SO! I'm just gonna make this
briefish but I have had a great week! :) SO! Actually it started off yucky. The
weather here has been INSANE. It was like 30 degrees and snowing one day and it
actually snowed like 4 inches which is UNHEARD of around here. Then the next
day it rained and ice stormed...let me tell you ice chunks blowing at your face
are kinda painful. Then yesterday it was back to like 65 degrees! It was
beautiful...I don't understand Oklahoma sometimes haha. But other than that we
just had to adjust our traveling and most of our appointments got canceled but
we made do! :) I finally broke down and called President Shumway and told him
about the hard time I’ve been having in Talihina and how I felt and can I just
say....I KNOW I came to this mission to learn and serve with President Shumway.
He is the BEST mission president ever and I love him a lot. I asked him if he
had a minute and he said "For you, Sister Moreno, I've got more than a
few" :) aww haha then I just poured out my soul to that guy and he just
totally validated how I was feeling and at one point he shared with me this story
He said that it reminded him of me.
God called a man over and asked him to push this HUGE boulder at the base
of a mountain. The man said ok sure! So he pushed and he pushed and he pushed
day after day and the boulder wasn't budging it was hundreds and hundreds of
pounds. Well one day the man threw his hands up and said "I'm done! I'm
not pushing this boulder anymore! It's not going anywhere and there's no point
in trying to move it cause I just can't do it." And then God came over to
him and said "You've done a great job! Look at how hard you've pushed!
You've done everything I've asked you too. I only asked you to push the boulder
not to move it and now look at the muscles you've gained"....:)
SO! Moral of the story is, sometimes we misunderstand God's plans or
expectations of us and we don't realize we're doing everything he asked. I've
really wanted to make some BIG changes here in Talihina, and I have been able
to do a lot of good here but perhaps the BIG changes are meant to happen to me.
I honestly have changes so much since being here. I can't say exactly how
but I've felt like I've been being molded my whole time here and I'm just
grateful for the realization and reminder that President gave me of the power
of endurance. Plus! He also gave me some ideas on what we can do here in
Talihina and that it was all about service! We've tried to do service ever
since I got here but it was winter and there wasn't really anything in the
community to do...we asked...everyone haha but now there are! We, in one day,
were able to get set up at the library to help with the upcoming Easter egg
hunt, the visitor's center's open house, the Wilburton Recycling center and
another thrift store in Wilburton. We talked to the chamber of commerce, the
city hall, the catholic churches in both Wilburton and Talihina and it just
feels good. I know that good things ARE happening here and that just because
the work is slow, doesn't mean it's not going forward. There have been GREAT
things happen here including getting some less actives to return, getting
different members to go on exchanges with us...actually just the fact that we
got members to go on exchanges with us is HUGE, getting welcomed into the
Veteran's colony after them shunning us at first and even having an
investigator out there! Not to mention our 3 baptisms with the greens and them
getting the priesthood and me being able to stay from the beginning till now
with them especially through Bella's cancer treatments. I don't know. It's just
been good and my time in Talihina so far has truly shaped me into someone else,
but someone I hope the lord can be proud of. Thank you for all of your prayers,
letters, and support! They are GREATLY appreciated!
Love you forever
Sister Moreno
PS....I've been here about 4 months
:) Math was never my strong suit
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