Staying in Jinotega

Hey everybody,

  Alright, let´s see how fast I can type... 

  First of all, I want to thank everyone who has sent words of encourage int these last couple weeks. They were greatly appreciated and helped lift my spirits. 

  Good news! I´m staying in Jinotega for my last transfer! Yay! This is where I wanted to finish the mission! I´m determined to leave my area better than I found it. 

We had four investigators at church yesterday. We found this new family named Maricela and José who commited to going to church and when we passed by for them, Maricela and her two kids were all ready to go to church! (José got called in to work last minute). Then another investigator, a teenager named Jonathon, came to church on his own AND brought a friend! It´s a cool story how we found Jonathon. We were contacting this Catholic lady and talking to her at her door and Jonathon was on the porch buying something at the house (beans, I think) and he overheard us. Then we went to knock a door across the street and a few minutes later, Jonathon´s mom called to us and said her son was interested in hearing our message and asked when we could come to their house. Sweet! THIS is what prepared souls looks like! Ah, I´m so done with working with unprepared people who aren´t willing to act. We´re not here to beg people to come unto Christ; we´re here to invite. And those who are prepared will be ready to act and happy to accept the invitation. I just need to open my mouth to testify! I did divisions in Matagalpa this week and met an awesome lady who started reading the Book of Mormon 7 years ago when someone gave a copy to her husband, but she never got the chance to talk with Mormon missionaries until a few weeks ago. She is GOLD. The Book of Mormon already had a special place in her heart. She said she always knew there were prophets in the Holy Lands, but she always wondered, "What about here? In the Americas?" and that she has been able to learn so much from the Book of Mormon that she never knew. She said, "All this time, I´ve had a treasure and I didn´t even know it." Ah, it was so cool! It totally strengethened my testimony of the Book of Mormon. I know that if people will just read it with a genuine interest, and not with a critical eye, looking for faults, they will feel that it is true. Oh, and the coolest part is... this is a teacher in an Evangelical church and even used the Book of Mormon in her teaching! I was also able to meet some other elect people the sisters in Matagalpa have found and it awakened in me a great desire to go our and find, find, find! I know there are many elect people in Jinotega too. We´re gonna find them and baptize them! I´ve also been thinking about one of my favorite talks: "Being Grateful in our Circumstances" by Elder Uchtdorf. I think I still have a lot to learn about gratitude. And I think if I can focus on being more grateful this transfer, even in the hard times, I will find joy in the end of my mission. 

  Today we cleaned the house super well and re-arranged all the furniture. Ah, it feels good to have everything all clean and organized. Welp, I´m totally out of time. I love you all and looks forward to seeing you in 6 weeks! (How´s that, Russell? ;) haha)