Monday, January 5, 2015

Slug Bug Amorillo - Feliz Nuevo Ano!



Buen Dia!

Okay, I´m on a ghetto computer again, so mom, can you do me a flavor and send this to my weekly email group? Super sorry, but thank you so so much!

This week was a great one! Hermana Mercado and I feel like we have had 5 weeks together- who knows why! Maybe it´s cause we´re working hard haha or maybe because we´re already comfortable together- whatever it is I´m grateful for it! She´s the bomb.com. She has the habit of making origami swans every night so that on the streets or in lessons she can give them to crying kids and hopefully brighten their day. Who would have thought?!? haha it´s also an awesome example of how to use your talents to help others and to spread the gospel. I can´t exactly go around the streets playing my horn or trumpet and shouting "Hey! Listen to the missionaries!!!"... but... I´m sure I´ll find my unexpected random talent soon enough ;) She also has random talent for finding cars that look like VW Bugs, and proceeding to punch me in the arm... That shorty always finds them first! haha one day she was especially sharp at finding and decided to only shout out the color of the car, without punching- that was a good day ;) Don´t worry ya’ll, we don´t have companion abuse here in Trenque Lauquen.

I´m amazed day by day by the people that I get to meet and I´m so grateful for the opportunity that I have to learn from so many their great examples! Having lunch with one family this week, we shared a message about "member missionary work". They then proceeded to give us 10 references, faster than I could write! And then gave MORE! In the end, Hermana P told us- "I have Tuesday off of work, why don´t you come over in the afternoon and we can go around and visit these people." WOAH, WHAT?!?! That´s like, more than unheard of! How humble and wonderful are these people! It´s one thing to even give a reference to the missionaries, because the majority of people are afraid that their friends/neighbors/family are going to be angry with them. But to physically come with us to present us to their friends and neighbors, that´s just stinking awesome. I know not everyone has time to be able to do that, or not everyone initially wants to, but I think it´s awesome what this family is working on doing. They know that their religion is something that they love, and those around them know it too. To show their love for the people around them, they share something that they love with them! Really, this work can´t function without the members in the areas that we´re serving. And we're really just here to help the members be able to do it! There are a ton of ways to share the gospel too. Just being excited during the week to go to an activity, or to the temple, or to church, that´s sharing a lot! That´s showing that the gospel is something that makes you happy!

Basically, just be you. Whether you´re sharing the gospel or your love for collecting stamps, or whatever, nothing is more beautiful than a passionate person. Don´t hide your light under a bushel. If you love something, offer it to those you love or want to love! Pray for opportunities to do so! I know that you´ll feel better socially and spiritually by doing that- It´s hard, it takes getting out of your "comfort zone" a little bit. But we only learn by doing hard things.

We only grow by pushing ourselves. I´m learning that a little every day, haha and I have the responsibility and opportunity to invite people here in Argentina to do the same. To take a step in the safe uncertain to look for something more. If there´s anything that you want to know more about, anything that you want to say to someone (nice thing, thank you.), anything that you want to do (that, yeah, is a good thing), DO IT! :) It´s never too late, or maybe, it´s better late than never. There´s a woman who works in our apartment building that we pass by every day. I kinda always just thought that she didn´t want to talk to us or something. But FINALLY, after ashamedly way to long of waiting, my companion and I asked her her name and started to talk to her. And she was SO glad to have someone to talk to! We talked about her family and her worries and her hopes and her religion, and when we finished and she had to go to work, she said, "thanks for listening girls". It was like someone had punched me in the gut, but also taken a huge weight off of my shoulders. I felt so bad that it had taken me so long to ask her her name, but so good that finally; we could pass by a friend every morning, instead of just a nameless person. NEVER PROSPONE A PROMPTING. I had a LOT of tiny impulses over the weeks that I was here before that I should talk to her, but I feared "the norm" more than I feared God. My companion and I are working so that every good thought, and every good desire that we have during the day happens. Even when it´s as small as knocking on a certain door, or talking to a certain person. We´re learning, that even when the person doesn´t really want to hear us, or nobodies home, at least we can have the confidence that when God tells us to go a certain way, in a still small voice, we will go. And God can have that confidence in God too. I love the talk that I heard in the MTC that talks about people asking "How can I know if this thought is from God or from my own mind?" Elder Bednar responds, "QUIT WORRING ABOUT IT" If it´s a good thought, if it leads us to do good, it´s from God, because all that is good is from Him! Wow, I could really talk about this principle for a whole lot of time, going in depth and explaining all my thoughts and my testimony, but instead, I´d like to invite you to try it :) To decide to believe in your promptings and act without delay. And if you feel in your heart and mind that it´s something good, and study it out and practice, you´ll learn to recognize the promptings of the spirit. I don´t think that anyone on earth can really be completely perfect at this, haha at least, I know for sure that I´m not!!!

Happy new year to all of you! I hope you have a great year and the best week anyone can ask for. God bless you and keep you!

Love,

Hermana Hill

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