Hola,
Here I am, still in Missouri and still loving being a missionary. This week was a great week for me. Not an easy week but for sure a great one. I say this because I learned so very much this week. I have been having pains in my ear and I was quite worried that it was the start of an ear infection plus I was feeling some other ailments that I will not go into detail about...(a bit personal you see...) and so Hermana Mendez and I headed off to the doctor this last Monday. Oh let me tell you, she had the time of her life here. She had to stay with me so she went back to the room with me while I was being interviewed about my bodily functions. She did not even try to be mature about this, I even had to tell the nurse that I was sorry for my companions lack of maturity (she kept laughing at my answers and the look I had on my face when the nurse would ask me really person questions that I did not necessarily want to share with my mission companion). It was even more funny when the doctor came in because he just so happened to be an active Latter Day Saint and when he saw that we were missionaries he said "Oh my nurse said that you guys were really happy, now it makes sense." That just set us off even more and though we tried to keep our missionary cool we did giggle through most of the appointment. I am glad to say that I do not have an ear infection, I actually just have an issue with the muscles in my jaw. My theory is that I have been reading the B of M in Spanish out loud so much and talking at the VC, plus all of the appointments we have, my poor little jaw is just pooped. I guess I did talk a lot before the mission too...who knows. All is well.
I was just telling my companion this morning in companionship study how awesome it is when the Lord answers our prayers almost before we finish saying them. I was struggling with letting some things from my past go and I came upon a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland this morning while eating breakfast. It was an article about starting the new year right and not looking back like Lot's wife. It seriously moved me so much. It spoke of us having faith that the future holds more than the past if we will have faith enough in Christ to live in the now. Lot's wife did not commit a huge sin by looking back, but because she looked back longingly wanting to be in the city of Sodom because she did not have faith that whatever they were headed toward under the direction of the Lord would be as good or better she showed a complete lack of faith in her God. Living in the past can prevent us from having a future. There is a sorce that can change us and save us above all else. The beautiful gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Who else could know your heart better? Who else has felt literally the exact same way that you have? Who else knows that you long for joys past and that you fear that there may not be any joy in the present or future that could compare. I know that there is joy beyond our wildest dreams waiting to be found by us all if we but trust in our Savior Jesus Christ and do as it says in Alma 37 "look to God and live". Sometimes I think back to the miracle that I saw last week or even yesterday and I cannot even imagine that we could have yet another miracle or even a larger one, but that is not having faith in my Creator and in His divine love and mercy for me. I want to "look to God and live" and I pray that you all too can learn to have that desire and feel of the joy that has been prepared for you since before the world was.
A little news on how the work is progressing. The reason that I stated that this week has been a bit of a hard one is because we are having to yet again let some of our investigators go because they are not progressing. Sometimes(all the time) I wish that people would just be honest with us and say something like "You know I am just being nice and I don't really want to make any changes to my life that would bless my posterity for eternity because I am really comfortable with living in sin". It would make things a lot easier for everyone involved. I think the thing is that sometimes when we meet people they have that mind set but when they feel the spirit they start to want to change. I also know that there are people who have been prepared and our mission president wants us to find those people. We are really working hard to find more people to love and teach the word of God.
Oh! I also got the go to a Panaderia for the first time yesterday. Oh. My. Goodness! Heaven! I am attaching pictures of me eating the beautiful sweet bread that is Hermana Mendez's favorite and now my favorite too.
I love you all and I pray that you are not only physically well but especially spiritually. Remember to CPR (Church, Pray, Read), it will keep you alive spiritually(cute right? got it from my awesome companion).
buen dia,
Sister Thorne
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