Week #47 A clear perspective on Christmas

I'm on top of the World!

 

                                             My companion goes home this week, I will miss her!

T'was the week before transfers, and all through Peru, not a missionary was safe from the thought of a move!!!! Wow it is so crazy fast the time goes by, this week was litterally just an insane blur of work. My companion is finishing her mission and we made tons of goals so that she could finish strong. We worked really hard. We taught lesson after lesson and contacted every person that looked at us. It was a really fantastic week. I felt like we were completely lost in the work, I looked up for a minute and it was already Sunday again. Even though we thought and talked a lot about what it would be like for Hermana Goulding to see her family again we worked every single hour.

 

I have almost been gone for a year now, it is 11 months I think. Its crazy that I havent seen my family or anyone in so long. With Christmas time approaching I  have feelings that are mixed. Part of me says that I miss my family and I want to be able to spend christmas with them doing things like drinking hot chocolate, reading books and watching christmas movies. But I think the greater part of me just wants to work. I am in the perfect place right now. What better way to spread the Christmas cheer than sharing the gospel and the pure love of christ. Helping people get the best gift of all which is salvation. Its so interesting here in the mission how our eternal perspective is so clear. Our purpose and our priorities are totally in focus. We need to go to church every Sunday, read the scriptures and pray every night, the easy primary answers. We also need to repent of our sins to receive a pardon. It is so clear to me as a missionary, but its interesting how in the "real world" we loose that clear eternal perspective. Even return missionaries can forget that going to church and keeping the sabbath day holy are more important than working all day. As a student last year, it was easy to forget that it is more important to read your scriptures than your school books. In the real world we are so cluttered and distracted by other things. Not that working and studying for school are bad, but we have to remember what is best. I love the talk by Elder Oaks that reminds us  of good, better, best choices. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/good-better-best?lang=eng

 

Now that every one is on vacation and they have to worry about finales or work for a while, its time to remember Christ and his sacrafice for us. Its time to get back our eternal perspective and to not waste this break and this precious time that we have doing unimportant things. In D&C we are taught  to not be idle. Its says" Cease to be idle, cease to be uncleanñ cease to find fault one with anotherñ cease to sleep longer than needfulñ retire to thy bed early, that ye may not be weary arise early that your bodies and your minds may be invigorated." I know alot of people think of winter break as a time to just stay in bed all day watch christmas movies and eat christmas cookies, but I think Christmas should be more fulfilling than just that. We should be endulging ourselves in the scriptures using this time that we have to refocus and gain a clear eternal perspective before we have to go back to work and to school. To realize that there are more important things in this life. More things that we have to do. I love the short video El es la Dadva or He is the gift. It is a good reminder of what christmas is all about.  http://www.mormon.org/christmas

 Love you all! 

See you next summer!

Hermana Huish

Week #46 sacrifice and humility

HOla Familia,

My mom asked me this week to respond to her question about how sacrifice applies to missionaries.

Honestly it is difficult to explain, no one can really understand until you have actually gone through it. Its just one of those things that people can talk about all the time but cant fully comprehend until you experience it.  I'll try to explain using a personal story.There was a time in CCM when I was frustrated with learning the language and all I wanted to do was to talk to my mom about it, but there was no way I could call, it is not allowed. My mom is always the person I go to for advice when i am having hard times, but that was something I had to sacrifice coming on the mission. Talking to my mom wasn't an option for me any more. A lot of times we deal with stress by either talking to our parents, playing sports, or distracting ourselves in some way like tv or video games. On a mission none of this things are allowed. So you have to learn to be creative and work with what you have. Leaning on my heavenly father  to support and help me during the difficult times has been the only way that I was able make these sacrifices.I have learned that putting my confidence in him and having faith that everything will be okay is sometimes the only tool we have for coping and certainly the best one.  The scriptures are another tool we can use. At times it can be really hard to give up everything that we have, everything that is familiar and comfortable but honestly we just have to learn to rely on God and be creative.  I think also a good way to sacrifice is to humble yourself. I have  learned a lot of humility in the mission. 

This week we had lunch with our recent convert C. She shared her life story with us and it is amazing and very humbling. On the plateau we basically have everything we need. TV, carpet, iphones, food, and families. We really have everything. Carolina had literally nothing. Her dad abandoned her when she was born and her mom abandon her when her sister was born. Her grandmother raised her and her sister. But when C turned 10 her grandma died. She was left alone to take care of herself and her little sister. She had an aunt who did what she could to buy them clothes and food but they literally had nothing. C worked and studied really hard. She ran races to make a little bit of money. And finally she started studying here in Lima.  She bought her own little room with a table. She was constantly sending money to her little sister but was just scratching by. Finally she was able to meet her husband D. They started living together and making a little bit more money. Before she could get her title she had her first son. Now they are doing really well they are members of the church and have what they need to get by. When her son gets a little older C is going to go back to work. Her story is amazing to me. She came  out of nothing and really making something wonderful with her life. 

It is important to remain humble as we sacrifice. Its important to rely on your heavenly father, and its important to remember that sacrifice is to give up something good for something better. The sacrifices that we make to serve a mission for a year and a half are so small in comparison of what we receive. I couldn't imagine my life with out a mission. I would not be who I am today with out my mission. It has really impacted my life and I haven't even finished yet. The things we learn the experiences we have and the relationships we create with our heavenly father are priceless. 

Love you all,

See you next summer

Hermana HUish