Sarandi Del Yi: far from the city life...Things were well and fine and then another hermana who had been in the CCM with me called up and asked if she could come over to tell me some things about Sarandi Del Yi. Apparently she had been there. I was skeptical because I like going into a new area not knowing anything but... she insisted. She proceeded to tell me many things and as she went on, I could feel the nerves inside of me getting anxious. She didn’t have the most positive things to say. I’ll just leave it at that. I could feel the tears coming on. Ugh. I was getting upset. Hermana Laursen finally asked her to leave as she could tell I was having a hard time. Luckily I had a comp who I loved so much that she could help me. I am so grateful to Hermana Laursen. I always will be. She is a best friend. I miss her like crazy. Anyway, after this hermana left… well, the rest of Monday was difficult. I had a hard time functioning. Stupid change. I hate how I can’t seem to overcome the feelings inside of me that come with new situations. It was... a hard day. But we finished putting everything together and packed and Tuesday morning we were ready for changes!
I mentioned to you that I was reading Doctrine and Covenants, but I had the distinct feeling I should stop and start reading the Book of Mormon again. I did that a couple of days ago and after hearing from the hermana who served here; I needed help from on high. I came across the scripture in 1 Nephi 2:19 & 20. I had been praying to receive help to be okay with my new area and all the changes and this was a direct answer to prayer. Read it! It’s soooo cool! I know now the Lord is with me and this is His will for me. I am ready!!
We headed to the church and of course the bus was sooo late. We waited forever. We cried because we didn’t want to leave each other. We took pictures and when the time came for me to leave, it was rough. Everything flooded back to me from this area. I have learned so much in Maldonado… and my companions, the people and the experiences. It was so hard to pull away from that. But unlike Lot’s wife, I knew I had to trust in the Lord and know that he has something better for me planned here. As much as I hate to think that…
I’m now with my new companion, Hermana Lopez. She’s new, but doesn’t act like it. We are already learning soooooo much from each other. She’s from Bolivia, but was living in New Hampshire. She’s great, but being Latin and already knowing the language, the first few days we had trouble coordinating our teaching efforts. We had to talk about it. If we don’t work as a companionship, we won’t get anywhere or help anyone. It’s been a process and we are still working on it. We will get it down. I asked her what I can do better and she still won’t tell me anything. She says she feels like she’s learning everything from me that she didn’t learn from her trainer. So, that’s a good thing. We are finishing the 12 week training program together. She still has lots to learn about teaching and what should be done, but we all have things to learn still. She’s a great teacher though and honestly we get along great.
Me and my new companion, Hermana LopezWe left Tuesday afternoon after changes and headed out here to Sarandi Del Yi. We traveled for about four hours on bus and learned that from where we were we couldn’t get to our area because no bus left after 7:00. Great, so we stayed overnight in Durazno (the city with a member from the zone leader's area). Elder Clarke is my zone leader again! haha He’s great. He was my zone leader in Maldonado. It’s fun though. Tuesday morning we went to district meeting and then headed all the way home... holy cow! We had three more hours to travel through the middle of nowhere land... we are IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!! Oh man. Once again, we have to travel every week to district meeting: two hours there and back. Just like San Jose. I miss the city a lot, but I’m getting the real mish experience. Where we stayed overnight, I got up in the middle of the night to go get a drink of water, flipped on the kitchen light and discovered hundreds of cockroaches and ants all over everywhere. I shrieked and ran out! haha We have so many cockroaches in our house and last night when showering, I discovered a frog in there with me. I got a pic so you could see.
This frog was my shower buddy!It’s pretty intense here. The members have so little. They are so humble and so loving. It’s a new life here; it’s crazy. We actually have been moving all week. We live behind members again, but they have a few apartments. So we moved out of a smaller one into a much better one. My house here is actually better than the one in Maldonado. I like it.
Our new home...Fam, I did get the package finally! I discovered I needed it more now than I would have back in Maldonado. It came at the perfect time. When I needed to feel close to you guys, I got it. Thank you so much for everything! I love it! The calendar is awesome and I’ve been spending all week catching up on my new journal. Kenya, thank you for the shirt. I love it! P.S. It’s so hot here, I felt my throat swelling and it became hard to breathe the first few days I was here. It’s crazy, so humid. We have no fan and I got sweaty at night so bad that I couldn’t sleep. It has gotten cooler at night, but... we’ll see if it stays.
This area is going to need a lot of work, but that’s why we are here. There are 22 converts for the last year. Wow, that’s good. Just to give you an idea, in Maldonado there were 12, and in San Jose there were none. So that gives you an idea of how the work is and how many baptisms there have been. The area was closed for a long time and the people were writing the First Presidency for years trying to get missionaries here. It recently got opened (about two years ago) and since then the members have been ready to help find and teach and serve people. We have been getting references all over the place and having Level Three experiences all the time… just in one week. The people here want to share the gospel and it’s great. But there is a lot to be done. One thing I love about here, it’s not the city obviously, and because of that there are no music distractions, no worldly distractions like there were in Maldonado. I have been 100 percent focused this week on the scriptures, my testimony, my growth, the members and the work. I have not been distracted once and that is so wonderful. I love it. There’s only time to think and ponder the things of the Lord. It’s been so good.
This week has been overwhelming. It’s always a challenge for me getting used to a new area: not knowing where to go, who is who and what role they play in the work here and teaching people I don’t know, but we found 10 of our own investigators this week even though we lost three working days. It’s been crazy trying to meet everyone and remember who they all are and figure out how we can use them to further the work here. It’s definitely a challenge, but I guess I’m ready for it. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here. It’ll take some time still to get used to things but, it’ll come. With the bugs, the frogs, the cows, the farms, the fields and the heat, I will still learn to love it here... and with your support and the Lord, I can do anything. Even though we haven’t talked, you as my family have helped me so much this week. I don’t know what I would do without you. I think about dad and mom and how they would react in these situations and what they would do and it gives me strength to do what’s right. I’m so grateful for your example. I love you so much. Thank you so much for the package. It has helped me more than you’ll ever know. I love you guys with all my heart. I want the best for you. I’m here to help you as well, so if there’s anything I can do, send me a line. I love you!!!!! Please be good, make right choices and always remember the Savior.
With much love, Ashley
P.S. Daddy, I loved your email last week. Thank you so much. Everyone just needs to listen to dad. He’s right, he always was, always will be ;)
P.P.S. Ricardo miracle!!! Remember Ricardo? He had the wife who didn’t want anything to do with us. He was ready to be baptized, even though we hadn’t even taught him yet? Welp, Hermana Laursen and I were knocking doors near the ocean and out of a super nice house come two cute little boys. I ask for their parents. One boy says, my dad? Yes, sure, I’ll get him. He runs in and we are waiting for a minute. Out comes the mom and guess who it just so happens to be... Ricardo’s wife! She yells to us that he’s coming in a minute, very nicely. She walks away. We start FREAKING out!!!!! How in the world did we find his house in our huge area? We didn’t know what to do or say. After waiting a little longer, she comes out and tells us he’s on the phone doing business stuff. I apologized to her and said we didn’t know they lived there and again we aren’t there to cause problems. She just very nicely laughed and said it was okay. She said to come by a different day. Oh man. It was a miracle. Now we could write down his address on his form and if not Hermana Lundskog and Laursen, then other missionaries will baptize him. So cool! Nothing short of a miracle I’m telling you. I was in awe all day about it. The Lord’s work is moving forward!
No comments:
Post a Comment