HELLO!!!
So in the CCM, the p days are different each week. We get
three hours for p day, one for writing and 2 for errands and whatever
else you would like to do. I looooooved having so many emails in my
inbox! Seriously could not stop grinning, I was jumping up and down in my chair
from excitement at your family history finds! How amazing that we all had great
expereinces becuase of the Allreds this week. I love the gospel! I will try and
answer all the questions you asked, mom. Your week sounds like it was just fabulous!
I miss the tortilla bar, the food here is cafeteria style, lots of instant
potatos and tough chicken ;)
My companion learned spanish from her dad. He is a high
school spanish teacher. Also, she went on a trip to Costa Rica a few months
before coming here for a school trip, and stayed with a family that spoke only
spanish. This has proven to be a HUGE blessing for me. We teach investigator
discussions to our teachers as if they were investigators, and no english - or
portugeuse, for the Brazillians in our district - is aloud. My spanish is much
to be desired for haha in case you didnt know, learning a new language for 12
hours every day is a tough assignment. I am beginning to understand quite a
bit, can say a prayer and bear my testimony and form simple sentences, but
Hermana Mittelsteadt having the vocabulary that she does is most definitely one
of my tender mercies!!!
This week has been gruelling, emotional, spiritually
filling, glorious, and exhausting all at the same time. It never ceases to amaze
me how the spirit can work with every single person here at the same time!
Again, my companion is amazing...we have come up with some pretty awesome
lesson plans, almost always agreeing on content, deliverance, and scriptures.
This last week, we taught an investigator who had a seven year old daughter die
a few months ago...one of our roommates, Hermana Clearwater (who I ADORE!)
suggested I sing for my investigators, if it feels right. She and I have daily
duets. Its phenomenal. So we are planning our lesson for this investigator, and
Hermana Mittelsteadt suggests I sing Families Can be Together Forever. That was
the first time that the spirit was so strong in our lessons. It was a wonderful
moment. Another time, we were teaching someone who was a pastry chef, and we
compared the Plan of Salvation to baking cupcakes. Our teacher told us that
Sister Missionaries are going to save the world. I mean, duh!
Sundays are my favorite here. Almost all of church is in
english, and we watch movies about the pioneers and the Book of Mormon, and
devotionals from the Provo MTC. This week, the devotional was given by Elder
Holland, which was amazing, Obviously. A room full of missionaries about to
listen to Elder Holland talk about missionary work...we were pretty pumped up
:) He talked about how missions are real life- we should not focus on life
after mission, but right here, this moment. We shouldnt look at a mision as an
absence from life, but as a highlight of it. At one point,
after...ehem...speaking very strongly...(yelling), he said "I dont pretend
to be nuetral about this. Im as unbalanced as I possibly can be about
this." You must be converted yourself before you can try to teach by the
spirit. He told us to astonish people, that they can have earthquakes just
exactly where they stand and we can cause it, to speak with thunder...Elder
Holland makes me proud to be a missionary. Im going to go out there and
astonish people.
But the most amazing experience from this week happened
during Sunday school. You meet with your district for the second hour. I LOVE
MY DISTRICT. We are a family, and we all know it and acknowledge it and wallow
in the comradery that we have with one another. In these short two weeks, we
have gotten rediculously close. Well, Saturday night, Hermana Mittelsteadt and
I started feeling pretty under the weather, and by the next morning, we both
had nasty colds. Hermana Allred gave us some cold pills, and we walk around
carrying tissues with us everywhere. And then it really peaked at the end of Sacrament
meeting. We both had headaches, sore throats, and were absolutely zapped of
energy. We finished the Sunday school lesson about ten minutes early, and
before we said the closing prayer, Elder Warrick asked us if we would like a
priesthood blessing. We confirmed in the handbook that blessings of healing are
in fact aloud, and we both accepted the invitation.
It was incredible.
It was the first time that Ive recieved a blessing of
healing- or comfort, for that matter- from anyone other than my dad. And for
them, it was only the second time giving someone a blessing. It was short and
sweet, but Elder Mchardy- the District leader- each said something personal in
blessing that was so obviously from the Spirit that in that moment, I could
have just cried from the joy of my testimony of this gospel. He said that I
would recieve a quick recovery, becuase he knew it is difficult for me to be
sick while learning so much, and that I will be at my full, intulectual
potential this week in my studies. The gospel is just so TRUE!
Another great moment...in the mornings, we go down this side
stairwell to go to breakfast and then to excersise, and the acoustics are
phenomenal. Hermana Clearwater and I have been talking for the past two weeks,
ever since I got here, about how we are going to sing Come Thou Fount in the
stairwell. And yesterday morning, her last morning (she left early this
morning), we did it. And it was amazing! And halfway through, some elders at
the top of the stairs joined in and harmonized and I know thats kind of an odd
thing to be so excited about, but it was amazing!!!
You asked about the temple- we use headphones, which I was
very grateful for...at one point, I turned the volume down to see if I could
pick up anything in Spanish...sometimes, I say quick prayers for the English
language, and the rare times that I am aloud to hear it.
I love you all! I love the
updates on everyone, they make me so very happy. Even though the mail strike is
over, they are still playing catch u´p, so I am still not sure about the
timetable for sending and recieving anything, but once they come, it will be a
good day. Yo soy testimonio de Jesucristo, y ello es mi Salvadour siempre.
LOVE SIEMPRE
Hermana Harkins
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