Domo arigato Mr. Robato! We´re at
Bishop´s house, dad, and he says, ¨Domo arigato!¨ WHAT!?! My dad
always says that!! I was surprised when I asked him what it meant.
It´s not even Spanish hahaha - it´s Japanese! It means ¨thank you.¨ Our
Bishop is pretty cool... no that´s definitely an understatement he is
absolutely, staright up amazing. He is so witty and is always throwing
out jokes and is just quirky but makes you laugh so hard. He is also just
so patient and loves EVERYONE in the ward.
Yesterday little Analìa Monges Ramirez
was baptized!!! Oh, it was an incredible turn out!!! About 20 members or
more of the ward members came! I just can´t explain the joy that was running
through me yesterday. Her story is way sad. She grew up mostly in a Catholic Orphanage. She is
lickity smart though and just has fallen in love with the church. What´s
really neat is being able to see the young women really get involved. That
group is growing so close and we have been able to grow so close to them as
well. I love them so much! They are individually unique and amazing
in their own way.
Upon preparing Analìa for her interview
we were asking her a few things and one of her answers hit me. We asked her why
she would live the law of tithing? She sat there for a minute in silence
(which has been a regular thing), while I´m thinking, ¨Come on you know this... your a smart little cookie... we talked about
all the blessings...¨ and then I pushed those thoughts out of my mind
trusting that she would say just what her heart told her, and you know what,
she did. She said in a quiet, but confident voice, ¨Because I trust in God.¨
I remember silence falling all around me. One of those moments
where the world keeps moving forward but you just stop in awe and gape at what
was just said or happened. She is a bright young woman and Hna Ximena
Gutirrez (YW Pte.) calls her the ¨Dulce de Leche¨ among the YW. It is so
true, and it will be such a blessing to see her flourish on this new path she
has begun. But I think we should all strive to just be a little more
like Analìa this week and when someone might ask us why we do the things we do
or we might question our own self, we should always remember to ¨trust in the
Lord.¨ :) Let us all remember the grand scheme
and look beyond the moment. Whatever opposition comes our way, learn to say, ¨I
trust in the Lord.¨ Whatever trial, hardship, difficulty, or
responsibility, let us continue on the good path we are, ¨because we trust in
the Lord.¨
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| Analia, Hermana Tomco and I at the baptism. |
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| Elder Bayles got to baptize Analia ! |
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| The ward came out to support. So wonderful. |
We had a busy week traveling with
President to different areas. While he gave interviews, Hna Tomco and I
and the Assistants did training stations with all the missionaries. We
had them practicing contacts (how to talk to people in the street), testing
their knowledge on the Book of Mormon, and reviewing how to give a good lesson.
It is so much fun getting to know all the sisters and elders from the
mission. Which reminds me, do we know any Zilm´s? There is an Elder
Zilm here from Mesa. He is working in Abundancìa which is WAY cool.
Only him and his comp are there amongst 400 members. The whole
community is baptized. It´s an old story but the whole community was
baptized by an elder and the craziest part is they hardly speak a lick of
spanish or guarani. They speak a tongue clicking slash language with a
lot of ¨slsh¨ called Nivacle (Nee-vu-clay).
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| Con Presidente y Hermana McMullin |
Also a HUGE thank you to all those who
sent me cards and packages for my birthday and Christmas. Sorry I haven´t
and probably won´t get to respond to all but please know HOW MUCH it
meant to me and how much I love you alllllll!!!!! UN BESO Y BRASO por
todos!!
Con Cariño,
Hermana Owen
