He turns fishers of men into shephards

Large Plates 

Finding, Thanksgiving bike fiascos, Portuguese exchange, Sunday morning miracles, and some crazy transfer news!

This week was CRAZY. We didn't have a ton of people we were teaching, because a couple of them got baptized, and then the other people we were teaching were too busy so we had to start teaching them. That meant that we did tons and tons of finding this week. Most of our finding in this area comes from knocking doors, which I don't mind. It's tricky in this area, though, because the Hispanics are harder to find. We either find an apartment complex with a lot of Americans, or one with a lot of Brazilians, and a few Hispanics. We tend to go to the Brazilian/Hispanic neighborhoods. It's been fun though! I've actually taught a lot of lessons in Portuguese, or maybe portuñol, but either way it's fun. 

Thanksgiving was also this week! Holidays on the mission are definitely strange. This Thanksgiving was basically just a normal proselytizing day, but with a little bit of flexibility. It was also the fist day Sister Peterson and I tried out our "new" bikes! I say new, because they are new for us. But they are certainly not new bikes. We're borrowing them from members until we finish our missions. Long story short, an ordinary 10 mile bike ride turned into a bit of an adventure, which included trudging through the wilderness of Florida, sprinting down busy roads in the dark for 20 seconds at a time, and a flat tire when we still had miles to go. Some Elders were so kind and drove to us and swapped one of their bikes so we could ride the rest of the way home. And then, when we got home, they had left a gigantic pecan pie on our doorstep! 

This Saturday, I got to exchange in the Portuguese area, which was so much fun. It was fun to practice my Portuguese with them, and help the sisters learn and grow a bit more! We went to 2 churrascos (Brazilian barbecues) and a Brazilian bakery! Once again, Latin food is so much better than American food. We ended off the day with Davi's baptism! He's someone the Portuguese Elders taught. It was such a good day, and you could say I definitely fell in love with Brazilian culture. 

Speaking of Brazilian culture, yesterday marks 1 year since I found a Portuguese Book of Mormon in my apartment, way back in training. Yesterday was also the day I finished that very book. My intention wasn't to finish it in a year, or in any specific amount of time, for that matter. I just wanted to read it to help me learn Portuguese, and that it did. It's kind of poetic that it worked out that I finished it in exactly a year, though!

The biggest miracle of this week was definitely Sunday. Graciela and Juseli's entire family came with them to church. We were expecting a couple of family members to accompany them, but no. Everyone wanted to come. And they all came and sat in the middle and loved church. Hermano Amyradakis gave the perfect talk about seeking first the Kingdom of God, and I think it really helped our new friends! Also, not only did their family come to church, but 2 other really awesome families! Hernan, who we were teaching a while ago, came with his kids and stayed for both hours. And, a family who Sister Peterson met, while I was in the Portuguese area, came too! Everyone loved it. 

This week was full of a lot of rejection, just due to the nature of us knocking on so many doors. But, it was possibly the most joyful week I have had on my mission. I just felt so filled with love. My favorite part of the mission is getting to know people, learning to love them, and falling in love with their stories and their culture and their food. 

The last thing I'm gonna tell you about before I write my Small Plates is transfers. Transfers are on Tuesday, but we don't know if/where we're going until Sunday night. I had a few ideas and lots of hopes for what would be happening to me, come transfer time. I really wanted to stay in this area and help teach and baptized Graciela and Juseli's family, and keep working with Rosalba and Hernan. Honestly I think all of them could be baptized in the next transfer. I've also loved being in mission leadership. I love helping the other missionaries learn and grow, and I love being in close communication with President and Sister Schmeil. If I had to leave, I was hoping to go serve in Portuguese work. President and I have talked about it a few times and he liked the idea. Speaking Portuguese terrifies me, but I knew that if I got put in Portuguese work, that Heavenly Father would help me. 

So, those were kind of the two options I've been fiddling with in my mind these days. Then, last night, as I was about to start reading the last chapter of the Portuguese Book of Mormon, actually, the APs called. 

They thanked me for my service as an STL, and told me I would be training. That's not what I expected, but I told them I was willing to do it. They then explained to me that my training would be a bit different. They said that I would be re-opening an area that hasn't had missionaries in it for a little while, and that I would be moving up to Merritt Island, by Cocoa Beach. And, that I would be serving in an English unit. My heart dropped. I love language work. I love culture. And I have to leave that all behind. 

Now, I'm not trying to be dramatic here. I'm honestly still wrapping my head around all of it. I'm scared, for sure. It's going to be a completely new experience. I've never served in English work before. Not only am I switching to English, but I'm getting a trainee and we're moving way far away from where I've ever served. And I don't get to be an STL anymore. Some tears were definitely shed. 

That being said, I'm excited. I told President I wanted to learn and grow, and although I imagined that meant he would put me in a new language and not in my native language. I know these next few months of training are going to be a learning process for sure. But hey! I get to live by the beach! Cape Canaveral is literally in my ward boundaries. There are going to be Cruise Ships parked in my ward. Crazy, huh? 

Small Plates 

He turns fishers of men into shephards 

It's funny, you know. Heavenly Father really likes to teach me. And I'm grateful for it. 

I was re-reading one of my books the other day and I learned something new from the author. I knew right then that that was what I was going to write about in my email for the week. 

The thing is, with these emails, I always learn more from writing them than any of you could possibly learn from reading them. I haven't even written it yet but I know Heavenly Father is about to teach me. I'm just letting the rest of you join me for the ride.

So, here's what I learned from the book. When the Savior called Peter to his apostolic ministry, he called a fisherman to be a fisher of men. Essentially He was saying, "Peter. You have strengths that can be used for my work. Come, and I will teach you to use what you already have and who you already are, to build up my Kingdom."

Peter worked alongside the Savior for a long time, and learned a lot from Him. He fine-tuned his strengths, and he surely acquired a few new ones along the way.

He was transformed from Peter the fisherman to Peter the Fisher of Men. He found a new, better version of himself. One that the Savior helped him discover. 

As the Savior's earthly ministry came to a close, He met once again with His disciples. He asked them a simple, yet thought-provoking question: 

"Lovest thou me?"

He asked it three times, too. He wanted them to be sure of their answer. 

"Yea, Lord."

What did he say next? He told Peter, the fisherman and Fisher of Men, to feed His sheep. Peter wasn't a shepherd. He was a fisherman. Yet, the Savior invited Him to join Him in His work, in His way.

Christ's first call for Peter was a call to become a better version of Peter. 

And that's what he did. Peter learned and grew, and strengthened his strengths with Christ's help. 

Christ doesn't just see us for who we are, though. He sees us for who we can become. He knows we can become versions of ourselves far better than who we are right now. He knows we can become even as He is. 

That's what He wants for us. So, that's what He does for us. He helps us learn and grow and He puts us in situations that make us stretch. He helps us move forward and upward. That's how I see it, at least. Helping Peter change from a Fisherman to a Fisher of Men was helping him move forward. He was improving. It's true. 

But that's not all Christ wanted of Peter. He wanted Him to move onward and upward. That's done through exalting grace. 

That's what He's doing with me, too. He's helped me move forward, so much. I know I've grown more in this last year than I have in my entire life. He has strengthened my strengths. Now it's time to discover some more of my weaknesses, and turn them into strengths, too. The Lord wants me to do His work in His way, not in my way. I'm not sure what that is going to look like. After all, I'm just a fisherman. I don't know how to herd Sheep. But I want to learn, because I want to be like Him who teaches me.