Hola de Hermana, 15-10-2012

Hola mi familia increible!  

This week has been amazing.  Time is flying by.  Transfers are next Tuesday, Oct 23.  And that means that I only have six months left!  Sometimes when times are hard it seems like an eternity.  But then in those quiet moments just before sleep it hits how little time is left.  And those are the moments when I have to be patient with myself and feed my faith bucket, that I´ll be able to do all that I need to do in the time that I have.  And that I am actually doing what God wants me to do.

Yesterday was sweet.  We had our fast and testimony yesterday, and I knew in the morning that I wanted to bear mine.  So we went up, and I bore testimony of the Atonement.  And that we need the Atonement to be cleansed from sin and that we are cleansed as we are obedient and repent.  And I testified that other tools we have to repent and reach our potential as children of God are the scriptures, prayer, church, and the leaders in the church.  I testified that Obispo G has been called as a representative of Christ here in Prado to help us as children of God.  And that while we are not perfect, God gives a little of His perfect love to those He calls so that they can administer to His children.  

Obispo thanked me after.  And I felt the Spirit and gratitude for the opportunity to sustain him as my bishop too.  And I felt that he is one of my good friends from the war we fought before.  

Two young women in the ward have already decided to serve missions!  At great cost and sacrifice.  Sulmi only lives with her mom, who is fairly old and doesn´t have work.  But Sulmi told us that she has faith that her mom will be able to find someone to live with and that the Lord will take care of her.  Also, Jacki has decided to go.  Her mom doesn´t want her to because her older brother served and came back and isn´t a good example, and her daughter who served honorably came home and has many many hard trials.  But Jacki still wants to go because she knows it´s the right thing for her to do.  

And I remembered some of my latina companions in the CCM who served at great cost.  One, Hna G, left to serve even though her father was dying.  I still remember her parting testimony.  I didn´t understand much of the Spanish, but the Spirit testified that she knew what she was doing was right, and that the Lord would bless and protect her family.  Hna E. was a convert of one year and left even though she didn´t know everything.  And Hna H told us that her mother was very very ill, and that she too was alone, but that she had decided to serve because she knew God would bless and protect her family.  I´ve met others who have left without the support of their family and don’t receive any email.  My companion left home to serve a mission because she wanted to set a good example for her younger siblings, and has told me that her parents when she visited them to say goodbye, said horrible horrible things.  And all of them still left because they had their testimonies of the gospel.  And they wanted to share the good news and glad tidings with their brothers and sisters.

Mom, maybe that´s what you can send in a package to Hna B for the missionaries like what you sent me for my first Christmas, simple testimonies written to these Elders and Hermanas who don´t get much support, with those small $1 pictures of Christ found in the distribution center or Deseret book.  

The mission is not easy, but it is worth it.  We have afflictions, we suffer in body mind and spirit.  We suffer hunger, thirst, and fatigue.  We labor in the spirit.  Sometimes we leave the kingdoms our fathers would give to us.  We learn to work with companions.  And we depart into the wilderness and journey many days, praying and working for the Spirit.  And we suffer privations, which someone told me is something that we give up, like a year or two of schooling, good work, or maybe even running water.  And yet the Lord says be patient, go forth, and be comforted, and He that He will grant unto us success.  And He blesses us with His Spirit sufficiently to do the work even when times are hard.  And we can have the hope and faith that blessings are here and are also coming.  Alma 17 and 26.  And the sweet moments that we have where we feel God´s love for His children makes everything worth it.  Like feeling warm brilliant light and fire in your body testifying that this man, who has sinned so much, can not only be cleansed and made whole through the atonement of Jesus Christ, can become a leader to bless and save many many people.  And that we have really been called by a prophet of God to represent His Son Jesus Christ, to preach His gospel and save His children.

Go serve a mission, it will bless your life!

And you will have many sweet and tender moments if you will look for them.  Like seeing your bishop on the front stand cuddling with his young boy during the closing hymn, weeping just a little.  It looked like something like what you probably have done Dad, when I was young.  And someday I´ll be able to with my husband and our children.  And I´m so grateful I´m here preparing for them!

And you will have moments of fun.  My dear locita compañera decorated my plaque with stickers.  She called me locita first and it fits perfectly for both of us.   

I LOVE YOU FAMILY!

Hermana Ivy [-]