This week has been one of the hardest weeks in my entire life so far. It was also been one full of learning, studying, teaching, and praying. We pray SO much. I now understand why Alicia was always wanting to pray before doing anything, because as a missionary, that is what you do. It's good though and I can now say my prayers in mostly Spanish. It's amazing.
So I have a lot to say and it's probably not going to be very organized but here goes...
First of my District is awesome and so is my teacher. We have 6 Elders and 4 Hermanas. All 4 of us Hermanas live together in 1 of 5 rooms in a casa or house. We get a long very well. The first night I asked if they would all like to sing a hymn before going to bed and they all wanted to. We've made this a tradition. My companion and I are going to Washington, and our roommates are going to Salt Lake City. All the Elders in our district are going to Lima Peru West. As a district we get along quite well. We have had some fun times, some hard times, and some very spiritual moments. Together we are growing as missionaries and individuals and it's incredible.
Hermano Soto is our teacher and he is absolutely wonderful. I'm so happy that I actually can understand the majority of what he says in spanish. He is always willing to help us with what ever we need, and continues to push us to learn more and more. The spanish to english/english to spanish dictionary I was given when I got here had become one of my best friends, along with the other books we've received to help us learn Spanish.
The weather here has been absolutely INCREDIBLE. It's always the perfect temperature and I love it. The food is equally amazing. So far I've enjoyed almost everything I've had. It's wonderful.
In the afternoons as companionships we take turns teaching an "investigator". We have to prepare ahead of time what we want to teach and then we let the Spirit guide us when we go into the lesson. This has indeed been one of the hardest things I've done here because the lessons have to be all in Spanish. Once my companion and I trusted more in the Lord though, things went much more smoothly and we were able to share what we needed to.
Something else we have to do each week is prepare a 5 minute talk in Spanish. On Sundays the branch president will then randomly/follow the spirit and call on several missionaries to speak. Guess what? I spoke on Sunday. It went well because I was prepared though. The talk was on commandments. In my talk I shared verses 26 and 27 from Doctrine and Covenants 58 which I really love.
Some other things I've learned...
You never have a second chance to make a good first impression. I really like this.
What you are is much more powerful than what you say. As a missionary I know this is true. It is your job to be a good person who can invite the Spirit into situations to to be able to be eloquent in what you say. The Spirit is always the key in inviting people to follow the Gospel.
I also want to testify of the power of the Priesthood. I'm so grateful to be able to receive priesthood blessings. I know that when we are in need, we can turn to our Heavenly Father and He will guide us and tell us what we need to know.
I hope all are doing well. Although I have had many ups and downs, I am doing really well and I'm grateful to be serving the Lord.
Until next week!
Hermana Brighton
