Hey hey hey little turkeys!
I sure hope everybody`s Thanksgiving was swell and that you all ate enough mashed potatoes and gravy for me! And before you say yes, remember, I eat a lot. Of course, that`s in the States. Here, there are members who literally every time I`m in their house say how little I eat. Even if we`re not even there for lunch, we`re just talking, they say I don`t eat much! I promise, nothing`s changed. except for the standards of eating in Uruguay.
Sooo anywho, onto this week.
I won`t lie, this week was definitely one of the rougher weeks in the mish.
Mostly it didn`t feel super productive. Lots of visits to menos activos, but very very VERY little with investigators. We still haven`t had another lesson with Natalia. We still haven`t been able to see Carol (although we do have a lesson with her tonight. Fingers crossed.) But there was another thing that made it hard. We were at the house of the first counselor in our Bishopric on Thursday, when his neighbor came by to borrow something. While they were talking, the wife of the first counselor told us that they are a really awesome family and we should teach them. Then they introduced us to him, and we found out that he is actually a member but just completely inactive. He even said he lived in Utah for awhile! He said he`s not sure he`s interested in coming back, but if his wife is then we can teach them. Then we figured out who is wife is; she`s this woman who actually came up to us a few weeks ago and siad "oh you`re the Mormons!" And was super nice and great and said we could come back, but we hadn`t yet. So immediately after being at their house on Thursday, we went to their house. She was there, she remembered us, and we set up an appointment for Friday. We were so excited because they were both SO great and she especially was SO receptive!
Then we go back on Friday, and she immediately comes out and says "I don`t know what I said to mislead you, but I`m not interested." So in less than 24 hours, she went from completely receptive to not at all. So just on top of everything else, that was really hard.
BUT there`s always good in every week, even the rough ones!
Monday we FINALLLLLLY were able to do a family home evening with the familia Franco. They`re members, and the husband and wife were even sealed, but the wife is completely inactive now. No one knows why. The husband is SUPER great nad has been wanting us to be able to teach them for forever, but his wife has never let us. We were finally able to! He told us his conversion story (so powerful, and he even named one of his sons after a missionary.) We watched the movie called The Testaments, which we didn`t get the chance to finish, but we`ve got another time set up for next week. Hopefully it goes through, because that last moment in that movie is one of the most powerful movie moments I think I`ve ever seen!
On Wednesday, we went over to Yeny`s house. She fell earlier in the week and her leg was really bad. She was walking with a limp, poor lady. So we went to her house with two men in the ward so that they could give her a blessing. While they were there, Yeni suggested that they give her daughter Kati a blessing. Kati is in her thirties and we`ve taught her a little bit. Her boyfriend is a member and he is really great about being bold and talking to her about the church all the time. He`s basically doing our job for us, he`s awesome! But she is pretty stubborn and always has some sort of doubt. She`s also had one health problem after another, so the men gave her a blessing. And she started crying. Kati, tough Kati (who still intimidates me quite a bit but is super great), started to cry. Wooo Spirit power! Way to go Heavenly Father! Richard bore a really powerful testimony after and talked about his time after his mission when he fell away from the church because he was angry about things that happened in his life, like not being able to find someone he wants to marry. And now he`s found one, and realizes all he wants is for the two of them to have a family in the Gospel. Holy amazing! The Spirit is amazing. We went back on Saturday and managed to catch Richard and Kati alone, and were able to teach them a really great lesson. It`s going to take a lot of time with Kati, but she`s finally moving forward!
Soooo Thanksgiving! Pretty much the same as every other day. Lunch was vianda from the Bishop (that`s where you just go pick up lunch and eat it at home), and it was fish milanesa and rice. Not quite turkey, but I always love my milanesa! Thursday is also always the activity us missionaries do for the youth, so since me and my comp were in charge, we had the activity be making little paper turkeys and writing what you`re thankful for. Then there`s a ping pong table in the building, so we played ping pong. All of the little turkeys the kids made were so precious! They gave me a couple of them, and I`ve got them in my journal. The one Sol made was so sweet. One of the things she wrote on her turkey was "I`m thankful that there is always food on the table." She`s 9! What theeee. So special.
Another funny thing is this girl named Yesica. She`s...well, she is so so so so so so SO hyper. And very much in personal space, which is fine....except for with the Elders. Hahaha the Elders are so scared of her because she always tries to jump on them. Poor Elder Lufi always goes "awww, freak man" which is his favorite English expression. Probably not as funny for ya`ll as it is for me, but just trust me when I say it`s pretty dang funny.
Also, time for my derp moment for the week. Which we should just start calling my "Hermana Dolan" moment. Okay, so remember Carlos, my favorite menos activo who always wants to hear a joke in English? Hahahaha okay, so....gosh I`m laughing just typing this....so I said the opening prayer at a lesson with him on Saturday. And I says "we`re thankful we get to be here with Hermano RUBEN" and then immediately realized my mistake and said "I mean Carlos!" All three of us started laughing, and I just laughed my way through the rest of the prayer. Hahaha Ruben? What the....? So now when he`s seen me he just points to himself and said "Hermano Ruben." Hahaha so funny. I haven`t had a prayer that laughy since I was in the CCM with my goofy comps. But mostly it just reminded me what family prayers in the Dolan household are like. HERMANA DOLAN LADIES AND GENTS.
Despite how hard this week was, I had a really special moment while I was praying on Saturday night. I felt like I was failing people in Rivera, Hermana Goode, and my Heavenly Father. I kept thinking "when am I going to feel like I`m doing enough?" So that night, I said the most fervent prayer I have ever prayed. I plead to my Heavenly Father to tell me if I was doing enough. I begged to feel his love, because I felt so small and I needed more than ever the power of his embrace.
Immediately, the words to the song "I Feel My Savior`s Love" came to mind, a song I hadn`t thought of since before I left. One line in particular stuck out to me:
He knows I will follow Him
Give all my life for Him
I feel my Savior`s love
The love He freely gives me.
As I heard the words "He knows I will follow Him, give all my life for Him", they were accompanied with other words "You ARE giving Me everything. I know. It`s enough." And immediately I was consumed with the love my Savior freely gives to all of His brothers and sisters. We are asked only to give everything we have. And the beautiful part? Even when you fall short, His love is still there to be freely given to those who accept it. How thankful I am for that love!
So kids, there`s my week. Hopefully hopefully hopefully, we actually have a date for Carol next week. We`re nervous that she`s been gone and we haven`t been able to see her, but we`ve got a lot of faith in her, and we know she`s ready. Don`t you worry about me! I`m still a goof, still freaking funny (in my so VERY humble opinion), still clumsy, and still in love with Wendy`s, even though it doesn`t exist here. Still very much the same, but changing in all of the best ways as well, thanks to my Father in Heaven and the people here! And still, I`m happy!
Thank you all for all of your support! I hope you have a great week! Keep your chin up and your knees dirty, and remember, His love is FREEEEEEEE!
I love you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan!
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