Letter #35 - "One being is as precious in His sight as the other." (Jacob 2:21) - 9.28.15
Hello! Hope everyone is doing well. Sorry, I did not write this last week. We weren't able to write very long because we had a colonoscopy in the hospital that we had to be at. Also, there was only one sister missionary that left this last time and she did not want to be left alone with 14 other Elders. So, we met up with her in the afternoon and hung out with her a for hours during the free time that she had before she had to go to dinner at President's house. It's been a busy 2 weeks! How Fast Time Flies Another 6 weeks has gone by and that means...CHANGES. We got a call early Sunday night from our Zone leaders. The first time that it rang, it only rang once. We thought "Oh, it was a mistake." Then, it rang again and we both looked at each other and said "Oh no! We have changes." I answered the phone and said, "Hola, habla con Hermana Pemberton." They said "Are you ready for changes?" Changes have not gotten any less crazy as I have more time in the mission. The week before changes, everyone calls to fix all their medical problems in case they go to the coast or the orient. Sunday night consists of packing and communicating with our new companions. Monday morning everyone is meeting up with their new companions and asking who is your new companion, do you have changes? We received changes super early this time. I called Sister Garcia to let her know to leave early because we had to be in the hospital early. She was coming from Otavalo which is about 2 hours away from Quito. When she answered, she said nothing about changes nor sounded like she knew. I asked her, "Do you know if you have changes?" She said "Not yet". Sister Narvaez ran and said DON'T SAY ANYTHING. I am lucky that I am the nurse and that she had to see the doctor a week before because I was able to quickly change the subject and start talking about her back pain. "Oh, just wanted to call and see how your back was doing?". Phew....luckyyy. Yup, so my new companion is named Hermana Garcia. She is from Mexico, the northern part right by the boarder of Texas. She says that it is really dangerous where she lives. She is 20 years old. She has been a member all of her life. Her parents were converted to the church when they were young. She likes to play baseball. She has 3 siblings. She is the 2nd youngest in her family. She came in the same group as me, but has a little less time in the mission as me because she already knew Spanish. She is super laid back and easy to get along with. She is a really good teacher of the gospel and is really good at relating the gospel to real life experiences. "One being is as precious in His sight as the other." (Jacob 2:21) We are continuing to work with several of our investigators. Unfortunately, this last week none of our investigators could come to church with us. We had a few that had dates for baptism, but we need to change it because they need to go to church at least 3 times before they can be baptized. I have been thinking a lot this week about what motivates members to go to church each week, what motivates me, and what are the blessings that we see in our lives as we go to church every week for all 3 hours. I think one of the hardest things as far as being a missionary for me has not the physical demands missionary work, but rather working and working with investigators and seeing them choose not to follow Jesus Christ or keep the commandments. To not choose the path that you know that will bring them more peace and happiness then they know. I have learned a lot about the importance of acting on our faith. That God wants to bless us, but He is also fair. That He can't bless us, until we do our part. Please keep praying for our investigators, that they will have the courage and will to go to church. That they will be able to recognize those blessings they will receive when they keep the commandments. Good news is this week we were able to help Natali and Kike set a date to get married in October and then they accepted our invitation to be baptized on the the 24th. We are hoping that we can help them do a reception in the church and make it special for them! We are going to help Natali raise money so that they can married. We invited her to make cookies and then we will help her sell them to the members. They are motivated to go to church. Kike is looking for a new job and we are hoping that he will find a job that he doesn't have to work on Sundays so that they can go to church together. Patience I have learned a lot about patience this week. That patience is a heavenly virtue. That life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. Every single person experiences an unending amount of challenges in this life. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such challenges, forgetting that frequently the patience is required. I know that if the only perfect man who ever lived-even Jesus Christ. was called upon to endure great suffering, how can we, who are less than perfect, expect to be free of such challenges. We have challenges because we need to learn and develop different attributes. It is through opposition that we can learn and grow. It is through our challenges that we can see our weaknesses and grow to become who we are meant to become. I love you all! Have a great week! Love always, Hermana Pemberton
