HEY FAM and FRIENDS!!!
I just would love to give you the low down on everything there is just never enough time!
Yesterday I really got to appreciate the GREATNESS of the area where I´m serving. Lots of great missionaries have come before us and the leaders here are always trying to do better, be better and work in the Lord´s way. We had a huge meeting (at 7 am.....blehh...) with all the bishops of the stake and the stake presidency and the missionaries to have...stake council. I LOVE it! They are so set on helping the missionaries that we have this meeting once a month to make sure that the wheels stay squeeky-free. We have great programs in the Church that have not been used as well as they could here but now that´s going to change. We had PRACTICES with the bishops and counselors to practice teaching the program of 5-5-5 families and we did them President Gulbrandsen/Preach My Gospel style so the practice, then evaluate and suggest improvements. So great!
Then at church we got to talk to a lot of great people. Our ward is the ´passing through´ ward. All the tourists, backpackers, etc. that have hotels and hostels here are directed to our ward for however long they stay. Yesterday we found out the name of the great Young Men´s president, Hermano Morency from Haiti. He´s here studying electromechanic engineering....whoa. Gives me the willies...I remember math....I had nightmares about it the other night....
Listen, trying to get to know a new ward is HARD. A lot of names, a lot of faces, callings they hold to remember...sooo much. So I’m actually really grateful for the weirdo talent I have to remember names and faces even just hearing it once. It also makes the members feel really special when we see them other places than church and we can greet them by name. They love us thoughJ
We had lunch with a GREAT, cute, cute couple yesterday. (I hope she reads my blog today :) Found a fellow blog stalker...I mean, lover;) They are from Brasil, he´s a returned missionary from the Sao Paulo....something mission. Dang I thought I could remember it but if Danny said it I would think it was the right one. It´s the Sao Paulo mission that DOESN´T have a compass direction in the name....anywho. SUPER great, SUPER cute couple. He´s the Elders Quorum President and she´s the Young Women´s President. Super busy being a newly wed couple and callings, working and studying medicine. I just love them. We were eating, laughing, talking (in THREE languages) and had a wonderful time getting to know this faithful couple. They both speak Spanish (obviously), Portuguese (another obvious) AND fluent English. My favorite part of the whole thing was that we were switching back and forth between Spanish, English and Portuguese (for them) and had a great conversation about the blessings of the gospel in our lives. It was so wonderful to also remember lovely American things like cheesecake and talk about how great cupcakes are. Hahaha long story..... Anywho, love them and am so excited to be working with them in Congreso! They were the ones who were telling us how excited our ward is about having sisters. It´s really hard to not get prideful when people are saying how wonderful sister missionaries are, how much they love us and appreciate the spirit we bring. It´s just because we are sooo beautiful, so great and so spiritual. It´s really hard to be a sister missionary :) hahaha JOKE. It´s such a great privilege and opportunity for which I will be eternally grateful.
Hna Diaz is from Peru, a returned missionary and also SO great! She opens her schedule for us to go with us to citas and invites us in her home and is so understanding about our diet. Not ON a diet but just the fact that we DON´T eat like Elders. Some of the sisters may or may not have been offended when we didn´t have seconds when the first plate was plenty. Boof. So this week we tried to repent for the offense that may have been taken BUT ended up paying for it with reeeeeaaalllly painful days. Overeating KILLED the spirit and made us run for the nearest bathrooms instead of being able to calmly talk with everyone around us. Poor Hna Shelley suffered worse than me so not even being used to the food yet and ALMOST had a True Missionary experience...Remember that thing Brady Bills told me about?.....yeah, NOT cool.
We had zone conference this week and the night before we were asked to prepare a 3 minute talk on Alma 37:37. Every missionary prepared and only a few were called upon to share what they had felt. My dear, lovely, courageous comp Hna Shelley was one of the lucky 4 that President called at random. She spoke all but two words in Spanish!!! I knew there were other trainers there but they all have Latin comps and mine showed her true colors as a ROCKSTAR! Love her. She did a great job and I was so proud. 3 weeks and we can already talk very fluidly. When we´re teaching about the gospel, she´s 100%. When we start asking about life, daily things like work, buying things etc....I start to lose her. The thing is, she´s gotten so good at PRETENDING that she´s understanding and sympathizing that I forget! Sometimes I´m just so impressed that she´s getting it but as we walk away she asks what exactly we were talking about. I make noises and faces that she follows when she´s lost the words for what we´re talking about. But she´s doing so great. I´m not even worried about her. She´s got great goals, high expectations and we are climbing surely to reach them together. I love her and am so grateful for her!!
Hey mom, remember how she was my blog stalker? She has one too. Her mom updates it like you. WE´re like the same person.
Ok, we have a lot of work to do. Today is spring cleaning and there are 20 dollar Toms on calle Florida (a super tourist souvenir street of great stuff.) with my name on them. Cleaning is super fun.....AFTER when you can enjoy the clean, non-man smelling apartment. We´ll get there. :)
Listen, I LOVE being here. I love you all and I am so grateful to know that the truth of our Heavenly Father is made known to us. And I know that this is the true Church, we have the restored gospel because of the love that God has for all of His children. I know that this is true without a shadow of a doubt. Not even the hardest of hearts, the most negative of souls could chip away at my testimony of the Book of Mormon, of the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ or of my divine role as His daughter. I love the Lord and I am grateful for my portion of the Spirit with which He blesses me as I strive to invite Him into my heart and into my life. This IS the Lord´s work. Hna Shelley and I are on His errand and we LOVE every minute.
It´s finally starting to be spring and warm and the ice cream is calling my name.....
I love you all!
Be good. Have a lovely week and ENJOY GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOOOOVE IT! I can´t believe it´s here again. We are listening to all the talks from April in preparation and we are inviting EVERYONE we SEE! Hooray! THIS weekend we get to listen to a Prophets voice!
Favorite talk summaries next week? yeah? Ok great!!!
Love you all!
Suzette does not want to know the count down, but I will show you!!
Hermana Gonzalez
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