Well it is a whole new year. I am pretty positive that I will
never forget 2012....the year that the world was supposed to end yet I
made it all 365 days on the mission. I hope all of you were able to
reflect on what happened this past year as well as
I did. Ecuador goes crazy with their muñecos. Everyone buys or makes
these piñata type things and fills them with really loud fireworks. At
midnight the whole city blew up and then turned black with smoke. lt
was pretty exciting. Don´t worry--I was in
the house, but on the roof we were able to see everything.
Work hard in school, everyone. Just be grateful that you are all
able to study in such high-class universities. Our country is very
blessed to be able to provide such outstanding schooling to so many.
Take advantage of that blessing and soon you will
all be able to be a blessing to so many others with the rich knowledge
and prosperity that God provides to those who obey.
It is funny to hear that Tera got a new car. I was thinking about
that this week saying to myself that for sure someone has a new car by
now? Or a new boat? Haha, anyways congratuations Tera. You are an
official mother of two children with your new,
bigger car.
It was a pretty crazy week trying to get everything ready for the
baptisms...No resultó...One of the investigators had to work the whole
week and wasn´t going to be albe to attend church nor her confirmation.
Another one really had us going and hoping
all the way up until the last moment with the baptismal font full and
the members waiting. We both had to take a deep breath and try to
understand her and the situation that was presented. All is well. I
know that something in what happened had to do with
the will of God and we willl continue to sacrafice to be able to bless
our investigators in their challenges.
The members are really incredible. We have the chance to meet with
a lot of the stake leaders to try to help lighten their load. The
Stake Mission Leader´s name is Pablo Ceballos. It was like the third
time talking to him, but this time it was so different.
He sacrafices so much in order to magnify his Priesthood duty. His
calling involves a lot of time and organization. The only problem is
that the other leaders are not as dedicated nor punctual as he is. If I
were him, I would feel so discouraged and overwhelmed
by the load on my shoulders(and really, super, overly bothered by the
lack of respect of other people´s time) yet he treated the situation in
such a solid and confident manner that my feelings of resentment toward
others were taken away. My heart truly was
touched and I felt a whole new level of charity towards him--and even
towards his family. I asked if there was any way we could lighten his
load and all he did was look at us and share his testimony of the gospel
and the importance of the work we are performing
as missionaries. It was such an inspiring experience. I hope to be as
strong as he was when I am older with a "high-time required" calling in
the church.
What else...I am really happy. This gospel is incredible. I love each and every one of you.
