June 30, 2014
Okay, so I’m going to be honest here, my head is reeling from all the news I have just received from the fam, the friends, and also from the mish. Basically I don’t even know what to write. But I will do my very best to concentrate and give you an account of my dealings this past week.
So basically last week, we worked sooooo hard and we’re basically dead today! It has been an incredible week. I had some of my most spiritual lessons in this last week. I’ll start with Tuesday. Tuesday we had exchanges with the STL´s. So I stayed in our area and Hermana Herrera came and worked with me. Ustedes no saben caunto meido que tenia!! I was seriously so scared, because it meant I had to lead us everywhere and tell her who we were seeing and what we were teaching and lead the lessons más o menos, etc. And she doesn’t speak any English at all (like Hna Centeno does a little) so I had to speak Spanish all day, no choice. Oh and we had a district meeting where I had to do all the accounting for our area. But ya know what? I did it! AND I realized I am far more capable of doing all this than I originally thought! I found out that I know a lot more than I thought! So that was actually a huge blessing. I really enjoyed divisiones and I learned so so much! Hna Herrera is so awesome! We have the greatest STL´s. :)
We had a super amazing Zone conference on Thursday, but I don’t have much time to talk about that so I’m going to jump straight to Friday. Friday was a movie. Literally. We had stuff happen to us that seems like would only happen in a movie. Hna. Centeno and I experienced the most embarrassing thing probably either of us ever have in our lives. But the thing is I don’t know how to explain it in an email. But don’t worry that night we recorded it on my camera, because literally, it was the greatest. Basically we went to contact a reference who apparently had two church attendances and was seeking out the church. Well it turns out he had no idea who we were or what we were talking about, but we still had all his information. Okay, weird. That’s the gist of it, but I can’t explain the embarrassment of the situation AND the awkwardness. I laughed hysterically once we left. When I get home, I will let you watch the video, it explains it all. Oh, but one thing Herman Centeno told me is that when I was teaching this guy, Raul, she said my Spanish was absolutely perfect! Hooray! She was super grateful for that she said because in that moment she said she couldn’t say or do anything jaja!
So after this wonderful experience that unfortunately I couldn’t explain. We encountered a woman in the street. We went up and started talking to her and Hermana Centeno started telling her how much God loves her and that even though she doesn’t live in this area, we were sent to her to remind her that God loves her and knows her. Right then tears started flowing down her face. It was the most beautiful, spiritual street contact I have ever had!! Ah, I can’t even adequately explain it! How beautiful! So we got her information because she was quite interested in learning more about the church. She later sent us a text thanking us and telling us that she knows we were sent from God. Ah!! Que hermosa!!!! This is a testimony to me that God knows His children! We don’t but HE does! And He WILL give us the words we need so that the spirit can touch their hearts. It doesn’t matter if they live in our area or not, with every street contact we can remind the people of the infinite love that Christ has for them. What a beautiful beautiful experience. My heart was changed in 5 minutes. And THAT is just one thing I LOVE about the mission! I am constantly changing and growing! There is always something that I’m learning from. There is something to be learned in every experience. I have asked myself on many occasions, "How on earth would I have learned this or that without a mission??" I know that these things I am learning are changing me and helping me reach the potential that only God can see. And that can be the case for each one of you if you allow it. God works wonders in us when we allow Him to do so. But that’s the hard thing, allowing it to happen. As my companion always says, "En cada desafio hay un oportunidad" "In every struggle there is an opportunity." Take advantage of the opportunities in the trial or hardship, and you will start becoming the person God sees. Our God is a God of miracles. I see that every day!
Well, this letter is long enough. I have more miracles to tell, but I guess those stories will have to be saved for another day. Just know, I love being a missionary!!! The hardest thing every, but also the absolute greatest!!! I hope you all have a fantastic week!! I love you all! Remember, when we love the way the Savior does, miracles happen! And of course, Stay Anxiously Engaged!