Elder Asher has this investigator in our area that he just
ADORES- a Mother/daughter set named Irma and Lucy. We have tried since we've
been here to contact them because Elder Asher said they were really ready
for the gospel and we could tell they really meant a lot to him. But we've
had no luck and they ignored us on two separate occasions. I had a random
thought that we needed to go visit them. Then the next day at District Meeting,
Elder Chica Vivas mentioned that Elder Asher wanted us to try again. Hermana
Toney didn't really want to (I don't blame her- they straight up ignored us
twice!) But I assured her that I knew it wasn't a coincidence, and that it was
a prompting from the spirit that we needed to visit her. Luckily that night we
had the car (because it was kind of out of the way and really dark), so we
figured we would go. We met with BOTH Lucy AND Irma and were able to share a
scripture with them! It was awesome! They are stellar, and some of the best
people ever- they are so prepared for the gospel at this time, and Hma Toney
and I are excited to work with them :)
....Funny story about that lesson, Hermana Toney was like, "Ok, well we don't have much time left- do you mind if we share a scripture?" They said yes and we got our scriptures out, hoping to find a scripture they would need to hear. The first scripture I opened up to was Moroni 10:32, which is a good one! I felt like that was a good one to share, but I thought I could find something better. So I started shuffling through to find a better one. A minute later, Hermana Toney nudges me and shows me the scripture she had felt to share- Moroni 10:32. HAHA Oops, spiritual prompting, sorry about that. But we shared it and they loved it.
- There is another Former Investigator family we have been
trying and trying to get a lesson in with. Hermana Toney felt like we
should go visit them, so we did. And the wife let us in! She confided in us
that she felt like the missionaries who had taught her before were pushing her
to baptism too much, and that she couldn't feel the answer from the Spirit that
the BofM was true. I felt for her, I really did- feeling the spirit is
something I've struggled with my whole life, and it hasn't been until the past
few months that I really felt like I've started to really understand it a
little bit. We did our best to help and are really trying to find out how best
to help her know that she is feeling the holy ghost.
- Yesterday at church, one of the trainers called me over and asked to talk with him and his greenie about how I learned the language (I got a lot of compliments on it yesterday- I'm so glad I'm improving!!!). After a couple minutes, I could tell that the greenie was really flustered and frustrated over the language. I felt so bad that he was feeling that way! So after listing off praying, practicing, learning verbs, listening techniques, etc, I just looked at him and said something like: Elder, you've been here for 10 days. Don't get upset at yourself for not being fluent right now. If the Lord needed you to be fluent now, you would be. So don't get frustrated because your not meeting unrealistic expectations. It will come. Just be patient and keep plugging away at it.
I'm not perfect at Spanish. Or Portuguese, for that matter. Far from it. But it makes me really sad when I see and hear of people getting themselves down so much about the language. Take it pasito a pasito. It will come. I promise it will come. Just keep moving forward and doing your best- the Lord fills in the rest, EVERY TIME. Trust me, Hermana Toney and I don't know enough Spanish to have some of the things happen that happen every day. And trust me, you learn it. And it comes out when it needs to! So just hang on, enjoy the ride and do your best because you'll get good stories out of it :) Ha
- Yesterday at church, one of the trainers called me over and asked to talk with him and his greenie about how I learned the language (I got a lot of compliments on it yesterday- I'm so glad I'm improving!!!). After a couple minutes, I could tell that the greenie was really flustered and frustrated over the language. I felt so bad that he was feeling that way! So after listing off praying, practicing, learning verbs, listening techniques, etc, I just looked at him and said something like: Elder, you've been here for 10 days. Don't get upset at yourself for not being fluent right now. If the Lord needed you to be fluent now, you would be. So don't get frustrated because your not meeting unrealistic expectations. It will come. Just be patient and keep plugging away at it.
I'm not perfect at Spanish. Or Portuguese, for that matter. Far from it. But it makes me really sad when I see and hear of people getting themselves down so much about the language. Take it pasito a pasito. It will come. I promise it will come. Just keep moving forward and doing your best- the Lord fills in the rest, EVERY TIME. Trust me, Hermana Toney and I don't know enough Spanish to have some of the things happen that happen every day. And trust me, you learn it. And it comes out when it needs to! So just hang on, enjoy the ride and do your best because you'll get good stories out of it :) Ha
- Ricardo got the Priesthood yesterday. YESSSSSS! The bishop
wants him to bless the Sacrament the week after conference. YESSSSS! Yay
Ricardo! ...Uh... err... Hermano Diaz. I have GOT to get better at that.
The Women's Conference was awesome! I can't wait for General
Conference. My goodness. Something about being on the mission just makes you
love and look forward to those things so much more. I LOVED that at women's
conference there was such a stress on baptismal covenants and keeping those.
Honestly, I never made the connection that something like helping someone
through a hard time is keeping my baptismal covenants! I had never really made
those connections before, so I'm looking forward to taking that and seeing what
else I can learn from it :) And our dear prophet... Oh man I love him so much
and am so grateful for him. He truly is a man of God, and I felt the Spirit SO
STRONGLY when he was speaking. That dear man.
(PS. To my dear young friends... Please enjoy watching
conference while you can. I did not fully appreciate the conference-filled
days of staying in my pajamas all day, having Mom's sticky-bun things for
breakfast, stealing Dad's M&M's all morning, eating who-knows-what for
lunch, eating more candy, watching football afterwards, eating who-knows-what
for dinner and doing it all again starting with dad's chocolate chip pancakes
and bacon the next day. Oh and the blankets and the couch and cuddling with the
dog. Oh man. Those were the days.... Now I watch them in a hard chair in a
skirt in a freezing room and I'm not technically allowed to eat candy in there.
Ha I still love conference! I feel the spirit! All I'm trying to say, children,
is enjoy the pajamas and couches and candy....) Ha :)
One of the highlights of being a pair of white
"Jesus Girls" in skirts in the Spanish-speaking south-side is
seeing the looks on peoples faces when I say "Buenas tardes, como
esta?" to them in Mexican Spanish. It makes my day every single time
without fail haha :) Because we'll walk by and they'll just be looking
at us so weird like "what are you doing here" and then we smile
real big and say "Buenas tardes, como esta?" And they LIGHT UP. I
LOVE IT haha :)
My Spanish is getting better- pasito a pasito. I learn
things here and there and I try really hard to pick it up. I can understand a
lot of stuff now and can hold my own pretty well. I spend my personal study
time studying in Spanish (Libro de Mormon, Predicad mi Evangelio, etc) and work
on conjugations and sentences with Hma Toney for half of language-study time.
The thing I get the most comments on is my accent. Apparently I have the accent
down really well, and sound like a Mexican. Except one person this weekend said
I sounded Colombian....
Because I'm just so hilarious, let me share a 'quote of the
week' with you all:
If you live within a 5-mile radius of my alarm clock, it's
no surprise that I struggle waking up in the morning. I always have, and I hate
it. Every morning, I wake up to my alarm clock at 6:25am, but I don't get out
of bed until 6:36am (for some reason it is ALWAYS 6:36). Gosh dang.
Recently it's been a goal of mine to do better at that,
and Hermana Toney has offered to help because she's really good about that.
The other morning (as always), my alarm clock went off, I
groaned, moved around, started falling back asleep and she came over and
tickled my foot. Then she said, "Levantate!"
Then I rolled over, groaned some more and said "You'd
have better luck with Lazarus..."
Who would've known I would've been so good at Biblical humor
that early in the morning?? :) haha I crack myself up sometimes...
I think that's it for this week! I wrote a lot. Wow. Ha hope
y'all enjoy at least some of that! Being on the mission is a blast. I love it.
Adventures every single day. It's work! It's not glamorous. But it's important
and rewarding, and we see that every day.
I know the church is true. I cannot express over email how
excited I am to see conference. We have modern-day leaders, prophets and
revelators. What a blessing! And we get to hear from them this week! It's like
Spiritual Thanksgiving! I love it :)
I love you all and am always happy when I hear that you are
doing well and are enjoying whatever it is you are up to. I pray for you every
night. I love you so much :) Have an awesome week--
Love Always
Hermana Walton
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