Nicaragua 4 months in!

Hola familia - so Saturday I hit my four month mark! Crazy Crazy! Today my companion hit her 11 month mark and she just got an email that her brother got his mission call to Mexico. So that is exciting. The move went well last week. The house is good and there are some things better and some things that aren´t there that were there in the old house. Better things- the toilet works better and there is a toilet paper holder. The tile is nice too. There isn´t hot water or a kitchen sink (well or a kitchen, just our fridge). There is a sink in the bathroom and then the thing outside that is for washing clothes and things. It is good though and they painted the day we moved in so it feels and smells fresh. I really am doing well. And if some bug bites are my biggest problem that really isn´t a big deal. I have done well with all the food and that kind of stuff so I know I have been really blessed. The bites are healing well and I still get my usual mosquito bites, but nothing too bad. I use the repellent but whatever. Bug bites are just part of life in Nicaragua. Life is going swell here and we are already in week four of this change. The next changes are the 10th of August. I am glad to hear all is well at home and I really enjoy all the mail. It sounds like Elena is doing good. So we went to Managua early this morning and met up with some other missionaries and the lady in charge of all the immigration stuff for both the north and south missions. The immigration place is actually in the north mission I think but I am not sure of all the boundaries. The immigration place was kind of like going to get your driver’s license, but we really just had to stand and wait while the lady got it all done for us. I got my picture taken, some electronic fingerprints, and gave my signature to put on the card. Then they gave us the card and we left. So the members were super excited yesterday to go to the temple. We only had 2 hours of church yesterday so they could go home and get their bags to be back at the church by 12. Then they went to meet up with the stake and then left on their 18 hour bus ride to Guatemala. They will be gone until Friday and are stopping on the way back to go to the El Salvador temple open house. I was amazed how excited they were even with the super long bus ride. We are so fortunate to have the temple so close at home and I need to always take advantage of that when I get back. Not all the members went. The branch president went but his wife didn´t, so she will still be cooking for us. I think there were two families getting sealed. One of them, the parents have been sealed but the kids haven´t. The daughters are around my age and I was excited for them to experience the temple. I got an email that we will be watching the El Salvador temple dedication in August, so that will be fun to be a part of. It will be interesting to hear what Tanner says about it all. Well, this week has been good. We have found some new people and some others that the old elders had on some reports. Last night I said that we could visit someone that we hadn´t visited for a while. We never got to that house but we found a new family on our way that is quite positive. I think that was the Spirit leading us to that house. Sometimes we just have to follow the thoughts we have and not worry about the why. I am enjoying the conference talks. I like Elder Richards’ talk about pain.  I also enjoyed President Uchtdorf´s talk from the priesthood session. I hadn´t heard the story about the man on the cruise ship before that didn´t realize everything was included. I thought that if I had been at home at conference time this would have been one of the stories dad would have told us when he got home from the session. That is a good memory of dad telling us all about that session when he got home every time. I am really realizing that this time should be something I should enjoy to the fullest. Sometimes there are difficult things or things that aren´t as fun as others, but really you can enjoy it all and it will be a great memory forever. This mission is really going to go by fast and I need to enjoy it right now! And to really enjoy it you have got to love the people and have a good attitude. My love for the people is growing and I try to stay positive and keep smiling. I think my smile can get me pretty far especially when I don´t understand everything people say. My Spanish is coming along. I read some of my notes from Provo and realized that I have come a long way, it is just hard to see because it is just a little progress every day. Well, the gospel is true and I know we can be together forever. I can´t wait for that day when the four of us will be together again, but I have got lots to do before then. I like the scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 130:2 that says the same sociality will exist in the heavens just with greater eternal glory. I want to be in the Celestial Kingdom with all of you as a family! Well, love you tons and tons. The gospel is true! Thanks for being the bestest! Love, Alexis