Hey there family!
This has been quite the week of change for me.
So I was companionless on Monday and Tuesday. I spent the majority of the day on Monday with another Elder In Managua. I went to the migration office on Monday and got my residence.
I am officially Nica now ha ha.
On Tuesday I worked hard with the Ward Mission leader (who served as my companion for the day) and we found a few new families to teach. The mission is so focused on families that I spend the majority of my time and efforts looking for new families.
On Tuesday night I got the call that I would stay in Las Colinas for another change at least. I think they should call the mission “Mision Nicaragua Las Colinas” instead of “Managua” for me because I am passing a ton of time in Las Colinas. But all is well. Atleast I like it!
On Wednesday I got my new companion, Elder Avila from Honduras Tegucigalpa. I only have companions from Honduras it seems ha ha. All Katrachos! Well, he seems like a very good missionary. He has 3 months in the mission and we are practically learning together. He teaches well too and seems very humble so I hope and pray that the work will go forward in this area.
Throughout the week, I have been showing him the area. I feel like I will be leaving this next change so I have to be sure and teach him well. We found some positive new investigators and families so we will have to wait and see how it goes this week.
This week we had several powerful lessons that for sure arrived unto and into the hearts of the investigators. One that I especially liked was to our newly baptized family. In the church, many times we want the investigators to change so quickly. Perhaps in a rush of adrenaline or excitement that they were baptized, we begin to tell them about all the things they are going to be doing now in the church. For our recent converts, they have felt overwhelmed. The men already received the Priesthood and are afraid that their human weaknesses will not live up to their best intentions. For example, a family or 5 here in Nicaragua can have breakfast for a dollar if they have bread and coffee. The families that we baptized are very poor. Few have jobs and they have many debts to pay off and although they haven’t been drinking coffee they are afraid that if it came to it, that God would punish them for their poverty forced trangression. Also, the leaders want them to begin to dress like members (in dresses and ties) and they neither have the means or the customs of doing that. We told them that none of us are perfect and that God will judge us according to the desires of our hearts and our actions. We talked about grace and how no matter how imperfect we are, we can always be okay with our Heavenly Father if we but do our best.
As we testified of the love and mercy of the Savior, the spirit entered the room and I know that we understood one another. This week I have made a conscious effort to talk more about the Savior. I think that even as a witness of Him, I have fallen short in my promise to bear His name at all times, at all places and in all things. I have tried to talk about the Savior in all principles of the gospel and as a result we have walked with His spirit in greater abundance. As one seventy said, “we are never closer to the Father than when we bear testimony of the Son.”
I know He lives and that His Atonement is real. I love each and every one of you. Thank you for your example and I will strive to be a good example too. Please share the message of the Atonement with your friends and family because really, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way that we can have true happiness in this life and in the life to come.
Elder Grant Russell
