Day 14

Today we got stood up for the first time. I mean this has seemed a lot like a mission, but now that people are blowing us off and missing appointments it really feels like we back in the "field." The highlight of the day had to be the dinner we had with President Maravilla and his family. Not only is he the local person in charge of the Chinandega Cause for Hope office, but is the stake president here. They will be dividing the stake in about a month so he is coming to the end of his tenure as stake president. He invited Paul and I over to his house for dinner and was kind enough to tell us his story from meeting the missionaries to baptism, to becoming branch president, district president, and then stake president. He is a good man and they have accomplished some amazing things here. He told us that when he was first investigating the church he really enjoyed reading the Book of Mormon. He'd stay up until one in the morning smoking and reading the Book of Mormon. Every night it was the book and his cigarettes. The missionaires soon taught him about the Word of Wisdom and he never smoked again.

This picture is of me and Jose Luis. He has a little cell phone accessory and repair store. He's a really good guy and I think he will do well. He has moved his store into a building where there will soon be an Internet cafe. This should increase his traffic and we're helping with some of the marketing materials and branding he will need to attract clients. We also followed up with a couple of the people we have been working with, Axel and Erick. They seem to be making some progress and that it good but nothing real concrete to show for it yet. Each time we visit them there seems to be something new that we learn about how they are operating these little businesses. From what I know about consulting, a great majority of the work is research. Some times feel like we are making more progress than others, but I am thoroughly enjoying this experience. I have been healthy the whole time (knock on wood) and I feel like we've made some great friendships. We are actively working with 6 different businesses and we are going to meet two more individuals tomorrow.