Companion: Hermana Romney
Hermana Romney's Blog: December!
Dear familia,
AHHHHHH, GRANDPA'S ACCIDENT LOOKS SO SCARY. I AM SOOOO GLAD THAT EVERYONE IS OKAY. AHHHHHHH. Tell Gpa and Gma that I love them!!
Like always, so many things have happened this week. We saw sooo many miracles and found so many people to teach and I feel so grateful that Heavenly Father put me in this place.
This week, we kind of hopped out of the la-la-land that comes from being new in a sector. We still haven't been to all of the neighborhoods in Penco, but we are starting to make our way around without the map now ... it's progress. We actually got more lost this week than last week. Working to find addresses is a LOT different than working to find or knocking on doors. But it is good. We are doing all right.
I also kind of stepped out of the la-la-land of being a Sister Training Leader. I had my very first Consejo of the mission. This usually means all day P-day, where all of the leaders of the mission get together to talk about their zones and the challenges that they are having. This month, they did consejo a little bit early so that we could talk about He is the Gift, that new campaign that the church has put out for Christmas.
Consejo was pretty sweet. It was just bizarre because I never ever thought I could ever be there. I looked around at all of these SUPER AWESOME missionaries and I was like, "Welp ... not sure what I am doing here." But I know that God has called me and that he is going to help me where I am lacking. It's such a fun thing ... seeing the inside of the mission and learning where it is that I fit into all of this.
On Tuesday, we decided to start interviewing the Hermanas to get to know them a little bit more and to figure out how we could best help them. I started out with a sweet Hermana that I knew in Tomé. We chitchatted for a little bit ... the usual, "How's life? Are you happy? etc." I started telling her about how much I loved and admired her and that she was a great missionary. She just looked up to the sky. She started to cry and said, "Hermana, it's really hard for me to believe that."
In that moment, I did not feel very qualified to comfort her. I have less time than this Hermana in the mission. She really has been a sweet influence for good in my life. I paused for a little bit and ALMOST said that very thing. That I wasn't qualified to help her. But I paused a little bit longer and remembered that I really am qualified. I really am ready. And this is my duty. This is what I have to do as a Sister Training Leader. So I shook my head and put my arm out to hug her. It was such a bizarre learning moment of my mission. Welcome to my calling.
I think that the members love us here. We have been visiting them and going out with them and they are just eating up our enthusiasm. I have never felt SO loved in such a short time. It is incredible. They are giving us references without us even asking. They are asking us to come over to their houses so that we can help their family with scripture study and prayer. I love it! I love building them up and helping them to know how to help us. I really feel like Hermana Romney and I are here to learn and perfect working with the members, which is the way that the Lord wants us to work.
Speaking of that, we had a capacitacion with the traveling assistants the other day about making the difference in the areas that we serve. That is something that has stressed me out my whole mission. I don't really care about the numbers of baptisms that I have (especially if I am working as hard as I know how to), but I have always wanted to make a difference.
The assistants left us with a few questions that we had to think about before the training and one of them was, "What has been the most effective way that you have built the kingdom of God on your mission?" When I was thinking about this question during my personal study, I wasn't really sure. But in the training, I was so touched by the Spirit. It was a tender mercy. Another time that Heavenly Father has helped me to feel content about the work that I have done on my mission. I am committed to work and to work in the way that Heavenly Father wants me to. I am doing the best that I can to prepare the way to success. I am doing what I can.
Changing the subject a little bit, Manuel got baptized! I wasn't able to see or talk to him, but I just felt soooo content to know that it happened. He is such a miracle in my life, and I am so grateful for the part that I was able to play in his conversion. Even though it is not going to count as "my baptism," I know that Heavenly Father is pleased with the work that I did with Manuel. Apparantly, he has a huge picture of Hermana Caceres, he, and I on the wall of his house now. What a sweet man. He is going to be an apostle someday or something. His conversion was so simple and so sweet ... people really are prepared to hear this message.
We saw that this week. We found the most people that I have ever found on my mission -- 14! There were a lot of families that we taught. The best family was last night. It was a family that I found while I was looking through our carpeta. We called them the other day, but the mom said that she really wasn't interested anymore and didn't want us to waste our time. We decided to try to visit them last night in the last hour that we had before we had to come home. At first, the mom was still pretty closed. She said, "Hermanas, really ... I have listened to the missionaries 100 times and I have never been convinced."
We decided to show them He is the Gift before we left ... just as a desperate last move. Of course, after showing that, the spirit was in the room and we started to chit-chat about the gospel. The fourteen year-old girl was more and more interested. We asked her to pull out a couple of Books of Mormon that the family had lying around and she literally shrieked because she was so excited. We asked when we could go back to visit them and the mom was still not so convinced, but this girl looked at her mom with so much hope in her eyes. "Mom, I want our whole family to get baptized," she said ... and I felt the spirit so strongly. We are to be working with this family. I really hope that they can get over their doubts and get to work.
Thanksgiving was weird ... just because it was just another day. We bought some French Fries in the night time to celebrate, but that was basically it. I couldn't help but think about the delicious meal that you guys were having at home and think about my sweet little family at home. I love you all sooo much. I love you more and more every day and I am so grateful that you are my family. It doesn't feel like Christmas right now, but did you guys realize that it is DECEMBER? That means that my birthday is coming up. That means my year mark in the mission is coming up. That means Christmas is here. AH. I am having a little panic attack. The time is flying again. It was going a little bit slower for a little bit ... but now it is on full. What a crazy ride.
Anyways, I hope that you have a great week. Share He is the Gift with everyone. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ! I know that He lives, which makes Christmas that much sweeter. Love you!
Hermana Blau
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