Monday, June 30, 2014
Christ is the fruit.......................June 30, 2014
Holllla
hola hola ladies and gents. I hope everybody`s week was swell! My week was
pretty great!
So, i
don`t think I have ever contacted so much in my whole mission. We`ve turned
into some machines. But you know what? I now like SUPER love contacting. I
liked it before, but now I like super love it. We kind of have made it a game
now. It`s awesome. And our companionship is seriously rockin`. We have things
we need to work on with being more diligent as a companionship, but we get
along fantastically and have great flow when we`re teaching!
Last
Monday, we went to Gabriela and Edita. Gabs wasn`t there at first, so we taught
Edita, but Gabriela`s boyfriend Cristian who`s a member was there for his last
night before going to military boot camp, so he sat in on the lesson with us.
When Gabriela got home we had already finished and Edita went to bed, so the
three of us started chatting in English (because Gaby likes to practice her
English with us ;)) And then, she started to tell us about a coworker of hers
who is absolutely AWFUL to her at work and says awful things to her about being
a member of the church. We asked her how long it had been going on, and she
said...four years. FOUR YEARS. And she just started crying and said in English
"I am so sad all the time. She is so mean."
My heart has never broken so much for somebody. I have never seen bubbly, happy
Gabriela cry. Ever. And then she said "And Hermanas....I really miss my
Dad. He would know just what to say." And she was just crying. We said
everything we could to comfort her. She said she didn`t know whether she should
quit her job or not and just start going back to school to live her dream of
being an English teacher, so we told her we would do a fast together with her
the next day to help her make a decision.
The
next night while we were doing our fast, she texted us and said "how are
you doing in your fast? Thank you hermanas. Thanks to you two, I have felt
today more love from the Savior and have brought myself closer to him. You are
my best friends!" It was really cool. No big amazing miraculous revelation
came, but it was just great to have her say that and to be able to help
somebody we love so much. She is still working on making a decision but she`s
doing great :)
Bummer
that Colombia beat Uruguay on Saturday....yeah, we all mourned. But you guys,
you have to see what happens to this place when Uruguay wins the last game of
the first round. You think 4th of July is big? Come to Uruguay during the World
Cup. When we won on Tuesday (yes, I say "we." I`m Uruguaya now.), the
whole world exploded with blue, yellow, and white. And they did parades. Like,
legit parades of cars and people and madness. And it`s kind of awesome for us
as missionaries, because it makes it so that the whole world is a lot happier.
You just have to walk past somebody and yell "Uruguay!" And they
automatically become you`re friend. I love their passion here. Don`t worry, I
guess I can be American again now that the U.S. is still kickin` there. That`s
pretty cool. Too bad Suarez bit an Italian and got kicked out of the Cup. We
probably would have won. Someobdy should tell the little dog Dandy that bit me
last week to stop teaching bad habits to professionals.
Yesterday
was seriously amazing. In a few weeks, we will be doing a musical type fireside
for the stake (in this mission, every stake is a zone.) So we had our first
rehearsal as a zone yesterday. President Bueno sat in on it, and then after
wanted to share a spiritual thought with us. So he started asking about some
scriptures that talk about fruits. Then, he read with us the story of Enos. He
focused on three things:
1.
Like Enos, we as missionaries have been taught by our parents, and we remember
those things now that we`re in the mission.
2.
Like Enos, we sometimes have internal conflicts with our own selves and the
adversary.
3.
Like Enos, that fight continues until our soul is hungry...hungry for answers,
hungry for forgiveness. We have this overpowering need to be filled with the
mercy and love of God.
And
then, he talked about fruits. And sometimes as missionaries, we focus too much
on fruits of numbers. Baptisms. Number of charlas. If we have leadership
positions. He is TOTAL capo, and even he said "In my misison, I never
trained. I was never DL, ZL, assistant, and I had way fewer baptisms than most.
This embarrassed me for years, even after my mission. But Elders and Hermanas,
those aren`t the fruits that matter. The fruits you should focus on are the
fruits of Christ. Your relationship with Him. If your soul can be satisfied by
His love. I promise you, if you base your whole mission off of numbers, you
will go home and the adversary will be there waiting, and he will pester you,
and in a few years, you`ll be inactive. I know it, because I`ve seen it.
Transform
yourselves into men, transform yourselves into women. When you go home, your
family and friends will probably be waiting for you at the airport. You`ll
celebrate. You`ll go to the office of the stake president. He`ll release you.
You`ll take off your nametag. You`ll leave. And who do you think will be
waiting for you outside? The enemy. He will be waiting, I say that without a
doubt. Base your testimonies and your missions on your own conversion. Bring
YOURSELVES to Christ. Everybody else will follow you later. Trust in him, and you
won`t falter. Do that, and you won`t walk out of that stake president`s office,
no longer a missionary, to face the enemy alone. He will be with you.
Let
Him satisfy your hungry soul. Get on your knees tonight, and ask for Him to
fill you. He will.
Elders
and Hermanas, look to Christ. Find Christ. He is the fruit."
I have
never felt the Spirit so strong in my whole life. Every single missionary in
our zone needed that. I needed that, so much. I think all of our souls were
hungry, and he helped. He said "I don`t know who need this message, but
just know that that is the fruit. You are doing okay. Trust in your
Savior." All of us talked about after how he talked about EXACTLY what was
in our minds and hearts. If anything, we said that us 26 missionaries here in
Artigas needed to be here this change to be able to hear that.
In
everything you do, look for Christ. Christ is the fruit. I love Him more every
day, ad I feel His love every day.
I love
you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana
Dolan
Friday, June 27, 2014
"contigo me voy de Paris"................June 24, 2014
That`s a song in Spanish....but it`s cool.
So, you guys, HERMANA PARIS HAS ARRIVED.
And I am pretty sure this is the most inspired companionship in the history of companionships. We just have way too much fun rockin` the streets of Artigas.
She came on Wednesday night so we`ve only been together for a few days....we love each other. Let`s hope we can be together two changes! I don`t want to leave Artigas. 2 changes isn`t enough, especially when time flies faster and faster :(
Because we were both waiting for our companions, Hermana Baca and I did divisions in her area on Wednesday. We found one lady who we didn`t think was a member but turns out she`s just super inactive and we think probably has alzheimers. She started talking to us about how she just always feels so sad and lonely because she is so poor and sometimes doesn`t have anything to eat, and she just started crying. We talked to her about prayer and about how her Padre Celestial is always with her. She said a really powerful prayer afterwards asking him for help. She told us thank you and asked that we don`t stop coming. Her name was Valentina. I am seriously so blessed, and seeing people like this with so little and yet with so much faith in the love God has for them is so humbling.
So Hermana Paris and I are working really hard to contact, just to set aside time to contact, because we need to find more people. Our area is SUPER small and most have already been contacted, but the Lord prayers hearts where ever you go. We have a lot to work with with our current investigators as well as our menos activos, but it gives us more to do :) Also PLEASE pray for Nelson! We passed by his house a gazillion times all last week and he wasn`t home and then we found out from his neighbor that he`s in the hospital. Please keep him in your prayers!
But despite all that, this week has been great! I`ve learned more than anything in the mission, that every day is simply to be enjoyed. Even when you wake up knowing you`re going to be contacting, knowing no members are going to go out with you, knowing that appointments are going to fall through, knowing that nobody is going to want to listen to you, if you can love God, love the people, love your companion, and love yourself, AND love to laugh....every day is super enjoyable. Hermana Paris and I are going to enjoy the crap out of this change and I know we`re going to see some serious miracles!
P.S. URUGUAY BEAT ENGLAND LAST WEEK. Maybe it would be bad for me to say to pray for them to beat Italy tomorrow....so I WON`T say for you to pray for them to beat Italy tomorrow so that they make it to the next round....I WON`T say it...
P.S. In Gabriela`s house where we were watching the game, they have this little dog named Dandy who is no longer so dandy. When Uruguay scored their second goal and we all jumped up and down and screamed, little bugger came up and beat me, right underneath the kneecap! And Hermana Paris got it all on camera, no worries. Haha ah man. P.S. We love Gabriela, so stinking much. We want to just be with her all the time haha. She is amazing. Fantastic. She brightens my day. She is the light of my life. Okay anyway.
I love this work, and I love the Lord! I know this church is true! I love you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan
So anywho, chau for now, folks!
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
change change chaaaaaaaaanges.......June 17, 2014
Hey
kiddos! So, unbelievable, but yet ANOTHER change has come and gone. I don`t
believe it. Time is going by WAAAAAY too fast. Way too fast.
So,
Hermana Sump is peacing out and going to Montevideo! She will definitely be
missed her in Artigas. And I`M TRAINING! Haha no, sike, I`m not training. But
I`m gettin`something even better!
HERMANA
PARRRIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSS!
Maybe
you guys remember who she is. I knew her in Colonia, we did divisions together.
And we are so similar, apart from she is smalltown Wyoming haha. So we always
talked about how we would tear it up if we ever got to be companions, and how
awesome that would be, but never believed that it would actually happen. So
needless to say, I screamed and danced when President called and told me I am
going to be with Hermana Paris. Best change evvverrrr!
I said
to Hermana Sump the other day, "why is it that Heavenly Father keeps
giving me what I want?" But seriously, gringa trainer, baptized a couple,
saw a temple sealing. HERMANA PARIS! You guys, I seriously have no idea why it
is that Heavenly Father keeps blessing me so abundantly. I just know that I
love Him. Speaking of, HAPPY FATHER`S DAY! I hope everybody took the time to
give some thanks to our Father Upstairs, because He is kind of completely the
best.
So
besides changes, this week was awesome!
First
of all, on Wednesday, Hermana Sump and I were with Florencia, when she says
"if someone wants to get baptized in June or July, what would they have to
do?" And we said "well who wants to get baptized?" And she told
us BRUNO. Bruno (the one who now calls me Fideo) wants to be baptized! He has
some things he has to work through to get there, but we are more than happy to
help him! Bruno is awesome. The most sassy 14-year-old boy. He told us the next
day that he has seen how much better Flor`s life is since she got baptized, and
he wants that. And it`s true! The Gospel really makes life better.
On
Thursday, we had a MISSION conference with BOTH missions! Both of the missions
in Montevideo were there! We did a conference with just our mission in the
morning, and I got to see EVERYBODY! And then we had all 500 missionaries of
Uruguay together to listen to Elder Robbins, from the Presidency of the Quorum
of the 70! And it was incredible. He talked a lot about the Spirit and how we
aren`t converted through the 5 senses, but through the Spirit. Then he read
Alma 5 where it describes the conversion of Alma the Younger. And he pointed
out something I had never noticed before, which is that in NO part did Alma say
that it was seeing, hearing, feeling the angel that lead to his great change of
heart. It was ALL the Spirit. So, there you have it. The Spirit is SO
important, and I am constantly trying to seek it.
Also
you guys, as you all know, the World Cup is going on right now. And here down
South, World Cup is a SUPER, but I mean SUPER big deal. So we`ve all been
wondering what the heck we will do during the hours that Uruguay is playing,
because nobody will let us in. So President Smith brought this up at conference,
and he says "So, I`ve been praying and thinking a lot about this, and I
think the best thing for you guys to do, is got to a member`s house that you
think needs your presence....and watch the game of Uruguay." !! You`d
think it was the Second Coming, the way everybody got so excited! So, we
watched that with Gabriela and Edita and Gaby`s boyfriend. I never watched
futbol in my life, and suddenly I`m walking around talking to the members about
"what the heck was Forlan doing" and "let`s hope Suarez can play
next week." Haha I`m a pro now. Unfortunately....Uruguay lost. Mostly
because Suarez couldn`t play and Forlan totally choked. But we`ll see how they
do on Thursday against England! It`s a lot harder than Costa Rica though, so
we`ll see....okay sorry I`m done now. URUGUAY. President Smith is so rad.
As
with every change, I really learned a lot. Hermana Sump and I learned a lot and
grew together and we saw miracles everyday. I am so excited to see what Artigas
and the Lord have in store for me this change. For me, and Hermana PARIS! Just
know that I love this work with all of my heart and I can`t believe how fast
time is going by. Say a little prayer that it slows down because I never want
to take this nametag off.
I love
you, I love you, I love you! Until next week!
Hermana
Dolan
Monday, June 9, 2014
"bueller, bueller....." June 9, 2014
My subject line this week is because all that came to my mind while thinking of a subject line just now was silence. So I responded to the silence with "bueller, bueller....." you`re welcome.
Sooo I hope everybody is just mighty swell this week!
Honestly, this week was great. Seriously no amazing crazy experiences, but it was still a great week because I`m in the work of the Lord.
We are working really hard to try and find some new investigators because except for a few, we had to leave several that weren`t progressing. But it`s been awesome because we`ve been talking to everybody!....and mostly finding references for other people. Haha.
But that`s one of the things i love about missionary work: you have the opportunity to talk to SO many different kinds of God`s children. Just seeing the smile on somebody`s face as they walk away from talking to you is enough to make your whole day.
Nelson is doing so well! Haha is is such a crazy little old man. We went to him with our ward mission leader, Sebastian, who is a TOTAL boss, and it was one of the most entertaining lessons I`ve ever had. Mostly because sometimes, Nelson just says funny things. And he for some reason thinks it`s hilarious whenever we pull out our agendas, and just goes into a fit of laughter. When we`re by ourselves we can usually keep ourselves together, but what made it worse was that Sebastian kept making faces in response and holding back from laughing....so that killed us too. Haha it`s always a good time with Nelson and Sea-bass! But at the end, we managed to pull ourselves together and invite a really strong Spirit, where Sebastian bore a truly powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. I love working with members, especially when you can just sit back and let them take the part of the work. All of the Saints here have such powerful testimonies with such a fire. I love it!
So I`m having the best luck in the world with health here in Artigas. Calm down everybody (mom), I`m fine. Saturday was just some serious serious stomach issues that kept me in bed all day. But RELAX, we went to the doctor, they stuck me with an IV, and I was good! Although, fun fact about Uruguay: they don`t know how to put in needles very well. Haha we`ll just leave it at that. But let`s just say that I LOVE the Hermanas that I live with, including my companion. Like, a lot.
Funniest story ever for the week:
We were with Florencia and her friend Bruno, and they had me say the closing prayer. We had shared with them a Mormon Message, and so in my prayer, I meant to say "we`re are thankful we could share this video with them." The word in Spanish for video is the same: video. And then the word for NOODLE in Spanish is this: fideo. So because Bruno is hilarious and already had me laughing, I couldn`t speak very well, and instead said "we are thankful we could share this fideo." And from there, the prayer was just...yeah. And now Bruno calls me fideo. Haha it was too funny!
So, that`s really it for this week. Sorry! Not too crazy, but always enjoyable. Because I`m a part of the greatest work on earth, in the best country on earth, sharing the best THING on earth: this glorious and marvelous Gospel of Jesus Christ. So, it`s joyful no matter what!
I love you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan
P.S. Changes are ALREADY happening again next week. Yikes! where did the time go? So my P Day once again is on Tuesday instead of Monday! Love you!
Monday, June 2, 2014
woooo!
"going to the chapel, and i`m, gonnnnna get ma-a-a-rried"............................June 2, 2014
Daniel and Elehem Alvarez and Franco
Montevideo, Uruguay Temple
Megan and her travel companion, Florencia
All is
well here in Artigas! But there is something else to be written today.
Before
my mission, a common phrase I told people when I talked about going 3 years
without seeing my sister for our missions, was "it`ll be worth it to help
other people to have the eternal family that we were born with."
Ever
since then, my main goal in the mission, more than baptisms, was that: eternal
families. Specifically, I wanted to be able to SEE one become eternal in the
temple of the Lord.
In
January, I got to Colonia. My second day there, we had a family home evening
with the Elders and a menos activo family. They were SO amazing. They had their
greatest desire as being sealed in the temple, but they weren`t going to
church. I remember crystal clear that night talking about how they would reach
their goal, and one of the Elders said "maybe it will take awhile. Maybe
when you do it, we already won`t be here in Uruguay. But either way, when you
do, we want a picture." From THAT moment, we started working with the
family more, and as we did so, I started to fall in love with them. And so I
started to pray, EVERY prayer that I said, that the Lord would permit me to be
there for their sealing. Even when I got to Artigas, I didn`t stop.
On
Saturday, I was IN the picture of the day that Elehem and Daniel Alvarez, and
their 2-year-old piece of perfection Franco, became a family for time
and ALL eternity in the temple of our God.
Zumeta
called me on Tuesday to tell me. Normally, the rule is that we can`t be there
for a temple sealing unless they`re our own converts. But, her birthday was on
Monday, and when President Smith called her and wished her happy birthday, he
asked her if there was anything he could do for her for her birthday. So she
took advantage of the moment and said "well President, I would really like
to go to Elehem and Daniel Alvarez`s temple sealing." And he gave her
permission! So she said "call him, see what he says!" So on
Wednesday, I call him, and this is how the conversation went:
Me:
Now President, before anything, I would like to remind you that my birthday is
in less than 2 months, and you can give me my gift now and you don`t even have
to worry about me for the rest of my mission.
President:
Hermana Dolan, does this have anything to do with that temple sealing on
Saturday?
Me:
President! You know me so well! How did you know?
President:
A dad just knows these things.
Haaaaaaa
so great. But the point is, if I could find someone going to Montevideo to travel
with me (since I can`t travel alone), I could go. Luckily, FLORENCIA was
anxious to visit her sister and also do baptisms in the temple.
So it
all came together, and after months of pleading prayers, my prayer was answered
and my dreams came true. And even better than that, Elehem asked me to be her
escort in the Endowment. Such an honor that I didn`t anywhere near deserve, but
one I am so grateful for. Elder Castellanos was Daniel`s. Her parents couldn`t
make it and his family aren`t members, and so us missionaries were
their family that day.
It was
BEAUTIFUL. So beautiful. The first time I have ever seen it. I felt closer to
Heaven than ever before, especially as I could literally SEE them
glimpse the streets of Heaven as their family went from being
temporal to being eternal. Franco was so perfect. Daniel lost it and started
bawling when Franco walked in, all cute and dressed in white. He looked at his
dad and said "Papà, why are you dressed funny?" And then looked at all
of us and said "what are they doing here?" And then looked at his mom
and said "Mamà, why are you crying?" He was so perfect. They are so
perfect. GOD is so good, and so so perfect.
Florencia
and i had a great time together, and she was grateful to be able to do
baptisms. I love her!
And
yet another surprise: Brian and Angela went to Montevideo just to see me. Their
turn will be here all too soon to get sealed as well.
I KNOW
families are forever. I`m so grateful that I have mine for forever. I`m so
grateful that Daniel and Elehem, some amazing amazing AMAZING people-some of
the best I`ve ever met, who have taught me way more than I could have taught
them, is bonded forever, and I hope to do all that I can to make it to where
their going to see them again.
I KNOW
the Lord is always with us. I KNOW He answers prayers. I already knew that
before, but now my testimony has strengthened ten fold.
I KNOW
this church is true. And THIS is why I am here! Any hard experience I have ever
had in my mission is one hundred percent worth it for the perfect,
unforgettable days like Saturday.
It
still isn`t even real! I have done absolutely nothing to deserve all of the
bounteous blessings that the Lord has given me in just 9 months. But that`s the
infinite love of our Father in Heaven and our Savior: we are completely
imperfect, and we make mistakes every day, and sometimes we let them down, but
yet, for some crazy reason that could really only be explained with the love
they have for us, They never stop giving. They never stop blessing. They always
have more.
I know
this Gospel is true and I am loving every day; even the hard ones! I love this
work, and I love Uruguay.
And I
love you, I love you, I love you! Have a great week!
Hermana
Dolan
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