Family,

It feels like I was just writing yesterday. The time is flying here. Important items of business:

1. I won the luck for the month. It is really easy to be the first one to say rabbits when your comp doesnt speak English..jejeje

2. I am officially official. I have my cedula for Nicaragua - which is like a license- and it is terrible. I am smirking like a gangster. You know how I roll.

3. This week the rain was rediculous. I dont think I have ever been more soaked through in my life, and ....I cant believe I am writing this... but for a few minutes I actually felt cold. Yeah...weird... I know. The rain poured, and I mean poured. When the thunder cracks here it is for, at times 20 seconds or more and I can feel it in my chest. The power is always out which makes it hard to teach but I love the rain. THis week I leant my umbrella to my zone leader and he returned it to me a few days later. THat same day the rain was pouring and I went to open my umbrella and it was completely broken. One half was flappy adn the other stuck straight out. Needless to say I looked rediculous and Hermana Monrroy adn I were dying we were laughing so hard. We tried to use a street that we normal use and it was completely flooded and had a current. THis did not deture us. It should have. We got less than half way up and had to turn around because we were laughing so hard and almost fell 3 or 4 times. By the time we made it back to drier - less muddy- ground there was a gathering of children watching us.  

4. This weekend our investigator CHristian was baptized adn it was such a special experience. He has been reading the Book of Mormon like crazy and praying adn it is like he is a completely different pearson. We passed him on the street today and he was reading the church handbook of instructions....he doesnt even have a calling....yet :) After his baptism he came up to me adn thanked me for all that  I have done to help him. He told me that he we always be grateful for me because he doesnt know if he would have ever come to Christ without me.....wow....I cant begin to tell you the feelings in my heart at hearing this. I dont feel like I did anything. He is so willing to act and in reality that is what is most important, but I have never felt more like I was fulfilling my missionary purpose than in that moment. What a privilege it was to see his conversion. Hopefully I will have some pictures for you in the email to follow.

 

Well family. I love you all. I know with all my heart that this church is true adn that God is always reaching out to us with unimaginable blessings if we will just accept them into our lives. THank you for your prayers. 

 

Hermana Manning

Familia!

Wow, this last week was incredible. Elder Martino of hte 70 came to our mission and because I was in the choir we spent the last week traveling and  attending conferences adn singing. What an amazing experience. We sang Yo Se Que Vive Mi Senor, and for the first verse we had a quartet and I sang the seprano part....yeah never thought that I would say that jejeje. We had to sacrifice every PDay this cambio for practices, but it was absolutely worth it. I will try to relate everything...so here it comes.

Elder Martino likes to use what we call here machetes. Pretty much we sat through two straight days of ¨constructive criticism¨and it was amazing.... and a little intense....and a little scary...and completely life altering.

The first conference was here in my area and all of us gathered in the sTake Center to recieve training. THe first part of hte morning president spoke as well as Elder Martino which was amazing, and in the afternoon he opened it up to a question and answer session. For part of it he called me and my companion up to give an example adn answer some questions....talk about pressure..jeje...pero it was super good, adn luckly we knew the answers. More importantly though, it was an opportunity to excersize faith and recieve direct counsel from a 70. To close the session I asked him how we can give our will to the Lord always and he closed the training by talking to us about hte power of the atonement...... it is amazing how much easier it is to see the need for the atonement after we can see all of our sins and weaknesses. It is amazing how beautiful and liberating the atonement when first we can see the captivity brought upon us by our bad use of agency. Overall the experience was incredible, but it didnt end there. 

All of us loaded up into a bus...well first hna Monrroy and I had to run home adn pack and then run....and I literally mean run...to catch the bus for the choir. We looked rediculous running through teh streets with our things and the sun was piping hot. We thought it was hilarious adn I am pretty sure that the people here think los mormones son locos...jeje. 

But anyway, we all loaded into a bus and headed for Managua where 13 of us sisters spent the night in one house. Talk about a sister missionary sleep over. We arrived and talked quietly for a while and then said our prayers adn went to bed... we are party animals. But seriously it was an amazing experience. THe Hermanas aqui are incredible, I am pretty sure the Lord sends his best to Nicaragua Managua Norte :) 

THe next morning was day 2 of the conferences and day 2 of machetes. WE talked about the  importance of baptism, and more than that the necesity to baptize and work with Priesthood holders because with out them, we  are creating areas in which the church lacks leadership and therefore the abiltiy to create stakes. It is amazing how much thought and organization goes into every aspect of the church adn how important the correct vision is. With out structure, leadership, and retention, missionary work creates more problems then it helps. It was a serious call to repentance for us, but it was exactly what we needed to hear. When I arrived, I was told this is the best mission in the world, and I truly believe that. IN the past, things where going really well here, but know I have a greater hope for the future. I know this is hte power of the atonemet. This is the hope that comes from knowing that no matter where we are, there is a better future and the past can be forgiven. 

THis cambio we spent more than 70 hours in buses traveling for practices and conferences, making the trip from Managua to Chinandega over and over again. We returned in the same buses on the same streets, but we are different now, and that is the power of the atonement. Our cirucmstances may not change but our hearts do. 

Well I have a lot more to say but I dont have time or space so I hope you can feel that testimony that I have in this email. The future is as bright as your faith.

hna Manning