Mormon Missionary Mounts Motorcycle with Metalhead
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Flia Fernandez....... Me and Elder Bulloch are both leaving Artigas Barrio 2! Bulloch is going to be the new assistent. Funny story for the week: we were joking to Elder Bulloch that he better enjoy these nights of sleep because now that he`s assistent he`s never going to sleep again. So he gets this really dramatic look on his face and says "I`m gonna get old, and fat, and bald, and white." So we say "on the plus side, your wife can tell people "yeah, he was assistant." So Elder Bulloch says in a super femy voice "yeah, at least he`s a nice guy." and so now his new nickname is Grandpa. but at least he`s a nice guy.
There and Back Again: A Missionary`s Tale by Hermana Dolan.................July 29, 2014
Hey kiddos!
How was your week?! Good? Good? All good, everybody good? Perfect, that`s good.
I`ll just cut to the chase and explain the reason for my subject line choice, and why it is related to changes.
Ladies and gents, we have received changes and yours truly is headed tooooooooooooooooooooooooo
BACK TO RIVERA!!!!!!!!
Not. Even. Kidding. I am going back to the land of my birth! Well not EXACTLY, I`m not going to the ward Misiones (obviously). But I am going to Rivera Central Uno! According to President, it is one of the strongest wards in the mission and an awesome bishop. My companion will be Hermana Barrios from Argentina. She is also fresh out of training, so I will be another person`s second companion. I am so excited! I am going back to straight Portuñal. Rock and ROLL!
Okay so on to this week:
So I think I had mentioned briefly before this fireside that we were going to be doing. I know that a fireside kind of sounds like literally any old thing to us from the States, and especially to us folks from Utah ("the factory" as people here call it), but it`s actually something that had NEVER been done before in Uruguay. Especially something this big. we played some Mormon Messages, had some SUPER rocking testimonies from recent converts and people who were less active who have started to come back to church, about 8 musical numbers from us missionaries that we`ve been practicing 3 times a week for the past month, AND of course President Smith came and spoke. It`s something new that President Smith wants to start doing in every zone every six months. In a couple other zones they had just done it recently, but here in Artigas it was our first time, and then we also got to go to Salto on Sunday to do it with their Zone.
You guys.....I wish I could explain to you in words how unbelievably and indescribably amazing and life changing this thing was. I mean seriously.....amazing. It was amazing for us missionaries, but it was even more amazing to see the way that the words of all the messages, as well as the power of the music, were able to bring the Spirit in a way that it could touch so many people`s hearts that night. We watched people leave afterwards with faces stained with tears of joy. We all felt like the words we were singing weren`t our words.
And amazingly, we got to experience it ALL over again in Salto the very next day and watch how it was able to help people in a truly struggling stake. The people, they woke up.
We drove to Salto immediately after the fireside in Artigas on Saturday, so we got to go to the church in Salto on Sunday. The Elders there managed to get a woman in their ward to feed lunch to 7 of us Hermanas. Her name was Monica, and she sat down at lunch and told us her life story. And you guys, it is amazing! And so tragic, but the amazing part was her incredible faith and the way she has relied on the Atonement to let it heal her and has trusted in the will of God. The 7 of us said it was the "most inspired lunch ever" haha. You learn something from somebody every single day, as unexpected as it is. I wish everybody could meet monica, because she is seriously one of the most phenomenal people I have ever met!
One of the musical numbers we did was a special arrangement of Joseph Smith`s First Prayer. During the third verse, we just hummed it while one of the Elders stepped forwarded and recited the First Vision, as the first vision from the movie The Restoration played behind him. as we sang the last line, the words in spanish of "for he saw the living God", i felt it. I have always felt it and known it, but it was just this conviction that filled my being and wanted to jump from my bones. I know that Joseph Smith saw God, and he saw the Son. I think of those moments just before the pillar of light descended, in those moments as Joseph Smith and the Lord`s Gospel were both fighting together to be freed, once and for all, from the darkness. And now, the earth will never again fall into darkness. Because this is the dispensation that will not fail. I know it, and i feel it.
Us Hermanas also sang a version of I Know That My Redeemer Lives. I want you all to know that i know that He does. He lives, He lives who once was dead. He lives, my ever living Head.
My time in Artigas was way too short, but I know that everything has it`s purpose. I am thankful for my time here. It was really hard. I passed through everything. But the Lord molded me into a better missionary and a better person, and here I was able to come to learn to rely more on Him and do exactly what us missionaries teach people to do: endure in spite of difficulties, and push through. I am so thankful for the every so special friends that I have met here. They are eternal. I can`t believe it`s time for goodbyes again already, but I guess that`s just the mish. We will all see each other again someday, that I know for sure.
So I`m back to the homefront! Next weeks email from Rivera!
I love you, i love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan
One More Thing........July 21, 2014
i can´t believe i forgot to put this! But we had committed bruno to going to church, and he said yes and was talking about it all week....but then when we went to pick him up, he told us he had gotten sick. ANd didn´t go. So we were all upset and sad. But THEN, Sandra, a less active who hasn´t gone to church in like at LEAST year, went to church! So, we just need to count our blessings. It was awesome, and she looked so happy in church.
I love you, I love you, I love you!
Hna Dolan
TU HAS CUMPLIDO UN AÑO MAS.............JULY 21, 2014 20th Birthday!!!!!!
Guys, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.
It´s so rockin to have my birthday on my P Day. This morning, my rockin companion made pancakes. Unfortunately, syrup doesn´t excist in this country, but I have discovered that blueberry jam and powdered sugar are a delicous replacement. And peanut butter. So the 6 of us thoroughly enjoyed that.
We had planned to go to this buffet in Brasíl, but as it´s towards the end of the month and we are poor missionaries, I went for the more typical Megan option: simple. So, we made 3 boxes of my Kraft Mac n´Cheese and ate this things that are like tater tots except a lot better. And we ate them in those birthday hats that SOMEBODY sent me....yeah guys, my mom is seriously the coolest. But it´s been a super fun day. Chillin with my best friends, which of course includes my rockin´comp. Also wonderful birthday present:
A NAP.
Those never happen on p days in that house because normally everybody is so loud. But some birthday miracle happened to day, and for the first time EVER the other hermanas told each other to be quiet when they saw that I was falling asleep. And I didn´t even say anything. Rock and roll.
And tonight we´ll be doing a family home evening with one of my fav families, La Familia Fernandez.
I can´t believe I´m no longer a teenager. It´s all downhill from here. Just kidding.....maybe.
So guys, this was a rockin´week!
On Wednesday, Florencia decided to do a birthday party for her bird....I would judge her but that 100% sounds like something I would have done when I was 14. So we did that, and took advantage of that fact that Bruno was there and did a family home evening type thing. We did this really fun game that I am definitely going to teach to every single one of you when I´m home because it´s awesome. It´s a game that´s related to the Spirit, and so that´s what we talked about. It was AMAZING. And Flor bore an amazing testimony to Bruno. And my favorite part was that during the lesson said "I did what you taught me Hna Dolan. Last week I was feeling sad about my uncle who died last year, and so I said a prayer and felt a lot better." And he cried when he said that. HE CRIED. Bruno! It was so cute! I seriously love him. He is reading and praying, and still being the sassy Bruno who calls me Fideo that I know and love.
On Thursday, we did a trio with Hermana Ramos from Guatemala! Fun fact: ALL people from Guatemala are seriously the best people ever. No really there is not one missionary from Guatemala here that is not amazing. We were going to do divisions, but there were some complications with an hermana who had just gotten a foot surgery and had to stay inside, and so we did a trio. It was a great day! The best part of the day was when we went and taught the Plan of Salvation to Edita. The Spirit was SO thick. and it was a perfect lesson for her because of her husband who passed away so recently. It was weird to teach between 3 that day for the first time since my trio in the MTC, but I loved it! And Hna Ramos is an amazing missionary who I truly learned a lot from that day.
To finish, I just wanted to say how much I love the Book of Mormon. Especially Alma. Especially Alma 26. This week has been a LOT better, and although the area is still hard, I have been striving to look at it through the perspective of Ammon, who said the following words:
27 Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about toturn back, behold, the Lord comforted us, and said: Go amongstthy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thineafflictions, and I will give unto you success.
The Lord completed his promise to them:
31 Now behold, we can look forth and see the fruits of our labors;and are they few? I say unto you, Nay, they are many; yea, andwe can witness of their sincerity, because of their love towardstheir brethren and also towards us.
Their fruits are MANY. And that can happen, no matter where we are, because:
37 Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people,whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy,and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever. Amen.
I too give thanksgiving to my God forever, for where He has placed me and for all of the challenges and joys and amazing people He has led me to here in Uruguay. I believe in His promises and I believe in the joy He promises as long as we choose to follow His Son.
I love you, I love you, I love you!
FELIZ CUMPLEAÑOS A MI.
Monday, July 14, 2014
"yeah we got the mcdonalds and wal mart best of both worlds"..................July 14, 2014
The
above subject line has absolutely no relevance to this week. It´s from a
youtube video my companion likes, and I couldn´t think of what to put.
There
are a lot of moments that mark a person´s mission. Some because of the
insurmountable amount of joy. Some (well all) because of the grand miracle that
occurred by the hand of God. And some that enacted a change within the heart of
a missionary. This week, it was that change.
So, I
guess I didn´t really notice until recently how much the external circumstances
in our area here in Artigas have been affecting me. But sometime pretty
recently, I´ve realized I haven´t been as happy as normal. I wasn´t with the
same excitement to go out and work as always. I was feeling a lot of fatigue
and like I was just going through the motions.
Luckily,
interviews with President rolled around JUST on time this week. But in the
morning we were getting a lesson from him. He taught Alma 5:7, which says:
Behold, he changed their hearts; yea, he awakened them out
of a deep sleep, and they awoke unto God. Behold, they were in the midst of
darkness; nevertheless, their souls were illuminated by the light of the
everlasting word; yea, they were encircled about by the bands of
death, and the chains of hell, and an everlasting destruction did
await them.
and
talked about how we needed to wake up the people of Artigas, because they´re in
a deep sleep. he suddenly stopped and said "You guys seem really distracted.
Go eat lunch, and come back ready to learn. I invite you to repent and wake
YOURSELVES up, because otherwise you won´t be able to experience what it is
that I am experiencing in this moment."
I told
him straight up at the beginning of the interview that I wasn´t doing so hot.
That i had fallen into a rut, and I´ve been fighting really hard to get out of
it. He said "I noticed something was different. You have always been one
of the more animated missionaries at all of the places I´ve seen you. But today,
you were one of the people I was talking about."
Ouch.
But exactly what I needed to hear. I expressed to him everything I was feeling
and he listened patiently. Then, he said a lot of really nice things about me.
And then, said "You are here on your mission to learn to be submissive to
will of your Father. I don´t know if it´s because of something that will happen
after your mission where you will have needed to have learned how to do that,
but that´s what you´re here for. Ask Him "Father, is my work acceptable to
you? And if not, how can I repent and make it according to they will?" But
never doubt who you are as a missionary. He is the only one who can help you.
Pray to Him, and I promise you He will illuminate you in the light and release
you from darkness, just like He did Joseph Smith."
While
he was saying the closing prayer, I don´t know why, but i just started to bawl.
He finished, sat in silence for a minute, and then asked if I was ok. I said
"I don´t know President, it´s just hard, you know?" Without saying
anything else, he stood up and said "Hermana Dolan, can I give you a
blessing?"
Of
course I said yes. It was the first comfort, "father´s" blessing you
can say, I´ve had in a long time. And it was SO exactly what I needed. Two
things that I loved that he said:
"I
give you this blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. I bless you to always
recognize that name, and to know that you were sent by it."
"I
bless you to use your mission to let you teach you to submit to your Heavenly
Father´s will. I bless you to make dramatic and extraordinary progress in this
that will help you in your life after your mission."
It´s
not easy to be called to repentence. It´s not easy either to say that you were
called to repentence. But you guys, I woke up. And I´m telling it because of
the amazing change of heart that the Lord works in His missionaries, including
me. Since then, Hermana Paris have been working even harder and striving even
harder less to just be people´s friend, but to really LOOK for their salvation.
And our teaching has totally changed. I cannot describe the love I have for
President Smith, and how uncannily he is like my dad at home. I´m thankful that
he cares enough not only to listen, but also to help me change and become
better.
We
found a super rockin´investigator this week. Her name is Teresita, and she´s a
single mom of 3 boys of 14, 11, and 9. She had even agreed to church, but for
some reason didn´t go. Agency is kind of frustrating sometimes. But we´ll go
see her today and how she´s doing.
Hermana
Chavez, a senior citizen of our ward, went out with us for 2 hours on Saturday.
You guys, this woman is 86! And she has a great GREAT grandchild. She is a
relic. And she STILL went out with us on Saturday, walking cane and all. So, go
out with the missionaries! She is a rockstar.
The
Lord has woken me up out of that sleep I somehow fell into, just as Alma the
Younger. I know this Gospel is true. The truth of it resonates in my bones. It
illumanites my soul, even in darker times, just as Joseph Smith. I feel it´s
power, and the matchless power of the Atonement. Christ is there in EVERYTHING.
And He not only accepts us despite our mistakes, but He loved us enough to
allow us to make them so that we can grow and feel aninsurmountable amount of
joy.
I love
you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana
Dolan
Monday, July 7, 2014
"and the thunder rolls...and the lightning strikes"...........................July 7, 2014
Hey
kiddos!
First
of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA. I hope you all had a swell tastic 4th of July,
and I super hope you know how lucky we are for our country. Seriously. We are
so blessed.
All of
the Gringos in our Zone sang the National Anthem at the end of a practice we
had on Friday and then took a picture with our flag. And THEN that night we
went and made fajitas with Gabriela. (thanks mommy dearest for the seasoning.)
They changed her life, pretty sure. Nothing like celebrating America´s
independence with some good old fashioned Mexican food.
That
night, YOU GUYS. THE LIGHTNING. Don´t worry (parents), it happened when we were
already home. I´m pretty sure God´s hand is in that, that it only every happens
after missionary curfew haha. We went out to the patio to watch it while it was
out in the distance, until 3 flashes at once went across the sky with a flash
of electric purple! So we all screamed and went back inside, and then hail
almost the size of tennis balls came down and some water came in through the
cracks of our windows. Good thing we live on a second floor at least! Of
course, for yours truly who loves storms, it was heaven. Especially all of the
lightning. Coolest lightning storm I´ve every seen! So, I guess that was
Uruguay´s version of fireworks for the 4th of July. THANK YOU.
We had
a zone meeting on Tuesday where we learned the new goals for the mission.
Before, our mission´s monthly goals were 100 baptisms, double church
attendance, and 100% retention. Now, every month has a focus on "EL
UNO." Every companionship will have just one person that will be their
focus for baptism for the month, and one less active to bring back to church.
Every month we have somebody new. Ours is Virginia, the woman we talked to last
week who we both felt so right about. We went with her on Tuesday, and we both
got that same feeling again! Unfortunately, she didn´t go to church, but we did
everything we could and we are going to keep working with her because we really
feel it!
We
also went out with the Bishop on Thursday night, planning to go to a menos
activo family, but they weren´t there, so we figured we could go to Gabriela
and Edita. It was perfect, because Gabriela said she was really needing a
priesthood blessing and had been trying to call him but didn´t know his cell
phone was broken. And we were able to teach Edita Nephi 31, where the bishop
shared a SUPER awesome testimony. He is amazing. I love working with the
members here.
On
Saturday, it rained ALL day. And we contacted ALL day. And almost nobody let us
in. We walked so much, and I´m pretty sure had like 2 lessons by the end of the
day. But you know what´s weird? I went home really happy. Because I thought to
myself "today was one of those days that return missionaries tell you
about. Yeah....I´m a missionary." We contact so much in our area you´d
think we were serving in Montevideo. But it´s ok, the Lord is just testing us,
and we´re both learning and growing together and the blessings will come. Pray
that I stay here one more change in Artigas!
Well,
that´s ciao for now, kids. Not too much to share, but a good week. Another week
in the Lord´s vineyard.
I love
you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana
Dolan
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