I can not believe how quickly time passes by! I feel like it was just monday yesterday! It just goes to show how important every single day is! This week was pretty good until sunday. Johanna was supposed to be baptized at 12 yesterday before church and she was super excited all week for it...as was I. We had even gone to the church early to fill the font with water which took about an hour because obviously there is no water in Matagalpa. So how do you fill the pila you might ask? With lots of buckets and helping hands carrying water from the water reserve that the church has about 3 blocks away from the building...up a hill and filling the pila as quickly as possible. it was actually fun because the Elders that were helping us made a competition to see out of the sisters and Elders who carried the most buckets of water. I am happy to report that the Hermanas won by 4 buckets! Oh ya!! So anyway we get the pila filled and everything ready to go and at about 11 Johanna calls me and says she can't be baptized. Long story short, her family kicked her out of the house for taking lessons from the missionaries and wanting to be baptized. She is still going to be baptized because she knows this Gospel is true...but she wants to find a place to live first. So that was really sad and super hard to hear...but she is hoping to be baptized, that is the good thing! The good news is our beautiful family is going to be baptized really soon! They are so great and making good progress! I love them so much! I am learning as a missionary how attached you get to your investigators and when they can't be baptized or something impedes them...It breaks your heart! There is really nothing to prevent that either. That's the life of a missionary. I am loving my area and all of the people here. The only thing that is a little rough that is going to take some getting used to is the heat. I have never been in heat like this before and i'm not going to lie...sweating all day everyday really gets to you after a while. It's ok though because I would not want to be anywhere else in my life right now. I see the Lord’s hand in my life everyday and most importantly I see His hand in the lives of these people here. I am so grateful for being able to feel His love and teach by the Spirit. I am amazed everyday at how much easier teaching can be...especially in Spanish...when you teach by the spirit. It is a priviledge to be a missionary and I intend to work hard everyday because the time passes by so quick. I hope you are all doing great and feeling the love of our Savior in your lives. Never forget that He knows each and every one of us personally and that knowledge can help us so much to press forward through all trials and difficulties that we have! Good luck this week to all and remember...if ever you come upon a Tarantula on your wall...they are more afraid of you than you are of them...ya that's what I keep telling myself!

Hermana Dickey

Soy Nica....

1. When you have to watch for falling banana branches that a woman chops off with her machete. There have been some close calls Haha!

2. When you just don't ask what it is that you are eating and or drinking. #FearFactor

Ummmm... is that a Parrot??

What a week!! I am pretty sure everyday just keeps getting hotter and hotter and I honestly didn't think that was even possible. This week was better than last week but this one for me was physically challenging. It starts catching up to you when everywhere you go is either up or down a mountain...not just a little hill...a mountain! Sometimes I wonder how my legs are even still moving...but sure enough they are! It's actually kind of awesome. This week we discovered an entire new part of our area that no one even new existed! It is up in the mountains but the only reason we found it was because we decided to take a different route one day to some investigators homes up in Lucedia and sure enough...it lead us to a whole new place of our area and believe it or not...we found a beautiful family there and I seriously love them with my whole heart! They were definitely prepared by the Lord before we found them! It is a dad a mom and their 3 kids! They Moms name is Madelina and the dads name is Alan...AND...they are married already which is Super rare to come upon here. They all came to church with us yesterday and they absolutely loved it! Madelina especially loved the "Soc Soc" (relief Society). We gave them a Book of Mormon a couple nights ago and they read and pray as a family every night! These people are the best! They accepted a fetcha for the 2nd of may so hopefulluy they keep coming to church with us! They are very excited about the Gospel and the message we have to share with them! I am so excited!! We also have a baptism for Johanna this week...FINALLY!! and we have a wedding for another family we found a couple weeks ago! This weekend should be a good one! I am doing really well and just trying to stay positive. It is so easy to get discouraged. I never would have thought 3 months ago that I would be showering with a bucket everyday, living under a tin roof, hiking up and down dirt mountains and boiling water just so I had something to drink...but then we come upon these families and to be honest the first thing I think about when I see investigators and ESPECIALLY these families, I picture them in their white baptism clothes and then their sweet family in the temple...being sealed for time and all eternity. That makes it all worth it and that is my motivation to work as hard as I possibly can. I know what miracles can be brought to people through the knowledge of this Gospel because I have experienced them myself. To me something important that we try and help these people understand is that no one is perfect. We are all sinners and we all make mistakes. The only one that is perfect is our Savior Jesus Christ and only through Him are we forgiven. Many people think that they are so far off the path of rightouseness that there is no way they can make it back...like they are just being lost in the darkness...but in reality those are the people that our father in Heaven is watching out for the most. Those are the type of people that we as missionaries are lead to and it is so amazing! Our Father in Heaven loves each and every one of us equally and individually. He knows us inside and out. He knows our joys, our sorrows, our trials and our souls. He knows what we are capable of and the potential that we have. That is what we help people to understand. No one is pefect...there is hope for everyone as long as we are willing to put forth the effort and try to change our lives. I know this is true because I have seen it. I love my savior so much! There isn't a doubt in my mind that this Gospel is true. I love this work with my whole heart and I am just trying to work as hard as I can because every single day counts! I love you all so much! Buenos Suerte!

Hermana Dickey

I know I’m a Nica because...

1. When I'm eating an enchilada my lunch cita made and bite into a bobby pin... I set the bobby pin aside and keep eating.

2. The rice and beans mixed together here has another name...Gallo Pinto

3. I am sitting in sacrament meeting and the woman in front of me has her parrot sitting on her shoulder.

Well.... what a week!

Well I'm not going to lie...this week was a rough one...a REALLY rough one. We were supposed to have 6 baptisms this week and none of them came through. Monica unfortunatelly is having a hard time committing herself to be baptized, Johanna decided to leave to go visit her sister in Cebaco on saturday and sunday and she works all day everyday. The brother of Monica, Santos was home but when we passed by for him saturday morning to make sure he was ready...he was VERY drunk! Ya...that's not happening! We had a couple others too who were out of town AND the new investigators that we have...ya none of them came to church with us yesterday so that was really depressing. On the bright side, mom i got to sing that song you sent me in sacrament meeting yesterday. As soon as I got it I translated it into Spanish but I also would have had to change the music a little to match the rythm of the words because Spanish isn't directly translated...so I sang it in english and my comp played the piano! I prayed really hard before we got up to perform the song that the congregation would be able to feel the spirit through the tune of the song at least and that Hermana Drollinger and I would be able to bring the spirit into the room and man did Heavenly Father answer my prayer. The spirit was so strong in the room you could cut it with a knife! I have never felt the spirit that strong before when I have sung. After sacrament meeting hermana Blankita our lunch cita just gave me a huge hug, crying super hard and told me not only was the spirit strong because the song was pretty but she also said it was even more strong because two servants of God were performing it! That comment was a true testimony to me that missionaries truly are servants of God and that we have the authority to bring the spirit as long as we live as representatives of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Remember that woman we found at the bus stop whose husband just passed away! Turns out some elders that served here 5 years ago married her and her husband and baptized them. We had no idea until this week! We went by to teach her on thursday and she finally told us! We immeidiately shared the lesson of Dia de roposo and really committed her to coming to church with us and the blessings we receive from taking the sacrament every week! But...I have never had an experience like this with anyone in my life until this week. This womans name is Ada and she lives with her little 6 year old boy in a tiny little concrete house at the top of the mountain. She was working for her aunt to make it by...but her aunt decided she didn't need her help anymore and fired her last tuesday. We didn't know this until she told us on thursday when we went by. She continued to explain to us that her and her little boy had not eaten or had nothing to drink for 9 days!!! The entir time we were there talking to her, her little boy was sitting on a blanket on the dirt floor of their tiny home just repeating "mommy, water...mommy i need water"! I could not believe what I was seeing and what I was hearing. I have never felt my heart literally break like that before! All i remember from our visit with her that afternoon was when we left...we made our way back down the mountain and I couldn't hold it in any longer. I fell to the ground in the dirt and just started weeping more than I ever had in my life! I always knew there were people in this world who didn't have much...but I never EVER have experienced it like this! This poor woman was fired by her own family and didn't even have one peso to by a little tiny bag of water for her son. As missionaries we are not supposed to buy food and things for people...but we couldn't just leave them like that, so we stopped by a poparia at the bottom of the mountain and bought her and her son some water and a few things they could ration out to eat to at least get her by unti she found a job. We then took it all back up the mountain and as soon as we showed up to her door, which consisted of a rusty box spring from a mattress...she saw we had a little food and water for her and her little boy and she just fell into our arms and started crying. We told her we would come back to help her get ready for church but unfortunately when we passed by yesterday for her she wasn't home. This woman is so strong! Even though she literally has nothing, she is so happy! I have looked back on this experience a lot this week and every time i think about it I get a little teary, but there are no coincidences when it comes to inspiration. There is a reason why we found her at the bus stop and every time we see her it is reconfirmed to me that we need to have faith in this woman and just do all we can to help her come back to church and to help her realize how blessed she can be with the Gospel in her life again. I know without any doubt that this is the true Gospel of Jesus christ! He knows all of us personally and has felt every sorrow and pain that we have felt and will feel. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary, to feel the spirit everyday and to feel my Savior's love for me! I hope you are all having a great week and always remember and recognize the blessings we have in our lives! We are all children of our Father in Heaven and He is always here for us!

Hermana Dickey

Dreaming in SPANISH!!!

Hola Mundo!

Wow!!! This has been the busiest week and fastest week of my life but so awesome! Our goal this whole was to get as many of our investigators to at least one conference session. Out of all of our progressing investigators only one came...I was very dissapponted. It was kinda hard because we watched conference in a chapel in guanunca which is about a 15 minute taxi ride from my area and is super expensive for pretty much everyone in my area. It was hard to get them to come when they need the money to buy their food and what not for the week. The one women that did come with us lives about one block from our church building here in Matagalpa and we found her on wednesday. Her name is Johanna and this woman is the coolest lady I have ever met! She has the cutest personality and makes you smile every time she speaks. She told us when we found her that she has been to church about 4 times with a friend but no one ever sent the missionaries to her house. She kept asking her friend but she never told any of the missionaries to visit her. She told us she had been praying for the us to be guided by the spirit to find her because she couldn't find us! It's such a miracle that we showed up to her house! She told us our first lesson with her that she wants to be baptized as soon as possible and we just explained to her that that was our purpose as missionaries, to prepare her for her baptism. She is going to be baptized this weekend either on saturday or sunday before church and I think we are gonna baptize her brother too. The only problem with him is that he can't hear or speak so we aren't really sure how to teach him, but Johanna and her brother both came to conference with us sunday morning in Guanunca and they stayed for a baptism that the Elders in our district had! That really animated her and she has been calling us multiple times a day now making sure we didn't forget about her and her baptism this weekend! She is seriously so hillarious! I love her with all my heart! In total we have 6 of our investigators getting baptized this week and I am so excited! We have a lot of work to do to make sure they are all ready...but it's going to be great! Monica is finally getting BAPTIZED this week and I could not be more happy! She finally ditched her boyfriend and found a job that alows her to work from her house! Her brother is also getting baptized with her! Just goes to show what can happen with fe in the Lord! I loved conference and I loved how it focused a lot on families! It was also really fun to watch in spanish! I am not going to lie...my brain hurt a lot this weekend trying to understand word for word what our Apostles and Prophet were saying because I love conference so much and I didn't want to miss something...but I had to give myslef a brake...I mean I have only been here 6 weeks now...my spanish isn't perfect and I don't understand everything, but I can speak in lessons and share my testimony so that's most important right! I love this Gospel so much! I love this country, I love these people and most importanatly I love my savior! There are so many times when I am hiking up and down mountains in the heat, just wondering why I put myself in this situation. Why I left my family and the comforts of my home to sweat all day long, learn a language and learn how to be an effective missionary all at the same time...but then... I think of my savior Jesus Christ and what he did. He sacrficed so much for me, he knows what I am going through and what I will go through and that keeps me going! He suffered for the sins and pains of the world! I am pretty sure...no I am 100% postitive that I can continue to work my hardest everyday here in Nicaragua!

Our water still does not work in my area so yes...I still shower with a little bucket. Apparently it won't start working for about another month, but its ok! I mean how many people get to say that they served a mission in Nicaragua and got to shower every morning with a tiny buicket of water... I DO!!! It's awesome! We are having some bug problems in my house lately so hopefully it won't get worse. My worst nightmare came true a couple nights ago though...Prepare yourselves for this people! Thursday night we get home at 930 like always to plan for the next day...I kneel down with my comp to pray before we plan and look over to my right because I saw something out of the corner of my eye crwling in the corner. I look over and there is a HUGE FREAKING TORANTULA CRAWLING UP THE WALL OF MY HOUSE!!!! I thought I was gonna cry! For all those that know me I don't handle bugs very well and I especially don't handle huge torantulas crwaling up the wall! long story short I made my comp kill it because I couldn't even be in the same room as that thing! It was aweful! It's ok though because how many people get to say they found a toratula crawling up the wall of their hoome...I DO! Saturday night I also had my first dream in spanish! I woke up more tired than I was when I went to bed but congrats to all those who don't think you can speak spanish because you can now! Anyways I am doing really well and I am learning more and more everyday! I feel you love and support for me everyday and I am so grateful for all of you back home cheering me on! I love being a missionary! I promised my Heavenly Father before I came to this earth that I would help establish the cause of Zion. That I would help bring his lost sheep back to his fold and that is what I intend to do. I love this Gospel so much and I know this is where I need to be in my life! These next 15 months are going to be the best I just know it!

Hermana Dickey

Ps. Mom I got the package you sent on tuesday night! THANK YOU SO MUCH!! You guys know me so well. Reese's, Nutella, Lucky charms, clothes and that super awesome quote book with letters in it! I love quotes so much and I cried like a baby reading your sweet letters! I read them every night! I love you all so much!