... The ward I've been serving in is rumored to be the hardest Spanish ward to work in. Two weeks ago at church, Hno. Juarez taught a lesson about missionary work and attempted to light a fire under everyone's butts. And in relief society this Sunday, the President talked about service and visiting teaching. It was sad because a great deal of the members are fighting missionary work rather than helping it. There's some solid members in our ward - ironically enough, the solid, helpful ones are mostly in leadership positions or have served missions before. Anyway, the bishopric came in during relief society and asked if anyone would be willing to drive a young man to camp, and one woman goes, "the church has money! They can rent a Uhaul!" Yeah... right after talking about service... the RS president, Hna. Bazonis, really cracked the whip on them, though. She's awesome. Anyway, just by practicing what we preach and going out of our way to serve others, people will want to be a part of what we have. As the true church of Jesus Christ, we all represent him. It's so sad that a lot of people aren't willing to make those tiny sacrifices, just to be a friend to people, just find ways to serve them. We're not all asked to be full time missionaries, we're just asked to follow Christ's example and love others. How do we expect to earn a place in His kingdom if we're not willing to sacrifice, or to live a higher standard? So keep doing that! :) I love you! Never change.. ;) Keep me updated on YOUR missionary work! It does my heart good!
Not much has happened this week. We had a really cool experience, though, yesterday at an apartment complex. It was a really hard day for me and Sister Holland, partly because Sundays are always hard for me... but also because of some negativity from the members at church and it was just a tough day as far as keeping our spirits up. We went to go contact someone in an apartment complex, but me and my companion talked some stuff out before going out, because we knew we couldn't help anyone else if we weren't in the best shape to have the spirit with us. Anyway, we said a prayer and while we were talking in the car, we noticed a woman sitting outside on the steps on the phone and crying. In Sister Holland's prayer, she asked Heavenly Father to give us the strength to talk to the woman. So when we went out to contact this man we were there for, we almost passed her, but noticed that the apartment we were looking for was where she was sitting. So we went up to her and offered her a pack of tissues. Surprisingly enough, she told the person on the phone that she would call them back and she WANTED to talk to us. She immediately told us what had happened, why she was upset, and who she was talking to. Totally opened up to us right away, while I expected her to ignore us and continue on with her personal conversation. It was the total opposite! She wanted to talk to us more than her friend on the phone. She told us about a 1 year old baby who had drowned. The baby belonged to one of her friends and she was just really shaken up about the whole thing. On top of that, her husband's mother is very sick and she's just been thinking a lot about death and had questions. We shared with her our testimonies on that matter and how we know our Heavenly Father has a plan for us - and how we know that plan through modern day prophets. She asked us lots of questions and was looking to us for advice. It was like she noticed us as representatives of Jesus Christ. It was a cool thing. She asked us if it was okay for her to feel angry towards the woman who wasn't watching her baby. She asked us! I explained to her that emotions like that are part of our nature and normal to feel because we are not perfect. I told her that I personally am a very sensitive person and tend to feel those things more than I'd like to, but that what helps me is prayer. Whenever I feel down or inadequate or just feel like things are too hard for me.. after I've done all I can, I say a prayer and I pour my heart out to my Heavenly Father to give me the strength and help I need because I can't do it alone. Afterwards, I always feel better. She opened up even more about how she's an only child and has often felt alone. We testified of Jesus Christ and how she's never alone. After I talked about prayer, she said she prays from time to time, but not like that. She said she was going to try it. We have a lesson set up with her later this week.
That actually reminds me of a quote I read this morning in personal study. It read a talk about the enabling power of the Atonement by Elder Bednar. In it he said, "Don't pray to change your circumstances, pray for the strength to change your circumstances." He listed examples in the scriptures of how people like Nephi and Alma never prayed for things to be easier, but they prayed for the strength and ability to get through it. And so they didn't feel the same level of suffering and things were easier, because they had faith in Christ and his enabling power to strengthen them and help them rise above their natural capacities. When Nephi was bound, and after he prayed for strength, the bands didn't magically fall off. He probably tugged and pulled until they came loose. But he was given that strength and will power to keep going after his own mortal self gave up. Anyway...
It was such a cool experience and I really felt the spirit work through me. What made it even more of a miracle was that we got the address wrong and that wasn't even the apartment of the man we were looking for. Afterwards I remember feeling so happy - not for myself, but because Heavenly Father loves that woman so much that he put that interaction into motion so that He could comfort her and show His love for her through us. What an honor it is to be a missionary.
Tomas is doing fine, by the way. He's strong as ever. He's very dramatic, though. I didn't realize before he was baptized how young he acts, too. He really needs more friends, because he relies on us too much. He will just text us randomly all the time about stuff that has nothing to do with anything. Sometimes he'll even send us a weird text, just to make us worry and get our attention. Tsk tsk...
I love you all so much!!!!!!! Les Quiero mucho!!
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