Dear family and friends,
So, we all knew this time would come. CHRISTMAS. And as I've mentioned, I really resonate with that "He is the Gift" video the church came out with and has been using all over the place this month because I think sometimes I don't focus on the true meaning of Christmas. It can be really stressful! Last week, my companion and I were running around all over the place buying gifts, wrapping gifts, finishing knitting gifts and then sticking them in boxes at the USPS office while in line to send them. IT WAS CRAZY. And this week, we are trying to finish some gifts for our district as well-- and then of course we have the stress of trying to get out all our "El es la Dadiva" cards and trying to get as many new investigators and referrals from that as humanly possible. So, to make a long story short, stress is a thing we are feeling as well. We are not exempt from the stress of Christmas. Last night, in fact, though this is just missionary stress and not Christmas stress, we had this horrible faux-pas in which we called the wrong people to fill up the font for our baptism and so when we got there thirty minutes before the baptism, THE FONT WAS EMPTY. My companion and I practically hyperventilated. Then, thanks to the grace of God, and to the bishop who opened the font, and to the zone leaders that came rushing over to help fill it up with buckets as well...the baptism started late, but not as late as it would have! And, even though I was super stressed at first about it, as people just kept being super nice and super helpful and also super complimentary of our work with these two people (because they have been seeing missionaries for like 5 years, and so people were saying we must be special or something to have got them to the point of being baptized haha :P); I was just overwhelmed with gratitude and it hit me in a very profound way that God does not want me to be stressed about this work. Obviously, He wants me to do my best, and He wants us to continue to have great success, and He wants us to call the right people for the font next time, BUT He wants me to focus on what's important. Which in that case, was that we BAPTIZED TWO PEOPLE, and now that family is almost all members and if we baptize the last girl, then they can all get sealed as a family next year for time and all eternity. THAT'S what I should be focusing on in missionary work!!! And on that note...
las 5 mas bonita momentas de mi tiempo de navidad (The most beautiful moments of my Christmas season (thus far))
1. One day a couple weeks ago, I let the little sister of Investigator X (an adorable little 7 year old girl that has been sitting in on lessons with us and reading the Book of Mormon on her own as well) borrow one of my pashmina scarves. (the baby blue one) She LOVED this scarf, but when it was time to go, she gave it back to me. The next lesson she borrowed it again, and forgot to give it back, but the next day we had another lesson and she gave it back to me, even though she had worn it to school haha :P At the end of this lesson, I felt impressed that this little girl could use this scarf more than me. They live in the poorest part of our area, and though she has great style, she often wears the same things over and over because that is all she has. I could see how much she loved this scarf, and how much she enjoyed wearing it-- and honestly, it was the most natural thing in the world to say "Amy, do you want to keep this?" and with her soft nod, I just got filled with the most overwhelming feeling of joy that I could give something so simple, and have it mean so much. As we drove away that day, she was sitting next on the side walk next to some little boy neighbors of hers wearing the scarf I'd just given, and I think I'll always remember how happy she was when she waved at me. And every time I see her, she is wearing the scarf. Giving is, indeed, the most beautiful feeling sometimes.
2. We are now teaching a family in which the father is a man who is unemployed, and suffering from alcoholism. (note this moment made me cry (after the lesson, no worries), so watch out, it's a *tear jerker*) When we went over to their house last time, he was completely and totally drunk, his eyes were all red and his hair was all over the place. His wife was also, visibly distressed. As we taught though, this suffering, sad man took out a notebook and a pen to take notes so he wouldn't forget what we were teaching. For a couple minutes though, the notebook simply sat by his side. Then-- and this is the moment that got me-- as we were reading Alma 32:21, he grabbed his notebook with the passion of an inspired artist and wrote in big capital letters across the top of the page "TENER FE-- TENER ESPERANZA" which in English translates to "HAVE FAITH-- HAVE HOPE". The reason this touched me so much, is because it really does hit me sometimes how lucky I am to be doing what I am doing. Obviously, I love motivating people to come to the waters of baptism. But also, I just love saving depressed people from the monster that could lead them to end their lives. And I keep getting the opportunity to play some small part in that. In fact, I enjoy it so much, that the other day Hna Gates (my companion) asked me if I would want to like...work in that area (as in psychology, social work..etc.) haha...CRAZY I'd never even really thought about it. We'll see what actually happens in my life, but I'm really loving the opportunity I have now to work with all these people that REALLY NEED HELP and to give them the hope of their Savior Jesus Christ this Christmas season. And honestly, this wasn't just one of the most beautiful moments of my Christmas season, this was one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL MOMENTS IN MY LIFE.My companion and I were talking about it, and how crazy it is that every single investigator we have I can relate to in this really deep and profound way, and we were talking about how everything truly does happen for a reason and I know, without a single doubt in my mind, that God needed me here in this time and this season and that THESE PEOPLE NEEDED ME. And the more I work with them, the more I'm thankful for my life-- everything in it, both the good things and the bad things-- because even though sometimes I think I'm crazy-- the fact of the matter is that a lot of people are "crazy." And those "crazy" people are the people that need "crazy" me; and even though sometimes I feel like the black sheep when I'm hanging out with the missionaries, I just have to remember that I literally AM HERE because I am the black sheep. It's like the quote I stuck in the very middle of my journal for some random reason but I guess actually because God knew I would need it-- "Why fit in when you were born to stand out", haha and this quote has underneath it a picture of a bunch of normal sheep and then a GIANT RAINBOW LLAMA. So I guess that you should know that, I'm the giant rainbow llama of the Moreno Valley Zone. Haha...and PROUD OF IT. ahah :P
3. Ok so, parents, you will enjoy this. One day after my violin arrived, the Relief Society President of our ward asked if I could play for a musical number. And, it's a really long story, but here's how it ended up. Me on the violin, El Mock playing the ukelele, and all the other missionaries singing "En la Judea, En tierra de Dios." (Far, far away on Judea's Plains I think in english...). Oh how fun that was! I have a little video. I don't think I can send it, but I'll send the picture and then someday when I'm home and reminiscing we can watch the video! haha :P
4. Right before her baptism yesterday, Elizabeth was all dressed up in her white clothes, and she'd done her hair up all nice, and...well, to understand how cute this is, you have to know that she is like a 50+ year old woman. She was sitting in her chair, waiting for the font to fill up, and she just had this GIANT smile on her face, and she was bouncing her feet up and down like a kid waiting to go on a rollercoaster. Ah, that was just one of the moments that made me realize that the font mess didn't really matter, and that God was happy with our work! AH SHE WAS SO EXCITED IT WAS THE CUTEST THING IN THE WORLD!
5. Ok, so I may have mentioned, but the people in this ward can't really sing in tune with each other. It's really adorable and endearing and everything, but it really is a very true fact that they can't sing in tune. I think the cutest thing about it, is how much they don't know that they can't/don't care that they can't. They sing as loud and as enthusiastically as if they should be on broadway. And yesterday, as I was listening to them sing this way as they sang "La Primera Navidad" (The First Noel), I was just overwhelmed with love for them and for how God looketh not on the outward appearance (or the in tuneness of the song), but on the heart. I just love them all so much. I've never been anywhere in the world where people are so enthusiastic about serving the Lord! I think a lot of it is because a good portion of the ward is converts (believe it or not in this ward they had something like 50 baptisms this year alone! Isn't that CRAZY????)
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
So I guess it's kind of been coming through in all of this, but I guess what I've been learning is how to have faith that things are going to work out always, and to have the patience to see it work out. Mostly I've been learning to realize that I'm not the one running this work and neither are any of us-- God is. So of course we need to work hard and we need to be dilligent every single second of our lives-- but at the end of the day, we have to give it to the Lord. Because He's the reason anybody EVER gets baptized-- not us. I'm hoping that what I've been learning will help me to stress out less/cope better. But either way, I've been super humbled this week by the great blessings I have been given from the Lord, and the great opportunity I have to serve. I encourage you all, wherever you may be, to think about Christmas not from the perspective of everything you HAVE to do, but of everything you GET to do. Service is a privilege, and Christmas is one of the absolute best times we have to serve.
LES QUIERO MUCHISIMO!!! FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!! ( I love you all so much!!! Merry Christmas!!!!!)
Hermana Lindsey