....said Presidente Brady when we asked him about how much rain to
expect in the winter... oh boy. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Obviously that is not a
holiday down here, except in the CCM! Hermana Brady instructed all of the Latinos
to ask us about what Thanksgiving is, which led to me trying to explain
stuffing en español. Last jueves, my teacher walked up to me and said,
" Hermana Stanley, you 100 percent have the potential to speak solo
español. There is no reason for you to ever speak English." So solo
español for me from there on out! It was a quiet week for me ;) A little Latina
lady came up to my district on jueves and said she needed to see our name tags.
When she saw mine she asked if my mom was named Lori. She took a picture of me,
said something about a package, and ran off! Then later I got a package with a
dozen donuts in it ;) THANK YOU MOMMY!! They were delicious and I still have
two ha-ha. I taught Relief Society this week about the Holy Ghost and it went
great. I centered it mostly around 1 Nefi 10:17 (read it). We spend most meal
times just crying for laughter with the Latinas, they are HILARIOUS. I´ve been
learning how to dutch braid also :) I´m getting pretty good at it! Another
thing I’m getting pretty good at- FUTBOL. I know yawl probably don’t even
believe me but I swear its true. We have so much fun and I’m telling you guys,
I really am getting to the point where I can play, which is good because
playing futbol is a life skill down here. My sweet teacher, Hermana Jimenez has
been learning English because she is going to be moving to Provo after
Christmas! Her favorite phrase right now is, "Don’t everybody jump at
once" She is so cute!! I’ve been playing the piano so so much. I had to
play for Sacrament, (I played Now Let Us Rejoice, O God the Eternal Father, and
Lord Dismiss us with Thy Blessing, in case you were wondering). You guys, I’ve
really been fighting with myself this week. I’ve been feeling like such an inadequate
teacher and I’ve been soooo frustrated with myself. On Monday night I was in
tears at my bedside crying to the Lord for comfort, encouragement, hope, and
faith in myself. I poured out my soul to Him in complete humility. I crawled
into bed feeling surrounded by Christ´s love. The next day I was hoping for a
better day, and last night, I taught the most AMAZING lesson. We said a prayer
right before we went in and I just pleaded in my head for the Lord to help me
and guide me. We got into the lesson with Ariana, who always smokes in the
middle of our lessons, and she immediately told us that she had read the
Palabra de Sabiduría folleto, and she was down to one cigarette day. Then she
had questions about Joseph Smith. That was not the direction we had planned at
all, yet where I normally freeze up, I could see clear as day how we could talk
about the doctrines we had planned, and still address her needs. We talked
about JS and how he revealed the word of wisdom, we talked about 1 Nefi 3:7 and
how the Lord always provides a way to do that which he has commanded. We
promised her she could quit smoking COMPLETELY. The Spirit was so present. My
teacher ended up pausing the lesson and congratulating us. I just, you guys
need to know, Heavenly Father is listening to you. He heard me when I cried and
He heard me when I pleaded! He’s listening. One more thought. We may be
disappointed in ourselves, but the Savior is NEVER disappointed in a heart turned
toward repentance. We may be embarrassed by our shortcomings, but Christ is
proud of a heart that wants to change.
Mucho mucho amor para todo,
Hermana Mads
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