The Girl with the Veracruz Mission: Satan is a Turkey

Buenas Tardes,

There are changes coming. Come tomorrow we´re getting a new mission president. Presidente Cordova. And I´m almost done my training. ... I don´t know how I feel about that. I don´t feel ready. But then again... who is ready for everything. Hermana Garcia thinks that she´ll be the one leaving... so I guess we´ll see next week what the verdict is. I had another little breakdown this week. Except this time it was on Saturday. Maybe part of it is the end of my training and not feeling ready. There are times that I feel inadequate... that really I´m not a good missionary and I can´t help people. Sometimes I feel like there is some truth in that because I can´t always help my companion in the ways I want to. That I sometimes forget what the Lord has given me...the authority to teach His Gospel and I have fear. Once again, Hermana Garcia knew what to say ... and Satan is being a big turkey.

Also with the end of training... something that Mom told me in a letter when I left the MTC: That if I waited til my Spanish was perfect and the lessons were perfect I would never leave the MTC. I guess that applies with training. If I didn´t stop training until I was 100% confident... I would never stop training. Here it goes.

Also... I was told on Friday from Elder Boyd that Hermana Blankmeyer needed to return home due to health reasons. Keep her in your prayers.

PDays we still have personal and companionship study in the morning. Part of my personal study was from lesson 1 of Preach My Gospel ... How the Gospel Blesses Families. This was the scripture I found that I really like: Jeremiah 31:1 At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

The insight I got from this scripture. The Lord knows us all personally. He knows what we need as an individual person, as we are all different. But it applies to families too. Each family is different and require different things to help them grow. The Lord knows each family personally just as he knows us. We are His people. HIS people. How amazing is that?

So... there are some people here that I just absolutely love. One of them is Hna N. If you remember... she´s the less active who´s husband was a mission president and doesn´t feel comfortable enough going to church because she doesn´t have friends in the ward. Well she has a lot of wisdom. We went to go visit her the other day and she asked us how we were doing ... how the teaching was going. Well you know... not as well as we want it to be, and she just knew what to say to cheer us up. Forgive me because I can´t quite recite it right now. I want to come back and visit her after the mission. She also told me that my Spanish has improved. I still have a long way to go, though.

So this week we picked up R´s son JJ as an investigator. He´s 17 and he eats books. As in... he just reads them lickity split. We were just like...well we have a great book for you to read! We´ve had a few lessons with him, and he and R came to church on Sunday. I asked R how she was after Gospel Principles and she said she felt tranquila. I´m really sure what the translation would be in English... but it´s a good feeling. JJ however wasn´t so sure that it´s for him. We think part of the reason is because he is a boy and was sitting with his mom, and two hermanas. That he needs some fellowshipping with people his age. The Elders offered to teach some lessons with him, so I think that will definitley help.

So a man hugged me on Thursday. Don´t worry, it was approved by Presidente Treviño. Well, it was Presidente Treviño. The inner zones headed to Veracruz on Thursday for a last conference by Presidente and his family. I'llmiss them, they are awesome and so full of wisdom. But since Presidente Treviño is a 70, I hope to hear him speak in a future General Conference. Part of what he talked about was three trees, all with different goals. The third tree had the goal to grow so its branches would reach the heavens. That tree was also the one that didn´t get chopped down in the end. I hope I can be that third tree.

One message from Hermana Treviño is that in the mission, the Lord permits us to have two different kinds of days. Days in the garden of Eden, and days in the Garden of Gethsemene. And to use the atonement everyday in the mission. I like that she said the Lord PERMITS us. The hard days suck, but I must remember the scripture in 2 Nephi 2:11 ... there must be an oppisition in all things. And Ether 12:27, that the Lord gives us weaknesses so we can become humble and have those weaknesses grow into strengths. And that there is a reason in all things.

Take Good Care of Yourselves.

Les Quiero!

Hermana Jones