Happy (Late) Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!!!

I'm sorry but I guess I didn't realize a couple of weeks ago that I should have wished you all a merry christmas! My bad folks! But better late than never right? I hope everyone had a great holiday surrounded with family and freinds and that santa was able to make it to all of your homes! If he made it here to me in Nicaragua, I am sure he managed to make it to you!
     So I will just give you a quick run down of how my holiday went because I have lots of great things to share this week in my letter. So the 24th was a great day! It was a normal missionary type day except for at night we ate the traditional gallina rellena with the second counselor of our stake presidency and his family. That was really fun. Then the 25th I got to talk to my family!!!!! That was the greatest hour of my whole day and it was by far my favorite Christmas!
       Now to share what happened after Christmas. Number 1: My companion and I were walking to visit an investigator we have named Jose and on the way we were debating on what exactly to share with him because we both had been kinda feeling that we were going to stop visiting him. We were both feeling that he either didn't like us visiting him or he just didn't really care about anything we had to say. We came up with a couple of scriptures just in time as we arrived at his house. We walked up to the fence and yelled " Buenas"!!! A few minutes later Jose comes walking out of his house wearing a shirt that said (in english) "Here's a hint...I don't care"! My companion didn't understand because she doesn't speak english but I just thought to myself..."The Lord really does work in mysterious ways" Haha! Needless to say that is one more jose that I know we are no longer teaching. 
Number 2: Late one night at around 7:30 my companion and I once again were walking to visit a less active family. The dad/grandpa of the family has a drinking problem and every night tries to sneak out without his wife noticing so he can go to the bar. Well this particular night our 7:30 appt had fallen through so we went to see if we could catch the dad before he left...but when we got to their house we realized that his wife had already caught him...and when I say "caught" I mean it literally. We walk into their house only to find Arnaldo sitting on his bed with his foot chained with a lock to the post of his bed. I asked his wife why he was chained to the bed post and she said it was the only way to get her husband to not drink that night. I literally could not hold my laugh in. I walked up to arnaldo and shook his hand and asked him what happened. All he did was look at me, look down at his foot chained to the bed post, and back at me and says "My wife says she loves me"!!!! I serioiusly could not hold my laughter in! It was the funniest thing I had ever seen!!! The good thing was that he was laughing too! I mean seriously people you can't make these things up! I am just so grateful that heavenly father puts these types of experiences in my path as well as spiritual ones. But in reality most of my days I pass by laughing. People here are just so friendly and so stinkin funny that it is so hard not too...and I am that kind of person so it is innevitable.
          From these experiences I have learned a very valuable lesson. No matter where you are, what you are doing or who you are with, there is always time to laugh. In 2 nephi of the Book of Mormon (also known by some as the BOM because it is the Bomb) chapter 2 verse 25 it says "Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy". Our lives here on this earth, compared to the eternities is but a simple moment and we don't have time to be sad and focus on the negative difficulties of life. We are here to have Joy because that is how God intended it. Laugh everyone!! Enjoy every moment we have been given here on this earth! It's like those Snickers commercials when someone is super angry and turns into a monster and then their freind just says "Dude eat a snickers" and they calm themselves down. I say, Dude laugh a little! Face the challenges head on with faith in christ and I promise you that you will see the difference! LEARN IT! LIVE IT! LOVE IT!!! Have a great and happy week everyone and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Love, Hermana Dickey

Hey Everyone! I hope it was yet again another successfull week for all! It was a GREAT one for me...but I am becoming to realize more and more as I progress in my mission that...I CAN NOT SPEAK ENGLISH!!!! Haha! Everytime I talk to an American sister or Elder its just a struggle to say things the way you are supposed to. Like for example...I was talking to a sister in my zone the other day on the phone who is from Georgia and I wanted to know how long she had been in the mission so I said " Sister how much time do you carry in the mision"!! HAHA! She just responded by saying "Ummm...what sister Dickey". In spanish it makes sense " Hermana cuanto tiempo lleva en la mision" but in english it sounds so dumb...I am going to be so messed up when I can home so don`t make fun of me people.

Besides the fact I can`t speak english...I had changes today! I fortunately got to stay in my area but my best friend from Guate got changed to Esteli! I was so sad when we found out and we both just gave eachother a big hug and started crying! I know...Girls right! But you come to be such good friends with your companions..They are like sisters to me, everyone of them so it is hard to say goodbye. But I now have a new comp named Hermana Landaverde from El Salvador. She is so amazing and works really hard! I know we are going to see MANY miracles together. This chane will be for 8 weeks instead of 6 because of what happebed in the MTC so I will be with her until February 2. I am SUPER excited to start getting to work!

This past saturday we had a baptism of a 16 year old joven se llama Janixia and it was such and great service. Almost all of the YW from the ward were there and my comp and I had made her invitations to hand out to her friends and a little book that all of the YW wrote in, sharing their experiences and testimonios of the Gospel. It was a really special day for her. It was also her birthday so of course we ate cake afterwards. I can`t explain to you how much I love this Gospel. I always KNEW that it was the only true Gospel here on the earth, but never have I FELT it like I do being a missionary. I have learned so many things and grown so much not only spiritually but mentally and Physically (Physically because gallo pinto does not burn off quickly! Haha) and there is NO WAY that I will ever deny it. The Lord has called a prophet and 12 Apostles to lead and guide this church. He died and suffered for each and everyone of us so that we can return to live with our Father in Heaven. It is only through and because of Him that we can be saved and I KNOW this to be true. He is the light and life of the world and the Lord NEVER works in the dark. As long as we follow His light that he brought into the World, when the Son of God was Born, we will always have His hand extended towards us. I know this is the True Gospel of Jesus Christ. He is the way. He is the light.

Have an AMAZING week and don`t get to cold...I`ll just be here getting tan;)

Hermana Dickey

Hey Everyone!!! I hope this week was yet another successfull week for all...and that you have been stuffed from Thanksgiving! Although I didn't get my traditional Thanksgiving meal this year...I did get some very well made Gallo pinto so I'd say it was a successfull holiday! This week was WAY better for me because I felt so much better. Turns out I got a little parasite from the water, but nothing a little medication can't cure right!?! My companion Hermana Gabriel and I had a lot of success this week and the month of December is looking like we are going to have a Christmas Miracle. We have so many people who have just been really prepared by the Lord and I am so excited to see what the Lord has in store for all of them.

So we live next door to a sweet little lady who happens to be our land lord, and she has a Parrot named Martha who stays outside our front door. Every morning at around 615 or 630 she starts talking, singing, whistling...whatever it may be, so we really don't even need to set an alarm, but we do anyways. She is a very smart little bird and REALLY loves to talk and sing. The other day my companion and I were singing a hymn and all of the sudden martha started singing along. When we would stop she ould stop and when we would start she would start. It was so funny. Also if you tell her she is beautiful she will tell you your a lier! HAHA! It is so funny but we have fun with her. The other day my companion asked her if she was going to come to church with us on sunday and she said yes! Ummm does that count in the numbers as someone comitted to church? I don't think so Haha! But hey it just goes to show that if you can get a parrot to commit to church you can get anyone to commit to coming to church with you! All in all this was a great week and I am really loving being a missionary. Waking up and puting on my missionary tag everyday always fills my heart with joy because there is nothing more rewarding in my life than being a missionary. I hope you all have a great and safe week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey Everyone!! I hope it was another great week for all!

My week started off a little interesting and ended a little intersting, but it was great! Last Monday as I was in the cyber writing to all of you wonderful people...I had no sooner pushed the send button to send my weekly letter when all of the sudden I felt an uneasy felling in my stomach and new I had to get outside because I was probably going to throw up...so I pushed send and ran out of that cyber as fast as I could..needless to say I was on the computer for about 10 minutes last monday because i went straight home after that. So I was sick all night monday night and then got up on tuesday morning and finished packing because I had to come here to Chinandega that day. So I packed up and took the 3 hour bus ride here to Chinandega...Don´t ask me how I had the stomach to do that because I myself have no idea! Haha! So we arrived to my new area that day and spent the day in the house...that was a blast. Then that next morniong about 3am my companion woke me up, I was super confused as to why until I got up and put my feet down on a floor full of water!! The water pipe under the sink in our bathroom had broken and A TON of water had been gushing out of it for who knows how long! It was a good thing my comp heard it and woke up because I was dead asleep. So that took some time to clean up, but it was actually really fun! we made the best of it!

So the week continued and I got to go out and work in my area on thursaday and I did divisions with some hermanas on friday...and then the stomach bug hitme again on saturday morning and I have been cooped up in the house since then. Hey but the good news is that I am half way through alma in the LDM so thats good! I actually understand the book of mormon in spanish way better than I do in english...wierd right! Anyways that is how my week has been...sorry nothing to exciting this week! Next week I will have an awesome story to report! I hope you all have an amazing week! 

Hermana Dickey

What a week! I hope you all had a great week! I am back to writing on mondays now so you can all expect my letters on mondays! This week I finished my last little time in the Maximo Jerez! My comp left to her area on monday so I stayed behind to finsh some things up in the office and in my area! It turned a little crazy though! The sister I trained a little while back, Hermana Nicholls, went home today because of some issues she was having with her back and her knee. She has to have surgery on her knee soon so she couldn't stay here for that! She stayed with me in our house last night and then at 4am this morning we said goodbye! That was a little tough for me because I got to see her grow so much in the 12 weeks that we were together and now she is leaving before I do! It still is a little tough to think about just because we are super close...but she said she would write me so no worries!

As of the rest of my week...because Hermana Nicholls could not do much this week I went with her companion Hermana Hatt to work with her in her area...which her area happens to be Los Laureles, my old area...so it was fun to be there for the week and to visit my converts. The tough thing about that was I had an hermano here in the maximo preparing for baptism that was this weekend, so I was balancing two areas in one week to make sure he was ready to go...that was probably the most stressed I have ever been, BUT, Ivan got baptized on saturday and confirmed on sunday so it was all worth it! I am finally headed to my assigned area in Chinandega tomorrow so I am super excited for that! M new comps name is Hermana Gabriel and she is SUPER cute! We are going to have lots of fun together and work really hard! I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hello Everyone!!

First off I hope you all had an amazing week! Mine was probably one of the best ones yet...but I feel like I say that every week though so really it doesn't matter! Anyways to start off...yes I am now 20 years old. I woke up on wednesday morning at 6:30 not to an alarm but to 3 sisters beating me with pillows and jumping on me..they gave me chocolate afterwards so I forgave them Haha! Then the sisters in puerto cabezas all called me in a conference call and sang Happy Birthday to me in Miskito. I continued with my studies as usual and opened my package right before we left the house to go work because...lets be honest people...that box had been sitting in my closet for 3 weeks..collecting dust and I couldn't wait any longer so I opened in the morning instead of at night! CLOTHES!!! My mom knows me so well! Haha! At lunch our lunch cita surprised me with a little cake and I got sung to again and then in a meeting that night with the ward mission leader I got sang to again and also yesterday in a meeting with President. I would also just like to add that not once was I sung to in English! That's pretty awesome if you ask me! So that night we got home around 9:45...we planned and did all the things we do at night to get ready for the next day...I made my funfetti cake that my fam bam sent me...because for anyone that knows me, I NEVER eat cake on my birthday. It has always been pumpkin pie...but since I am pretty sure that doesn't exist here the fun fetti cake was a great second! We sang happy birthday again and then Hermana Meza shoved cake in my face...because it's not a real 20th birthday unless cake is shoved in your face! All in all it was probably the best birthday I have ever had! Now I am one year older and maybe just a little bit wiser too...we are gonna have to test that when I get home I think! Haha!

So this week was a crazy one...not a surprise though! Changes are tomorrow and a lot of people have changes so we are gonna be busy tomorrow trying to get everyone with their new companions and back to their areas for p day. My companion Hermana Reyes has changes for her last transfer to Telica Leon. I have been there a couple times on divisions and it is super pretty and a very blessed area! President opened one change ago so it is just getting going! There attendance at church is 18 right now...including the missionaries! A lot of work to be done there but she can do it! As for me...well good news and bad news...I have changes too! I am a little sad that I only had one change here in my area because I have quite a few people who have baptism dates for the end of this month and december...but the elders will take care of them. Our mission is getting a little smaller as far as the amount of missionaries goes. Between november and december 35 missionaries are leaving and only 10 are coming...and 8 of them are elders. So there are less hermanas and thats why we have been taken out of the office because we are not really needed now! SO where is Hermana Dickey going now and what will she do next!! I'M GOING TO PUERTO TO SPEAK MISKITO!!!!! WHOOHOOO! No i'm just kidding! Haha GOTCHA! I'm going to be the sister training leader in Chinandega...which a little info on chinandega...it happens to be the hottest area in all of Nicaragua...so I am basically going to melt...but just think how many people are waiting to hear the gospel there!! The heat is just a small thing compared to that! So even though changes are tomorrow I won't be headed to my new area until next tuesday because I have to show the AP's my area so they can keep working with my investigators and welcome all the new sisters in and see the ones that are going home off! I am happy but sad at the same time right now just because I love being in the Maximo Jerez...but there is a reason for everything right!

So what did I learn this week? What is the salsa celestial that I can take form this week? Love everyone and see them as our father in heaven would see them. I tried to focus on that the most this week with every person I came in contact with...and boy did it make a difference! I truly understood a little more how our father in heaven feels when we do the things that are right, when we keep His commandments and how he must feel when he sees us move a little bit further away from the straight and narrow path. I felt a love that I have never felt before for all the people I talked to this week. I just wanted all of them to be baptized so badly so that I can chill with them later in the celestial kingdom...but unfortunately God doesn't prepare everyone at once...but he helps prepeare them by the seeds we plant! I love this Gospel so much and our Father in Heaven AND my savior Jesus Christ! Time is flying by way to fast but I don't think about it. I want my final interview to be a surprise when it comes up! President: "Hermana Dickey I scheduled your departing interview for this week" Me: "WOW WHAT!!! is it time already"!...That's how it will go! I love you all and hope you have an amazing week! Remeber to always be like samuel the lamanite and be on the wall...and stay there! There is no shame in the true message that we have to share!

Hermana Dickey

The MTC of Life ~

Hey Everyone!!!

First off all thank you to all of those who sent me Happy Birthday wishes and to those who are always keeping me in your thoughts and prayers! I really appreciate it and it truly means the world to me! I am not really sure how I feel about being 20...but it doesn't matter because time keeps moving right?

This week was an AMAZING week!!! I think I have learned more this week than I have in my entire time in the mission. First of all I truly learned that as missionaries we are instruments in the hands of Christ. I always knew that but never really KNEW until a few days ago. We were teaching one of our investigators who is pregnant with twin girls and is literally going to have her cute little babies any day now! I am so excited!!! But anyways...we were teaching her about eternal families and my companion and I were teaching so well together and things just seemed to be flowing way smoother than normal! We finished the lesson with a prayer and as she walked us out she just hugged us both as tight as she could and just started crying! She told us that every single response piece of advice we gave her and helped her with were all answers to questions she had in her mind...but was embarassed to say. She was amazed at how we knew exactly what she needed without really opening up to us! It was a true testimony to me because not only were we able to help hermana Hazel, but my companion and I were both on the same page...It was truly a blessing from God and a testimony that it is the spirit that converts! She is now one of our strongest investigators. I think we just have to hold out on her baptism for a few more weeks because she is going to have her babies soon!

Another food for thought moment I had this week...We were in a meeting with President and he said something that I never really had thought about before. He said that the mission is the MTC for life. That could not be more true! I just remember being in the MTC training for the mission...and I made mistakes, and I learned from my mistakes. The same goes in the mission. I am making mistakes, but I am learning from them aswell so that later in my life I can reflect back on what I learned in the mission and apply the good principles and change the not so good ones up a little bit...so that I can truly be happy and set my foundation firm in the Gospel. I am not going to lie people...my mission President is probably one of the coolest people you will EVER meet. He is so humble and so willing to help with whatever cause you may have! I really admire my mission President and his wife and truly hope that I can be half as great as they are someday.

I hope you all have an amazing week and keep working hard! Oh and don't get to cold!!! If you do just think about me in Nicaragua and maybe it will help! Haha! I love you all!

Hermana Dickey

Soy Nica...

1. Who needs a lawn mower when you have a machete! Ummm...my back hurts just watching them!

Hey Hey Hey!!!

I hope everyone has had an amazing week! It has been a pretty good one for me! I completed 9 months in the mission and pretty soon will be 20 years old...but we don't talk about either of those things Haha! This week was basically spent in the mission home because every zone has had trimestral (is that a word) interviews with President...so we have been there helping him, reviewing area books and agendas and what not. It has been pretty fun...but if I have to eat one more ham and cheese sandwich I think I will die! Seriously people...every zone that has come we have given them lunch and every time it was sandwiches...so last week we were helping with interviews, the week before that we were helping with interviews and also a couple days this next week! NO MORE SANDWICHES!!!! I can't complain too much though because it could be worse...I have eaten worse here! Mondogo equals missionary taste buds!!

So as you all know yesterday was the multi mission conference with Elder Snow from the 70 and it was so amazing! He made a huge announcement!!!! He told us all that the work in Nicaragua is now moving so quickly that we are all ready to double our efforts. To start working even harder and double what we are doing now because...he said that Nicaragua is VERY close to getting a temple!! When he said that I wanted to cry because that is all anyone really wants here in the mission! To be able to work hard enough and establish the church so that Nicaragua can have a temple! Elder Snow as a a servant of God recieves revelation like that...I know that it is Revelation from heavenly Father that he is ready for His work to accelerate even more here so that there can be a temple and I am so grateful to be apart of it. There are so many great things happening here in Nicaragua and I know that whithin the next few years Nicaragua will have a temple and I also know that Sister Dickey will be on the first flight to be at the dedication. I seriously love being a missionary! It is not easy. If I said it was I would either be lying or not working at all! But it is all so worth it when you have seen another soul come unto christ and step into the waters of baptism. It is worth the sweat, holes in your shoes and sometimes tears. How great shall be your soul when you bring many souls unto me!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hermana Dickey

Hello everyone!!!

First of all...It was VERY wierd to be in an airplane! I didn't think that would be happening in my life again until July!

So I just landed back here in Managua about 3 hours ago and let me just tell you...Puerto Cabezas is not only a very blessed place, but it is nothing like you have EVER seen before!!! The people there may be poor but they are very sweet and very humble! Mikito is also a very intersting language! We got to Puerto on Saturday around 1 and ate lunch and then afterwards President started interviews and we started checking peoples area books, agendas, cell phones... all of it! Then sunday we woke up and started getting people ready for church. I worked with the Hermanas in a area called Lamlaya and for them every sunday they have a special sacrament meeting for people wjo live far away. So at 9 we gathered people together and braoght them to the huse of a member. The houses there are set up on stilts up off the ground because it rains a lot, so we blessed and took the sacrament and had sacrament meeting underneath the house of one of the members AND the whole meeting was in Mikito...right down to the hymns we sang!! I didn't understand hardly any of it but It was cool to listen too. It was a HUGE testimony to me that no matter who you are, where you are or what language you speak, the sacrament can still be just as sagrado and the spirit can be felt just as strong...if not stronger. When we woke up on sunday morning it was POURING RAIN so I had to use these pretty awesome, giant rain boots...but they saved my fet from a lot of mud/sand! Also...we brought back the whole shower with a bucket experience so that brought back lots of memories...wether they be good or bad! Haha! All in al it was a great experience and I would give anything to have a few changes there! Maybe someday it will happe.! This morning we woke up and I helped the heremanas I was staying with clean their house and then we left and took some pictures down on the beach close to their house and then headed to the airport! It was so amazing!

This week we have a couple of baptisms linded up and only a couple meetings on tuesday and wednesday! I am super happy we have more time in our area this week! I am so lucky to be a missionary! I would not want to be doing anything else in my life than sharing the true gospel of Jesus Christ with those who don't know or even with those who need a reminder! I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!

P.s. Here is a little Miskito for ya I learned! To say We are missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints in Miskito is Yang Nani misionera sna Jesus Kraist Prias Ka watla. pretty cool huh!

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone I hope you all had a wonderful week!!

This week for me was a little bit crazy, but I think I will just have to get used to that! We were actuallu able to work in our area a lot more this week which was really nice! All I have to say though is thank goodness for our ward mission leader for keeping up with our investigators for us when we aren't in the area...or we would be dieing. He sends members to visit our investigators for us or he will go himself and visit them...it is SO helpful. On wednesday I went on divisions here in Managua with some sisters and then Thursday morning we finished divisions, I went back to my house and put some clean clothes in my bag and headed to Leon which is about a 3 hour bus ride from managua and did divisions with the Hermanas there! It was really fun but man by the time I got home yesterday I was ready for a nap...but we all know that didn't happen! I am just really looking forward to P-day tomorrow!

This weekend on saturday we have a conference with the North and the South mission and Elder Snow from the 70 is coming! I am super excited and quite honestly very blessed that I have gotten to listen to so many general authorties since I have been on my mission. There will be a choir of course...and guess who is in charge of it again...YEP that's right...me! I thought maybe President would ask someone else since I have other things I have to do know...but he didn't. So tomorow is our one and only practice and I think it will go ok. We are going to sing "Yo se que vive mi señor" (I know that my redeemer lives) so it should be pretty easy for everyone in the choir to learn.

So far I am really loving the mission! I am really amazed at how fast the time is going and I don't want to waist a minute of what time I have left. I have learned the importance of just opening your mouth and sharing the gospel. There is a quote by Elder Holland that says how we should not be ashamed to talk and share the gospel with everyone..because really we have nothing to lose! I know this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. Everyday my testimony and faith grows stonger and it is something I will carry for the rest of my life...not just something that will sustain me for the next 9 months of my mission. I know that as we trust in him and always stay on the staight and narrow path...biuld our foundation on the Gospel, we can not fall! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hermana Dickey

P.s Mom I got my birthday package...but with all my strength that I had...I did not oepn it! I can wait for a couple more weeks:)

I love being a missionary!!!

Hey everyone I hope it has been a great week for all of you! It is very wierd for me that I am writing at 8 at night...but I am going to have to get used to that I think!

Conference was amazing as always and I was able to understand WAY more this session than I was able to in April. I always love when conference comes around and when we have the chance to listen to the living prophet and the Apostles. On Friday I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants in section 101 verse 54 and it talks about the parable when the Lord commands that a watchtower be built around His vineyard to keep out the enemies. I thought about how Prophets and Apostles are like the men in the watchtower. As faithful Latter-day saints we are those under the watchtower guarding the walls...and Prophets are those set upon the watchtower...those that can see the enemy coming way before we can and as long as we listen to those who can see ahead we can prepare ourselves for whats to come as we guard the walls beneath the tower. We all know that we are LATTER DAY saints, or, SAINTS OF THE LAST DAYS...which means the more we pay attention to those that are set upon the watchtower (Prophets) and can see further ahead, the more prepared we can be for the things that are coming our way, things of the world. I love how President Monson said today " Faith should be the Anchor in our lives". Through our faith and obedience to the teachings of the Prophets and Apostles we can prepare ourselves more effectively.

I made it through my first week as STL (Sister Training Leader) and I have never been so tired in my life. It has literally taken me a matter of seconds to fall asleep at night...and I am not complaining because I love it!!! I have gotten to know almost all of the sisters in the mission and I will get to know every area in all of the mission. This week we will be traveling with President and Hermana Collado to all of the areas to take out numbers with each zone. For me this weekend I will leave my comp here in our area for a couple days and fly with Hermana Collado and President and Elder Gonzalez to Puerto cabezas. We will leave early morning, fly there and then come back here to Managua on monday afternoon. I am super excited to be companions with Hermana Collado for a couple days and to work with the Hermanas in puerto and hopefully learn a little bit of Miskito...we will see though! It should be an exciting week and I am looking forward to it!

I hope you all have an amazing upcoming week! I know that this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and that as long as we are obedient to those and listen to those on the watchtower...we will be prepared!

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone!!! So today we had changes...and I was really hoping I would be able to stay in Los Laureles for one more change at least...because I will be 20 years old at the end of this change and I wanted to be with people I really knew...but alas...God works in mysterious ways! I packed my bags last night and today I am in a new area called Bello Horizonte...but wait for it...I have been assigned to be the sister AP! President Collado called me on saturday to tell me and I will be completely honest...I was not expecting that at all! My companions name is Hermana Reyes from El Salvador and she is amazing!! I am going to learn so much from her! I am really excited for this opportunity, to get to know all of the Hermanas in the mission and to learn more from President...and most importantly...to feel even closer to my Father in Heaven.

Not much to report otherwise. Tomorrow we have a meeting with President in the morning and then we will be welcoming all of the new missionaries at the mission home and then we will have another meeting until the late afternoon...Wednesday more meetings all day and thursday as well...and then FINALLY by friday and saturday I will get to work in my area! 

Sorry its short this week but I hope everyone is doing well and working hard! 

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone I hope is was another fantastic week for all of you!!! By the way shout out to the Clackamas Cavs for going 3-0!! I just got excited reading the letter from my dad about the game on Friday night! I can't enjoy football season this year so keep me updated folks! Haha! Anyways...

This wee was a great one for me! I was stuck at home all day on tuesday because I got SUPER sick to my stomach... not sure how, but it doesn't matter because the rest of the week was amazing! We had a baptism planned for saturday last week...but when we passed by for the young man that was to be baptized on wednesday, we caught him drinking again...so needless to say he wasn't baptized. But I know someday his day will come! At least we were able to plant the seed! But the miracle of the week was that we were able to baptize a man who we have been visiting since June! He had a fecha in june but it fell because he didn't "feel prepared". We left him for a while and visited occasionaly just to keep him updated with reading in the Book of Mormon and praying with his wife. His wife is a member and they had one 2 year old daughter at the time...now just a week ago she had there second. On wednesday we decided to pass by for Antonio to see how he and his wife were doing. Knowing that our fecha for that weeked fell we went to his house hoping for a miracle that he would accept a fecha for that weekend (saturday). We showed up at his nouse and before we even said the opening prayer he said " Hermanas I am ready to be baptized"!!! Ummmm What! Ok ya man lets go the Pila is already full!! No I didn't really say that...but I was so excited!! My testimony grew so much of how the Lord really does prepare people as long as they are keeping commitments and ding their part. Antonio was baptized on friday, two days later and then confirmed in church yesterday.I was so excited for him and his family! Now all him and His wife talk about are how now they want to start preparing to go to the temple. I just love this Gospel! Seeig the look on someones face that you have been teaching and helping progress as they come out of the water is nothing like you will ever see! There is't even room in my heart to express the joy I feel in every single baptism I have seen. Families really are Eternal.

Not much else to report this week! We have cambios on moday and I have no idea what is going to happen. I am really hoping I get to stay in my area...but like Nefi says "I will go, I will do the things the Lord commands". Wherever he needs me I will go!

I hope you all have a great week and stay safe!

Hermana Dickey

COCKROACHES..... Again!

I will NEVER get used to big bugs!!! When I sent in my mission papers and everyone asked me where I thought I would go or even where I wanted to go...my response was always...just somewhere where there aren't big bugs!!! Well then I got sent to Nicaragua and saw a cocroach for the first time and thought...ok this is just Heavenly Father helping me overcome my fear of big bugs since I kinda have no choice but to live with it...well folks I don't think Hermana Dickey will EVER accept big bugs EVER!!! I can't even kill them!

The other day my companion and I got home at 9:30 super tired and just ready to go to bed! We planned and talked about what went well in the day and what we can work more on and then we finished and I was still swaeting my brains out...even at 9:30 at night...so before bed  I thought I would take a shower because hot water does not exsist here! So I pull back the curtain of the shower to make sure there were no bugs crawling around on the walls or the floor before I got in...to my luck there was nothing there. So I proceed to take my nice cold shower. No sooner did I put shampoo in my hair I look dwn before I rinse it out and see a HUGE cocroach climbing up the wall! I pulled back the curtain, grabbed my towel and ran out of the bathroom faster than I ever ran any of my track races! The whole time screaming and still soaking wet with shampoo still in my hair! My comp just starts cracking up and there I am dripping wet! I told her she had to go kill it because I could not do it! She grabbed her shoe...pulled back the curtain and all I hear her say...WOW that is HUGE!!! and then...WHACK!!! And that was that! I continued to shower but I just have a fear everytime I pull back that dumb shower curtain now! I know I sound like a total wimp people...but I just can not handle big bugs!

Anyways this week was pretty good! We lost a few of some really cool investigadors which made me very sad and quite frankly dissappointed...but that happens and you just have to keep finding those who the Lord has prepared for you! I got to work with one of the AP's on saturday and It was so great! I learned a lot from her and I am really excited to put in practice some of the things I learned! I love this Gospel with my whole heart! There is no doubt that this is the true Gospel of Jesuscristo and everytime I get to share my testimony of His love and His atoning sacrifice I feel my faith growing and getting stronger and stronger. You all know the Primary song...A wise man biult his house upon a rock...I think of that song a lot and how it is related to missionary work. If we can begin with a sure foundation on the rock of salvation we will NEVER come tumbling down because of our trust and our faith in Him!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hermana Dickey

Hola!!

Well everyone it was yet another great week! It was busy but really awesome! We saw a ton of miracles in the work and on Saturday we had the amazing opportunity to have President Nelson from the quorum of the 12 Apostles here! Let me just tell you all how that went...

On saturday morning our whole zone had to meet at the stake center in Villa Flor at 5am to leave for the Capilla in Altacracia where the meeting would be held by 6am. My companion and I got up at 3am to be ready to go and be in villa flor on time. Eventually the whole zone arrived and we left! We got to Altacracia and there were already a ton of missionaries there waiting to get a front row seat...I don't blame them! Lucky for me I already had a seat reaserved in the Very front row because I was directing the choir! My companion got to sit with me too! I have Never been so close to an Apostle before! It was so cool! We waited and waited and waited for President Nelson to arrive and finally at 9am he arrived! We all stood up as he wlaked in the door and he was so cute! He had a huge smile on his face and said hello to us as he made his way to the pulpit. Then he wanted to shake EVERY SINGLE MISSIONARIES HAND so one by one in an orderly fashion every single missionary form the North and South mission got to shake his hand! Yes people I shook an Apostles hand! That beat any Taylor Swift concert by a long shot! After we sat down the meeting really started and the Choir was first! I was so nervous but it eneded up sounding really good and President Nelson said it was the best Missionary Choir he had heard! I was feeling pretty good about that! He then gave his remarks on the the importance of missionary work and out of all of the messages I have heard on theat subject this ne hit me the most! He talkd about how we are in the last days...we are saints of the last days and that the work of the Lord has never been as important as it is now. He told us that as missionaries in these days we were reserved for this time in our lives. When we lived with our Father in Heaven he saved us for this time to come and preach His Gospel because he trusts in us and confides in us! I never thought about that before or in that way...but how great of a blessing is that! He also talked about the time when him and Richard G. scott came to Nicaragua 25 years ago to dedicate the entire country of Nicaragua for Missionary work. 25 years isn't that long!

One of my favorite quotes he said was "We do our best and the Lord does the rest". As missionaries, following the guidance of the spirit is the way to true conversion.

I love this country and most importantly I love this work! I always knew that missionary work was a very important thing...thats why I'm here! But I now have a new perspective of it and how importnant it is for ME individually and how our Father in Heaven knows each and everyone of us personally...member or nonmember! One thing that the people say here when we comit them to church or to pray and read the Book of Mormon is "Si Dios quiere" (If God wants) and it makes me laugh everytime becuase of course God wants you to comitt to the things we ask you to do because we don't comit people to the comittments we as missionaries give...we give comittments that God gives...so Claro que si Dios quiere! Haha! I love it so much!

I hope you all had a wonderful week and that this week will be even better! Words of wisdom from President Nelson..."Why would people want to be like us if we are grumpy"! We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! Lets show it!

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone I hope this was a great week for all of you! It was a good one for me! I am pretty much tired of sweating...but hey...things could be worse! So on Saturday we had a baptism of an amazing lady named Wendy! We found her about 3 weeks ago and she just accepted the Gospel so quickly! The second lesson we had with her she told us she knew the church was true because of the parts of the Book of Mormon she read and because she accepted our invitation and prayed about it! It truely is the spirit that converts people! This week comin up we have a couple more baptisms as well and I am VERY excited! They will be on friday though because saturday is FINALLY the meeting we have all been waiting for! President Nelson from the Quorum of the twelve Apostles is coming to speak to all of the missionaries in the entire country of Nicaragua! I don't know why...I am secretly hoping it is because he is going to announce a temple here...but who knows! That would be amazing! But anyways...I am leading a choir of about 45 missionaries infront of President Nelson and while I am both excited and very happy...I am so nervous! More nervous than I have ever been in my whole life! The choir is going to be really good though! Today we had our last ensayo and it went really well! President Collado and President Russel from the south mission came to hear it and make sure everything was set up and they both LOVED it so hopefully President Nelson will too! Saturday could not come fast enough! Anyways thats all the exciting news I have! This week during my studies I found this quote in Preach my Gospel that says "True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the Gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior." (Boyd K. Packer) How true that is! The more we learn the Doctrine of Christ, the Doctrine of the the Gospel our behavior, attitudes and understanding will improve and be strengthened quicker and more effectively.

I hope everyone has a great week this week!

Hermana Dickey

P.s...I really hate cocroaches

Hey folks! I hope this has been a great week for all of you! This past week was pretty great for me and just a little less hot...but not a lot! On saturday we were going to have the baptism of Thelma...but when we showed up to her house saturday afternoon to help her get to the church...she wasn't home. Her daughter was home and told us friday night she got really sick and was in the hospital. I just wanted to cry becuase she was so excited to be baptized. I really just don't like satan at all! We have gone back to her house a few times since then to see if she came home yet but she is still in the hospital. Not really sure what happened to her but I am just hoping everything is ok!

Story time!! On wednesday afternoon my companion and I were walking up and down the streets contacting people in their homes, trying to find some new people who were really prepared and ready to accept the Gospel. We were walking and walking and not having much success when a man...large in stature for lack of a better term, walks up to us and tells us right there in the street to teach him something about the Gospel. So of course we sat down on some concrete blocks with him in the middle of the street and started teaching him lesson one right there. We sang a hymn and prayed too! Everything was going really well and he was SUPER positive. I was feeling really good about the whole thing and he had some very good questions. We finished the lesson and I left him with a lesson 1 pamphlet. Right before we got up to leave he asked me to remind him of my name. I told him my name was Hermana Dickey and I wrote my name and Hermana Nicholls name on the back of his pamphlet. He thanked us and put his hand out for us to shake it before we left. My comp shook his hand and turned to walk away...then I shook his hand and he proceded to not only shake my hand...but kiss my hand also and profess his love for me...soooo ya that happened. Not really sure what we are gonna do with him at this point because he has potential...but we will see! All I know is we will be brining a member with us next time! Haha! 

Another funny story that happened this morning! We got on the bus to travel to Altacracia to have our first choir practice for the meeting we will be having at the end of this month. We got on route 163 at 6 in the morning to get there a little early so I cold practice with the pianist a little. So there we are...two sister missionaries sitting on an insanely full bus...when a man with a squirrel on his shoulder gets on and sits in the seat infront of us! Ummmm excuse me sir is that your pet? The thing had a collar on and everything...and a name tag! Just when you think you have seen it all! Haha! I love this country!!

I am so grateful to be a missionary. I know this is where I need to be and the time is passing by so quick. I love this Gospel with my whole heart and I know it is true...without any doubt. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet chosen of God and I know that it is only through our Savior Jesuus Christ that we can repent of our sins, to be clean to return to live with our Father in Heaven again! I hope everyone has a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Well folks...another week come and gone...Have I ever mentioned how fast time is going by! Pretty sure I have like a billion times...but it`s true! So this past week was pretty good. We had a lot of success and this week we have several baptisms planned! I am VERY excited! My companion and I came up with a plan to motivate ourselves to keep walking throughout the day. Sometimes we stop just for a second to take a break...especially when we are walking from one end of our area to the other and man once you stop and sit down it is REALLY dificult to get motivation to stand up and walk again. So my comp and I came up with something called "The Final Countdown". We start at 10 and countdown and as soon as we get to 1 we stand up and start walking. It gives us time to mentally prepare ourselves and it works like a charm! 

While yes we had success this week...it was not an easy one for me. On tuesday afternoon I was informed by my Mission President that my Grandpa Stringer had passed away that morning...but in the comforts of his own home and surrounded by family. I was allowed to talk to my family for a little bit and while yes we had our laughs...we also shared some tears. I remembered this week the last time I saw my grandpa before I left and if only I had known in that moment that it would be the last time I would hug him here on this earth...I would have cherished it much longer. How grateful are we for the knowledge of Eternal Families and the Plan of Salvation. What brings peace to my heart is the Atonement of Jesus Christ and our Father in Heavens plan for each and everyone of us, His children. My heart ached just a little...only at the fact I was here in the mission field and couldn't be with my family. However, our Father in Heaven took the ultimate sacrifice, sufferinfg for us, that we may gain eternal life and Everlasting happinnes in the Presence of our Father in Heaven... Through our faithfuness and obedience. My grandpa was an amazing person and a HUGE example to me. If I can be half as great as he was I will be doing pretty good. I know I will see my Grandpa again...but until that joyful reunion...he will be very lovd...and very missed.

I hope you all have an amazing week this week!

Hermana Dickey

Soy Nica:

1. Dad can`t sneak fake,plastic cockroaches into the shower to freak me out anymore...that is a normal thing now...except they are real! Sorry!

2. Making Brownies on an electric stove top...lets just say as long as it's cooked so I dont get salmonila (however you spell that) then Brownies are brownies!

3. I HATE THE BUSES!!! I think the name of the game is how many people you can fit onto one transit bus...not a fan of that game. Hermana Dickey still has a thing called personal space!

IT IS SO HOT HERE!!!!! I mean I know I am in Nicaragua people...but holy cow it is hot! I remember when I was at BYU-I I would hop from biulding to biulding on my way home just so I didn`t have to be outside in the cold. Here my companion and I hop from shade spot to shade spot just so we don`t have the sun on us! It is actually really funny! We make a game out of it sometimes. Haha! 

So this week was very successful! We put a ton of fechas with people and I am feeling really good for this month. Right now the mission has a goal to baptize 306 people so that when the Apostol comes at the end of this month we have some good results to show. I am so excited because it has given all the missionaries motivation to work even harder and we are doing really great! I seriously love being a missionary so much! It is tough work and I am not a huge fan of sweating (Thank goodness for cold showers) but Vale la Pena. My companion Hermana Nicholls is doing really great. We have SO MUCH FUN together and it makes the work 10 times better. We laugh and make jokes and then by the time we get to the next appointment we are focused and ready to teach because we take our minds off of how hot it is or how far we have to walk...and that is saying a lot because sometimes that is not easy to do! This week we are supposed to have a baptism of a sweet little lady named Thelma. I am super excited for her because she wants to be baptized so bad...but she is having some health problems right now and is hardly ever home when we pass by because she is in the hospital. I am just praying that everything will work out!

Funny story of the week!! So last week we hardly had any money left from the beginning of the month to buy food at the store so we bought a few things...but not a lot! The food we did buy lasted about 3 days and that was it! We have a member in our ward who cooks us lunch everyday so there is no problem there...but dinner we are normally on our own to cook something in the house...and by "cook" I mean boil hot water and make Ramen. Haha! Anyways we didn`t even have money to buy that so for the rest of the week we lived off of what we had left which consisted of Wheat bread, Chocolate frosting and yogurt. What would you all do with those items? Needless to say we got really creative! Today we bought a bunch of stuff and I am very excted to cook some real food!

This past week I have been thinking a lot about the Atonement of our savior. As a missionary you go through times when it is really great to be a missionary and times when you are just ready to be done...because it is not easy. How is it that we press on when our hearts are as weak as our shoes. Where can we fnd reassurance when perfect plans and minds set on success result in empty homes and disappointment. These are just a few questions I have thought to myslef more than once. We are literally handing people the key to true and everlasting happiness...only to be rejected. Why aren`t people more willing to listen to us? Why aren`t more people just lining up at the baptism font? Why is this so hard?...Well I would imagine that we aren`t the first ones to ask that question. Our savior Jesus Christ was rejected by His friend who he trusted. He was despised and rejected of men, "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisment of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed" (Mosiah 14:5). Our Savior suffered much more. So much that he cried to His father on the cross, calling for relief "Father take this cup from me!" But he knew it had to be done..because Salvation does not come cheap. If it was so hard for him why would it be easy for us. I believe that in order to obtain such a precious gift as salvation, eternal life...we have to be willing to endure the hardships. Is it easy to be disappointed? YES! Is it easy to walk around all day just to arrive at someones house and find out they aren`t home? NO! But we are representatives of Jesus Christ. We are proclaming this Gospel unto all nations. If any of us thought that bringing salvation to His children was easy...think of our Savior Jesus Christ because salvation does not come cheap.

I Love this Gospel with my whole soul and I will be eternally grateful for my savior Jesus Christ. It is through His sacrifice and His example that I am able to endure. He suffered much more just to bring slavation to the children of God. I hope you all have a great week and always seek to remember the Atonement of our savior. Remember that salvation does not come cheap.

Hermana Dickey

Hola Mundo!!

Well this week ended up being very successful! We found a house to live...well maybe, we contacted as many people as we could and now have a ton of people progressing, AND, we baptized a super cute 12 year old girl named Emily yesterday before church! So I would say it was pretty great!

Saturday was supposed to be the Baptism of Emily but when we went by for her with the Elders on thursday to have her interview she wasn't home. So we went back by on friday to talk to her and she was home...but her mom talked to us and explained to us that she didn't feel Emily was ready and needed to wait a little longer. I left the lesson very sad that day because Emily has been going to church for months and also seminary. She was so ready but obviously we have to have permission from the parents before we could baptize her. So her date passed on sayurday...but saturday we brought the Elders with us to talk to the mom and needless to say...thanks to the spirit in the lesson...Emilys mom finally said yes and we baptized her on Sunday before sacrament meeting and THE ENTIE WARD WAS THERE!!! I have never seen a baptism attendance like that since I have started my mission! It was so great!

On thursday my comp (who is literally the best companion I could have asked for) and I were walking around contacting and we decided to talk to this old woman that was sitting in a rocking chair in her doorway. I started asking questions to get to know her. One of them was who she lived with in her home. She answered and said..."I am 96 years old and I live by myself...AND I can even see without glasses"!!! I wanted to laugh so hard because she said that she could see without glasses with so much pride and confidence! She is literally adorable! Needless to say I am a little ashamed that I am almost 20 years old and already have glasses. We have another appointment with her tomorrow so we will see what happens! 

In other news...I am doing really geat and I LOVE my new companion! We work great together and I am almost positive that this girl came pre-trained! She has no fear to just try and speak what she knows...we also have so much fun together! It is very rare when one of us isn´t cracking a joke or laughing at something. Honestly we are having so much more success because we are making the work fun too! So I am not sure if you all remember but about 2 months ago President asked me to put together a choir of 50 missionaries between the North mission and the South Mission for a meeting we will be having at the end of August. Well I now have all of the missionaries to sing and the music picked out...but we only get the 2 mondays before the meeting to practice and that makes me a littlw nervous...but I am sure it will all work out! I hope you all have a great week and enjoy the last few weeks of summer vacation!

Hermana Dickey

I hope she's sleeping?

Another week has come and gone folks and I can not believe it! I have 1 whole year left in the mission and that is literally freaking me out! It was almost a year ago when I opened my call...Before I know it I will be on an airplane coming home. If my first 6 months has gone by this fast I can only imagina how fast the next ones will go!

So to catch you up on the life of Hermana Dickey... My companion Hermana Nicholls has been sick this week so Tuesday we were in the house almost all day. That was really tough for me because first of all it was VERY boring and second of all I wanted to be out teaching. She needed that day to feel better though and she did. Wednesday President Collado and Hermana Collado came to our house so that Hermana Collado could inspect it and so Preidente could have interviews with us. The Interviews went great and Hermana Collado was very pleased at how clean our house was...but she wants us to find a better house to live in because our house right now is VERY small and she thinks we could find something better. So needless to say we will be house hunting this week as we work. We have aleady found a couple possibilities, but I have to go see what the houses look like on the inside first befor I committ to anything. We will see.

So miracle of the week! Saturday we were supposed to baptize a mother and her daughter...but long story short it fell through. I felt really bad because my comp was really looking forward to her first baptism...BUT...that gave us more time to contact and find some new people. I decided to go to an area we hadn`t really contacted much and see if we could find some really cool people there. People who have been prepared by the Lord to listen to the Missionaries. After yelling "Buenas" (ecause you don`t knock on doors here) at a million doors, talking to every peson we walked past in the street and even running away from crazy, mean dogs...we finally found "The chosen ones". We found A woman named Vanessa and her family. Turns out that the family had just moved back to Nicaragua about 2 months ago from Florida and most of the family speaks perfect English! We taught them a lesson on sunday night with our Ward Mission leader Lehi, who also speaks English, and Vanessa loved what we had to teach! Hermana Nicholls gave a really powerful testimony in English and it was a great lesson! She is very excited to keep visiting with us and she told us she had been praying ever since she had mover back here to Nicaraga that she could find people who speak English for her son becuase her son was born in the states and learned English before spanish! She said he was sad that he couldn`t speak english with anyone anymore! Heavenly Father works in mysterious ways!

Another great story of this week! My companion and I had planned to go visit a less avtive woman in our area who just turned 95 years old and who is confounded to a wheel chair. Everyday she sits in her doorway smiling at people who walk by, talking to people who take the time to visit her, and sleeps. Well this particular we decided to visit her around 3. When we passed by to talk to her we found her sitting in her doorway, head tilted all the back, mouth open...Totally knocked out. My comp and I just walked away slowly and as we did my companion said "I hope shes not dead"!! She was generally concerned for this 95 year old woman and it was so funny! I laughed for so long!! The things you experience on the mission! Haha! All in all this week was a successfull week even though our baptism fell. I love this Gospel so much and I am so grateful for the priviledge I have to be a missionary. Something I told my companion the other day because she asked me how I am always so positive and so happy all the time...I told her that, If you can learn to give your whole being over to the service of the Lord, to truly give to him all that you are and all that you want to be...he will bless you beyond measue and you will see so many more miracles. That is not an easy lesson to learn but I can truly testify because I have experienced it. If we can all learn to trust in the Lord...to turn ourselves over to him...he will make weak things become strong and her will bear us up...help us rise to our potential and he will open the windows of heaven and pour out blessings that we will not have room enough to recieve them. I love this Gospel and more importantly I love the Savior Jesus Christ. I am so grateful the Atonement and through it we all have to chance to repent and come unto Him. I hope you all have a great week! 

Love Hermana Dickey

Latina or Americana???


Drum roll please.....Hermana Dickey is indeed training an Americana!!! Heavenly Father really does answer prayers! My new companions name is Hermana Nicholls and she is from Tuscan Arizona. She currently has one whole week in the mission down and has not broken down one time! She is one tough cookie because this week we walked A LOT! I am so glad to be able to speak a little more english and it is way easier training someone who speaks your native language! She has had her first plate of Gallopinto and is getting used to the cold showers every morning. Haha! Her Spanish is pretty good and she is learning more and more everday! I understand how she feels though becuase when I first started I did not understand a word that anyone said to me. Everytime we go to someones house and the people start talking to her...her eyes just get really big and she looks at me so I can translate for her. It's so funny because I did the exact same thing to my trainer! She always tells me how bad she feels that I have to translate everything for her, but I just tell her not to worry about it because one day you will understand the language and speak it without it realizing it! That has happened to me just within the last 6 weeks with Hermana Ramos. Even though she was a tough companion, speaking spanish all day everday really helped me.

This past week was probably one of my greatest weeks and I know we worked hard because I had never been so excited to see my bed in my whole life until last week! We had a really great experience with an investigtor named Marlena and her sister Lea just a few days ago. We showed up at Marlenas house on Thursday and we had planned to teach her the first couple of principles of Lesson 2 (The Plan of Salvation). She invited us in to her house and her sister ended up being there too. We started with a hymn and a prayer like always and then started at the beginning of the lesson. I got about halfway through the first principle in the lesson and I could not feel the spirit at all. I could feel that Marlena and her sister Lea were bored and something just wasn´t working. I gave my comp a few minutes to share her testimony of how Christ knows us personally and as she did I just said a little prayer in my heart asking heavenly father to help us...to help us feel the spirit. Immidiately I felt that we needed to invite them to be baptized. So my comp finished her testimony and I shifted the lesson into baptism and shared some scriptures in 2 Nefi 31. Immidiately the spirit was there and they asked questions and shared thier thoughts, answers and scriptures just started coming to my mind. I felt prompted to also share our experience of how we found Marlena with her. One day we were walking down the street contacting doors and talking to people in the street. We were not having much success and it was starting to get really frustrating. We came to another street that we had contacted a billion times, but decided to contact again. I told Hermana Ramos (my old comp) before we started down that street that we should pray and ask for giudance....to be guided to someone who is prepared. So right there in the middle of the dirt road in the pouring we prayed. We continued down the street passing house after house not feeling anything. We arrived at the second to last house on the street and both of us at the same time said "That one"! I shared that story with Marlena and Lea and they both had tears streaming down thier faces. I told them It was no coincindence that we felt prompted to talk to her. She responded and told me that she had a really bad perspective of Mormons before we showed up to her door step. She said she felt something with us that she had nevre felt before and liked how it felt. I explained to her that was the Spirit of God testifying to her that the things we are teaching are true and that she can have that feeling forever when she is baptized by water and the spirit. Marlena and her sister both accepted the invitation to be baptized and are really working hard to prepare. This is just a true testimony to me that only the spirit converts people. When we showed up to their house my lesson plan was totally different than what ended up happening. I know when we are obidient and have the desire to work hard and to bring others unto Christ...The Lord will bless us in many ways.

I love this Gospel and I Absolutely love being a missionary! I would not change where I am at in my life EVER! Yes it is tough sometimes...but no one ever said it was easy! Sometimes you have to pass through the tough times to get to the good ones! I know that is true because I have experienced it! Hermana Nicholls and I are going to continue to work hard and this week and see many many more miracles! I hope you are all having a great summer and still not having to much fun without me! Stay safe...La Lucha es real!

Hermana Dickey

Well folks...another change has come and gone and the time just seems to be going faster and faster! I will complete 6 months this month and only have a year left! That´s not fair at all! It seems like just yesterday I was starting my first day in the MTC...totally oblivious to everything that was going on! This weekend we had changes and....Hermana Dickey will be training a newbie!! My companion Hermana Ramos got sent to Puerto Cabeza and I recieve my Hija tomorrow. There are 8 hermanas coming and 3 elders and most of them are American apparently so we will see if I train an American or a Latina....Vamos a ver! Anyways tomorrow I go to the mision home to have a meeting with all of the other missionarys who will be training and then tomorrow afternoon I wil recieve my hija and then...off to the races we go! I am so excited to train!!!

This past week was pretty good. We found a lady named Mary Luz who lives close to our house and she is HILARIOUS!!!! The only sad thing is that we have been totally friendzoned by her...its a little depressing not gonna lie! Everytime we go by for her she says Hola mis chicas and uses Vos with us...that`s when you really know you have been friendzoned. It`s ok though because we are going to work with her more and try to help really understand why we are here as missionaries. I have tried to explain that to her before but I guess it hasn`treally clicked. Yesterday we passed by her house to bring her to church and she was in the process of getting ready when we came to her door. We sat down and waited for her to get dressed and all of the sudden she came flying out of her room yelling VAMOS VAMOS mi Chicas and spraying her perfume all over us and the room...and it was probably the worst smelling perfume I have ever smelt in my life! Haha! And the worst part is all day on sunday people were asking me "Hermana Dickey why do you smell like that"! I just smiled and laughed and asked them how they were doing...I had no response!

I am doing really well over all and I am very excited to train! I will keep you updated on my Hija next week! I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Love Hermana Dickey

Soy Nica....

1. When you think your investigator has a pet squirrel because it has a collar and is chained to the fence. Everyday you pass by to teach them the squirrel is fatter and fatter....and then one day Mr. squirrel is gone...Where did it go you might ask? One can only assume!

What a week! My companion and I worked harder than we ever have this week and let me tell you it payed off! This weekend we planned to have one baptism and we knew it was for sure going to happen...but our mission had a goal to baptize at least 90 people in the month of June and in the whole mission we had 89 that were baptized or were going to be baptized. With our one seguro baptism on saturday Yojanna was part of that 89 but we needed just one more person. On tuesday we were walking in the street when I heard someone yell out "Hermanas"!! I turned around to see who it was thinking it was a member or someone I knew...but it wasn't. There was a young woman sitting on the sidewalk talking to her friend...she said "are you guys mormon missionaries"? I got really excited becuase you never have someone contact you in the street. I immediately said yes we are missionaries of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day saints. She continued to explain to us that about 2 years ago elders that were in our area before were teaching her, but she moved to an area that didn't have missionaries before she could be baptized. Her name is Roxanna and she had already had all of the lessons and had been to church and to church activities many many times....she just needed to be baptized! How Crazy is that! We visited her every day and put a fecha to be baptized on saturday. So we had TWO baptisms on saturday reaching the goal in the mission of 90 baptisms in the month of June! My comp and I were pretty excited. That's why this week may have been tough...but it was totally worth it! I would send pictures but I am afraid to put my memory into the computer because last week when I did...the computer shut down and deleted all of my pictures on my camera...of the mtc and matagalpa...all of it! I don't want to lose anymore! 5 months of my mission is enough! I hope everyone is dong well and staying safe! Happy Summer Vacation!!!

Hermana Dickey

5 month mark!!

Well yesterday was my 5 month mark and I literally can`t believe how fast the time is going by! It seems like just yesterday I was starting my first semester at BYUI...now I`m 5 months into my mission! Can we please slow things down here a bit!!! This weekend we baptized a man named Ernesto and it was so great! He was so excited and all week leading up to his baptism he kept calling us asking what time we were gonna stop by for his house and help him be more prepared to be "Baptized in the name of God"! That`s what he always said! Well saturday afternoon Ernesto was baptized by probably one of the smallest Elders we have in the mission...and let me tell you Ernesto is not a tiny man! haha! It was actually kinda funny to watch! The spirit was so strong in the baptism and I was so grateful for the reverence in the room because that makes all the difference...especially when you have other investigators there watching. I am happy to report that the rain has finally stopped (knock on wood) and now its just really hot! The weather can`t seem to make up its mind!

My companion is still struggling a little and I am not gonna lie, I am running out of ideas to keep her motivated! The mission is fun...but at the same time its a lot of work and sometimes you just have to buckle down and do it! I think she is trying to get the hang of that part still. The good part is that we are having success! I am getting more used to the mission now and my spanish is SO MUCH BETTER!! It is amazing how much easier life becomes when you can communicate with people! Haha! My spanish is definitely not perfect and I still don't understand everything...but at least it's better! This week my comp and I discovered an amazing fruit called Mamones and they are so good and so cheap! They are really small but really good! I hope they aren't bad for you because I will get really fat off them if they aren't! I mean its a fruit right? I hope everyone has a great week this week! Summer has started so stay safe and don't have to much fun without me!

Hermana Dickey

Soy Nica....

1.. When your alarm goes of at 6;30...you roll over to turn it off and touch a huge cockroach sitting on the alarm button...for real people that happened! I though I was gonna die! Needless to say that cockroach is no longer living! R.I.P mr. Cockroach!

I promise President, I didn't go swimming on purpose.....

Well this week was an interesting one...not gonna lie! We had a baptism planned for saturday and unfortunately it fell through...it´s amazing to me how much harder satan works on people when they are about to do something really great in their life! We are still working with him though and the good news is he still wants to be baptized, we just need to clear some things up first! Also it has rained every single day here and it usually starts around 4 pm and goes till about 3 am! I would know because a tin roof and rain don`t really mix well! Haha! On thursday night we had a HUGE rain storm here and it got so bad that our ZL´s called us and told us to go home or find the nearest members house because it was to dangerous to be out in the streets. That day we were in the house by 7 pm which I hated because we had a lot of appts. that night that we missed! I have never seen or been in rain like that before in my life though and that´s sayin´ something because I am from Oregon! We were actually in a cita when the ZL called me and we were close to the house so after we left the house of our investigator we slowly made our way to the house. I was amazed at how quickly the streets filled with water. They were literally rivers...with a current and everything! My comp and I waided our way to the house in water that came just below my knees! It was insane! Thank goodness for Crocs once again! They may be ugly but boy are they life savers!

So needless to say thursday night was pretty lame...but we were safe and dry so that´s good at least. On friday morning we woke up and I had a text on my phone from some elders in our zone that are in an area called Rene Palonko. They had an investigator named Junior who was 13 years old and he was the coolest little kid you would ever meet! He loved the missionaries and when we had our stake conference a couple weeks ago he told all of us that he wanted to be a missionary when he got older! he also had a fecha to be baptized this last saturday! Well on thursday night during the rain storm he was on his way home from the market because he was out buying rice and beans for dinner for his family. He took their horse and cart with him so he could get all of the food home. As he was on his way home the horse got caught in the current in the street and fell over...and so did Junior. The current took him away and swept him into the ditch on the side of the road. The text I got on friday morning was to tell us that Junior had passed away in the rain storm on thursday night...two days before his baptism and that we needed to all be at his funeral on saturday to sing hymns. That was the most devastating text I have ever gotten! On saturday morning the whole zone went to the funeral of Junior and sang hymns. I can´t even put into words how aweful that was! Trying to sing at a funeral of anyone is really hard...but of Junior....

I know that Junior is in a better place and that his death happened for a reason. He said he wanted to be a missionary and I know he is already doing a great work with our Father in Heaven!

I love this Gospel so much! I know that we are all individually loved by our Father in Heaven and he knows each and every one of us personally. Everyday is a new day and I have learned on the mission that life just keeps going. There is no pause button or rewind! Live everyday to the fullest! I hope this week is the best week yet for all of you!

Love, Hermana Dickey

          No more rice and beans please!

Well this week has been really great and my comp and I had a lot of success! We committed a lot of our investigators to baptism this week and it's looking like the month of June is going to be a success! I love my new area and I am loving being a trainer...but I am not going to lie it's definitely not easy since I am still trying to figure some things out too...like the language for example! Haha! but I am really grateful for the opportunity because my faith in my Father in Heaven has grown 10 fold since I started this transfer. I chose "no more rice and beans" for the title of my email because literally...I don't know if I will last a whole year eating gallo pinto and chicken every meal. The members here are SUPER nice and always offer us food and pepsi or coke when we visit, but I have gained weight so quick and a hour of running every morning just isn't cutting it! Haha! I have to figure out something to do or none of you will recognize me when I get home! I guess the good thing is I don't ever have to worry about what to eat right? 

Sometimes as the week goes on, as it gets closer to sunday and to p-day, everything seems so much harder and I think it's just because we get tired. My comp had a rough week this week trying to stay motivated and I definitely understood because that's how I was when I first got here. But you just have to keep going and always remember who you are, what you are doing and who you represent. I tried to remind her of that everyday but it didn't seem to help...so I made up a game to play at night to keep her motivated and so that we would work harder. At night when you pass by people or when you contact families you say "Buenas Noches" to get their attention right! Well I told my comp one night that we were going to have a contest to see who could get the most people to talk to us. I told her instead of saying "Buenas Noches" when you pass by someone to say "Vende Coches" (I sell cars). When you say Vende Coches fast it sounds like buenas noches. I told her we were going to see who could get the most people to respond with buenas noches by saying vende coches. Not gonna lie it worked really well and we contacted more people that one night than we ever have any other night.It was also really funny and was motivational for my comp! Sometimes you have to do some crazy things to get the work done! Also this week I told my comp that we are going to focus on contacting people with cars so they have no excuse not to come to church! Haha! We will see how that goes!

So long story short I am doing really well and loving being a missionary! I definitely do not regret the decision I made to come on a mission. Everyday I learn something new and come closer to my Father in Heaven. I am very grateful to live in a house with water and light...and less cocroaches and I am grateful for the rainy season of Nicaragua...it's so much nicer during the day when it rains! I am so grateful for all of you and your support for me. Time is flying by so fast and I plan to make the next 13 months of my mission worth every second! Good luck this week and don't eat to many rice and beans or you'll have to figure out how to lose it just like I am!

Soy Nica....

1) When you are in the middle of inviting someone to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized, when a lizard falls from the cieling onto your lap! Ya I definitely freaked out! I'd like you all to picture that experience in your heads! Haha!

Well this has probably been the craziest week of my mission so far...which is actually saying something since I am going on 5 months in the mission. Tuesday was my first real day of work and training here in Villa Flor and I had no idea what I was doing! I didn't know the area AT ALL and obviously neither did my comp...all I can say is thank goodness for the Area Books and for the wonderful missionaries that were here before me to keep it updated. We worked really hard tuesday and taught so many lessons! People here are very receptive to hear the Gospel...the only challenge is discerning whether they are positive or not. On a daily basis we get about 10 lessons taught which is really good! Our mission president decided to throw a curve ball to all of the missionaries this week...he sent us all a message on wednesday with a list of goals that we had to complete...meaning a goal of how many lessons we taught, how many families we contacted in the street, how many members we brought to lessons...and so on. I was super stressed out when I got the message because I knew if we didn't meet the goals...and more...president was not going to be happy! So I worked harder than I ever have before this week and....we had A LOT of success! President sent me a message last night congratulating me for the work we did this week and it literally made my day! I was stressing out all week! This weekend we have a baptism planned for a family...but they have to be married first so I am really praying hard that all will work out! I know it will!

On tuesday night when my comp and I got home from working all day...we planned and wrote in our journals like we always do and then we got ready for bed. Like always I put my pajamas on, said my prayer and went to bed. My comp on the other hand...she changed out of her "Working skirt" into her "Pajamas skirt"! haha! I told her that we are allowed to wear shorts or something when we go to bed and that we only have to wear our skirts when we go out in public...but she insisted that she always wears a skirt...so needless to say Pajama skirts are the new thing I guess! I literally love her with my whole heart! She is so excited to be a missionary and to work hard! She is a huge example to me and I am grateful for her willingness to put her whole heart and soul into the work of the Lord because it makes it easier on me! 

Villa Flor is AWESOME! I am in the same district as my comp Hermana Humphreys from the MTC which is so awesome because I get to go on divisions with her! The only thing I don't like is that literally every house you go to...they offer you gallopinto and Soda...and when you say no thank you they get really offended! I am going to gain so much weight here! Thank goodness my comp likes to run with me! I am so excited to be a missionary and I know if the mission keeps working as hard as we are...Nicaragua will see a temple really soon! I hope everyone has a great week this week! For all those who are finishing the school year and preparing for finals...SI SE PUEDE!!!

Hermana Dickey