HALFWAY THERE – WEEK 3

Hey everyone! I’m sending this email out really late because it has been such a busy day. It’s crazy to think I’ve already finished 3 weeks of missionary training! We have 3 weeks to go, so today is the halfway mark. We have continued to learn so much in our classes while having tons of fun. Our maestros Hermano Bernal and Hermana Suárez always have challenges for us so we can continue to learn more and more. Hermana Green and I have been working hard trying to improve our Spanish skills: preparing more lessons, memorizing gospel principles and scripture references, teaching other companionships, and practicing getting to know other people!

We were reviewing all the numbers in Spanish, and we did this super fun activity where one person in the group asked everyone else to get them a certain number of an item. They’d say, “quiero siete bolígrafos” or “quiero tres frutas.” (I want seven pens / three fruits) So all the other members of the group would start running around their house trying to find however many items they were asked to get. If you were the last one to bring back those items, you had to do squats. Frantically running around trying to find all the different things was great exercise. Before I explained the game to my mom, she wondered what in the world I was doing. But it was a blast. Having my mom as my companion at home these last few weeks has been one of my greatest blessings! She's my best friend and my greatest support system. 

Another ongoing joke we all have is that you’ll get called out and roasted if you get caught eating in class. One day we were having a lesson about arrepentimiento (repentance), and one of the elders was asked to put his food away. He then sent in our missionary group chat, “Repentance is being able to eat in class.” We could hardly hold in our laughter. Something I forgot to share last week was that everyone in our district seems to have random Star Wars props that they like to show during our breaks. I’ll attach a few pictures of some of my favorites haha.

We finally got Hermana Green to share her beautiful voice and sing a solo for the class! She sang “How Great Thou Art” for our opening hymn, and it honestly brought me to tears. It was so beautiful. That song has always been really special to me because we sang it at my uncle’s funeral about a year and a half ago.

Though we’ve had a lot of laughs this week, each day has also been so spiritual. We’ve had many group discussions about faith, baptism, the Atonement, our loving Heavenly Father, and so much more. My desire to do missionary work has grown immensely as I’ve shared my testimony and heard the wonderful testimonies of each member of the district. I’ve felt so close to my Savior as I’ve been learning and preparing to share my love of the gospel with the people of Tennessee and Costa Rica. I never expected to feel the spirit so strong on a zoom meeting, but I certainly have more than ever.

I will continue to testify with all of my heart that our Heavenly Father loves us and He hears our prayers! A few nights ago, I had a lot of questions. I was unsure what to do, and I needed some serious guidance that only God could provide. I knelt down and had a heartfelt conversation with my Heavenly Father about what was troubling me. When I finished my prayer, my eyes wandered over to my desk where I saw one of my old journals. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that I needed to read it, so I did. The things I read provided exactly what I needed. My own words answered every doubt and question I had. I know that I was prompted to write all those things months and months ago because my Heavenly Father knew that they would be an answer to my prayer at a later time!

I know that if we humble ourselves, ask in faith with willingness to receive, He will manifest the truth of all things unto us! He will give us exactly what we stand in need of. He will answer our prayers in the perfect way, according to His plan for us.  

We’ve talked a lot about diligence in class this week, and how important it is to be persistent in the work. During His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ gave us the perfect example of diligence. He found people to love, serve, comfort, and heal every single day. He never stopped doing the work of His Father. He was always striving to make a difference in someone’s life. This made me look deeper into my missionary purpose, which we learned during the first week.

Mi propósito como misionera de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días es invitar a las personas a venir a Cristo al ayudarlas a que reciban el Evangelio restaurado mediante la fe en Jesucristo y Su expiación, el arrepentimiento, el bautismo, la recepción del don del Espíritu Santo y el perseverar hasta el fin. In simple terms, my purpose as a missionary is to help others come unto Christ by helping them learn of His gospel. This requires us to be diligent in all things and work with all our heart, might, mind, and strength so we can follow Christ 's example.

Last thing— I just got my travel itinerary today and I’ll be flying out of Yakima at 5am on February 10th!! From there I’ll head up to Seattle, then to Nashville! Just three more weeks!