It is Saturday and also my P-Day and it has been so nice to walk around in sweats all morning! :) Thank you Mom and Cass for the letters! It was fun to get mail/email. Mom I sent you letter in the mail Tuesday afternoon so I don't know if you've gotten it yet but if you haven't it's coming. Things have been crazy here. The first day seems like a bagillion years ago. I swear it feels like I've been here for 3 months! Not in a bad way but the time here is so different. We have class and meetings ALL day long BUT! I LOVE my district and my companion and that's who we spend all of our time with.
Oh my goodness! Ok so Mom remember before I got out of the car I was like "I hope I get a cool Samoan companion at some point"? Well, haha I walk into my class after I got my name tag and what not, and this cool Samoan/ Tongan (She's both) shakes my hand says she's my companion!! My jaw just dropped cause I was like oh my goodness Heavenly Father thank you so much she seems awesome hahah! :) And she is. I turned to her like 5 minutes into class and I was like " I have so much t;o tell you" and she was kinda taken a back and I'm pretty sure I weirded her out at first BUT! It turns out we have a TON in common!! We both brought a gross ton of gum and we have the same lotion and the same sense of humor. We are constantly cracking up...sometimes too much haha. We also both feel like we're going to be humbled in some dramatic way because we're always making sarcastic comments about how the Elders aren't as spiritual as the sisters haha Ya....it's bad and we need to knock it off before we both are forced into humility hehe :) But seriously we just have a great fun time together and I'm REALLY hoping we get to be companions out in the field together. Oh ya! Her name is Sister Liahona Lavea (Love-ay-uh). By th3e way! I have the top bunk! Me the only girl in my room that is afraid of heights! At first I took it cause Sis. Lavea didn't really want it and I was like oh I'll be Christ like and deal with it. Later on though as we became practically best friends I was giving her a hard time about it and the first night there I wake up because she wacked her head on the bar of the bunk and shook the whole bed hahah I was like "that's what you get for choosing bottom bunk" :) Also she always beats me at rock paper scissors in role plays to see who has to be the missionary! IT'S OK! I'm getting more practice haha. Nah it's all in good fun. She is AWESOME and I love her. :)
My district: There are 4 sisters and 6 Elders in my district and I love them! THere's 4 of us going to Tulsa (Eld. Madsen, Eld. Burton, Sis. Lavea and Me). The rest are going to Charlotte North Carolina, which makes me sad because I love them so much! :( The two other sisters in or district are soooo great! They've helped me out so much with being exactly obedient. They seriously are some great friends and I've been so lucky to love my district and zone becuase we're together ALL DAY LONG. But it's great cause we're all good friends! :) Also! Elder Burton is sooooo cut3e! He's like a little cute t3eddy bear guy! He looks just like Elder Jake CHmabers.... when he was 12 hahah! I tease Elder Burton all the time cause he's really quiet and yesterday we were all exhausted and just chatting instead of focusing and the teacher came in and told us to use our time wisely and I was like " I would but Elder Burton keeps talking and I can't focus" HAHAHA oh goodness. He turned bright red and I felt really awful because he was so embarrassed! I was like " I'm just kidding Elder Burton! I'm the loud mouth I'm just glad you're talking cause I'm, your friend! " Haha I think I slightly terrify him, but honestly I've forced him to be my friend and we get along great. :) In our zone, there's 4 more sisters. Three of which are going to Tulsa and two of which are from Idaho! Crazy! Tulsa must love those Idaho girls :) We're not as close to them but I also love my zone. We have church together on Sundays in addition to Zone teachings which are a few hours a day, everyday. Speaking of Sundays, I got a calling! I am the branch Music coordinator! Fun! :) It was kinda weird yet totally because of Heavenly Father that I got it because all of my district knows I love to sing but I hadn't told anyone in the branch presidency so that was revelation for sure. I'm excited :) And also me and my sister roommates are going to do a musical number for a big meetings next week. Yay! Well...we have to audition first but I have a good feeling we'll get it hehe. THey are soooo talented. I'm so happy I've had so many opportunities to sing and have music in my stay here cause it makes me feel at home.
Well, in addition to all the amazing people I've met I've learned so much! Holy cow. The first day here is was a total fog, and it seemed like I was going to be doing this FOREVER and it seemed like too much. The second day I was feeling discouraged cause there's so many people here that feel super confident with teaching and I do not. But yesterday was good. It was sooo long but I learned so much. I had so many lightbulb moments. I realized my purpose is the doctrine of christ! You'd think that'd click in my mind but it didn't. 2 Nephi 31 is the whole reason I'm out here. I am not going to Oklahoma to teach people lessons. I'm not going to Oklahoma to simply get people baptized. I'm going to Oklahoma to bring people closer to God. As I was teaching one of my "investigators" I had to truly stop and think what about this gospel, what about this church makes my life better. This investigator was raised catholic and so he prays all the time, he feels he has a great relationship with God and he's happy and connect with his life. Why would he need the gospel of Jesus Christ? What does the church have to offer him that he doesn't already have.....the doctrine of Christ. The steps of Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. Those steps to becoming truly happy not only in the life to come, but here on Earth. Because of the doctrine of Christ I have been able to change. I have been able to become something more than I ever could be without the help of the Savior and his atonement. I am soooooooooooo far from perfect, but because of the Doctrine of Christ I am able to change everyday and become better than I was the day before. In addition to the doctrine of Christ, I also studied a lot about receiving revelation through prayer. This is obviously a HUGE part of the mission. We have to pray and recive revelation for ourselves, our companions, and mostly our investigators. We MUST have the spirit with us to know what to teach people or else we're just spouting out random stuff that won't affect them whatsoever. And as I was reading in Preach my Gospel about prayer I was completely focused on Lucky (my investigator) and how his prayers should change to grow closer to God, I juist felt this surge of love from my Heavenly Father for me. Since I've been here my prayers have changed. I've become more formal and general, because I used to pray to God like he was right there with me, but becuase there's so many really righteous people around me I felt like I should make my prayers more "intellectual and spiritual" but at that moment it was like Heavenly Father was talking right to me. I just felt that he really loves me for me. He wants me to stay me as a missionary and to keep that relationship with him. Not only did I feel his love, but I also knew at that moment that he specifically and literally picked me to be his companion. That was an amazing feeling. I felt so comforted in knowing that I am needed and here for a reason. I love my Heavenly Father so much and Even though I don't know everything, I'm learning. And I know enough to help people come closer to Christ and to God. That is my goal. I also know that he knows every single one of you and that he hears your prayers. Try reading 2 Nephi 31 and honestly ponder what the doctrine of Christ has done to bless your life, cause the recognition of all the things you've been blessed with will blow your mind. :)
I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOO MUCH!! Please tell Emily thank you soooo much for the letter!! It was great to hear from her.....but I have absolutely no way of getting back to her hahah. I need addresses!! :) Tell Grandpa I love him! I talk about him all the time here :) Also loves to Erma, Nelson and Stevie, and Everyone! I tried to attach pictures.......we'll see how that goes:)
Love you forever,
Sister Moreno
No comments:
Post a Comment