¡¡Feliz año nuevo!!

Querido Family y Friends,Hola Hola! Man what a fun week huh?? Happy New Years!! I cannot believe it is already here. The Nicas celebrate the new years with FIREWORKS. a ton of fireworks. I am sending a few pictures of me and "El Viejo" Or the Old Man. I guess that is a saying in the states too right? like the old man is dying and a baby is being born or something? Im actually still not sure if its a saying or a old tradition or what. Whatever. Anyways every household (who can afford it) makes a scarecrow like thing and then fills it chalk full of fireworks. And then at Midnight they all blow them up. So....I totally went to bed at the usual 10:30 and then at midnight i thought a war broke out or something. It was SO LOUD!! Like the explosions started and the next thing i knew i was out of my bed and panicking! ...I dont acually remember getting up--it super scared me! Oh Well.......Also for new years we had 3 dinners!! Like thats all everyone wanted to do is feed us. oh and i accidentally drank some alcohol.(do you like how i just snuck that in there?)---- LET ME EXPLAIN.--- One of our active members who comes every week, Fransisco, gave me some eggnog. And i took a little swig when He gave it to me and then i heard Ruiz say-"This smells funny!" oops. Then Fransisco was like "There is only a little bit of Alcohol in it.-8 ounces!" Okay, I dont know alot about cuantity of alcohol--but that sounds like A TON to me!!! ah well. You live and learn. :D I believe it was a transgression because i didnt know it was in there. Yup. Case closed. haha.So what else is going on in good old Nicaragua? not a whole lot. I made some goals this week. Lets talk about that. :D Elder M. Russell Ballard said that we make goals so that we can step by step achieve our divine potential. He Said without goals we can never become the people that God knows we can be. So to set goals we should ponder what we want to become, and then we set goals accordingly to become that person.And then We Pray, and promise Heavenly Father we will do all we can to achieve these goals. These worthy Goals. M. Russel Ballard also said-"If your goals are righteous, then go for them." Then with help of Heavenly Father, We practice self discipline and fight to make our goals realities. And then He said this "We have to have faith. We have to have faith in God. We have to have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, how desperately we have to have faith in ourselves." Have faith that you can change. With the Atonement of Jesus Christ and some self discipline- everyone can change. Sure, It will be hard--but you can do it. Everyone has room to be better. SO....i hope everyone has set their goals for 2012! How wierd is it that I will be in the mission field for THE ENTIRE YEAR?! super wierd. Im kinda wigging out about it! It is going to be a great year though. I hope you all have a great week! Love you all!!-Hermana Barrett

Post Christmas- Pre New Years Trunkies

HEY LOVELIES! So good to talk to you yesterday. That is like the understatement of the year. I loved every minute of it. Thanks for the encouragement and love and support! I love you guys. After we hung up i remembered something President had told us. He said when we call our families to have them feel better about your mission when they hang up than when they answered the phone. Did i do that yesterday?? Im not sure. Especially since I told whitney and Maddy about the guy who got killed right before i hung up. Sorry. Bad timing on my part. thats an ease into it subject. haha. So, since i spoke to you guys yesterday and already know what happened this week, i thought id tell you a few things of what ive been learning.
1. Heavenly Father is patient. I have just been overwhelmed with this fact. He is always there, just waiting to give us blessings, comfort,knowledge, or whatever we need-but he will not force us to do anything. So he just waits and waits and waits for us to ask. I know that prayer is literally speaking with our Father. It is powerful. I also knows that it is 2 sided. He will answer. Prayer is everything. I firmly believe that that is where the power in missionary work comes, because we are just constantly praying. A phrase ive heard here that has inspired me is "pray like it all depends on God, and then Work like it all depends on you." which brings us to number 2
2. Work. holy guacamole--this is way harder than i thought it would be. It is hard in every aspect. Physically, emotionally, mentally....i cant think of any other ways but ITS HARD! I feel like i am literally in the Refiners Fire. And wow, i have a ton of things to be better in. I am learning that if Heavenly Father wants you to learn something, you will learn it-one way or another. So you just have to try your best to try and figure out what that is, and then be better! (simple as that?) No its really hard. I am also learning however, that stress is not a bad thing. Stress helps us to be better.
3. The church is perfect-the people are not. Wow i am learning that no one is perfect. Especially not me. But everyone is trying. It is so sad to see people leave the church and all the blessings there in for something stupid. Like recent converts who quit coming to church after a year because the missionaries dont visit anymore. Or because they dont like the bishop. I love a quote that is on Shauna Young´s wall: "Heaven, dont miss it for the world." Dont miss out on eternity because of some little petty thing. Which leads me to another thing
4. Know for yourself. I believe this is the key to achieving eternal life. If you know it for yourself, if you truly understand all of the blessings and happiness you could have, you will live the gospel to the best of your ability, and therefore You will be happy. Your personal knowledge is the key. That is why it is so important to know for yourself. Know your Savior. Know how to repent. Know how to make and keep sacred covenants. Learn about the gospel. I think people sometimes dont understand the grand picture of it. I am just figuring it out a little by little. I guess this should go back in #3, but the church is Perfect. It was truly established by the Savior-it is perfect. Everything we do has a purpose. It is beautiful! I feel so extremely blessed to have been a part of it my whole life. I feel like I am learning so much about the gospel, and the more i learn the more I understand--Its true. I know it. I will never be able to doubt it. I know that its real. Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Atonement, the First Vision, Its real. And since Heavenly Father knows that we are so quick to doubt, He has told us-test me. Ask me-and I will tell you. I know that if you have any doubts, just ask Heavnly Father-and you will find out for yourself. What an amazing promise. How blessed are we right???? I feel just amazing lucky to be apart of it. Anywho, I hope that you all have a super awesome week! I love you all! -Hermana Barrett

Feliz Navidad!

Hola familia!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!! I cant believe its already here! So crazy. This week was...short. Funny story, I got bit by a dog on tuesday! Not very fun, I would not recommend it. Its not even a cool story or anything. We just walked up to Dora and Ceasers house, and like always their two dogs were chillin out front and then we walked up to their open door and Ruiz yelled Buenas! and i took a step to enter, and their third dog (who knew they had 3 dogs?!) Ran up and bit me on my right leg like almost behind my knee. like right on the side up there. it didnt hurt very bad, but it scared me alot because i didnt even see the stinkin thing! I just took a step then my leg hurt like a mother. and then Ceaser, sweet Ceaser, wanted to help me out, so he ran over to a pulperia (little store) and bought something to clean it with. and then I learned a cool new thing: Rubbing Alcohol+Bleeding Dog bite=muchisimo pain.But no one freak out because their dogs have their vaccinations. Im not foaming at the mouth or anything. Its totally fine now, just colorful. but im sending a picture of my leg now, and the first day it happened. You can totally see the red circle from all its stinkin teeth! Ouch!What else happened this week. OH YEAH! i got to call home to set up a time for christmas! Such a highlight of the week! It made me laugh so hard how you answered dad. "hello?" "Hey dad!! Whats up??" "Not much, How are you---WHO IS THIS?!" hahaha anyways for christmas we had a christmas activity as a mission, and They had me and Elder Arnold play the prelude music. at the activity we sang and played games and there was this huge slippin slide (good thing i spent an hour on my hair!) and then we had a christmas dinner of Turkey and rolls and mashed potatoes. SO GOOD. and So since i played the cello for them my comp and i got to stay in Managua for 2 nights (because the reunion was like half missionaries one day, the rest the next day..and i just HAD to go to both activities.) and president invited us to dinner at Porterhouse Steaks with him and his whole family, and all the missionaries who went home yesterday. It was SO NICE. like even for the states. how lucky am i right?? It was a really great christmas activity though. Super trunky. I am ready to talk to you guys. Man! I love christmas. Such a great reminder of the amazing love our Heavenly Father has for us. He gave us His son. What profound love. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His Only Begotten Son." The more I learn about the Savior: His characteristics and the truthfullness of His Mission, the more I understand the sentance-I stand all amazed. And then I ask myself: What am I going to give the Savior for Christmas? or more than that-what am i going to give up? How can i become more like Him? I have learned so much about The Savior here. and something I have learned-something I know now more than any other time in my life is that He lives. What comfort this sweet sentance gives. He Lives. I obviously dont have any money to give gifts to everyone. But I think that this is the best gift i could give the people of Nicaragua. The Knowledge that He lives. Because that is true, life can be better. So, that is what i will be doing this week...and for 14 more months--Spreading the good word! Merry Christmas Everyone!! Love you! -Hermana Barrett

What did Mr. Rogers say when he got hit by a car? It's a beautiful day on my neighbor's hood. HAHAHAHA (it gets me everytime)

Buenas Tardes Fam!I hope everyone is happy and healthy this week. I gotta tell you, I had a great week. We had another Miracle. Their Names are Dora and Ceaser. i know i told you about them before, but OH MY GOSH!! They are so cool!! Let me tell you, they are the first family I´ve had the privledge to find, teach and BAPTIZE.I think I already told you about how we found them, just wandering around and then i felt like we should knock a door, but when we got to the door all we heard was people fighting but we knocked anyways and Ceaser answered and (I am so excited to tell you I cant use more than one sentance.) and he was just like Oh! hermanas! come on in! and we were like You know who we are? and he was like Yeah, the missionaries! And so then we taught the first lesson.Everytime we went back something awesome happened. They would share something really personal and just let us in a little bit more, or they would make us milk and cookies, or once Dora was talking to us about the other church she was baptized in. I thought it was super cool. She was like: I never felt the spirit in that church. People would always start wailing or talking in tongues or fall to the ground with "the spirit". I dont think the spirit works like that. I think I feel it when you are here.---GOLDEN. It was such a priveledge to get to teach them. This baptism was way special because they were the first people I ever asked like straight up to be baptised. The other super cool thing that happened was that on wednesday we went to teach them with the DL´s and on our way there Dora passed us going the opposite direction with their kids. but we felt like we should still go teach Ceaser anyways. So we went and I taught the word of wisdom (another first) and we had decided to not talk about baptism again because they had said they didnt want to be pressured. So we were just talking after the lesson and we said something like--You are a son of God. He has sent you here to become the person you want to be. So what are you going to do? And he said--When is that baptism again?? And we were like This saturday! And he was like If Dora is ready, I am ready. So we came back the next day and told Dora that (apparently they dont talk at night??) and she was like--Well, Lets do it then! and so Saturday, The 10th of December (4 months to the day i came) We baptised a family. It was such an amazing experience. Ugh! I just love them! I am going to send you a picture of them, and then some pictures of this super huge tree that is out by their house. I thought it was so super cool! I could like fit in the roots. and there was this super huge spider nest right next to me. ugh! Anyways, that was my week! I have total faith that next week will be just as cool. Anyways, I love you guys--See ya! Hermana Barrettp.s. right now in the cyber where i am titanic music is playing in really corny spanish. it is so funny!

Life is Beautiful.

Good Afternoon everyone! I sure hope everyone is happy and healthy this week.This week i had the opportunity to go to Managua. (we had to go to managua-i didnt want to, because it is 3 hours away by bus, but Ruiz had to renew her Nicaraguan license) It was actually really fun though! But dude! Story! So we get there after the 3 hour bus ride, and sorry to be gross, but i had to go. and so we walk up to this little hut with a old lady infront of it. I thought she was in line for the bathroom or something. wrong-o. Cual numero? (what number??) And then i (not knowing to what she was refering) was like um...uno? apparently i guessed the wrong number cuz i didnt get any toilet paper. (again, sorry to be groady, but i have to tell someone!!!) then i went into "the bathroom".. Oh my gosh. HOVER OF MY LIFE. then i came out and had to pay 4 cordobas. what?!?! hahaha ENOUGH SAID. Then we went to the distribution center and i bought the last two ensigns in english! woot woot! rock on! Then we went to this El Salvador restraunt and got pupussas. I think thats how you spell it, but whatever--they were delicious. I have pictures,but my camera is dead. Tomorrow im going to Managua again for a meeting. awesome! (no, it will really be fun this time.)Remember Dora and Ceaser? They are still really cool. Actually now i think they are even cooler. We have found out some more about their lives. Man-they have both had really hard lives. They both had trouble with drugs, and consequently Dora was in jail for 2 years, and Ceaser was aswell for 10 years. But they both want to change. It is so cool to be able to tell them with full asurety that they can be forgiven for all their sins through baptism. (we already checked it out, they can both be baptised.) What an amazing atonement right? The gospel is so beautiful. It gives you a new chance with baptism, and then every week. It is easy to tell that Heavenly Father loves us, and he really wants us back. because he gave us every chance to repent. This experience with them has also made me SO grateful for my life. Wow. I have so many blessings. My life is easy. I´ve been given every benefit of life. Especially with having been raised in the gospel. My heart is full. I love you all, and I hope you have a great week! -Hermana Barrett

!!!THANKSGIV........just another week in the beautiful NICARAGUA!

Alli and another sister from the states

Thanksgiving Dinner

Hola hola everyone! I hope you guys all had a lovely thanksgiving. We had a great week here in Esteli. We had changes this week! Not gonna lie, it feels pretty great to not be the newest gringa anymore. FWA HAHAHA. Thats right, there is officially someone that speaks worse spanish than me. IT IS POSSIBLE. ¡tuanis! This week we did alot of contacting. We found this guy named Ignasio (NACHO) JUST LIKE THE MOVIE. how cool is that right? Not gonna lie, as I walked away i turned around and yelled "Adios NACCCCHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" it took me back. Anyways, about this guy. He has been taught by missionaries like 4 times. The problem here is that He is trying to learn english. and he speaks pretty good, so i was talking with him in English like-Do you know that this church is true? And he was like-yeah, i do. And so i got real excited and i was like-dude then why are you not baptized?? And he was like--The missionaries never taught me English.----wait, what? what on earth does that have to do with you getting baptized? Then he explained-The missionaries came and taught me about the church or whatever, but how is that going to bless my life. If you want to help me, teach me english. The missionaries always said they were going to, but they never did. That is why I am not a member. If the people cant keep their word and teach me english then they dont have the authority to teach church either." I kinda machetied him alot. I was like "I am a missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am not here to teach you english. I am here to teach you the gospel of Jesus Christ. That knowledge will bless your life, and the lives of your family infinitely more than english will. Do you think people in America are always happy? Do you think life is so much better there than here? I am here to tell you it is not. You can be happy here, and the way to that happiness is through making and keeping promises with Heavenly Father. If you know the church is true, then you should be baptized. That is the first step to happiness." That seemed to do the trick. We will be going back to teach tonight. I´ll keep ya´ll posted. ;D Yesterday was kinda a cool day too. For primary we watched the video of when nephi had to return to get the gold plates. and there is a scene right after Lehi recieves revelation that they need to leave jerusalem and he goes and shakes Nephi to wake him up. Okay, this scene made me super trunky. It like slapped me in the face with memories. I immedietly thought of October 5th of last year, when Dad woke up and found mom in like a coma-ish state (when the funk hit the fan) and then He immedietly came and woke me up. Okkkkay...thats enough--needless to say i was kinda sad yesterday. So i was praying alot. ´Father, please help me to be happy. Help us to find a family to teach so i can have someone else to focus on.´ So then we went to work. We were tracting for like an hour and a half and it was just meeting and saying goodbye to people. No one was interested. BUT THEN. :D We walked up to this house and we could just hear a husband and wife fighting, but the spirit told me to knock anyways. So we did. and The husband, Ceaser, came to the door like "oh, come on in hermanas." and we were totally shocked. You know who we are? and he was like- Yeah, youve been here before.... --Fun fact, WE HAVE NEVER BEEN TO THAT HOUSE. Ruiz didnt even know that this street was part of our area. How crazy is that right? after talking with them for a bit we found out that like a year ago some sisters had contacted there--but they recognized us as those missionaries. How wierd right? So we talked with Ceaser and his wife Dora and ugh! they are just great people. vamos a poner un fecha tan pronto. oh crap, i dont know how to say that in english. lets see here. we are going to ask a date soon? like ask them to be baptized soon? we are going to put a date soon? i dont know. I am way excited about them though. Happy thanksgiving! Not gonna lie, Thanksgiving in Nicaragua--nothing to write home about. HAHA! oh man i crack myself up.---I just went to a planning meeting, and then hermana Atkisson rushed in and was like "BARRETT!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!" I had totally forgotten. after she told me though i was yet again trunky. i think that is going to happen alot in the next month. another thing that me puse trunky was when i heard that song "baby i love your way" by Peter Frampton. such a good song. aaaaaanyways. im sending a picture of my riquisimo thanksgiving dinner (Gullo-pinto, huevos y un tortilla) and the other is of me and Hermana Arredondo (My amazing mission president´s wife.) UGH! SHE IS SO COOL! Something i was studying this week is virtue. Let garnish thy thoughts unceasingly. Ive heard it a million times. Its so wierd how the mission like makes thing make sense. I love D&C 121: 45 and expecially 46. here she is:
45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
46 The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.
Look at that. The holy ghost with be with you always AND WITHOUT EFFORT IT WILL JUST FLOW UNTO YOU FOREVER. I was thinking-do you think president Monson has to fight and struggle to feel the spirit? no. I am sure he has learned this characteristic of christ. this is something i will be working on the rest of my mission. trying to focus on virtuous thoughts. and also following the spirit. I heard an amazing talk from President Bednar when i was in the mtc. He said "the number one question i get asked by members is: How do i know when i recieve promptings from the spirit, or if it is just my own thoughts?--My answer will probably suprise you---QUIT WORRYING ABOUT IT. Be a good boy-be a good girl. Keep your commandments and Heavenly Father will lead you where you need to be." I thought that was so super cool. I hope that we can all be a little more virtous this week!
I sure love you all!
Hermana Barrett

Just another day in Paradise...

¡Hola Hola Familia!How is everything going up yonder? Nice and cold and wintery and stormy? Not gonna lie, the weather is beautiful here. Last night it got a little chilly though-almost 65 degrees. I almost had to put on a long sleeve shirt. hahaha almost. :D This week was pretty chill. Just contacting and contacting and contacting. Looking for the chosen. We almost had a baptism. again that stinking word:almost. The problem there is that the wife doesnt want to get married. The husband, Domingo, Has come to church twice on his own accord and is ready to get baptised. But He was just like "whatever she wants to do is fine with me". His wife, Marabeili, is way shy and doesnt really like to talk or be the center of attention, so when we were teaching she got really uncomfortable and just wouldnt talk. So then the next day we went back to check up on if she had made up her mind yet. We got there and yelled the customary "Buenas!" and then we just heard shushed voices and shuffling around and then Their daughter, Antonia, answered the door. Antonia is 16 and has been going to another church for the last 7 years. She doesnt want anything to do with our church, and so when she answered the door we were a little shocked. But then we realized why. She was just like My mom doesnt want to get married or baptized. And we were like, can we talk to her? She told us she wasnt there. and then we asked for Domingo, and she told us he was sleeping. How sad right? People are just afraid to take on any responsibility here. We are also having a really hard time in our branch for that reason as well. Recent converts will come and get excited about the church and then the President will give them a calling, and then they will stop coming to church-because they just hate responsibility. They are also afraid to teach classes. Okay, I dont really blame them on that one. Who likes to teach? I sure dont, i get nervous and my hands shake every talk or lesson I ever give. But that is how I am learning. That is something i am figuring out alot here. Stess is not always a bad thing. Too much stress for alot of time can make you really sick because your body cant be in that state for very long. But just a little bit of stress helps you to grow. Like spanish for example. Lets be honest here, spanish is hard. Sometimes i will really feel spanish.Like in our lesson last night for example. I thought it was going great. We were teaching the restoration to Victor y Sareili and i had just finished teaching them about how when Christ came to the earth He established His church with 4 pillars:A prophet and 12 apostles, the Priesthood, Revelation, and the scriptures, and then i explained how we have all of these pillars in the church today and then my companion took over to reiterate the point. And she was like so when Christ was killed what happened to the pillars of His church? (they fell, and that is why we needed a restoration) and Victor was like "What pillars? I have no idea what the cheila (white girl) just said" ....CHUPA. What is the point in telling you this story???...Oh i remember. Spanish is hard. But I am not going to learn it unless i practice. Sure they had no clue what i was saying, but maybe the next family will. Life is all about learning how to become the person you want to be. The person Heavenly Father knows you can be. That is why we have trials and hard things in our life. To help us to grow. Heavenly Father knows the divine potential that each of us have. I was reading in Jesus the Christ this week (Amazing book--Who knew?) and i found something i had always wondered about but never knew. Did you know that Christ also had the veil of forgetfullness placed on His mind when He came to earth? Do you know what that means? He had to find out who He was, just like all of us do. He didnt know His divine role. He learned who He was little by little. Wow, right? That is the same thing each of us do every day. Every day we are learning and growing. Now what you are learning is up to you. Are you learning to be more like our savior? Or are you learning to be more like Man? That is something I have been thinking about this week-Am I working towards being the person Heavenly Father wants me to be? I dont know, but I am trying. And that is what its all about. Trying. That is why we go to church every week to take the sacrament-because we are trying to be more worthy. That is why we have our family and personal scripture study every day-because we are trying to learn how to be more like Christ. That is why I wake up every day at a ridiculously early hour, because I am trying to find the Lord´s chosen. Heavenly Father knows we are not perfect. That is why he just asks us to try. He just wants our best effort, and then when we still fall short of perfect, We have a Savior to make up the rest. The Great Mediator, Jesus Christ. That is how we become Perfected through Christ. How great is this gospel right? I am lovin it! I hope you guys can see how much I love and appreciate this gospel. It is seriously everything to me. I know without a shadow of a doubt that this is the only true church on the Earth today. I know that this is literally the Church of Jesus Christ. The church that He established when he was on this earth. I feel amazingly blessed to be a part of it. Have a great week family and friends! Love you all! Thanks for all the support and love, I´m feelin it. :D -Hermana Barrrrrt