Pictures!!

June 3rd... 8 MONTHS

I complete 8 months today!!! Time goes by so fast! and the miracles don't cease.

This past week, we were contacting and trying to find more families when we see this family walking ahead of us. So we catch up to them and started talking. One of the things we try to do here in Puerto is to invite them to baptism in the initial contact. So when we did that, they said yes. So then we asked if they would like to do it that day. They then said yes again! So we took them to the church, married them, and baptized them. I later learned that my companion was just talking and that he surprised himself when he asked if they wanted to do it that day. So this family was literally a chosen family. We were guided by the spirit to find them and baptize them that day. Another awesome thing is that we found a less active family living in the same house as the family we just baptized! The Lord works in mysterious ways here in Puerto Cabezas.

The second miracle that I came across is actually a funny story. There is this girl in my Branch that left for a month to go visit family and friends in other parts of Nicaragua. When she got back, she brought a guy with her. They wanted to get married. He wasn't a member, but had been to church a lot. He actually helped build a lot of churches in Central America and the temple in Honduras. He lives in Masaya which is a part of the Nicaragua Managua South Mission. So when he got here, we talked to him and he wanted to get baptized! He is probably one of the most prepared people I have ever met. He knew so much and had the greatest desire to follow Jesus Christ. So what did we do? We baptized and married him on May 30th! Now here's where the story gets funny. The goal for the mission in the month of May was to baptize 100 families. At the beginning of the month, we weren't doing very well. In fact, we were doing terribly. So we fought hard and were getting closer and closer to the goal. So then we had 99 families. Then this guy showed up. When, for example, the wife is a member and the husband isn't, it counts as a family to complete. In other words, a family. So we find out that the missionaries in the South Mission put a baptismal date for him for June 8th. I promise you, if they asked him if he wanted to do it that day, he would have said yes, so that was a pretty dumb move on their part. And we also found out that the South Mission missionaries like to talk a lot of crap about us North Mission missionaries. Probably because they're jealous they aren't in the better mission. :)  Anyways, long story short: Thanks to the South Mission, we got our goal of 100 families for the month of May! And even better than that: It was my baptism that counted for number 100!!

Miracles exist! Every conversion is a miracle and God is a God of miracles. This is so much fun!!!!! I love it!!!! And I love all of you! Have a great week everyone and keep making miracles happen!

Elder Vogel

May 20th

Things aren't going so hot here in Puerto Cabezas. We are supposed to baptize more than any other zone in the mission. We only have 7 families baptized for this month. And that is not good.....not good at all.....The good news is that 2 of those are my familes, so that's good. hahaha But seriously....President threatened that he would take every single missionary in Puerto out and only put 3 companionships before he leaves if things don't pick up. Nobody has any idea what is going on. We've tried so many different things and none of them seem to work. So right now, everyone here is Puerto is kinda freaking out because at any minute, they can call us and tell us who is leaving. And nobody wants to leave Puerto. The people here are amazing.

The awesome news is like I said before, 2 of the 7 are families I baptized. The one we had this week was a contact by my companion when we were reminding people about church last Sunday. The guy actually contacted him! He told my companion that he wanted to get married and baptized. So what happens when someone has a desire?? You do it! So this week, we brought him and his wife to the church, gave them an interview, and got them married and baptized! The coolest thing happened in the font right after I baptized him and he was waiting for his wife to come in. He looked at me and thanked me. Never in my life have I ever seen anyone thank a missionary for baptizing them. This really struck me hard. It completely caught me by surprise. All I hope for in my mission now is for someone to thank me for baptizing them.

This place is awesome! I would love to stay in Puerto for the rest of my mission. Like I said before: you will never see a people more ready for the Gospel than these Miskitos. They have almost nothing, yet they have everything they need. 

Be thankful for everything you have. Be grateful that you don't have to wake up in the morning and worry about what you are going to do to get food for your family to be able to eat that day. 

Amo los Miskitos. Amo Nicaragua. Amo cada uno de ustedes. ¡Mantengan la fe! Con fe, todo es posible.

Stay awesome!

Elder Vogel

From May 13th (running only ONE month behind now!)

This week was kinda cool. On tuesday, everyone in the zone switched companionships for the day. So I was with Elder Byers, who was my companion for only one day when I first got to Puerto. We practiced a thing called Inspired Questions. It's really difficult to explain so I'll just say that it's awesome and it really works.

Then Sunday happened. Our attendance last week was a record breaking 220 people. this week.......78. We have no idea what happened, but it was just really frustrating. And then all of our possibilities for baptism didn't come to church so we didn't have any baptisms. Then, out of nowhere, they told me i had to teach a class.....actually.......2. i was so unprepared to do that. meanwhile, my comp was outside doing nothing. I don't know. it was just frustrating.

But i got to call home!! that was awesome! I'm so glad to talk to people! hahaha It's good to hear good things!!

this is the work. this is awesome! there are many things that happen here, good and bad. but there's more good than bad!! it's the bomb.com!!!

love you guys!!

elder vogel

Update from May 6th

Just a little update. I'm still in Puerto Cabezas. Still in Lamlaya. Same companion Elder Palma. And we're throwing fire!!! I've been working on this family ever since I've been here in Puerto. They are one of those families that I'm happier more than ever to see baptized! It really was a cool experience. On Saturday, it was the dad's birthday. Sunday was his daughter's birthday. So they got married, baptized, and celebrated 2 birthdays on Sunday! How sweet!! And today, we're going to their house to celebrate more!! Another thing that made me really happy was that one of our recent converts of about 3 weeks passed the sacrament and payed his tithing!! It's just so great to see how much love these people have and how humble they are! And actually, the wife in the family that got baptized on Sunday got a calling before she even got baptized to be a teacher! Wow! 

Other random stuff:

I had cow tongue the other day....it wasn't that bad. haha

Having the time of my life in the best mission in the world!!!

Love you all!!

Elder Vogel

Update from April 29TH...

Hello everyone!

The events of the week.

We had 3 families ready to be baptized this weekend.....all of them fell thru

We moved houses today.......

I am still working hard.

Changes meeting is this Wednesday. I´m not leaving Puerto, but I really hope that I stay in this area. A lot of the times, they change people around in the zone.

I don't know. I just really don't have that much to say this week.

I did almost see a guy die from a machete........but that's about it. haha

I hope everyone is doing well. Love you all!!

Elder Vogel

Finally... an update from APRIL!!! April 22 to be exact...

So the first half of the week was kinda boring. You know. Just
chilling. Doing normal stuff. Contacting. Teaching. Normal missionary
stuff. Then Friday rolled around. We contacted a family that told us
that they wante to get married and baptized. For those of you who
don't know, the people are very poor so they don't have enough money
to pay for a marriage so they just live together and fornicate and all
that jazz. So as missionaries, our main goal is familes, so in
contacts, we ask if they're married and stuff and if they're not, we
inform them of the sin of fornication and how they can leave this sin
and be clean through marriage and baptism. And many times, they
accept. So this family accepted this invitation. Now I know what
you're thinking. These people will just get married and baptized and
never come to church again. And yes, sometimes it happens, but only if
you're doing it just to have a baptism for the month. If you're really
looking for these people that need your help, they will continue to go
to church and want to learn more. Our President says that if they really
 have the desire and you're not just forcing them to do it, teach them about 
baptism and confirmation and then do it. So that's what we did. 
When I went to their house on Sunday to see if they were really going to do it,
 they were all ready....2 hours before they needed to be. That to me is
miracle!! Usually, you have to remind them that morning and have them
get dressed, but they did it by themselves. So we took them to church.
And also 2 more families!! And after church, we gave them their
interviews, baptized, and confirmed them! It was quite the thrill. And
a miracle. This Sunday, we brought 25 investigators to church and out
attendance was higher than I've ever seen in any other ward I've been
in. 

This is Lamlaya. This is Puerto Cabezas. This is Nicaragua. This is
Misión Nicaragua Managua Norte. This is God's work. These are
miracles! Like the scriptures say, God does not cease to be a God of
miracles. And like the prophets say, every conversion is a miracle.
This is where every young man needs to be. It's amazing. And a whole
ton of fun! Hahaha

Stay classy outside world! I love you guys!!

Elder Vogel