Well family, Christmas time is here and both the hna Rodriguez and I had changes which was kind of a bummer because all of our recent converts have to start from scratch with new missionaries but I know that cambios are always inspired. Really, it was all a little sad because I had 2 cambios with hermana Rodriquez and now.... It is amazing how much you can come to love someone and be accustomed to always being with them. She only has 2 months left and when I think about that it makes me want to cry, but I am also really excited to have a new area adn new experiences. So.... I ended up in Managua otra vez. My new area is Cuidad Jardin, it is really big and it is where the new missionaries come to work when they first come to Nicaragua. We share our ward with the APs and other elderes in the office. The pressure is a little bit stronger but it is really good. My companions name is Sister Vasquez. She is from El Salvador and she is hard worker. She is really sweet and she is willing to pay the price that is necessary to work miracles. This change should be really interesting. 

So this Friday was la purisima which is the day when all the people here celebrate the virgin mary and it is kind of like Halloween, only religious. The people walk to houses where shrines for Maria are set up and then they sing a song for her and the owners of the house give them a bunch of free stuff. THere are fireworks everywhere and the streets are completely filled with people. It is pretty crazy. 

Today we had our actividad for Christmas as a mission. We rented out a center with a bunch of soccer courts and played for the whole morning. It was awesome because I got to see all of my old companions. Afterwords we ate christmas dinner and every missionary recieved a gift bag from president and his  wife. AS a zone we prepared  Silent Night and had to sing it for the mission. I sang the first verse solo and a descant the third and I know that I had extra help because I was able to do it without getting too nervous. Really I have never had a Christmas like this before and in part it is really sad, but in other I feel like it is so much more real. I got two packages from Aunt Jan so that was a nice surprise. 

Really, my heart is pretty full right now of all the things that have happened to me in these past 8 months and the experiences that I have had and the people that I have come to love. I am so grateful that I am here. I love this gospel and my Savior Jesus Christ. Merry CHristmas. I love you guys so much. THank you for helping me come here.

hna Manning

Well, one week more has past and here is what I have to report.

Thanksgiving was pretty eventful. We had a multizona conference and president talked to us about his vision for us and his words are always floating around in my head. Something he said really impacted me. The secret to life is this: Ask and ye shall recieve. I have been thinking a lot about prayer lately and i think there is a lot more to it than we think. President asked us if we were praying before adn after our scripture study and why. He talked about how we pray before to invite the spirit but it is after we have studied the scriptures that we are really prepared to  pray because we then have teh spirit adn now what we need to ask for. He is pretty smart. jejeje.

So other news. Hno Edwin was finally baptized! after weeks and weeks this weekend he decided that he was ready and wanted to do it. It is strange how things happen at the times when we least expect it. 

Well this week was full of other surprises and things I am never going to forget, after the mission I will have a lot of things to tell but they arent things for emails. 

De le, this is a short one, but I love you guys. Please pray for me and my comp. The next cambios are Dec. 5. We will see what happens. AS always you are in my prayers.

hna Manning

Familia!

Well it is officially December although I feel like it is July.  jejeje.... Here is an  update of the weekly happenings.

1. This week as a district we had an activity to contact more people and it was super  tuanis. We put up a stand  with a red backdrop  and  took free photos   of  families for Christmas. We are going to deliver  the fotos to there houses :) and   share the gospel jejejejeje. IT was a lot of work,  but it was really fun and we contacted over 400 people. I am  pretty much  fried,  I look like a tomato jejeje. All the people here   a re putting up  their trees, but Christmas  is different here. It  isnt as big of  a deal. But I  think this  CHristmas is  going to be  the best one ever.

2. We contacted a  member of our ward  who is in a wheel chair and this Cambio has been a cambio of widows. When   we have a little bit of time we visit them and  it   is amazing how incredible they are, and how strong, and  how lonely. When  we visited this  particular widow she began to cry and told us that we are her only sisters because we are the only people that have ever visited her. wow.It pretty much broke my heart. Dont  forget the lonely.

3. Well  in three days are cambios. We will see what happens.

I  love you guys. Please pray for us  to find more families to  teach. Happy diciembre!

hna Manning

Familia!

Well this week was quite the experience. We went to the areas of the elderes in our district to contact and it was a nice change. It was fun to get to see a little more of NIcaragua. However the highlight of my week was this Saturday. We had the baptism of hno  Luis planned but he was facing a lot of opposition in his home and was in the point of leaving Managua put we came to his house in time and talked to him and he told us that he doesnt want to be like that any more, that he is trying to be like CHrist. Wow. We passed by the morning before the baptism and he was reading the Book of Mormon. I think he knows more about its history than I do. jejeje. His desire to learn is incredible. Well the time for the baptism came adn it was incredible. It was simple but beautiful. After he had been baptized I was waiting outside the font to direct him to the bathroom and he stopped and looked into my eyes and he was crying. ¨I felt a burning in my bosom¨ he told me. ¨I went below the water and I felt a burning in my bosom. THank you...thank you..¨ ......wow....We have never talked to him about the different feelings we can recieve through the spirit but he is so sensitive and his words were scriptural. After we had the welcome to the ward I felt prompted to ask if he would bare his testimony which he did. It was such a powerful experience. His testimony was completely pure adn he was practically pleading with a his family and the members there to believe his words and accept the same goodness in their lives. I don´t know why we had the privilege of being part of his baptism but I am so grateful.

 I think this thanksgiving I am especially grateful for the oportunity to watch God working in the hearts of the children of men. I know that miracles exist and that He is the author. I am also so grateful for you guys. It is not every home that has the foundation of celestial laws and I can see here how important that really is. THank you all for helping me feel loved. For helping me feel remembered adn special. More than that, thank you for helping find the path of discipleship. You guys are everything to me and I love you all so much. Happy thanksgiving! Eat something delicious for me and remember ¨Gratitude unlocks the fulness of life. It turns what we have into enough and more.¨ 

hna Manning

Well another week has passed and here are the updates.

1. I am still in Managua with hna Rodriguez. THis was kind of a surprise for us but it is really good becuase we can keep working with the people here that we have been preparing.

2. THe work continues to progress. I dont have any really crazy stories or amazing experiences to share this week. THings are just normal and we are pushing forward like always. We had a miracle in teh church this week as a family came that we had never met before. We have lesson with them this week and hopefully all will go well. We also discovered another family that has been assisting htat we didnt know existed. THe Lord is truly blessing us. Now we just have to teach with the spirit. Please pray for us.

 

I found a quote that I really like the other day:

¨THe formula of faith is hold on, work on, see it through, and let the distress of earlier hours--real or imagined--fall away in the abundance of the final reward.¨ Jeffery R Holland

 

I know that htis is Gods work and that at times he has different plans for us than we have for ourselves but when we press forward with faith the blessings will come. We are preparing a baptism for this weekend of a man named Eduin. Please keep him in your prayers. I love you guys.

 

hna Manning

Well fam,

this week was crazy and I am just going to share two of my favorite memories.

1. This week the whole zone went to the area of some elders to help them contact more families. This is an area exclusively for elderes adn now I know why. THe hermana Rodriguez and I were contacting and talking with a young boy when I heard a whirling noise and felt a small sting and saw a rock smash against the house we where teaching. THe rock hit the hna rodriguez first so she got hte worst of it. We turned around and there was a crazy man in the street glaring at us. La hermana me dijo "vamos" and we started to walk away. THats when I saw him slinging another rock out of hte corner of my eye. IT was about the size of a grapefruit and it nailed me in the ankle. not gonna lie, it wasnt the most pleasant feeling I have felt in the mission. At this point we took off running and he was following us but he couldnt really walk so there wasnt any problem. We were laughing pretty hard, partly because it was kind of funny and partly for hysteria. I officially feel like a real missionary!

 

2. WE had a baptism this weekend of a man named Manuel. He was the first person we contacted here in las americas and it is amazing to so how far we have all come. About 2 weeks into teaching him we decided to stop because we didnt feel like he was progressing and he wasnt coming to church. Well the 3 week he randomly showed up in the chapel and from this point on he hasnt missed and we never have to bring him to church which is a miracle. THis weekend he was baptized and afterwords I asked how he felt. He only said two words but he had tears in his eyes and a smile on his face. 1. Aliviated 2. Triumphant. What a special experience.

 

Well family I love you and would love to hear from you. Please keep me in your prayers. As always you are in mine.

 

Hermana Manning