Hola everyone!
This week has been great! A lot different, but really good. There was a bigger medical mishap and so I have spent a lot of my time in the Medical building up the road from the CCM. It was a little sad because on Tuesday, we were supposed to go contact at the park, but i had to go to a 5 hour doctor’s appointment for another missionary instead. It was loads of fun! Hehe. Really though, I did have some great experiences. I talked to a lot of people while waiting, they all said that my Spanish was great especially for only two months...and then i further impressed them by butchering my attempts to say Thank you. Ha.
I did have a really cool experience there though. We were waiting in the lobby and this older man was looking at me, so I said Hola. But he didn’t respond and continued to look at my name tag...it was a little awkward...but then he finally came up and started talking. He was really interested in church and the difference in ours. He said that all churches teach about God and it feels good. Which is true, many of the churches have a truth of God, so of course that blesses your lifes...but it was so cool because i was able to teach him how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has the fullness of this gospel. I was able to explain about the apostasy and Joseph Smith in a 30 second version! it was so cool! He wanted to learn more, but he was from Columbia...so we got his contact information and passed it on to the mission in Columbia so that when he returns in a few days he can talk with the missionaries there! Awesome! One of the coolest parts is that his Spanish was so difficult to understand. I probably understood only 10 percent of the words he actually said, but between that percentage and the spirit we managed to carry out a conversation with him! Woot!
Elder Ballard was here! It was soo neat! Gotta shake the hands of an apostle of the quorum of the 12"! Sweet deal! His message was fantastic, so clear, so precise. It seriously was amazing. He kept calling himself “one of the weak ones”...a man with such spiritual strength has the humility to say that, but so much confidence in the testimony that he has, and the he has internalized. I want to be like that!
So, one day last week, we had a Spanish feast and an English famine. My companion Hermana Pappas and I talked in Spanish all day...oh boy did my brain hurt by the time we were done! Whew! I am super excited to get to the field and understand so little. I really hope I can learn fast enough...I know it is possible but learning another language is hard. Go figure. Ha.
I was thinking earlier about the different trials and struggles that we go through in life. Disappointment, death, faced with difficult decisions, difficulty understanding the situation in which we are in. I was researching that a bit and I thought about Rev 21:4 and Mosiah 24:14....I know that without a doubt that when we truly turn our labors over to the Lord, He will carry us through these situations. Because of Christ these things . . .death, disappointment, hardships. . . . don’t have a bitter taste. . . maybe D&C 42:46? It is so amazing how much relief can come from this, that guilt and burden is lifted . . . just by turning to Christ and following his example. So many times I recall things of my past, or I think about my actions for that week, and I find things that I really wished I had done differently. I know that when we take those things before the Lord and with real intent ask for forgiveness and help . . . we can receive it.
Oh . . . funny story. My latina companera (companion) was wearing a shirt the other day. It said: Romeo. Get your buns over here. Haha! We had to explain to her why that probably wasn’t the most missionary appropriate shirt! Ha. I love the culture here . . . but it definitely isn’t anything like home!
Oh....so...I got to lunch late because of another MD appt, and there was this soup...I think-- yum! Then, they drop in a piece of a chicken. I think...uh-ho....and then I look at the chicken...and...No bueno (not good). It was the ribs part and you could see where the other limbs of the bird had been mangled off...it was a bit stringy...yeah...not my cup of herbal tea. Usually the food here at the CCM is great! I am super excited to get to the field though!
Gotta go! 6 days until QUETZALTENANGO!!!!!!! So, if you dearelder me this week, Select the Quetzaltenango mission! Gracias! Loves you all!
Hermana Otto
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