Les extraño mucho pero tambien estoy feliz aqui con la nieve:) From the pictures that I sent you all know that there has been a big snow storm here. Even more came after we took those pictures. We were not able to leave the house for two days! You would think that this would be a rather nice break but honestly it was quite painful! It is really hard being a missionary and not being able to teach. I felt pretty depressed after the first day and then the second day we tried to do more service and got out and shoveled snow after we found some shovels that we could borrow. Thankfully we have been able to go out for the last two days but the thing is that there is another snow storm coming this afternoon. Our mission president gave us permission to leave the house early today to get all of our stuff done before the second big storm hits. On Friday as we were stuck in the house we received a voice mail from President and Sister Keyes with some pretty big news...our mission is splitting!!! A new mission called the Kansas Witchita mission is being opened so some of the missionaries from our mission will be sent to that mission and the rest will stay in the Missouri Independence mission. Have no fear though, this all will be happening July 1st so it will be after I leave. This was a relief for me because I LOVE the Missouri Independence mission and it is my home while I am a missionary. This news is rather historical though, seeing as how this is the first mission with the title of Kansas in it, before our mission covered most of Kansas and then the rest of it was split up between the surrounding states. I love being a missionary when the work is exploding like it is. We are answering the call from President Monson from this last General Conference to "hasten the work". It is SOOO exciting!!!!!
I had a really cool experience yesterday. I was able to talk with a woman in the Kaw River ward that I knew sometime in the past I had offended somehow and who was not very friendly to me at all. I really did not know what I had done but I also know that the culture here is very different. Sometimes members get really offended if you do not greet them on Sunday even if you are doing a thousand other things and did not even have the chance to be near them. I know that it is really important to eliminate all feelings of contention so that the work can further progress and that more love can fully abound within our ward family so I prayed for the chance to get to talk to her alone. Right after church I apologized to her and asked her what I had done to offend her. What she said was kind of hard to hear because at first she spoke to me a bit out of anger and said some not very nice things but as I continued to apologize I could see her heart soften and by the end she hugged me and actually took our food calendar and signed up to feed us every Sunday along with the other missionaries in the ward. By the end of this short conversation I felt emotionally wiped out and even though there were positive results I did question myself. I was dwelling a bit on the things that she had said about me and I was allowing it to make me feel some intense discouragement like maybe I really am as bad of a person as she though and I have not made a good difference in the ward. As I started to think these things I recognized these thoughts as not coming from Heavenly Father so I made the effort to immediately stop thinking this way and instead I asked my Father in Heaven "What do you think about me?". As I asked Him this question a warm feeling of comfort and peace washed over me and I knew that in the eyes of my Father I am so much more than I realize. After this experience we got to go to our Bishop's house and have dinner with him and his wife. This was such a needed break for all of the missionaries in the ward. Sister Smith made wonderful food and they asked us questions and showed us that they care about us like our parents would. After we finished eating they wanted us all to say why we came on missions. I have done this before because I have eaten at their house several times but they wanted me to share again. As I told them how I was working at Zion Adventure Company right before I came out and that it was during this time when I got to spend in Zion National Park that I realized I really wanted to serve a mission, Bishop Smith got up from the table and came back a minute later holding this beautiful painting of Angel's Landing in Zion. He told me that he had done it years before and that he wanted me to hang it up in my apartment. My eyes filled up with tears as I accepted the painting because this place, Zion, is where it all started. Making the decision to come on this mission was the best decision that I have ever made. Our Bishop is a wonderful artist and I am so excited for you all to see this painting although I have to figure out how I am going to get it home...it is pretty big...I am so thankful for the tender mercies of the Lord. I was able to end the day yesterday not feeling discouragement as I had been feeling earlier, but feeling gratitude as I looked at the painting of Zion and realized that the Lord loves me enough to have sent me here and to have shaped me into the person that I am today. What are some of the evidences of the Lord's love for you in your life?
Have I ever told you all about our mission theme? Well in the mission crest it says "Preparation Preceeds Power". Wow I can tell you that I have a solid testimony of this. As It comes closer and closer to the time in which I shall return to the great land of Payson Utah I realize that "if I am prepared I shall not fear". That is how I feel about getting so close to the end of my time as a full time missionary. Yet TODAY I am still a missionary and I plan on helping as many people as I can in the time I have left. Living in the now is how I am able to feel a real fulness of joy and not dwell on the things that I cannot change.
The work is going well and we are praying that we will not have to stay in the house too long with the storm that is coming.
I pray that you all are well and happy in your various places:)
I love you!
Love,
Hermana Thorne
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