Home, Home on the Range!

 

Me and my new companion, Sister Klaus

You will never guess where I am right now! El Paso, Texas! For those of you keeping track, you're right; my mission is called Albuquerque, NM. But the mission boundaries cover a good portion of New Mexico (from Taos down to Las Cruces) and all the way down to El Paso. I've still never left the U.S. in my life, but this is the closest I've ever been; Juarez is right on the other side of the freeway. I also get to add two states to the list of places I've been (both New Mexico and Texas). There's nothing like a Texas sunset!

 

My first week here has been such an adventure. I'm using more lotion than I ever have in my life (when they say "desert" they mean "DESERT!") and I'm eating lots of delicious Mexican food: gorditas, quesadillas, mole, horchattas.... mmh mmh!

 

I had an incredible moment the other day that I have to pass on to y'all. Have you heard of the verse in Ephesians that talks about putting on the armor of God, the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, and all that? Well there's a similar verse in the Book of Mormon where Lehi, a prophet and father, is on his death bed and giving counsel to his lackey sons, Laman and Lemuel. He tells them, "Awake, my sons, and put on the armor of righteousness." Then I got to thinking about this armor. What is is made of? How was it hammered into its shape? Who is the blacksmith? The blacksmith was named Christ and the furnace was Gethsemane. Jesus Christ, through his sacrifice for us, made it possible for us to be protected from spiritual harm as we keep his commandments and follow his example. How kind of him to make us such an incredible suit of armor; all we need to do is put it on.

 

Well, I hope that you have a wonderful week! Nos vemos!

Hallelujah by and by, I'll fly away

Three days until I'm out of the MTC and headed down to New Mexico! I can't believe it's been almost six whole weeks! I'm so excited to get out and get to work, but I'm going to miss my wonderful district and zone here in the MTC.

Here are some of the sisters in my zone. Aren't they lovely?

Reasons I have the best district in the universe:
- Elder Shaum's flawless cricket impression
- "Close only counts in hand shoes and horse grenades. wait......"
- Elder Hamm's old British woman accent when he gets excited
- Elder Keenan's goal not to smile in a single mission picture and his goal to memorize lots of scriptures. He's quite faithful to both of these goals.
- Elder Bird's dry humor
- The reactions Elder Newman gets from every teacher when he sits criss-cross in his desk, "Wow Elder, es muy flexible."
- Elder Scott's invariable connection to everyone we meet. "You're from Glibert, too? Hey I bet you went to high school with my cousin."...
- Elder Gerber's inexplicable love of tanks.
- Spanglish phrases that we say as a joke, but that are starting to become habit like "Nunca mente" or "Que embarazada"
- Elder Norseth's endless supply of scripture references and stupid jokes.

Another reason I have the best district - they shared this fantastic scripture with me! So I'm gonna share it with you. This prophet named Alma founded a city full of people who just recently accepted Christ, repented of their sins, and been baptized. They're brand new to the gospel but they are so very faithful. When their city is overtaken and they become enslaved, they pray for deliverance. Then their captors make a rule against praying even, so they stop praying out loud, but "pour out their hearts to [God]; and he did know the thoughts of their hearts." And the Lord answers their prayers saying, "Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know the covenant which ye have made unto me." He's telling them he so glad they've covenanted, or promised, to follow him and he hasn't forgotten this act of faith on their part. Then he goes on, "And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs." And that's exactly what he does. God strengthens their shoulders such that they cannot feel these heavy burdens placed upon them. Sometimes we feel weighed down by difficulties in our lives, but God is willing to strengthen us just as he strengthened the people of Alma. All we have to do is ask in faith, believing that He has that power to bless our lives.

Here's a picture of Sister Silva and I in front of the Provo Temple. We get to go to the temple every week. It brings us such a feeling of peace and happiness every time we're there.

Hope you all have a wonderful week!

P. S. In case you were curious, the post title is a line from a song. It was either that or "I'm leaving on a jet plane"

Just 10 More Days!

Big news everyone! I got my travel plans! I'll be leaving the MTC and headed to Albuquerque on Monday, March 18. It's just ten days away! I can't wait!

This week was so exciting! A new batch of missionaries, called a district, joined our zone. (A quick vocab lesson: missionaries are organized into districts of 8-12 missionaries. In the MTC, you spend all day, every day with your district; they really become like your family. Every day, I'm reminded how lucky I am to have such a wonderful district. Five districts make up our branch. Our branch meets together for church each week.) These new missionaries are just so happy and excited to be here. I can already tell they're going to be fantastic missionaries.

Our branch president shared some wise words this week: You find what you look for. I realized that if what I find is dependent on what I look for, then I better pay close attention to what it is I'm looking for. I ought to look for the good in people. Look for the bright side. Look for miracles. In the scriptures, Christ has said, "Ask and ye shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened unto you." I want to make sure I'm asking for the right things and knocking on the right doors.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

Ohhhhhhhh! We're half way there!

I am officially more than half done with the MTC. In just two and a half weeks I'll be headed down to Albuquerque. It's been a week of firsts for me: I had my first missionary dream, I hosted new missionaries for the first time, and I attended my first devotional with an apostle.

What is a missionary dream, you might ask? A missionary dream is where someone is asking you all these great questions about the gospel and you want to answer them, but Sunday school is starting so you're trying to answer their questions quietly and then your alarm goes off and you wake up thinking, "No! How will he get the answers to his questions?!?!" That's a missionary dream.

On Wednesday, I got to be a host, welcoming new missionaries and helping them get settled in. It's crazy to think that was me just three weeks ago. If anyone reading this is on your way to the MTC soon, remember,  (1) Be so excited for the MTC. Apart from Disneyland, it may be the happiest place on earth. (2) You will learn so much about the Lord, your self, the gospel, and your mission language if you work hard. Of course it's hard work, but vale la peina! That means it's worth every bit of it.  (3) Don't forget that your life experiences are what make you unique as an individual and as a missionary. Bring all your old journals and reread them so it's all fresh in your mind. Your past struggles and experiences may be a blessing in someone else's life.

On Tuesday, an apostle, Elder M. Russell Ballard, came to speak to us at the devotional. What's an apostle, you might wonder? Well, just as Christ called twelve apostles in his time to preach His word and lead His church, God has called twelve apostles in our day for the same purpose. Cool, huh? This week, Elder Ballard blessed us that "your love for the Lord will be accelerated and grow far [bigger] than you imagined, as you serve Him." Isn't that so true? That the best way to come to know the Lord is to serve Him?

Check out this sweet picture I saw on the wall of the MTC! Gotta love prayer! I don't know about you, but when the supreme, all-powerful creator of the universe tells me I can kneel down and talk to him any time, any day about anything that's on my mind, I try to take him up on that.

Hope you have a lovely week!