Baptize and Retain

Basically every day we talk about how this mission, La Mision Nicaragua Managua Sur, is the best mission in the entire world. And over the last month or two, I have really come to understand why. And why is that? Because we have one purpose. Baptize and Retain. I have learned so much from President Russell in my time here, and he has helped me to understand a lot more the importance of these things. In whatever we are doing, we have a purpose. So we just need to completely focus ourselves on that purpose and get the best out of it. Here is a quick update on the week and then I'll talk more about this.

First off... there is something that I did two weeks ago, and I forgot to tell you guys! So we were waiting at a church for some sisters to show up, and some guy walked out with a legit, nice basketball. Like a FILA one that you can actually function with. And the court at that church just happened to have nets.... it was so awesome. It was only like 15 minutes, but it was pretty incredible. My mid range game is still pretty good don't worry too much :) however, my whole body was sore for about 2 days after. So it'll take a little time for my body to recover, but I should be back to normal shape in no time :)

So Tuesday, we had the Verification, Training Meeting with my son! He is doing good. I am just hoping to get my first American son next change, but we will see what happens :) then we went back into the area and worked! Wednesday we did the same.

Let me tell you a little bit about what is going on in this mission. The goal we put for August was 300 baptisms. Yeah that is a lot. And right now... the mission is struggling a lil bit, except for our Zone. Which means... a lot more pressure from the APs to get as many baptisms as we can out of what we already have. The most baptisms this Zone has EVER HAD is 23 baptisms. And we did that in January and May. Right now.... we have 22 baptisms with two weeks to go in the month. We are not only trying to beat the record.. we are trying to destroy it! We are going for 40, and we have a legit chance. So these weeks have been really stressful. I have gone to sleep thinking about baptizing 40 and woken up with the same thought. And all we have been doing this last week is we have been visiting all the possibilities that we have for the 22nd and 29th of this month. And there are a lot! Since Thursday... I have never walked so much in my entire life. But I have been able to meet and work with a whole lot of people! Pray for 40! 

Saturday we baptized Juan! He is so cool, and so cute :)

 

 

Alright, so back to that first paragraph, what have I learned from my mission? As I have talked about before, hard work. WORK BRINGS RESULTS. It's that simple. I have learned to work, completely focusing on my purpose to Baptize and Retain. The reason I never send home crazy pictures of me doing crazy things, is because that doesn't happen here. And for those of you that know me well, you now know that this is the perfect mission for me, because we are not here just to enjoy ourselves (I am enjoying the journey just in a different way). Everything we do is focused on baptizing. Sometimes the lack of freedom seems unnecessary, but I learn that it's all for good and helps us to become better. I have also learned the importance of understanding. That is the biggest difference between our church and the rest. Understanding. If we understand things, we complete. As we strenghthen our testimonies and our knowledge, we begin to understand God's plan and how things need to be. And from that, we work harder, are more obedient, and show more love to God's children, because we understand that that is what we need to do. Hard Work, Obedience and Understanding!

Love you all! Thanks for your support!

Elder Merrill