How`s it going guys? Well another week flown by. As you know, we had changes on Wednesday, aaaaand once again President decided to throw me a curve ball. I got the call Tuesday night that my companion would be staying in the area to receive his new companion and that I was going to be moved back to Buena Vista. Can you believe it? One change and I`m back haha. I was excited though because I really like this ward and it will be good to end the mission here. Well they also told me that I would now be the only Zone Leader for the zone. They changed it so that now some of the zones only have one zone leader with a normal companion instead of a companionship of zone leaders. So I am now alone with 18 missionaries... fun huh! This has probably been one of the weirdest and busiest weeks of the mission having to do everything by myself and get into a new area and all of that. My companion is named Elder Orellana from San Pedro Sula, Honduras. He only has three months in mission. I think that is kind of the whole point of the whole one zone leader thing, helping train missionaries who President sees as future leaders. He`s a good kid and we get along pretty well. The reason that they changed me back to Buena Vista is that a hand full of members called President complaining to him saying the area is too dangerous to have sister missionaries and that they shouldn't be there. But it`s fine though I`m up for ending here with Elder Orellana, it`ll be good! We had a zone meeting on Friday which was good. There are two brand new missionaries in the zone now, including a sister from Hurricane Utah. Amy`s land! Well after the meeting she said she had a few questions for me so I was talking to her about some stuff and all of the sudden she started crying. She truly thinks she is never going to learn the language. She was saying "Elder I don`t understand a single word anybody is saying" (on top of that her trainer is from Guatemala and doesn`t speak a word of English). On top of that she is just absolutely in culture shock here. She was telling about how she thought some things were so weird or dangerous or dirty here (things that I felt were totally normal) ha but thinking about it I decided, hmmm... I guess that isn`t like that in the States is it? So just all in all she wants to go home.She said "I just don`t feel good, I just can`t stop dwelling on the fact that I have 16 more months of this." I thought about something Dad said in a tape in the first package that you guys sent me here in the country. He said things are probably pretty tough right now, but you just have to realize and remember that you are not going to feel like this the whole mission. This isn`t how the who mission is going to be. That is very true, so I told her that as well. So everybody is kinda looking after her right now and trying to help. We are all going to go to a pizza hut today to try and cheer her up. haha Believe me... it works.
Well this week one of the girls in my ward got married, and had the reception in the church. Guess who I saw? My cook from Soyapango! It was way good to see them, I took a picture so I`ll have to send it to you. When I was just about to leave from there she told me that she was pregnant, and now she is huuuuge and about to have the baby! So weird. Time flies. Well in about a week and a half we are going to have a multi zone meeting with Elder Martino, one of the area seventies. The assistants called me last night saying that President wanted me to pick 8 people in the zone to sing a special hymn in the meeting. So this week I have to pick 8, pick a hymn, practice it will everybody, and have it ready to sing for five zones and Elder Martino next week... freeeak.
Well other than that everything is going well, we have quite a few investigators here in the area, including quite a few people that I had left for the sisters that still haven`t been baptized, so I`m hoping to get a few of them dipped here pretty soon. Love you all hope you have a great week!!!!!!
Nick
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
August 29th, back to the grind
Hey fam,
Well another week flown by. Without a doubt this has been the fastest transfer of my whole mission. We have transfers on Wednesday. I already know that my companion is going to be leaving, which means I will very likely be staying in my area and probably finish my mission here. There are a lot of good people and we are having success so I would be fine with that it ends up happening. So it´s very probable that the companion that I receive on Wednesday will be the companion that I end the mission with... WEIRD. I´m still convinced that it isn´t going to end.
Well this weekend we baptized two future missionaries! On Saturday we baptized a kid named César, whose family is a recent convert of about a month and a half. They are all great and have progressed a ton in the church in the short time that they have been in the church. Anyways, it was cool because his dad was able to baptize him (although he had to do it three times) haha. The mom spoke at the baptism and said crying that if you would have told her a year ago that her whole family would be in the church doing what they are now doing and the changes they have made, she wouldn´t have believed it for a second. Pretty cool. And then the next day, Sunday, we baptized another young man named Mario Alexander, whose cousin is also a recent convert. He´s hilarious and a stud. He kinda pulled a fast one on us though.. he lives with his aunt and uncle and his mom is always working so I had actually never met her, just the aunt and uncle. Anyways we went to do the baptismal interview and to fill out his baptismal record; he passed and everything was good. He said that in that moment his mom wasn´t there to sign the record because is in under 18 years old. So I just left it with him and told him to give it to his mom when she had some free time. I came back and he had it signed and said that his mom is excited for him and totally fine. Well the morning of the baptism I called him to remind him we were going to come by to pick him up, and his cousin the recent convert answered and said "um Mario´s mom wants to talk to you guys, I don't think she wants him to get baptized." This was about two hours before his baptism. Supposedly Mario just had his uncle sign it and really hadn´t told his much about it at all... and when she found out she was not happy to say the least. So we went over to do some damage control and try and convince his mom to let him get baptized that day. When I walked in Mario´s cousin Rita just said "good luck", and I was like you just watch I promise you she is going to let us.... and Rita just laughed and said "you don´t know her like I do... I highly doubt it she lets it happen". Well we went in, worked some charm, through out a few scriptures, made her see the future of her son, told Mario in front of her that he needs to have better communication with his mom, and 25 minutes later we had the paper sign and the mom excited and willing to support him. I wish I could have taken a picture a picture of Rita´s face when I told her the baptism was still on, haha oh ye of little faith!!!!!! So I will send you a picture of the baptisms.
On a little bit of sadder note, my first Bishop in Porvenir was shot the other day. He was on his motorcycle with his son collecting money for the business he works for when I guy came out of nowhere and asked for all the money he had on him. He gave it to him without question (all the money of his work, have in mind), and then the guy asked for his cell phone. He said that he didn´t have it on him, and without thinking twice the guy pulled out his gun and shot him in the stomach. The bullet entered his stomach, came out the back of his leg, and grazed the leg of his son on the back. They just operated on him yesterday and looks like he´s gonna be alright. There are some evil people in this country. I don´t know if you guys had heard or if I had told you about it before, but here in my area they was a huge tragedy about a year ago. Look it up on the internet. Just try putting "Bus burned in Mejicanos El Salvador" and see if it comes up. If you can´t find it let me know and I´ll tell you about it. The worst thing that has happen while I've been here. Those people are just sick in head, they have to be. Satan has them completely dominated.
Well everything else is going well, just enjoy the time here. I had my buddy in the office confirm for me that President is going to send us home on Thanksgiving day, so that´s still on. Oh yeah I almost forgot! The other day I ran into Sister Zelada, remember her? My first cook in porvenir? Well she invited us to have lunch on Saturday cause my house is like five minutes away from hers. So we went! It was way cool to go back there and see a little bit of my first area and where I used to live and eat and all that. Her son has grown a ton!!!!!! Anyways so that was way fun, love that women.
Well that´s about it, I have quite a few pictures to send so I better go. Love you all thanks for everything! hope you have a great week!
August 22nd, Temple Dedication
August 22nd:
Well, I´ve got a whole lot that I could say this week so we´ll see if I can even scratch the surface of the experiences of this past weekend. On Friday, my mission along with the Santa Ana/Belize mission had a special meeting with President Eyring, and Elder Christofferson. There present as well were Elder Martino, Elder Amado, and Elder Falabella from the quorum of the seventy. I can´t even begin to describe how it felt to be in the same room as all of those men and see them interact. When we first got there, we had to wait a bit for the members of the seventy to arrive, and a bit longer for President Eyring and Elder Christofferson. While we were waiting for the latter two, Elder Martino and Elder Amado spoke to us. Elder Martino talked about how we always need to ask first to be able to receive. He made the example of the first vision, later with the revelation concerning baptism, and later the revelation concerning the kingdoms of glory. All cases in which they asked God before recieving. He applied that to us missionaries and our investigators. He then spoke of how can we expect our investigators to stop doing things so difficult like drinking, smoking, law of chastity ect. if we don´t complete with our responsibilities or if we aren't obedient ourselves. Elder Amado then spoke for a bit and said something I liked. He said "what is seen, touched, and heard doesn't count and doesn't matter. What matters is what is felt." He then spoke a bit about the organization and responsibilities that members of the 70, quorum of the 12, and first presidency hold. He spoke about how great a privilege it was that we were going to have the privilege of hearing from President Eyring. Well the moment arrived and President Eyring and Elder Christofferson arrived with their wives. Even their presence was very powerful, everyone was just watching them! A choir from the other mission sang "divina luz" or "lead kindly light". It was actually really good! Then Elder Eyring got up and spoke with the help of a translator. He started off commented that his ride on the way here was quite interesting, that "The people here are great, quite aggressive on the streets!" He said he had a police escort in front of them and that a few people decided to get out of the way, and others decided to get behind them and just join the parade haha. He then began saying he was with President Monson just a few hours earlier, and that he sends his love. he said "he really wanted to be here, and this weekend is his Birthday! That only comes around once a year and of all places he wanted to be here was with you. He sends his love." He said they were having to deal with some difficult things. That often members of the 12 will come to him in the weekly meetings that they hold with big problems, often very sad and complicated. He said President Monson will often listen respectfully, wait for them to finish and finally just say "things will work out" with a smile. He said that is the exact same attitude that President Hinckley had, and the same attitude we can have; we just need to have faith. And that for us as missionaries the faith that God truly called us. He went on to explain the process of assigning a missionary a mission call, and how it was different for every apostle. He explained how he receives revelation through a map, that´s what helps him. At the end of the process it is very clear where the missionary needs to go. He said through this process, he has been able to feel and understand how perfectly and personally god knows each and every one of us. He knows our fears, our weakness, our strengths, and most of all our potential. He said through this process he must not look at the picture of the missionary as how he seems or appears, but (choking back tears) how god sees him. He said, "he knows our name. He knows us perfectly. And that is manifest in your mission calling." He then asked Elder Walker (70 in charge of temples) and Elder Christofferson to bear their testimonies. Elder Walker made the comment that there could not be a better time to be a missionary in El Salvador than right now. That´s the truth!
Elder Christofferson then spoke (in really good Spanish) and said we often forget to express our thanks to those who serve us and to those whom we serve with, " So thank you". He said that sometimes he thinks of Peter and what he would say looking at our times. He said he would say something like, "man, if I had planes, cars, telephones, internet and TV I would have converted the whole world in 10 months!" haha. He said he feels good working with us missionaries side by side, and that he hopes with feel the same. He also aid,"It doesn´t matter what anybody else thinks or says... this is the truth."
President Eyring got up and spoke again. He said our greatest testimony must be that Jesus is the Christ, and that we should testify of that most often. He counseled us to go to the Book of Mormon often in profound and sincere prayer, and promised if we do that our testimonies of Christ will increase deeply and profoundly. He said "Be true witlessness of Jesus Christ. It is more than just saying it; it is feeling that as your are obedient, dedicate yourselves, and live the Gospel, you will notice you will begin to change. You will be a living witness that the atonement of Jesus Christ has the power to change even our very nature. That we will no longer desire to do evil, but to do good continually, and begin to reach our potential." What a humble man. I don´t know anyone like him. I wanted to write everything down that he was saying but I eventually just had to stop and listen to what he was saying and enjoy the spirit that was there. It was an experience I´ll never forget!
Then Saturday was the cultural event and we watched it at the stake center. Sitting next to me was a Sister missionary from my zone that is from here El Salvador. It was cool to see her get emotional and cry druing much of the presentation. All the young men and women participated in the culurtal even and every stake and a special segment where they danced a national dance. It was pretty sweet and everybody loved it.
Then finally yesterday was the temple dedication! There were 3 sessions, and we saw all 3 in the stake center. In each session there was a choir, 3 or 4 speakers, and the dedicatory prayer given by President Eyring. He spoke in the first and last sessions. He did great in both occasions despite the inconvenience of having a translator having to interrupt every sentence. I especially enjoyed his talk in the last session. He spoke of the blessing of the temple and a few personal experiences of grandchildren that had passed away as little children and the blessing they have in greeting the celestial kingdom thanks to the atonement. Many spoke of of how the members of the church used to have to travel to Arizona to go to the temple, then Mexico, then Guatemala, and now the long awaited day of having one in El Salvador.
Sylvia Allred who is from here spoke in the second session. She moved to the states when she was like 9, which is quite clear because she doesn´t have a accent from El Salvador at all haha. I can´t remember all that was said by President Eyring, but I do know that the spirit was strong and it was clear that he is a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. In the dedicatory prayer, he specifically prayed for the missionaries and the work here. Hearing that and knowing it was specifically directed towards me was something very special and touching. I guarantee there will be a noticeable increase in success in the mission because of that prayer. He blessed the temple especially with protection from those who desire to do it harm, or evil ones you attempt to enter.. Much needed for this country! He prayed for peace and opportunity of the country. The whole country is going to be blessed because of the temple, no doubt about that. All in all it was a great end to a weekend that I´ll never forget!
My ears have gotten quite a bit better. It was funny I talked to the area doctor and was telling me how they wanted to give me IV´s and he was like. "Giving IV´s for an ear infection is like tossing an atomic bomb to kill ants. I don´t know what it is about Latin doctors, but they love to overdo everything. It´s how they sell themselves to the people." haha kind of a funny guy. Well I better go but love you all thanks for everything I hope you have a great week!
Love Nick
Well, I´ve got a whole lot that I could say this week so we´ll see if I can even scratch the surface of the experiences of this past weekend. On Friday, my mission along with the Santa Ana/Belize mission had a special meeting with President Eyring, and Elder Christofferson. There present as well were Elder Martino, Elder Amado, and Elder Falabella from the quorum of the seventy. I can´t even begin to describe how it felt to be in the same room as all of those men and see them interact. When we first got there, we had to wait a bit for the members of the seventy to arrive, and a bit longer for President Eyring and Elder Christofferson. While we were waiting for the latter two, Elder Martino and Elder Amado spoke to us. Elder Martino talked about how we always need to ask first to be able to receive. He made the example of the first vision, later with the revelation concerning baptism, and later the revelation concerning the kingdoms of glory. All cases in which they asked God before recieving. He applied that to us missionaries and our investigators. He then spoke of how can we expect our investigators to stop doing things so difficult like drinking, smoking, law of chastity ect. if we don´t complete with our responsibilities or if we aren't obedient ourselves. Elder Amado then spoke for a bit and said something I liked. He said "what is seen, touched, and heard doesn't count and doesn't matter. What matters is what is felt." He then spoke a bit about the organization and responsibilities that members of the 70, quorum of the 12, and first presidency hold. He spoke about how great a privilege it was that we were going to have the privilege of hearing from President Eyring. Well the moment arrived and President Eyring and Elder Christofferson arrived with their wives. Even their presence was very powerful, everyone was just watching them! A choir from the other mission sang "divina luz" or "lead kindly light". It was actually really good! Then Elder Eyring got up and spoke with the help of a translator. He started off commented that his ride on the way here was quite interesting, that "The people here are great, quite aggressive on the streets!" He said he had a police escort in front of them and that a few people decided to get out of the way, and others decided to get behind them and just join the parade haha. He then began saying he was with President Monson just a few hours earlier, and that he sends his love. he said "he really wanted to be here, and this weekend is his Birthday! That only comes around once a year and of all places he wanted to be here was with you. He sends his love." He said they were having to deal with some difficult things. That often members of the 12 will come to him in the weekly meetings that they hold with big problems, often very sad and complicated. He said President Monson will often listen respectfully, wait for them to finish and finally just say "things will work out" with a smile. He said that is the exact same attitude that President Hinckley had, and the same attitude we can have; we just need to have faith. And that for us as missionaries the faith that God truly called us. He went on to explain the process of assigning a missionary a mission call, and how it was different for every apostle. He explained how he receives revelation through a map, that´s what helps him. At the end of the process it is very clear where the missionary needs to go. He said through this process, he has been able to feel and understand how perfectly and personally god knows each and every one of us. He knows our fears, our weakness, our strengths, and most of all our potential. He said through this process he must not look at the picture of the missionary as how he seems or appears, but (choking back tears) how god sees him. He said, "he knows our name. He knows us perfectly. And that is manifest in your mission calling." He then asked Elder Walker (70 in charge of temples) and Elder Christofferson to bear their testimonies. Elder Walker made the comment that there could not be a better time to be a missionary in El Salvador than right now. That´s the truth!
Elder Christofferson then spoke (in really good Spanish) and said we often forget to express our thanks to those who serve us and to those whom we serve with, " So thank you". He said that sometimes he thinks of Peter and what he would say looking at our times. He said he would say something like, "man, if I had planes, cars, telephones, internet and TV I would have converted the whole world in 10 months!" haha. He said he feels good working with us missionaries side by side, and that he hopes with feel the same. He also aid,"It doesn´t matter what anybody else thinks or says... this is the truth."
President Eyring got up and spoke again. He said our greatest testimony must be that Jesus is the Christ, and that we should testify of that most often. He counseled us to go to the Book of Mormon often in profound and sincere prayer, and promised if we do that our testimonies of Christ will increase deeply and profoundly. He said "Be true witlessness of Jesus Christ. It is more than just saying it; it is feeling that as your are obedient, dedicate yourselves, and live the Gospel, you will notice you will begin to change. You will be a living witness that the atonement of Jesus Christ has the power to change even our very nature. That we will no longer desire to do evil, but to do good continually, and begin to reach our potential." What a humble man. I don´t know anyone like him. I wanted to write everything down that he was saying but I eventually just had to stop and listen to what he was saying and enjoy the spirit that was there. It was an experience I´ll never forget!
Then Saturday was the cultural event and we watched it at the stake center. Sitting next to me was a Sister missionary from my zone that is from here El Salvador. It was cool to see her get emotional and cry druing much of the presentation. All the young men and women participated in the culurtal even and every stake and a special segment where they danced a national dance. It was pretty sweet and everybody loved it.
Then finally yesterday was the temple dedication! There were 3 sessions, and we saw all 3 in the stake center. In each session there was a choir, 3 or 4 speakers, and the dedicatory prayer given by President Eyring. He spoke in the first and last sessions. He did great in both occasions despite the inconvenience of having a translator having to interrupt every sentence. I especially enjoyed his talk in the last session. He spoke of the blessing of the temple and a few personal experiences of grandchildren that had passed away as little children and the blessing they have in greeting the celestial kingdom thanks to the atonement. Many spoke of of how the members of the church used to have to travel to Arizona to go to the temple, then Mexico, then Guatemala, and now the long awaited day of having one in El Salvador.
Sylvia Allred who is from here spoke in the second session. She moved to the states when she was like 9, which is quite clear because she doesn´t have a accent from El Salvador at all haha. I can´t remember all that was said by President Eyring, but I do know that the spirit was strong and it was clear that he is a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. In the dedicatory prayer, he specifically prayed for the missionaries and the work here. Hearing that and knowing it was specifically directed towards me was something very special and touching. I guarantee there will be a noticeable increase in success in the mission because of that prayer. He blessed the temple especially with protection from those who desire to do it harm, or evil ones you attempt to enter.. Much needed for this country! He prayed for peace and opportunity of the country. The whole country is going to be blessed because of the temple, no doubt about that. All in all it was a great end to a weekend that I´ll never forget!
My ears have gotten quite a bit better. It was funny I talked to the area doctor and was telling me how they wanted to give me IV´s and he was like. "Giving IV´s for an ear infection is like tossing an atomic bomb to kill ants. I don´t know what it is about Latin doctors, but they love to overdo everything. It´s how they sell themselves to the people." haha kind of a funny guy. Well I better go but love you all thanks for everything I hope you have a great week!
Love Nick
Monday, August 15, 2011
Feeling better - August 15, 2011
Hey guys,
Well my ears are quite a bit better so that´s good, I guess the area doctor knew what he was talking about after all! My hearing is gradually getting better I think, although it´s hard to note the difference. But the most relieving thing is that there isn´t much pain anymore, soI'm happy haha. It was nice to be able to get out and work again this week, although we seemed to have kinda of bad luck for some reason! There was a city party the other night and all the streets of the city were shut down and everything pretty much turned into a big club/concert haha. Everybody was wasted and there were trashy people all over the place. I woke up at three in the morning and could still hear all the music! soooo loud. We´ve had a few problems with some of the Elders in the zone unfortunately. One of my old comps is getting frustrating with his companion that he is training because he doesn´t know any Spanish. The thing is, the elder speaks English and I told him, hey man don´t speak English to your companion, if you do he won´t learn. Well he didn´t really listen and from day one spoke to him in English always... and now it´s kinda coming back to get him. So anyways his district leader Elder Coy is also training, and supposedly they have been doing a lot of divisions on days that aren't authorized just to get away from there companions and be together. I feel bad for the guy, learning a new language is tough, and if your companion doesn´t have patience it can be super discouraging! But other than that everything is fine. This next weekend my companion and I should be baptizing four people so that´ll be good!
Well this week is going to be pretty sweet, a lot of things to look forward to! On Friday at 6pm we are going to have a special meeting with Elder Eyering and Christofferson with both missions. It´s going to be awesome I´m sure. And it´ll be good to have a fellow Bountiful-ite in El Salvador. haha when I tell people that he lives like two minutes from my house their jaw drops to the floor. So I´ll have to give you guys some good details about that next week. Then on Saturday there is the cultural event for the temple that we will be watching from the stake center, and Sunday the dedication!!!! I´ve got my pass and everything ready to go. There are a couple recent converts of only a couple weeks that are going to be going as well so I'm excited for them. I'm not even really sure what to expect because I've never been to an open house as sad as that is.
Well sounds like Biss did a good job, that´s good. It´s gotta be weird being home.. is he still going to play baseball for the U? I´m sure he feels pretty accomplished making the decision to go on a mission, I can imagine what I'd be doing right now if I didn´t go. I'm pretty proud of all my friends, I really can think of only one that didn´t end up going. Pretty sweet! Well this week has been rain, rain, and more rain! I don't know why, but it seems to always rain at night and never during the day. It´s just super hot and humid during the day from the rain the night before.
Hey before I forget, tell Kim thanks for the tie she sent me I like it a lot!! I´ve gotten quite a few complements on it haha. How are Grandma and Grandpa Reid doing, and Grandma Kirkbride? Tell them all hi for me. Well have a great week love you all thanks for all of your prayers and support, it means a lot!
Que se diviertan en yellowstone!
Love Nick
Well my ears are quite a bit better so that´s good, I guess the area doctor knew what he was talking about after all! My hearing is gradually getting better I think, although it´s hard to note the difference. But the most relieving thing is that there isn´t much pain anymore, soI'm happy haha. It was nice to be able to get out and work again this week, although we seemed to have kinda of bad luck for some reason! There was a city party the other night and all the streets of the city were shut down and everything pretty much turned into a big club/concert haha. Everybody was wasted and there were trashy people all over the place. I woke up at three in the morning and could still hear all the music! soooo loud. We´ve had a few problems with some of the Elders in the zone unfortunately. One of my old comps is getting frustrating with his companion that he is training because he doesn´t know any Spanish. The thing is, the elder speaks English and I told him, hey man don´t speak English to your companion, if you do he won´t learn. Well he didn´t really listen and from day one spoke to him in English always... and now it´s kinda coming back to get him. So anyways his district leader Elder Coy is also training, and supposedly they have been doing a lot of divisions on days that aren't authorized just to get away from there companions and be together. I feel bad for the guy, learning a new language is tough, and if your companion doesn´t have patience it can be super discouraging! But other than that everything is fine. This next weekend my companion and I should be baptizing four people so that´ll be good!
Well this week is going to be pretty sweet, a lot of things to look forward to! On Friday at 6pm we are going to have a special meeting with Elder Eyering and Christofferson with both missions. It´s going to be awesome I´m sure. And it´ll be good to have a fellow Bountiful-ite in El Salvador. haha when I tell people that he lives like two minutes from my house their jaw drops to the floor. So I´ll have to give you guys some good details about that next week. Then on Saturday there is the cultural event for the temple that we will be watching from the stake center, and Sunday the dedication!!!! I´ve got my pass and everything ready to go. There are a couple recent converts of only a couple weeks that are going to be going as well so I'm excited for them. I'm not even really sure what to expect because I've never been to an open house as sad as that is.
Well sounds like Biss did a good job, that´s good. It´s gotta be weird being home.. is he still going to play baseball for the U? I´m sure he feels pretty accomplished making the decision to go on a mission, I can imagine what I'd be doing right now if I didn´t go. I'm pretty proud of all my friends, I really can think of only one that didn´t end up going. Pretty sweet! Well this week has been rain, rain, and more rain! I don't know why, but it seems to always rain at night and never during the day. It´s just super hot and humid during the day from the rain the night before.
Hey before I forget, tell Kim thanks for the tie she sent me I like it a lot!! I´ve gotten quite a few complements on it haha. How are Grandma and Grandpa Reid doing, and Grandma Kirkbride? Tell them all hi for me. Well have a great week love you all thanks for all of your prayers and support, it means a lot!
Que se diviertan en yellowstone!
Love Nick
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Ear Infection- August 8th, 2011
Hey fam,
Well, how is everyone? All I can say is.. I´m glad this week is over. ha I had a bit of a health problem this week. On Wednesday I woke up at about 1:30 in the morning with an unbelievable pain in both my ears, and pretty much couldn't hear a thing. So I got up and tried to look for some medicine, but then realized that I left all my medicine in my last house, I didn't even have Ibprofine! So I spent probably one of the most painful nights of my life pacing my 12 by 12 foot room wanting to bang my head against the wall. Well the next morning I went to my cooks house and asked her to buy me some Ibprofin and I called the mission nurse. She gave me the name of some ear drops to buy and some other little things to try. So I did all that and it wasn't getting better, and the pain was straight up unbearable!!! I would take 900 MG of Ibprofen and that would calm it for about 4 hours on the dot and the pain would start up again, and on top of all of that I felt like I was constantly under watering my hearing was so bad. Well it just so happens that in this great country of El Salvador this week is break week, and not just for students.. but eeeeeeeeveryone. Including hospitals. So the nurse said that she couldn't get me to the doctor until Monday (this was Friday.. I had already past three days of torture). I called her back like five hours later and said hey listen I need to see somebody tomorrow. I don´t know what you have to do or what I will have to pay but just get me to somebody. So I went the next day to the emergency room place in Lyco to a specialist in nose, ears and throat. He examined me and said that I had a severe infection in both ears. He couldn't even see through my ear holes because they were both so swollen, so he had to pretty much pry them open. I about hit him. haha So he wrote up a list of medicines that he was going to give me and said that he wanted to give me three IV´s right then and there.. and that I would be better in three days. Well I called the nurse to check and see if that was ok and she said that she needed to call the area doctor to get authorization. She called back and said that the doctor only authorized the first IV and NONE of the medication that the doctor wanted to give me... so I had to explain to the doctor thanks for seeing me but that I couldn't follow any of his advice because the guy in charge of me wouldn't allow it... yeah embarrassing. So they gave me the IV, that was great (remind me to tell you some details about that some day), and I left.
The area doctor just told the mission nurse to buy a antibiotic (I had already tried 2 that didn't work) and just keep taking Ibprofen.. I was sooooo ticked haha. Well that was Saturday. I have been taking the medicine for two days, and the pain is a little better, but I still pretty much don´t hear a thing. So yeah, I'm gonna need some advice from Doctor Bruce Reid... I'm going to send the names of the medication that doctor wanted me to take and the names that I am taking right now and tell me what you think.
Well other than that everything is good. haha I pretty much was just in the house all week long so there is not much to tell you, but we actually have quite a few people in our teaching pool and the zone is doing really well for the most part. Tomorrow we have a muti-zone which will be good. Oh and I got the package on Tuesday!! I loved it thanks a ton, especially the video haha so funny. I have been loving it, although haven´t been able to enjoy it this week. Thanks for everything I promise I' ll get a better email next week!! Tell Biss hi for me.
Love Nick
Well, how is everyone? All I can say is.. I´m glad this week is over. ha I had a bit of a health problem this week. On Wednesday I woke up at about 1:30 in the morning with an unbelievable pain in both my ears, and pretty much couldn't hear a thing. So I got up and tried to look for some medicine, but then realized that I left all my medicine in my last house, I didn't even have Ibprofine! So I spent probably one of the most painful nights of my life pacing my 12 by 12 foot room wanting to bang my head against the wall. Well the next morning I went to my cooks house and asked her to buy me some Ibprofin and I called the mission nurse. She gave me the name of some ear drops to buy and some other little things to try. So I did all that and it wasn't getting better, and the pain was straight up unbearable!!! I would take 900 MG of Ibprofen and that would calm it for about 4 hours on the dot and the pain would start up again, and on top of all of that I felt like I was constantly under watering my hearing was so bad. Well it just so happens that in this great country of El Salvador this week is break week, and not just for students.. but eeeeeeeeveryone. Including hospitals. So the nurse said that she couldn't get me to the doctor until Monday (this was Friday.. I had already past three days of torture). I called her back like five hours later and said hey listen I need to see somebody tomorrow. I don´t know what you have to do or what I will have to pay but just get me to somebody. So I went the next day to the emergency room place in Lyco to a specialist in nose, ears and throat. He examined me and said that I had a severe infection in both ears. He couldn't even see through my ear holes because they were both so swollen, so he had to pretty much pry them open. I about hit him. haha So he wrote up a list of medicines that he was going to give me and said that he wanted to give me three IV´s right then and there.. and that I would be better in three days. Well I called the nurse to check and see if that was ok and she said that she needed to call the area doctor to get authorization. She called back and said that the doctor only authorized the first IV and NONE of the medication that the doctor wanted to give me... so I had to explain to the doctor thanks for seeing me but that I couldn't follow any of his advice because the guy in charge of me wouldn't allow it... yeah embarrassing. So they gave me the IV, that was great (remind me to tell you some details about that some day), and I left.
The area doctor just told the mission nurse to buy a antibiotic (I had already tried 2 that didn't work) and just keep taking Ibprofen.. I was sooooo ticked haha. Well that was Saturday. I have been taking the medicine for two days, and the pain is a little better, but I still pretty much don´t hear a thing. So yeah, I'm gonna need some advice from Doctor Bruce Reid... I'm going to send the names of the medication that doctor wanted me to take and the names that I am taking right now and tell me what you think.
Well other than that everything is good. haha I pretty much was just in the house all week long so there is not much to tell you, but we actually have quite a few people in our teaching pool and the zone is doing really well for the most part. Tomorrow we have a muti-zone which will be good. Oh and I got the package on Tuesday!! I loved it thanks a ton, especially the video haha so funny. I have been loving it, although haven´t been able to enjoy it this week. Thanks for everything I promise I' ll get a better email next week!! Tell Biss hi for me.
Love Nick
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Back to Normal- August 1, 2011
Hey guys,
How is everybody? Sounds like this week was just one big party for everybody! haha that´s good live up the summer. We are in winter right now, kinda weird huh? It has been raining, and raining, and raining. Which is kind of good because that means more people in their houses (here people have a deathly fear of the rain... one little drop and they are certain they´ll get sick) haha. It has been a little weird having the whole week to work now that the temple is over, and especially since we are opening an area we are pretty much just doing a lot of looking and asking. Things are going fine with my comp, he´s a pretty serious guy....but like I said last week a good worker.
So it´s official, the 19th of this month the mission and the Santa Ana/Belize mission will have a special meeting with Elder Eyering! I´m way excited it´s gonna be great I´m sure. And then the next day is the cultural event for the temple and then the dedication on the 21st, it´s all coming up! Right now all the wards are in a bit a frenzy trying to interview as many people as possible so they can watch the dedication. We won´t be going to the actual dedication, very few will from the whole country. So we will just be watching it from the stake center. I´ve never been to a dedication so I don´t even really know what to expect! haha how bad is that, I´m from Utah and have never been to a temple dedication... Idiot!
The hunt for a new house continues, I just never have time to actually look for one and it seems like we are kind of hurt for options in this area. The limit we can spend on a house is $150 a month. Which is a pretty dang nice house here believe it or not! I about died the other night in that stupid house, a cat dropped in from the roof while I was up going to the bathroom half asleep... fell right in front of me and made some crazy sound. I´m sure if anybody saw my reaction they would still be on the ground laughing haha. Well tomorrow we have a zone leaders meeting at presidents house so I'm hoping that my package has already gotten here and that they will bring it.
Well the zone is doing alright, It´s just been a little tough these last couple of weeks having so many new missionaries in the zone, and all three of them gringos with Latin companions haha. The first couple weeks of the mission are pretty crazy living with somebody who doesn't speak your language. There is one elder in particular who is having a pretty tough time with the language, he just can´t understand anybody I feel bad, haha it´s so frustrating. But he´ll get it it´s just a matter of time. So how is everybody doing at home? the ward? Tell Bishop Welling hi for me and that I'm excited to have him as my bishop in a while here. Hey have you guys been looking into to signing me up for school? Make sure you try that for me please I gotta get going when I get home, start getting rich! haha. Well I'm a little behind today and better wrap it up but love you all thanks for everything!!!!! Have a great week, talk to ya later.
Nick
How is everybody? Sounds like this week was just one big party for everybody! haha that´s good live up the summer. We are in winter right now, kinda weird huh? It has been raining, and raining, and raining. Which is kind of good because that means more people in their houses (here people have a deathly fear of the rain... one little drop and they are certain they´ll get sick) haha. It has been a little weird having the whole week to work now that the temple is over, and especially since we are opening an area we are pretty much just doing a lot of looking and asking. Things are going fine with my comp, he´s a pretty serious guy....but like I said last week a good worker.
So it´s official, the 19th of this month the mission and the Santa Ana/Belize mission will have a special meeting with Elder Eyering! I´m way excited it´s gonna be great I´m sure. And then the next day is the cultural event for the temple and then the dedication on the 21st, it´s all coming up! Right now all the wards are in a bit a frenzy trying to interview as many people as possible so they can watch the dedication. We won´t be going to the actual dedication, very few will from the whole country. So we will just be watching it from the stake center. I´ve never been to a dedication so I don´t even really know what to expect! haha how bad is that, I´m from Utah and have never been to a temple dedication... Idiot!
The hunt for a new house continues, I just never have time to actually look for one and it seems like we are kind of hurt for options in this area. The limit we can spend on a house is $150 a month. Which is a pretty dang nice house here believe it or not! I about died the other night in that stupid house, a cat dropped in from the roof while I was up going to the bathroom half asleep... fell right in front of me and made some crazy sound. I´m sure if anybody saw my reaction they would still be on the ground laughing haha. Well tomorrow we have a zone leaders meeting at presidents house so I'm hoping that my package has already gotten here and that they will bring it.
Well the zone is doing alright, It´s just been a little tough these last couple of weeks having so many new missionaries in the zone, and all three of them gringos with Latin companions haha. The first couple weeks of the mission are pretty crazy living with somebody who doesn't speak your language. There is one elder in particular who is having a pretty tough time with the language, he just can´t understand anybody I feel bad, haha it´s so frustrating. But he´ll get it it´s just a matter of time. So how is everybody doing at home? the ward? Tell Bishop Welling hi for me and that I'm excited to have him as my bishop in a while here. Hey have you guys been looking into to signing me up for school? Make sure you try that for me please I gotta get going when I get home, start getting rich! haha. Well I'm a little behind today and better wrap it up but love you all thanks for everything!!!!! Have a great week, talk to ya later.
Nick
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
More Changes...July 25, 2011
Hey guys,
Well this week has been a little strange! We had changes on Wednesday. A couple nights before President called me and asked me about one of the areas of the sister missionaries in my zone and if it was dangerous (which it is). I guess the sister was talking to him at the temple saying that she wasn`t comfortable there. I told him what I thought and said that it would probably be good to put missionaries in there. Well changes come around and I was told that my companion AND I had changes.... President decided to put the sister missionaries in my area and move me to the area right next to me, area Jardín. My companion Elder Aguilar also had changes to another area, but in the same zone training a new missionary. He was a little bitter about it and it was a little awkward being his companion one day and his zone leader the next. haha my new companion is Elder Barrera from Guatemala. A real serious fella.... but a hard worker so that`s good. We have the exact same time in the mission so we will be going home together. It`s been a little frustrating have the sisters in my old area because a lot of the investigators that I was working with were really complicated situations like divorces and getting married and kicking husbands out of the house, really fun stuff. Sister Cabrera is training a new sister from Utah, Sister Jones. So pretty much all of this week has been us showing them the area and introducing them to members and investigators, we've had zero time to work in our area with that and the temple. So yeah all and all it`s been kinda stressful! The new house that we are in is the worst house I have been in the whole mission! haha we only have running water from 4 in afternoon to 12 at night. Suuuuper run down, so I'm thinking we are going to be looking for a new house. In the zone there are 3 brand new missionaries being trained so it`s pretty fun to watch. Poor guys... haha takes me back to the first days of the mission just not understanding a thing that anybody is saying. They are all good missionaries though they`ll be fine.
So that lady said that she saw me at the temple huh? haha yeah it was pretty weird she just came up to me and was like , "Elder Reid... is your mom named Holly?" so she was all excited and took a picture and said that she would send it to you.
Well the open house is finished. It was pretty sad to have it end, I`ll miss helping out there. On Thursday I was giving a tour and there was a couple in the group who jumped in at the last second. They asked a ton of questions the whole time and I was pretty much just with them the whole time answering questions and explaining things. When we got out we talked for another hour after teaching things and answered their questions. The guy told me that he has had a few spiritual experiences in his life and knows a lot about religion and the bible (actually a really smart guy). Anyways his said that he felt in the temple what he had felt during those spiritual experience. Long story short they gave me their number and I called the area that they belong to and sent the missionaries there. I would not be surprised at all if they ended up getting baptized! They took a picture with me and everything, haha they loved it.
So in total more than 166,000 people attended the open house. The goal was 120,000 so I`d say we did pretty well! They were soooo many people there on Saturday it was incredible. So I'm just hoping that I`ll have the chance to do a session before I go home.
Something really sad happened last week. Remember my companion Elder Merino? Well he was informed on Monday that his Mother died giving birth to a baby girl who also died. He is from here so he left and went to the funeral (conducted the whole thing) stayed for a few days, and came back to finish out the mission. He`s a real strong kid. I feel so bad for him, I can`t imagine having something like that happen, let alone while in the mission. So everybody is praying for him.
Well what else is going on, how`s the ward and everybody? Hey, what is a normal attendance at church there? I`ve had a lot of people ask me that lately and I don`t have any clue what to respond, haha. Well have a good week, love you all and thanks for all your support!!! Until next week.
Con amor, Nick
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)