Tuesday, June 19th - Monday, June 25th

So writing about another week here.

I guess starting Tuesday is when the changes happened. So after lunch I got moved over to my new apartment. It was pretty close. We used to do laundry here. Heck as I write this my old companions are here doing their laundry. But anyways we got here then helped others move and all that normal stuff. All good.

Wednesday we had a zone welcome thingy. So it was kind of like my zone meetings down there but they only do it once every 6 weeks. Then in the afternoon we spent most of the rest of the day cleaning the apartment. And yeah it needed it. But now I'm all unpacked and in a tidy place. So I can't complain. Except for the air conditioning. I'm freezing over here that instead of the normal t-shirt I'm usually wearing a sweatshirt to bed. And in the evening we had one lesson with a new reference from one of the members. So it was nice having my first real lesson over here. Also had a friend who served in Nicaragua with me (who lives here close to my area) take me and my companion out to lunch for my birthday.

Thursday. I'm pretty sure it was a pretty normal day.

​ honestly I don't remember much from it. But I'm sure we had a great time. 

Friday we ​did our weekly planning and it went by nicely and in the evening had dinner with this one Bolivian lady. so my companion is Bolivian so she made one of his favorite dishes from over there. It was kind of weird. but I guess after so much time in Nicaragua eating whatever - I'm used to eating what people give me no questions asked. Put something in front of me and I'll be sure to make it go away. So anyways that was that day. Then doing the whole sports night thing in the evening.

Saturday we cleaned the church in the morning, then we took the other elders near us (who are bike elders) to an appointment they had pretty far. so after that we had lunch and then we all went to our own areas to work. So we went to talk to a bunch of people in this one neighborhood but nothing really. So yeah that's something. 

Sunday Yesterday, we had church. Like always. And since church is so late, we basically went straight from church to dinner. And the family where we were at for dinner were doing a barbecue so a few families from the ward were over there and there was a lot of food. It's weird. Like down there in Nicaragua they could give me a giant mountain of rice and beans and I would eat it and not feel that full. But here I eat anything even a small amount and I'm instantly stuffed. So since they want to shove like 3 giant mountains down you it's hard we always leave so stuffed. The sacrifices of having people take care of you. 

Anyways that's a bit how my week went. Thanks for reading. 

- Elder Vogt

 

Tuesday, June 12th - Monday, June 18th

Hey so I guess I'll start talking about how my week went.

So Tuesday was a pretty low key day. Both of my companions were sick so we really couldn't leave the apartment. The other elders in our ward just picked me up for dinner and dropped me off later. It was alright though. A pretty laid back day. I was alright with it since I was pretty sore after basketball yesterday.

Wednesday starting off in the morning one of my comps was still pretty sick so one went with other elders for a service project while I stayed back with the sick one. We were able to leave later on and walked to some appointments then walked to dinner. Where we took another elder of the other group with us to another appointment. We were stuffed though after such a big dinner. But it gets worse/better. So late at night we hear a knock at the door. And lo and behold. There was pizza right there waiting for us. My fam had sent some birthday pizza and it was great (I guess that's a perk of serving in the US!). We enjoyed that and made some tots as well.

Thursday I got to go to the Mormon Battalion Historical Site in San Diego. So that was a pretty cool afternoon and way to spend my Birthday. Came back had dinner. And all in all it was a pretty chill day. Just getting ready for the changes to come around. 

So today since one of my companions will have to be a district leader next change we dropped him off at a meeting for that and stopped by the apartment of the other elders who share an area with us and stayed with them until the meeting was over. Then we came back did some stuff and had an activity in the church in the evening where we taught the youth to tie ties and different styled knots. So it was fun enough. And my companions are really anxious for tomorrow when they can find out about the changes. I like the system a whole lot more here where they know Saturday morning and leave Tuesday. Instead of Sunday afternoon and leaving Monday at the crack of dawn. Gives more time to say goodbye to the people and you don't waste a PDay. 

Saturday starting early we cleaned the church then went over to a service project and we moved a bunch of dirt. Like a bunch of dirt. But that's pretty much it. Then in the evening we had a really cool father's day activity with a lot of food and some activities including a mechanical bull it was pretty dope.

So today we had church and it was alright. We are in the Spanish Ward that covers the Carlsbad Stake. Though it starts late so like after church is dinner then after dinner we almost have to come home. But all in all it was a good week.

 

Tuesday, June 5th - Monday, June 11th

Alright so going in for this weekly email. Just pretty much as you all probably know we got out of Nicaragua, and I got moved over to the Carlsbad California mission. And I'm here with elder Morrison from Virginia and Caswell from Utah. 

Anyways my last week in Nicaragua was good with elder Ramos just a bit sad when we all got called out here, and now I'm just here with my new comps enjoying the culture shock. Just getting used to stateside stuff anyways. That's pretty much it for now. Just I'll see you all sometime. and be sure to write a whole lot more for next week since I know that's what you all want. Just some more words of advice from your good ol vogty. anyways have a nice week.

Civil Unrest Leads to All Missionaries Leaving Nicaragua

2 Weeks ago (on May 22, 2018), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints transferred out 169 of the 327 Missionaries serving in in Nicaragua (both the North and South Missions) due to civil unrest. Those with 2 or less transfers left were sent home while the others were reassigned. 158 Missionaries were left in Nicaragua and moved to "safer areas". Elder Vogt was one of the remaining 158 and was moved from Managua to Tipitapa.

Things kept escalating there and on Monday, June 4th the church quickly (and quietly!) got most of the 158 remaining missionaries out of the country and released this statement:

Church Transferring All Missionaries Out of Nicaragua

Missionary Update

4 JUNE 2018 - SALT LAKE CITY

 

 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement about the transfer of all of its missionaries out of Nicaragua:

In light of continued violence and deteriorating conditions in Nicaragua, the Church has decided to transfer the remaining 158 missionaries out of that country. Those missionaries are being moved to temporary assignments in North America, South America, the Caribbean and New Zealand. Most of these missionaries have already left the country. All others awaiting travel are in a safe location and will arrive in their new assignments in the next several days.

As part of this move, the Nicaragua Managua South Mission president and his young family have left the country and returned home. The Nicaragua Managua North Mission president and his companion will remain in Nicaragua for the time being to take care of some ecclesiastical responsibilities over local Church members. (note: President Poncio ended up leaving the country 3 days later for safety)

The Church will continue to monitor developments in Nicaragua and make a decision in the future regarding the eventual return of missionaries. In the meantime, we pray for peace and stability for all who live there during this uncertain time.

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We had received a quick message from Seth on Sunday (June 3rd) saying that he was headed to the Mission Home and he thought they'd be leaving the country. He didn't know if he was going to be coming home or reassigned to somewhere in the USA. We told him to use his debit card during his travels so that we could see where he "was". On Monday, June 4th, when we checked the bank we saw a charge from the Atlanta, Georgia Airport and new he'd been safely evacuated out of the country. We waited by our phones the entire day for word. At one point, I even called the Mission Office in Utah and asked if they could tell me where my son was - which they could not (they said for safety reasons) and that he would call me when he arrived at his new assignment. Around 8pm that night, we received a call from him stating that he'd been reassigned to the California Carlsbad Mission!

It was quite the change for him - a huge culture shock really (and I think he might have felt like he had just arrived into a "foreign" mission with how different everything was!) He was assigned to serve in Oceanside (Spanish Speaking) and was put into a Trio with Elders Morrison and Caswell. They treated him very well and helped with his transition. There was a total of 6 Missionaries from Nicaragua that were sent to that same mission (including his good friend, Elder Price).