Here
is my weekly update! While I would love to write you all individually,
time here is limited, so as far as updates on how things are going in
general go, you'll all be getting a mass email. Still, I plan on sending
each of you some personalized messages on the side of the general info.
Sorry if emails have not been going up on the blog. When things start
going there should be a link on my facebook saying so. If you want any
other information (like my address so you can DearElder me or something,
hint hint) then you can message my mom through facebook by either my
profile or possibly hers.
So
I have survived my second week en la CCM (MTC)! This week has just
flown by. I honestly don't know where all that time went, other than it
has been full and well spent. Studying the language? Well, it's been
coming, but I am still by no means fluent. Even so I am STILL amazed by
how much I have learned. The gift of tongues is truly amazing.
West
Campus (where I am living) is now almost entirely a Spanish speaking
campus. We have a few random languages floating around still (like
Finnish, Armenian, and Malagasy) but come next week West Campus should
exclusively be for Spanish speakers. We just got a new zone presidency,
which at first worried me. Well, not so much worried me, but I was very
attached to the elders that just left for Buenos Aires today. They were
seriously the nicest elders you could meet, and did a good job at making
my district feel welcome. It was more of a feeling of 'who could fill
their shoes?' We had a zone meeting with the new presidency the other
day, and it was phenomenal! It helps that one of the elders used to do
marketing for Vivint.;) But no, really it was fantastic, we were all so
fired up after the meeting. Speak Your Language is now a priority, and
we are officially (at least in our own minds) the Zone of Thanksgiving,
where we are required to write something we are grateful for about our
companions everyday in our journal writing. (By the way, my zone is
seriously the best, and you cannot convince me otherwise)
There
were two things in particular shared in that meeting that stuck out to
me. One was "Burn your Ships". When Cortez came to the Americas he
burned his ships so there would be no going back. As missionaries we
need to do the same thing, put both feet in our missions.
The
other thought was, "Hell is meeting the person you could have become."
That thought terrifies me. The longer I am here the more I feel like it
was the best decision for me and my personal growth. I truly feel like
while I am here I am being shaped into the woman, into the daughter of
God I am meant to be. While here the thing I have struggled the most
with is diligence. I do my study, sure, but do I throw myself into it
fully? Probably not as much as I should. This Sunday and this entire
week has been full of experiences that have inspired me to be more
diligent, to truly just submit myself to the Lord to a point where I
operate on almost a Spiritual Auto-Pilot. I want to get to the point
where the words I utter are not my words, but His, to the point where I
speak with the voice of the Lamb so all can recognize that I am a
servant of the Lord. That has been my goal for this week. Diligence.
Yesterday
we had a district meeting following a fantastic devotional by
Elder/Brother? Robbins of the Seventy. The devotional was on opening
your mouth, and he related several phenomenal stories of how by simply
opening their mouths missionaries were able to do great things, even
facilitate miracles. Afterwards in the district meeting we had a
powerful discussion, where one of the things said by an elder was, "I
need to be the missionary my mom and my sister think I am. I need to be
the super hero people think missionaries are." Through the Lord, that is
possible. In the scriptures as well as Preach My Gospel, it says that
God has the power to change our natures. I know that to be true. With
humility and faith, if I give myself completely to his will I know he
can truly change me, and all of us, for the definite better.
We
have just begun teaching our second and third mock investigators. It
was rather funny. We didn't know that our first investigator would be
our teacher. So, the evening after we finished teaching our first
investigator (who we got a commitment to be baptized and to read the
Book of Mormon from, by the way) we were all in shock when he walked
into the classroom wearing a suit, tie, and a teacher's name tag.
"MAURICIO?!" "Heh heh, no, Hermano Fonda." He is a great teacher though,
and it is good, because he got to know us in the teaching element, so I
feel like he knows the best ways to help us.
Our
second and third investigators are much more difficult though. Both
Hermano Zuzunaga and Hermano Fonda are playing our investigators, as
Daniel and Rolando, respectively. We had been warned by the other
districts that Hermano Zuzunaga (Daniel) is a hard investigator. He
barely opened the door to talk to us, and since he is originally from
Peru he speaks very... Rapid Spanish. It was hard, and we didn't get in
the door, but still, Hermana Griffiths and I probably taught our best,
albeit briefest lesson to date. We were able to get an appointment to
meet later this week. Rolando, by comparison, seemed much more
difficult. We did get in the door, but he doesn't believe in God, and is
very closed off. He agreed to meet again, but we are still trying to
figure out the best way to get him to open up.
Well, that's all the time I have. I love you all, and until next time! Ciao!
