Hola!
Oh goodness life here in Missouri is good(Ryan ha ha ha about the Missouri being named after misery, I have NEVER heard that one before :D). This last week was the least productive that I have felt my whole mission. The thing is that a week ago when I wrote my last email I felt like I was starting to get sick, maybe just a minor head cold or something. Well it turned into a really bad cold where I was achy all over for days, had a MAJOR headache constantly, and could not stand up without getting dizzy and nauseous. Yes it was a bit miserable but today I am feeling top notch, ready to help convert the WORLD! (I said this to my companion on Sunday morning while still not feeling very well and she looked at me and said, with her eyebrow raised in doubt the way that only she can, "Yeah, we'll see". Uh...it is possible that a few hours later I was exhausted, week and needing more rest desperately. On our way back to the house I looked at her and said "With all of my heart I beg you not to say I told you so". Well Hermana Mendez is a wonderful person and a great missionary but she is still human. Her response was..."Sister Thorne. I told you so". Alas I truly am feeling better and this week has already been so much better with us being able to teach, although I am a bit worried that my companion is getting the crud(I used that word for you Mom :D) that I was suffering from. Honestly having to stay home and not be productive was the hardest thing I have yet experienced. It showed me that as children of God we have built within us a divinity that can only be satisfied when we are doing the work of our Creator, and when we are helping those other Divine people around us. That is why work = happiness! Did you hear that ma?! WORK = HAPPINESS! Yes this is me. y es verdad! Man nothing can make us happier than serving those around us, nothing!
I really need to share an experience that happened to me this week. I received a package from my dearest friend Nikki Nelson(hey girl hey!) this last Thursday. This was the day that my cold really first hit me and I was down on the couch in the guide's room of the VC. One of the sisters brought in the mail and gave me the package from Nikki. As I went to open it I realized that she had taped something to the flap probably after she had sealed it. It was a little single serving of herbal tea called Kava, it helps relief stress. On the package Nikki wrote "The Spirit told me to send this to you". Although it was not the smartest thing to do when I already had a plugged nose, I totally cried. I needed that. I needed a little love from home and the reassurance that as I am working my hardest to never make this work about me, my Father in Heaven is still aware of me, and he has given me angels(one in particular in the beautiful form of Nikki Nelson-I love you forever!) to remind me of His love. Well needless to say the rest of the package was just wonderful and the letter she sent me within it along with a talk that she had given in sacrament meeting a few weeks ago was an even further witness that the Lord does hear my prayers and answers them specifically, according to my needs. Thank you Nikki for helping to remind me of who I am; I am from Heaven, I am my Heavenly Father's little girl, and I am infinite years old :D (Thank you Nikki for being my angel, my friend, and my sister)
I have mentioned in previous letters about Denise who is in a mental hospital. Well Hermana Mendez and I visited her last night. It was quite eventful. First off I walked into the hospital already feeling such a range of emotions because I knew that this visit may be the last time that we are able to ever see her again(she has a court date this Thursday and will probably get sent to a nursing home that is outside of our area, which is good for her because she really should not be in the mental hospital but somewhere where her needs will be met, but so sad for us because we love her so much) and so I was already a bit sad. Well we went through the whole process of checking and going through security, someone came to bring us up to her floor and as we walked onto the floor we felt tension immediately. There was a big black man down the hall from us with crazy eyes and the cna that had come to get us asked us to move to the other side of her away from the big man. She said that they were having "a bit of a situation". Well I have worked with mentally and physically disable people who tend to get quite hostile so this was not very new to me. My dear, poor companion. She was scared out of her mind! The cna's just stayed really close to us and escorted us into the room where we were meeting Denise(by this time the big black man was yelling obscenities and his eyes looked like they were going to pop right out of his head!). Well the lesson with Denise went really well. We did not teach what we had planned at all but I know that we followed the Spirit and taught to her needs. I was a bit embarrassed because at the end of the lesson as we were telling her that we will probably have to send her the elders in her area(not to talk bad about elders...they just sometimes have ZERO emotion!) I started crying and could not stop. My heart was overwhelmed with the situation that she is dealing with and the fact that she is not turning to God in her need but that she is allowing herself to dwell in fear and despair. I just wanted her to know so badly that the feeling of peace that she has expressed that she feels when we meet with her is the Holy Ghost and that she does not have to lose it when we leave. She then closed with a beautiful prayer and I cried even harder. She almost felt as if she had to comfort me! But the thing is that I know. I TRULY know that most of the pain that she is going through is unnecessary and if she would allow her Father in Heaven to envelope her in His love, she could be so full of joy and peace. She is just not choosing it, and that is part of God's plan, her being able to choose. It's heartbreaking but I know that she will reflect on her life and I pray that she can read from the Book of Mormon and have a desire to change her life.
That brings me to the thought of choice. Are we all choosing to be chosen people? Yes, you read that right. We need to choose to be the chosen people, for we know as is stated in the scriptures that "many are called, but few are chosen". And why are they not chosen? Because they CHOOSE not to be. When we choose to come unto Christ that requires faith AND works. I know that I need to more fully choose each day to be part of the chosen people. Remember CPR! Church, prayer, reading. It will keep you alive spiritually! Lets CHOOSE TO LIVE!!!!
Well this has been long winded but I just wish I could share even more. Thank you for the love and support that you all have given me. I pray for you all each and every day and I know without a doubt that the Lord is blessing you all and taking care of you. Thank you for your prayer. I feel them.
Love,
Sister Thorne
PS I will tell more about the new temple opening and our role in all of it in my next letter! The open house is from April 7- April 21 and it will be dedicated and May 6!!!!! Hooorah for Israel!!!
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