Letter to everyone:
Once again, it was another great week to be Hermana Christensen. On the mission, I have learned who I want to be and how to do it during the mission and after the mission. The gospel of Jesus Christ requires a lot of sacrifice, but nothing is expected of you that cannot be achieved.
The language is coming along fairly well. My listening skills are getting a lot better, but sometimes we are asked to repeat it back and I am NOT good at that. I know exactly what is said, but to repeat it is a different story. I don't even know if I could do that in English to be honest either haha. We took a grammar assessment this week as well and I did pretty well on it too. I also taught a latino a lesson and she said my Spanish was really good! So, it is encouraging that my spanish is progressing and I am not getting deterred. But, I know in panama there will be days when I say, "that is not the spanish they taught me in the mtc" haha.
Hna Langkilde switched to a latino district this Tuesday. It will definitely be weird to not have her in our trio anymore, especially since she taught me and Hna Wilson so much. But, she has been so bored in class recently and it will be good for her to have a challenge. I got to practice some spanish with her new companion, which was fun as well.
This week, the choir sang Joseph Smith's first prayer. In spanish, when it mentions birds, it says "pajaritos" which is little parrots, or parakeets. So, at the beginning of choir practice, one of the mission presidents wives comes in holding a basket that has a full on BABY PARAKEET in it. I kid you not. It was so funny. And she is like, "this is what inspired me to choose this song this week. Eight days ago it fell out of a tree and I've been nursing it back to health". Hna Wilson has been fascinated with the parakeets so she went up and asked and got to hold it!! Made her life!
Something that I have thought a lot about is answers to prayers. We talked a lot about the story of Joseph Smith. When you think about the timeline of the revelation he received from the lord, at age 14 he saw God and Jesus Christ and they told him to not join any other church. But, for three more years, we have nothing recorded about what went on other than the fact that he was persecuted greatly for his testimony. Then when he was 17, angel moroni appeared to him and then subsequently for four more years until he got the plates. Gradually and line upon line, he received more. He didn't ever have all the answers to his questions, but that did not stop his faith. Like Joseph, we may have "top shelf questions", or questions that we can't quite find the answer to, so we just need to tuck them away and focus on the "bottom shelf answers" that we have been so lucky to be blessed with. Slowly, top shelf items can move down a shelf or two with more knowledge and personal revelation, but, we don't ever need to let them stop our faith. So, doubt your doubts before your faith!
Letter to family:
This was my first fast in the mission. It went really well. We fasted from lunch on saturday until lunch sunday. I fasted for michelle, as always, and for Brooke, since she has been having a really hard time. I didn't feel too hungry which was a blessing. I read an article about fasting how any time that you would normally eat, read your scriptures. Any time you feel hungry, pray. I just really liked those suggestions and will keep them with me for future times of fasting.
An hermana in my house threw up this week. Sadly, she didn't get the toilet but the sink. On top of that, it would not drain. So, for three days we petitioned to reception for them to drain our clogged, nasty vomit infested sink. Finally, they drained it. The tender mercy is it never smelled bad and it was just a case of food poisioning, not stomach flu!
I have been eating so many tic-tacs and popping them like pills from the store here. We get money each week to spend, so of course i am going to use it. I also have been eating lots of rip off ritz, called crackets. They are way better though.
An Elder in my district HATES the pope. For no reason too. It is so funny. Then he asked our teacher about his thoughts on the pope and he responded "el papa es el diablo". So, apparently pope haters reallyyyyy hate the pope if they hate him.
For our final Sunday in two weeks, our district is singing a medley of I know that my redeemer lives and i feel my saviors love. Shockingly, one of the elders in our district can sing so well, so he carries the elders part. It is really pretty and i will get a recording of it soon.
Hermana Langkilde switched to a latino district. Though sometimes she was a little controlling, I really do love her. That is what i love about people. You can always see the good in them. Her good way out weighed her bad. She was a great example of sacrificing for the lord, hard work, and sharing her knowledge. She will do great things in Colombus, Ohio for sure.
I love Hermana Wilson. She is so fun, sweet, the best cheerleader, easy going, and funny. We have a great time together.
Our teacher, Hermano Valezquez, despises the Pope. Of course this led to him to show us some of his theories for why he is an evil man.
I was so tired during class so I took a nap on the floor for a few minutes
Eating nutella packets!
Be fierce sign. Many people in my district did not know what this was, fifth grade me would have been devasted
Apartment A105! Left to right: Hna Langkilde, Wilson, me, Curtis, Larson, Beckstrand (all going to Atlanta North mission)
Matching in blue
José Smith statue
Us hermanas with our old teacher, Hermana Garcia. All our classes had two teachers, but with all the new high school graduates coming to CCM, now the classes only have one teacher, so we no longer get to learn with Hna Garcia.
We decorated the doors of the incoming sisters since we were assigned to be Sister Training Leaders.
Teaching what faith means to me
Hna wilson holding a parakeet that one of the mission counselors wife brought in. Apparently it had fallen from a tree and she was nurturing it since its' wings had broken in the process.
Hermana Langkildes new companion she received when she switched to the spanish speaking district
No comments:
Post a Comment