September 29, 2014

Hola familia!

Haha this week was one to remember.  I would like to tell you all about one day in particular, this past Thursday.  Hermana Gordillo is a Sister Training Leader, so she had a meeting in Montevideo.  I stayed behind in our area, and I had this cute girl from our ward, Manuela, be my companion for a day!  I busily planned for our day together and I was just so excited to give her a little taste of missionary life.  But you know how every once in a while, you have those days where just about everything goes wrong???  Yeah, it was one of those days.  Actually, the morning started out pretty well.  Before I picked her up, I planned a lesson and game for a ward activity I thought I was going to be in charge of (the elders in my ward were also in Montevideo).  I also sent TONS of messages to invite everyone!  After I picked Manuela up, we visited a cute older lady in our ward named Maria and a new investigator named Patricia!  Both lessons went really well so I was grateful!  After, we had lunch with a fun family in our ward, Familia Retomar.  We had milonesa (fried meat) and noodles.  After lunch though, things started to go downhill.  During language study, I decided to practice my Spanish while simultaneously making cookies for Manuela.  For some reason, the cookies turned out gross.  Then, together, we walked a long way to another young woman’s house because we were planning on going out with her.  But it turned out she was taking a nap.  So we busily started calling a bunch of members in our ward to find another person to accompany us.  We thought we’d have to teach one of our investigators, Jorge, without a member, but luckily, as we were walking by Jorge’s house, I remembered a man from our ward, Hermano Molina, lived nearby.  We knocked on his door and he accompanied us for the lesson.  Hallelujah!  We had another good lesson, but during the lesson, it started POURING rain!  So Manuela, Hermano Molina, and I all huddled underneath my umbrella and trudged back in calf-deep water to Hermano Molina’s house.  My skirt almost fell off because it was so waterlogged and heavy, so I was just struggling to keep it up.  After we dropped Hermano Molina off, I got a call from our ward mission leader and he informed me our ward activity was cancelled.  So I sent messages to everyone I invited to let them know it was cancelled.  And poor Manuela was just freezing cold.  So we went back to our house and grabbed a jacket for her.  I forgot the cell phone, so then we had to go back to our house again.  At this point, I didn’t have plans for the day because I had been planning on being in our ward activity.  So we tried visiting a bunch of people but either people weren’t home or were busy!  But luckily, we had the opportunity to teach two sweet families.  We headed back to the house a little past nine, and we were both just so freezing and wet.  So I decided I would make Manuela some hot milk!  I prepared it and then handed it off without trying it (bad idea).  She took one sip and then just kept on swirling it around, so I could tell she wasn’t a big fan of it.  And then, sweet Manuela left to head back to her house.  After she left, I tried the milk (it was disgusting, poor thing) and then I just flat out laid down on the kitchen floor because I was so dang exhausted.

So yeah, it definitely wasn’t a day to remember!  But I learned some valuable lessons. 

1)       Manuela is AWESOME!  She is only sixteen but she did not complain once during our crazy day together.  She wants to go on a mission and I just know she’s going to rock it. 

2)       It’s important to laugh when you have crazy days!  Because if you don’t laugh, you just might cry instead.
 

3)       The Lord, our Gardener, knows what’s best for us.  The day after this crazy day, I had the opportunity to watch a Mormon Message about a man who was pruning a currant bush (http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormon-channel-daily/213?v=1839005837001).  When he cut the currant bush, he imagined it crying and saying, "Why are you cutting me?  I was just beginning to get so big!"  He then chuckled to himself and said, "I am the gardener.  I know if I cut you now, you’ll be able to hold more fruit in the future!"  A couple years later, this same man wanted to be in the military but got rejected.  He was angry with the Lord because he had done all he could but his efforts resulted in nothing.  But he heard the Lord say, "I am the Gardener.  I am cutting you down so you can be stronger for the future."  

Life is so difficult at times, but I am so grateful we have a Gardner above who knows what experiences His children need to have so they can grow and become stronger.  So many people here in Uruguay experience trials and have extremely hard lives.  But it is amazing to see them grow and rely on the Lord.  I am grateful for this gospel and the strength it gives us! 

I love you all and I hope you have a wonderful week!

Hermana Dixon