December 19th, 2016
I'm
so excited to talk to you on Christmas!
This was a good week, although the work is slower than ever. We
haven't been able to meet with our investigators. But we did have interviews
with President and Sister Palmer this week, and she assured us that this time
of the year tends to be slow in missionary work, with the holidays and what
not.
I always love talking to President Palmer! He is amazing. He
encouraged each of us to read the book Jesus the Christ (which I
still have not done since it gives me a headache every time I try). I will give
it another shot. He also encouraged us to continue to try to teach the Savior's
way. It's always good to remember that it's all about Him.
Yesterday I gave a talk during sacrament meeting about missionary
work. The whole sacrament meeting had us missionaries on the program to try to
get the members involved in missionary work. That is my dream here in this
area: to get the members to be missionaries.
One of my new favorite hymns is "The Time is Far Spent (El
Fin Se Acerca)." It's not a hymn we sing very often but I feel like it's
describing my life.
The time is far spent;
there is little remaining
To publish glad tidings
by sea and by land.
Then hasten, ye heralds;
go forward proclaiming:
Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven's at hand,
Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven's at hand.
Shrink not from your
duty, however unpleasant,
But follow the Savior,
your pattern and friend.
Our little afflictions,
tho painful at present,
Ere long, with the
righteous, in glory will end,
Ere long, with the
righteous, in glory will end.
What, tho, if the favor
of Ahman possessing,
This world's bitter hate
you are called to endure?
The angels are waiting
to crown you with blessings!
Go forward, be faithful,
the promise is sure.
Go forward, be faithful,
the promise is sure.
Be fixed in your
purpose, for Satan will try you;
The weight of your
calling he perfectly knows.
Your path may be thorny,
but Jesus is nigh you;
His arm is sufficient,
tho demons oppose.
His arm is sufficient,
tho demons oppose.
I
love the way it describes missionary work with the trials and blessings that
come from it; it's just absolutely beautiful.
I forgot to write about this last week, but one time Hna Maya and
I were in Manteca decided to walk instead of bike to an address of a former
investigator on a major main street close by. (Sometimes we walk at night so
that we don't have to feel the cold wind in our face, and I personally don't
love biking in the dark.) So we walked and walked and didn't realize how far
the address was. We literally walked into the next town over (Lathrop). We were
so tired and were like..."Remember when we thought this was a good
idea?" Haha, good times.
There was one time where we decided to go visit a member since we
hadn't seen her at church for a while. Her name is Hna Mxxx. We had a
nice chat with her, and then her friend came over. Her friend has gone to the
Catholic and Jehovah Witnesses churches, but she felt curious as to which
church is the right one. Of course we seized the opportunity to talk about our
church, and left her with a Book of Mormon. The way that Hna Mxxx shared the
gospel with her though, was so awesome. She was so bold in inviting her to come
to church on Sunday. She told her to come to church for a few months and
see how she likes it. And she was basically like, "Why do you go to that
church if it's so confusing to you?" This friend came to church yesterday
and she seemed to really enjoy it! That's super cool! Member missionary work
for the win!
We also had our ward Christmas party on Saturday. All six of
us missionaries in the ward sang Regocijad Jesus Nació with me on the
ukulele. It was great! These elders are amazing. Three of them have only been
here for two transfers, with one of them training a new missionary. They all
speak Spanish pretty well for being newbies.
K so I don't know if you remember the TV Show from the 90's "Pinky and the Brain." I actually didn't really watch it as a kid, but as an adult, 'cause I'm cool like that. Anyways Hna Maya and I decided that our companionship is like Pinky and the Brain, one is a genius, the other's insane. Who is Pinky and who is the Brain? Trick question: most people would look at us thinking she is the insane one and I'm the Brain, but lots of times Hna Maya tells me "I used to be normal until I was your companion!" So maybe I'm the insane one!
K so I don't know if you remember the TV Show from the 90's "Pinky and the Brain." I actually didn't really watch it as a kid, but as an adult, 'cause I'm cool like that. Anyways Hna Maya and I decided that our companionship is like Pinky and the Brain, one is a genius, the other's insane. Who is Pinky and who is the Brain? Trick question: most people would look at us thinking she is the insane one and I'm the Brain, but lots of times Hna Maya tells me "I used to be normal until I was your companion!" So maybe I'm the insane one!
Have a good week! Love you!
