We Are Called To Be Bold: I Live in a Mansion

I. Live. In. A. Mansion.

It is unreal! We do morning individual study in a parlor, eat breakfast in a real dining room, there is a grand piano for our use, the bedrooms are huge, there is a pool and pool house and basketball and volleyball court, and it looks like those little cottages in Disneyland for the snow white ride, just bigger. It is so BEAUTIFUL! As much as I loved saying that I live on temple square, saying that I live in a Chilean mansion works too! I am so fortunate to have these experiences!

Mom, in response to your questions...so far I have shared F. Enzio Busche 3 times, and I am always quoting it in lesson prep for our investigators. I wish I had an infinite supply of them to hand out to everyone. It is seriously the best ever! My favorite subject to teach is The Doctrine of Christ. It is simple, easy to understand with no room for wrong interpretation, yet so powerful and life changing. We go to the temple every other week, and tomorrow is my last time going. I am going to try and do the whole session in Spanish! AAAAH!!! But after that, I am not sure how often I will be able to go. The temple is not in my mission. But I have been so blessed to have it right there, every day.

This week was full of adventure. Along with moving to Al Contera, I got a whole new district and new set of teachers, none of which speak English. So you HAVE to speak Spanish. At first, this made me a bit weary. But it has proven to be such a blessing. My vocabulary and pronunciation are improving because of it, and since I am going into the field in FIVE DAYS, I can use all the practice I can get!

I also starting teaching with Hermana MacRae this week, which I was also a bit worried about. But after the first lesson, I knew that I had gotten into something amazing. As great as my companionship with Hermana Mittelsteadt was, she did most of the talking in our meetings. Hermana MacRae and I are about even in our Spanish. And she just teaches differently, and I LOVE her method! Simple, lots of personal experiences, and testifying A LOT. After our first lesson, our teacher held us back to give feedback, and said that she was amazed at our comfort and fluidity with each other in the first lesson. Another teacher commented specifically on how impressed she was by my Spanish, which I never thought would be a compliment I would receive in the CCM. She also told me that I ask really good questions.

That is something that they really impress upon us...ask the questions that will take us into the hearts of our investigators. Its something that all of us CCM missionaries struggled with. But I have found that asking about their relationship with God and Jesus Christ, the influence of a gospel in their life, and what they would say to God were he in this room really has a good effect. And my maestro told me that my questions are perfecto. I am so happy!

This week, our district was asked to perform a musical number for Sunday Family Home Evening, so we sang Joseph Smith's First Prayer (en Español) to the tune of Come Thou Fount, and it was amazing the spirit that we were able to invite with the song. In the fourth verse, Elder Cummings sang the first few lines as a solo, since it is God speaking, then the rest of us came in for the last line. Elder Cummings and I then repeated the last two lines, harmonizing at the end, OH MY GOODNESS it was so amazing! And it brought our new district closer together as well. I loved it. I will try and attach a video of the song. Look for the elders goofing off in the back during practice. Such 18 year olds ;)

Also this week, we got to go contact! We were given two pamphlets and were told that we couldn't come back inside until we had placed them. Talk about intimidating! I will admit, I was a little nervous. I have found that in these situations, I wish I were English speaking. But it turned out to be a great experience! We gave one to a very kind, elderly, extremely Catholic man who was very set in his ways, but he let us sit and talk to him, and I even bore my testimony to him. The second one we gave a woman at a bus stop who actually happened to know how to speak English. She told us about how she met LDS members in Bolivia, that she admires us for our devotion, but that she is too dedicated to the Bible. I had grabbed a Book Of Mormon at the last minute on our way out of the classroom, and now I know why! I explained to her how the B.O.M. goes hand in hand with the Bible, it testifies of Christ, and we were nearly there, ready to testify and give it to her, when her bus arrived, and I wasn't about to shove it in her face without taking the time to testify with the Spirit. BUT. Its all good! What an amazing, and unique, experience! I am so blessed to be trained here in Santiago. Not something I could have done at the Provo MTC.

On Saturday, we were in the computer room working on grammar when a dad and his two young children came and stood at the door. Lots of families are on the grounds on Saturdays because of the temple, and sometimes they come into the CCM. But this was the first time I was able to talk to them. I was sitting right by the door, and turned around and looked right at the little boy, about 6, and asked him his name. He was shy, but told me it was Juan. I introduced myself, and said it was nice to meet him. And he got this huge smile on his face and shook my hand and it was the most adorable thing I have ever seen! I LOVE IT HERE!!!

This morning, our teacher was assigning teaching times for everyone, and I was asking him about how much time we would have, and out of no where he said "Do you have nice parents?" Odd question. "Yes." "They're members their whole lives?" "My dad is a convert." My teacher gets this smile on his face. I ask him why. "You just are happy. You look like a happy little girl. I can tell you have good parents." So there you go :) I really do have the best mom and dad in the world, no battle!

I want to bear you my testimony of prayer. Yesterday, I said a prayer in class to know what to do to be a better missionary, a formula I can use to be more dedicated. I opened my eyes, looked straight down into my Preach My Gospel, and the first thing I saw was "develop Christ like attributes." Some answers take a while, some are immediate, and they are all from God. He is in the details of our lives. I know this to be true, and this is why I am serving a mission. I love you all! Be bold!

Hermana Harkins