Yes there was Halloween, and we still went out proselyting. But our area really isnt dangerous.
The
kids here on Halloween are CRAZY. We were finishing a lesson and heard
the kids (and their parents) outside yelling "¡QUEREMOS HALLOWEEN!
¡QUEREMOS HALLOWEEN!". hahaha so instead of "trick or treat" or
something nice like that, the people yell "We want Halloween!" hahaha
and when you come outside to give them the candy, everyone goes crazy
yelling "¡Señorita! ¡Aqui!" "Here! Lady!", with their bags and hands
grabbing for what they can. haha awww. Our area is more of the "rich"
and "nice and clean" side. And the people that trick or treat are all
from different areas (Colonials as they say it here). And areas more
humble. So I'm glad the kids were able to enjoy their Halloween. :)
I
cant believe that on that day, exactly a year ago I received my mission
call. Time flies. We had Stake Conference this weekend and as Elder Jose
Pineda Castillo (of the Seventy) said to us, "Time is like an arrow; it
never comes back and never waits." I'm so happy and honored to be
spending my precious time of this life in the work of the Lord. I know
that in reality, my time here (in this life) is a gift, at the cost of
His life. I can only repay Him by using it wisely. And my time in the
mission is so short in the grand perspective of things. The time is
short but the consequences are eternal.
In our Council of
Leaders with Presidente Ramos and in our Stake Conference, a common
theme we talked about was Autosuficiencia..I don't remember the English
word but its basically Being Self Sufficient.
One of the example our stake president used, Pdt. Jimenez, stood out to me a lot :)
During
the Last Supper when Christ said to His Disciples that one of them
would betray him, all of them thought to themselves, ¿Is it me Lord? No
one looked around at each other asking if it was someone else. They all
questioned themselves.
We all need to have a personal change and conversion before we can help and work with others.
I
love this example because you can relate it to many things. I know that
in the work here, I can only make a difference and fulfill my purpose
of helping and inviting others to come unto Christ, if I have a surety
in myself and my faith. If I am humble enough to accept my weaknesses
and allow Gods power to help me overcome them.
This has been
one of my biggest problems. Humility. I think its the problem of the
world. To overcome the natural man and strengthen your Divine Potential
as a child of God.
I really don't have excuses and I don't like
giving them. But despite the hard things that I have encountered in the
mission, with a new culture, new language, nobody understanding me,
maybe not always feeling respect as a missionary or a person (because I'm
just some American that cant express myself correctly), not having the
patience of myself or others, y blah blah blah...despite these things, I
know that there are always means to overcome them. God has never left
my side and never will. I have always had the potential to overcome
them, but lacked the faith to see it.
The world sees humility
as something weak. But in reality its the strongest characteristic we
can have. With humility, we can receive the power of God. We are given
the power to turn our weaknesses into strengths.
2 Nephi 4 (verses 27-32?)
There
are always moments in our life that test us. That's life. That's the
purpose. In these moments Satan wants us to fall into our faults and
weaknesses and be miserable like him, but God allows these moments
because He sees our strengths and our potential and He wants us to
overcome them.
I have turned to my Savior and put my trust in
my God. I have softened my heart and accepted that I am not here to
speak Spanish perfectly and that like the ministry of the Savior, in His
work there will always be struggles and hardships, but with His power
and my humility to accept it, i will overcome. And there will be miracles
to outshine the darkness.
I love you all.
I hope this is more inspiring than concerning haha
Just some more of the realities of the mission.
WITH LOVE,
Hermana johnson
PS when we skype in December, ill be halfway done with my mission...wow.
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