Enjoying ice cream

February 16, 2015

Hey fam! 

Things are going well here in Juan Lacaze!  My perspective about the mission and life in general changed this week because of an awesome talk!  It´s called “Beautiful Mornings” and was given by Elder Bruce D. Porter of the Seventy in the April 2013 session of conference.  

I don´t know about you guys, but there are some mornings when I wake up and begin thinking about all the things I have to do, all the challenges I´m going to face, all the walking around I´m going to do, all the studying my brain is going to do, all the people I´m going to talk to, and I just feel a little bit stressed about the day!  But you know what???  It is an incredible opportunity to wake up and have a new day every single morning!

In Elder Porter´s talk, he mentions that even though we have little bumps every day, we have reason to be HAPPY because we have the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.  I love one quote in specific.  He said, "Trials may come, and we may not understand everything that happens to us or around us.  But if we humbly, quietly trust in the Lord, He will give us strength and guidance in every challenge we face.  When our only desire is to please Him, we will be blessed with deep inner peace." 

I also loved another little story from this talk.  Elder Porter had a super optimistic roommate in college named Bruce.  One of Elder Porter´s friends, Tom, was walking around campus on a cold, dark, snowy morning.  He just couldn´t stop thinking about how miserable the weather was as he walked along.  Out of the darkness, he heard a voice singing, "Oh, what a beautiful morning!  Oh, what a beautiful day!  I´ve got a beautiful feeling, everything´s going my way!"  It turned out to be Bruce, and his optimism was a light for Tom during that stormy day!   

In my life this past week, I have also seen a couple of little storms! Hermana Obando and I had some rain and a random dust storm (we were wiping dirt off of our faces for the whole night).  Not only that, but a lot of appointments fell through, we didn´t see a ton of progress this week, and we did LOTS and LOTS of walking!  

But it´s okay!  Every morning this week when I started my personal study, I wrote at the top of the page, "OH WHAT A BEAUTIFUL MORNING!"  Although Hermana Obando and I had some obstacles, we also had some "beautiful mornings!"  Here´s a little list of some of the miracles we saw this week.

1) We are teaching a grandmother (Maria Ines) and her granddaughter (Florencia).  When we visited them, they cleaned up their little apartment and set up chairs especially for us.  It was the sweetest gesture.

2) Hermana Obando bought me ice cream for Valentine´s day!  Best Valentine´s treat ever!

3) The elders had a baptism on Valentine´s day for a sweet lady named Diana!  She was touched by the Spirit and just couldn´t stop crying.  It was so special to see how happy she was!

4) Alba gave Hermana Obando and me the cutest little pink scrunchies as a Valentine´s gift.  We love Alba.  It took a while for her to make a decision, but she is honestly so awesome and SO SWEET!  She is my Uruguayan BFF.

5) We have loved the chance we´ve been given this week to share the plan of salvation.  One of the biggest problems we see as missionaries is that people miss their loved ones who have passed away.  It is so beautiful to let people know that this life is not the end...that the love we feel for one another as humans is something that lasts forever!

6) A sweet man in our branch, Hermano Bautista, gave us the biggest jug of milk.  And oh my goodness it was the most delicious milk I´ve ever drunk.  After we finished up the milk he gave us, I poured myself a glass of regular milk and I thought it was water for a second because it wasn´t nearly as thick and delicious.

7) Hermana Obando is awesome and always a blessing!  We won´t be together this next change, but I honestly learned so much with her.  I will always remember her testimony of the plan of salvation, her organization, her love of the gospel, and her ability to be super pretty and put together even though we´re walking around and sweating all day.  I feel lucky to be her mission mom.

Well, that´s it for now!!!  I love you all so much, and I hope you have a week filled with beautiful mornings!

Hermana Kirsti Dixon