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| Clark - Dangerfield - Crandall - Lindo |
Querida Familia,
I SAW FIREFLIES!! For the very first time last night!
We were driving home from a lesson with la familia Gomez at 9:15 last and we drove through a giant sparkling field:) I am so happy!
Anyway so my week. I've been sick since last Sunday,
but I'm starting to get over it. I've been taking some medication to
help my back, but it killed my immune system. I'm starting physical
therapy this week. There will be a little bit more soreness, and then
hopefully this 6 month episode will be over! I just feel very blessed
that the problems aren't any worse. I don't need serious medical
attention, I don't have to go home, and I can still focus on the work.
I'm really grateful with my Heavenly Father for all that he has done for
me the past few months!
There aren't as many Hispanics in Stafford as there
are in Fredericksburg, but we're still keeping busy and we have some
great investigators! There's one family in particular that I really
love! The have 3 girls. The oldest girl is my age, and she's about to
graduate high school. She already graduated back in her home country,
but they put her in school again so she could learn English. The other
two girls have lived in the States longer so they have great English. We
see them about once or twice a week. They are active Catholics, but
love to learn and are willing to change. Yesterday we taught them the
Plan of Salvation. The 2nd oldest girl loved learning about the Spirit
World and how people will have an opportunity to repent and progress
while there.
There's this wonderful trailer park in Stafford
called Foxwood. We spend lots of time there:) In Spanish, they say
"TRY-ler" and it's pretty funny:) We taught the Plan of Salvation to a
woman named Blanca on her front porch. She was nodding her head and
loving all of it. She expressed her desire to go to the Celestial
Kingdom. We talked about how we need to act in order to receive what God
is willing to give us. She was completely receptive until we invited
her to go to church. She wouldn't commit to it, and said she's only go
if God puts the desire in her heart. She said that if she woke up Sunday
morning and didn't feel like going, that meant that it wasn't God's
will for her to go. We were a little bold with explaining that we need
to act before we gain faith and desire, but she wouldn't understand it.
There are a lot of people like this--they love listening to the Gospel,
but once it comes to acting, they don't want any part of it.
We had Zone Meeting on Friday
and I learned so much! And sorry I don't have lots of great missionary
stories this week--I've learned a lot and I prefer to share that:)
One sister shared the story of 2 Nephi 5 and how the Nephites lived
"after the manner of happiness." We looked at some of the things that
happened at the beginning of the chapter that contributed to their
happiness. We talked about how they followed God's commandments, they
were industrious, they built a temple, they brought their scriptures,
etc. As we discussed all of these things, I received some revelation! In
my notebook, I began categorizing all of their actions with the 9
Christlike attributes from Preach My Gospel. I found an action that
exemplifies each of the 9 attributes! When we live and apply the
Christlike attributes, we will be happy! This is how we can live "after
the manner of happiness" because we're living in the same manner that
the Savior did. And I imagine that he's pretty happy:) He's sad when we
are, yes, but he has a fullness of joy.
She also talked about some of Nephi's challenges and they compare to the challenges of a missionary:
-Leaving Jerusalem - leaving home
-Eating raw meat - eating gross things at members' homes
-Broken bow - broken bike
-Mean brothers - mean people
-And there are lots more. It's pretty funny and I recommend looking into it more:)
Hermana
Penaloza (who is an Hermana Training Leader) did a training on
gratitude. She started with the question, "Why does God command us to be
grateful?" To be honest, I never thought about WHY. I just knew it was
important to be grateful. Then I received some more revelation:) We
learn from Doctrine and Covenants 130 that certain blessings are
predicated on obedience to certain commandments. God gives us
commandments for our own protection and so that he can bless us when we
obey them. Gratitude is one of the most merciful commandments! God has
given us everything we have and are. We have oodles of things to be
grateful for! When we show gratitude for what we've been given, then He
can bless us with more things! It's such an easy commandment with such
amazing blessings! Then Hermana Penaloza reminded us to "esmile" :)
In companionship study the other day, we talked
about how Laman and Lemuel kept repenting and then sinning and then
repenting again. I had a realization - change is REALLY hard. Why change
if we're going to change back only to need to change again? We should
just change once to be who God wants us to be, and then endure.
Anyway, I've just been learning a lot in comp study,
personal study, meetings, etc. I feel like I've had an outpouring of
revelation in the past few weeks and I love it!
Yesterday Sacrament meeting was amazing! I started feeling in the
morning that I needed to bear my testimony in church. After the first
two testimonies were finished, I stood up to move to the front. I did so
at the exact same time as Hermana Penaloza (we were sitting on opposite
sides of the chapel), an Elder, and about 3 other members! The Spirit
was so strong!:) I feel very blessed to be able to speak Spanish now.
I'm not completely fluent, but I understand just about everything
(except random vocabulary words) and I can say what I want to. It is a
privilege to learn a language on my mission, especially Spanish. Preach
My Gospel says that God has invested a lot in me!
Y hay cosas que solamente puedo explicar en espanol.
Que siento muy bendecida por esta oportunidad. Estoy agradecida con mi
Padre Celestial! Estoy feliz, y amo a mi mision mucho!:)
Hermanita Crandall
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