Bluefields! Baptism!!

This last week was pretty crazy! I went to Bluefields! Let me tell you a little about it.

So on Tuesday at 3 in the morning Elder Lunt and I woke up to head down to bluefields. Bluefields is really far away, so we took the 4 hour bus ride to a city called Rama. Then we took the Panga :) let me tell you what a Panga is... it is a little boat that takes you 2 hours through a river to get to Bluefields. It was super freaking dope! I felt like we were going through the Amazon river, seeing the forest and the nature, and even the houses of people that live on the shore of the river. It was a really chill moment to be able to rest and think about things and rest hahahaha. Then we got to Bluefields! 

River to Bluefields

the "Amazon"

Bluefields is on the Caribbean Coast, which is the first cool thing. It is really hot, but always windy. It smelled like fish and the shore. The fish part wasn't great, but I kinda felt like I was on Huntington Beach for a while. And..... a lot of the people are black! Mostly everyone speaks Spanish, but a lot of them speak an English-Spanish Creol that is impossible to understand, so the majority will understand English. We had some good lessons and contacts in English. So I got to work 2 days with the two companionships down there, including Isaac! It was a lot of fun to work with them. Why??? Because of the people. Seeing that a lot of them are black and come from different cultures, they have a little different attitude. Every single person was super positive. They all let us in, said they would go to church, accepted baptism dates, and were really nice in general. They live in those type of houses that are completely built by wood, which is also super cool. I felt like I was in California, New Orleans and Pirates of the Caribbean all at the same time! Literally an indescribable experience. When it was time to leave on Thursday, I felt like I had been in that area for like 4 changes already because I loved the people so much and didn't want to leave such receptive people. It was hard! But it was a lot of fun down there. The people, the house of the Elders is almost right on the shore and has a nice view, Pan de Coco (Coconut Bread, best thing ever), the Elders down there are awesome, and the panga. Lots of fun!

Elder Lunt and Elder Merrill at Bluefields

Thursday we got back at about 4, and worked the rest of the night! Nothing special for New Years, just work. We did eat dinner with Hermana Fatima, the one who cooks our lunch. She is amazing. I love her and her kids so much. She is a convert along with her 3 kids, and they will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Friday, New Years! Just worked normal.

Saturday was Carlos Moises's baptism! Everything went smoothly, so that was a lot of fun. He also got confirmed on Sunday! We then just went around trying to get people committed to church.

 

 

Sunday was another good day at church. We have some good investigators right now, and are looking good for the month of January in our area. Please pray for Julio, Guadalupe, Fernanda, Jon Edward, Jose Alvarez, and Gustavo. They need your help! We need the Lord's help in all things. Elder Medrano and I also contacted an Alcoholics Anonymous Group! Bunch of guys that are trying to recover from addictions. It was actually kind of funny because to help these guys, in the room they allow them to smoke and there is coffee. hmmm. Stopping one addiction, while starting another. oh well!

This morning we played some more basketball. That was fun, especially because we had a net to play with! 

That is about it. I can't believe we are already in 2016. I get scared sometimes with how fast time is going, but this brings an even better opportunity to Preach the Gospel! I love you all so much! Have a great week!

Elder Merrill

Love you Mo! #TeamLileForever #B1

My great friend, Franklin and Elder Copeland