Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Changes


May 6, 2013


Hey family,
Well this change meeting brought a lot of surprises. I left Ocotal with all of my things and stayed in the sisters house after pday and the night before changes (4 sisters live there). We went to the changes meeting and when the moment of changes came, I was very surprised with what happened. I stayed in the same zone....Esteli again! So I put my suit cases back on the same bus and went back to the house I had stayed at the night before....this time to unpack. My new companion is Hermana Chita. She is 19 years old and from El Salvador. She was Hermana Morales´ comp in the MTC. She is super funny. She was baptized when she was 17 and is the only member of her family. She knows so much about the gospel and her testimony is so powerful. None of her family members support her and barely write her but you would never know it because of how happy she is all the time. She is really goofy so it makes me feel like Im comps with Becca because they are the same age.

Hermana Henderson (from California-from Daniel and Jeff Lords home stake. friends from Colony) and Hermana Ramirez (Guatemala) also live in our house. Hermana Chita and Hermana Ramirez both understand English really well and cant speak it so we are going to be hard core about speaking English in the house. Every time someone catches someone else speaking spanish, they get a mark against them. The two people with the most number of marks have to buy the people with the least number of marks icecream at the end of the week. Hermana Henderson and I are losing. How embarrassing.
Hermana Henderson and I are the new "training sister leaders." We are in charge of helping the other sisters learn how to teach with the spirit better and help them with anything that they need. We are still figuring out exactly what were supposed to be doing as its new but it will be a great opportunity to serve more.
So these first few days have been really difficult. My area is really rich and in the center of the city. We contact families like crazy but all of them live in the areas of other missionaries. We are having a really hard time to find people to teach. It has been really humbling going from Ocotal where we have seen so much success to an area where its so hard. Its a branch with about an attendance of 70 people but with hundreds of less actives. For the first time in my mission were in a chapel and not in a house. Thats weird. I know we just need to trust in the Lord to find people to teach but these first couple of days really took a toll on me spiritually. Im learning that I need to rely more and more on the spirit to guide me and that I need to have patience. But I had a really great experience this week that really strengthened my testimony that the Lord loves me and knows me personally. On Saturday we spent all day contacting families and trying to find someone but nobody wanted anything. I kept praying that hte Lord would help strengthen my faith. At about 815 at night we contacted a house. A girl let us in to teach and we started teaching her the first lesson about Joseph Smith. I was soooo tired. In the middle of the lesson my companion turned to me teach the first vision. As I quoted it, I felt the spirit so strong and got emotional. I KNOW this church is true. I also know that this moment was Heavenly Fathers way of answering my prayers. He know that I needed to have a spiritual experience to strengthen my faith and he gave it to me. I love a quote that Hermana Mannning shared with me today. " To share truth in difficult circumstances is to treasure it more. When you push against the boundaries of experience into the twilight of the unknown, The Lord will strengthen you. The beauty of your eternal soul will begin to unfold. God uses challenges that we may grow by conquering them. (Richard G. Scott oct. 2003).
I really wish I had more time to write but there isnt any. I sure love you and miss you. Cant wait to talk to all of you!
Hermana Anne Pearson



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