Hola hola!!!
Transfers this week! I get to stay here in Little Rock with Hermana Thornton! Our whole district is actually staying the same and I'm so happy about that. I'm so excited for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years this transfer! I get to spend all of them with some really great people!
ALSO I went to the temple today! The temple is so awesome! The rule of our mission is that we only get to go the month of our birthday, and then right before we go home. So I don't get to go for another year. :( :( But it's ok. In the temple, I was able to feel so much peace and the love of our Heavenly Father. I know God loves each and every one of us.
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| On the way to the temple, we stopped to see a friend of the sister going home. (The one next to me.) |
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| Memphis, Tennessee temple |
I also saw Elder Pickering (from her CCM District) for a second today. That was cool.
The other day, we ran into a guy that speaks English and wanted to hear our message. We told him that Christ lives and that through Him, we can be healed from all of our sins AND pains. And then he asked how we know that. How do we know that Christ lives? He was in a wheelchair and his question was, if God exists and he loves us, why did he let bad things happen it him? Why was he in a wheelchair? We told him that it's because of agency. Because we have been given the ability to choose, sometimes bad things happen because of the choices we have made. And sometimes they happen because of the choices of other people. A lot of times they happen because of the choices of other people. But God wants us to come to Him. He wants us to find peace though praying to him and studying his words in the scriptures. And then this guy asked how I know this. He was like, "I want to hear a story from your life. How do you know?" So I told him about my surgeries. I told him that I was born with a birth defect where the bone in my upper right jaw was bad and I didn't have the adult teeth there. And in 8th grade, I had surgeries to fix this birth defect. I had to have a bone graft and it was really hard to have that be a part of my life . It was hard to have doctors always looking at my face and stuff, knowing that they were looking for what was wrong with me. And then my body rejected the bone graft. So I had to try again... another bone graft. I told him how during this whole process, I felt like crap.. a LOT. So I prayed to my Heavenly Father. And every time I prayed to Him... because I prayed lots of times... I felt His love. I felt Him telling me that it was all ok, that I am loved, and that everything would work out. Then the second time I had the surgery with a different surgeon, it did work out. And it's all ok now. I testified to this man that I know that our Heavenly Father loves me. And he loves you. And Jesus Christ does as well.
ALSO THIS WEEK I PLAYED MY FLUTE FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 6 WEEKS! I think that's the longest I've gone without playing in years. Like probs 15 years! It felt really good to play again. Before English class on Tuesday, we were sitting and waiting in the foyer of the church when a brother in the other ward, Bro. Oisdad, started talking to us. He asked which one of us plays the piano a little and I was like, "Me. LOL! But I can only play 2 hymns, so really, very little. Apparently he plays the piano and kind of takes care of our branch as far as music goes. (Elder Spencer usually plays the piano every Sunday but he's been here a while so we were discussing being nervous that he would leave because no one else can play.) Then Bro. Oisdad said, "Well, we just might be singing those two hymns every Sunday!" And then Hermana Thornton said, "She plays the flute!" And he said, "Great!" He then started talking about how we're going to do a musical number this coming Sunday.
On Wednesday we practiced and he just wanted me to play the melody of Love One Another while he played some cool chords and stuff. And I was like, " Uhhh.... my mom sent me some music and I actually have a Love One Another that has some cool runs and stuff that I could do. Unfortunately, it turns out he can't really read music that well so we're going to figure something else out. But, I'm insisting that I do something more than the melody! Hopefully I can send you a recording! So yeah. I get to play in church one Sunday!!! :) I'm so pumped!
ALSO I FREAKING KILLED IT THIS WEEK AT ZONE MEETING! So in Preach My Gospel, there's 5 lessons that we teach. And within those 5 lessons, there are sub-sections called Doctrinal Points. And one of the things we're supposed to do in our mission is pick a Bible scripture and a Book of Mormon scripture for each doctrinal point and memorize all of the doctrinal points and which scriptures go for each one. So for example, for the doctrinal point, God Is Our Loving Heavenly Father, my scriptures are John 3:16-17 and 2 Nephi 1:15. And so by the time we've been here for 6 months, we need to have all 42 doctrinal points and which scriptures go with each one memorized. At the beginning of our missionary meetings, people are called up to do their doctrinal points for everyone. And on Monday, we were prepping for the Zone Meeting on Tuesday and Hermana Thornton started quizzing me on just the points for Lesson 4. I was like, "I literally don't know any of these... I can't." And she was like, " Okay, well, I guess you just won't be the greenie that does all the doctrinal points at the Zone Meeting." And then I was like, "Wut???" Apparently, at every zone meeting, they ask if there's a greenie that can recite all of their doctrinal points, aka all 42. So, I was said, "Yeah, nope that's not going to be me. I barely know only Lessons 1 and 2 and maybe 3." But then I woke up Tuesday morning and I thought, "You know what? I'm going to be that greenie! I'm going to memorize Lessons 4 and 5 this morning! So that's what I did while I got ready. I showed Hermana Thornton that I knew them all and she was like, "Will you do it?!? And I said, "Okay. Yes!" Later on, during the meeting, before they were even done asking the question, Hna T grabbed my hand and raised it for me that I could do the doctrinal points. So I went up and FREAKING KILLED IT. Boom! I just listed them all off and I didn't even stop. It was so cool! Hermana Thornton told me that everyone was looking at me and looking at her, all impressed. So that's the story of how I'm awesome. :) And then I got a Subway gift card as a prize! Thanks Mom for helping me learn how to memorize things fast and well. :)
I think that's all the good stuff that happened this week. I love you tons! Have a happy Thanksgiving!! We're going to the Bowen's for dinner on Thanksgiving AND NEXT WEEK HERMANA THORNTON AND I ARE GOING TO GO BUY CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS!
Love, Nan
P.S. Pictures from last night.
