December 16, 2013
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| All snowed in |
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| The Elders to the rescue! Digging us out |
I
was able to talk to quite a few people and realized something as I was
saying it.I pointed out how amazing the Christmas spirit is. How happy
everyone feels and how willing they are to give of themselves. Then I
told her that as missionaries we get to have that spirit with us all the
time. We are constantly looking for ways to serve and give to others
and we are constantly thinking about the Savior because for these 18
months that is who I represent. It really is amazing!
What I learned:
Last
week we went to Young Women's third hour and had a really good lesson
by Sister Jarnagin about the gifts of the spirits. She challenged us to
write down the spiritual gifts that we have and then pray to know who we
can help or serve with those gifts. I started to study in Moroni 10
about the spiritual gifts, but got stuck because the first one that it
mentions is teaching the word of wisdom and the next is teaching the
word of knowledge. I got hung up on why it would say almost the same
thing twice. So i did a little more in depth of a study. The difference
that I seemed to find is that wisdom is the how. When you have
experience you learn how to do things. Knowledge is more of the why. So
in reference to the Gospel teaching wisdom is like leaders and parents
sharing what they have learned by their words and by their actions.
Teaching wisdom is teaching the why of the Gospel through words and
actions and study.
My cultural influence for the week:
I
finally had mangu! This is a Dominican staple, funny enough it was my
first time even eating it. Apparently this is something that they eat
breakfast, lunch and dinner. Sister Fernandez told us that some
Dominicans first made it for some Americans who said, "man good!" So the
name became what the people heard. It is a lot like mashed potatoes,
but it is made with plantains.
Monday night
we went to the Fernandez family for dinner and family home evening. We
went a little early so that we could help her make dinner. They eat it
with eggs, onions, fried cheese, meat, or what ever you want.
There
is a cute family that have decided to teach their children to not say
"oh my gosh," because sometimes it can sound like something else. Well,
yesterday at the nativity a visitor happened to say it, then came the
cute response by the three year old, "We do not say that word it is a
bad word!" It was cute, though it might have alarmed the visitor a
little, the family was able to explain that it was a family rule. Maybe
it was something that you just had to be there for it to be funny, but
it was cute!
We have started to teach Patricia, a friend of Sister Andujar's. And also Ernie, a friend of Natalie's.
We
redid the shelf outside our door to be a little more festive. Bishop
Pearson and his wife were kind enough to help us find a nativity set. We
also opened up a Bible to Luke 2 with the Christmas story. I am not too
great at the whole interior design but I think this turned out alright.
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| Nativity set up at our entrance to our apartment |
The holidays are
here and it seems like there is so much to do and hardly any time to do
it. Surprisingly that is another thing about the Christmas season that
missionaries deal with a lot too. Funny how that works. I hope that all
of you are doing well. I hope that you make time for those that mean the
most for you and that you remember the true meaning for the season.
I love you all!
Always,
3
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