What an adventure this has been! I CAN NOT beleive that this is my last letter home and last week in the mission field. Words can not describe the flood of emotions that are going on in my heart right now. It has truly been a blessing and even better stated, an honor to wear this Black name tag and share the message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in the Spanish language for the past year and a half of my life. I have been greatly blessed and am so glad that I accepted the call. 

I got asked very frequently throughout my mission why I was here. Why I gave up everything just to "preach" to people. And do you want to know what my response was everytime...I gave up a lot of things not to just preach to people, but simply to share what I know to be good and true, through the power and gift of the holy ghost...that if they wanted to know as well, all they had to do was ask. That started some very great lesson. Haha! I have learned so much on my mission this letter would be a million pages long if I were to write out all of those things...but thats what journals are for right? But I think the biggest lesson I have learned is how to Trust in the Lord. Not just learn about having trust, but how to trust. The Lord has tested me so much in the mission in so many different ways as he does in our daily lives and I have learned how to truly turn my decisions over to him and do what He would have me do...and I know that is something I will be able to carry over into my life. I feel like one of the biggest challenges for us as mortal beings is to put our Natural man eyes aside and look through the eyes of the Lord. I learned how to frequently ask myslef "What would the Lord have me do?" or "How would my savior act in this situation?" and that is when not only our faith is tested but also when we put our trust in him...and then results are a strengthened testimony, blessings and progress to becoming more like Him. I have had the priviledge to see first hand how the Gospel changes and strengthens people. But do you want to know why? Because they trust. They read the Book of Mormon with real intent. They pray with a desire to recieve answers. They come before the Lord with broken hearts and contrite spirits looking to be healed and reconstructed...and by that faith and trust alone they become converted instead of convinced. I have seen it happen in so many lives, in so many homes of families that are now eternal. It is truly a miracle and a Gift from God to have this Gospel on the earth.

I Love my mission with all my heart. Nicaragua is a very poor, but very blessed country. People reach out to help others before they even help themsleves. The 10 cordobas they were going to use to buy a bag of rice to eat for dinner, they wil willing give to the Lord as their fast offering because of their faith and trust in the Lord. I love this Gospel. I love my savior. I love Nicaragua and His children that live here. I know he lives. I love you all and hope you have a great week! I will see you all next week!

For the last time... Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful week as usual! Congrats to all those High school graduates out there! YOU DID IT!!! I am so excited and proud of all of you! Soooo this week was probably the best week of my mission so you are really going to want to pay attention to this email!! Actually I don't know if I could say it was the best week but it was pretty darn close!

So as you all know by now...here in Matagalpa we are fighting really hard to turn these branches into wards and this District into a stake. It has been a lucha for years...and the day has finally come! Elder Maravilla from the 70 came to our district conference this last weekend to observe...as in what the attendance was like in the meeting. He was also mainly focused on the amount of pristhood holders ordained on sunday and the asistance in the priesthood session. That was the main chalenge for us as a district and Elder Maravilla put us to the test. Last year at this conference there were about 100 bretheren at the priesthood session and on sunday for the general session there were about 300. So our goal as missinaries was to really animate the less actives and mainly sacerdocios to show Elder Maravilla that Matagalpa is worthy of having a stake! We worked together with the members to really get things moving and we were doing really well. FINALLY saturday came! The big day! Test Day! But when we wole up saturday morning we woke up to rain...and I am not just talking a little sprinkle, I mean a full on rain storm! by 8 saturday morning the streets were literally rivers! When we went to go work the water waided up to my knees..andI was on the sidewalk! And you know what it means when it rains here...NO ONE LEAVES THERE HOUSES!!! Literally the streets were empty! I just thought to myself silently how in the world were we going to be able to pull this off when people don't want to leave. After the adult session saturday morning our whole zone gathered around in the gym...got in a big circle and knelt down. We said a prayer together asking the Lord to bless all of the brothers to still have the desire to come and to help the rain let up enough that people would leave their homes. We got up and all scatterd running to our areas to start getting brothers to the church! The meeting started at 6 and we saw a HUGE miracle that day. at 5 oclock satuday afternoon the rain all of the sudden turned into a little drizzle...perfect timeing to get people to the church. The meeting started at 6 and one by one brotheren entered into the sacrament room. by 6 30 it started to pour again...but I will tell you that room was full of 210 brotheren dressed in white shirts and ties! 210!!! All of us sisters arrived around 730 to see how many people had come, we were soaking wet...but when we looked into that room and saw all of those white shirts tears filled our eyes! It was truly a miracle! The Lord had helped us so much because we did and are still doing His will! The next day on sunday in the general session we had an atendance of 628 people! even the gym in the back was full! It was a week full of miracles and Elder Maravilla was VERY impressed! We got authorization to send the papers to salt lake so we will know by the end of this month if MATAGALPA becomes a stake...after years of being a district! I am so extremly blessed to be part if this great work here in Matagalpa and I know the Lord had big things planned not only in Matagalpa but in Nicaragua! One more stake means we are one step closer to a temple!

I LOVE this Gospel! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey Everyone!

I hope it was a fantastic week for all of you! I hope you had a great memorial day weekend! My comp hermana De Leon and I had a great week! We had the baptism of Anielka this weekend and she got confirmed yesterday so that was really great!! She is the best! I would send you pics but my camera died so I will for sure send them next week! 

On sunday yesterday they announced that the Area presidency of Central America has approved Matagalpa to become a stake!!!! POR FIN!!! I was so excited! This coming weekend is our district conference and they will give us more details. But I am beyond excited to know that Matagalpa will finally be a stake now! I just remember how last year when I was here almost every branch had an attendance of 30-40 people each week...and a year later one branch has about 100 every week and we have about 85. It just is a huge testimony to me of how the Lords works to accelerate the work! I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone!!!

I hope you all had a super fantastic week! Mine was great! This last thursday was my very last Multi-zone conference with my mission President and it was really sad actually! The meeting was great but at the end President Collado pulled up a picture on his phone of the new mission President and his family that will be coming at the end of this change and introduced us to them. His name is President Ponce. He is from Guatemala and they have an 18 year old daughter and a 16 year old son. They look like really great people and it is a bummer I won't be able to meet them personally. I am SO grateful though that I get to finish with MY mission president. It is just so hard to beleive how quickly the time goes by! 

This weekend we have 4 people on date to get baptized so we are hoping that all goes well with them! We have been really keeping up with them so any questions they have can be answered by the spirit! Today hermana De Leon and I enjoyed a nice rexlaing Pday at a place here in Matagalpa called Cascada Blanca (White Waterfall)ª! It was so beautiful! All of the missionaries go there so it was nice to finally see what everyone talked about! One of the best pdays yet! It was about a 30 min crowded bus ride to get there but totally worth it! Not much to report this week! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hermana Dickey

This weekend is mothers day here in Nicaragua so HAPPY MOTHERS DAY again to all of you B-E-A-utiful mothers out there!

So this week was so great!!! Well actually to be honest it kind of started out a little rough...but ended with an AWESOME baptism! Saturday afternoon Emily was able to finally be baptized!! She is part of a less active family that we found. When we found them they had not been to church for like a year so we started teaching them the missionary lessons again and they started coming back to church. Their daughter Emily, however, was 9 and had not been baptized so we worked really hard in helping her dad so that he could baptize her. On saturday afternoon Emily got baptized and her dad was able to baptize her. We also put a meta with the family that they can save up enough to be able to go to the temple in Honduras (because there is not a temple in Nicaragua yet) and be sealed to eachother as a family for time and all eternity!!!! WOOHOOO! They have a goal put for December so I will definitely be there for that!

In other news... Matagalpa is AWESOME! Even though my area is literally all hills or should I say mountains..I am getting a good workout and my companion and I are really finding some cool people! We have another golden family that we are working with and they are on date for the 4 of June so we are really looking forward to that one! they just need to get married first! The time is coming rapidly to an end for me so I am trying to make the most of every second. Every second we make decisions and those decsions can lead to a change in someones Eternity. I love being a missionary so much...there is nothing like it or compared to it. Getting to put on that black name tag everyday, share your testimony with people who are looking for something more and for me getting to do all of that wonderful stuff in a foreign language is a blaessing! Also for all those who speak spanish...PLEASE speak to me in spanish when I get home! I am going to miss it a lot! Haha! I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey Everyone!!!! 

I hope all of you BEAUTIFUL mothers out there had a great mothers day!! I am pretty sure mine did! It was so awesome to be able to talk to my family yesterday! Even though I will be home soon...it was still really hard to hang up. I am so grateful to have an eternal family! Just so you all know... My family said that I have definitely changed but that I am still as witty and as energetic as ever...there are just some things that never change people!

I cannot beleive that I am starting my last transfer of my mission this week. It has gone by so incredibly fast! I am excited but really sad all at the same time..mixed feelings about the whole idea...but I miss you all so stinkin much so it will all be fine! I am still with my companion Hermana De Leon and we are going to see some great miracles together in these next few weeks! She finishes her training and we are going to baptize a golden family! Those are just some starter miracles. This weekend we have the baptism of Emily. She is 11 and part of a less active family that we have reactivated! I am so excited! Her dad is going to baptize her! Then in the next few weeks we have a couple of families with a fecha so we are going to be busy! Anyways that is about all I have to report this week! We are just going to work super hard! I want these last few weeks of my mission to be the best! In the life of the Savior he completed His greatest accomplishments and miracles towards the end of His life...so I intend to follow His example and achieve my greatest miracles and accomplishments in these final weeks! I love you all and hope you have a SUPER TUANIS week!

Love, Hermana Dickey

HOLA MUNDO!!!

I hope you all had an amazingly wonderful week full of excitement, happiness and just plain awesomeness. As for me it was yet another great week and we had A TON of success. We had the baptism of Engell Suriel and yesterday at church he was confirmed. I also got to teach Young womens yesterday which was really fun actually! We had a great lesson and shared a few laughs as well. My companion gave an impromptu talk as well in sacrament meeting and the companionship of elders that share an area with us had to bless and pass the sacrament...you know we are like missionary ninjas. Haha! It was a great meeting though!

So on saturday we got rained on hard core here. Around 3pm it started to sprinkle and then all of the sudden it was like someone turned the hose on full blast. We left the house prepared that day with our umbrellas. We were about half way up the hill, or moutain I should say, when it started pouring...my companion was walking a little bit behind me when all of the sudden a bunch of rocks started to fall down the mountain... I saw one coming towards my companion and tried to stop it before it got to her because she was looking down at the ground at the time, but I missed it and it hit her right in the shin. It was not a huge rock but big enough and coming fast enough it left a huge bruise on her poor leg and a nice looking wound. We kept going though and about 5 minutes later I slipped and fell in the mud...haha...The laughter took the pain away!! I love the mission so much! Also on saturday at about 11 we passed by for this sister that we have been teaching for about a week. We shared with her a quick message about the atonement of Jesus Christ and just as I was finishing up and in the middle of sharing a powful testimony...she just stops me and says "Hermana Dickey...How does it feel to be a gringa?" You guys she was totally serious! She actually wanted to know! I kinda chuckled and and was just like "Ummm...Bien...Creo" Haha! Gotta love it people!

So spiritual experience of the week that I just love! On sunday after church we were walking home to drop off some things before we hit the streets to finish up the day..I was holding a BOM in my hand like I normally do just in case the opportunity arrived to give it to someone...when all of the sudden the thought popped up in my mind "This book that I am holding in my hands truly is the Word of God". It was wierd but I kinda got that butterfly feeling in my stomach. I turned to my companion and started talking to her about it. How amazing it was that this book was written by prophets, buried in the ground waiting to be translated by the power and the gift of God...and that now...a sister missionary in Nicaragua was holding one her hands, in spanish, looking to share it with someone who was ready to hear. It made me realize that if this book wasn't true...NO ONE would take the time and energy to translate it into so many different languages and share it with people who don't know the truth of it. I mean the Book of Mormon is translated in Miskito people! All of those people out in Puerto Cabezas read it in Miksito and the missionaries there share it in Miskito! How cool is that!! I just love this Gospel so much and El Libro De Mormon!! I hope you all have a wonderful week! 

Hermana Dickey

Hola Mundo!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful week! This week for me was a good one...but another one of those weeks where I asked myself mutiple times how I was able to put one foot infront of the other...or even keep my legs moving! Haha! By the end of the night it gets difficult. But I love it!!!

So you know how I have always gotten frustrated at the fact that people here never let us help them. They will invite us in and let us teach them but when we offer to help them sweep their dirt, wash clothes, feed the parrot...they just say no!!! I hat it because I want to help! Well this week someone finally let us help. A cute sister we are teaching was super busy washing clothes one day and let us help her...my comp and I switched off about every 5 or 6 shirts and we got it done really quick! Go TEAM! Then after we finished this sweet sister says..." Hermana Dickey would you do me a huge favor? I need to feed my baby so would you mind bathing the cat?" Me in my head: ummmm... oh this is not going to turn out well for me! But I wanted to help so I tucked my shirt in super tight to my skirt, grabbed the cat and put her in the pila. There was a giant bucket of water next to and as I reached in with a cup to rinse off the cat I just said a lttle prayer in my heart that we would all come out of this ok...the cat and me. So I reached in with the cup and threw the water and shampoo on that dumb cat as fast as I could and lets just say...my hands now look like they were just shoved into a blackberry bush! Ask me if I will EVER own a cat? JAMAS!!! So we all learned an important lesson that evening...cats should not be bathed!

This week is going to be a great one!! I hope you are all doing well and marching forward with an eye single to the glory of God. I love you!

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone I hope it was yet another fantastic week for all! For us it definitely was! I am not going to lie...it started out a little rough but ended on a great note. A Touchdown for the win! Our investigator Jackson got baptized on saturday evening and it was a really great experience for him. Jackson is 16 years old and lives with some members in our branch. His mom passed away about 8 months ago and his dad left when he was about 6...so he has lived with Hermana Clemencia ever since. He is a super great kid and keeps telling us he can't wait till he turns 18 to go on a mission. That makes me very happy every time he says it. Preparing for his baptism though was a little bit interesting. Hence the title of my email. I am the type of person where I like to have everything done planned and done beforehand. These last minute catastrophes trying to get things organized really stresses me out so I always make sure everything is in order beforehand. Well as some of you know...training a new missionary can sometimes be a little stressful because everything can weigh on your shoulders, and when you have a billion things going on in your mind at once, one tends to forget things...right? So my companion and I got everything ready to go on friday. We passed by inviting people, found white clothes for jackson to put on, found a member who could baptize him, found a video to put on for people to watch while Jackson was changing...ect. BUT....guess what I forgot...clothes for the person that would be baptizing him. Didn't remember that crucial part until about 2:30...Jaksons baptism was at 3... So I called our ZLs to ask them if they had some clothes we could borrow. They said yes and told me to meet them at the institute that is close to my area. We booked it there and waited when all of the sudden I get a call from the ZLs, "HERMANA DICKEY!!! LOOK TO YOUR RIGHT!!!" Here is elder Jacobson in the back of a taxi... on a very busy highway with his arm out the window holding white pants and a white shirt. The taxi slows down a tiny bit as I run up and grab the clothes out of his hand and they continue to drive away. Needless to say we made it to the baptism in time and I got one step closer to the hall of fame!

This weekend we have another baptism of Hermano Angel. This time I know I will be fully prepared! I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone I hope you all had yet another wonderful week!

This week was super awesome for my comp and I! I feel like the weeks are just flying by though. We worked really hard this week and found tons of people who are know have been prepared for us to teach. Matagalpa and specifically Totolate are chosen places. Matagalpa currently does not have any wards yet and is not a stake. There are two districts in Matagalpa and 4 branches. At church on sunday our attendence was 30 people...with that being said...I ended up giving a talk in sacrament meeting..didn't know that until I arrived at church and the branch president asked me to share something. Then the teacher for sunday school didn't show up, so guess who taught that class too...yep Hermana Dickey! My companion taught Gospel doctrine. It is a little bit of a struggle trying to get people to come to church and even more to participate, but we have to be patient so that we can get these branches into wards and then the wards into stakes and then TEMPLO NICARAGUA 2017!!!! I know its coming people! I thought it was going to be announced in conference last week, but alas itwas not! It's ok though because I am feeling it for next year!

This week we have a baptism. Jackson will be getting baptized and I am super excited for him because he needs this in his life. He has had a little bit of a tough life so I know he will really embrace everything the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has to offer him! I hope you all have a great week! I love you all!

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone I hope you all had a great conference weekend! I am writing late today and don't have much time because this morning at about 3am I got a phone call from a sister in my zone. They were on there way to the hospital because Hermana Martinez had apendicitis and had to have surgery...so with that being said I stayed with her in the hospital today so her companion...who is new and today was her first p-day...could go enjoy it with my companion and not have to spend her first p day in the hospital. They got back late because the lights went out here in all of Matagalpa while they were writing...but I am on now! Haha!

I hope everyone enjoyed conference! I loved it so much! I always feel so lifted after listening to our modern day prophet and apostles. Something cool that happened to me... a year ago on march 16 2015 Alan, Magdalena and their two kids were married and baptized and, my comp at the time, and I were the ones who were able to help them make that wonderful change in their lives. Well I arrived to conference on sunday morning with some investigators and there they were...the whole family on the very front row with note pads, open hearts and open ears ready to listen! I ran over to them and gave them all a HUGE hug!!! Well the girls anyways...Alan and alan Jr. got the awkward hand shake...haha! But it was so amazing to see them all together and still as faithful as ever! They told me they have plans to go to the temple in January so that Hermana Drollinger and I can go! WOOOHOOOO!!! I love this gospel so much! I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hola Mundo!!

I hope you all had yet another wonderful week and even more importantly a great Easter! Easter here is quite the event I must say but really cool! People here make these float type things with a statue of Jesus on the Cross on them and carry them around the town with a BILLION people following behind them singing! It is actually cool to see but the Mormon missionaries walking around through those crowds get a little more attention than I would like.

So today is monday and we had changes....and you will never guess where I got sent to...MATAGALPA!!!!! WHOOHOO!!! I am so excited! When I got the phone call last night I was so shocked! I don't know if any of you remeber but I started my mission in this Zone and now with only two changes left I will be finishing here. I am also training. My companion is Hermana De Leon from guatemala and she is so amazing...quiet but super cute! We are going to get along just fine! Today I have already seen some people that I got to know really well almost a year ago when I was here and do you know what every single one of them has said...You speak spanish now!! Haha! I may have been a little quiet when I was here a year ago!

Nothing to exciting going on yet...I was sad to leave my golden family behind and the quiroz family...but they are in good hands with my last companion. This week I did get stung by a scorpion..haha! We were helping this cute little old lady move some dirt from one side of her house to the other and as I was kicking some rocks away so I could shovel up some dirt I felt something pinch me on the side of my foot and all I saw was the dumb little tail and stinger of a scorpion stuck into the side of my poor little foot! NOT COOL MAN!!! I called the nurse just to ask her if I should be worried or not..all she asked me was what the color was of the scorpion..it was a little brown one..and told me I would be fine, I would just get really dizzy for a while and boy was she right!!! I am pretty sure I looked like one of the drunk guys that is always walking around on the street corners! It wore off though towards the end of the day and the next day I as good as knew! Good times! I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone I hope it was yet another great week for everyone! I hear that the weather at home is not to great..but just a little pick me up for all of you at home who are tired of the rain...it is currently 100 degrees with 90% humidity...I would take the rain any day! This week also starts the hottest week of the year...the week of Semana Santa! I really don't understand why this week always is so hot but I remember last year dying at this time too!

So quick update on my life... Gissell and Yerson got baptized!!!!! WOOOHOOO!!! It was such a great weekend. Friday afternoon Gissell was baptized by her boyfriend (who is in the mission) and the service was so amazing! We prepared a video to share after the ordinance and the spirit was really strong. Then on Saturday evening Yerson got baptized by his cousin and that too was just as amazing! I am so grateful for the miracles that were worked in helping these two young people enter into the waters of baptism. It is always so amazing to me how such young people have the desire to follow their savior Jesus Christ.

This week is going to be a great one I just know it! We found some really cool people last week that I am really excited to go and teach. In fact we found a super cute family! The Quiroz Family! They are a little family of 5 who are seriously another miracle. The day we found them was a day when my companion and I really put our faith to the test. That morning of during our final planning session my companion and I decided that we were going to find a chosen family that day. We both came up with about 3 different parts of our area that we could go contact and decided that in one of those 3 places we were going to find that family of 5. We then kneeled down and asked Heavenly Father which area had the family of 5 prepared for us. We finished the prayer and my companion and I both felt we needed to go to an area where we went almost everyday and try there. It was kind of wierd that that is what we had felt because we were always there, but we followed the promptings of the spirit. That day we went to the Rotunda and just started walking down the street with hearts and minds open to the promptings of the spirit when all of the sudden this little tiny inflatable ball rolls out in front of me and I stopped to pick it up. I gave it to the little boy who came chasing after it. The mom and the dad sitting outside in their lawn chairs thanked me and that is when we noticed the two parents and 3 kids all playing outside. We took the opportunity to get to know them and then we taught them. They were SUPER awesome! Tonight we have an appointment with them and I am super excited to see what happens! I love this Gospel so much and I love being a missionary. The longer I have been out the more my purpose as a missionary and as a member of this Gospel has stuck to me! We are here to invite others to come unto christ and to be baptized in His name...not to convince and not to persuade..,to invite and help. I Testify that this is the true Gospel of Jesus Christ, that He lives, That God lives and that someday we will all return to live with him again through faith, love, repentance and obedience. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Hermana Dickey

Buenos Días mis queridos amigos! 

I hope this week has been yet another great week for all and that you were all able to see the hand of the Lord at some point or another. For my companion and I...we definitely did! On Tuesday last week we passed by as normal for our "Golden Family" to share a message with them about the Plan of Salvation. We arrived to their house only to find it empty...COMPLETELY VACIO PEOPLE!!!! I was so shocked that that had happened to us again! We had finally found another chosen Family...helped them feel the spirit...brought them to church with us twice just to show up and find that they had moved! The worst part was that they didn't have a cell phone or any way to stay in touch...so my companion and I had no idea what had happened to them. That was like a hard "Kick to the face" for me...but I had to keep working with a smile on my face and with motivation to find others who the Lord had chosen for us to find that day. We kept on working and at around 5:30 we were on our way to an appointment that we had scheduled. On the way we decided to go a different route than normal...because there is always a long way and a short way. So this particular day at that particular time we felt the impression to go the long way. On the way my companion and I were having a conversation and chatting when we passed by a girl named Gissel who we had contacted about 4 weeks ago. She is a 19 year old who didn't live in our area for a while but was always visiting her boyfriend(Who haappens to be the bishops son) and who had recieved all of the lessons from missionaries before and had been to church a billion times...but never got baptized for fear of her mother. Well this particular day we found her again at her boyfriends house because he had just left for the mission the day before. We went inside and shared a message with her when all of the sudden she just says " Can I be baptized next Friday?" WHAT!!! UMMM for sure you can be baptized next Friday! I tried holding my composure I promise. At that Very moment I knew the Lord was blessing us for our past efforts. So Gisel is getting batized this Friday! 

Another Miracle...Yesterday we were in sacrament meeting listening to the speakers when a joven (youth) comes over to me and says " Hermanas there is a guy outside that wants to see you. He says he knows you". So we got up quietly and walked outside..Who was this mysterious man...HERMANA PEDRO PABLO!! The dad of the "Golden Family". He had come looking for us at church because he remembered what time it started and wanted to talk to us. We ended up finding out where they were living now, they bought a cell phone so we got their number! It was great! They don't live in our area now but we were able to send other missionaries to their house!

Last Miracle...Also yesterday at church we noticed there was a guy there who we had never seen before. After sacrament meeting we introduced ourselves to him. His name is Yerson. He was living in Leon but now lives in our area. He was an investigator of some missionaries in Leon and came to church with his niece. He said the missionaries in Leon never put a fecha (date to be baptized) with him but he said he wanted to get baptized. He too said "Hermanas can I get baptized next saturday": FOR SURE!!! Again had to hold my composure.

So Moral of the story...the Lord will always bless us for our efforts if we are obedient and working hard. I hope you all have an amazing week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey Everyone! I hope you all had yet another fantastic week and were able to see so many blessings. For me it was a pretty good one. We have really been working hard with Hermano Marlon this week. We saw him on his tricycle on wedensday and he was super excited. He had a huge smile on his face and everything. So we stopped to talk to him and see what all the excitement was about. He said " Hermanas I am on my way to church!" We both knew that there weren't any activities going on at the church that night so we were a little confused. I asked him...in english.."Really where are you headed to?" He was on his way to an evangelical concert thing to sing and worship God. Alright you know that’s cool and all...but don't go and get yourself confused Marlon! I didn't say that to him but I was thinking it. He ended up going every night from wednesday to sunday...but he came to church with us yesterday too so that was great! We are going to have a lesson with him tonight to get some things clarified. We have also found another choice family people! Every time we see them its like a beam of light shines down on them and the choir starts singng the Hallelujah chorus! Super great people! The dad’s name is Pedro Pablo and the wife is Hermana Sujei. They came to church with us yesterday and pedro Pablo is also about halfway through the Book of Mormon now and they are really preparing so they can be married and baptized on the 16th of this month! I am so excited for them!

This week during my personal study in the morning I came across a scripture in 2 Nephi that I REALLY loved and have had in my mind all week. It is found in 2 Nephi 9:18 which says:

" 18 But, behold, the righteous, the saints of the Holy One of Israel, they who have believed in the Holy One of Israel,they who have endured the crosses of the world, and despised the shame of it, they shall inherit the kingdom of God, which was prepared for them from the foundation of the  world, and their joy shall be full forever." 

As I pondered on that scripture it first made me think of Christ and his atoning sacrifice. How he had to carry His own cross, Stumbling, falling, being spit upon and mocked at to what he knew and was to become His sudden death. But everytime He fell He got up and kept going. That to me in and of itself is an example of courage...but reading this scripture helped me put some things into perspective a little more. We, being those that this scripture speaks, the holy ones of israel, have in our own lives endured our own crosses. We face sin, rejection, heartache, and sadness..but we "Despise the shame of it". When we fall we get back up just like He did and by the courage that we have to keep pushing forward we will "inherit the kingdom of God...and their joy shall be full forever." I am so grateful for the Savior and his atoning sacrifice. For His matchless love and great example. Have a wonderful week Everyone!

Love, Hermana Dickey

Hey everyone!! First of all I am really sorry that you didn't get an email from me last week. I was a little busy and didn't have anytime to write. But I hope you all had an amazing week! This week for me was yet another great one...but the sad thing is that I feel like they just keep coming and going…THAT I am not a fan of.

So some sad news…The menezes family moved to a different area so we had to give the missionaries in that area the reference and they got baptized there. It pretty much broke my heart that I didn't personally get to see them enter the waters of baptism but at least I know that they made those covenants and that in a year they will be able to become an eternal family. As of Marlon...the guy I told you about who showed up to church on his own, well he is progressng really well. I did divisions with a sister in my zone who also happens to be from Oregon so when we went by to teach Marlon we taught him in English...That was so wierd and way harder than I thought it was going to be!! Spanglsih was definitely a part of that lesson but he likes it when we teach him in English, I explained to him we wouldn't always be able to do that becuase My companion doesn't speak English...but either way he understands. I am just amazed as to how bad my English has become. All in all I am just really loving being a missionary. Everyday I wake up so full of joy...full of the spirit, ready to share the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ to all those who are willing to listen. Being able to share my testimony in spanish all dday everday has really been a HUGE blessing to me. Seeing the Gospel change the lives of so many people is something indescribable and so real. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else or doing anything else. I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey Folks! I hope you all had a super Tuanis week! Mine was so awesome and I can't wait to see what this week has in store! I love my new area so much! When I got here my companion gave me a little run down of some problems it had but we buckled down and worked extra hard and saw so many miracles! My companion Hermana Alvarez is also so amazing! She is not only a super hard worker but is so nice to everyone. We get along really well and I am just hoping and praying that we don't get changed...EVER! 

So we saw some pretty awesome miracles this week and one of those was the baptism of Walter. This man used to be a drunk on the street corners...but had the desire to change his life and put his trust in the Lord. He was originally on date to be baptized on the 18th but when we went to our lesson with him on wednesday the spirit was so strong in that lesson and my companion and I both felt impressed to change his date and ask him if he wanted to be baptized on saturday. With out any hesitation he said "YES"! So we brought the elders to do his interview the next day and on saturday he was baptized. Hermano Walter...A drunk on the street stumbling out of every bar he could find, is now a clean, edified priesthood holder. It was a true testimony to me and still is that you never judge what you see on the outside. Best Day Ever!

In other news...We have a family that we are teaching named familia Menezes and they are so great! They are super postive and we have them on date for the 24th of this month. On thursday we walked out to their home to visit them and they had there grandchildren over there for a visit. They have a little 2 year old grandson named Darwincito who is litterally so adorable. Everytime I see him he looks like he just finished playing in the mud...which sometimes is true...but to me it doesn't matter because he is just so darn cute. As we visited with the family out on their patio we had a great lesson and finished with a prayer. I closed my eyes and offered the prayer. When I finished and opened my eyes I look up and all I see is this GIANT chicken in my face! It didn't scare me at all but I was not expecting it! And do you know you had that chicken wrapped up in his arms...Darwincito! That thing was literally as big as he was and he was carying the pòor thing around like it was a teddy bear! It was so funny! Don't worry I have pictures! I love being a missionary so much! It hurts to think that some day...soon...I will have to take my black name tag off for the last time, that there will never be another Hermana Dickey in my family again...but I plan on making the most of it! I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hola mundo!!!

So this week we had changes...actually today...wow it has been a long wierd day! HA! but anyways I got changed to my new area called Ayapal. It is still here in Chinandega...just on the east side of Chinandega. Literally packed up everything last night to move about 4 blocks south...but hey I am happy! I love gettting to know more areas! My new companion is Hermana Alvarez from Costa Rica! She is so awesome! We were already pretty good friends from a while back so it is exciting to me that I get to be her companion. It will be fun to see what miracles we will be able to see here in our area!

On wednesday Pedro got baptized and it was so great! He already looks like a missionary to me! He wants to serve a mission so I am REALLY hoping that he goes through with it because he would be a super awesome missionary! This week I am just going to try and get to know my area as best I can. I am still the TL (training leader) and now that the first presidency has changed the way we do divisions...where a companionship of sisters comes to my area and we do divisions in my area, meaning 4 missionaries working in one area...I have to know my area so I can start getting some divisions done! Should be fun! Anyways I hope all is well for everyone and that you are all enjoying the cool weather!

Hermana Dickey

Hey Everyone!!! I hope you all had an amazing week and that you have all been able to see the Lords hand and blessings that he has prepared for us EVERYDAY!!! This week we had the privilege of getting to see and take part in a worldwide missionary broadcast by the general authorities! It was all centered on how we can have more success as missionaries and keep the work of the Lord moving forward! It was so awesome to watch and just think that missionaries all over the world were watching and hearing the same teachings in their own languages and all at different times depending on where they are!

Something very valuable that I learned was how we should always be prepared to share the Gospel. Elder Anderson from the quorum of the 12 apostles said that we should always have the name of the Lord on our lips...ready and prepared to testify of Him at all times and in all places. That really impacted me because as missionaries its obvious that we are always teaching and testifying...but who are we testifying of? Of who or what are we teaching? It is SO imortant that especially as missionaries we are always prepared with the name of our Savior and Redeemer on our lips ready to teach and testify of HIM. That we focus on the power of His redeeming love and teach of repentance, that He suffered for our sins, pains, sicknesses and that every week we can go to church to partake of the sacrament...the vessel in which we can renew our covenants with the Lord and become cleansed once again of our sins. We were taught in the conference that if we focus more on the power not just the doctrine of repenantance and baptism we will see more miracles in the seeds that we are sowing. We learned that the more we come to experience the power of the atonement and repentance in our own lives that it is impossible to not have the desire to go out and share this wonderful message with those that don't know. My whole perspective on how and what I want the people here in this beautiful country to learn and understand is exactly this...the power of repentance and the atonement of Jesus Christ.

This week we have a baptism of a Super awesome youth we have been teaching for about 3 weeks now! His name is Pedro and he is so ready for saturday! I am super excited for hm! We will also have changes this weekend so we will see what happens with that! I am hoping and praying I don't get taken out of my area but we will see! Anyways no mice reports this week so that has been a blessing..its still really hot in case you were all wondering but I love it! I can't believe that I have been gone a year now and that time is going by so fast...but the challenge to myself and to all of you is to always keep the name of the Lord on your lips. To always be ready to teach and testify of Him and His atoning sacrifice. I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hey Everyone! I hope it was a great week and that you aren't popsicles yet! In case anyone was wondering...I'm not! Haha!

So this week was an intersting one. To start off...We caught the mouse!!! We got home from writing last monday and there it was, stuck to the sticky paper trap that we had put out. My comp and I were standing from a distance laughing and jumping up and down that we had finally caught the dumb thing...but then almost at the same time we stopped and looked at eachother "Now what"! Haha! We caught it but now didn't know what to do with it or how to kill it. Our dueña next door was home so we told her we had caught a mouse in our house but didn't know what to do with it. She just chuckled, handed be a big long stick and said "Here sister dickey this should be hard enough with a little bit of force to squish it". I reached out to grab the stick with a deer in the headlights kind of look on my face because I could not believe that I was going to have to squish this mouse with a big long piece of wood. I can do it if its a cocroach or a scorpion or some type of creepy crawly, but for me hitting a mouse with a piece of wood just seemed so wrong...but I also didn't want that thing coming back to my house so the deed had to be done. We grabbed a broom and swept the paper with the mouse stuck to it out into the road, I turned my head to the side and hit that thing as hard as I could! NEVER AGAIN WILL I DO THAT!!!! Next time I am making Hermana Landaverde do it! But that's if there is a next time, hopefully there won't be.

I am sad to report but, our little family that we had been teaching and that was supposed to get married and baptized on saturday...didn't follow through. It is a long very sad story that I won't get into, but the way I like to look at it is that we planted the seed. They know who and what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is and they know the meaning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Who knows, maybe in a few months we can go back and see how they are doing. Anyways I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Dickey

Hola Mundo!!! I hope everyone had a great week and ready for another awesome one! To be completely honest nothing to exciting happened to me this week. My companion and i have almost everything ready for the wedding and baptism of Luisa and Wilian. We just need to take a few more papers to have signed and then we wait until Saturday! I AM SO EXCITED!!!! Eternal Family 2017 here we come!! Seriously people this family is so cute! We passed for them on Friday and Luisa was just getting back from her doctors appt where she was supposed to find out if she was having a boy or a girl. We show up and she just had this huge smile on her face. We asked her what happened and why she had a sort of creepy smile on her face and she just wraps her arms around my companion and I and says " Hermanas I am having a boy"!!!! She has been hoping it was a boy so she is super excited! They don't have a name picked out yet so my companion and I call him Juancito. Sounds like a pretty legit name to me right?

So concerning the title of this lovely email...I have pretty much gotten used to the cokroaches and the scorpions in my shower (believe it or not)...but this week we discovered something else that decided to make itself nice and comfortable in our house as well. Wednesday morning 8:15am. Hermana Dickey was deep into her personal study, reading in the Book of Mormon and recieving personal revelation...when out of the corner of her eye she sees something...but what wasit? She stops reading and looks over in the corner of the room where she had thought to have seen this mysterious creature. With one look and one big yell "Compa"!!!! 2 mice go scurying across the room and underneath my companions suitcase! We both immediately grab the broom and jump on our beds. These mice were nowhere to be found. I could not beleive that there were mice in my house!! To this day they are still there! We put about 4 traps out around our tiny little house but hav not caught one single mouse yet! I don't know how they are getting in or from where...but there is no where for them to go and nothing for them to eat because Hermana Dickey DOES NOT live in a messy,dirty home. In fact the other day our dueña came over to give us our rental reciet and she walked into our house and asked us who we had come clean our home because it is always so clean. I told her I was the one that cleans it...she didn't belaive me but I don't tell lies! So these mice are either going down by death by trap or death by hunger! I will keep ya'll updated! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Hermana Dickey

Soy Nica...

When you come home at night thinking that day you got even more tan...and then you come out of the shower about 5 shades lighter...ummm my area is mostly dirt! Haha!