Familia, Im in a short sleeve shirt today! SUCH BEAUTIFUL WEATHER! Finally! Once again, too much to say and no time to say it. Shout outs to the fam, to Noah for the dear elder and to the spaffs and the Bagster! Thanks Brookie, it was awesome to hear the update! Hal...I love you more than you know. LOZ you have a letter coming. Mikey and Katie THANK YOU! Mikey and Ash...Love you I pray for you two and the baby all the time. Katie HOLY SHRAPNEL YOU GOT 99% on your anatomy final. Smarty pants....I´m so proud. James, I love you and pray for you every single night. You are amazing and such an incredible example to me. Keep truckin along...ps you have a letter coming for your bday!
Family, I can only send one...maybe two pictures per email and I can only send one email every pday so thats all you´re going to get. Love you! Ah yes, the phone call. I´m going to call on the 24th at 7pm my time (I´m pretty confident that would be 4pm your time) I´m stoked to talk to you all! Let me know if that time works. I have one hour to talk.
Dad I love the theme! The first commandment is to love God. Since reading that commandment, I have wondered how to love God... what can I do to show Him that I actually love Him? The way we demonstrate this is by serving his children. Simple. Ill think more about this and get back to you.
Okay, people...I had my first dream completely in Spanish! It was amazing. It was me and two Testigos (Jehova´s witnesses) chattin it up over lunch in my dream. In real life, we´ve had some run ins that are just wonderful. I woke up smiling. And I smiled when I read that Soph prayed I´d have good dreams!! Thanks lovebug. The thing with the language is...when I focus on the people we´re teaching and their needs as opposed to my own...I understand everything. I´m not translating anymore and it feels so great. Yes, there are hilarious moments in which I don´t understand anything, but I´ve found that the Spirit is my most powerful tool to understand and be understood.
Some funny things went down this week. I have had the soundtrack to Hercules in my head NONSTOP. Someone watch that movie for me. JOKE: one day, a missionary was walking along with a Book of Mormon in his pocket. A man shot the missionary. The bullet hit the Book of Mormon and stopped in the Isaiah chapters. Bahahaha! This is the kind of hilarity you can expect on the mish! Chilean equivilent of the week: mom, I found the chilean equivalent of A BIG HUNK, ate it, and thought of you. It was gross and wasn´t as good of quality but I still thought of you!
My comps are constantly breaking social norms. I don´t know if its a centro-americano thing or what. THey love to blow their noses during lessons or tell random people that they should serve missions too or describe one of our members as ¨la gordita¨ (the little fatty) who lives down the street. Ahhh....Salvedorenians. Gotta love em.
In companionship inventory, I asked what I could do to improve and Guevara said ¨Gringa...ARREPIENTESE!¨ (Gringa...REPENT!) We died laughing. I can´t even describe the trio. The first few weeks were a tad difficult...but we´ve really figured out how to work in this trio. We´ve seen so many miracles...especially this week and I am so lucky to be here with these two sisters. I have never been this happy in my entire life. In Kathy´s Christmas letter, she said that parts of her have been filled and there is a depth to her testimony that wasn´t there before. I feel the exact same way. The experiences out here are irriplaceable (once again, I don´t know how to spell).
I feel like Im starting to understand human beings out here a little more than before. I´ve seen selfishness and apathy absolutely destroy a family´s chance at true happiness...I´ve seen pride drag down a once incredible member into daily bitterness and resentment...I´ve seen so many people just throw away their opportunity to progress in this life because there was an easier option. I´ve seen some really ugly and cold things out here pertaining to human nature. Watching literal children of God refuse blessings that I know God is yearning to give them has been my biggest struggle out here. Apathy, pride, selfishness, hatred, laziness. These are all such powerful tools that destroy, desensitize, and drag down. On the other end...my greatest joys I´ve felt out here have been when I´ve seen people rise above these horrible things, even though it´s hard or uncomfortable, and reach for something better. To rise above that which is easy, that which is comfortable, that which is normal is incredible to see. It has cost these people their pride, comfort, work, friends, and even family in two cases. I´ve seen the stone face of one mother turn into something full of softness and light. I´ve seen a father rise above his comfortable apathy and lead his family back to righteousness and now they´re walking towards the temple. I´ve seen a woman excommunicated from her evangelical congregation...her life...because she testified that the Book of Mormon was the word of God. I´ve seen two young women rejected by their families because of their faith...and yet they press on in joy. To see what human beings are capable of (both the good and the bad) has been a blessing and a curse. It is so easy to not to what is right...It is so easy to be too busy...it is so easy to fall into the comfortable arms of apathy. But from what I´ve seen...its those who understand that there is ALWAYS time to do what God wants, those who lose themselves actively in what they know to be right and good and true, those who REALLY understand the gospel...these people live brightly. They receive all. Their lives are full and moving and beautiful. That´s the kind of life I want. It is so beautiful to be a missionary. I can´t believe I haven´t been preparing for this my entire life. Thrust in your sickels! :) Love you all the pictures (if they show up) one outside my chapel with carolina and vicky (their families have either rejected them or threatened to kick them out of the house) and the second my area Ovejeria on a good day. It´s gorgeous!
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