This past Tuesday, we had a new missionary training meeting.
I love meetings in general on the mission. I just feel so uplifted and prepared
and pumped after them! So naturally I also loved that meeting. I got to see the
midway missionaries again, and I got to see mi hija sister graham (she's doing
great training!) and I learned a lot about how to be a better missionary and
trainer and everything. The Woodburys two sons we there and they all sang a
song together for us :) I am so so grateful for the Woodburys. They are both
such wonderful people, and are working so hard on our behalf. Especially
president Woodbury- he is so in tune with the spirit and so on top of things.
There are a ton of missionaries he is in charge of, but he remembers each of us
individually, and you really feel that individual love he has for you. I'm
really grateful for that, because sometimes it's easy to feel like your just a
number lost in the midst, but I have never felt that way with him. And mom and
dad could never be replaced, but I feel like the Woodburys are my parents away
from home :)
After the New Missionary Meeting, hermana buys and I stopped
by the chapel to help the ward set up for their New Years party. We had to be
in early that evening though, so we left before it even started :P but hermana
buys and I spent the rest of our time making New Years goals based off the
meeting that day and what we wanted to accomplish during the year.
Hermana buys and I also read the "how to be a
consecrated missionary" talk by someone Caulister (or something like
that). It talked about how to be a consecrated missionary, we put EVERYTHING on
the altar of sacrifice, and it talked about things that you put on the
altar (pride, fear, romantic passions, etc) and how you do that. Hermana buys
and I used one of the boxes someone had used for a Christmas present and
labeled it as our "altar of sacrifice" and put little sticky notes of
things we wanted to put on the altar that we either haven't yet,or haven't been
good with. Ha we have a blast together, it's fun :)
I had kind of a unique experience with it because I'm at
exactly my half way point- it only goes downhill from here, and it blows my
mind how fast I feel like it's already gone (and I'm not even in Brazil yet!!).
Good stuff. It was really cool to take that time to reflect on where I was 9
months ago, and how far I've come. But also to look ahead at the
missionary/person I want to be at the end of my mission and see what I have
left to do or accomplish.
We were trying to find a less active in an apartment
building that we went to and on one of the doors we knocked, a guy somewhere in
his 20's answered. He talked to us in English, sooooo we carried on a
conversation in English, and asked about the less active. When we found that
she didn't live in that particular apartment, we started telling him about the
gospel and why we were there.
After a couple minutes, he pulled the "oh, you know
what, my English actually no is very good..." Card. (Wow, haven't seen
THAT one before! Classic...) so I simply smiled and responded, "oh, ¡perfecto!
¡Hablamos español también!" I wish I could've gotten a picture of the look on his face.
Hermana buys and I STILL talk about how funny it was :)
Yep, two white girls who speak Spanish. Can't pull that
card, mister! we talked to him for a minute longer and mentioned the Book of
Mormon. I saw the spirit touch him. It was so cool. It was like something
clicked in his mind about how there were people here who believed in Christ and
wrote down about him in a book, much similar to the bible. We left him a card-
he ultimately didn't respond with much interest, but the look in his eye was
undeniable. I know he felt the touch of the spirit and I hope he follows that.
Like I think I mentioned last week, hermana buys have been
inputting the data on our teaching records into our iPads. In doing that, I
found the record of a lady that just kind of stood out to me. She hadn't been
contacted in a couple years, so hermana buys agreed to go down and find her. We
went down earlier this week, and not only was she hem, but she invited us in!
We talked to her for a little bit- she had a lot of concerns and issues
and questions and trials. But it was so cool, literally every thing she
brought up could be answered with a scripture or with a gospel principle. She
touched on basically every lesson. We shared a couple scriptures with her and
left. At the end, she kept telling us how much she needed it and how we were an
answer to prayers, because she has been falling away from God and didn't know
how to get back. We are sooooo excited for her. She has so much potential and
such a desire, and the gospel can really help her. We are so excited to teach
her again later this week :)
It's been snowing a lot lately. Ha and getting pretty cold.
It's ok, though because I'm pretty much invincible in my purple sleeping bag
coat. Sunday was suuuuper cold. Ha almost no one was at church, and everyone
who WAS at church had a New Years resolution to bear their testimony in
sacrament meeting. Good times :) I hate trudging through the snow, so when I am walking
around in it and now one has shoveled, I do this dorky little bounce/run thing.
Hermana buys laughs at me, but hey, it's better than trudging. :)
I'm reading through the Book of Mormon still, like
presidents challenge! I finished the book of Jacob this morning. It's awesome.
I love the Book of Mormon so much. It's so true. :) I'm learning way more from
it than I ever have before- if no one has read through the Book of Mormon at a
faster pace, like eating chapters at a time, I would suggest you do- you get a
lot clearer picture of the whole thing, and it's awesome. I've been posting
what I've liked on Facebook.. :)
Well, I think that's it for me. I'm doing pretty well out
here- hermana buys and I are just laughing our way through. It's really just a
funny situation all together. But we love it :)
I miss you all and hope you all are doing well! Wish the
kiddos luck with school. Mom have fun with seminary starting up again. Dad,
keep doing your dad thing in your cave which is Apparently no longer as
cave-like as it used to be.
The church is true
The book of mormon Is so true
Love you!!
Hermanasicle Walton
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