Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 2:12 PM

Alright so you had an awesome Thanksgiving. The "Bottle of Power" sounded fun to play, haha. It was fun here too. The mission gave us money to buy something for Thanksgiving and we put the zone money all together and bought pies, ice cream and milk. That was pretty tasty. That is what we did for Thanksgiving.

Dad as far as where is my house, you got it, that is the Plaza with the tree and everything. I do live close to a lot of cool stuff but I haven´t visited any of them yet. The Plaza has a big carnival there right now so that is going on 24/7. But my house is from the Presidential Palace all the way to the left. If you can zoom in around there I think I can spot it out. Between the National Theater and the Palace I am pretty sure.

No I haven´t seen Brother Falabella for a while because he is working a lot in his business and isn´t going on splits with the missionaries now. I am writing him though and he is doing good. That hanger in the picture is his actually which is why I took a picture with it, haha. Elder Montierth was dressing up for Halloween and he went as Trix the Rabbit. I think he just found the mask thing and made a costume out of that. He is actually getting married soon. He is already engaged haha. But he is having fun I guess, haha.

As far as the BYU thing, I think that you are right about waiting it out. I saw that calendar and it confused me. I don´t think that I am supposed to do it yet. I am just so glad that the yards will be spotless when I get home, not till next year for me, haha. Ya I still need to get more stuff before handing out the stuff from the package. I think that I will wait till I can pass them out personally. There isn´t as much cool things where I am at right now.

This weekend we had our baptism for Gabriela and it went good.

I got to baptize her so that was cool. She is like 12 years old and the family is really cool. The rest of the family are members except for the little girls. They are really cool. We also had a a whole family that came to church and they liked it a lot. They have been having a lot of family problems and we have been helping them out. Hopefully we can baptize them before the end of this change. The bishop has been going out with us a lot and that is awesome. He really likes to do missionary work. Tonight we are going to have to Family Home Evenings with him.

This Wednesday Elder Amado of the Setenta (Seventy) for Central America came and talked to us. He gave us training on missionary work and it was really good. He talked about how Nephi was allowed by the law to kill Laban because they were living the Law of Moses where it was eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. When Laban tried to kill him unjustly that automatically gave him permission to get him back. But it isn´t like that now, haha.

Well I love you all lots and lots

The amount of stink there is in this Cyber right now next to an open sewage Hearts,

Elder Ochs

Mon, Nov 21, 2011 at 11:39 AM

So ya there is now a whole bunch of emails that I have to catch up on. A lot are from others that I wrote last week when I had extra time, haha.

I did get a lot of pictures taken of our little unique apartment. Here is a tour of our place:

So this is the first floor where we study at different angles so you can see everything,

There are the stairs,

and the view looking up the stairs,

getting to the top of the stairs,

and then turning to the right,

This is the little walk way to the sleeping room,

the bathroom door to the right as you first enter the room,

my bed,

the bathroom.

This is the view I have in the mornings of the things around me while in bed.

My companion's bed.

So there are also a lot of questions you have sent to me to answer. Hopefully I get the majority of them. Well first Dad I don´t recognize the picture you took. Maybe it would be better if you found the chapel in Acahualinca and then it is like 10 blocks East I think. Hopefully that helps. I won´t be able to see Brother Falabella but I will see Elder Amado the new Seventy. I have met Falabella before though, he is cool I guess. The video you sent me was really funny about the stolen candy on Halloween.

Yes, I need the answers to those questions you sent me Mom about school. I don´t know anything about that or how to do the paper work. Maybe if you sent me the requirements for me then I can do what I need to do here. They give us time to do that.

Hey I am going to buy the house next door. Save it for me for when I get back, haha.

I have never heard of the Frisbee rule (the guide book for the Nicaragua Mission discouraged the Missionaries from bringing Frisbees or Footballs to the Mission) but that would be weird if it was one. What could happen with a Frisbee? Yes, The boy I gave my plastic top to was able to get me a nice wooden one. I have gotten it down alright but I don´t know how to battle. Hopefully little kids don´t challenge me.

Sunday we had two investigators in Church and one is getting ready for a Baptism this Saturday. It is a 12 year old girl and we are activating her family. They are really cool people and funny.

Mom I found out a secret to make your fruit trees give fruit twice as much in the year. A old lady told me that if you put CDs, ornaments and other wierd stuff in a tree or plant it gets embarrassed and it blooms more flowers and gives more fruit to look good again. You should try it out.

Well I got to finish up now but I love you all a ton

I can´t think of a size vast enough to express Hearts for you,

Elder Ochs

Mon, Nov 14, 2011 at 11:55 AM

Hey this is the only photo I think you don´t have.

It is my comp and me. I am eating a chocolate covered marshmallow with a gummy mouth and nose.

I am writing a little bit early today which is maybe why I haven´t got any thing from you guys yet. Elder Stanley and I are working a lot better this week together now. We started off a little rough but it is better now. There is still some stuff to correct but little by little. I am his Step-Dad so he only knew his Father. We got a new lunch lady to cook for us. She lives closer than the other. She is Chinese but doesn´t know how to make Chinese food. She came here when she was twelve so she is pretty Nica now. She is kinda of old and crazy. She has like 8 dogs in the house and she grabs them by the two side legs and drags them around. She also feeds the stray dogs outside. She is a pretty good cook though. She is always getting on Elder Stanley for not finishing all of his food, haha. She saw that he was giving me his juice yesterday, haha. She doesn`t really care though when I leave food on the plate, haha. She is crazy.

I got a cool top. One of our recent converts gave me one of his and I have been practicing a lot. I got it down but now I want to do some tricks. Everyone here knows how to spin tops. It is a childhood experience for all Nicas. I had a plastic one but I gave it to a kid so he could win me a wooden one which is better. They have battling competitions to win other peoples tops here.

Today we played Ultimate Frisbee for the first time in my whole mission. Another Elder has been asking his parents for one his whole mission but they didn`t send it until now and he is going home this change, haha. It was a lot of fun and now the zone wants to play it more. I made a lot of touchdowns. They were saying that I was the Chery Picker, haha. I do like cherries.

Sunday we had two investigators that came to church so that was really cool. We had a lot of people telling us that they were coming but didn`t show up. Maybe we will have more this next Sunday, yes.

Alright well I love you guys lots and hope to hear from you soon.

Lucha Libre Hearts,

Elder Ochs

Mon, Nov 7, 2011 at 1:49 PM

Wow wow a lot did happen in this last week. It seems like a long time since the last time I wrote for some reason though. So yes I am in a new place but in the same Zone I was in about a 1 1/2 years ago. I am in Managua again with the heat. My area is really close to my last area Linda Vista actually. My area is called Acahualinca. We are right next to a place called the Plaza which is used for performances and everything. Right now they have a really tall Christmas lights tree that you can see from the house. There is also a carnaval right now and it goes all night. Recently they did the elections so everyone has been crazy here. Unfortunately you can`t carry around your camera here because robbing is normal. So I may not be sending as many photos now and there aren`t really any cool plants and flowers either. I do have a few pictures for this week though:

A picture of my last zone

My flight plans for coming home. It will be on Jan 26.

A chicken with crazy frizzy feathers.

Me with a hanger in my new house. Brother Falabella is a good friend that was in the Ward when I was last here in Managua.


Now we have running water so that is nice. The house that we are in is pretty cool also. I meant to take pictures but I forgot. It is two stories tall but not all that much space. We sleep upstairs and it is kind of tucked away and hidden so I like it a lot. It is kind of like a little fortress haha. I will probably die here like Rachel said but I am fine with that. We have a nice grocery store here that has a lot of nice food so I am excited about that. I bought Chex Mix the other day there. They recently built a new capilla (Chapel) that is really nice. Sunday we only stayed for the Sacrament session so that the people could go vote. That Sunday so many people gave us red soda, like 2 liters each of us. I was sick of soda. My new comp is Elder Stanley from Panama! He said that he is from the capital. I don`t know if you knew him Rachel. I will send a picture next week of him. He likes to work a lot so that is great. I am his Step Dad so he is pretty new here. I eventually broke in half his one dollar air soft gun though because he kept shooting me, haha. But that is the news here.

Now to answer the other questions. The Beaches here are really nice and very warm. I definitely want to come back here to swim and surf and whatnot.

It sounds like you all had a fun Halloween there. Dad the video you sent didn`t work, I don`t know why.

For Pday today we played a game that we invented here in Nicaragua in my last area. It is called "Horseball". You play it on a court where it has the lines for Basketball and Volleyball. It is a mix of a few games. There are three people on each side inside of the yellow box for volleyball. there is a box between the two boxes also. You need to kick the ball past the other side with only two kicks from your side. The ball has to touch the inside of the box and you can`t touch it if it goes in the middle. It is called Horseball because you make crazy hits which they call here being a horse. Being a horse is when you do dumb stuff and sometimes in this game you make dumb kicks or you do kicks like a horse. I will have to show it to you all when I get back because it is actually really fun.

Hey Rachel I was thinking about applying for BYU Provo for the April-September session. Could you look that up for me and help me out with that?

Well I love you guys a ton like always and I hope to hear more interesting stories next week.

Tuna Hearts,

Elder Ochs

Mon, Oct 31, 2011 at 4:24 PM

Oh man, Nicaraguans don´t celebrate Halloween. It is just another day, and it is raining. But you guys seem to be having a good time. I can´t wait to see the costumes. That one picture of Rachel is definitely scary. And Dad that is the picture I was referring to, haha. I didn´t realize it till afterwards reviewing it on the computer, haha. You said that Nikki came with Bryce and Ryan? Is Nikki with Bryce?

I tried taking out some money the other day and I couldn´t. Maybe it was just the bank but I don´t know. The amount in there is good though. You were saying Mom about the clothes, I am leaving behind my shoes because I can´t get rid of the mold growing on them and they are really old. I am going to see if my boots last me.

Rachel I believe I have tried out that caramelo milk thing here. They make some weird stuff here. I hope the headless bride turns out good and maybe you can scare Dwight, haha. I liked that scripture you sent me and the message. I want to buy a bunch of the church books online to start studying when I get back. I have been holding back from studying that kind of stuff while here on the mission. Which books does Dad already have?

Dad you never said who won between Whitmyer and Morgan. I heard that Sister Morgan is really good but I don´t know about Brother Whitmyer. I have only played once here Dad so I will challenge you when I get back, haha.

About the waterfall picture, you can´t see what is behind me. There is an artificial dam and a little dry path out to the edge. I had him take the picture so it looks like I am in the middle of a rapid waterfall, haha.



Today we went to a place called Masatepe to see a supposedly "cool" lake. It is just a water and trash run-off. We went down this really big hill to get there and we had to go back up it sweating like crazy. I can do that any day of the week in my own area. Afterwards we ate Pupusas.

The path to the "lake" was pretty cool

Here is a cool flower

and a Catholic church we saw on the way back

So from what is coming from the grapevine, I have changes and Wednesday I will be going to my new area, and probably the last. I am sad to leave La Concha but I will be back soon.

This weekend the baptism didn´t happen because they didn´t feel prepared yet. So I won´t see their baptisms. It stinks because we didn´t have a baptism all of this change. I want to finish well though. Hopefully I die in Masaya.

Well I love you guys lots and lots and hope you are all well.

Elder Ochs

Mon, Oct 24, 2011 at 5:31 PM

So you guys are having a good time and are staying busy as always. Cool story that you found a guy from Panama, to bad Rachel wasn´t there to attack him, haha. Dang a Chess Night sounds like a lot of fun to do. I have played it once here but that is it. I have got a lot better with my car motion sickness. I sat backwards and hunched over for about a 40 minute drive today and I wasn´t even sick, yaaaeh!! As for the Christmas package just put some money in my account to get stuff in the Market in Masaya. I have a list of all of the names of the family and I still have more people to give gifts. I got Ryan´s gift today and something for some one else but I just don´t know for who yet.

Rachel that is awesome that you are going to BYU-Idaho. You will get to be there with Hillary. It is also going to be really chilly up there. Thanks for that scripture in the Book of Mormon. That is really cool and interesting to know. Somehow I don´t even remember that one, haha. And I read that one just a few weeks ago.

My Camera cards are fine and the package got sent off about a week ago now, I believe. Alright I will look for a gift for Tyler. I believe that we are going to Masaya this next week so I will get something cool there. That is really cool that you got to see Jeff Peabody. That doesn´t seem like a coincidence to me either.

I am sending a bunch of pictures so I won´t be writing that much.

So hear are some of the pictures from our P-Day last week and the trip that we took down to La Maquina.

a Catholic church in San Marcos on the way.

This looks like it could be London but it is Diriamba.

us on the side of the road waiting for a bus.

The water was really muddy and it was raining this day.

Alright so I got up on the waterfall and a Park Ranger got mad at me and Elder Woodruff.

A rickity bridge.

A Panama tree.

and a cool rooty tree.

Here is a picture of the group that went.

Here are a few random pictures:

us in a multi zone conference.

the Green Lantern, haha.

Dolphin boy (an option to engrave on a ring, haha)

And here are a few more pretty plants that I found for Mom:
















Today we went to a beach called Huehuete. It was really cool and I found a lot of cool shells. We had about 2 hours to run around and whatnot. I also got some cool pictures:

Here we are in our house having some hot chocolate before we head out.

us on rocks on the beach.

one of me in the rocks, does it remind you of another picture? haha.

me

and me on a log

We found a tiny hermit crab

and also a big crab

So concerning your question about how me and my companion is doing: Elder Chavez is a strange guy but we are getting along fine. We finally had an investigator in church so that was great. We are going to see if we can get 3 baptisms this weekend and possibly a family. Pray for us so that we can finish up this change strong.

Love you lots and lots.

All of the creations Hearts,

Elder Ochs