Dear Family and Friends,
I can't believe it's
been another week! It's true what they say about the time just flying by. It
has been such an incredible week and I have learned so much. This is truly the
best thing I have ever done. I have never been so happy while working so hard. The
days are long, we get up around 6/6:30 and then are in class or studying
until 9:30 at night. But it is SOOOO much fun. We have become so
tight as a district, our quote wall has grown exponentially (I even made it a
couple times!) and we have also bonded so much as a zone. A couple elders and a
couple sisters left yesterday and we really feel their absence. I am so glad
I'm here for six weeks. I love learning with amazing teachers, going to
devotionals, practicing teaching, and having fun times with my friends.
Every
night we close the day with a prayer as a district and it is the hardest thing
to not hug the elders. But it doesn't stop us from bonding.
So much has happened
this last week, it's impossible to cover it all. But I'll try to get the
highlights. First of all, I have gotten so many letters! haha I guess my plea
for letters worked. Seriously though, I love each and every one and they make
my day.
I'll start with last Tuesday. So after I emailed we went to the temple as a zone. It was incredible.
I love that place. I also felt like Samwise Gamgee as we were walking out the
MTC gates. "One more step and this will be the farthest I've ever
gone!" It was a very exciting moment. Then that night we had a devotional,
and Elder Nelson came! He spoke on how connected family history work and
missionary work are. We have the help of those on the other side. So cool. He
was giving us all this advice and was like "I've pounded the pulpit on
your behalf so you better live up to that!" referencing his talk "Ask
The Missionaries!" from a year ago. So awesome. He also gave us all
virtual handshakes. It is so good to hear from an Apostle from the Lord. We
testify that the fullness of the gospel has been restored and that the Lord
speaks again through his prophets. So true.
We've had a ton of
teaching practice. We finished up teaching our investigator Gorge, and our last
lesson was so good. I bore my testimony that a particle of faith can grow into
a great knowledge if you act on it, and I knew it was true. But then, the next
day we walked into our afternoon class and there he was. As one of our new teachers.
So turns out Gorge is actually Hermano Davis!! Super weird. We were all feeling
pretty strange about it, because we had gotten so attached to Gorge as an
investigator. But he is an awesome teacher. We also did some practice lessons
on some elders from the other district in our zone. So we were teaching the
first lesson to one of them, Elder Wood, and he said his name was Nacho. He
works at a monastery feeding the orphans.
Sound familiar? I about died laughing
when my companion said in her prayer, "please bless... Nacho". But it
is always good practice and I think we improve as a companionship every time.
Something I've been
studying a lot about is how to teach as the Savior did. I read 3 Nephi 17 and
all of the sudden it became so significant to me as a missionary. He blessed
each person according to their needs, rather than giving out a generalized
blessing. Each person needs something different and we need to listen to the
spirit and listen to them in order to teach them as Christ would. He knows them
better than anyone, so we need His help in order to be the instruments through
which he can bless them. I love teaching! Spanish is rough, and sometimes feels
like a block. But when you focus on the message and the spirit you wish to
convey, the language seriously doesn't matter anymore. Regardless it is such a
relief to teach in English - my comp and I taught our district Sunday school
lesson on Sunday and it was so liberating! I can't wait until I feel
that free in Spanish.
Sunday was so
good, which is not a surprise. It's just us hermanas for a bit in the morning,
and we study and just talk with each other. Relief society was great, we talked
about our purpose as members and how we need to always seek out those in need
around us. Then was Sacrament meeting, which is just our zone. One elder and
one sister speak each Sunday besides a member of the presidency, and
basically you don't know you're going to speak until they announce it at the
pulpit. And it's in Spanish. So if you don't want to feel confident then you
have to prepare a short talk every Sunday. Which I guess is pretty good
practice! After our district meeting is the temple walk. We go as a zone, and
just walk around the temple, take pictures and hang out. It's so fun. If my
camera works then I'll upload some pictures from the past two walks. The
weather was so lovely this Sunday too! THEN is the devotional, and a
hilarious older sister spoke on missionary work. She is unmarried and has
served like 5 missions. She was SO funny, she had everyone laughing and then
bore the most beautiful testimony. Then we got to watch the Testaments! I love
that movie. Except there's a lot of nervous giggling from the missionaries
when the romantic scenes happen. It' s so funny.
Anyways, my second
favorite day is P day. I get to wear jeans, which is the best thing in this
world. We write letters, hang out as a district, do laundry, and then go to the
temple! It's the best.
I love you all, think
of you every day, and hope everyone is happy and healthy. This gospel is true
and makes me so happy!! I love being a missionary for the Lord.
Love,
Hermana Mackenzie
Nelson
p.s. I'm having a hard
time uploading pictures. I'll try to do some for next time though!!
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