January 09, 2012
I´m going SOUTH!!!! AGAIN!
For realsies this time I´m going to the end of the earth....the land of fire and BAPTISMS....
USHUAIA!!!
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE Tell Natalys Campos to write me, an email or something so that she knows I´ll be in Ushuaia. She is the only other sister that I know of that has served two times in the south! I love her and I know that she´ll have people she´ll want me to visit!
Seriously, we went to the despedida last night for the missionaries in San Fernando and when Hna Gulbrandsen came up and hugged me she just gave me this face....that usually doesn´t worry me but then I spied Elder Johnson (President´s secretary) behind her watching us and saw his very TERRIBLE poker face (same face he made when I was going to open an area and train) and knew something was coming. ¨I hope you´re packed¨, she whispered in my ear. NO! I´m not packed! Why would I? I´m NOT leaving! haha that was my initial reaction because I LOVE this area and LOVE my companions with all my heart. BUT the Lord has called me to go back south. THAT was a shock. The next amazing shock was that Hna Shelley, my dear sweet first trainee, will be my companion down there!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to know how she is handling this because I just can´t wait to fly down there and see her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! She called this week to make sure that some things get to her this transfer, a few little things she left. Had I known, I would´ve just packed them for her and taken them in person. Now I really don´t know when they´ll get down there.
This is just an insane thing that has been inhabiting my mind for the last 17 hours.
This past week however was full of wonderful, wonderful work by my wonderful, wonderful companions! We made a decision to follow with full faith and works to do exactly what President taught us last week. He invited us to have a goal of 5 investigators in church every week (because if they don´t go to church, then they can´t get baptized, and if they don´t get baptized, they can´t be clean and forgiven of their sins therefore cannot enter the kingdom of God soo.....we have to get them to CHURCH!) and to work on having at least 3 lessons with members present PER DAY. The key to the work is in working with the members! So in order to make sure we have 3 lessons go through, no failings, etc, we had to plan and set 5 lessons with member per day. We had enough lessons and plans to do splits 3 of those days and a wonderful sister that spent their days with us, along with great members that accompanied us to meet the investigators we have. We ended every day BEAT and with our heads held high because of the work that we had accomplished. But we had the wonderful result of 5 wonderful people joining our Sunday meetings this Sunday. I LOVE this work because it is the Lord´s work and He knows how to do it and He teaches us through our leaders and through the Spirit. I am so grateful to have been a part of this and I will love Congreso forever. So, so many great people here!!!!!
Word out to the Pinto´s since I didn´t get to see them and might not before WEDNESDAY when I fly down to Ushuaia: THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING and PLEASE take care of Hna Dunn for me. I love you both dearly and know we will be friends forever! We´ll play in Utah!
We had great miracles happen as we were working a lot with members. There was a fire that was lit and I have this great feeling that it will just keep building and building. A bonfire has to happen here in Congreso! The members, a LOT of returned missionaries, have been so grateful to us for including them in the work. That´s funny to me because we were so happy that they could help! We had another wonderful testimony meeting yesterday were the running theme was member missionary work. It was so beautiful to share that with them. We had Maria and Damian in Church. I LOVE Maria and can´t WAIT to see the pictures of her baptism. She is so prepared, so loving, has had wonderful experiences and continues with this wonderful desire to know more. She´s great!
Enrique, oh, Enrique. This wonderful man is so desperately in need of a spiritual recharge and an extreme thirst of feeling God´s love and guidance. He works like a mad man to provide for his family. He works an hour and a half away, from 2 until midnight, then weekends until 3 am, gets home two hours later, eats something and sleeps so that the next day he can do it again. He never gets to see his little baby boy and his girlfriend but they promised to make the time to go to Church yesterday. We called and called peeps so they could wake up and walked to Enrique´s house on the way to go to Church. We knocked and rang and knocked and waited but no one answered. As we were walking away to catch the bus, he walked up! We met on the corner and he was soooooooooo tired. We were walking around getting people at 8:45 and he had gotten home from work at 6 am. WOW! He hadn´t slept in forever. BUT he said, wait for me, he went and showered and changed and went to church with us! On the bus that we got on, this great, great family the Arroyo´s (who remind me crazily of Evan Petersen from Alaska and our Disneyland trip) and he immediately started talking to him and getting to know him more on the way to church. The family also sat with him in Church and everyone went to greet him. Poor guy, he was super tired and kept falling asleep but then another great member with a car took him home so he made it ok.
I have to tell you this great story too. It´s humorous! Last week, right after internet, we went to eat at our favorite street side grill. While we were waiting for the deliciousness to be made, a GIANT bird dropping landed RIGHT on Hna Dunn´s HEAD!!!!! It was huge and she just froze. I was worried she was going to puke because it got all on her arm and skirt too. I was laughing really hard but didn´t want to make her feel bad because I TOTALLY would have flipped had it been me. Hna Erickson got her arm pooped on a few weeks back I forgot to tell you, but she went immediately into action grabbing napkins to wipe the stuff off and get it out of her hair. haha
Ok gots to go. P day is precious and I won´t have another until Tuesday! Remember that, ok? No worries if you don´t hear from me until Tuesday because we´ve got zone conference with Elder Arnold of the Area Seventy on Monday in Ushuaia. I leave here on Wednesday at midday when we will also be receiving Hna Quispe who is Hna Dunn´s new comp and who was just Hna Whitehead´s comp in Gallegos!! Hooray!
Love you all, love the work. I bet many facebook birthday wishes will come next week so it´ll be this great drawn out experience. I got all the great packages you sent! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANKYOU!!! It´s everything I always wanted. LOVE EVERYTHING. Shout out to Brady and Thank you for the mountain of peanut butter M&m´s. I don´t think I’ll ever run out now :) haha and the greatest CD of the Nashville tribute to the Prophet!! YES! Hna Dunn has it but I didn´t I was really going to miss those great songs. Thanks a million!
I am so glad to be in this great work and the servant that the Lord has chosen to send to labor in Ushuaia. Happy to be out of the heat, though my heart is torn to pieces to think of this change. It´s so hard being a missionary and love, and be sad, and be happy, all at the same time. Just know that I am well, I am happy and joyous laboring in this part of the vineyard. Thank you for your support and prayers. I do feel them. LOVE YOU ALL! Have a wonderful week. Next week, I´ll be 23!! haha OLD!
Love, your missionary,
Hermana González
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