Monday, April 21, 2014
i think i`ve made it to heaven?!...................April 21, 2014
Hey errbody.....how`s it goin? i hope it`s goin just swell. you should right me and let me know whether it`s going just swell....yes, that`s you. You reading this, right now. Unless your my mom. Then I always know you`ll write me to tell me how things are going.
Hey mom, you`re pretty rad.
Sooo I am shorter on time today. BUT as they say down here south, "valiò la pena!" It was worth it! We went with the Elders here in Centro, as well as two other companionships from the areas next to us, and la Flia Aquino (obviously) to this hidden little lake pond water hole that is in the middle of nowhere hidden in the jungle. And it is GORGEOUS. And like, 60 feet deep...no joke. But honestly, it is one of the most beautiful places I`ve ever seen. Shocker, we`re talking about Uruguay here. Anywho, we made choripan....which is chorizo con pan....which okay is just the most amazing sausage in the world, eaten with bread. I know family, yours truly now loves hot dogs and brawtlkghtls (ni idea how you spell that), all thanks to the Uruguayan panchos and chorizos. We made it all caveman style, building our own fire and cooking the sausage on a flat rock. And by we, I mean Adàn, and every now and then told us to add a stick to the fire. But it`s cool.
Afterwards, Adàn showed us this secret beach. No one was there but us, and it is HUGE. To quote Van from the show "Reba", I think I saw the curviture of the earth! We played futbol and then just sat and talked about how unreal it is that places this beautiful exist. Oh, and my companion and I, under pressure from the Elders, wrestled in the sand. I won.
I don`t think I`ve ever felt so close to Heaven, besides the temple and baptisms. And newborn babies. Other than that, never been this close.
Okay so this week was pretty rockin`! We set a lot of goals last week to help us be EXACTLY obedient. It worked. We had 25 lessons (an average in Colonia is like 15), and were able to work with a lot of members this week, too! It was awesome!
AND. Best part ever. We went to Teresita this week with President Figares. We got there, and her friend Hugo was there. He stayed during the lesson as we taught about the Book of Mormon. And he was SUPER receptive! Like, crazy receptive. Then, we went back on Saturday and taught the Restoration. We invited him to say the closing prayer, and in it he said "God, I`ve tried a bunch of different religions, but these girls have touched my heart and I know these things they`ve said are true. I know this is true." WHAT! Miracle! P.S. Just to clarify, it was the SPIRIT that touched his heart. How great is the Spirit, eh?! Also, when we went back on Saturday, Teresita had already read the first few chapters of 1 Nephi in just two days! What rockstars are these two. Seriously miracles.
We had a lot of great first lessons with some contacts we had made before, so we`ve got some great new investigators!
Carolina was in Montevideo all week for Holy Week. We`ll see her this week, though! P.S. Here, Holy Week is also vacation week for schools and work off for a lot of people. If only we had that back home.
Sunday was District Conference....which is Stake Conference, except Colonia only has branches, and it`s only a District. But it`s the same thing, which means President Smith came and spoke! It was awesome. A bunch of our less actives managed to go. President Smith is a rockstar. A common problem in Uruguay is that people get offended SUPER easily and then they`ll go inactive. It`s kind of sad. So, President Smith in the adult meeting taught ALL about the Plan of Salvation. And then, at one point, he said "who wants to become like Jesus Christ and live with them again? Who wants to keep their second estate?" And naturally, everyone raised their hands. And so he said "Then DON`T. get. offended. anymore! If you want to be like Jesus Christ, come to church for him!" It was awesome.
Mostly, all I can say is that I`m just in love. I love the people here, they are seriously my family. If ya`ll could throw a shout out to the Big Man Upstairs for me so that I can stay one more change in Colonia, that`d be great.
I love the people here, and all of God`s beautiful creations, and the Gospel, and the Savior, and the mission. It`s going by so fast, I can`t even believe it.
Sooo anyway, I love you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana Dolan
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
bad news guys..........so, the cyber last week broke my camera. so i´m sueing. no not really, but it does mean that until i find a way to buy a new one here, you won´t be getting many pictures; just these that my lovely companion has sent me from the top of the LIGHTHOUSE in Colonia today. April 14, 2014
Risen..............................April 14, 2014
Hey,
folks! How was your week? Good? Good? Todo bien?
This
week was still rougher than others, but that´s the mission! It was better than
last week. I`m a little bit shorter on time today, so I will just cover the
high points:
Carolina
was visited by the Elders (that´s a whole other can of beans that I am not
going to open.) But what they said was awesome was that she said "I don´t
know if it will become my turn to become a Mormon" but then, she started
crying. Veronica told my companion and I something about Carolina that just
broke my heart for her. But Veronica said after "if you guys can help her
figure out that the Gospel can heal her, you´ve got yourselves the church´s
newest and most faithful member." Well, luckily, that´s what the Gospel
does; it heals people! So we´re going to work really hard on her. The thing
with Carolina is something really private, which is why I don´t mention it, but
I can´t imagine the things she´s gone through. She´s in such a dark place right
now, and feels so alone, and she´s looking for the way out.
Luckily,
we know the way out. That way is our Savior. What a blessing we have to know
that, and what a blessing I have to be help to help people just like special
Carolina to find it. To know the most important thing they could possibly know!
So keep her in your prayers.
We did
divisions on Thursday! In the morning I went out with Hermana Enriquez from
Ecuador, and in the afternoon with Hermana Paris from Paris....no no, joke,
she´s from Wyoming. Ha that was probably my favorite part was with Hermana
Paris. We had a blast together (and also talked about how much we miss Hermana
Sorenson....love you girl). Miracles always happen with divisions, and it did
with them! Hermana Enriquez and Hermana Zumeta had a really fantastic lesson
with Teresita. We found out that teaching her with videos is going to be really
effective because it makes it so that she doesn´t talk as much. They shared a
couple videos about prayer, and Teresita cried and said that she knows that
that´s how she can find help.
yes!
It just so happens that YES!
They
also managed to go back to an old investigator, Nelida, and they finally got
her to pray! Her memory isn´t very good so she could never do it before, but
she did it! So she´s back on as one of our progressing investigators. We went
back to her the next day and had a great lesson where we talked more about
prayer. And Hermana Paris and I found some great new investigators from
contacting!
Divisions
were awesome. I love being able to learn from other missionaries and how they
do things.
BRIAN
GOT THE PRIESTHOOD ON SUNDAY! But no, no, it gets better: HE PASSED THE
SACRAMENT THAT DAY TOO! You guys, I love him and Angela so much. They are
basically my best friends. They are the up that makes the downs in the mission
100% worth it. They are both progressing fantastically. It´s funny because
Brian sometimes tries to act all too cool for school like to him it´s no big
deal, but then he carries his Book of Mormon around in his backpack on his way
to work so that he can read on the bus, and he read all of the scriptures the
branch president gave him to read about the Priesthood before Sunday, and
everything. And then cute Angela is literally the most receptive, easy to teach
person in this world. I love them both!
Adàn
Aquino gave us THREE references last week, and called us last night to tell us
to go with him today to visit two of them. Plus, he has found some hidden
inactive members and has started to talk to them. Let me put emphasis on the
fact that he doesn´t even live in our area; he lives thirty minutes away. If
every member could be a member missionary like my Uruguayan dad Adán, the whole
world would already be baptized.
Funny
thing Adán said the other day:
First
of all, Adán is just the Spanish version of Adam.
So
while we´re walking with him to a lesson with Teresita on Saturday, I go: ¨Hey,
did you know that Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have
joy?"
Adán:
"I did. Did you also know that Adam was the happiest man to ever
live?"
Me:
No, I didn´t.
Adán:
Do you know why?
Me:
Why?
Adán:
Because he didn´t have a mother in law.
Hahahaha
you guys the people here KILL ME.
This
Easter Sunday, I hope we can all remember the Savior and the hope that is found
in the knowledge that he rose. I love that. "He is risen." The best
statement in the scriptures, if you ask me. In that, I find that we can always
start again. The sun will always come out to illuminate the Son, and his happy,
smiling face, waiting to welcome us into his loving arms. We can always be
forgiven, freed, healed, cleansed, renewed, made joyful, and it´s just like the
new Mormon Message says:
It´s
all because of HIM.
Despite
the duller weeks, I always find my hope, and it´s all because of HIM.
My
Savior, Brother, Teacher, Protector, Healer, Comforter,
Friend.
I love
you, I love you, I love you!
Happy
Easter
Hermana
Dolan
P.S.
share this with everyone:
Thursday, April 10, 2014
have we not to be grateful for?..............April 7, 2014
I´ll
answer that question for you.....YES.
How
awesome was conference you guys? No but really...how stinkin awesome was CONFERENCE?
I have never been so sad in my whole life for conference to be over. And to
think I used to fall asleep during it....i mean what...... my SLC looked as
beautiful as ever and I hope you´re all enjoying the crap out of living in
Zion, because it is most people´s dreams here to go there and most never will.
So.....reason number one to be grateful.
I
really don´t have many things to report for this week. These past two weeks
have been long and hard. We have no investigators that are really progressing
and it´s hard to go from a baptism to that. We´ve been wandering and I feel
like i´m not doing enough. But we got a lot of references and I know at least
one of them is prepared for this amazing Gospel. AND I know the Lord´s
just pushing us to do more, and blessings always come as we overcome obstacles!
It´s just like Elder Uctdorf said:
"To
be grateful doesn´t mean we are pleased with our circumstances, but it means
that with eyes of faith we see the blessings that the Lord has waiting for
us."
The
other thing that made this week particularly hard was this: We walked past
Mary´s (my Urugayan Mom´s) house on our way to a lunch appointment. We hadn´t
seen her in a few days because she wasn´t home. She calls inside and we go in
and everything is in boxes. That´s when she tells us she and her family are
moving to Montevideo :( It was really sudden because of a problem at Ariel´s,
her husband´s, work. She told us she only found out a couple of days ago. One
of her sons, Rodney....lurpy, crazy, always teasing Rodney....had already left.
And we didn´t get to say goodbye! Mary just started bawling as she told us, and
as I held her, it really felt like watching my Mom cry. But she has incredible
faith. She wiped her tears and said "I know the Lord won´t abandon us. He
never has and He never will. I know He has a reason for us to have to go, even
though it´s hard. You have to promise me you will always move forward, no
matter what. And when you get married and have kids, I want to meet them.
please?" She is incredible. No one from Uruguay has a place in my heart
like Mary, probably because she is SO much like Barb. She´s moving to the part
of Montevideo that´s in the other mission, but that´s just more motivation for
me to come back after my mission. She, just like my mom at home, has taught me
to have faith and always trust in the Lord and move forward. They move on
Friday, so we still have a few days left. Ever since the first time she met me
and said "awww flacita (skinny girl), poor thing!" She has always called
me her Flacita. She hugged me tight and said "I will never forget you,
Flacita. Never. And I know we will see each other again." I´m said to see
her go, especially when I always planned on me being the one to have to leave
her, but I know we will too! And I am so thankful to the Lord for letting me
meet and learn from my sweet Mamà. And who knows, maybe the Elders where she´s
going will be the ones her husband needs to finally get baptized so that they
can be an eternal family.
Plus,
Daniel rejected the band offer, so they´re still on the right track to an
eternal family!
And,
Brian and Angela are still completely awesome. Brian had told us he would have
to work both days of conference and not be able to come, but he called in sick
on Sunday at last minute so that he could come to the afternoon session! And he
showed up in a shirt and tie! They are my best friends and I love them.
I am
happy! Even when I have weeks like this, I still know I´m in the Lord´s work
and I´m in His beautiful little Uruguay, the best little piece of of the
universe. I am sad to think of how quick the mission is going, but happy that I
am here. i hope you never doubt it!
Also,
I sure the heck hope you´re all gonna go buy a Preach My Gospel and then become
an awesome member missionary! Give out references, and talk to everyone!
i love
you, I love you, I love you!
Hermana
Dolan
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