Today was wonderful. It started with a great Sacrament meeting, the Primary kids sang so sweetly to the Relief Society in honor of Mother's Day. The sweet sister who does our ward newsletter contacted all the missionaries in advance and had them each send a letter to their moms to be published in the newsletter. It was kind of like a club of teary-eyed missionary mommas today. Travis's letter was really awesome. Maybe I'll post bits of it.
After church my kids made a delicious brunch, after which, I did some reading and took a siesta. Have I ever told you all that I have the best kids? They even cleaned up!
We had dinner at my mom's then back to our house for the best part of the day...the call to Travis. He has been in Nicaragua for almost a week now. He arrived on Monday, May 3rd and was saddened to see the poverty so readily apparent as a small child begged for money right at the airport. They spent the night at the mission home (there were a dozen newbies). Then "cambios" (transfers) were on Tuesday. He got assigned to his new companion, Elder Lopez, from Guatemala. Elder Lopez does not speak any English and Travis quickly discovered that the Spanish he knows is not exactly the same. He likened it to learning English in the west and then going to visit the back hills of Georgia. They took a taxi to go to dinner...a rather terrifying experience, but he said they know how to drive in it, so the taxi is the best way to get around. He said McDonald's is the 2nd best place to eat in Managua. They also ate at a Pizza Hut that was pretty good.
On Wednesday, Elder Lopez and Elder Harris got on a bus and headed to the boonies - aka Sabana Grande - where they are opening a new area. I looked it up on Google Earth and couldn't find any sign of life...just trees and grasslands. They had to first find an apartment. The first two were unacceptable so they settled on the third. I think the clincher was a door that locks and windows that are secure. He described it as a garage with two rooms and a bathroom. They set up bunk beds in one room and put their luggage in the other room. The bathroom has a shower, but the water is cold. There is no kitchen. He said they have found a woman to cook for them at her shop/home and they are still looking for a place to do their laundry. He had hoped to have a third world experience - I guess he is getting it right from the start. Chickens, pigs, and dogs run wild, but he said they are not ferocious. Horses are sometimes hooked up to trailers and used as make-shift cars. He says he hasn't seen any scary spiders yet, but the ants are 3x the size of ants in Utah.
There is no knocking on doors since nobody really lives indoors. Generally, they just say hello to people and introduce themselves. Currently there are 7 members of the church in the whole area. One member let Travis use their phone for us to call him tonight. He said they held church in the home of one of the members today and there were other people in the room next door drinking and watching TV...kind of an interesting juxtaposition. Unfortunately, this is an area where there are a lot of people who do drugs. To be honest, this worries me. I wonder how the drug providers view the missionaries who bring a message from a church that prohibits use of alcohol and drugs.
I would have a harder time with this if I knew I wouldn't hear form him for long stretches of time. But, at least we will be able to communicate with Travis on a regular basis. His mission president has encouraged the use of email to/from friends/family, and there is a shop where they can get onto email. Snail mail takes a lloooonngg time. I'm grateful to live in a cyber era...even available from the savanna of Nicaragua. He's going to try to send pictures tomorrow.
All packages and letters should be sent to the mission home and he thinks he will be able to get them at each "cambio" or every 6 weeks. I'll post the address soon. I'll also try to get his email address posted tomorrow, which is the best method for now.
All in all - it's been a wonderful Mother's Day!
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