Hola familia!
Welp this week has been super totally awesome! Everything just flowed, even the weather was pretty good. We haven't had snow yet this week. That in itself is my own personal miracle, Heavenly Father knows me so well that he has mercy on me while I’m here, haha! Or at least that’s what I’d like to believe.
On Monday we went with some other missionaries to see the Christmas lights here in downtown Caldwell. They were so pretty! I didn’t take a lot of pictures because my hands got frozen to the hot chocolate cup I was holding. It’s kind of cute, the city of Caldwell is so small that everybody knows everybody. But they all get together to put up lights on all the old buildings, the missionaries are about the only outsiders that come and marvel at the lights this time of season. Nevertheless, it was fun for all of us to walk around and breathe in the Christmas air. It made me happy.
On Tuesday we went on exchanges with some more English sisters in Nampa. It’s hard to be the only person in the companionship able to speak the language because you do all the talking, and if you happen to not understand something you can’t turn to your comp and rely on them to understand anything! Sacry! Although I understand and can speak well enough for the both of us, it gets to be a little boring hearing myself talk the whole time. Anyway, as Sister Angelos and I did a lot of contacting and tracting while we were in my area for the day. At one of the doors we knocked, a woman answered the door with a sort of perplexed look. I went ahead and did my door approach, but right in the middle of my approach, she woman interrupted me and invited us in because she didn’t want to let the cold air in. So we came in and I proceeded to finish my spiritual thought, and just like the first time she interrupted me again! Except this time she started telling me about how she had met other missionaries before and they taught her the lessons but she didn’t feel the Spirit, but this time she immediately recognized that there was a completely different feeling when we came into her home. She explained that she felt so much love and faith that shown through my eyes and that I really believed what I saying. In the Hispanic culture, they receive revelation and feel the Spirit through dreams, thoughts, and feelings. It was funny because the night before, Sister Angelos and I were talking about our missions, and if we felt that we still had people we needed to meet. This woman’s name is Xochitl. As soon as I met Xochitl, I felt an immediate connection to her, I don’t even know her and I loved her so much!!! Even Sister Angelos said that although she couldn’t understand a single word, she felt the Spirit pour into the room and that she could tell something big was happening. We came back later that week, taught her and her daughter, Adamary the 1st lesson to which they both accepted a baptismal date in January!!!! Then on Sunday Xochitl brought her family to church!! And of course it was fast and testimony meeting, and some of the people who gave their testimonies brought Xochitl to tears- it was quite a wonderful Sunday. This experience was a huge miracle for me. While I was in Ontario and the first 3 transfers of Caldwell, I was with native companions and I struggled to feel like I was contributing. Most of the time I felt like I was the chauffer and only present in all of the lessons to make sure my comps were never alone. I especially felt like I was sent here to help the kids, who speak mostly English, the adult investigators speak mostly Spanish. Basically I listened while my senior companion would speak Spanish to the adults and I would teach the kiddos on the side. But being with a non-native companion has been an answer to prayers, and Xochitl was a direct answer to my prayers. Feeling needed and important is such a big blessing to me right now.
Friday was my 9 month mark! Halfway Whoo Hoo! In the mission there are all sorts of traditions, so I decided that I just wanted to go to breakfast with Hern and Hawn at Denny’s. As we finished up, our waiter told us that someone had already paid for all of our checks! This isn’t the first time that someone has paid for us, but today I was especially grateful for that generous gift. On my music USB, I have the Disney song ‘Merry Un-birthday’ from Alice in Wonderland and we were singing it all the way there and back from Denny’s. It definitely felt like my birthday :)
We had a district meeting on Saturday. It was soooo good! We talked about fear and it really helped me understand how much I rely on the Savior and how much he has helped me during my times of trial. I wish I could tell y'all everything I learned but I'm running out of time.
On Sunday we asked one of our ward mission leaders to see the Christmas broadcast at his house. It was so awesome, I loved the beautiful music. In our last zone conference, President Cannon introduced the new Christmas initiative video and encouraged all of us to share it with the people we teach and have dinner with. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! If y'all haven't seen the new video- watch it!
Les quiero mucho! Que tengan una buena semana:))
Hermana Moss
