April 30, 2013 - The Week I became a Spanish Missionary

Family!!!

 

This week has been CRAZY. Definitely a week of memories and adventures. We haven't had a dinner calendar since I've been here, but they decided to bring it back this Sunday. This resulted in 3 dinner appointments on Sunday and 3 more on Monday. 6 meals within 36 hours.

Mom. Dad. On Sunday at approximately 3:30 your daughter successfully ate tongue. In a taco. Tacos de lengue. Do you know what tongue tastes like? Cause I do. I ate it all. Actually it's not that bad. You just can't think "I'm eating something that has tasted heaven-knows-what for heaven-knows-how-long" while you're eating it.

So after the tongue incident, we has tamales, tostadas, quesadillas, burritos, abondigas (don't know how to spell it. But it's meatball soup), fish tacos, and hamburgers (THANK HEAVENS FOR THE ONE AMERICAN PERSON WE ATE WITH). And I successfully did it without getting sick. Holla.

 

We had all of these with the 2 other sets of elders in our ward, so it was nice to have others to share the pain with. And as a result there was much district bonding to be had. I love being in a district where everyone is obedient and hard-working, by the way. At our last appointment they all put a chili de arbol on my plate and said that if I didn't eat the thing, I would never be a full-on Mexican missionary. So I did. Cause I'm dumb. And tried not to throw up because I was afraid that it would burn more coming up than it did going down. (TOO MUCH INFORMATION). But I was welcomed into the clan with open arms and many laughs. And many tears of pain on my part.

 

On a less "shake your head cause my daughter is super classy" note, I love teaching about the restoration. There is a particular spirit that is there when you recite the first vision, no matter what language. No matter how crazy the lesson is going, or how loud the kids are, or how many dogs are fighting under your legs, it always goes silent during the part of the lesson where you teach the first vision. I love and live for those moments! Even if they don't accept the message to be true (which happens more often than I would like it to), they can't deny that they felt the spirit when a missionary says "vi una columna de luz.....". There is a power in those words that is undeniable.

Our investigators are having a rough week. None of them kept their commitments and none of them want to come to church. We actually asked one of them named Delores why she kept inviting us over, and she said "I just like you girls. I'm always happy when you are here, because when you are here I don't feel alone". I absolutely love it when they say that, but I don't know if we are accomplishing our purpose at those houses. Dropping investigators breaks my heart. I guess there is a point where you know that they just aren't willing to change, and you have to stop teaching them but I always have problems with deciphering just when that point has been reached.

Cool moment of the week (also a tender mercy for me): Yesterday we were teaching at a couple's house, when I said something in a sing-songy voice (you know, that annoying one....) and the woman said, "Do you sing!?!? Will you sing for us?!" I said that I loved music, so I sang "I am a Child of God". My favorite thing in the world is looking into peoples' eyes when I sing. You just KNOW in those moments that they can feel the spirit. You can always tell, looking into their eyes, when the spirit is working and they are feeling something. That flicker of recognition is like a missionary pay-day. It makes the hard moments so worth it and I can't believe Heavenly Father let me be a part of that experience. They then told me they had three sons they wanted me to marry and asked that I bring them more songs to sing during their next lesson....

 

Sorry this letter is a bit random and not super spiritual. Know that I love you guys more than anything. I love this work. I love these people SO MUCH! I even love the language....

Go aggies:)

Hermana Hess