Oh my goodness!! Happy Birthday Amy!!! Craziness! Maybe your little one will come the same day you did 24 years ago eh? jeje just kidding. I hope not. I want baby to come much SOONER than that if possible jeje.
Happy FATHER`S DAY!!!! I love you Daddy. A Lot. :) I`m still hoping I run into someone who knows you or Mom. One gentleman, Hno L (the person I told you about muuuuch before) said that his brother surely knew you on your mission. His brother said he served in the same zone as you did, but you probably just don`t remember jaja. Hno L and his family are such good people. So I am happy with the connection he made to our family jaja. :)
WOAHHHH!!! I`m writing in the cyber and my companion and I just heard GOOOOOALLLLLLLL LOS ESTADOS UNIDOSSSSSS! from the television behind us. WOOHOOO!!!!! We gave each other a fist bump, no worries. :)
So. Soccer. THE WORLD CUP. Dad, like you said, the streets are empty. We had to wait severrrrral minutes a couple days inseguido because there were absolutely no taxis on the roads. jaja. Hna U and I bought world cup shirts of Ecuador for people in our ward and sector to sign....
BUT. We had transfers.
Hna U stayed - and me? Well, I am serving in another part of Quito. It`s about 15 minutes driving from my old sector, so it`s pretty close still. My companion is Hna D (she`s from Illinois). Although gringa, she has a Hispanic background like me. She is a great missionary. I am happy to be with her!
I have a great love for my first sector, like what Ashley was saying. We make connections there that are irreplaceable, and the memories are priceless. Hna U received a really great companion and was content with the transfers as well. We have developed a really special relationship together, so separating was a bittersweet experience. But, something amazing is that Hna U received her answer and we received our miracle for the sector:
Words don`t describe how grateful I am for "S" and "A". "A" has cerebral palsy. Their family has been inactive for years, so S, the youngest, was never baptized. Hna U feels such a strong connection and purpose with this family. She shared with us this week that, the 30th of May she was set on telling her parents that she was going to return home from the mission. It was her mother`s day call because in her home country it`s May 30th. She said that she didn`t feel too emotional or nervous in speaking with her family because she was sure to see them again very soon. But after meeting S and A, she had a profound impression that she was meant to be here specifically to help them. And she chose to complete her mission. She said, "The Lord called me to serve 18 months. No less."
Words don`t describe how grateful I am for "S" and "A". "A" has cerebral palsy. Their family has been inactive for years, so S, the youngest, was never baptized. Hna U feels such a strong connection and purpose with this family. She shared with us this week that, the 30th of May she was set on telling her parents that she was going to return home from the mission. It was her mother`s day call because in her home country it`s May 30th. She said that she didn`t feel too emotional or nervous in speaking with her family because she was sure to see them again very soon. But after meeting S and A, she had a profound impression that she was meant to be here specifically to help them. And she chose to complete her mission. She said, "The Lord called me to serve 18 months. No less."
I don`t know why I shared that with you. This information is a little personal for Hna U and me. But, it was one of the blessings of our transfer together.
I have learned so much this transfer. My love for the Lord has grown so much. He knows us each perfectly. He puts every situation, every person, and every opportunity in our way perfectly. Hna U and I have experienced so many tender mercies of the Lord in our sector. I feel like He moved me out just as we were in our prime! jaja. Because there are so many people (especially less active families) that we have found and are working with, who are opening up to us and receiving the light of the gospel little by little once again in their lives.
Yesterday I was able to give a talk in the ward about the love of Christ. One example I shared was something that happened the afternoon before: A man we passed on the sidewalk smiled and called to us, "Elderes!" We smiled and said, "Nooo, we`re Hermanaaas." jeje He introduced himself and said that he was inactive in the church. With very strong and bitter words, he shared his distaste and hatred for the Church after his wife died. That the Mormons did nothing to help his family, and that they ruined his time and wasted years of his life. He looked square into my eyes and finished by saying, "Do me a favor and change your discipleship. You are wasting your life with what you are doing."
That last statement hurt me. I only looked at him squarely back, a little angry and a lot hurt, and said, "I know that this church is true. I know that God lives. And que lastima that you don`t see it that way."
In Nephi 7, there is an example of Nephi that I admire. After his own brothers tried to torture him and kill him in the most horrible way (vs 16), they ended up tying him up. What did Nephi do? He prayed. The Lord answered, although in a way different than he initially asked (vs 17-18). Then, at the end of vs 18, after just being released from the cords that bound him, he stood squarely and fearlessly in front of his brothers again and "les hablè otra vez." Nephi never tired of standing in front of his brethren to try to convince them of the truth and commandments of God, which are pure and perfect. What kind of motive would bring him to act and live this way? His says why in Ch 6:4...his intentions, and how in his final testimony at the end of his writings. 2 Nephi 33: 7, 8, 9... "Tengo caridad para (cada persona, no importa quien)".
He understood the pure love of Christ. I love 2 Ne 33:10 "Creed en Cristo; y si no crees en estas palabras, creed en Cristo. Y si creeis en Cristo, creereis en estas palabras, porque son las palabras de cristo, y el me las ha dado; y enseñan a todos los hombres que deben hacer lo bueno."
Moroni 7:45 and 48
That is the character of Christ. To turn outward. To love and serve. And, if suffering means that we can be "discipulos verdaderos de su Hijo Jesucristo" because of our caridad (charity) for all men, then I am willing to suffer all things for Him. Because I want to be a true disciple of Christ!
This man doesn`t understand. And I feel for him. The treasures are in heaven, not on the earth. I know what I`m doing here, and I know where the treasure and happiness truly lies.
I love the work of the Lord! I love being a missionary!! And I absolutely love all of you. I don`t have shame in representing the Lord; because if I did, I would be depriving myself of the most valuable blessings that this life has to offer. The life one can only find in Him. :)
Love you all!!
Ash, I got our "transfer" call at 1115 at night. That left NO TIME to pack jaja. But I woke up early and did it fast.
"S is progressing! He`s 18 years old...he was never baptized. He has a lot of good questions. But each one can be answered with the Book of Mormon. He`s reading it and finding that out for himself :). He went to church yesterday and enjoyed it. He commented that he felt very comfortable. His baptismal date is for the 5th of next month. :)
Hna U and I have had several great experiences. We have been teaching several less active families who have left the church largely because of the problems that were going on in the ward in the past. Several of them attended a ward activity Sat. for Father`s Day. A couple attended church for the first time yesterday!
After church, the young men`s president approached Hna U and me to ask us to lead him and a couple deacons to a member`s house. Hna D and N are active members but don`t always come to church because D is elderly and must stay home Sundays to take care of N, her daughter, who has Parkinson`s Disease. I felt very grateful for the initiative these member`s took to bring the sacrament to D and N`s home. D and N were taken by pleasant surprise when these member`s showed up with us at their door after church Sunday.
In the very small dining room, we sang a hymn. The men said the sacrament prayer, and two young deacons passed the bread and water to D and N. Although the room was filled with many people, there was remarkable reverence in the room. We ended with a prayer and, as it was said, I heard the soft sound of D crying. She was touched by the presence of these mindful gentlemen, and grateful to participate in the sacrament for the first time in weeks.
The ward has strengthened during my time here, especially with Hna U. She`s helped me to deepen my love for the people and lead them in their true conversion. The ward has become more united...and has sometimes invited our own investigators before we even do. And it fills me with joy and gratitude for the progress we are witnessing there.
My time here is really special for me. I have a connection to people there that I will always treasure. And now I have the opportunity to serve in a new area! I am happy to be with Hna D. She`s a great example."
I love my new sector. I know my companion will help me to work hard! I am grateful for that!
Love you all! Have a great week! Sorry for being preachy, but the prophets in the scriptures were preachy too and they turned out pretty cool I guess :) jaja
Hna Fernelius
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| I love the V family!! They love the missionaries. Their home feels like my second away from you all jaja :) |
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| All the missionaries in the ward :) |
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| Ecuadorian SOCCERRRRR shirts :) |
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