This week was soo cool. To start off we had such a good pday we went as a zone to play beach volley and then had a barbecue at our pensionistas house. My sweet compi gave me an Ecuador shirt for my 3 month mark! so today she wore the mexico one and I wore the Ecuador one I tell her that if she has to leave this cambio we´ll take a bit of each other. My accent is becoming more Ecuadorian seriously its awesome. Thisnext Sunday we have a fireside the zone leaders signed my compi and I up to sign. We´re scared but it will be fun!
0 Comments
Hey everyone!
This week was good we had Zone Conferencia with Cobija and SAcaba so I got to see my mama and twin and that was real nice., Also got to learn a lotttt about diligence. I also had tramites and I am going to officially be a Boliviana! I think I am getting sick because its starting to rain here! Which is great because we need water! We played volley today but this was some violent way to play the Elders are too competetive anyway it was great. I am looking forward to this week but sad that cambios are approaching us and we both have a feeeling Hna silva is leaving ahh which means I would have to know the area real welll. Something sweet this week is that the ward got to hear us give talks on Sunday and I felt a greater love for them. Things are slowly but surely improving in the area and it makes me sooo happy! Im not sure why but I have been thinking a lot about the pioneers and all that they had to go through to help the church be restored and survive. I am very grateful to them for their courage and faith to be willing to give up their lives instead of denying what they believed. Im so tired today so sorry if I didnt write alot. LOve you all This week was super cool because we got to go to the temple and we got to watch General Conference! Both experiences were super spiritual and I had so many questions that were answered with talks given but most amazing was that we brought investigators to the Sunday morning session and the talks were just for them because we had just taught them about repentance. I love the little miracles that we see in the week because there are days that my compi is not feeling well so it stresses me out but then we have great things happen where God shows us his hand very clearly. This week a man approached us as we waited for a truffi (transportation) and asked us about the church and we didn't realize till later that he was a pastor and he ended up contending and tearing down everything we believe and told us we are wrong and this was our opportunity to repent. It was such an interesting experience but I learned that my testimony needs to be strong. Unchanging strong to testify. I was scared but I kept hearing just testify of what you know and I did even though it was short and I almost cried but I felt the spirit confirm to me that what I said was true. It was an experience that I will never forget. I know this church is true because it was restored from the old times it is the same as Christ established when he was on the Earth and I know that we have His authority here on earth today.
I hope you are all doing great. Notice the little miracles in your life each day it truly makes the difference. Pics: With my amigos ready for Conference (our pensionista and the people we teach that live with her) ´´The purpose of faith is not to change God’s will but to empower us to act on God’s will. Faith is trust—trust that God sees what we cannot and that He knows what we do not. Sometimes, trusting our own vision and judgment is not enough. … Faith means that we trust not only in God’s wisdom but that we trust also in His love. It means trusting that God loves us perfectly, that everything He does—every blessing He gives and every blessing He, for a time, withholds—is for our eternal happiness. With this kind of faith, though we may not understand why certain things happen or why certain prayers go unanswered, we can know that in the end everything will make sense. … (From Conference, Dieter F. Uchtdorf´s talk) Saturday was such a great day! We got to go to the mission home and spend all day with all the Hermanas in Cochabamba and President and his cute wife. We learned how to make orange rolls and self defense (that was super fun) and then we had a how to control stress seminar and the cute sister training leaders gave us these cards with different emotions and scriptures that help and a beautiful book mark that says my soul delights in the scriptures. I love going to the mission home because not only do we get spiritually fed but we get ice cream!! Watching the conference was amazing!! I loved each talk, if you haven't watched it please do so. Every message was so powerful and I felt so many questions being answered for my companion and I. I had a lot of questions regarding faith and Dieter F. Uchtdorf gave such a beautiful talk on faith that had to do with missionary work too. This week was probably the hardest week that I have had in the mission but watching the conference was my tender mercy and I felt Gods love overwhelm me. I am learning here in this area to have patience I love this quote I found in my studies this week: ´´We´ll all be required to wait for things in our lives even at times the most righteous desires of our hearts´´ Soo this week was my first one in my new area that is in the city! The view from my house is pretty. Hna Silva my new mom is super cool and sweet. Shes really funny too shes from Ecuador Guayaqil! Super cool she says ''mande'' also!
The area is harder though because not only is it bigger but steeper and people are not as nice. They dont always want to meet with us but we have faith that if we do our 10 contacts each day God will trust in us and we will find new people to teach. We already found some people this week! Our 3 investigators live with our new pensionista who is peruvian and cooks the best food I have eaten here in Bolivia but I think Im going to gain weight haha oh well Their names are Amells Jhana and Cristian they are all 17 and are studying medicine at the universidad. Hmm what else This pday we had a day at the mission home and we had burgers and played games it was cool but before that we played beach volley and that was super fun. I am learning a lot of patience here in this new area and I think I really am becoming more comfortable contacting and teaching so that makes me really happy. This wed we go to the temple and I will see my mami Hna Braathen and twin Hna Lopez and then next Sat we get to go to a baptism in Villa Graciela my ex investigators Camila and Jhilmar are getting baptized!! and then at 3 we get to go to the mission home to watch the conference with all the Hermanas in Cocha.!! It will be a great week I hope you all have a fun and productive week! Love you all Hermana Campana Area Colon Zona Universidad Hi amigos!
''What we Desire is what we become'' I have come to love my area so much and my companions too but cambios came and we got the call that I am leaving to Colon in Cochabamba in Zona Universidad to finish my training with Hermana Silva, its closer to the temple so Im excited but ah I cried so much last night because I really wanted to stay together and we have so many progressing people here but I know God has a plan for us. I know Ill come to love my new companion too and my new area. I know it will help me grow and become the kind of missionary I want to be. I love the mission more and more each day because every morning that we study I feel my Saviors love and my desire to be obedient grows and as I strive to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength I can see the miracles each day. Last night was my last miracle here in Villa Graciela. Ronnie and his Family are the best ever and last night as we taught Ronnie and his daughter Valeria who's 13 we were halfway through the 3rd lesson when she says ''Yo quiero bautizarme'' I want to get baptized!!! I was like what?? :0 I probably stared at her for a few seconds then I said ''de verdad'' really? haha we explained more about the Holy Ghost and what she needs to do to be baptized. To me its a miracle because her dad had told us she was the hardest to talk to because she didnt believe or something like that and this was the first time we talked to her. I am so grateful for them and excited for their baptisms. ''the only way to save ourselves is to let someone rescue you, its selfish to not use the atonement'' I have learned so much about Christs atonement and hope to learn more. Christ tells us ''let me make you all that you can be'' We cant do it alone, to become our best we need him. I am working on giving up my heart and mind to his work. Its really hard but I know that with time and prayer he's going to help me. I love you all, Take care and stay strong. and remember that Jesus and Heavenly Father that created the stars and the ocean and universe know your name and love you. The way to feel that is by praying talking to him. Pictures: Yummy Peanut soup! Ronnie and his kids!! (theyre the coolest) ''But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.'' 1Corinthians 2:9 Hermana Campana Area Colon Zona Universidad Hola amigos!
I dont even know where to start! This week has been blessed. We had 8 people at church and we finally met all of our weekly goals! I love how God is teaching me so much each day and how I am gaining a testimony of obedience and prayer. I have learned that specific prayers bring specific answers. and when we are obedient we see miracles. Ronnie is really a miracle he is a less active of 30 years but he is now ready to come back and his desires to learn and serve are amazing. He lets us teach his teenage kids Alejandro wants to know if God is real and if the message we teach is real and he is willing to pray and he understands he needs to have faith. People amaze me because they are just so ready to learn. God really does prepare his children. Of course there is always those who straight out say '' I dont talk to missionaries'' and worse things but its ok because what we as missiionaries go through is nothing compared to what our Savior did. “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. “Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” —Isaiah 53:3–5 I have come to understand also that we dont need to know all things. Sometimes people ask me how do you know you know ... I just do. Its a personal thing its something I have come to feel. 1 Nephi 11:17 ''I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless I do not know the meaning of all things'' ''Testify of what you know to be true or hope to be true. There may be more power in your testimony than you realize.'' I learned this from a talk by Elder Holland haha These are some pictures of my district I love that we are all laughing haha ah such goofs and then a ''cool'' picture we tried to do while contacting and so here 3 times a yaer they do a ''dia del peaton'' or pedestrian day so no one uses cars everyone walks!! I mean its like dia de peaton for us everyday but anyway everyone was so happy and then we saw sheep walking down the street!! WE tried to pick one up to hold it above our shoulders but that didnt work out haha I love the graffity here not that I encourage it or anything its just all about love. I love you all!! Take care and stay Strong! (Alma 26:12) So this week so many cool things happened! Well more like super spiritual ones happened. We asked our bishop to give us blessing to be able to work better in his area and he was super nice. I have never felt the spirit so strong before when I was given a blessing. I knew that it was coming from God because he mentioned something in my patriarchal blessing a way I know God knows me and he said ''I can feel the love God has for you'' and I cried so much haha and he did too. After I felt strengthened and we went and worked hard during the week. We have been trying to find what more can we do and we want to be more firm and confident in our baptism invitations and dates. This week we set 6 baptism dates and each were super spiritual and special. Another miracle is that one day our appointments fell and we had nothing to do so we contacted by knocking on doors and we found a man named Ronny. He was so excited to see us and said ''I know who sent you'' my friend this and that and we were so confused but then he said that same day he had been thinking a lot about the mormons and how he wanted to activate himself in the church again and by Gods power we ended up at his door. We met with him yesterday and he is so ready and willing to come back!
I loved this week because even though I felt overwhelmed with everything I also felt so much love from God and I was able to learn so much and apply it and see the results right away. God is real and he wants to guide us because he knows best. He wants our happiness and success. I know revelation is real! We also made cookies for the relief society women I am really bad at baking so I almost burned the cookies haha but they were still ok they were yummy That's my pensionista our mami. and some of the people that we are teaching. Amilcar & Vane are the young couple they made us Sin Pancho a really good dish here I have never liked beets before but this time they were goooood! Rosa is the cute old lady she's the smallest and sweetest person ever. I love teaching her. Los amo, Love you all, Hermana Campana Villla Graciela ''Most people are as happy as they make up their mind to be'' Abraham Lincoln
I am learning its all about the attitude you have. So yea I can be sad when things dont work out or I can choose to be happy regardless. This week I learned a lot about leaving the rest to God. We do our part and then we have faith that he will make the rest work. We had investigators come to church yesterday it was so nice after 3 weeks of no one coming. We also got to give talks in sacrament. It was really nice. I feel so happy most of the time. There are moments sometimes that I get disappointed when people dont come to church or something like that happens but right away I laugh with my compis and pray and the next day its all good. I LOVE my companions they are my best friends by now we laugh at any little thing and its so fun that way. I love Alma 26:12 It talks about how we are nothing without God and its so real we dont do any of the work we are simply Gods hands and feet and he does it all. I love that when we visit someone I can see themn with the potential that they have and get a hint of how God sees them but then its sad when they dont see it its heartbreaking ah yea I love the mission it is a rollercoaster We love this old lady she makes our days all the time The graffity in Bolivia is all about love and stuff haha This pday we went paintballing it was the coolest experince ever it was fun I didnt get hit only at the end on my arm and it stung bad haha but now its good I dont have a bruise or anything. we played with some people of our zone. ITs funny how much my twin loves dogs haha But yea I love the mission. Take care and thanks for writing me! Los amo Love you Muna Cuyki (love you) I think haha Hermana Campana Area Villa Graciela Zona Sacaba Hello!!
''Courage is not just one of the cardinal virtues but as CS Lewis observed: courage is... the form of every virtue at the testing point... Pilate was merciful till it became risky.'' I can barely believe that tomorrow is one month that I left my home. I have been here in Bolivia almost 2 weeks now and I am so happy. I love it here. I was called to first serve in the Zona Sacaba area Villa Graciela 2! I stayed in Cochabamba yes the city haha Hermana Lopez and I are still together in a trio with our amazing trainer ''mami'' Hermana Braathen! Shes the sweetest and most commited missionary I know. We love her and her testiony and desire to work each day! Shes a great example of diligence and faith. I live in a cute little apt. and its so amazing how fast it became my ''home sweet home''. god really blesses everything so that our areas reallly feel like home. I love the people and we already have some good investigators that are ready. Amilcar and Vanesa are a cute couple with two young boys. Amilcar more than Vanesa wants to learn more of God and they both have been praying and have felt the spirit. Its so wonderful to see the hand of God each day as we walk and talk to people. some are so ready to hear some not so much. We've had doors shut in our faces just yesterday but I have so much gratitude to be here. I learn each day to be patient and trust God in all things and that everything that happens is his plan. My compis and I are always laughing and that helps so much with the adjustment and discouragement I feel when some days no one is home haha I am grateful for my companions I know God placed me with them beacsue he knows all things and he knew we would work well together. We also randomly saw a donkey on the street and I dont know why but it was so funny, I have learned to never conform that there is always more you can do. Especially as a missionary you can always do something else. 2 Nephi 28:21 explains this better. So yea this is something I am going to work on. to end The weirderst thing happened in our zone meeting, Hermana Ururi and Hermana Rivas called me over and told me that when they were companions in the Tupiza area they had dreams of me!!!! What???°!! I was so scared haha They said they kept dreaming of a women that looked just like me curly hair everything and they both thought maybe it was someone they were going to find to teach but then when Hermana Rivas first saw me in the meeting she called Hermana Ururi and told her I found the woman and she is a missionary! I am so amazsed and scared and I cried when they told me that. Hermana Braathen thinks that maybe it means I'll go to Tupiza. Who knows but it made me ponder and I know that God sent me to this mission in particular for a reason. It has strengthened along with the people I have met to know that he needs me here. I love my cochabambinos I know God loves each one of us and nothing is ever a coincidence. I love you all, Write me I love hearing from your lives and the exciting things going on. OOOh yea Im learning quechua! Its hard in its pronounciation but I love. it Im going to learn to pray in quechua! but for now songho cusisgha cassan means my heart is so happy! (that is not how you spell it im sure but its how it sounds to me haha) Ciao amigos Hermana Campana Zona Sacaba Area Villa Graciela 2 its pday already! Its so cool here like seriously its the best! :]
I am in cochabamba!! I got to stay in the city! I am in Area Villa Graciela2 Zona Sacaba con Hermana Lopez y nuestra entrenadora Herm. Braathen. Somos Trio!!!!!! The flight was the craziest thing ever because it was so long haha we went from salt lake to denver then to miami and then from there to santa cruz!! Yes I was at your mission!! ;D It was cool it looks like a jungle but not that crazy there´s just a lot of grass and trees and palm trees. Anyway at miami airport we were so tired we got lost lol haha it was the worst thing ever we almost lost our flight we walked around the whole thing and had to be fast so I seriosuly almost died. I kept praying like God help me get there because I was soooo exchausted and we were carring our carry on bags. But we finally got there me and Hermana Lopez of course. WE talked to some men that were taking the same plane and on the plane we sat next to this man that lives in la paz and the whole time we talked to him. So bolivians talk slow and low most of the time. So speak slow to them or they wont understand. Some cool words are pucha which mean like dang or ahh haha usually for something that goes bad. Macana is like que mal . Like we´ll say pucha que macana when something goes wrong haha I love it here.When we arrived at the Cochabamba airport they sang to us the president his wife and elders and hermanas! They sang Called to serve in spanish! ;D It was so cool I felt like crying then we went out with the sister training leaders and we ate some salteñas super ricas. La comida aqui no me hace daño. I was scared that it would hurt my stomach but it doesnt it feels good. We only get almuerzo by our pensionista but during our citas they feed us so I usually dont starve haha. Its funny because we dont have water at the moment so we cant shower and it sucks because a day ago it was so windy and I feel so drity haha. And like we cant go to the bathroom at our house so yea. We came to our pensionistas house for the bathroom and if by tonigt its not fixed we will shower here too. But yea about the flights dont worry just hm sleep it helps and talk to whoever is next to you! great contacting time haha I am a contacting pro now haha jk but ahh I forgot to tell you that we got our trainers after coming back from the Cristo on Wed. And Lopez and I were so sad that we thought we were going to separate but they announced that Hermana Braathen would be training 2 chicas. And Lopez was like ew not a trio haha and she saw her picture so she was like pucha Im in the trio but then President said my name and then he said we decided the ''Twins'' will be together (Lopez and I) haha they call us twisns because of our hair haha anyways yess!! We are staying together which is totally crazy because we have been companions since the beginning. I was so happy an dgrateful and I know its all for a reason and that we are meant to teach together. I love my compis so much. Our mami is the best shes spiritual and sweet and loving and I love her so much. Shes a great example to me of enduring because she's sick and still keeps going. Today we are going to the clinica to see how they can help her. Pray for her :D But yea on Sunday we got to go on splits even though I am still not an expert on the area its so hard to figure out anything here because most streets dont have names or houses have numbers so directions here are like '' por el bateon ayiasito a la izquierda con una puerta negra'' haha yesterday we spent the whole afternoon trying to contact our references beause the directions to their homes were so vague. This super cool man we met his name is Johhny and he is a taxi driver and so we contact everywhere we are so we talked to him and he was super interested and we invited him to church and then he's like yes Ill be there and we gave him a folleto with our numbers. Then we got off and the next day we realized that he was also a reference soemone had given us on a card. So I thought wow. God really wants him to be taught because we found him without knowing that he was already a reference. No wonder he was super ready to come to church and all that. But then he didnt come. Its like that alot like they say theyll come and they dont but its okay I know it means we need to excerice faith and keep working with them. But yea now we are just hoping he will call us because we dont know where he lives. haha Hmm I have been really sick since I got here but now like 2 days ago I feel so much better I am getting stronger ;D More used to the weather cold in the morning and at night but hot in the day. I just had a cold but im better now. God takes care of us each day as we walk and it gets dark at first I was scared like noo its dangerous but now I feel so safe and I know that angels walk with us wherever we go. I have learned that If I can love everyone I teach I can be more effective in helping them come to Christ. I also need to love especially those who are indifferent and dont show their love as much. I practiced that last night with our lesson to our pensionista shes a recent convert and I was able to understand her better and her love her for who she is with her struggles and all and i cried with her and it was suuch a beautiful moment. Then she opened up and I felt her love to me. And that was something I really had been wishing to feel. Because she is like our mom here in the mission and I wanted to feel that love and I did last night so I know that was Gods mercy to me. WE did a noche de hogar last night with Fam Rojas and her sister and her children who are not memebers and it was sooooo good. I felt the spirit so strong as I taught about the resurrection and how beautiful it is and I was like this is my favorite part beacuse I will get back all my hair that has fallen off. I love teaching especially when you can focus on their needs and use the doctrine to help them gain faith and hope. She is less active their mom) and so we invited them to come to church again and she said I will start coming to church again and it was so unexpected and I felt soooo happy Inside of me I was jumping up and down haha Its so hard to not really do it when soemthing good happens but of course I dont want to be super weird and irreverent but in my heart I was jumping up and down for them. They are great!! Hmm what else hmm Its great I love the mission. I love my compis and the people here they are simple and sweet and they are usually open to hear of the gospel. I will be in this area at least 3 months being trained. So until then ;D Ill be learning the area we have goals to go on lots of splits with members to get more done. Oh my goodness our ward here is the best ever. Sorry Tres lagos haha they are just so focused on missionary work the consejo de barrio is so efficient and they focus on visiting people and they made a new plan to do noche de hogares cada lunes with different families and invite investigators. The bishop is the most humble loving man. He told us that we are the angles of the ward and I felt like crying haha beacuse I remember I would tell the sisters back home that and the elders too so to be told that it was super special. I love you miss you but I am so in love with the mission. I learn so much each day and it prepares me so much for life. The MTC feels like a year already. Each day feels like forever!! After lunch it feels like another day already haha but each week flies. I cant believe that this week coming up is my last week here in Utah. It has been so amazing and our district 23B is just the best I love it. I am going to miss it here but I am also so excited to go to Bolivia and start working there meeting new people and helping them come closer to Christ. I have been so blessed this week. So first off our district gets to host new missionaries this upcoming Wed!! I am excited because its so fun even though we have to carry all their luggage but its so cool either way my host was the sweetest strongest sister ever. I hope to be as strong as her haha. Also, I got my visa and itinerary and I am going to fly out to Bolivia Monday Aug 1st!!! I am so excited because I thought I was not going to get my visa on time!
Yesterday we got to sing with the Nashville Tribute Band! (Not national haha oops) It was so amazing Im glad I started liking country music before the mission. My favorite songs they sang were "The hardest thing Ive ever loved to do" which is about when the main singer went on his mission and then one I forgot the name but its about MaryJesus' mom when he was crucified. It was such a beautiful song and it reminded me so much of my mom the other hermanas from my district and I were just crying so much but we felt such a greater love for Jesus, his love, his bravery and obedience to the Father. We learned that even when he was in so much pain he worried for his mom and it just touched my heart so much because most of the time we worry about our own pains and problems but do we ever take a minute from our worries and comfort others? I know I forget so Im going to try to do better at that. My compi Hermana Lopez and I got to teach Relief Society and we were so amazed because during the lesson the spirit took the class a way we had not planned. It was beyond our reach everyone felt the spirit and we felt so grateful. We talked about what have been the blessing of our baptism and then we reflected on how we all have a friend that we wish had those blessings in their lives too. We emphasized the importance of our calling to be representatives of Jesus Christ and invite people to come follow him by being baptized. It is our responsability and not our right to deny people of that opportunity because we are too shy or we dont "feel its the right time" I learned that lesson the hard way this week. We had our investigator Andres and we had amazing lessons with him he felt god's Love for him and he prayed repented and came to church but we for some reason didnt invite him to be baptized and then after the lesson our teacher says that we need to invite him. I instantly began crying because I finally realized that its true, this is my purpose as a missionary and I cant doubt any second. MY faith in Jesus christ has grown so much these past days. I love Alma 26:35 because it teaches of God's great mercy to all his children. And it asks what greater joy than this? To know that we have his perfect love and compassion. I love you all Thank you for the messages and letters and packages I appreciate it. Hasta luego, nos vemos desde Bolivia next week. I arrived at the mtc on Wednesday like at 10 something am!! It was so nice to finally see sisters because all the traveling way I was with elders. The host that helped me to get my things inside was so nice and sweet! Right away we read scriptures and did so many things. My companion is Hermana Lopez!! I was so happy because we knew each other before the mission and we were crossing our fingers that we would be compis here at the mtc! so its great! We love each other since day one. Well ah there are so many things to tell you all. We met our district and its 23B the best one yet haha jk but we are super funny the elders are hilarious and they are so nice and spiritual! They are Elder Rodriguez he is from Bronz New York and its so funny in class when we ask him to tell him his Bronx Stories he's going to El Salvador &BElize and then Elder Gonzales who is also now our DL District Leader is from Utah but has a cool Nicaraguan Accent in espanol he's going to Tempe Arizona and then last is elder Aguirre he is from suprise Arizona haha we didnt beleive him but I guess it is a city someone look it up and let me know haha. WE also have 6 sisters here in our Distrito. They are Hermana Hernandez and Hermana VAzques going to El Salvador tambien and they are from utah!! Then Hermana Chavez and Hermana Irizarri and they are going to Tempe Arizona tambien also from utah (Peruvian family!). Everyone is from utah haha jk but not really. My teachers are Hermana Zekimi and Hermano Larson. They are so cool abnd funny and help us learn so much each day. I always learn something I had not thought of before so its really nice! Its hard waking up early and staying up in class for like 3 hours and then lunch and 3 more hours haha. But its so worth it I love it here! SO our teachers pretend they are our investigators and we have to meet them and teach them and It is the best thing ever at fitst we taught "Edwina" (hermana Zekimi) and it was kind of awkward we were nervous and we did okay. She had so many questions so we learned to not have a set plan but to be open to listen to the spirit and locate her needs to be able to help her better. WE did that with Andres you'll see a picture of him here he is Brother larson but yea our lesson with him went great! WE were lead by the spirit and ended up having him pray and come to church with us!!! I felt like a real missionary when he asked in his prayer i" GOd are you there?" It was amazing and I felt like crying. I have learned that we are here to bring people unto repentance and baptism so that they can better Follow Jesus Christ. Ahh how did I forget! WE met ELDER BEDNARD in a devotional on Sunday and we sang in a choir with 1500 missionaries. WE are practicing to sing next sunday when the National Tribute Band comes here to perform. The songs are called "I was Born" and "Johns song" you all need to look them up!! They're great especially I was born well mostly for missionaries but yea. haha Im having a good time. Pray for me to stay calm and not expect perfection because that's something I struggle with but my compi and I are working on it.
Love you all, Hermana Campana! I made some cupcakes all morning with the help of my mom, sister, niece and nephews :) We tried making them look like the world for the world theme of my opening call party later. It took forever but we got that done and then we fixed up the house. I bought a cute banner from an etsy shop as well as cupcake toppers that could be downloaded and printed. I cut those out the night before and decorated the banner with colorful paper behind the letters. I got the "where in the world?" idea from this blog! I loved the theme! Everything came out really cute. Im grateful for my family's willingness to help because without them I would not have been able to do it by myself. We had mothers's day celebration + opening my call this night and it worked out because all my family was there and we had food. Anyway, some of my dear friends came and my boyfriend was there too but mostly my family and Im glad because this was mostly for them to be there as I opened the call. I wanted especially the kids to be there so they would get excited to maybe serve a mission some day. My family is so loud but I love them! we played a game of guessing before I acutally opened the packet. It was fun to see their guesses even the little kids participated. We used tab sticky notes to mark the guesses on the maps. oh yea also my sister had the great idea to project a map instead since I did not have time to buy one and other than the funny shadows it worked out well! Right after when they were all done marking their guesses we settled sort of haha and I began to open my letter!!! It was an exciting moment mostly for my family and friends; I had previously opened it that week but no one knew because well I wanted them to have that chance of me opening it for them. It was even exciting for me to open it with them! I felt once again a great love for Bolivia and I felt another confirmation that my calling came from my loving Heavenly Father. everyone was so excited and many guessed really close to the place but only one sticky was on Bolivia and it was my little nephew Sami that guessed it!! He was so excited he didn't even read the country's name he just said the green one that's my guess :) Overall I had such a fun time with them and opening it with people you love is definitely a great experience. I think that If I hadn't received my call a week away from this party I would have waited to open it but a week was too long to wait. In the end it does not matter when or where you open it because it's your calling and its a personal thing between your Heavenly Father and you.
I am so grateful for everyone that came and that shared this moment with me. For my aw some friend that was so kind to take beautiful pictures of the whole thing as well as my sister that helped project the map and saved the day as well as my other sister for hosting the party and of course my parents for their unconditional love and support of me going on a mission even if they are scared and I know they would rather me not go. Bolivia aqui voy! Here I come! Here are some more photos! Ahhh! When I least expected it I got mail! Wow, I could not believe it at all! Finally here! I had just asked my bishop about the status of my calling on Sunday but he was not able to find more information other than knowing it was assigned, which I already knew. I had begun to feel a bit impatient on Sunday and had prayed and decided that I was going to stop thinking about it all together to avoid getting anxious. Then today, I literally did nothing I wish I had spent my day being more productive and things that brought the spirit, but oh well.
So, it was like 4pm and my dad had just gotten home from work. I was sitting on the couch about to read when I saw him carrying in the mail, I noticed a big white envelope!!!! I jumped off the couch and ran to him to get it haha he didn't realize that he was carrying my calling. I could not contain my excitement and neither could my little sister or my mom. We all jumped and did "woohoo's" and funny little dances, very embarrassing, but I was glad that they were just as excited as I was. My dad he never shows any emotion but it's ok we had enough excitement for him too! Even though I had the calling in my hands I could not believe I was really going on a mission! I couldn't hold it so I left it on the table. I came back a few minutes later for it and asked my little sister if she could help me out by taking some pictures by the mail box. Yea, still I could not believe it. Also, I was not yet sure when to open it. My parents wanted me to open it right away because even though they were nervous they wanted to know where I was going. I had a feeling that I should open it with them, but for a second I was scared that I was assigned a place they would deem too dangerous. I did not want them to worry and all I wanted was for them to feel good and peaceful and know that I would be okay. So, I prayed in my room and then we prayed as a family. It seemed unreal when I finally was opening it. I began reading and was filled by the spirit. The words were not so common because I had it printed in Spanish so my parents would understand. The moment I read where I was assigned before I said it aloud, I had a second I couldn't speak . I wanted to cry and my heart was so grateful that I had been given the opportunity to serve where one of my closest friends was serving. It was a moment of personal revelation and right away I knew that indeed that was where I was supposed to go, and the Lord had trusted me to go teach and serve there. Sorry, I haven't said the place exactly. I plan to open my calling Sunday at church and with family so I didn't want to spoil it before then. I'll post on Sunday about that! I however would like to end this post by bearing my testimony of the church and the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know in my heart that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only true church upon the Earth for it has the Restored Gospel that Jesus once taught when he walked upon the Earth. It contains all the truths and principles necessary for our salvation. I know that Jesus Christ lives. He came into the world to teach and bear the sins of all the world, he died for us and rose from the dead, breaking the bands of death that we too someday will rise from the dead. Because of him we have life and have a way to return to our Heavenly Father and to be with out families forever. We don't have to fear death or sin or our daily trials because there is repentance and baptism where we can leave our sins behind and follow Him. We have His grace and Holy Ghost to comfort us as we go through hard things. We have the scriptures to lead us in the right path, teach us, and comfort us. Just like times of old we have a prophet here on Earth this very moment, who loves us and receives revelation from God to lead his people. We are blessed beyond measure when we open our hearts to receive Him and his gospel. I know these things are true and I bear my testimony in the name of brother and Savior Jesus Christ, amen. Today marks exactly two weeks since my mission papers were submitted by my stake president. It has not been that long so I am not really stressing. My stake president told me that it would take around 2-3 weeks but I heard from a sister missionary Facebook group that it could take up to 3 months. So I am mentally set to wait. It has not been so bad waiting, perhaps because I have only been doing it for barely two weeks but even during this time I have been rather calm about it and sometimes even forget I am waiting. It most certainly does not mean I am not excited or anything of the sort but I just like to focus on other things going on at the time. These past weeks have consisted of spending a lot of bonding time with family, shopping (gathering some mission stuff as I can), establishing a scripture study habit, and cleaning out my room. It has been fun to reorganize my room now that I'll be leaving, taking some stuff out starting to sort some clothes that might work for missionary outfits. I had the blessing of having a sister from my ward offer to buy me some scriptures! I was so happy because I had not bought new ones since I was like 11 or around there ages ago. I love these new ones (I got a quad) and I have started using them for my daily study. I'll make a post later on about the different approaches I take to study scriptures. Anyway, dedicating a time of the day to sit, pray, and study, has for sure been one of the biggest reasons why I can be calm and happy. I have learned so much and mostly just keep receiving confirmations about the truthfulness of the gospel and the Book of Mormon. Also, about my calling to be a missionary of the Lord. Getting to this point has been a journey as I mentioned in my intro and that is mostly because of my parents. They were not always supportive of me going a mission. My dad is inactive and while my mom does go to church she's still scared for me. They always rejected the idea of me going away and said well "its not required of young women to go" Yes! I know its not, but God wants me to go. I have prayed about it for years now and the feeling of going has been the same from that first time I knew I would go. Now, its just my time. The time has come. The years have passed and it is my time now to spread my wings and go preach and invite and love. So waiting 3 weeks or 3 months is nothing when I compare it to how many years I have waited for this moment. I am so excited and humbled! I know that it will be a most challenging experience but also a most humbling and blessed one. So if you are waiting stop stressing out its OK, it really is. Focus on your relationship with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father as much as you can at this time. It will be worth it! |
Viridiana CampanaHi everyone, Archives
December 2017
Categories
All
|