I'm so glad you got to go to the Broadcast last night! Wasn't it wonderful?! I was sitting there and thinking, "Wow, I'm sitting here watching this and Brady's sitting here watching this, and the whole family is sitting here watching this. All at the same time. So I just pretended like we were all watching it together in the same place. I loved it though. It was so inspired! Missionary work is so important! I felt like I received a lot of revelation while watching it, for our investigators and also for myself. It was exactly what I needed. And know I just feel so inspired. It was definitely a spiritual recharge that I needed after these past few weeks to help put things back in perspective. I hope we can all remember what we felt and use it to help further the Lord's work.
Thank you for your email, Mom. It really helped me. Especially when you said not to lose myself in my quest to be righteous. Sometimes that's so hard as a missionary. Preach My Gospel tells us not to compare ourselves to other missionaries, but it's hard sometimes. Especially when some of them are so righteous and sister wifey and I'm not like that. And sometimes I feel bad because I'm not. But you helped me remember that the Lord called me and he needs me to be me. With some growth and change, of course, but still me. So I'm going to focus on being the best version of me this week and not a mediocre version of someone else.
This week has been better. The work has gone better and I feel like I've been a bit happier. And we've definitely seen the Lord's hand this week. Last week we were talking to Esperanza--some day we're going to get her married--and she really wants Jose to come to church and to listen to us and she wants to get married in the temple. But Jose has a bit of a hard head. So we were talking a lot about faith and about prayers and I felt like I needed to tell her that she could pray that Jose's heart would be softened. And then I felt to promise her that as she did so, that Heavenly Father would answer her prayers and that he would take care of her and her family. And I told her that we would pray with her. So we've been praying a lot for Jose and for a miracle. And this week, we had a miracle! On Tuesday we stopped by and he came home while we were there and he usually runs and hides in the bedroom or something, but this time he sat with Ryan and listened a little. And when we left, he was surprised that we were already leaving. And then we went back on Thursday and he was so welcoming and he stayed! And we taught him the first lesson! It was amazing! He had a ton of questions about church and baptism and what it's like to be a missionary and it was so good. The Spirit, and Esperanza are working on him. His heart is being softened and we are going to do everything we can to keep moving forward. He's really shy though and he's worried that if he comes to church that people are going to judge him if he doesn't know the answers. Silly. We'll get him to church next week. Sunday is the only day that he doesn't work, and Esperanza keeps telling him that it's for a reason. Jose also told us that before, when they were living with Jhoana that one time we came and he didn't answer the door. He was getting ready to leave and he was waiting for us to leave and we didn't leave, so he went and hid inside but really wanted us to leave because he was going to be late. He told us that he would never do that again, and that now we're welcome whenever we want. That is a change of heart!
We also had exchanges this week. It was so nice. I stayed here this time, and I got to have a visa waiter with me. We have a ton of them here. Waiting for a visa must be torture! All our plans for the evening fell through and we had knocked a street and not found anyone that spoke Spanish, and then I felt like we needed to go and see an investigator, Miriam, that we haven't seen for a while because she's never home. So we did and she was home! And so was her husband! We were able to share a short quick message with them and they even turned off the TV without being asked! That in itself was a miracle. We were able to set up a return appointment and everything. Right in the middle of the lesson, her daughter Cessy, who is five, let out the biggest loudest toot I have ever heard from a five year old. Right on her dad's lap. We all just busted up laughing. Her poor parents were so embarrassed. After living with so many boys, I felt right at home.
After Hna Sorensen got back from the exchanges she told me how glad she was that I was her trainer. I was shocked. Especially because she's gone on exchanges with some really amazing missionaries. But she told me that I was the nicest person she's met her on the mission and that she's really glad that I'm her companion. And this was all unsolicited from me! It felt good to know that maybe I'm not completely failing at this. Because I have been working so hard to teach her and to love her and to help her. This past transfer and a half has been oh so hard. I just hope that I'm learning what the Lord wants me to learn.
Zone Conference was so so good! President Riggs is so inspired. And every time he teaches us, I feel like he's talking directly to me. I learned so much. And we got fed lunch! Here's the funny thing about zone conference. Every time that I'm craving something, they seem to feed us that for zone conference lunch. Last time it was Cafe Rio, this time, pulled pork. The Relief Society has been inspired. If that's not a tender mercy, I don't know what is. I ended up playing I Need Thee Every Hour and it went pretty well. I was so nervous though. Like always.
So like I said before, at the broadcast last night I had a really neat experience with revelation. While Elder Holland was talking, a part from my patriarchal blessing and some of it's promises came to mind. And then I had this thought come to me that said, "Learn how to do it right, because you're going to be a missionary for the rest of your life." In Elder Holland's talk from October's General Conference he says that the mission is supposed to change you forever. And I really felt so strongly right then that that's what the Lord wants for me. It was a very powerful experience that compares only to receiving the answer that serving a mission was the right thing to do. I don't really know how to describe it, but I felt at that moment that the Lord has such a distinct purpose for me, and that he is molding me now so that I can forever be who He needs me to be. So I hope I'm doing it right.
Well family, that's about it. Thanks for taking such good care of me! I love you all so much. Be good, don't die on the Trek, don't let the water truck get lost, I hope you go to Ensign and not to desert in the middle of nowhere. But if you do, I hope you don't complain as much as I did. And still do.
xoxo
Hermana Simpson
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