Email 06/19/12

AAAAHH! THE DAYS ARE ALL MIXING TOGETHER!!!! hahaha today I thought it was Friday and it's already p-day!! I guess time flies when you're having fun!! This week has been such a good one because my Spanish has improved so much from the first week, without even realizing it I just started speaking Spanish! I honestly love it so much, the feeling that I've improved and have grown is one of the best feelings! Sin embargo yo necesito continuar con la obra! It sounds like you are all doing really great and I was able to receive your package!!!My goodness it is huge I couldn't even believe me eyes! I was super excited to get it and it was filled with lots of great things!! My companion and I were talking about how excited we are to fill with a bunch of Book of Mormons and just go and find people! Thank you so much for it and everything in it. It has truly been a blessing for me because I have been dying for American candy!! The candy here is strange tasting so I try to stay away but sometimes it's hard when they like to see you try their food.I was also able to see the Humphries family and Elder Humphries!!! It was nice to see and talk with him about the work and all that he has been up to! He has so many cool stories and I can't wait till I am able to have some cool experiences like him! He has changed a ton from the last time I have seen him! It was kind of funny watching his parents interact with the natives because I look at them and I think back on the first week I was here and I was probably the exact same way! Just not really sure what to do and what to say to people! hahaha However in such a short time things have just become natural and I am able to be more confident! I don't understand all of everything but I'm trying my best! One thing I have been doing is writing down in my planner all the goals I have for the day with my language and for the people and that has helped me improve the most! Each day I finish my goal I am able to come that much closer to being more of a disciple of Christ!  I want to be more diligent though because there are times where it is super hard and I feel like I can't do it but then there are other times where I work super hard so I want to figure out how to work hard and be like Christ which is having long suffering! I haven't baptized anyone yet because there are a lot of problems with the Word of Wisdom. I don't think I have ever seen so many drunk people in one area! One family was almost torn apart this week because the husband decided to drink and he got mad at his wife and he hit her and pushed her to the ground and so they almost were going to separate and me heart was filled with sadness because of how special they are to me and how beautiful their family is! Things worked out and we were able to use prayer and scriptures to solve the problem and they are headed back in the right direction. I have had such a great time with the people of Nicaragua because I can now interact and talk with them and they truly are such nice people. They have big hearts and the would do anything for you in a heart beat! i have grown so close with them and I can hardly believe it!! I feel like I am helping family and it makes me even more happy hearing how much me being here has helped you all! I am so enjoyed by this work there are some days when I get back to the house and just be so sad because it is one less day I am going to be here! I have never thought I would love so much, I was talking with another elder and I decided I wouldn't be able to serve a mission in the states and I would only be able to serve here in Nicaragua! The Lord truly knows me and who I am and he knows what I can become, I just need to follow his way and he will lead me to joy and happiness!! I LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE THE BEST sorry for the letter so short we didn't really have tons of time to write. I love and pray for you always!!!

Happy Days

Well its another week in Nicaragua!!! Things are going good, this week has has its ups and downs but I think I'm getting used to the schedule. Every night I'm super tired and have NO problems falling asleep. But this week has been good the language is coming slowly but surely. Probably because I am forced to talk and interact in Spanish which makes it so I have to!! but it sounds like everyone is doing well and just getting along!! That would be such an awesome experience for Skyler if he was able to give Seth a blessing! That is so awesome that everyone has been improving and just getting better! But no, let everyone know that I miss them a lot and that they mean a lot to me. Don't' be upset but I try not to think about it too much because I want to focus on the people and how I can help. However, I do love you all so very much! When I start to get sad I read the scriptures and I came across a story in Mosiah and how they went out for 14 years and they couldn't even talk with their families! I look up to the prophets in the Book of Mormon because they are all so strong and they could do the impossible and as of right now I feel like this work is impossible. My body wants to rest all the time and there are times when I am talking and falling asleep at the same time. ha ha But I try my best and I pray with all the power of my heart that I will be able to make it through each and every day. and somehow I end up being able to do all that I need. But today I talked with Stephen!!Sounds like he is getting ready to return back to the states! I have been having dreams about returning and they are so amazing and it has brought good and bad because I want to feel what I did in my dream and I want it so bad but then I know I first have to show my faith and love to the Lord. I am still not sure about what everyone is saying but I am getting better!! I get scared hearing people tell me it takes about 3 months to be able to feel fine with talking and with interacting 100 percent! Because I want to help them NOW!!! ha ha that has been a problem with me in my life is that I want to just do things now instead of waiting. But I can see if I wait and do it on the Lord's time then things ALWAYS work out! I was thinking about this week if I was going to be able to endure and so this because I struggle with the language and I just want to help with all my heart but then I think of the story of Jared and how he went up to the mount and was tried of his faith with the rocks. And I applied it to my life, that I have challenges in front of me and I can either grab hold and with the help of the Lord bear them or to take them an put them all upon my back! Because the Lord says come unto me and I will make thou burdens light. And I just think of that and it helps but it doesn't' mean we throw all of our burdens on Him, it means we carry them together! But no, things are going great! I am having a problem with the language but it's a small stepping stone compared to the amazing glory that I want! This is God's work and I know it because I see it change people lives every day! I see it change my life and I have a booklet full of spiritual inspirations that i have received and it is a lot and it's only my second week! So I know I can do this I just need to grit my teeth and go to work!! I love you all so much and you all mean the world to me I hope you know that! The people here in Masaya have shown forth what is really important in life. The joy people have here and the openness is tremendous and it is really an inspiration for me to see. Also seeing all of you come closer helps me and I can truly feel the love of Lord in your lives and how much it blesses you and it give me the extra push to do all I can to keep going because if it's blessing you then it's worth it. It says in the scriptures if you will but only bring one soul unto me then how great shall be your joy, and then how great shall be your joy if you bring many!! I know this is hard work there isn't one thing in my life that has been as hard as the Lord's work, but how can I say I don't want to suffer when I myself asked to go where He went and to be how He was. I go to bed at night more tired then ever before and more sad then ever before because I love these people like my family and to think that they would suffer in any degree makes me say beyond belief!! I cry every night and I pray to have them feel the spirit and how important this is and to know what I need to do!! This truly is His work and I have truly felt the spirit every day! I love each and every one of you and think of you daily, praying that after this short time of us being apart will bring even more joy in the future! I wouldn't be here without you and I feel like each and every one of you is with me and helping! I feel your love and I know it's only but a short time! It's hard and sometimes you want to give up but don't, just pray and ask for his help because he will lighten you load!! I feel it I know He is there watching out for us! In the scriptures it talks of a prophet that was so weak and could hardly even stand or raise his hands, but in the next scripture is says you will have angels on you right and on your left to bear you up and give you strength! I know this is true because it's happened to me and it can happen to you!! I love you all and I hope all is going well! As for mail I was told to just e-mail because it is easier and their are a lot of problems with the whole mail and can take time from the work so if it's ok could you use e-mail? I Love you all!!!!!!!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxxoxoxox

Elder Trujillo


If you all would like to email Austin his email is austin.trujillo@myldsmail.net. Thanks for all your love, support and prayer!!

First week in Nicaragua!

I am a little behind, sorry to all! Austin left on Memorial day and we didnt' hear anything from him for a week. We got our first letter last Monday June 4, this is what Elder Trujillo had to say:

Well family it's my first week in Nicaragua!!! Things are going great! You would never guess what my first meal in Nicaragua was! IT WAS MCDONALDS!!! hahahaha it was super weird to be in a different country and eating the same food as in America! Anyways things have been going great, my first day I went out with one of   the elders who is about to leave and I went contacting with him and we taught a lesson... well he taught a lesson ha ha. The first day I realized that my Spanish is horrible ha ha but, no things are going great and I'm learning a lot. The first two days in Nicaragua I was in Managua but then I was put with my new companions whose name is Elder Veron. He is from Argentina!!!! He is super awesome and really funny he is always telling jokes and just so full of energy. We have a lot in common and we are becoming good friends. I will send a picture when I send my SD card. I don't even know where to start there have been so many new experiences that I have been through, but I will start with where I am at. I am in the Masaya Missions it's about 45 minutes out of Managua and it's such an amazing place. The way things are here are A LOT different then in America. I sometimes feel out of place because people just stare at me but then I just smile and say hello and its fine. Nicaragua is honestly the coolest place in the world and I don't know why I haven't been here before in my life!! Not going to lie though it is scary at times. I would be more scared if I wasn't wearing my name tag that says I am apart of the church because there have been some scary situations. However the food is great I would say!! I gots me some beans and rice or some rice and beans sometimes it's hard to choose between the two but somehow I manage lol. The third night with my new companion there was a giant bug in my room and we were trying to kill the bug for 10 min apparently the bug will bite your skin and cause you to have a huge lump so we had to kill it......only problem is that it flies and it's fast!! So that made things a little harder but we finally killed it. I have had so many different experiences, the people here are very nice and open to hearing the gospel because almost  all of them believe in Jesus Christ and God, There is one investigator named Douglas and he is coming along very well I feel like he will be my first baptism!!! He is ready he only needs to fix little problems in his life. He is super awesome and he is shorter than me and he is 24. A lot of people here are very short. My first Sunday here I went up and bore my testimony which was awesome, i don't know if anyone understood me but it was cool to say my testimony in front of about 30 people in Spanish! The churches don't have very many people but I guess that's what the missionaries are here to do. The showers are awesome sometimes I get to use an actual shower or other times I get to use a bucket!!!! However the water is not warm soooooo yeah.....it's good though because I am hot all day so it's nice to have a time where I don't' feel like I'm on fire. The days are good here, there was one day it rained and we decided to continue contacting and it was just crazy we were soaked and just all wet, good thing my bag has that rain protector thing or else all my stuff would have been wet!! The people are really humble and they are just so nice and welcoming to everyone. They like to talk with us but I just wonder if they are accepting the message or not. I just love Nicaragua so much the people like to hear me talk in English which I find weird but it has got us into houses so I'm ok with it sometimes. We have 2 investigators with baptism dates for the 23rd of this month so I might be sending some pictures to you guys of that.!!!!!!!! I never thought something so hard would be so fun. Each day after we get back to our house and are getting ready to fall asleep I feel  like my feet and hands are going to fall off, but I somehow make it each day probably because of the spirit lifting us up. I believe with all my heart that this gospel is true and that it can really help and life people up. In the short time that I have been here I have seen it change and lift people up. My heart is filled with love for this people and I almost feel like they are family to me. I may not speak the language very well but I know that this is God's work and he has sent me here to teach these people! I know that without the help of the Holy Ghost this work wouldn't be possible. I love you all and hope all is well! Things are going great here!!