Monkeys In The Park

"B

There Can Be Miracles When You Believe

This week has really kinda been a test of faith and a frustrating week. All of our baptism possibilities fell through. I have learned alot this week and have learned that people are mean, my little world that i lived in for 21 years is now turning into a big world and I am seeing how wicked the world is.
I am grateful thou that I was not born here because this is a whole different ball game here then in the States. People wanted me to go to a place that was really poor with dirt floors and different things to be humbled. Yes I am being humbled and being a lot more grateful for the things that I have like... a shower, a toliet that flushes instead of dumping buckets of water in it to flush. The gospel, churchs close, temples, not corn tortillas, clean water, not getting eaten alive my bugs or being ichy all the time, a house, lights, a washing machine and dishwasher, exercise, alot of things. I started keeping a journal well a little notebook of things I am grateful each day and its been a really good thing to do. I suggest everyone do that so they can see how much we really are given each and every day.
I have been reading in Alma 17 about of course missionary work. I was just in that part of the book of mormon but i have been reading about when Ammon is working and gaining a friendship and trust with the king first and then begins to teach him and his people. It hit me that that is what I need to do in life in general not just on the mission, I first need to gain friendships then share because you can talk and talk and talk till you are blue in the face which we do a lot here on the mission but if people dont like you or they dont want to change then you arent going to go anywhere. Its the same with parents and kids, parents teach us what we should do BUT we use our agency and we do what we think we want to do or should do. Heavenly Father is so smart giving us that its very frustrating at times because we want people to do what we want them to do but they get to choose.
I know I have said this before but I am just so blown away by how beautiful everything is here. I look out when we are walking to cetas or just waiting for a bus or taxi. ( I love bus rides and taxis are fun but I think after the mission I will be ok if I dont ride in one for a long time. We ride in them more then once a day) Anyways I just look out at the trees and the little houses and everything is just so pretty. It really isnt in the city or in the hills because people just throw their garbage in the street and its gross but its pretty and I really do feel like I am in Neverland. I have always said I dont want to grow up that I want to run away to Neverland with Peter Pan and the lost boys and here I am in Neverland... DREAMS DO COME TRUE.
I ate a Mango the other day and broke out in hives in the middle of a store. We were getting Tshirts because we baptized 15 families this month so we are getting Tshirts made anyways I was getting super hot, i thought that I had a fever or something. Then i started to get ichy bumps and knew right away what was going on. I looked in a mirror and I was bright red so I went to get some medicine out of my bag. Here we have to check our bags in at the front of the store and get a number to retrieve our things when we are done. So I went to get some medicine and couldnt even stand there long enough to get it. I had to run out to the steps and sit down because I was so hot and just felt like I was going to pass out. I ended up laying on the nasty store floor becuse I felt like crap. It was pretty funny but I have learned now I cant eat those. This has been my welcome to Nicaragua week but all is well all is well...
We hiked up to the cross again this week but the sunset wasnt as good as last time. There were cloud covering it, it was really pretty just not as pretty as last time. We took our blessings up there and found a little quiet spot and read them. Oh my heavens how much do I love that. It amazes me how much love Heavenly Father has and how much he really does know each one of us. Our wants, our needs, and what we will need help with in the future. I have thought alot about the future and about things and I know Heavenly Father knows whats going to happen to me and he knows how he wants and what he wants me to be so I just have to trust in him and go for it. A teacher in the MTC in Provo just use to tell us all the time when speaking spanish he would say ¨¨ Heavenly Father I´m going to do this please help me I cant do it without you¨. It impacted me a lot when he would say those things because it´s true and it shows how much faith we have in him.

Breakfast in the morning is a complete joke. It makes me laugh so hard when we have distric and zone meetings or whenever we see people in the morning because what we have for breakfast is... Chips, sugar bread, candy bars, cookies, jucies its so funny to see everyone bring in those things. I will admit I have had that for breakfast a few times. But I really love the bananas and a lady close to our house sells them for like a penny so I get those and eat those and love them. We dont have alot of fruit but our food ceta makes us fruit salads at night because we are on this clense thing... The other Hermanas that live with us say we weren´t feeling good and wanted to eat healthy for like 2 weeks so we get salads and veggies and now fruit a lot and its delicious! Before we would just get fruit as like our desert or something. Oh my I CRAVE chocolate pineapple all the time since the CCM in Guatemala because it was amazing. I use to not like it but I told myself I had to start liking it because I was going to be eating it alot. I'm not but I like it now. I´ve told myself that with alot of things, I´m still hoping that I dont get sent to where I eat a lot of fish because I think I might be going hungry alot of nights. Its horrible here eating 2 lunches or dinners I feel like I have a basketball in my tummy after eating beacuse its so much. Whoever told me I wouldnt be getting a lot to eat here was a liar because we get A LOT!

Saturday we decided to fast because we needed families to teach and to baptize. Our distric had a goal of baptizing 15 families this month.. We were at 14! We started our fast on Saturday and Sunday morning we had the thought to go ask this family who we have contacted to be baptized that day. We prayed to see if it was right and we started up the mountain. We got there and she didnt want really anything to do with us. After talking with her for about a hour we left. Discouraged and bothered we decided to contact on our way to church and just invite people to come because we also had to have people at church with us. We contacted this family and told them we were going to come back after the first block to get them for the second. We got to church just bothered and felt kinda like we have failed because we didnt have families or baptized.
Roger the guy we think is pretty cool but learned different his sister in law is here we taught her a little earlier this week and she has came to a activity. She was suppose to leave yesterday but didnt because she wanted to come to church. We had the thought to get her married and baptized that day. So we asked her and she was down for it. She called her husband who was working about a hour away but couldnt get a hold of him. We went and just prayed that Heavenly Father would let this happen if it is suppose to.. I think its because i was listening to the prince of egypt sound track ok just there can be miracles because its on Hna. Willfords Ipod when we are getting ready. So we asked for this Miracle. we didnt for sure get a answer so we told her to keep trying and we would come talk with her later.
After church we went and visited the family we contacted before church. They were drunker then drunk when we came to their house. She was all over Hna. Willford and it was not a good feeling being there. Hna willford kept telling her how bad it was to drink infront of her kids and was trying to get the kids out of there. I just wanted to get out of there i didnt know what was being said but it was a bad feeling. And drunk people i will confess i use to think that they were funny. But seeing this and being around people like that. Who would want to do that. It is the dumbest thing and just totally takes you away from who you really are. And makes you look so stupid! While we were talking a guy punched his wife in the face and pushed her into the wall. We decided then it was time to get the heck out of there... Another reason not to drink. I couldnt believe it.
We had stopped by a fair well walked through Saturday night and found some members from Jinatage he had little girls who wanted to go to church with us so we told them we would pick them up and take them. We got to them and we were off to church again. After church we took them back and Hna. Willford was talking to the dad and they gave me a keychain with an E on it. Then another one with Nicaragua then they gave me a necklace that they were selling. I didnt even talk to them hardly at all the entire time and have never met them before but they just gave me all this stuff it was really sweet. Sometimes i get frustrated here because people think we just owe things to them like we should give them everything. Really little kids in the street even adults they just save give me that if you are eating food or something its really annoying sometimes. But i just thought how sweet you dont even know me and your giving me this stuff. Its funny they are like what 10 and 11 maybe and they are preparing to serve their missions.
So we are still not sure about this ladies husband because he is not answering and we dont know what time he gets home the next day and everything is up in the air. Im praying and pleading please let this happen if it is suppose to happen please Heavenly Father. ... The night comes and goes, Today we get a phone call that he is there and is down to get baptized and married today at 9! We ran around like chickens with our heads cut off getting things ready but it was a miracle and answer to our prayer and fasting. Hna. Willford said i dont know who said it maybe president. That the Lord will give us miracles we just have to make them happen. We made it happen and Im so happy and they are so happy and just love it. So today was my first baptism on my mission of a family!! YAY
For Pday we went to the Monkey park and we fed monkeys and tookd pictures. We were feeding them and trying to take pictures and the other monkey was off stealing stuff out of our bags while we werent looking it was so funny. Also they were stealing the bags of food right out of our hands.. I love pday this way not having to go to Managaua. I love my mission and this experience that I am having. Everyone who can should prepare and serve a mission because you find out some much about youself and things that you need to improve on and just how things should be done. I have heard my whole life that you always need to be improving and bettering yourself and repenting but I never thought much about it until I got out here and now I also keep a book of things to improve on and better myself and things I want in life. It really is just amazing here I love everything and learning and growing its hard sometimes but I know that I am having alot of help. Yes I am having alot of help because Im on a mission but I testify that the Lord will help and bless everyone of us in our own lives.
Until next time my friends. Thank you for the emails its really fun hearing how things are going for you.
Hermana evans

Fun P-Days and Some News

First of all, for the record, this is Mindy, posting and acting like Sabrina (since she left for the MTC).

Second of all, I have been THE ONLY ONE on her facebook since she left for the MTC on December 1. She doesn't get online to do anything but email.

Ok, so with all of that cleared up, lets get into the update of her life as a Hermana in Nicaragua from her last email.

So Sunday night again we were told that we were going to Managua for a SUPER PDAY! Our zone gets super pdays alot because we baptise alot of families and they reward us for our work. Which sometimes I don't feel like it's that good of an award because we wake up super early to ride on a bus for 2 hours. Granted, yes we do usually have a lot of fun and do fun things, but we never get the things that we need to get done done because we are always in Managua. Like my laundry, that I haven´t done for like a week! It's such a good things that I brought alot of clothes because I don't wash my clothes very often, because I just don't have time. Anyways after our early morning bus ride, which speaking of laundry I was in wet clothes because I did wash some clothes the night before, but I realized that it was Presidents Day and I had to wear red white and blue for that day, so I had to wear my wet shirts on the bus because they weren't dry yet. We got to Managua and they had rented a huge blow up slide for us and a huge blow up slip and slide that both had water going on so we just got to play in the water. It was so much fun we had races down the slip n slide and they did tricks on the slide it was a blast.

We are teaching a family and they are just really neat. They quit drinking coffee the day we taught them that is was bad. So we had a interview with them and we thought everything was going just great because they had already agreed to baptism and they loved us coming over and blah blah. So our district leaders and zone leaders went with us to interview them. The little brother was good to go and wanted to. His sister wanted to go to church and learn more, Heaven forbid that... Anyways so we were just going to baptize the brother. Saturday morning we called and he was like; "what no I'm not getting baptized today, I just said I would get baptized not today though." Anyways we just were like whatever, ok fine next week.

We went to talk with this girls husband who smokes but hasn't ever been there when we have taught. We went there and he was home which was weird. So we started talking to him and we were going to start teaching him as well so they could all get baptized. This kid has long shaggy hair a nice stud stickin out of his lip, and smokes and loves heavy metel music. Anyways we are talking and he was like: "I've already been baptized." We were like, "oh cool what church you know?" he was like, "I was baptized in 2003 in your church blah blah.." We all just sat there like what the.. it's funny how people change and how quickly Satan gets to you when you start doing the right thing. The family is going to get baptized this Saturday, I think and the guy, we haven't been able to meet up with him since.

We had a multiple zone conference in Chenidega last Thursday, and that is an even worse bus ride. Yes, if you are thinking that I'm not working in my area very much and teaching a lot you, are correct because we are always on buses going to classes, or to Managua or just everywhere. Anyways, so it's a 4 hour bus ride away from us. We got there and it was a great conference the president talked about agency because I guess we are having a really hard time with missionaries being obedient and not doing things that they shouldn't. Anyways, we had pizza at this conference. I was starving, I had been up since 3 and hadn't eaten besides a little junk food that we food at a little stand on the way to the bus stop. So it's almost 2 and I'm ready to eat anything, this pizza didn't look that good, but I ate it because all the pizza has tasted fine that I have eaten. So I ate it and we left and went home. That nigh I just had a really bad stomach ache and couldn't sleep or because I was in pain. I got up and threw up so much I don't know how I did it. So I thought ok, great now I'm going to feel better because I threw up. I went and took some magic medicine and went to lay down. I couldn't sleep because I still had pain. I spent the rest of the night sleeping sometimes on the toliet seat or crawlying to the extra matress we have on our floor, it was so gross but this is the moral of the story. This whole time I am praying Heavenly Father help me feel better. Help me be able to sleep help me be able to work tomorrow, I don't want to look like a bad missionary. After a few of these prayers and about my 9th time throwing up I just said a prayer more furvent and just said Heavenly Father i can´t do this anymore i´m in alot of pain and i have nothing left to throw up please help me feel better. After that I was able to walk out of the bathroom and go to sleep and I felt better, and it made me think, Heavenly Father doesn't ever want us to be in pain or hurting or just not happy but sometimes we have to go through things and hard times and then he will deliever us from them. So, I just thought that it was really neat that my Heavenly Father loves me that much that he will help me feel better and help me be able to go on in this work.

We were walking home the other night and I just started laughing so hard. All over in the streets here are drunk men just passed out on the streets or just trying to talk to us drunker then drunk. So walking home the other night there was a guy that just complely feel off the side walk into the road and couldn't really get back up. It was so funny I just laughed the whole way home an still laugh thinking about it.

We have another family that got baptized a month ago. He is a stud and just a great person in the gospel and just golden we went up to invite him to a movie at the church and he was just like "no, I'm not going.. This is the same day they told us they weren't getting baptized. Anyways, he was just like no, I'm not going things are bad my step daughter and I are fighting they aren't paying my wife at her work, I don't have a job we dont have food or money. This and this and this.. After talking with him for over an hour saying just come it will be good you will be blessed things will get better nothing happened. So Hermana Willford went in to talk with his step daugter because she has a step mom and knows how that goes. I was alone with him out there and I started talking to him and shared a scripture Ether 12:6 and then started talking about how before my mission was really hard and just everything in life was really hard like my break up, my family, not having confidence just everything but i can and i promised him that Heavenly father wants him to be happy and feel his love and he will take care of his family because he is doing what he is suppose to do. We didn't even finish the conversation and he just got up and left. The next thing we knew he was chaging and he was comng with us. It was so weird. So tonight we just got knews that he might be getting a job tomorrow and his wife is going to be getting a new job as well we believe. Again Heavenly Father blesses us and wants us to be happy. This one was kind like a what in the world type thing because I promised him Heavenly Father would bless him and I know as missionaries we aren't suppose to promise things and blah blah but it showed me heavenly fathers love and also the power I have as a missionary.

This week im having to speak more Spanish all the time well as much as I can because I was told that I have to. Which is right because that is how I'm going to learn, but it's very hard and frustrating because they just quit listening to you. Even if you speak spanish, they quit listening to you. But, because I don't speak it very well and I don't know all the words so I have to ask how to say things, they just go off on their on conversations. It frustrating sometimes as well because I feel like the 6th wheel a lot since I am the only one that doesn't speak, so I miss out on a lot of things, but when I will be able to speak it's going to be amazing!

We celebrated Presidents Day and Washington's Birthday with these teeth because Washington had wooden teeth, so we have to show of colors and rep the States here in Nicaragua. Also we have these huge bugs having parties in our house with out us even knowing, what brats. Speaking of brats we have bats that live in our house too how cool is that.. I thought that Toby was a cool pet, I was wrong a bat and gaint bugs are pretty darn sweet.

So Sunday morning we get a call and the president of the branch asking me to play the piano and Hermana Willford to lead. We agree and I'm praying oh please help me. The first hymn went ok, I just played the top hand. The sacrament hymn no one sang, no one said anything i couldn't really play the hymn, but with no one singing, oh it was the worst thing I have ever seen. But, it was so funny because no one even tried to sing the song. Needless to say I will be spending my free time trying to re-teach myself how to play the piano joy!! I really wish I was better because I really do love playing its just frustratin when I can't play like I wish I could. Anyways, things are great and I am healthy and doing really good, and still am very happy. I love you all and will see you in a few weeks.

Hermana Evans

Words From Sabrina...

Hello everyone who is following me. Thank you so much for reading my adventures of being in never-land running around with the lost boys. I am loving every minute of it! It's so much it's so cute how the houses are just hiding in little trees and how just everything is here. It is a little different but not much, I didn't have much of a culture shock being here. One thing that is different is not flushing the toilet paper and putting in the trash next to the garbage that is if they have a bathroom. If we are not close to our house well good luck trying to find one.

The food is amazing and thats a scary thought, no one will recognize me because I will be rolling off the plane because of the weight that I put on I might quit sending pictures home soon and if there aren't pictures that are updated, well that's because my chipmunck cheeks are huge and I can't show anyone.

The work is going really well and the Lord really does bless and love His missionaries. Just when we think we have hit a brick wall or we can't go anymore, if we just give everything we have even if it's just a little bit, the Lord blesses us greatly. I love seeing the Lords hand in my life and the hymn how great thou art has a new meaning for me now. I look at the sky and how beautiful it is here and I look at just things around me and I start sing, I see the stars I hear the rolling thunder and think of all the universe thy hand has made. That's not exactly how is goes but to just think about He made this all is blows my mind and it's just so beautiful.

People are very open and expecting of the gospel and they just will change in a heart beat. You taught a family on Sunday about the word of wisdom because coffee is a huge thing there they have farms all over and thats where people work and thats what they drink. We taught them they cant drink it anymore and we went back to visit them today and they just stright up quit drinking it. They haven't drank it since. It's crazy how willing and loving the people are. But it's also hard at the same time when they are so loving and they know that it is true but they just wont do anything about it or keep their word.

Oh, my Spanish it was really hard because in the CCM in Guatemala they taught us our Spanish and the grammar in Spanish and they don't really know why they say things a certain way or the grammar rules so I didn't understand anything at all. So learning everything all over again is hard but its crazy how like the scriptures say, don't think about what to say before hand just speak and your mouth will be filled with words. I have really truly seen that already and I don't know very much Spanish, but I know that the Lord will bless me and I will be able to teach what He wants me to teach in the language He wants me to teach in.

Heavenly Father is so loving and He wants to bless us so much its crazy. My famous line that I know in Spanish is Dios nos ama much el es nostros padre clestial el quiere nostros eser feliz en esta vida.

I love the bus rides so much! We have to take the bus just about everyday and I thought that Guatemala buses were bad, here I swear we pack in over 30 people in a tiny maybe 15 passenger van its so funny you just push and push and push and everyone fits you can't breath but its really fun.

I also really like contacting the bus and just telling them about us and inviting them to church. I know I can't speak spanish very well so I just say what I want to say and then look at my companion like ok make sense of what I just said to them. i love it its really fun. Teaching is amazing. It's crazy how im here teaching people how to change their lives and teaching them about things that bless me life daily and I really didn't think to much about. We have a really special gift being in this gospel and knowing the things that we do. I was really scared coming out because I didn't know anything but primary based answers. I didn't know the scriputers very well although I loved them and read them every night. I didn't know alot about alot of things. being here I still don't know a lot about those things but my testimony has been strengthened and I know that Heavenly Father is my father in heaven. That Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Redeem and that through Him I can live with my Father in Heaven again. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and because of his faithfullness and because of his obedence we have this gospel here on the earth again. I know the Book of Mormon is true and that my reading it every day even thou we dont know what is says it will bless ours lives more then we know. I read my Spanish Book of Mormon everyday I have no clue half the time what it is saying, but I still know that it is true. They are words of prophets and of God. I'm so thankful for a prophet to lead and guide us today and I am so thankful for the knowledge that I have of this.

I love my trainer Hermana Willford it's crazy we live only just minutes away from each other but we have never met. I am very sad she is going home in March, then I will proably have a latina good luck to me with that.

If you would like you can write me through the church pouch or just through the mail I would love to hear whats going on with your lives. I will try to write a little bit here and there and keep you updated. Thanks for blog stalking me, if I was home I would proabaly be doing the same thing.. See you all in just a couple of weeks

Hermana Evans

I've Made It To Nicaragua!

Hi,

It was quite the trip! We landed in Costa Rica and no one was there to pick us up. One of the Elders went to call the mission president, and ended up coming back with the people to pick us up. We spent the first couple of nights with some of the hermana's here, and the big dinner we were promised at our mission presidents house ended up being McDonalds.

I am so happy and absolutely LOVE my trainer Sister Wilford, she is from Layton, and is the same person as me, only 5 years older. This is her last transfer and I am so sad. We have plans already for when I get home. Speaking of which, only like 10 more transfers and I will be home, that doesn't sound too bad does it? There is a lady who the mission pays to cook our food, it is wonderful, except she lives up a HUGE hill, so in order to eat, we have to hike this hill. I figure the stairs at the Provo MTC were preparing me for this.

I am happy and doing well! We go to weddings and baptisms all of the time. We baptize the most families out of any mission. I love this work and this gospel! I had a really neat experience, I was given a Spanish Book of Mormon for my Birthday from a dear friend. The Book of Mormon I got in the MTC I was able to give to a man, he had tears streaming down his face with gratitude, he had been saving and saving his money to be able to afford a Book of Mormon. We are so ungrateful for the things that are just given to us. Everyone is so grateful for all of the little things we give to them. I have to be careful not to spend all of my money giving to other, it just makes me feel so happy! We do end up paying for a lot of the weddings, in order to be able to have baptisms.

Enjoy some pictures of my experience thus far!

Hermana Decousey (My Guatamala MTC companion)

The boys love me and can't get enough... ;)

Laundry

Another view of laundry

P day sunrise hike

Before Sunrise

Hermana Wilford, my trainer

The first place we stayed was tiny!