I just love you so much! And Mom, I did go to high school, of course I know what Star Wars day is. And way to go, Cam for giving out a Book of Mormon and wearing leopard print! You win! It sounds like all is going well with you. Can you believe it's May already? I can't. It's almost time for everyone to be getting out of school and then summer will be here! It's been pretty chilly here the last few days and it hasn't felt very much like spring. Oh well. I'm sure as soon as summer gets here I'll be wishing it was like this again.
Let's see, what can I tell you about Sudley? The ward loves us. That's really good. Way different than when I started out in Old Town. They're so excited to have hermanas here again. We also have a good calendar. So we should be getting fed a little bit more. It might kill our miles, but we'll get to know the members a lot better so hopefully it will be a good way to help get them excited for missionary work. We really need their help. It's a lot more diverse down here. As in not every one you meet is from El Salvador. We met a Chilean last night, and now I think the only country in South America that I have left is Paraguay. Then I will have met or taught someone from every South and Central American Country. Sweet!
This week has been yet another hard one. Remember Pedro, the sweet little Domincan man? His wife got home this week. We're were super excited to go and teach them together. It turns out that Pedro's wife is not quite as sweet as he is. She told wouldn't let us talk to him and she told us that she told him that he was wasting his time with us. That she studied the Bible and that if he wanted to study the Bible he could do it with her and her church. That he was the only member of her family that didn't go to her church and so if he wanted to find God, he could do it in her church. We tried to explain and clear things up, but she wouldn't have it. We tried to ask her to just give us 20 minutes of her time, but she said she was busy. When we asked if we could come back, she didn't say no, so maybe in a few weeks we'll try it again. I know that Pedro felt something. So that was the lovely start to our day and it just went downhill from there. Typical Saturday.
But, it finally did turn around. About 4:00 in the afternoon, I told Hna Sorensen that I felt like we needed to change our plans and go down to Manassas. I had had that thought the night before, that we needed to go see a family, but it just didn't make sense for us to go all the way down there and we were going to see them at church on Sunday. But we changed our plans and after dinner headed down to Manassas. The first person we had decided to see wasn't home. After the day we had had up to this point I was pretty discouraged and I thought, wow, we came all the way down here for nothing. But we headed to our back up and I just prayed the entire way that we could just teach someone something. At this point I wouldn't have even minded if I had to do it in English (teaching in English is way harder). So we park on the street by the next apartment complex and we start heading to see the Martinez family. There was no one even out on the street to talk to. Until we rounded the corner and there's this little boy that's trying to run and play in the street. And then we see his mom, sitting on the steps. So I started kind of playing with him, asking him what he was doing playing in the street. And then we started talking to his mom. We told her who we were and what we did and she said she would love to hear our message and invited us in. We started teaching and got to the point of the apostasy and I paused and asked her if she had ever lost something and not been able to find it. She hesitated for a moment, and then got really emotional and told us that when she was about two her dad had died and she had never had the opportunity to know him. And that she hoped that someday she would have that chance. We stopped right there and I testified with all my heart that I knew that she would. And that she could know too. That that's why we were teaching the Restoration, because through the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ she can see her dad again. She doesn't have to wonder. if she'll ever have that chance. The message of the Restoration changes lives. She wants us to come back, because she wants to know. After that, we continued walking to see the Martinez family, which was our original purpose. We got there and they weren't home. But the family that they live with were just pulling up. They're familiar with missionaries, but have never really listened to them. They invited us in and we asked if we could share a quick though with them. We were able to give them a copy of the Book of Mormon and testify of it's truthfulness. They told us that want to come to church to see what it's like and that they had wanted to for a while. Hopefully we can start teaching them soon. They are so nice. It turns out that we really did need to go to Manassas, and it wasn't ever to see the Martinez family after all. Heavenly Father wanted us there to teach Maria and to introduce Fernando and Nelly to the Book of Mormon. He answered our prayers.
It's hard, and it's discouraging, but it's still the Lord's work, and He knows what he's doing. I know that someday this area is going to flourish. I don't know if it's going to happen while I'm here, or how long I'll be here and I'm not even really sure why Heavenly Father has me here, to be honest. I know a lot of missionaries that could probably do a much better job than me. But I know that Heavenly Father has His own plan and His own purposes, and it's just my job to do my best, regardless of how hard it is and how long I'm here, even if I never figure out why. But I'm here to do His will.
I'm tyring to learn patience. Training is so hard. I don't know what to do to help my companion progress. I feel like I'm having to reteach her everything. Things that are just common sense to me make no sense to her. And sometimes I just feel like saying, did you learn anything for the six weeks you were in the MTC? Don't worry, I don't actually say that, so it will probably forever be a mystery. And the Spanish is just not sticking. I'm trying everything. So if anyone has any ideas, I would love them. We'll spend 15 minutes working on something and then five minutes later it's back to saying it wrong. She's frustrated because she isn't getting it and I'm frustrated because I don't know what else to do to help her. And I hate correcting her because I feel like the biggest jerk in the world. I do it nicely, but still. We're working on it. I'm doing the best I can and I'm really trying to teach by example. I think that's the most important thing.
So family, that's about it. I love you tons. I'm learning a lot. I've heard so many times that the things you learn on a mission will just prepare you for dealing with marriage. If that's the case, I think I'll just stick to a mission. It's hard enough.
xoxo
Hermana Simpson
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