mi hija y yo

A FUNNY

 

Last night we spent a biiiit too long at an appointment. This guy was too funny and we talked and talked and laughed together for a few hours. Hermano Portillo is his name, he's the 2nd counselor in the bishopric and it was really great to get to know him and his wife better. They are from Guatemala and he has a great conversion story! But the FUNNY part was that the whole night he kept teasing my companion, Sister Tantillo.

 

She is waiting for her VISA to get over to Brasil and so in the MTC she was taught Portuguese. She decided that while she was here she would learn Spanish. I always ask her random questions throughout the day to get her speaking Spanish but she's never really had to talk to anyone in Spanish. Last night this brother was not about to let her get away with that.

 

He'd talk and talk and then look right at her and say, "Entiende?" And of course she'd just smile and say, "Si! Yo entiendo!" to which he'd quickly reply, "que dije yo?" What did I say? Every time she'd scramble and try to find a response. We told him that since we are both training her, Hermana Brown is the papa and I am the mama. I realized last night just how true this is.  Whenever someone asks her a question she looks at me first before responding. She doesn't look at Hermana Brown because she knows she won't help her. But if she looks at me with those sweet eyes she knows I'll help her, every time. Last night Hermano Portillo kept telling me to stop helping her. All I could say was, "ayyy pero ella es mi hija!!" I cannot stand to watch the pain! It's so frustrating when someone is looking right at you and you can't find the words to say back. Ugh, it's painful. And I remember the pain from just a few months ago! I just want to help my little girl! Hermana Brown would just laugh and shake her head, she's the Papa. She knows her girl can speak Spanish and she won't give her the answers. Cliché.

 

I'm so stoked to be a real mom. You have no idea. I cannot wait to have them looking at me with those eyes, I can't wait to watch them grown and learn.

 

For now I have my mission daughter, and we're having the best time ever. :)

 

A GOOD STORY

There is a couple that we really wanted to attend Stake Conference. They are having some marital problems and we knew that anything they could do together would strengthen them. They wanted to go and so to fortify the occasion we asked if they could give us a ride! Of course they'd love to. Great. But actually the problem is that they needed a babysitter. For 24 strait hours we frantically called everyone we know and drove around looking for someone to watch their kids. We found a girl, 16 years old, who hasn't come to church for a year but said she'd be willing to help out! An hour before everything is supposed to go down we find out that the husband doesn't want to go anymore. Shucks, we think. He texts us and says sorry. Well that's fine, we can talk to the wife about things on our way to the conference! He'll be out of the house still so we tell the babysitter how to get there and say that we'll all meet at 6:00. At 7:30 we get a call from the wife and she can't find the babysitter anywhere... she waited at the bus-stop for 20 minutes but the girl never came. She doesn't have a phone and we can't find her walking around anywhere... great! We lost someone's child! Well she's 16 so hopefully she'll figure it out. We send the kids off elsewhere for the night and get in the car to head out to the conference. On our way we get a call and it's the babysitter!!! She had walked to the chapel because she didn't know where to go. We grab her and offer to take her home, but then she says that she'd like to come with us! WHAT!? She hasn't even come to church in over a year and she wants to spend her Saturday night at an adult conference? DEAL! We had a great night. We even saw people that knew her and she had a great time. Crazy how even when we plan and plan, things don't work out how we want them to. But in the end, things always work out the way the Lord wants them to.

 

A LESSON LEARNED

 

Humility

It's the worst thing I could have started praying for before my mission. And I continue to pray for it still! And guess what? God ALWAYS answers. I'm learning every day how important it is to be humble. If we can really grasp the concept that God is our loving Heavenly Father, then we understand that he will never lead us astray. In fact, he'll always help us with whatever we need. He'll help us achieve our goals and give us joy and peace and comfort in time of trial. And once we realize that it's only a matter of time before we realize that OUR ideas need to bet he same as his. The only way we can come to know what he wants us to do is by being humble.

 

It's not the kind of humility like when someone says "you did so great" and you say "oh... thank you, but really it was all [so-and-so] who did it!" No. It's the kind of humility that you'd have when you're standing in front of someone who built your family a home after a fire, or rescued your child from drowning in the ocean, or that has been by your side every day of your life to listen and help and laugh and guide you through life. It's the kind of humility you'd feel if you were standing in front of the Savior. In front of your God and King. This kind of Humility is what gets us to truly accept His will... and DO IT!

 

I'm humbled every day by experiences where I learn that my way is not always the right way. Obviously. I have never been so clumsy or spacey in my life as I have been on my mission. I think it's because I am praying to be humbled! And it's working! Slowly, this hard-hearting stubborn gal is getting a lesson in humility.

 

GOALS:

follow up

1) I don't drive like a Bostonian, still, so that's good. However this week I honked for no purpose... I couldn't help it. Everyone around me was doing it and it just seemed like a good idea at the time to join in! It was too fun, I couldn't help it.

 

2) Yeah.. I tried out those PowerRanger skills but to no avail. It's still cold as haaaalifax over her.

 

3) Organization is a constant battle and this week I just stomped on it! I nailed down a few ways to keep my plans better prioritized and things are going great!

 

4) Make the best Mexican rice... I've yet to master it. It still tastes like bacon grease and dirt.

 

5) Hand stand for 30 seconds CHECK!

 

this week:

 

1) Don't drive like a Bostonian

2) Let Sister Tantillo fall a few times in Spanish (is that a mean goal to have? Basically I have to find a way to not cave-in every time she looks at me with those sweet eyes)

3) Make the best Mexican Rice

4) Have the lamest Halloween ever, CHECK!

5) Have the best October 31st ever! Full of appointments!

 

Sorry, no pictures this week. We're off to see the GORILLA at the zoo. Did you know that "Gorilla" is a universal word? They use it in all languages. Kinda like Godzilla!

 

Love you,

 

Hermana me