Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 5:06 PM
I hope that you enjoyed all of the photos I sent this week. I really got behind so now there is a lot.

This is a huge papaya,

a really cool evening shot of the moon,

and flowers in our backyard.

exploding spiky plant

a bunch of caterpillars grouped together for unknown reason

the new Ranchitas (Nica Doritos) flavor Guacamole!!!

The one with the green plant is called Jicaro and they make dishes and jugs out of them. That is what they used here before plastic and stuff. I want Jose Reyes to make me something out of it. We are in their house in this picture.

Alright so it good to hear from everyone again this week. That is crazy the many blessings that the family is receiving. I liked the pictures that you sent me. The San Diego Temple is really cool and pretty. I want to go see it too.


The marriage and baptism for them went really great this weekend. All of her side of the family came, none of them being members. there was about 15 people and 4 families that she brought so that was really cool. They seemed to like the church a lot. This Sunday another family came, Jaime and Elmer with their little daughter too. They could only stay for the first part but next week they are going to stay longer. They have their baptism date for this 14th of September. The day we put the baptims date she had a headache and she wasn´t really listening that much, afterwards we gave her a blessing and in the end she was crying saying that we can come by anytime we wanted to to teach them. It was really cool.

Something crazy that happened here in my area, the Father of the big Catholic church was robbed, tortured and killed this last Saturday. It is now national news here and they are coming down on the case to find out what happened and why. There are a lot of rumors but we don´t know the truth. Every night there are a lot of catholics in front of the church all mad. Supposedly they want to get revenge on the guy that did it. So it is kind of one of those creepy movies where there was a murder and there are a bunch of clues and theories. We are just waiting to hear the results. We also got robbed this week. The good thing is that they only robbed my comp. We weren´t hurt at all but my comp lost his ID and his mission card. The cool thing is that after they robbed him all of the neighbors came out of their houses with machetes, brooms, and pitbulls to catch them. They had taken more stuff but they ditched it when they were attacked.

My Birthday was really fun and thanks for sending me those messages from the family. A missionary brought a cake to District Meeting to teach the lesson not knowing that it was my birthday so I got cake. Later that day I bought stuff so that the fairies could make me tacos for dinner, and in the street working I found the exact amount that I spent on tacos in the gutter. Jesus gave me tacos for my Birthday!!! So that was really cool and tasty too

Today we had a meeting to talk about the Atonement with the President for 3 hours. It was really cool. I got a lot of answers and even more questions. Well we went all the way to Masaya to have the meeting and Presidente Monestel gave us permission to go to the market so I bought stuff for all of the family, well only half of it. I will try to send it home little by little. Again I was overwhelmed by all of the cool stuff so I still need to go back again to see everything. I got some pretty good deals too bargaining with the people. Some where a little mad that I got away with a good deal but o well.

Well I am loving it here in Nicaragua and the mission is going great. Thanks muches and muches for helping and supporting me out here. I send all my lovings to you.

White Mountain Hearts

Elder Ochs

Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 5:15 PM

Well again the computer I am using is really slow and won´t let me put up my photos. I have a lot to send. But other than that it is good to hear that everything is going great at home and what not. That is awesome that you got to go down south to visit and the Frisbee Golf sounds pretty fun to try out when I get back. I think I have played it before and I think it was pretty fun too. Yosemite, that is awesome also. I have been telling people here about Yosemite and they are really interested.

So Jose Reyes Calero is doing great and he is ready for this Saturday to get baptized. We have been passing by to see if everything is going fine and he is good, even better than before. They are going to get married and he will baptized that very day.

This Sunday we got to see the dedication of the El Salvador Temple and that was really cool. I remember going to see one when I was younger but I didn't put too much attention to it because I don´t remember it. This one was really cool. Did you know that Elder Christofferson can speak Spanish and pretty well? He must have served his mission in a Spanish country or something. Elder Eyring had a translator for him and he was pretty funny during the setting of the cornerstone. The day before we got to see the cultural acts and dances of El Salvador so that was cool too. Our Zone has a lot of El Salvadoreans so they were excited for that.

Rachel, your friend from the mission did come and he was at the dedication. I think he is engaged to the sister of Hermana Calero. But he always talks to me when he has the chance and said he was talking to you on Facebook. He brought me a lot of mamones from his house because the Caleros told him I like them a lot. I got sick off of mamones. But he is pretty cool. Rachel, I also saw a pair of your pants the other day. I was sitting in a chair underneath some drying clothes and your pants where on my head. Those brown ones I guess that didn´t fit you anymore. Hermana Calero says that she loves you a bucopocoton, what ever that means.

So it has been really cool here in La Concha. I am learning a lot here and I have grown a lot. It has been a little difficult here than my other areas but that is what has helped me grow. Thank you Rachel for that talk about trials. I will read it when I get back home tonight. Well I love you guys tons and tons of tons.

Momotombo Hearts

Elder Ochs

Mon, Aug 15, 2011 at 2:02 PM

Dang that is crazy that everyone is now in the house. I have received two emails about homecomings and being in the house and everything. Elder Montierth is going crazy at home with all of the world´s stuff and everything, but he is doing great. But I didn´t get an up to date email from Rachel being home. What is she doing to pass the time. Is she going to apply for BYU?

Actually it is just one fairy that comes and cleans the house. It is the lady that owns the house and she is a clean freak so she comes to clean it almost every other day when we leave. No she is really nice and even cooks breakfast and dinner for us if we ask her to. She just says to buy the supplies and she will do the rest for us. It is cool so I am not complaining.

Dad I am sorry that you didn´t like the papaya drink. Was it natural or just flavored powder to mix. If it was the latter than I am sure that it wouldn´t taste that good. The natural one is good and it doesn´t usually smell that bad.

As for Jose Reyes Calero, he wasn´t able to get baptized this week. On Thursday him and his wife got into an argument and he took off to hang out with "friends" and he drunk. We came to talk to him and he feels really bad for what he did. He has to go through a process of repentance now so it may be a week or two more till he can get baptized. This Sunday he still went to church but his wife didn't come. He really likes the church and is eager to be member. He was the only investigator that went to church. That kind of stinks because a lot told us they would be going. During the Priesthood session Chema had a really good input. He compared Rambo to the Law of Chasity somehow and it was pretty funny because it had nothing to do with what the lesson was about.

I don´t have the memory to my camera with me so this email is going to be really short. I will remember to bring it next week to send.

Well I love you guys lots and lots

Underground Railroad Heart

Elder Ochs

Mon, Aug 8, 2011 at 4:19 PM

Wow that is awesome to hear that everyone is having a good time and that you guys are all ready for the homecoming of Rachel. What do you guys have planned to do? What is Rachel planning on doing? Who is going to the homecoming? That is really cool. Ya pretty much everyone is going home now that I know here. I am used to say my goodbyes and being around people heading for the house.

Dad that is awesome that everything is going great for you and your new calling. I am glad that you are feeling a especially spiritual high now in your life. I love that feeling here on the mission. I remember when you were the ward secretary and you sat up there on the right taking number of everyone and we would go up there to draw pictures and stuff. I remember once I drew a brown train. Don´t ask me why I remember that.

I didn´t know that you had pictures printed out of crazy animals here. That grashopper was pretty fierce. But ya I keep seeing crazy and strange stuff everyday here. I know I have sent you a few pictures of some of the plants in our garden but there are a few others that are weird. One is a plant that just has a ball of grass growing at the end of it. I don´t know what in the world it is. Supposedly there are plants here that if you touch one it can almost kill you. I came in counter with a crazy plant the other day way out in the boondocks of my area. It looked like a spiky enlarged green bean. I was very interested in it and grabbed it when it just exploded in my hands and shout wet black seeds all over my shirt and on my comps face. It was quite the surprise. I will look for another the next time I see one and send a picture.

Thanks for those conversions from mililiters to cups because I haven´t made any potatoes yet not wanting to ruin it. There are no measurements of cups here so it can be difficult to make stuff here. Everyone just guess here so that doesn´t help. I will whip up a batch of it as soon as I can now. But you are liking that Cacao mix then Dad? Has Mom tried it out yet or are you on your own. If you want I can send more. It is really cheap here.

As for changes I don´t have any and neither does Elder Sosa so we will have 4 1/2 months together. This Saturday will be the baptism of Jose Reyes Calero so that is cool. Man it is tough to go down there to visit him and his wife. They live really far and down a steep hill. It takes about an hour to walk there from our house. And they always have wormy mangos waiting for us when we get down there. Yum. Mango season is over but they still have mangos, what does that tell you. It is a sacrifice but sacrifices bring blessings. I am doing fine stomach and health wise so don´t worry. I have formed quite the steel stomach. This Sunday we had two families at church so that was great.

Other great news is that we have fairies in our new house. Every few days we come home and the house, dishes, and the bathroom is completely clean. Can you believe it!? They finally found me here in Nicaragua! So that is really nice. Well I can´t send any pictures this week because the computer I am using is really really slow, sorry. For Pday today we got permission to see Cars 2. We used the big screen at the chapel, made food, cake, and played soccer. We got a super Pday because we baptized a lot this month as a zone so that was cool. I didn´t see much of the movie but it seemed pretty action packed. I also found out that President Ward in Panama is the uncle of our zome leader here named Elder Ward so that was pretty cool.

Well I love you all lots and lots and extra lots

Free Willy Hearts

Elder Ochs

Mon, Aug 1, 2011 at 5:06 PM

Wow Dad that is really awesome news. That is so cool. That is crazy that he came by the morning of the meeting to let you know about your new calling. Dad we are definitely going to help you with the Spanish part and any other thing so you can fulfill your calling. I already wrote to the mission president to let him know the good news. Wow Dad you are going to grow so much stronger spiritually and I am really happy for you. I think the spirit is already stronger with you because you found the house exactly where we are living now. I do like the house a lot. The reason I sleep on the carpet is because I haven't touched one in over 18 months. It is actually really comfortable and cool.

So this week was a pretty good week in the mission work. The new family we have that is getting ready for the 13th is the Family Calero. There names are Jose Reyes Calero and she is Santos Vidal. They are doing awesome and are going to all of the activities and Jose is loving it all. He is pretty awesome. Santos is really strong but sometimes she makes problems. But they are doing good.

These are some really cool plants in our garden in the photos.







This grasshopper really freaked me out.

It is red and black and if you try to grab it it sticks out spikes and pokies to get your hand. I didn't want to get too close.

This week not that much has happened here in the Concha. Elder Sosa and I are working hard together. We are doing well as a companionship.

Well I love you guys lots and lots and I will talk to you guys next week.

Superstar hearts,

Elder Ochs

Mon, Jul 25, 2011 at 3:13 PM

So there were a lot of adventures this week with all of the family. That is cool that all of the family of Sheryl and April went camping together. How are they all doing? At least now they have learned the peskiness of those raccoons. Ah man I want to see that Captain America movie. That is exciting news that The Hobbit is finally being made. Hopefully all turns out well in that. That does sound like a really cool idea mom about the the flower collage. What color is the paint in the bathroom? Are you going to put in tile next?

Ya, no one here has even heard of beef jerky. When I let a few members try it they were all worried thinking that it wasn´t cooked, so they saved it to cook it later. I tried to tell them that it doesn´t work that way put they wouldn´t listen.

Here is a picture of a new flower I thought Mom might like that I found while we were out and about this week.

Our new house is really cool.





It isn´t that big but pretty nice. We are living with the other missionaries again. We actually have a little bit of carpet in the house too. The first night there I slept on it. Also bugs don´t get in that easily. It is really clean and we don´t have to wear sandals all of the time. The only problem is that there are a lot of bums on the corner outside of the house. We have a stereo system so we just turn on the church music really loud to compete with the neighbors. It is about one block down from our old house and 5 blocks westward and one more block agin up and we are on the corner. It is so nice to just sit in there and sometimes hard to leave, haha. But don´t worry we always get out on time.

Hahahaha, Dad when I said that you eat the bread with the drinks I meant on the side, hahaha. Of course you don´t blend it in, haha. Maybe that is good too though. Ya, the packaging here isn´t the best and the mail lady is always grumpy. I wouldn´t doubt she gave it a few punch and stomps hahaha. (Here is a picture of how Elder Ochs' package looked when it got here) Dad when I told you you look like the Seventy guy I meant in the jolly way.

Dad I am sorry that I stole your pride and joy. I won´t steal anymore of your Star Trek references.

Today we went to a soccerfield to play as a zone and it was a lot of fun. Our zone here is really united. We are all really good friends and we all enjoy each others company. Afterwards we went and ate some tasty pizza. The only down part is that they put gross words all over the knives.


Margarita is doing all right but didn´t go to church this Sunday again. We will see what we will do with her. We did have a new family come to church though and they are going to be married and baptized the 13th of August, so pray for them that everything goes well. I love it here so much and I am learning so much here. I love it so much and all of the people here. Well love you lots and lots and lots and more lots than last week.

Kolob Hearts,

Elder Ochs

Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 3:37 PM

Hey so I am writing on time this time. Last week we didn´t get back into my area till really late and I didn´t have time to write.


I was cramped into a very small bus most of the day getting a new companion back here to La Conception for one of the Elders here.

Here is another picture of pretty flower that I found around here.

And here is just a random picture of Me and Elder Sosa at a District Meeting.

Ya Mom I would be scared to buy that haunted house, there are probably ghost. It is really close to the church though.

I keep forgetting all of the birthdays!!! The time here is just going by too quick and the only dates I think of are those when people can be baptized on. Sorry. As far as your prayers, Margarita can use them. She is the wife of Ivanio. She likes the church and everything but doesn´t like commitments. Also Amilkar. He is the husband of the daughter of Ivanio. They are all awesome people.

Dad the house is to the other left at the intersection. At the intersection to the left again and that is the house with the red roof. It doesn´t really matter though because next week we are moving again to a nicer house. It is about a block south and 3 blocks west. Around there.

So I got your package and it is the greatest ever. It has all of the things I have been craving. You nailed all of the perfect stuff. I have already gone to town on it. No one here has ever heard of nor has known of beef jerky so my comp likes it a lot haha. I am making those mashed potatoes as soon as possible. Wow it is really really great, Thank you very very much!!!!

Dad the Pinolillo is supposed to be like that. It floats and that is one that too can give you a sore throat if you are not careful. Ivanio gives us that every time we visit him with bread. Maybe you should try some bread with it haha. But ya it just floats up there and there is a clump at the bottom, always.

We went and did some more tree climbing today for Pday so that was a lot of fun. I have a bunch of ants all over me though now. They are all over.

I have been reading a lot of General Conference talks lately and it is really awesome. My goal is to read all of the conferences. Of course it won´t be possible here in the mission but afterwards. I also have a big list of books by prophets and apostles I will be buying over time. But there is a seventy that always reminds me of you Dad. His name is Jose A. Teixeira. You will have to see his picture haha.

Well I am having a lot fun here and it is so great to have this small amount of time to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the loving people of Nicaragua. It is such a great opportunity and I am loving every single minute of it. I love you all lot and lots.

Enterprise Hearts,

Elder Ochs