AH, MONDAYS!

mom always says she loves mondays, and i have to say that I DO TOO! :D reading your experiences and how things are going at home and how alex is rippin it up in russia just lifts my spirit. i get quite the boost hearing from home and the family and da bro.
Well, big changes. again. suprise surprise. hermana hunsaker got transfered out at the last minute. they usually have trainer and hija together for at least 2 changes, but they did some special arrangements this time. it was so sad. we were really having a lot of fun together and really getting settled with this sector. especially after a whitewash we were so happy to be feeling like a real part of the ward and the community after working so hard to deserve that acceptance and to see the fruits of our labors with new investigators (har har of the 10 we get everyweek HA. nah, jk alex! the trick is getting them to stick! that is what we struggle with). the mission pres had to switch hermana larsen out so hermana hunsaker and her are switching places. hermana hunsaker was super bummed when we heard about the changes because we have some really good investigators that have baptismal dates for next month. and they are people that we found together and have been teaching from the beginning.
it is really special to walk with an investigator along the path of finding the truth of the gospel of Christ from the very first moment they come out of their house to see why these too young, foreign women with skirts and tags are knocking at their door, to when they step slowly into a font full of water dressed in white. in fact it is not something that happens very usually from what i have seen so far, to be there for the process in its entirety. i have never quite made it yet in my mission. for example, i have found really good people who accept the discussions and set a baptismal date but then i was transferred before their baptism. or for example, when i arrived in my first sector the baptisms that happened there were thanks to the work of my comp and her previous comp. but it looks like a sure thing that i will get to experience that here in paine. hermana hunsaker was so excited for it too, but she will do great where she is going. she is going to baquedano, my first sector! WOOT!
we have two people with baptismal dates set, a single man that lives alone that approached us in the street and asked us to teach him. he is legit. he is the rich guy from ecuador. he has the look of a future bishop! very well organized and thurough, never likes to be rushed and does things promptly and slowly.
the other is a young girl of 19 who's dad is dying of cancer. she used to be a big time punk, but is soaking up everything we leave her to read. she smokes, but she wants to quit. and the things we are teaching her are what she has been looking for for some time. the Lord has just set things up for us so perfectly!
anyway, so i am here with hermana larsen, and we don't know much about each other but she seems cool. she is from the states, a cute blondie, and i am pysched to work with her. but it was sad to see hermana hunsaker go. my old hija, hermana retana, was transferred into our zone too, so i get to see her again! wooooot!
we had a zone conference last tuesday, and it was AMAZING. they did it a lot differently this time around.usually. we have a testimony meeting, classes, break, more classes, and lunch. but this time, after the newbs and the vets all gave testimonies (my little hermana hunsaker did a bomb job with her spanish!), we all watched a talk by elder holland that he gave in the mtc in january of this year. it was so incredible. it was so powerful and there was not a dry eye there. it really just hit me hard.
he talked about why they created preach my gospel and how it was made to convert the missionary. he said that for years and years before they just had the missionaries memorize the discussions, but then they would go out and just repeat the memorized material--it would come from their head and out of their mouths, but never reached their hearts. he said a lot of good was still done and that it worked at the time, but the first presidency sat down to figure out what was happening when they realized the sad reality of the fact that far far too many missionaries would return home and go inactive. and that is why preach my gospel was borne. to convert the missionary first, to change and convert them first so they can go out and help the investigators. he talked about how it has to be in our hearts first.
he then shared the story in the bible of after Christ's death. he explained that these men were new to the church, and after Christ was gone, they weren't sure what to do so they returned to what they had always done. they went out and went fishing. then, at dawn, after a long night of laboring and catching nothing, a man calls out to them from the shore and tells them to let down the nets from the other side. they do so, and it almost overcomes the entire boat with the amount of fish that is caught and brought in. they turn back to look at the man on the shore, and John says, "It's Him." Peter, upon realizing it was the Lord, launches himself out of the boat and swims to shore as fast as he can. the others arrive and they sit with Christ. He serves them a meal of cooked fish as he had so thoughtfully and lovingly prepared some food for these exhausted men. Then asks Peter, three times, if he loves him. When Peter responds with "yea Lord " all three times, Christ commands him, "then FEED MY SHEEP."
at this point elder holland repeated that. "FEED MY SHEEP". and he says "in that moment, Peter strode into the eternities". from that point on, Peter became the man that people would lay out in the street for just the opportunity of having his shadow pass over them. it was from that moment that he became the Peter that was such a powerful apostle of the Lamb. and it was because he was motivated for his love of the Savior and followed his commandments.
he said that Christ came back to explain to them, lovingly and patiently, that when he called them to the discipleship he meant it forever. He explained and taught them that it was not over. that it would never be over. elder holland said the same for us. he said we can never go back becuase it would break our Lord's heart. He asked, in that voice of his that rocks the pulpit, "DO YOU LOVE HIM?" and said "THEN FEED HIS SHEEP".
it is like what dad was saying over the phone on mother's day, it all goes back to love. if we truly love our Saviour, we will not hesitate to do what so little he asks of us.
That talk changed my life. it changed everything. i want to be and do everything i can FOR HIM. because I LOVE HIM.
and i just wanted to share that with you. i hope you can look up that talk somehow. i don't know if it is available to everyone, because the pres. had it on a dvd disc that the mtc sent out to the missions so it might just be some special video that is copyrighted, but if you can, find it and watch it. it is from january 11 of 2011 i think.
anyway, i love you so much. and i love our Lord. thanks for everything!
samsam