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