You guys, literally every day the beach calls my name.
But for realsies, I cannot even describe to you how incredibly b e a u t i f u l Colonia is. And want to know something cool? On of the beaches, you can look across the river/ocean and see the skyscrapers of Buenos Aires. ummm, what up Argentina! We went to this place called Ciudad Viejo (literally translates to "the old city") which is one of the famous parts of Uruguay. Guys, SO pretty. I want everybody to come to Uruguay and see how pretty it is, because I don`t think anybody realizes the beauty of it. But seriously! So pretty!
Oh and by the way, H A P P Y N E W Y E A R E V E R Y B O D Y!
I rang in the New Year at the house of some members in the other branch. It was me and my comp, our Elders, and the Elders of that ward. It was SUPPPES fun. Also, we had permission to stay out until 10:30 again (holla!) but we could not get a taxi for the life of us and it`s too far to walk. So we got home....later than I have ever gotten home or gone to bed in 4 months. Haha yikes. But for real, the family was super great and the fireworks of Uruguay did not disappoint!
I also decided that I wanted to pick a word to focus on for the year. I did that last year, but this year needed to be super special because all of 2014 will be on my mission. The word I chose was L I G H T. Why? Because in the mission, I have started to see that everything is focused on this word. Light of Jesus Christ. Light of the Gospel. Light of the world. Light, light, light! I think of the word light, and what happens? My face LIGHTS up. Whenever I have felt that I am in darkness, the light of Jesus Christ takes away my shadows. I want to vanquish the shadows of others! I want to focus on that light myself. Notice the little miracles rather than look at that little shadow in the corner. 2014 is going to be BURSTING with light!
As for Colonia....
There still isn`t a whole lot to report yet. Our branch has 35 people on Sunday. The average is normally 25, so already that`s good! WE´re still trying to visit the members and figure out who the menos activos are and find ourselves some investigators. It is a LOT of contacting. But Hermana Zumeta and I set some goals, and we believe we can achieve them. One: this change, we want two baptisms. Two: This change, we want to find and baptize a family. Three: two achieve this, we want an average of 10 contacts a day. In total, 300 CONTACTS PEOPLE. But we are determined to do it, and we know that as long as we work hard and do our best, even if the Lord doesn`t have it in His plans for us to achieve our goals, we can feel good about ourselves as instruments in the hand of the Lord. Already I have seen little miracles hear. We have talked to some really fantastic people who are the little gems in Colonia who are open to listen to us, and we have lessons set up with them for this week. We also have the tourist spot of Colonia. That`s a lot of people who don`t actually live here, but that`s a lot of seeds for us to plant as we share the Gospel...that LIGHT... with them! This is also the first time in the history of this branch that they have had 4 missionaries at a time, and couple missionaries are coming in a few weeks. That will be 6 missionaries! I get the feeling that the Lord and President have big things waiting for Colonia Centro!
Anyway, this week was a lot of trying to get things going. Hopefully I`ll have more to report next week. But seriously you guys, Colonia is beautiful. And the great thing about talking to so many people is that my capacity to love is growing every day, as well as my capacity to trust and have faith in the Lord. Whatever He has in store for both me and the people here, I still don`t know, but we`re gonna hit the pavement, forget ourselves, and go to work! COLONIA IS A BEAUTIFUL PART OF THE LORD`S VINEYARD. I have already said that, but seriously, so beautiful. Beautiful in a way very distinct from Rivera. Every place in Uruguay is so unique. It`s amazing.
Forget yourself, and give it all to Him!
I love you all so much! Thank you so much for the support! Please keep writing, you don`t know how much it helps! I love you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan
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