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| With Hermana Gordillo |
September 15,
2014
Hola familia!
Man oh man life is
good here in Fray Bentos! It’s been a week full of changes, but I’m grateful
for all the experiences I’m having here. First things first...my new
companion is AWESOME! I have no idea how I’ve gotten so lucky with all my
companions! Like I told you guys last week, Hermana Gordillo is from
Guatemala and has quite a bit of time here in Uruguay. But what you guys
don’t know is she’s super sweet (she always makes my bed for me when I’m not
looking and buys me alfajors), fluent in English (but don’t worry, she’s still
helping me out with my Spanish), and a very compassionate missionary.
And on to
other good news...I haven’t gotten us terribly lost yet! Hermana McMurray
was gone quite a bit during my training for divisions and conferences in
Montevideo. At the time, I really hated it because it meant I was in
charge of our area a bit, but now I’m so grateful for the chance I had to get
to know all the streets well!
And more
good news...my zone had our last Charla Fogonera last night in FRAY BENTOS! Before I go on, I just want to talk a little bit about how cool it’s been
to participate in these programs. When we first started practicing as a
zone, we were a group of twenty-two missionaries and most of us had no idea
what we were doing. Most had no musical background whatsoever, but we
were ready to praise our Savior through music. It’s amazing to see how
the Lord makes up for our faults when we give it our all. During the majority
of the practices, things were definitely a little rough around the edges, but
during all of the three Charlas we had here in Mercedes, our songs sounded
great and I hope helped people feel a portion of the Savior’s love for them.
All of the Charlas were special in their own way, but man I LOVED the
Charla Fogonera last night because it was in the area I've come to love, FRAY
BENTOS! Yesterday was quite crazy...it poured the entire day. Not a
lot of people were able to come to church because of the rain, so in my heart,
I was worried no one would be able to come to our Charla Fogonera either.
But you know what? The Lord blessed us and almost two-hundred
people came. It was so special looking out into the congregation during
the songs, videos, and testimonies and seeing individuals and families who have
become such a big part of my life.
There’s
Eliana, an eighteen-year-old young woman who has a crazy busy life with her
four-year-old daughter, but still manages to come to church every week AND go
out with us so she can share her testimony. There’s Familia Flores
(Hermano Flores is our mission leader and Hermana Flores is the Relief Society
president), who were reactivated only two years ago but are so willing to
sacrifice their time, talents, and food (they always feed us) to help the work
of the Lord here in Fray Bentos. There’s Manuela, a sixteen-year-old girl
who always goes out with us, who is planning on serving a mission in just a
couple of years. She got sealed to her family for time and all eternity on
Saturday. There’s Hermana Carolina, a single mom of six who puts her
trust in the Lord even when life is difficult. There's Hermana Clotilde, a fun
and happy older woman in our ward who never misses a Sunday and always has a smile
on her face. There’s Hermano Maneyro, a man who served his mission in
Paraguay around ten years ago but has not lost the spirit of missionary work
whatsoever and is willing to help us with WHATEVER we need. And there’s
Hermano Molina, a sweet man who’s beginning to attend again and who always lets
us have fruit from his garden whenever we visit. The list could go on and
on. In Lindsay’s letter, she mentioned how a mission gives us a little
glimpse of what God sees in humans. A mission is SO hard and in all
honesty, when I first started out, there were times when I just wanted to give
up. But you know what? These little glimpses are what make all the hard
work worth it. I know without a doubt God and Jesus Christ love every
single person in the world, even though we as people are so imperfect.
And I know the relationships we form in this life are more valuable than
anything else. I love you guys so so so much, and thank you for always
writing me.
Thank you for being the best!:)
Hermana
Dixon
p.s. It is beautiful here right now! I am
tightless and that doesn’t happen very often!
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