Our church leaders then receive their application ( in Salt Lake City, Utah) and prayerfully decide which area of the world each missionary should be sent to. In about 3 weeks a young missionary receives his/her mission call to an area of the world where they are most needed. Our son was called to the Managua North Nicaragua mission. They are given a date that they need to report to one of our Mission Training Centers around the world. Our son reported to the Mission Training Center in Utah on August 23, 2012. There he and about 2,000 -3,000 other missionaries were trained in different languages they will need for their mission, along with some religious training in how to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in different cultures around the world. Missionaries being called to the U.S. who are from the U.S. usually have 2 weeks of training. Missionaries who are called to foreign missions, or that need to learn a different language, are usually there 6 weeks for language training. Kacey was taught Spanish & continues to learn Spanish. Our missionaries not only teach the gospel of Jesus Christ, they perform service every week to those in their area. Below is a photo our our son (with the orange cap) and his companion with a family. (Missionaries always have a another missionary companion with them). They have just helped put a roof on the house for this family's home. As you can see from the photo, Nicaragua has a great deal of poverty.
The photo below is the family's home before the roof was put on. Kacey's companion (Elder Diption) is standing in the family's home.
This photo below is of a sweet Nicaraguan family, where the son (dressed in white) is going to be baptized. Elder Mendez (on the left) was Kacey's first native companion. Elder Aukema is dressed in white. Our Elders have the proper priesthood authority to not only teach the gospel, but baptize those who choose to follow Jesus' example and be baptized, as well.
The photo below is right before the boy's parents were baptized.
A taste of the contrasting Nicaraguan landscape is shown in the two photos below. Elder Aukema has been serving near the West Coast of Nicaragua.
Here, Elder Aukema is holding two iguanas. Ans yes, they eat the iguanas in Nicaragua. Many of the men who do not have jobs hunt iguanas and sell them to help feed their families. Kacey told us that iguanas taste sort of like fish.
Elder Aukema is about to board a small plane, below, that will take him and other missionaries to the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua (across the country) where he and others were transferred to serve in June. Missionaries are transferred to other areas in their mission several times in order to teach more people.
Did I mention that we are proud of him? We are so very happy that he chose to spend two years of his life serving the Lord full time, before continuing his education and social life. Way to be a good example, son!
The photo below is what Puerto Cabanzeas ( his new area) looks like in June. It is the rainy season and most of the houses are up on stilts due to flooding. He is excited about the new area of the country and says this below about the people: "well the people here are sooo humble it is crazy and these humble people are going to change me a lot, the accept us immediately as representatives of Jesus Christ and trust us with their salvation, I couldn't think of a greater responsibility and I hope that with God, I can help a lot of these beautiful wonderfully humble people find the salvation they need in a world of despair, and find the hope that brings the true gospel to their trusting humble souls.
