Three Natural Disasters - Earth, Water and Pants

Hola amigos y familia.  Estamos tuanis aqui en l rosario.  Nostotros estamos tomandolo sleezy y espero que todos se han quedan en el tubo.

Elder Sherle and I are still high off our baptism last week and are having a great time.  Success comes through obedience and hard freakin work. ilose’! Speaking of high, we are currently teaching a guy, that there is a way sicker kind of high and His name is Jesus!  Currently we are trying to trade him a Book of Mormon to replace his joint.  It doesn’t help that marijuana and a bunch of other fun things are legal here.

1^st Natural Disaster of the week – Experienced our first earthquake here in Nicaragua this week.  7.4 big one/s.  Elder Sherle and I were praying when it started. Sherle thought I was messing around and was shaking the bed and told me to stop it.  He then realized he was very wrong when the house started to bobble and books fell of the shelf. 

2nd Natural Disaster - The change in climate and food have not been nice to Elder Sherle’s bowels.  There is a wreak of a ketchup and onion smell from the question mark farts, provoking nostalgic memories of my first few weeks out here in the field.  Elder Sherle’s first earthquake experience (this California boy is a pro) may have worsened his bowel situation.  The 2^nd natural disaster of the week may have been a “fear poop” right there on the spot. 

Esteli River overflowed last week

3^rd Natural disaster – it rained so hard this week that the Esteli River overflowed.  The river is probably 200 ft. wide and 12 feet deep.  I included a picture of one of the bridges being engulfed by the river. (No electricity for 3 days)

Esteli River flooding in August. (Rainy Season is May - Nov)

Short thought.  This week I thought a lot about why bad thing happen to people?  Why do we have to do hard things?  Why does God give us challenges that we feel we are incapable of overcoming?  Us North Americans have been blessed with a very easy life and the challenges we are faced with are very different from those the Nicaraguan people are faces with.  However, no matter what your walk of life, you will have to do hard things. Things that will make you stretch beyond what you think you are capable of.  Inadequacy, uncertainty and stress are all part of a process that allows us to become better and strengthen our relationship with God.  It is during times of hardship and feelings of inadequacy that reliance and trust in God gives us certainty and capability.  Grandma Jake's book mark never lets you forget this.  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Love all you guys.  Take it sleezy.

Got a Little Tubular This Week

Whats up my fellow Americans. Just wanna start by saying I love all of you guys. I want to thank you all for the love and support you have shown me since day one. 

Pretty Average day today. Played some soccer with some locals. Then we had a little kid climb a tree and toss us down some coconuts. Got a little pizza. Sat under a tree and sipped on some coconut juice. 

(Elder Jake and Elder Sherle's first baptism)

This week Elder Sherle and I got shacked. We married and baptized a my boy Modesto Sosa and my home girl Cathy. They are so  awesome and I have so much love for those two. They are both jobless and have absolutely no money but are some of the most optimistic and funny people i have met here in Nicaragua. We used CTR rings and there were only 10 people there (4 of them missionaries) but it was sweet.

Though the pictures may not show it haha (I have named it the "3rd world smile" which is actually a very pissed off facial expression) there were both very grateful and happy for the chance they had to start their little family. Finally got barrelled and it was sick. I will neither confirm nor deny if i accidentally fell in the pool afterward. 

This week i also got to remember why dad was the helmet Nazi growing up. A member in our ward was riding his bike this week and got nailed by a motorcycle coming in the other direction. His bike doesn't have a scratch on it but he hit his head on the ground during the fall and immediately died. Now you would think that a man with a massive head trauma would not have an open casket but they do things a little different here in Nicaragua. Ive seen my fair share of dead people, both in the ER and up at BYU (I hope he is referring to the Anatomy cadaver lab!), but i will say there is a little bit different feeling seeing someone dead that you just talked to the day before. Death can be terrible, but knowing that God has a plan for everyone during this life and after this life makes thing better. 

People here have nothing, yet they have everything. I have learned in the short 6 months that i have been here that God and Family are the only things that matter in this life. We do so many things that just aren't important. Making God an important part of our lives and taking care of the people that matter most are the two things that will make us truly happy. 

Love you all so much. See you next week. 

Quick Shout out to Team Sleezy who is currently taking it Global. West Coast, East Coast, Russia, and Central America. 

Ditches and Chips

Que onda Locos? Had a freakin awesome time this week. Elder Sherle and I are throwing fire out here. 

We have been getting pretty dirty lately. All of the people here are connecting their houses to the "Black Water" so that they can have a real toilet that flushes and not just a hole in the ground. Yes please be grateful for your toilets because pooping into a hole is not as awesome as it sounds haha. We have been digging ditches and moving dirt all week. The people really appreciate that white boys are willing to get dirty with them. My hands, however, are not so happy right now. If you spread some tasty strawberry jam on a nice thick piece of bread you would get an idea of the status of my hands.

I have been watchless for the last few days. A 16 year old boy and I have become very close over the last few months and he has become my "Collin" out here in Nicaragua.  This teenage kid is such a great kid despite living in a dirt shack and not having shoes a lot of the time. The other day i caught him looking at my watch....

Speaking of time, I hope none of you are expecting me to be more punctual when i return home. There is a slang term here called "Nica Hora" which refers to the fact the the Nicaraguans are always 30 minutes late for everything. "Dylan time" will be returning in 18 months. Sorry not sorry.

Conference was sweet. Hope you all got to watch it. The other American elders and I were able to huddle around a little computer and watch it in English. The entire conference was sick but I was especially impressed with Jeffrey R. Holland's Saturday afternoon talk on serving. Over the years i have learned that i can appreciate getting chewed out. Thank you grandpa jake and high school football coaches. Someone getting in your face and telling you suck really gets the motivation nerves hummin. I think that's why i can appreciate Holland so much. He talked about serving the poor and how its our duty to do as Christ did and help others. He said that often we feel that what we are doing is insignificant and is just a drop in the ocean. He stated "Christianity is not a statistical Endeavour!" I can attest to that. There are so many hungry, shoeless kids out here. We cant help everyone but the people we can help will be so grateful for our sacrifice. For me, its digging ditches and buying chips for hungry little kids living in the street. I don't know what it is for you but I know that all of you can find someone to love. 

Love all of you. And as always....... TAKE IT SLEEZY.

No Barks Given

What is good in the hood? Takin it real sleezy down here this week with my new com anion. Another pretty normal week working freakin hard, getting soaked every day, and loving the nicas. Right now i am frustrated because i havent baptized anyone. we have a bunch of people that are close but i just want success so bad i would die for it. The ward is tuff because the members struggle going to church and half the battle im realizing is convincing people to go back to church.

Population of esteli: mexicans=10000000 white guys=2. Even if we suck as missionaries we have increased the white dude population by 50 percent this week so thats good. Having a great time down here with my companion. We are getting along great. Two Americans ballin out down here playin a little jungle ball. 

So Elder Sherle and I were walking along this week and there was a little dog laying in the street. 3 seconds later this little dog gets crushed by a motorcycle and I just kept walking along like nothing happened. Elder Sherle freaked out a little bit and wanted to help the little dog. Now i am not a bad person but after living in nicaragua for almost four months seeing a little dog  have the entire lower half of his body crushed is nothing out of the ordinary. If anyting its a good thing because there are way too many dogs running around down here. I explained to Elder Sherle that all doggies go to heaven and we got back to truckin. 

Gave a talk on service this week in church. When we serve others, we serve God. You can take that to the bank. Make the world a better place this week for me.

Love all of you guys. Take it sleezy this week. Also feel free to write big emails because i can take a picture of them and read them later.