Collado, I got to see Hermana Rogers and all my other ccm sisters! Ah it was so awesome! We attacked each other with hugs. It was so good to see her and catch up. The meeting was directed by President and Sister Collado. I love my mission president! He has such a marvelous vision for this mission and is really focused on baptizing and retaining families. Hermana Collado is so sweet and cares about all of us so much. In the meeting, which was all day, we learned a lot about our objective in Nicaragua and how to become better missionaries. This meeting was exactly what I needed. We watched a video about Christ which touched my heart so much. To learn of Christ, we have to walk the path of Christ and experience the pain he felt. This was never easy for Christ so why would it be easy for us? This work is difficult because salvation is not a cheap experience. This just lifted me up so much and encouraged me to have more faith during times of trial. During these times, I learn so much more about my Savior.
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| 6 Hermanas in one Taxi-without a driver! |
Later in the meeting, we had a get to know you kinda thing. I found out I am the youngest sister in the whole North Mission! Woot woot represent! So Hermana Collado made me stand up in front of about 60 missionaries there. Yeah, I went bright red. So the meeting ended at 4pm and it was time to head back to Leon. What happened next was one of the most hilarious moments of my mission. From the church, the six of us hermanas that are serving in Leon piled into a taxi which would take us to a bigger bus, which in itself is dangerous. So, we are driving in the crazy streets of Managua and suddenly the taxi starts sputtering and slows down. The taxi stops in a four lane, crazy road. We are out of gas! Our taxi driver makes some grunting sound, gets out of the taxi, hops in a different taxi, and drives away without saying one single word to us! So, six of us girls are stuck in a car in the middle of a crazy road. We had no idea where our taxi driver went and even if he was returning. What made matters worse was the doors were on some child lock so we couldn't get out! I was dying of heat. School buses, other cars, and bikes almost hit us. I was laughing so hard of the ridiculous situation we were in. To pass the time we took pictures of our lovely situation. Luckily, thirty minutes later, our taxi driver returned with some gas. That was a once in a lifetime (hopefully) experience!
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| Sweet Reunion! |
On Thursday I went on interchanges which is where I go with some other Hermana for 24 hours and their comp goes with my comp. So I went with Hermana Devey to the village of Nagarote! She was the cutest girl and so sweet. What is crazy is she is from Utah, so we are both white, and she has only been out in the field for two months as well. However, she minored in Spanish so she is ahead of me with the language. But it was so crazy! Nagarote is a little village an hour away from Managua and is so pretty. There is so much foliage and is what I pictured Nicaragua to be. Hermana Devey and I worked great together and it was a lot of fun to be with her. But I missed my comp and Leon, so I was excited to return the next day! However, I had some interesting experiences in Nagarote. So, there are chickens. Like everywhere! And I hate chickens so it was just bad. Did you know that chickens can climb trees? Yeah, I didn't. They are in trees here which makes me so paranoid that they will fall on my head during a lesson. In one lesson we were teaching, the person we were teaching probably had like 20 chickens just roaming around. We were teaching and this demented chicken, its leg was backwards, starts charging at me. WORST NIGHTMARE! I flip out, jump out of my chair, and run away yelling "No me gusta pollo." hahahaha I was dying but the other two probably thought I was psycho.
That night when I returned to Leon I had a break through in Spanish! It was a straight up miracle. The gift of tongues is real!! So my comp and I were street contacting and some hermana called us so I answered the phone and was talking to her. She suddenly is like "Wait, this isn't Hermana Mendez. This is Hermana Howell?" Yeah, a native hermana thought I was my native comp. WOOHOO! The hermana I was talking to on the phone was like what happened and was freaking out. Biggest confidence booster of my life! The rest of the day everyone was commenting on my Spanish which made me feel good about my Spanish. Ever since then my Spanish has been improving little by little. My comp gives me more opportunities to speak in lessons and contacting and other people give me some respect now. Such an awesome feeling! I am so grateful for the help God has given me. Now I just need to continue to have patience and have faith that in six months I will be fluent.
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| Me and my Comp, Hra. Mendez |
You realize you know more than you think you do when you are thrown into crazy situations. On Friday we had so many appointments so my comp suggested we do divisions. So she went with some other member and I went with some random member who I had never met before- she was my age. I was freaking out! I can't speak Spanish fluently, or even understand what people are saying to me, I don't know where our investigators live, and I have only been here for 3 weeks! You can't leave me in Coyolar basically as a trainer! I prayed so hard that I would be guided to find the houses and teach by the spirit and I was! I felt like a pro, haha just kidding. I remembered my way around Coyolar and all the lessons went well. I contacted basically for the first time all by myself and it went great! So the girl I was with had to leave at 6pm so I was going to go with another member. Well, at 5:55pm this other member texts me saying she can't come anymore. WHAT? The girl I was with is like "I need to go home." Um, I can't just be left by myself! My comp was twenty minutes away in a different part of Leon and we are the only missionaries in Coyolar. I was just imaging the worst scenario; me alone in Coyolar, being my myself at night, and not being able to speak Spanish for help. Before I started to really freak out, a miracle happened. Two other hermanas who are in my district walked around the corner. Their area is nowhere close to mine so it was a miracle they were in my area at that exact moment. I stayed with them until my comp returned to get me. This just testified to me that God is watching over me so much.
Well those were practically all of the crazy moments of my week. I am looking forward to what else is coming my way this next week! I hope you all had a wonderful week! I love you all so so so much! Also I sent you letters today so I think you should get them in two weeks! LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!
xoxo,
Jessica (Hermana Howell)
Monday, October 28, 2013
Flower Juice!
Hello to the most wonderful people in the world!
How is everyone doing? I am so glad that you all received my letters this week! Ah I just love you all so much. I hope you know that. Talking about how much I love you all, I hit my first wall of homesickness since I left, but as all the missionaries here say, I was "trunki." Meaning, I wanted to pack up my bag and head home or something like that. I miss you all so much. It is hard to know that life is going on for everyone and I am missing all of it. I am a little worried that everything will be so different when I get home. Every day this week I thought of my wonderful family and friends and tried not to cry. It just kinda hit me that I wouldn't see everyone for sixteen more months. It is difficult knowing I won't be there for Christmas, see Natalie run in cross country meets, eat Mom's good food, talk to Dad about boy problems, help Miss with college, and watch Ethan's basketball games. So that was kinda a struggle this week but it has slowly been getting better. I have tried to apply what President Hinckley was told, "forget yourself and go to work."
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| Hermana Mendez and me Roaring |
So guess what I ate this week? Flower juice! It was the strangest thing ever! It was pretty good but it was this really vivid violet color. Everyone here comments how I am weird because I don't buy junk food at the store and I don't eat huge plates of food like they do. Whatever, I don't want to come home some rolly polly sister missionary. But Mom and Dad, don't worry, I am still eating plenty! I have gained three pounds sadly. I am so lucky though because I haven't gotten sick at all here! Everyone else has vomited and such but nope, not me.
I feel so dumb here because everyone comments how bad my Spanish is. Like for example, I will say something and no one will understand. Then my comp repeats it and she says the exact same words I did and they understand. Ugh it is so frustrating! I have been praying a lot to have an immense love for the people. This past week, I have read this quote so many times: "We should cultivate the capacity to see people not how they are now but how they can become." I have begun to apply this quote into my life and it totally changed my way of looking at people. Every time I would contact someone or be teaching someone, I would picture them dressed in white ready to be baptized. This just brought me so much joy and love for them. I could feel Christ´s love for them and I wanted to help them come unto Christ. There are some days that I have struggled with this but I continue to push on and remember that God knows I am strong enough to do this.
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| My new nickname, Hermana Barbie! |
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| Hermanas and me, with a local hermana from the ward |
Days like I had on Wednesday make me love my calling as a representative of the Lord. Hermana Hawkins' comp has been sick all week so she has been with us basically the whole week. Yea, someone who can understand me! Anyways, Wednesday was the first day in the field that I could see people preparing for baptism. First was our investigator. We met him in the street and we have taught him four times. He is so receptive of the gospel but he won't come to church which has been frustrating. Next was this other woman Marìa. She had already read the Book of Mormon and has a testimony of Joseph Smith and just wants to receive an answer that she needs to get baptized. Next is this amazing kid named Mario. He is eleven years old and is basically the dad of his family. He works everyday and takes care of his little sister. He is such an amazing example to me! He goes to church every Sunday by himself and this week he came up to us and said he wanted to get baptized. AHH OK!! So we began teaching him and it has just been awesome. Straight up golden investigators. We also had a stellar day of contacting too! We contacted 22 people, seven priesthood holders, and five families. Seeing people in white totally helps. I just have this instant love for everyone we talk to. While we were tracting that night I saw my very first lightning bug! Those things are so legit!
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| Thunder clouds rolling over a street in Leon |
This week has definitely been a week of up and downs. I have learned things about myself that I don't like and need to change which has been humbling. Two days ago was a pretty difficult day for me. I was struggling with everything, the language, and just continuing to adjust to missionary life. But scriptures and General Conference talks come to the rescue. Christ is here for me and can help me through everything that I will experience here. I just need to have faith in him. I was reading in the Book of Mormon and 3 Nephi 18:24 and 25 just stood out to me. Christ is my light and I have the opportunity to preach and share his message. I also learned I need to be patient during trials. Christ suffered so much and what I am going through is nothing compared to me. In Elder Maynes general conference talk he stated, "Try your very best to follow the spiritual stamina of Christ." Christ endured all which means I can endure all as well. I just love this so much! Christ is such an amazing example and I am so grateful for all the help he has given me in my life! This is tough but I know that this is what God wants me to do right now in my life.
I love you all so much and am so grateful to have such an amazing family! Thanks for all your support and love! In less that two months I get to see your hot faces through Skye! SO PUMPED!! Have a wonderful week!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Howell
Funny moment of the week:
We are teaching this family and they have a boy who is eighteen and he actually reminds me a lot of Pierre. Anyways, after the lesson we were talking about how tall I am. He then states, "Your shoes are sexy." HAHA WHAT!? I was wearing those hideous clunky sister missionary shoes. Ah it made me laugh so hard.
Monday, October 21, 2013
I am becoming a Nica!
Hola familia!!
Can you believe I am already here in Nicaragua! aw man this place is crazy! So I am assigned to serve in Leon! wooohooo I was right! I absolutely LOVE Leon! My area is outside the heart of the city. It is called Coyolar. Okay there is so much to say and not enough time so I am just going to get straight in to it.
When I first got here it was totally culture shock and third-world poverty. But after three days I got adjusted and am loving it now! All of the buildings here are really colorful which I love. The trees are very green and they are everywhere. The houses here have either tile or dirt floors. I am lucky and live in such a nice house compared to others: I have a shower, tile floor, and two fans in our room! Talk about blessed. The food here is pretty good. My first meal was gross but ever since then I have been eating pretty good. Meals consist of usually chicken, rice, plantains, tortillas, and really good fruit juice.
And if we are lucky, we get to have vegetables!
The people here are very friendly. It is just the norm to go around saying hi so that is fun! In Coyolar, I am the only white person so everyone stares.Today for P-day we went to Leon and looked at all the beautiful cathedrals and I guess that area is really touristy so there were so many white people. It kinda freaked me out because I was not used to seeing white people. I am so lucky because Hermana Behan and Hawkins are in my zone so I get to see them twice to three times a week! I would die if I didn't see them weekly. It is like the only time I talk to people who can understand me. But you know how we were thinking it would be easy to convert others here? Yeah, well wrong. My area is apparently harder because everyone is Catholic and testigo. So that has been a challenge, but I am not letting it get me discouraged!
It is soooo hot here. I have just gotten use to always being sweaty. And apparently right now is their winter! SAY WHAT. I don't know how it can get any hotter here. And I am already starting to get really weird tan lines but don't worry, I am putting on my sunscreen! Surprisingly, I haven't gotten any bug bites yet so I haven't really used my bug spray.
One thing that has been really hard is the language. I can’t understand anyone and no one can understand me. So there will be days when I have only said a couple things because my companion doesn't speak English and struggles to understand me and the people don't understand me when I speak in lessons. It had been really hard but I have relied on the Lord and he has helped me! I just have to be patient and know the language will come. So my companion is Hermana Mendez and she is from Guatemala. 
So, the drunk men here are loco. That is one thing I am grateful for about having a native comp is that she keeps me safe. So many men yell at me and whistle and blow kisses. I don't even wear makeup, wear my hair in a braid, wear ugly clothes, and they still whistle. I like try to look ugly so I don't attract attention. It’s just because I am white, tall and blonde. Luckily nothing bad has happened with the drunks. One guy grabbed my hand but I pulled it away and just walked away. The Savior has kept me safe! There are so many times where I have prayed that the drunk men at night wouldn't see me and they don't! That is one thing that I have learned, God protects his missionaries! For example, one night we were tracting and I just didn't have a good feeling. My comp asked me how I felt and she said she was feeling the same way so we both went home early. I don't know what was up but I know the spirit was protecting us.
The rain storms here are crazyyyy. Like I have never been scared of rain until I got here. SO side note, it get darks here at like 6 and the street lights are very dim. One night we were trying to find the house of someone we found on the street. When we were looking, it started to rain. The rain here is insane! You are drenched in like a minute. The thunder shakes the ground and the lightning lights up the whole sky. So we are looking for this house in the rain and we finally think we found it. It was this sketchy shack in some little forest area off of the road. Well, we go up and knock on the door and suddenly every single light in Leon goes out because of the rain. I have never been this scared in a long time. My comp starts freaking out and yelling "we have to get out of here now!" Well, I can’t even see so I am yelling "I can’t see!" Luckily, I found her because of the flashes of lightning and we ran to a member’s house and stayed with them until the lights came back on which was an hour later. I felt like I was in some dramatic action movie. Well, after the storm was over, my comp said in the 7 months she has been here in Leon the lights have never gone out which says how crazy the storm was. Later that night, I was thinking about what happened and I realized something, she was yelling at me in Spanish and I was yelling in English. My comp knows no English but she understood me in that moment. I KNOW God gave us the gift of tongues in the moment. It was so amazing to see first hand the Lord’s hand in helping us.
I have learned to rely on my Savior so much here. The Lord called me to do his work here in Leon and is not going to let me do it alone. He is here with me every second of the day, helping me and keeping me safe. Especially giving me comfort and strength. I couldn't do this work without him. I love the primary song, “If The Savior Stood Beside Me.” I have thought about this song a lot this week. Every time I am struggling or need to be lifted up, I think of the Savior walking next to me in the streets of Coyolar. I can feel he is there with me and is helping me preach his gospel! I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve the Lord and come closer to him.
I am sorry but I don't have any time let to write more! I will try to write more next week. I got 60 emails today! UM yeah def can’t respond to all of them. I will try to send pics too! This computer is old. Anyways, I love you all SOOOOO much!!! I hope you are all doing well! Have a wonderful week and rely on the Savior during times of needs! He is ALWAYS there! Love you so much!!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Howell
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