The Large Plates
Helping others, and being helped by others, via Zoom. An account of her sleeping and eating abilities that no one asked for. More internet problems, but this time there's a solution.
Wow you guys, this was SUCH a good week! On Monday, we had our first Ayudar A Otros activity, where we meet on zoom with members and get to know them and share a short message with them. Our first friend was this cute little old lady and she told us all she wanted was for us to pray for her health because the Lord listens to the prayers of His missionaries first haha. We thought we were done after we finished sharing our message with her when out of the blue another member popped up in our breakout room! We improvised another lesson, and after that, we had yet another lesson (also improvised). All 3 went super well, and it turns out, we were supposed to anticipate giving 3 lessons back to back, and we just missed out on those instructions somehow haha. We had another activity like this later in the week, and it went even better than the first time! I surprisingly like them even though I have to speak Spanish with people who I don't know haha.
I don't sleep super well, and I think that's probably because I don't move much throughout the day. I do my daily exercise but then I sit in an office chair from 7:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. haha.
I may have lost my ability to sleep like a rock whenever and wherever I want (a talent I've demonstrated to numerous friends throughout the years), but I haven't lost my ability to eat! I actually lost a bit of weight last week because I was sick, but I anticipate I will have no problem gaining it back haha. Every time we have a break, even if it's just for 2 minutes, I run to the kitchen and grab whatever food I see, and eat it as fast as I can. It's a habit I've developed because sometimes when we have breaks planned, class goes overtime or we have a workshop they didn't tell us about, so we don't get to eat when we were planning to.
I had some frustrations toward the beginning of the week because my internet connection (and everyone else's) was bad, so it kept cutting out or kicking people out of the zoom call entirely. It's a bit difficult to understand what someone's saying, in your second language, when they cut out 50% of the time. I moved into my dad's office and it seems to be working better! (Thanks dad)
I only have 1 more week left in CCM and that's kind of blowing my mind! How have I already been a missionary for 2 weeks? The days go slow, but the weeks go fast.
The Small Plates
A lesson about covenants, and the power of letting God prevail when learning a new language. Compare Genesis 9.
Lesson 1: The Rainbow After the Flood.
This lesson comes from companionship study. We were reading in the Bible, Genesis 9:12-16
And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.
We loved these verses because they reminded us of the Primary song When I Am Baptized. After we are baptized, we can feel clean like the Earth right after rain, or in this case, after the flood. Rainbows are a sign of the Earth being washed and restored and are a symbol of our cleansing and restoration.
Lesson 2: The Gift of Tongues, and Crying in Front of My Whole District
Those of you who know me well know I'm nearly incapable of sharing a heartfelt testimony without crying. Let's just say my district can now also say they know me well. Also, I saw what it looks like when I cry, because I did it on a video call, and I would just like to apologize to anyone who has ever had to witness that haha. But the tears aren't the important part of this story. The testimony is.
The gift of tongues is real. I'm sure God gives it to different people in different degrees, but the point is: if He wants His children to do something, He provides a way.
My ability to understand the language has increased substantially. This is in part due to my efforts, and due to the patience and love of the missionaries in my district. But more than anything, it is due to the overwhelming goodness of God. I can't translate every word that has been said these past 2 weeks. Not even close. But I can translate the love and the spirit that has been here. That has no language barrier.
And I've learned that if I have the faith that God will put the thought in my head and the words in my mouth that I need to share, I am able to share a better and more understandable message. When I do this, I make very few, or sometimes even zero, grammar mistakes. When I'm worried about my abilities (or the lack thereof), My conjugations, and grammar, and pronunciation are all over the place.
So the trick is, as it is with literally everything: LET GOD PREVAIL.
Pictures:
Ayudar a otros activity (not featuring that sweet little old lady, cause this was from the second time we did it this week)
The one time this week everyone had good enough internet to be in class and have their cameras on!
The sunrises this week have been incredible from my bedroom window :')
and the sunsets too. God is an artist.
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