Dear all,

First of all, I am no longer with my trainer anymore. He is now sleeping peacefully in his own bed in the United States of America. Luke Ensign, I am sending you my weekly emails, but if you dont want it let me know. Yes, transfers were this last wednesday. I was told on Tuesday that I had transfers. I was so sad when I had to leave. I really had great bonds with the members. They changed both of us in San Ramon. I´m sure the two new missionaries had an interesting time finding their way around.

I am now in Chinandega Oeste. I am in a area called Agateyte. It is a ward of about 100 people, a lot different than 20 in our branch before. My comp is Elder Quintero. I prayed for a latino comp and I got him. He is from Panama. My spanish has already gotten a lot better in the 5 days I´ve been with him. I am trying to teach him English too. Yeah, so he has 3 months in Nicaragua and I have almost 4 months in Nicaragua. That means. I have 6 months in the mission and he has a little under 4. So I am technically the senior comp, but we are learning from each other. It is a lot different work here. It is just refreshing to have people so caring. Everyone says hi to us in the street and we can stop and share a message with everyone. Anyone will listen to our message. But this also is a problem. It is still hard. Now, we have to focus on people that actually want to act and change because of the message. The message is so important and it will change their life and thier eternal progression, if they want it to. So I have to learn how to work with members now.

But we are working hard. I don´t want to seem prideful, but I think my spanish is better than I give myself credit for. I can communicate and teach and I continue to learn more and more. My comp is cool. We get along well. It is really hot here in Chinandega. I went from the coolest place in the mission to the hottest!. I am just trying to enjoy everyday of my mission more. With Elder Ensign going home, I was really thinking about my time. It has gone by so fast and if I don´t enjoy everyday and treasure my time, it will pass me by. I can´t look forward to things. This is for everyone in every aspect of life. We must treasure every moment and experience. We´ve already given two blessings in the 4 days I´ve been here. We have a member that cooks for us. It is such good food. I might be putting on a few more pounds. We will see.

So both me and my comp just left our trainers and now we´re together. It is crazy and I am going to learn a lot. We are working our tails off and will continue to do it. We will see how everything goes. Thank your for your continued prayers and support. The work is true. Help the missionaries. Give them references. Talk to all your friends about the joy that you have recieved from the gosple. That´s about all for next week. I hope I can tell more next week. Remember the purpose of life. We must live the gosple of Jesus Christ with all we have or we are losing our chance to return to our Father in Heaven.

With love,
Elder Ashby