So this week was a bit different than others, we decided to do a lot of work with the active members and less actives in our branch and it was incredible.I was reading in preach my gospel the other day about how important members are to this week. There is a quote by President Hinckley that says something along the lines of "the days of tracting are over. The time has come for missionaries and members to work hand in hand". Let me attest to that; when we have the support of a member coming with us to lessons, or caring about our investigators, or going out of their way to see how these people we are teaching are doing, we have so much more success. One of the ways preach my gospel says to do this, to gain this member trust, is to serve the members here.
When Hermana Hardy was here last transfer, we were able to build a lot of relationships with the members, but since Hermana Smyth has gotten here, those relationships have just increased and increased! We love these people so much and it has been so much fun to get to serve them and become a part of their families. They are so kind and inviting. So this week we did a lot of visiting them and helping to prepare them for conference, teach them gospel principles, and really try to get them reved for missionary work. I can remember how scary missionary work sounded before I came on my mission. The thought of talking to a friend about taking the lessons and coming to church freaked me out. Now, obviously, I have learned the best ways to do it. I have learned the importance of talking to people about what we know. We could be the one person these people have, that can give them a chance to hear this message. Don't you dare let that opportunity pass by you.
On Wednesday night we had dinner with one of the women from our branch. When we got to her house, she still needed a few things to finish dinner so we walked over to the grocery store across the street. She only speaks Spanish so of course we were speaking with her, only in Spanish. Let me tell you, the looks on peoples faces as two white girls walked by rattling off a full conversation in Spanish, was hilarious! We were dying! I just wanted to pull my camera out and take a video. People were doing triple takes. It was so much fun. Honestly, learning a language has been one of my favorite parts of my mission because it opens up doors for so many different opportunities and friendships. Sometimes I will sit and think and realize that I have a relationship with this person that cant speak my own first language. But because I have been given the opportunity to learn, I have been given the opportunity to love more too. I love it. So anyway, we got the food and headed back to her house. She had some sort of meat cooking in the crock pot and it smelled delicious. I was washing my hands and the Hermana was talking to Hermana Smyth. Suddenly Hermana Smyth turns and looks at me with the most horrified look on her face. I asked her what was wrong, and she said "tongue... we are having tongue tacos tonight." Well... she was right. The Hermana served us up tacos de lengua. Cow tongue. Oh my goodness, why couldn't I have been a meat lover before my mission. It would have made everything so much easier. Well, the taste was actually pretty good, but as usual, it was the texture that got me. Someone told me once that they had had cow tongue, and the way the women had prepared it was in a way that still allowed you to feel the taste buds... sick. Thanks goodness we had it shredded. I will count myself lucky for that.
This Friday we had a fun opportunity. The last Friday of every month, there is something called MLC which is for all the zone leaders and sister training leaders in the mission. Some sisters in New Mexico had to drive over the night before and stayed at our apartment. Sister Jenkins is training a sister named Sister Aleman, so the next day when Sister Jenkins went to the meeting, we got to have Sister Aleman with us all day. It was so much fun. She was asking us a lot of questions and it was just awesome for me to be able to see how I have grown, how I had those questions before, and as time has gone on, have been able to answer them. One of the things her and I were talking about a lot is how to gain a love for the people we serve. Hermana Smyth is so good at that, letting people know she loves them. That is something I have been working on trying to get better at. Sister Aleman was telling me about how she has met people that she really likes and that she thinks "I really really probably could love you". It was hilarious. She is such a fun girl! Well not too long later we were all laughing in the car talking about something and she said "I really really actually love you guys". Hermana Smyth and I were so excited! It was so much fun and we were really sad when we had to say goodbye. That's one hard thing about being a missionary. Saying goodbye to people all the time! All of these experiences were fun, but by far, my favorite was conference. Hermana Smyth and I were literally jumping up and down in anticipation. Conference is a totally different experience as a missionary. Maybe just because I have come so close to the spirit, or because I am thinking about these things 24/7, but it was just... amazing. I took 23 entire pages of notes haha but I still cant wait to get my hands on the ensign to re-read the talks. My favorite talk from all four sessions would have to be... well... all of them! I honestly cannot pick a favorite. But some of them that stand out in my mind and that I really felt answered questions for myself, were President Uchtdorf's on Sunday morning and Robert D. Hales in the Saturday afternoon session. Exact obedience is something we strive for like crazy as missionaries, because "obedience brings blessings. Exact obedience brings miracles." and who doesn't want to see miracles haha. One things Elder Hales said that really stood out to me was "if we choose to disobey, it is because we love Satan more than God." No one disobeys with the mind-set "I love Satan so much, I am going to disobey so that I can get closer to him", but in reality, that is exactly what happens when you disobey. Something that stood out to me from President Uchtdorf's talk was when he talked about endings. He said "endings are not our destiny... endings are merely interruptions... there are no true endings, only everlasting beginnings". I can barely describe my feelings with these talks, the only feeling I can describe is "fullness". Fullness of the spirit, of
love, or excitement to get out and work... so full.
I love you all so much and hope that you can continue to ponder on the words from conference. They will continue to bless your lives incredibly! Have a good week and remember... I LOVE YOU!
Hermana Lundquist