December 30, 2013 - ¨With Increased Vision Comes Increased Motivation!¨‏

It was so amazing to talk to you all last week! I was talking to Hno. Correa after, and we were just saying how incredibly blessed we are to have technology that allows us to SEE each other across all these many miles. I´m so grateful for it!

This week was crazy. Lots of activities, reuniones, and ¨stuff¨....a lot of it was time worthy, and necessary. But so are sleep, studies, and health. All of which we´ve been lacking a bit lately. All last week I had a fever, ¨chicken skin¨,  and Hermana Flores and I were taking turns occupying the bathroom. In the midst of 110* San Juan Summer, it was a dreadful combination. She went to the farmacia while we were on intercambios, and they gave her something to supposedly ¨help¨...but that actually made our necesity del baño even worse. It was a fun couple days haha but now we´re back in the swing of things, and hopefully even lost a few of those extra pounds haha

I always love holidays, and Christmas always has a special place in my heart, but I have to say, celebrations sometimes make finding and teaching suffer... okay a lot. Saturday, we decided we were going to hit the pavement again, and both of us really felt impressed to work up norte. So out we went. We visited 8 or 9 antiguos, and some menos activos, and didn´t find a single person, and some of the houses were even burnt to the ground. A little bit confused, we said a prayer, and just told Heavenly Father that we trusted in the promptings we´d had, and had faith that there was someone in Norte that needed us. I suggested that we go try and find the last antiguo on the list. We walked along the street, and soon, as before, discovered that the address was wrong. So we decided to ask for help from some people that were sitting outside. We walked past a group of men, and quickly changed our minds. But then we saw a young, nice-looking couple sitting a few houses away.  Watching us. So we went up and started talking to them. Nicolas and Ivana are a newly married couple, with a 2 year old, Lourdes. They are FANTASTIC!! We had an awesome lesson about the Plan of Salvation, and they are excited to learn more about the gospel. They seriously reminded us so much of the Familia Sesma with their welcoming  us into their home, their desire to share about their lives with us, and their excitement and hunger to learn about Christ. We have high hopes for them! 

I´ve been thinking a lot this week about some of the things that have helped me to be the most successful on the mission. Yeah, I´ve started to get a little nostalgic. But in the motivating ¨Need to make the most of every moment¨ kind of way. 

I read the talk ¨Our Identity and Our Destiny¨by Tad R. Callister. It honestly is so thought provoking! It talks about how a greater understanding of our divine potential to become as our Father, when understood and applied in our lives  can change our perspective of the meaning of this life and the way we view ourselves and others. ¨It is critical to have a correct vision of this divine destiny of godliness because with increased vision comes increased motivation.¨

I thought about all of the times I sang ¨Soy un Hijo de Dios¨in Washington. And how many times, that was the key to getting into people homes and their hearts. 

Obviously the doctrine of ¨Godhood¨ isn´t something we teach in a first lesson... but it is a powerful tool that we as missionaries can use to develop the love, the compassion, the motivation, and to catch the vision that we need to make a difference in the lives of Heavenly Father´s children. 

We are all in this together. In this life, we are imperfect beings, full of weaknesses, trials, and shortcoming. But Heavenly Father is so aware of that. and HIS plan is perfect! 

I love this work. I love my Heavenly Father, and every day, my gratitude for his plan for me and each of us grows so much. And I love all of you!

May each of us look forward to this new year with a new  hope and anticipation of what we want and hope to accomplish. And then go out and DO. 

Love you all! 

xoxo Your Hermana C

 

*¨Can´t touch this!¨GEENIE pants are THE style here. 

everyone has them. And they´re WAY comfort! 

 

Comp Hermana Flores

*We wish you a merry Christmas!

*Ran into the beautiful Hermana Tanner 

in Mendoza! She´s going blonde too!

*The auditorium where we had the 40 year celebration of the church in San Juan

 

*Merry Christmas eve VIVI

 

*Christmas adaso! 

 

 *A Christmas to remember!!!
Candlelight Christmas Eve dinner with the Sesma Family.
The best adaso ever.  

*feast!!!

We've made our mark.  So happy.

*our rare Whoo-ville roast beast! We bought a chicken from the market and threw spices on it, squished it into the only pan left after our others were "borrowed!"  We had Christmas dinner of chicken, rice and chocolate dessert! Yummm.