Querida mi familia :)
Howdy guys! How are
y'all doing?
This week we went
golfing, and almost hit a squirrel on the way home from dropping Hermana
Sumsion off. Hermana Sumsion was transferred a week ago to a new ward that they
are opening up, and now it is only Hna Jorgensen and I holding up the fort. We
went to a wedding for two of the elders' investigators who then got baptized
right after. The only people glowing as much as the Bride and Groom were Elder
Murdock and Elder Pogroszewski, who have been teaching them for a long time. I
went to the General Womens' Meeting broadcast at the stake center and met this
lovely lady named Glinda. It was really funny because her husband (who pushes
her wheelchair) asked me if I was from Utah, right? And when I told him I was
actually from Connecticut Glinda burst out laughing and told him he couldn't be
more wrong than that. I wanted to say that if I was from Armenia or something
he could be more wrong but I didn't. Foreign
or uncommon or just average I am glad to be from the most important state in
the Country! ;) Oh and we watched the
broadcast in Spanish and I understood everything but President Uchtdorf's talk.
It was a miracle I tell you.
This week we got a
referral from Church Headquarters about a man named José Rivas who wanted a
Book of Mormon that lived in our area. A referral is when a member of the
church recommends that the missionaries meet with someone that they know. José, however, is a different type of
referral. Instead of someone recommending
him, he found an add about the Book of Mormon somewhere and decided that he
wanted one. So we went to find him and
give him his Book of Mormon. Well, we found him. He pulled out his bible and was telling us
how much he loves to read it. When we gave him the Book of Mormon he was
so excited. I could see his desire to
read the words of God in his face. And I
was so excited to give it to him. José
wants to change his life, and I know that more than anything that the Book of
Mormon will do it.
Many people think that
there is nothing that the Book of Mormon can do for them, why do they need
another Bible? For the same reason that
God sends out missionaries two by two.
The Book of Mormon is the companion of the Bible. Together they testify of God's love. Together they declare that the Son of God
came to the earth and that he lived for us and died for us too. Together they teach us how we can return to
live with God, make our weaknesses become our strengths, and find the purest
kind of happiness. I cannot begin to
describe the light and the power of that book, but I know that I have seen it
clearly in my life, and in the lives of those I am teaching. I know that the greatest happiness we can
have in this life begins with that book, and literally all we have to do is
read it. All the problems of our lives
can be solved with the truth in its pages.
However much happiness you have there is more to had. And all this I know because I have read and
studied it. Please read it. If you need a Book of Mormon or want one
please just ask me.
I love you all very
much! And although some would think it
impossible, I know that God loves you even more than I do.
Have a marvelous week,
-Hna McCurdy
I had a few questions for Madison and
here are the answers she gave me, I thought you might enjoy them!
Well mummy, you asked a lot of super
good questions and I am feeling extra talkative today, so you are going to get
the longest email of your life haha.
Yes I do get fed almost every day but
those nights where I don't have a dinner appointment are also the nights when I
am so grateful that taco bell is so cheap. My companions do not get hungry a
lot but there is always an angry little monster in me. Speaking of food- you
would love all the salsa. I've never had so many types of salsa in my life. To
be honest I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to eat food without salsa one
day again. Also all the Spanish people like to call me skinny a lot. It is
weird. Suddenly I have become very tall and very skinny. It has helped with the
self esteem a lot. And I did this test and apparently I am ten pounds under
weight but I don't know how much I believe that. And I am not sure how long
that will last because I get fed a lot of tortillas. So far I haven't gained a
pound.
So when I got to México
I almost had to get another tetanus shot because it would be ten years by the
time I leave but the guy told me that it was okay for the United States- which
says to me Rhod will have to get another one. But they will give him that in
the CCM so don't sweat it. Also I am really excited to never speak another word
of English to Rhodric. And it will be fun when he comes home and can't think in
English any more and I'm like, bro, I speak your language. He is going to come
home with a Chilean accent. They pronounce their "s"s weird. Also I
think it is cool that even though I was called to be Spanish Speaking, I am
actually Spanglish speaking. We contact into English people a lot and so I
still get to preach in English. It is surprisingly super easy now that I have
had to do it in another language. When I teach in English it's like, 'woah,
check out all those vocabulary words I actually have in English."
How is the Spanish coming? That is a super
complicated question that is difficult to answer, but you know that's okay
because you don't really know what questions to ask. And you asked some really
good ones so here we go. I would say the language is coming alright. Hermana
Jorgensen would say the language is coming great, but I think that she only
says that because she is trying to make me feel good. I can read preach my
gospel and el Libro de Mormón in Spanish. I haven't really tried other things.
We read out loud in Spanish better than almost all the people we teach. Right
now my vocabulary is really gospel based, so I doubt I could understand random
other things, but with time I think it'll work I am sure. Do I dream in
Spanish? No. The closest I get to it is an occasional hola or adios or gracias.
Speaking of which, I have difficulty speaking to white people in English. I see
them in the store and smile and I'm like, "Hola!" And then they look
at me weird and then when I try to apologize that ends up coming out in Spanish
too. How much do I understand? It depends on the person and my level of
concentration. But it gets better every day. Some accents are hard to
understand than others and some days I have more motivation and more energy
too. But, yesterday we were at the General Womens' meeting and I was a wee bit
stressed because I had the opportunity to watch either in Spanish with an
investigator and my companion or in English and understand everything. It was a
really hard decision for some reason. I prayed really hard and asked for help
and a miracle happened. I understood every word except for about half of
President Uchtdorf's talk, because he speaks better English than I do and uses
a lot of really big words. It was a miracle. If you would have told me a month
ago that I'd be able to understand completely Spanish conference I would have
laughed really hard. But here we are.
As you will find out tomorrow, Hna Sumsion has been
transfered and I am now in a regular companionship with Hna Jorgensen. Did we
three get along? Yes. We also spend a
lot of time with the elders in my district. They are funny and nice even though
I have the only dissimilar sense of humor in the whole district we get a long
without a hitch. Training in a trio is
hard because if I don't want to say anything I don't have to. I am not
stretched as much as I would have been. It is easy to third wheel. But I am
also blessed because instead of one Spanish teacher I have two. Instead of one
person to observe I have two excellent examples of the missionary I want to be.
I am grateful I get the best of both worlds especially now that I am also in a
duo. But the lord is not afraid to give me hard things. I know that he sees
great things in me still especially because of my relationship with my mission
president. He really likes to push me harder than others in some ways. For
example he put me in a trio. That time I spoke in zone conference he completely
called me out and said that even if I hadn't done the assigned topic in my
companionship that he requested my words too with a large knowing smile over
the pulpit. He is giving me hard things and a really unique situation. But
every time he does I feel the sparkle of hope twinkle brighter in my heart
because I know that means I am made of really great things and that I am a
really unique individual.
Being out here and in the field I have noticed that, other
than the driving, I was a lot more prepared than a lot of people when I came on
my mission. Especially in the areas of scriptural knowledge and my testimony. I
am glad that I came out here with a strong, living, testimony of the
things I am teaching and do not have to find it while trying to teach it. I am
also glad that I have so much missionary experience- having gone out with the
missionaries, watched conversions happen. I didn't realize how many convert friends
my own age I had until I met people who didn't know a single one. I am so
grateful that even then I got to watch some conversions and be part of others.
This week I said the closing prayer in sacrament meeting, which is actually the
first time I have ever given a prayer in sacrament meeting and it went rather
well. I am also one of three people in the ward who apparently plays the piano.
So I have been assigned to the relief society, and the other person is the
bishop, who covers sacrament and primary. But it looks like I am his substitute
in those things. I would be slightly stressed about it probably, but the way I
look at it at least I can play it because having no one to play would be really
bad. I started learning the piano to use it on my mission and here we
are.
We are teaching a lot of people. There is a 12 year old
less active member named Edgar who has a video game problem. Our investigator
Miriam was going to be baptized but then canceled her baptism because she is
cheating on her husband with a serial killer. We are teaching this recent
active named Paty, and her husband named Alfredo who will be baptized on the
17th and their two kids. Then we are teaching José who I talked about today,
and this lady named Karol, and other part member family, but we are trying to
get their dad baptized. Then we have another less active named Veronica, and a
less active family and their friend named Ana who is really prepared but we
can't teach her right now because of lice. Our investigator named Jesus is 17
and he will be baptized next Saturday. We teach lots of people from
English classes and a couple other people.
So the first time that I met Jeffrey
(she is talking about Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)
I opened my eyes during the prayer and looked at him praying on the stand while
the YW said the prayer. I will always remember what it looked like. He was so
rooted, so enraptured, so intently focused it changed the way I prayed. The
other thing I learned this week was that we are supposed to pour out our souls
to God when we pray. It occurred to me that if we are pouring out our soul we
are empty, and that means that God can pour other things in.
So that's all the stuff
I had to say. Love ya
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