So come what may

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Sad goodbyes, good hellos! Lots of chaos this week but lots of good things are happening here in Buena Ventura!

A very good, very chaotic week!

It was our last p-day as a district, and my last one with Hermana Morris, so we really tried to make the most of it!! We had a nerf war for old times sake, played some good ole Gatorball, had a water balloon fight, and played some beach volleyball! I love this district with all my heart. These missionaries hold a special place in my heart and they will for a very long time. 

I'm going to miss Hermana Morris so much. I feel like I haven't written very much about her in my emails but you guys should know: she's one of my favorite people on planet earth. She's one of the best friends I've ever had and I'm so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve with and learn from her. She has such a light about her and she loves the people around her so much. Whatever Christlike attribute you could think of, she exemplifies almost perfectly. I'm super excited for her to serve in her new area! At this point I have no idea how it's going, but I'm sure she's already changing lives over in New Smyrna Beach!

I picked up my new missionary on Tuesday! Her name is Hermana Jackson and she is super sweet! She's from Colorado Springs and she was a Marketing Major at BYU, so our business major brains work very well together haha. She learned French in school, so the Spanish is definitely something new for her but she's taking it like a champ. She learns super quick and isn't afraid to try new things. Except food haha. She's been vegetarian for like 10 years. She's like me and doesn't really like meat, but she just actually committed to not liking it and became vegetarian. She's going to try eating new foods while she's out here but it's definitely going to be a change for her. It'll be a challenge for me too because I also don't eat much meat haha. I'm excited for this transfer though! She's very nice and super hard working, so I think we're going to be able to get a lot done!

Also, we have some incredible people we're teaching right now! Our highlight for this week is definitely Pamela and Luis' family! I don't know if I already wrote about how we found them, but one of the senior missionaries met Luis at the gym in our apartment complex and it turns out Pamela and Luis live in our very building! We went over there for a lesson on Hermana Jackson's first night and it was so good! We read some of the Book of Mormon with them and then they wanted us to stay and make arepas haha. It turned out that they didn't have any corn flour so they were going to order it from a Publix and have it shipped there but we told them we had some in our apartment, so we left their place super quick and got our flour and then came back and cooked dinner with them! They're so sweet and so open minded and open hearted. I'm really excited for them. They also came to stake conference this week! It was super crazy to coordinate translations for them and Stake conference in general was just one of the most chaotic experiences of my mission haha. 

Conference was so good though!! They talked a lot about the temple which was really good because then we were able to take Pamela and her family next door to the temple to talk about what we do there and to walk around the grounds. Pamela was so astounded by everything we do in our church and just blown away that she didn't know sooner. She grew up in the gospel, just in a bunch of different churches. So she has a ton of faith she just hasn't seen this kind of organization and structure before. And she's never heard of temples before. She's super excited to learn more and I can't wait to keep teaching her! Also, Sister Ashcraft wants to join in on a lesson with us sometime this week so that would be awesome! This family has lots of potential:)

This week has definitely been one of the toughest of my mission, or of my life haha. There was just a lot going on and a lot I was responsible for, because I'm training. Anything Hermana Jackson doesn't know, she doesn't know because I haven't taught her. I had some really high expectations for myself and high expectations for what was going to happen outside of my control, and those expectations haven't all been met. It turns out, I need to 1)stop expecting more of myself than what God expects of me, which is my best and nothing more and 2) stop setting expectations for things that are out of my control. But genuinely though, I still am super happy! Chaos can be tough when it's too much, but we're definitely at a point where it's manageable and we can work together to help the area progress! I'm excited to see what comes next!

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So come what may

It's always so interesting to look back on my study journal from the week as I try to decide what to share in my email, because there is always a theme. 

This week I started off in Mosiah 15. The verse that stood out most to me was verse 7, that says, "the will of the Son being swallowed up in the will of the Father." I love this verse because it really illustrates what it means to submit your will to His. Our desires should be completely swallowed up in our desire to do the will of the Father. 

Later in the week, I stumbled upon Mosiah 24:17. "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions."

When I read the first verse, toward the beginning of the week, I honestly felt overwhelmed. I would love to say I'm 100% ready to submit my will to the Father's. And I would love to say that doesn't scare me at all. 

But that would be a lie. 

Giving up my will completely? That terrifies me. I don't feel ready for that. At all.

I have a lot of goals and dreams and expectations for myself and for others, and it's hard for me to be willing to let that go. I kind of had a bad mindset at the beginning of the week, honestly. I let myself get overwhelmed by the idea of submitting my will to His.

So stumbling across that second verse honestly saved me. I don't have to put all the pressure on myself. My Heavenly Father is here to help me. Not only will He ease my burdens. He will give me the strength I need to carry the burdens He's going to allow me to carry. 

This concept has unintentionally been a part of my personal study every day this week. And I'm so grateful. 

One thing I've definitely learned out here in Orlando is that if God wants me to learn something, He will find a way to teach me. 

This week, He taught me that I am capable if I am willing. 

The lesson He's been teaching me can best be summarized by a line from the concluding hymn at Stake Conference. A line which anyone who knows me well would know moved me to tears:

"I believe in Christ, so come what may."

God Opens doors.... Carmen was Baptized!

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Good week! Baptisms and trios and unprofessional house painting and dreams of opening an arepa truck.

Surprise surprise this week went by in the blink of an eye haha. 

Pday was good as always! We had a nerf war, but bishop let us borrow his kid's nerf guns and they had like 20 rounds in each one so we absolutely wrecked everyone else haha. We also had a BBQ with the senior couple and played some beach volleyball at our apartment complex:)

We also were in a trio for a day! Hermana Cummings flew out to her original assignment in Argentina this week so she was with us for a day before we dropped her off at the airport. To be honest it was kind of awkward being in a trio haha.

We also helped paint a house this week! No one there was qualified and the members whose house we were painting had no game plan whatsoever. So we just kind of sent it haha. It was fun but it ended up taking way longer than the members thought it would. We had to leave so the members finished it on their own. But… it turns out the color they picked was only approved by the HOA for doors or trim, not the whole house. So they're gonna have to do it again. Oops haha. 

The highlight of this week though was for sure Carmen! When she came to church on Sunday she told us she had a whole week without work and she wanted to take advantage of it. She wanted us to come over every day and teach her! So we went over Tuesday-Friday:) on Wednesday we got to talking about what a miracle it is that she has this week off of work especially when we had all been praying for a way for her to come to church and have time for the lessons again. She said God gave her this week for a reason and she was determined to make the most of it. So we actually ended up moving her baptismal date to Saturday! So we finished all the lessons this week and we had a baptism! It was seriously such a special day. Carmen is elect you guys. I'm so excited to see her keep growing and progressing in the church. I'm not kidding when I say she's General Authority material. 

Also a while back Carmen told us she really wants to move somewhere where there's more English so she'll be forced to learn it. We jokingly mentioned she should move to Utah. The joke has evolved and now we talk about it all the time. I've shown her pictures of how pretty it is and told her about all the things there is to do. She's also so excited to go to the temple so the fact that there's so many temples in Utah is really appealing to her too haha. There's lots of options for her but right now it's looking like the dream we've come up with is for her to move there after I get home and then I'll finish my business degree. Then we're gonna open a food truck together and just make the best arepas ever because her arepas are so. good. We'll see if that ever happens but it's now documented here just in case haha.

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The parable of the automatic door. God opens doors we don't even know exist. 

Okay so I talk about this in pretty much every email but WOW YOU GUYS. Heavenly Father is so in control. He has a plan and it is perfect. 

Carmen's baptism this week caused me to reflect a lot on how God guides each of His children to be where they need to be when they need to be there. She is seriously such an amazing person and it has been a privilege to be able to see her grow, and to see how God is providing the way for her to do the things He wants her to do.

It's so interesting as a missionary to observe the way God works in the lives of his children. Because ultimately, the goal is the same, but his method is different every time. 

Sometimes, we're going to see a transition coming up in our lives and know we can't avoid it. Those times are when we have to move forward with faith, working diligently, trusting that by the time we get there, God will have given us enough strength and courage to face that challenge. These challenges are things like school, missions, and marriage. They require preparation and, depending on the person, they are things we aren't going to be able to avoid experiencing. 

These times in our lives are like walking through a locked door. We know we need to do the necessary preparation (in this case, get a key) before we are going to be capable of passing through. 

Other times, we don't see the change coming, but we recognize it when it comes. This can be anything from medical emergencies to changes in friendships or work. There's endless examples of these types of transitions in our lives. 

These times are like walking through an unlocked door. You don't think about it until you get there. And when you get there, that's when you take the step to turn the knob and open the door. There's no way to prepare, it's just something we have to do when the time comes. But the minute we try to open the door, we recognize that we do have enough strength to move it.

Other times, we need to transition from one phase to another, but God guides us gently and gracefully from one chapter to the next. We might not even notice his hand in our lives during these times. Things are going to feel like a convenient coincidence, or luck. Or maybe we won't even notice the things that happened around us that permitted us to get to the place we're at.

 

These times are like walking through an automatic door. We're still transitioning from one place to another. We're still experiencing a change. But God's hand in our lives is so subtle we won't notice it until we look for it. And even then it might be hard to see. 

Sometimes God brings us to a door and gives us the strength and the will and the ability to open that door. Other times, he guides us to an automatic door and opens it for us before we get there. 

I think we're probably walking through more automatic doors than anything else. God is sending little miracles and blessings to us every second of every day. His timing is perfect. He's guiding us so gently and He's opening doors for us the second we need to step through them. 

And we can't even see just how much He really is doing. But just know. He loves you so completely and so individually. Even if you can't see Him opening doors, just know He is. He has a plan and a purpose for YOU. Press forward with faith and trust in the plan He has for you:)

Happy New Year!

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Chill week. Happy new year!

This week was pretty slow because of the holidays. We did a lot of planning this week because its a new transfer and a new year. Also we're the Spanish Social Media Leaders so we planned out a lot of the Facebook and Instagram pages & I'm excited! I'm optimistic for them. 

For new years we didn't really do much haha. We tried to go out for pizza but all 3 places we went to had a 2 hour wait which would have been after bedtime. So we got taco bell haha. We went to bed at 10 to the sound of fireworks, and work up at 12 to the sound of SO MANY MORE FIREWORKS. There were so many that it was like one collective rolling boom instead of individual pops. The people of Orlando love their fireworks.

Also! I started learning portuguese a while back and I ended up finding someone on Facebook who is a Brazilian & I got to talk to her in portuguese!

We also had a zone council this week and it was very spiritual wahoo!

Also I saw Elder Kelly again at Chick Fil A haha.

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The creator of the universe created it for YOU. 

I decided this week to dedicate a portion of each of my daily studies to Come, Follow Me, because this year we are studying in the old testament and I'll be honest I have read little to nothing from it. It's an intimidating book and it can be hard to understand. There's a senior couple in our apartment complex and the Elder LOVES Isaiah. He always shares his knowledge with us and I would love to come to know as much about the Bible as he does. He inspired me to open up the Bible and dig in. 

The studies for this week were actually in the Pearl of Great Price. You guys, there's so much to learn from the Pearl of Great Price. I wish I could tell you everything I learned this week but I'm afraid if I tried to do so my thumbs would fall off from typing haha. 

One morning in my studies I came across this verse: 

"But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them"

I liked it because it's so cool to think about how grand this universe is and just how powerful our God is. We can't even begin to understand how big the universe is. People have tried. Really smart people have tried. And many have come to the conclusion that there are more planets in the universe than there are grains of sand in all the beaches and the deserts on this earth. I have no idea how to quantify that. But I got to thinking about it anyway, and it led me to do a few quick calculations:

1 million seconds = 11.5 days

1 Billion seconds = 32 years

1 trillion seconds?

That's over 284,000 years. 

I don't know about you guys, but knowing how big a trillion is made God's magnitude so much more impressive to me. Because even a trillion is still countable. That's still a fathomable number, to a certain degree. And our Heavenly Father has an infinite amount of worlds beyond that. 

Okay. This is all fun to talk about and to think about. But what's the point? Why did He do it? Here's the answer, from the Lord God Himself:

"For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

That's what He wants. Us. He wants us back.

He has all power. All glory. And what does he do with it? 

He provides a way and an opportunity  for each and every one of us to return back to Him. Because that's what He wants more than anything else. 

It's so beautiful to imagine that there is an all-powerful God in Heaven whose capacity to love us is infinite. And even though His love is infinite, it's so personal. 

Anyone who looks for the hand of God in their life will see it. There are no coincidences. Every blessing you have received, every person you've met, every opportunity you've been given, every trial you've faced, every moment of every day? Every one of them was given to you in the exact moment this All-knowing father in Heaven knew you needed them. And He gave them to you because He knew it would help you on your path back to Him. 

Our Heavenly Father loves you so much. You'll never be able to understand or quantify His love. All we can do is be grateful for it, and do our best to share it with those around us. 

Twas the Week before Christmas

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A very fast week. Latinos know how to party. Our Heavenly Father answered our prayers and Carmen made it to church.

Wow okay this week was actually such a blur. Also Pday this week is on Tuesday cause we had some Christmas service at bishops storehouse yesterday. So that put my brain in an even weirder spot cause I feel like I have no idea what day it is haha.

So here's the summary: 

The first part of the week consisted of a lot of meetings and a lot of contacting. I also got to practice piano for the first time in a while because Hermana Morris is singing in our Christmas devotional tomorrow. (Pretty sure my piano is going to be a train wreck but oh well haha)

One of the biggest highlights of the week was the ward Christmas party! Not to diss on Utah ward parties, but Latinos just do it better. Basically it starts out the same: everyone grabs food and eats and talks, and then there's a Christmas program. But then the guys they hired to play the marimba start putting on a show, everyone gets excited, and then the DJ comes in with the latin music and everyone starts salsa dancing and shaking maracas and just having a grand old time. You just had to be there. I will forever be disappointed by Utah ward parties from this point forward haha.

Also! Church! We had our Christmas Service & we got a bunch of interested people at church! Including my best friend Carmen! She had a miracle happen this week and for some reason (ahem… God's hand) she didn't have work on Sunday which NEVER happens. All the people who came loved it. I think most of them are planning on coming back next week. Also, English class is going super well and lots of the people who are learning English are also really interested in learning about the church too!

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Erick. God is aware of our needs and He provides how and when we need Him to. He has a plan and a purpose for you.

Erick! We met him yesterday and it was such a blessing. He couldn't make it to English class on Sunday but he really wants to learn English because his daughter speaks English and Spanish, and he wants to be able to progress here in America. Basically we had our first little English class, where we taught him the alphabet and a couple phrases, and all of a sudden we were sitting down hearing his whole life story. He went through some really rough stuff and made some poor choices, but found God through rehab, where missionaries in Ecuador would help him learn more about God so he could feel like he had God with him through his rehabilitation. He knows who the missionaries are, and regrets not letting them into his home back in the day. His sister's a member and she's a good example to him. He talked for so long and at one point he said "I don't normally open up about all this, but I know you two are people of God and that you'll hear what I need to say." At the end he said "sorry, I got distracted. I don't know if I was supposed to be here to learn English or to talk about God." It was just a super cool experience because there was so much evidence of God's hand in his story, and in our crossing paths. When we messaged him on Facebook, we told him we knew God had a plan and a purpose for him. Apparently one of the things he's been told before is "God has a purpose for you." And that's what has kept him from going back to drugs during some really hard experiences he's had the last year. So when we said that, he knew we were inspired. He'll be at English class and church on Sunday with his daughter. He has so much faith and I'm excited to get to know him better and teach him more. 

Our Heavenly Father really loves each of His children so much. I know he's looking out for me, and for the people I serve with, and for the people we teach. And I know he's looking out for you. He loves you. And I love you all too! Merry Christmas!!