It's Not Us. It's God.
June 17, 2013
What The DAD!? So, Father’s Day here is never the same as the U.S. Sadness to the max. BUT, this time I remembered to write something lovely about my father on earth. He is quite a guy. It seems as if all the spiritually strong men start to talk the same, no matter the language. Their newly-sagging cheeks give a vibrating fullness to their words, and I can’t help but see my father in all of them. GET BETTER SOON, DADDY! TEGAN LITTLE SUPER GUY! Pops out right before my eye! He’s so much bigger than I thought! And soon I’ll kiss him on the spot! Graduation for a Giant Tradition CONGRATS, BENJO, for “granduating!” Thought that day would never come! JKJK ENTER! Loves. Can’t wait to hang at your crib, TWOOO!!! Shout-outs I got a letter from a Singles’ Warder who put in an order for a Brazil jersey. The only problem is... which one does he want? I haven’t even bought myself one. But, yes. We’ve got a deal, Dan. TECK FISH’S brother has been in my mission this WHOLE time, and I didn’t even know it! SAY WHAAAAA??!?!?! Oh, I love track connections. GO TEAM! I thought of Jazzy when I found that piece of info out. AND I dreamed about her last night. I dreamed I was home and feeling weird not having a comp. Then I looked to the side of me, and BAM, there was Hermana Bingham. We were eating lunch at our boss’ house. She was chomping down on cereal, and I was eating cake. (Yes, only in my dreams do I eat sweets and COOKIES FOR BREAKFAST.) We were planning on secretly getting in the hearts of the family of our boss and baptizing their whole family because they also live with their aunts and uncles. There is a Mini Mik who is waiting for a letter from me in CRAYON. I haven’t forgotten. It’s coming. Mary Felshaw, thank you for all your letters! I feel like I got a letter from my grandma when you write. Yes, that is a compliment. Kelly Handy… You rock my world. Can’t believe Alexa is already home. And ANNA SCHLANT! I wrote you and never sent it. 0 for me. Rachel still wins. And thanks to my MOM, our Zone Lunch with El Presidente had a marvelous show of “painted” cookies for everyone to eat. The sad part was the cheesecake box The Diller gave me never set... boo. So, we had painted sugar cookies and cheesecake goop. Yumsey! Favorite Quotes
When W was getting confirmed, I sat by his wife, Z’s, side. When André (my favorite counselor and potential future bishop) said, “Receive the Holy Ghost,” Z said, “Amen, I hope this relieves him of his anger.” They have been improving, that spicy bickering couple. It was so cute to see them dance a tiny bit for the Dia dos Namorados [Brazilian Valentine’s Day] ward party. They even posed twice for a kissing picture. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the only true power capable of uniting families not only for this life but for the life to come. When Guilherme got confirmed (again by André), he sat next to me and said, “Ele virá padre.” It was SO hard to keep reverent. What Was God Thinking?! So as you may have picked up on, we—as sister missionaries who work with, baptize, and reactivate families—have turned out to be family psychiatrists. HUH?!?! Only the true gospel of Jesus Christ can transform inexperienced single adults into family counselors in order to resolve problems and do it with a commitment for eternity. Secret: it’s not us. It’s God. |
Likable Leaders
I haven’t talked much about my LD lately. Elder Saigh is Jared Dominguez, Recife style. He made my planner with a picture of President Lima in a top hat. Not gonna lie. He’s great. Know why? He has baptized 2 families, gotten the frequency of the ward to skyrocket to almost 100 (it was 60), and there are some YW [Young Women] leaving for missions. Moral of the story: Successful missionaries get YW to serve missions. The. End.
Prayer
One thing that really makes my mission is teaching people who have never prayed or never prayed out loud or have never prayed with their own words. I have never described the power that first prayer is. God listens.
Prayer is the key that opens the portal to God. He not only listens, He answers. Don’t do ANYTHING that would jeopardize your worthiness to have that portal open at all times.
I haven’t talked much about my LD lately. Elder Saigh is Jared Dominguez, Recife style. He made my planner with a picture of President Lima in a top hat. Not gonna lie. He’s great. Know why? He has baptized 2 families, gotten the frequency of the ward to skyrocket to almost 100 (it was 60), and there are some YW [Young Women] leaving for missions. Moral of the story: Successful missionaries get YW to serve missions. The. End.
Prayer
One thing that really makes my mission is teaching people who have never prayed or never prayed out loud or have never prayed with their own words. I have never described the power that first prayer is. God listens.
Prayer is the key that opens the portal to God. He not only listens, He answers. Don’t do ANYTHING that would jeopardize your worthiness to have that portal open at all times.
Love you. I just might not wanna come home.