Letter #10 11/10/14

Another week has come and gone, and life is just as good as ever. It's still weird when I really realize that I am a MISSIONARY. Like, what? It's so neat. I love all the implications that come with the calling, I really do. Oftentimes, however, I feel like I'll never measure up to the missionary that the Lord would have me be. I want so badly to be this missionary that I know I can be, that every human in the world has the potential to be, but it requires a serious amount of work and faith and trust and the whole lot, and sometimes I'm not too good at all that. But if there's one thing that I absolutely love, it's that the atonement is REAL. I can go to bed feeling like I was the absolute worst missionary that day, wake up, do my personal study and the Lord gives me another chance with a new day! I'm so grateful for that knowledge. ANOTHER THING THAT HAPPENED WHOA. I just have SUCH a testimony of personal study. Ah, we have some returning members we visit that struggle to read their scriptures. Before the mission, I was definitely that person, but now I almost die when I hear that.. like, DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE MISSING? Is what I want to say, but I don't say it like that, but it's so true. The Book of Mormon can change you, and it's so simple to read it, but it's so simple NOT to as well. Hma Clark and I were talking about how those are the things that get ya.. the things that are both easy to do and not to do. We are truly changed by small and simple things. It's tough to watch investigators who don't keep commitments, because we know how much it can change their lives.. we can recieve answers, but we have to act!

Hipster tag pics on some old civil war bridge and #lifeisntallthatbad

Anyways, i'll jump right on down from my soapbox and what the awesome thing that happened was.. So, I had been praying every second of my life as of late to know how I could be better, to become this missionary that I wanted to be, so I went into my study with that prayer in my heart and I came upon DC 60. Holy smokes, this here chapter done gone and saved my life! The first verse talks about how happy the Lord is to see missionaries out, how it's pleasing to Him that they would even have the desire to serve.. but it goes on to talk about the things that don't please the Lord. When the missionaries don't open their mouths, and don't share their talents. And that if they continue to do this, all of it will be taken away from them. This hit me like 400,000 bricks. So often, especially in Spanish lessons, I don't say anything I'm thinking to say for fear of saying something wrong. And at times I keep to myself more than usual because it's scary and awkward and hard and my companion is REALLY quiet, so I don't really know when it's just her being quiet or if it's someone that I shouldn't talk to or something.. haha. But, anyways, this just changed my whole world. After reading, I again got discouraged thinking like, "oh, this must be why I feel bad about my spanish.. i'm a lost cause now because it's already been taken away from me", and so I continued to scan the page and the first verse I see is 7. It reads 

"And in this place let them lift up their voice and declare my word with loud voices, without wrath or doubting, lifting up holy hands upon them. For I am able to make you holy, and your sins are forgiven you." 

What a beautiful answer to my prayer! He is able to make me holy! To make me into the person I am supposed to be! So, on that note, I've made a commitment to always lift up my voice, trust him and I feel changed! Missionary work is happier when we are willing to do it the Lord's way. With His help, we need not fear! I am so grateful. 

Just a lovely "Zone sister pday hike" pic.  Don't forget to look at the trees. #beauty

Basically, I am gonna gain 4,000 lbs here in good ol' VA. We have two dinner appointments tonight (We had already told Hermana Garcia we would come over for their sons birthday, forgetting that we had a dinner appointment with a member planned) and I'm terrified. The secret that missionaries can never say is that members and investigators think you are starving always, so you feel as though you should feed a huge meal plus dessert every single time, but the reality of the situation is that I am quite literally always stuffed. Haha. Like last week we had three huge servings of ice cream in the same 24 hours and I was certain I was the worst person that had ever lived. 

So, this weekend we kind of struggled with lessons.. hardly anyone was home and the ones who were ended up talking our ears off for 40 years, so we hadn't even taught one lesson the whole of Saturday. When we came to the home of J. and M. M. told us to come back next week, but their cute daughter J. still wanted to chat so we told her we would teach her a lesson. She wanted to show us her barbie dolls, so we decided to teach her the Plan of Salvation, acting it out with the barbie dolls. IT WAS SO NEAT, haha. I loved it so much. Because it was interesting to her, she retained a ton of it, and when the neighbor boy came over and started to tease her, she came back at him with, "Cristobol, you're gonna go to the STAR!" (Terrestrial Kingdom, hahah), and as we're all dying of laughter she adds, "You just got serveddddd!" Ninos (kids) are really the winners of the world. We may or may not have decided that our purpose in life is just to baptize all the ninos in the whole world. Haha. 

E. and G. #bestillmyheart

So two neat miracles of the week! First off, remember the cute miracle family we met in the laundromat and lost contact with because the number she gave us didn't work? Well, I'd been praying that we could some how find her again because I wanted so badly to teach them, and felt like we should, but hadn't had any success with finding her. Anways, we randomly stopped by the Garcia's last week to check on them and G. (the cute little daughter) showed us how her friend from school had invited her to her birthday party. I asked to look at the invitation and... IT WAS THE INVITATION TO DESTINY'S PARTY, one of the little girls from the laundromat! Containing two phone numbers and an address! What in the world?! I fell to the floor in pure wonder and we couldn't even handle.. hahah. So, that's that folks. It's been decided. As our dear friend Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "God provides a way when there is no way". It was so so beautiful and I can't wait to contact them. 

Miracle number two, Saturday morning for training we talked about finding people, and something so interesting really stuck out to me in Preach My Gospel. It said that there are people prepared, and you will be led to them, or they will be led to you. I've been here for only two weeks, I know, but I just really yearned to see this.. people that actually WANT to listen to us, what? So anyways, when were were knocking on J. y M.'s door, a guy came out. We talked to him for a second, He said his name was Julio, and he was on his way. Nothing special about our encounter. Later, when we were teaching the barbie lesson out in front of the house, he came back in his car and yelled to us "When are you coming to my house?!" We asked him where he lived, and he said Blackstone, which is actually the Elder's area so we gave him to them as a referral, but it was so neat. He came over to us, told us about his family (he has a wife who's almost ready to have their first baby) and gave us his address. It really was so cool. What a testament to the fact that people are PREPARED!

I'm actually a ghost.  Life is so hard when you're so white. haha

It is SO beautiful here in VA, I can hardly handle. I am so grateful for the blessing I have to be here doing the Lord's work. It's wonderful to see His hand. I know He knows and loves us! I know it. And I know He loves y'all. It's incredible to be here where SO many people love Jesus. There are churches on literally every corner. All I want is to give them that little taste of MORE that we have! We are so lucky. I love y'all SOO mucho!

<3 Hermana Yost

Welcome to the Burkeville Branch. :)