MTC - Semana Nueve, Jan. 19, 2010

Hola Familia! ¿Como estan?

Wow, I've already been gone for two months. Crazy, huh? Since today is a holiday and we just had the weekend i haven't gotten any of your mail or e-mails. I wrote mom a letter with some more details in reply to the last e-mail though. How is everyone else doing? I hope you are all having fun, and I know you are all keeping busy.

This week has been pretty intense. I had one of the most incredible spiritual experiences of my life in the RC talking to Charles again. I'm going to write out the experience and send it to you a little bit later, because I don't really have time in this e-mail. Basically it was like the spirit was working through me and it wasn't even me talking. He is so receptive and ready to hear the gospel, but he is still waiting for the missionaries to come. I really think that he will get baptized. We both felt the spirit so strong, and he said that he feels "thirsty to learn more and to find the truth," and i promised him he would be able to find that in the Book of Mormon. The experience was such a blessing and taught me so much about how to follow the spirit, and about how if we trust in God he really will help us. So i'll get you the full story later.

I also found out that I have an extra week here. My departure date isn't until February third. It was kind of hard getting such a shock. They didn't even tell us, we were just expecting to get our travel plans and we didn't, so we went into the travel office and found out. I know there are probably some really good reasons for having to stay here, and its only one extra week, so it will be fine. It will give me another chance to talk to Charles, and more time to study and practice and be even more ready. It is kind of sad because the rest of our district is leaving next tuesday, so hermana stout and i will have a week all alone. I have become really close to everyone in my district; we are all really good friends and we have been through a lot together. There are five elders in my district that are all headed to Sacramento California, and my other companion Hermana hoof is going to phoenix.

I just remembered, when i sang my musical numbers they told me they were going to send you DVDs of the video they took of them. I wanted them to be a surprise so i didn't tell you about them, but did you ever get them? I want to know so i can make sure you do before i leave.

Hmmm, maybe i do I have time to type my experience real fast. I've been writing it out, and I only have ten minutes left of time, but I might be able to type the first part.

This past Wednesday I was practicing for another musical number I wanted to audition with on Thursday, and for some reason I felt like I shouldn't audition. Then I thought, "Well, I really want to audition, and I've been working really hard on this song, and why does it even matter?" I started questioning if I really did know how to follow the spirit and feeling a lot of anxiety. I kept thinking, why does it even matter? And then "if it doesn't matter why don't I just do it. Do i not even have enough faith th do something as small and simple as this?" Then I remembered how someone told me that if you feel like something is a prompting, and it is a good thing, then you should do it because then at least you are showing the Lord that you are willing to follow his promptings. At planning that night i felt really dumb telling my accompanist, an elder in my district, that I didn't want to audition because I felt weird about it. I hated feeling like I had wasted his time practicing for nothing. I was feeling a lot of anxiety still for no reason, and so i felt like i needed to ask the elders for a blessing, which is also extremely difficult for me because I hate appearing weak and vulnerable and asking for help. The blessing was really sweet and simple- it was the elder's first time giving a blessing. It really calmed my anxiety, even though I still felt pretty dumb for making a big deal out of something so small, but i felt better and confident about my decision not to audition.

The next day was Thursday which is when we usually go to the RC, and I ended up having that incredible experience with Charles that I know I couldn't have had if I had been anxious about my audition.

Well, i'm, going to have to continue the story later bacause I don't have enough time, but I love you and i really want to hear from you!

- Hermana Dansie