Happy Valentine’s Day!
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| It’s so important to have bonding time. You can learn about church (and sometimes family) history by reading Saints Volume 2: No Unhallowed Hand—no matter the language! |
I know, how romantic. A missionary is writing you on día de cariño. I’m sure it’s everything you hoped it would be and more.
Since it’s Valentine’s Day, I figured I would give my email a little theme. I’m sure most of you out there have heard the song “L-O-V-E.” Maybe I sang it to you while delivering a Valentine at Granger High. Well, I’m going to do the same thing, but with very different words.
L is for lunches that only serve chicken
That’s right! For a straight week, we were given chicken in sauce! I don’t know if I’ve explained that that’s basically every other typical dish in Guatemala, but it is, and so that’s what we got.
The temple is getting repairs done and it’s a cool visual metaphor, as we learned in October General Conference
O is for on the outside (inside)
I spent a lot of my week having to distance from Hermana Herrera so as not to get COVID. Fortunately, this is not the one-room Baúl apartment, and there’s actually a balcony, if you’ve noticed in my pictures. It’s pretty spacious, and it even has the pila. So I tanned, washed dishes, and read a lot of Saints. I was not able to finish Volume 2: No Unhallowed Hand, because...
How I looked the day everyone was like, “You look … different!!?”
V is for vaccination vacations
In the middle of our quarantining, I got a call from Hermana Roden. I’m so used to talking to Hermana Roden still that I forgot that this should feel like a strange occurrence. But she asked me if I was still asymptomatic, and I told her yes, and so she had us go to the testing center (as in COVID testing, not college exams) so that I could add a negative COVID test to my collection, and off I went to Xela to get vaxed! I say “vacation” ironically because the bus trip from Huehue to Xela is rough, but I did see so many friends! And even more important, I was in my city.
E is for Ether 12
Oh, look, the spiritual thought. Who would have guessed?
Anyway, I feel like everyone is pretty familiar with this section of scripture. It reads:
26 … Fools mock, but they shall mourn; and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;
27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
Obviously, this section is an encouraging one. I’ve even shared it before in my weekly! Our faults and imperfections can be used for our gain if we trust in the Lord, and that’s a powerful message! But something that stood out to me the latest time I read this section is that God really will show us our weakness. It’s not a hidden mystery, and it’s not a deeply buried secret. It’s out in the open. We’ll be vulnerable and exposed in the process.
I have often said that I do not like doing things I'm not good at. Examples include dancing, math equations, board games, and paintball. I think a lot of us share that feeling. We like to feel like we know what we’re doing. And more important, we like to avoid feeling like we don’t. But my mission has helped me realize how little I know about literally everything! I am so inexperienced and incomplete! All of us are. But more than that, we are incredible! I am so grateful for my weaknesses. I wouldn’t be the person I am without them. And if they weren’t there, what would be the point of growing?
I feel like my other stuffed animal doesn’t get as much attention as Bibble. Underrated star.
LOVE is …
People say this all the time, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ really is love. It connects people. It binds them. It knits their hearts together, and you can feel it from home-cooked meals delivered to your door, to books filled to the brim with carefully curated words and knowledge, to blessings of health and modern medicine, to falling short and being pulled back up, again and again. I love Guatemala, and I love my mission, and I love all of you. I hope you know that. And I hope you know that God loves you, too.
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