Hola Familia!
Well, I'm kind of lucky (if you can call it that) to be
emailing you today! My companion, Sister Price, got her visa about an
hour ago and is shipping out on Monday, so we had to take this afternoon
off to get her going. So, I was allowed to use the computer while she
does laundry. It was honestly very hard for me to see her get her
Visa. A whole flood of Peruvians got them today, all of which turned
their paperwork in more than two months after me. It's easy to play the
victim role and think that out of all the missionaries with Visas I
know Spanish the best, I had my call first, and I turned my paperwork
into Church travel first. But, I think that if Heavenly Father wanted
me to have a Visa, he could get it for me. There must be something I'm
supposed to learn from being here right now.
In my blessing, President
Topham blessed me to preach the gospel wherever in the world I find
myself--I guess that includes the Provo MTC. I won't know anything
about my travel plans until my Visa magically shows up. If it's not
here by May 1, I will be reassigned. That is very hard to swallow, but I
know the Lord will send me where I need to be. The hardest part of the
whole experience since Sister Price received her Visa a few moments ago
was listening to her call her parents. I heard her Mom cry when she
heard her daughter's voice and I just wanted that experience SO bad.
But, as we learned in Conference this week (maybe it wasn't conference,
maybe it was a devotional...it's hard to keep track of all the Spiritual
feeding I get here) "Not my will, but THINE be done. Not my TIME but
THINE be done." I'm 100 percent on the Lord's time right now, and I
have to be where he wants me to be.
This week has been great! We started teaching our new "investigator,"
Eliana. She's an Elderly Catholic Widow. In our second lesson, we had
the idea to invite the Spirit by singing her a Spanish Hymn. You know
that I hate singing in front of people, but I prefaced the song by
telling her I had an awful singing voice, but that the most important
voice to listen to is the Spirit...which she could do with her ears
covered. She laughed and listened to our song (she was unable to sing
along because of a mouth issue) and told us we both have the voices of
angels. Our song brought tears to her lonely eyes and it really invited
the Spirit to be there. Which was great because our lesson was about
receiving the Holy Ghost through the Restored Priesthood!
We also had TRC Training this week! It was our first time. TRC
training is when we teach lessons to people from the community.
Sometimes they act out different scenarios, but ours were just
themselves. They were all members, which definitely took the pressure
off! They just wanted to hear our testimonies, our favorite scriptures,
and just feel the Spirit. It was awesome!!
We also had a cool experience this week where we watched a video about
the life of a man named Patrick. Then, we were asked to pretend that
Patrick was our best friend, but that he didn't have the Gospel. We
were supposed to write a letter to him to tell him how the Plan of
Salvation could help his life. I tried hard to picture my very best
friends and imagine what it would be like if they didn't have the gospel
in their lives. I wrote the best letter that I could. Then, our
teacher asked for a few of us to share our letters. I wanted to share
mine, but as I listened to everyone else I knew that mine just
couldn't compare. They just got right into deep, beautifully worded
Doctrine. So, I kept my mouth shut. Well, next thing I knew, my
teacher was reading my letter out loud to the class and writing on the
board. He showed how my humble little letter covered all the important
Doctrines while following exactly the pattern we're supposed to teach
by. I, of course, was completely oblivious to all of that when I wrote
it--I just wrote what I felt. I don't have some great, grand gospel
knowledge, but I do have the Spirit to help me. That experience was
SUCH a confidence booster!!!
It's funny, I've been surprised at how I can feel the extra weight of my
badge all the time. Well, today I realized how symbolic that really
is! When I put that tag on everyday, I carry more responsibility than I
ever have in my life. It doesn't seem like such a big deal here
because EVERYONE has one on, but I just picture what it will be like out
in the field when I am literally wearing the name of Jesus Christ. I
don't yet feel ready for that responsibility. It's HUGE! I am so
grateful to know that I'm not alone in this work--it would be impossible
alone. I don't know what I'd do without the guidance of the Spirit.
Our roommates moved out on Tuesday--they were going English speaking so
their time here was up. We got four new sisters on Wednesday and they
all seem super nice! Well...I guess that doesn't really matter because,
with my companion leaving, I'm most likely going to be switching
rooms. I think the Lord planned this whole thing. I know who my new
companion will most likely be because her companion got a visa as well,
and that Sister that will probably be my next companion is the only
Sister in my District that I don't really click with. It's going to be
good for me, though. I know that in the field I won't always have
companions like Sister Price where we just automatically become best
friends! Man, I'm sure going to miss that girl when she heads out
Monday morning.
Well, familia, it's time to go back to the Residence and help Sister
Price pack for her adventure. I should still have the opportunity to
write on Monday, so I'll finish my stories then. Love and miss you
all! Hopefully I'll be calling you sometime soon, just like Sister
Price did today, to tell you my Visa has arrived.
Love Always,
Hermana Meghan Simonson
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