4:43 pm
We got back from deportes and I have a little bit of time to write before we go to dinner! We normally don't have sports time so late in the day, but I got to do some yoga stretching with Hna Vargas, so that was very enjoyable for both of us. She is so friendly and pretty and helps me out with Spanish, I'm gonna miss her when we have transfers on Tuesday.
I took the nail polish off my toes last night so I can give them a rest before I paint them again on Tuesday, and it always surprises me when I see my little naked toes! But they're doing well and I think I'm developing a tan-line on the tops of my feet, the sun is very intense here. But the air is in the cool 70's and is constantly moving, so overall it's a very nice effect. I wish we could spend more time outside, but once I get out in the field I'm gonna be wishing I could spend more time inside. The grass is always greener!
We were blessed to fall asleep quickly last night, so I'm glad about that. I'm always sleepy in the morning and my poor little obicularis oculii are just so tired (thanks anatomy!) but once I get finished praying and start moving around I wake up more. So my body is still resetting itself to the schedule in some ways, but we help each other out. Hna Kleinman has the responsibility of turning the lights on and off, so that's extremely helpful to have bright lights flicked on in the early morning. I'm grateful for that to help wake me up.
9:51 pm
WE DID ANOTHER WEEK! Yahoo! Well, technically it's our 11th day here (+1 day traveling to get to Guatemala = Day #12), but it's a Saturday and I wanted to celebrate. We're just about 1/3 of our way through being at the CCM! Crazy!
Last night one of the songs playing outside was "Pura Vida" by Don Omar and I understood most of the lyrics this time around and it's actually a pretty happy little song.
I just wanted to also say that our district sounds really good when we sing hymns everyday, we do all the parts and it is so awesome! Elder Cox has the best bass voice, and Hna Brady has the loudest soprano, and the rest of us fill in between them and it is so good to listen to. Ah, I love singing hymns in Spanish!
As a funny story from today, an hermano came to our classroom and said that he needed some of the missionaries, myself included, to follow him so we could get blessings. We were all so excited and everyone got up and followed him out and downstairs close to where the clinic was. He then announced that the sisters got to go first, so I went into the clinic hallway and was blessed with a tetanus shot in my arm. Turns out some people here still needed some vaccinations, and apparently my tetanus wasn't up to standard. But it really is a blessing to have vaccines so we lower our risk of contracting diseases out here. So in the end we were grateful for that opportunity, even though we were expecting a different kind of blessing!
We talked about stress management in part of our classes today, and I'm glad that we can know that literally every missionary in every MTC has the same feelings and frustrations that we do now. Hna Giron gave the encouragement that lots of missionaries serve missions, and they are all still alive! Because if they couldn't do it and murmured like Laman and Lemuel, "they die!" She is wonderful. "You know what happened to Laman and Lemuel because they didn't believe that God would help them? They died!"
There is a good quote from Elder Cecil O. Samuelson about missionary work: "Just as we should not lower the standards that the Lord has established for the conduct of His servants, we are also not authorized to raise them...Be sure that you do not have higher standards for yourself or others than that Lord has established." Good counsel in all areas of life, too.
Also, the scripture in John 5:17 "But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work."
Even God has to work! It's not an easy thing to become perfect, it takes constant effort and choosing the right choice every day, which is hard to do in this life. But we can certainly practice and become perfect in our obedience to God and what He asks us to do so we can be like Him. And we can have perfect obedience in Him when we have faith that He can help us with all things. He knows us and knows how much work it takes because He has done it, too. He has felt our frustration and disappointment with our shortcomings and He still has perfect love and hope in us. He so wants for us to follow Him and do the things He does, so we can have the happiness He has. I think that's pretty encouraging to think about.
Even God has to work! It's not an easy thing to become perfect, it takes constant effort and choosing the right choice every day, which is hard to do in this life. But we can certainly practice and become perfect in our obedience to God and what He asks us to do so we can be like Him. And we can have perfect obedience in Him when we have faith that He can help us with all things. He knows us and knows how much work it takes because He has done it, too. He has felt our frustration and disappointment with our shortcomings and He still has perfect love and hope in us. He so wants for us to follow Him and do the things He does, so we can have the happiness He has. I think that's pretty encouraging to think about.
Lastly, on a totally not spiritual note, we all decided that something that helps us through this time of transition is having humor, and mis companeras and I are very good at that! Hna Brady started joking about how Russell Crowe sings the "Stars" song in Les Miserables (still a good actor and all, of course), but it sounds even funnier when we imitate the way he sang, so we just walk around going "Staaahz! Inyumultitoooodz!" and we just crack up. Oh, we're so great together!
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