Week 15 -- Cuidad Sandino

Christmas tree

 I got the package and opened it! Thank you so much. I'll be honest, I nearly cried when I saw the bag of caramel corn from Disneyland, and the tin of smoked oysters. And whether or not I was supposed to, I opened the cards as well, and I really loved them. I got the music as well (Woohoo! Disney!), and a lot of it is Christmas themed, so I don't feel so guilty about opening them. But seriously, thank you all so much. I can't tell you how much it means to me that, at least on some level, I can have a white Christmas. And it means even more to know that the white Christmas was given to me by my family and friends. It really made me feel loved, and that's more than I could have hoped for with a "normal" Christmas present. Thank you all so much.

For me, not a whole ton has really happened this week. We did have this thing called a verification meeting, for all of the missionaries that came in at the same time as me, where they basically checked to see how everyone was progressing with their training. It was fun, getting to see most of the people from my old District. It's also kind of weird to think that I'm already more than half way through my training. After that, I'll be a normal missionary.

A message to friends and family: (translation) Merry Christmas
you filthy animals! (Home Alone 2)

     And as for people we're teaching right now, we're still teaching almost all new people. But there is one guy that we contacted named Freddy. It was just a quick contact towards the end of the day, but before we could even say anything about church, he said something along the lines of, "Do you boys have a church?" Obviously, we quickly responded yes, and then he said, "Where is it, and when does it start?" We told him, and he just said, "Okay, I'll be there." It really shocked us, because that kind of just doesn't happen in Nicaragua. We came back a few days later, placed a Libro de Mormón, and that Sunday, he was completely ready when we passed by, and was totally willing to come with us to church, which also never happens. So now we're teaching him, and his niece, her husband, and their son all say they're going to come next Sunday. All in all, it was a really cool, and rather strange, experience. Awesome, but strange. 

     And as for something we're struggling with right now, that would actually be a different family. Their names are Ruth and Brittney. Ruth is Brittney's mom, and we've been teaching them for about six weeks now. They're set to be baptized this weekend, but one thing is kind of holding them back. They're both great investigators. They like the Church, they like going to church, they like what we teach, and they both have testimonies of the Gospel. The only problem being that Ruth was raised as a Jehovah's Witness. Which, in Nicaragua at least, means that her entire family is Jehovah's witness as well. She doesn't so much not want to be baptized, as much as she's just afraid that if she does, her family will reject her. Which, again, in Nicaragua, is very possible. So here's what I want you all to pray for, if you wouldn't mind. Two things: first of all, that Ruth and Brittney's hearts will be softened, and that they will feel comforted that this is the right choice for them, but also that her family's hearts will be softened as well. That just because she is choosing to be different from them, it doesn't mean that she deserves to be shunned. 

And finally, house keeping: Skyping will very likely happen between 2 and 4 o'clock my time, so 1 and 3 o'clock your time. Thank you so much for sending all of that so me, I really appreciate it, and make sure you give Linus a hug for me. And right now, I don't have any Christmas photos of me, but I have photos of me, and Christmas photos. So that might work? Anyways, I love you all, as always, and I am so excited to see you all on Friday!

Love,

Cooper