Week 9: The Chicken Guinea

Well, this week was a good week.

I had all of these red dots all over my body. My companion said it was chicken guinea, which is like a sickness you get from getting bit by too many mosquitoes; but, it went away after a couple of days. We think it was an allergic reaction to this lotion stuff that Scaggs had but who knows. 

Girls always yell, "Hey cutie! Take me back to the states." 

One of our guys we were gonna baptize was named Freddy. His ex-girlfriend (whose house he moved out of) was saying he was messing around with this other girl. We went and talked to the lady and it's just a big mess. I felt like I was in a live show of Jerry Springer, but we got everything figured out and baptized him. 

There is another guy named Edgar. Elder Scaggs was baptizing and everyone was saying he was gonna be too small. When he was baptizing Edgar Elder Scaggs slipped and him and Edgar went down. It was real funny. Everyone got a good laugh. We have 3 baptisms in the first 9 days and we have more possibilities but we're gonna need some help from the Lord if we are going to break the record. We started asking people who has the biggest families that they know, so that's yielded some possibilities. We'll see what happens.

We met our new mission president, President Poncillo. He's pretty cool. He remembered me from when I talked to him at the MTC. He's pretty funny. Elder Scaggs and I had to do a skit for heat exhaustion. We were pretty good actors, not gonna lie. Some of our district came down to Condega and we all went fishing didn't have much like or any for that matter, but we had a good time. 

For exercise we walk 20 miles a day, that works pretty well. I dropped 10 pounds since I've been here. I'm about 230 now and was about 245 when I left. Between sweating and diarrhea I'm losing some weight. Also we have a t25 DVD. All the movies here are bootlegged and you get them for like 20 cords, which is like less than a dollar. Electricity at the house is fine sometimes it doesn't work. There's like wires everywhere, it definitely would not be up to code in the states, most things here aren't. We have one of the biggest mission houses. Its about the size of the cabin maybe a little wider. We have a little porch outside and we have avocados, limes, mangoes, and coconut trees on our property. The mangoes hit the roof of the house when they fall and it scares the crap out of me every time. Everyone in my zone has like 2 months or 6 months left. I have 22, I'm almost there.

Love,
Elder Thackeray

Week 8: The Bible Bash

Well things are going good here for the most part. Monday after P-Day we got to talk to some white people who were down here with the Cathliocs, so that was good. There's a taxi driver that we use alot who was in the states for seven years as a taxi driver in New Jersey, so he speaks English. It's a nice break, haha. He calls me Big Boy. Nobody in this country says my name right, so everyone just calls me "taquerito,"  which is a type of chip down here. So I'm not sure if they have them in the states. We go to what is called a cyber, which is like an Internet cafe thing. 

We went on "intercambios" and I went with Elder Hernandez in Esteli. We have one thing in common and that is he doesn't speak English and I don't speak Spanish; but, we had a pretty good day nonetheless. We went to visit this member and he has like this board that hangs real low and he almost knocked himself out twice on the board. We really had to hold back laughing because he hit that board hard. Then we had a leccion with this Catholic guy and he was going off about the Bible and how it says that the Catholic church is right and Hernandez was like, "No, it doesn't say that. It says the true church is based on prophets and apostles in efesios 2 19'20." Then the guy just went silent. We mostly communicated through hand signals occasionally some words sometimes I'd forget he doesn't speak English so I'd be talking about something and then I looked over and he just had the look on his face that meant he had no idea what I was talking about. In the other leccions if I didn't understand something I'd look to Scaggs and he helps me out. In the leccions I would turn to Hernandez and be like crap he doesn't speak English haha but we made it through the day.

We got back the next day and it's just pouring rain hard so that sucked and nobody was home so we was just chillin in the rain we passed by a tree and picked off some sap and was like pioneers used to chew this that's how they invented gum and he ate it and chewed it for a while then I couldn't stop laughing so he spit it out.

On Friday we were tracting we either had to go left or right we flipped a coin three times all said left but Scaggs wanted to go right flipped it one more time it said right so we went right, ended up back in the sticks of Nicaragua nothing but a dirt path going through the forest I thought for sure we were gonna get stabbed by Aborigines haha but two hours latter we finally made it back to town it was quite an adventure haha.

Saturday we had a baptism for a girl named Jobisna shes 14 and her dads getting baptized next week. In Condega, there isn't a church building so we baptize them in the river which is pretty cool about 20 of us jumped in the back of this Isuzu truck and got to the river after going through some woods creeks and such finally got to the river I got to baptize her so that was pretty cool just need 12 mas bautismos to get the record. I think we're gonna do it. We have lots of possibilities, we just have to see who keeps their fechas (baptismal date).

There's lots of cool little stores that sell a bunch of stuff. You can get homemade alligator, iguana, even frog boots, for like 40 bucks and they have like a bunch of cool hats and stuff. Everyone has like shirts that they got from thrift stores and they'll be in English so you'll see people walking by with like a Washington High girls basketball shirt on haha even though they cant read English. This whole Spanish-English thing is really screwing up my spelling.

After the baptism we went and talked to a referral and she was super crazy. Me and Elder Scaggs only said like two words the rest of the time she was just yelling about the holy spirit and stuff then at the end Scaggs started the prayer and she literally was screaming at the top of her lungs about how thankful she was of the Holy Ghost and such and how it saved her. Me and Scaggs were laughing so hard we couldn't control it. It's the hardest I've laughed since I've been here. We call her Rafeeki cause she's crazier than the monkey on The Lion King.

We got to Condega by bus it was a three hour ride we have to go to Esteli for meetings and such like two times a week, so we are always on the bus. It's about an hour ride to Esteli. 

It's all rice and beans here, 90 percent of the time.  The other ten oercent is a deep fried taco or a pupusa. Pupusas are really good. Weirdest thing that I've seen: there was a horse just walking down the middle of the highway the other day. It backed traffic up pretty bad.

Everyone here pretty much lives in a concrete house with either a dirt floor or cement one. They have nothing but everyone has a TV. We wash our clothes on a little wash thing in our house just like the olden days. We get our emails at an Internet cafe called a cyber. We have mango, coconut and avocado trees at our house. No bikes, to easily stolen. We literally walk about 25 miles a day not exaggerating probably more. The roads are crap just imagine like grandpa's road, 100 times worse, with a bunch of dirt piles everywhere. No earthquakes.

Typical day 

• Wake up
• Exercise 
• Study till 12
• Eat lunch 
• Go visit investigators/members and tract til 9
• Plan, shower, chill, go to bed

Elder Scaggs and I get along real well. We talk about Tombstone a lot. Today we went to Esteli and played basketball. Then we went to eat and have cake for Elder Scaggs birthday, it was a good time.

Tell everyone hello and that I'm doing just cherry. Hope you guys have a good week at the cabin while I'm sweating like a pig and the mosquito's are eating me alive. Love y'all!

Love,
Elder Thackeray

Week 7: First Week in the Mission

Elder Thackeray and fellow Nicaragua Missionaries in Atlanta Airport  

Elder Thackeray with his Trainer and Mission President.

Well I made it to Nicaragua. It was so hot the first night we stayed in Managua at the AP's house.  I couldn't sleep it was so hot.  My companion is Elder Scaggs. He is from Crescent City, California. Our area is called Condega. We are about 3 hours from Honduras near the top of Nicaragua. Everything is going good minus the whole not being able to speak Spanish thing, haha. Anyways love y'all!

Love,
Elder Thackeray

Arriving in Nicaragua!!!

CONDEGA: The small village of Condega, in the Esteli region of Nicaragua, was established in the 1700’s and was under the control of the Leon government for many years. It became a very important village with regard to the transit of gold, wood and agriculture. Condega is a very quaint destination in Nicaragua. This is a place where the streets are dominated by bicycles and pedestrians; a place where old traditions are still the back-bone of the community and the production of pottery is still important to the citizens of Condega. The village is surrounded by beautiful valleys and mountains and, if you want to slip away to a tranquil destination in Nicaragua, you will find that Condega is a place where you can relax and enjoy watching the locals go about their daily lives.

Condega is located near Managua, Leon and Matagalpa. While having limited accommodation options for tourists, Condega is considered of importance because of its contribution to the country's economy due to its tobacco industry and the production of clay crafts, coffee and leather. Visitors are able to look in on the women who create their ceramic masterpieces. They may also be invited into the guitar-maker’s workshop. Cuban exiles that once lived in Condega learnt the skill of making cigars and took their newly acquired knowledge to Esteli to further the craft.

The Pre-Columbian Museum of Condega has a staggering collection of approximately 3,000 pottery items on exhibit which are complete. The museum also has many pieces of funeral pots, grinding stones and other interesting pieces of pottery.

The Cantagallo Mountains that are located close to Condega are a very popular attraction in Nicaragua and many tourists travel though Condega Village to reach the intimidating cliffs, crystal clear lagoons and dense pine forests. The Cantagallo Mountains are covered in thousands of vibrant and breathtaking orchids that grow naturally in the area and it is only one aspect of the mountain range that has made Cantagallo a frequently visited attraction in Nicaragua. Condega is also home to the Fair of the Maize, which is a festival that is held to display the versatility and expression that is found in maize. The elaborate and creative costumes that are worn by festival goers are fascinating and fun. The Parochial Temple of Condega, which was established in 1962, also has its roots entangled in the harvesting and growth of maize. The temple is another interesting old building worth visiting.

The village does have a few restaurants and small cafes available for refreshments. Visitors to this tranquil village will likely feel swept away in tradition and culture.

Week 6: The Countdown

Well the days are counting down things are getting pretty crazy right now. Made our last trip to the temple as a district this morning and possibly my last temple trip for a couple of years. We had to sit in in field orientation for 9 hours yesterday, it was the absolute worst. We just are sort of getting ready to leave. As you can probably imagine, our room is spick and span;) 

I'll try and do more puncuation, but sometimes you just have the creative juices flowing, ya know what I mean. My companion is our travel leader for our group and the only thing he has been talking about since we got our travel plans is that we are going to Chipotle and that he is getting a bunch of crap to eat on the plane ride there. (haha its pretty funny). I've been enjoying the voice recorder. I like having an audio journal makes me feel like I'm in an interview. Thanks for that also. I'm doing good and am ready to get out of the MTC and head to Nicaragua. We got to talk with our new mission president. He gets to Nicaragua on the 28th. He is a pretty cool dude.  Love you guys and have a good week.

Love,
Elder Thackeray

Week 5: Bal-Ti-More

Days are counting down. It is getting pretty crazy. We basically have about eight days left and then we head off to Nicaragua. I saw Rosemary at the temple.  

Funny language mistake of the week: My companion said,  "Tenemos un mesaje sobre jesucristo." Which is, "We have a MASSAGE about Jesus Christ." Instead of, "tenemos mensaje sobre jesucristo." Which is, "We have a MESSAGE about Jesus Christ." So, that was pretty funny. 

We got our travel plans on Friday. I will upload a picture of it. There is a return flight in case my visa doesn't go through. So hopefully it does. (ha ha) Sunday was Fast Sunday. Not looking forward to dying in that heat in Nicaragua. 

We memorized the first vision and one of our teachers makes us do wall sits while we say it one word at a time. Elder Bednar came and spoke to us. That was pretty cool. We sang in the choir and sang a song Elder Bednar wrote and it should be published in the New Era next month, so, look for it. It is called, "One by One." I was the first group to sing it ever. Pretty special, it was a good talk. 

We got to talk to one of the new mission presidents from Argentina and he didn't speak English very well, but we could still understand him so hopefully that is how it will be in Nicaragua for me when I get there. (ha ha). My companion is from Maryland, Baltimore area. 

We were supposed to Skype someone from Nicaragua on Thursday for a TRC appointment but they cancelled, so we talked to someone from Spain. I could understand mostly what she was saying. 

I will get to call while I am at the airport they said. It is crazy that we are basically done at the MTC. The days go by slow, but the weeks go by pretty fast. Our diligent scripture ready yielded Proverbs 21:19: "It is better to dwell in the wilderness, than with a contentious and an angry woman." Sound words of wisdom and you all should try and work that into your next talks.

Love, 
Elder Thackeray

Week 4: State of Jefferson

Well, everything is still going good here at the MTC. Our zone leaders left early Monday morning. We should get an email from them saying how hot it is down in Nicaragua. They are all going to the South mission. When they left, they gave a cool hat, some Nerf guns, a rubber band ball and some other stuff. (haha) It's a big party in our residence right now. 

Keep it up with those letters and make sure everyone knows that the Thackeray family loves their missionary the most. My team destroyed in kickball so that was good.   Things are progressing with Spanish. Every lesson I am able to say more and more and sometimes I even surprise myself. One of the guys I was talking to at the vending machine knew where the State of Jefferson was, so that was cool. 

Hope ya'll have a good week.

Love, 
Elder Thackeray

Week 3: Kickball & 4 Square

Well, everything still going the same old same old. Keep it up on the Dear Elder. We are showing everybody up so that is good. Tandy sent me some cinnamon rolls from Dear Elder that were pretty good. Spanish is coming along fine, it's a lot of time in the class and sometimes I wish I could bang my head against the wall (ha ha) but other than that seems to be going pretty well. 

We got rained out last Saturday, so we didn't get to play kickball, but we are going to play today. Our zone leaders are leaving Monday. We are going to miss them, especially playing four square. (ha ha) I started playing four square again. I should have been trying to go to college for four square. 

Our district got to host new missionaries. I really don't know where some places are still, so me and this kid were just walking around the MTC looking for his residence.  Today we got to sleep in, but the other elders in our zone locked themselves out of there room when they went to there shower so we had to go get a key from the front desk for them. 

I spoke on Sunday. You have to prepare a talk every week and then he will just tell you that you are speaking in Sacrament meeting. We are teaching four different investigators right now, which is hard because sometimes we have like no time to prepare but its going well for the most part. 

Also, at our devotional we got to listen to an apostle... Elder Renlund. Hope everything's going good. 

Love,
Elder Thackeray