Week 55: Story time!‏

Dear family and friends,

It has been a very blessed week here in Pancasan 3!  A la grande, I don`t want to leave.  We`ll have to see what Wednesday brings.

Story time!

¨Stomach Full of Love¨: On Friday, we had district meeting and then lunch.  Lunch was a large bowl of hot soup (why Granadinos love to eat hot soup when it`s blazing hot outside is still a mystery to me).  So, the thing with soup is that all the liquid makes you REALLY full.  We start regular proselyting and one hour later, Hna. Karen, a recent convert, gives us a small plate of arroz aguado.  It`s not my favorite dish, because the texture is terrible, but it was prepared with a lot of love.  Therefore, we smiled and ate.  One hour later, we`re with Luis Alberto (who was baptized in January) and he says, ¨Do you like pinolillo?¨ We can`t say no, so he disappears and comes back a few minutes later with TWO PITCHERS of pinolillo (affectionately called, ¨the dirt drink,¨ made of corn and cacao).  I couldn`t even look at Hermana Quezada, we were both trying so hard not to laugh or cry.  I proceeded to sneakily pick out a dead fly and another unidentifiable live bug from my drink as I downed that pitcher full of love.  I only had mild stomach issues for the next day and a half, which really may just have been psychological.  Just another day in Nicaragua...

¨El Nuevo Mundo Traducción de las Santas Escrituras¨:  On Tuesday, we went to visit Luis Alberto (all my funny stories involve that man), and his ¨wife¨ Manuela was there.  Some days she loves us and tells me repeatedly that my eyes are gorgeous.  Other days she tells us that Joseph Smith was a false prophet and the Mormons are crazy and nobody should have seven wives.  We caught her on a good day, and in a moment of inspiration my companion asked her to bring her Bible (she used to be a Jehovah`s witness).  We showed her some of the verses that have been taken out of their version of the Bible, and her eyes got huge and she was completely shocked.  The more we shared, the more she loved us and started criticizing her former religion.  Comments from Manuela: ¨They had my eyes blindfolded.  Ay de aquel que le quite o le ponga a la Biblia.  I love what you teach about the priesthood.  I`m going to get baptized.¨  She is now super positive and has her date for the 25th of July.

¨The Enchilada Lesson¨:  On Saturday night, we were hungry and frustrated and low on numbers due to several different factors.  It was 8:10 and we were short a lesson, several contacts, and a recent convert or less active lesson.  My companion says, ¨Okay, we`re going to see what this lady is selling and contact at the same time.¨ The hermana has enchiladas, but they still have to be fried, so she offers us a chair while we wait.  There`s another lady waiting there with her two daughters.  We introduce ourselves and launch into a quick lesson about the importance of going to church.  The hermana, Francis, says, ¨Sure, I`d love to go to church with you!  Pass by tomorrow to pick me up. ¨ Sweet!  But everyone says that, and hardly anyone goes to church.  So on Sunday, we pass by at 1:00 just to verify and find her house before the 2:00 meeting.  She`s already dressed and waiting for us.  Well, that was a miracle!  So we tell her we`re coming back and pick her up in a taxi right before church.  She stayed for Sacrament Meeting but had to leave quickly afterward.  She was smiling and happy!

Wow, I could write so much more, but I`m out of time.  I love you lots!  The gospel is true!

-Hermana Ali Hansen

Photos:

1) with the branch president and convert of 19 months, Presidente Velasquez and his wife, their two sons, Hna. Karen his sister-in-law and her two kids.  They invited us over to eat nacatamales last night!

2) Zona Granada eating p-day pizza!

3) The foot doctor from last week cut just the corner of another toenail that was NOT ingrown and resulted in giving me a worse ingrown toenail than the other two.  So we called a friend of Hna. Melixza to come fix it during our lunch hour.  It`s still infected and swollen, so we`ll see how that goes...