Fun Chile fact. There are people who, as their occupation, literally push people onto the micro, which is basically the subway. That's right, folks. I am in the China of South America. So many people! And they all need the gospel! And that's what I am here to do! Thank you bus pushers, for impressing upon me my calling :)
So this week was awesome. As per usual. I am after all a missionary ;) Nothing too big and exciting, just lots of little fun stories. Which are the best in my opinion, so here we go.
I started my week with a visit to the CCM again; Hna Ortiz had a follow-up appointment with the doctor. Afterward, we were able to talk to the missionaries who are in the CCM right now getting ready to go out. It feels surreal to think that basically a month ago, that was me! I remember when I was there and proselyting missionaries would come, and when they talked to us, I remembered thinking how cool they were, how learned and knowledgeable they seemed to me. And now, I am (apparently) that cool, learned, knowledgeable missionary! I was giving all sorts of advice and comfort to those missionaries, and it felt great.
I have said every single day, multiple times, since I have been here, that I am on an adventure. Everyone knows that Hermana Harkins' catch phrase is "adventura todo dia!" Well this Tuesday, we (being the 6 of us missionaries in our ward) were taking the bus to a member's house, and I was the last one to get off in our group. As I started getting off, the doors started closing, and I don't know how else to explain this dire situation than to say that the bus system here is terrifying haha they drive too fast and never brake when going around corners, and once the door is closed, your off. So this was scary. But I ran and jumped through the doors, barely landing on my feet, and the bus was gone before I hit the ground. Everyone was staring at me like "is she ok?" and I broke into the Indiana Jones theme song. Woohoo I am the nerd sister missionary! Adventura todo dia!
Speaking of my ward missionaries, I wanted to include how much I LOVE that we work with other missionaries so often. I really have come to have lots of little families here in my mission. My CCM families, the four of us Hermanas in our pension, my zone of crazy Elders and only us two Hermanas to keep them in line, and then the 6 of us in the Los Errazuris 3rd ward. We work with them more than anyone, and we have more little jokes and good times than any other group of missionaries, I am convinced of it. The comradery that instantly forms when you are with others serving the Lord is truly beautiful.
There is a 19 year old girl in my ward named Marisole. I LOVE Marisol! She is sweet and Christlike and always comes with us when we need a member present in our lessons. She is just permeating with love for people and for the gospel. She is the one that gave me earrings to match my birdcage necklace, and we have the same style. Which doesn't sound like much, but we instantly clicked, and she is patient with my Spanish. Truly an angel. And this week, she got her mission call! She opened it at 10:00 at night because her dad works late, so we couldn't be there (curfew for us is 10), but she called us immediately after. She is going to BRAZIL! I feel like I am sending a little sister off, we have gotten so close to her. My excitement for missionary work continues to grow, I didn't know that that was even possible!
Something great that happened this week was that I got to have an interview with my mission president. He is just the perfect example of a pres to me, so spiritual, but so fatherly and funny at the same time. I really feel like I can tell him anything, and he will have the solution. I know, that sounds simple, but it really means so much. He told me that my Spanish has improved, that he has heard wonderful things about me from my comp and my district leader, and that I am doing well. And when he said the closing prayer, he prayed for me, but also for my family, that they will be safe and will be blessed by my service. I think that sometimes as a missionary, we forget that we are not only blessing our lives, but the lives of our families and future families. His prayer was a reminder of the potential that I have to be something great for them. He prayed for me to have happiness and smiles- this has been my new goal. To smile! So simple, but really, it can mean so much to someone. Beautiful stuff, beautiful stuff.
A great spiritual experience from this week...we were teaching Gloria, our toughest investigator, simply because it seems that she is determined to stay angry and miserable with her situation in life. We have tried so many different ways to try and touch her heart, but it seems that she has worked very hard at hardening it. So we are teaching her about thanking God for our blessings. I have a hard time understanding her, because she has the classic Chilean Spanish- very fast and very grammatically incorrect. So I am trying so hard to just understand what she is saying, then suddenly she looks at me and kind of smirks then says to my comp (and this I did understand) I'm sure you cant wait to get a new companion, she's not much of a help to you."
Oooooh...ouch...of course THAT had to be the part that I understood, right? WOW that just really hurt! But I stuck it through to the end, bore my testimony to her, and after the prayer, asked to use the bathroom. And it was in the bathroom that I promptly knelt down and poured out my soul a little bit- my frustration with this sister, the helplessness I felt, and to please help me to love her. Because in that moment, I honestly felt that she was a lost cause.
When I came out of the bathroom, I saw her holding one of her grandchildren that she tends to, and I saw her happiness. And I just...I don't know how to explain it, that moment helped me to see that it is possible! She can have happiness, and we can help her have it, and we need to do it by focusing our lessons on families. It was like a light switch, and immediately MY heart was softened for her, and despite the fact that she thinks I am no help at all, I am determined to help her. The power of prayer is real, people!
Yesterday was Hermana Lyniss' birthday; she is one of the other Hermanas that lives in our pension. We had a grand time blowing up an obscene amount of balloons late Saturday night after she went to sleep, baking her a cake, and decorating our humble abode for her. It turned out that we didn't need to bake her a cake, because she got SIX from members of her ward! SIX CAKES, PEOPLE! It is crazy, we have so many tupperware containers in our fridge, there's more cake than yogurt, which is saying something for a house with 4 girls in it. I had lemon pie for breakfast this morning, which really just brings my heart so much happiness. I am coming to love holidays in the mission- you celebrate them differently, but it's still special and still a total blast! I wish I could explain it better, but I am losing my English, so we will just have to settle with that haha
Well, my friends, it is time for me to close this week's email. Alma 26:12 and Phillipeans 1:18-20. Two of my favorite scriptures. You guys...this church is so true. I know it with my whole heart! Yo se este es verdad, con mi todo corozone! Be Bold, Ser atrevido, I love you all, te amo mucho, till next week, ciau!
Hermana Harkins
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