Week 14: Siempre Feliz, Nunca Satisfecha

Hola familia y amigos!

Whew. Life is great. The mission is great. I´m always tired, sore, and sweaty, but hey, I´m a missionary and have been called  by a prophet of God. I love my new companion, and hope that I can be a better companion for her. She is completely different from my other companions and we have a lot of things that aren´t in common, as well as many that are....it´s all part of the mission life, learning how to work diligently with all different types of companions. I feel a lot of pressure to fill our planners with lessons because I´m the one who knows the area and members and investigators, but I feel like I hardly know this area at the same time. 

Our area is the largest area in our zone, and to give you an idea, we could walk from one point to the other in maybe 3 hours....I´m not sure because I haven´t even been to all the parts of our area yet...The bishop says that you could drive from one end to the other in a little under an hour....yikes! Anyway, you can imagine that we really have to plan our days wisely or we end up with no where to go at 7 or 8pm at night, which is the hours least productive for knocking on doors (or gates) or talking to people in the street. For that, I´ve been a little discouraged the past couple days when we´re rejected from houses, people cancel their citas (usually as in we get to their house and they say that they´re busy), or people don´t answer their phones....but when that happens, I try to remember the big picture, and that I´m serving this mission for me, my family, and most importantly, for God. He knows that we will have ups and downs, but only if we prove that we can stay positive through the negative times will he provide us the way to see miracles. I´m still in the waiting for miracles point, but I´m working each and every day to be happy, and to smile, and to pretend I have energy to talk to people. Sometimes, when we´re studying, I realize that I am just dead tired and I think to myself....just ignore it and pretend you have energy. That´s really all to it. It´s all mental ;) haha. 

Each and every day of my mission adds to my assurity of the importance of members in missionary work. We can work until we fall down dead and still not help these areas grow if the members don´t have a part in fellowshipping, teaching with us, magnifying their callings, and expecting us to work diligently. I want to help this ward so much, and the only way to do that is to help the ward help itself. 

We had a ward activity last friday, and part of our service for the week was to help hermana and hermano Castillo cook arroz con carne for the activity. It was fun and the activity was great because lots investigators and menos activos came. Lots of people shared talents, and Daniel (a return missionary in the ward) made us missionaries get up and sing a hymn.....haha. what talent! not. haha. 

The other night we had a noche de hogar with our family of recent converts and they invited Alejandra, who is one of our investigators. We talked about eternal marriage and the temple and the importance of being sealed as a family so that we can live as families for eternity. It´s never easy to have a lesson when there are younguns present, but we managed and the spirit was present at times ;) 

Remember to always stay positive and to keep on looking for ways to improve each and every day! Siempre feliz pero nunca satisfecha!

Happy birthday Jessica!!!! 19 years old!!! crazy! I´m glad you were able to spend the week at home :) Keep God first siempre and everything else will fall into place.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Flake