Ok, WOW- FREAKING OUT that Dana Rene Blackburn got her MISSION CALL TO SAN FERNANDO, CA SPANISH SPEAKING!!!!!!!!!! OH MAN OH MAN!!!!!!!!! I could not be more THRILLED that we get to share such a similar experience!!! Oh my gosh, this is just so great I can't even believe it. As Hma Brewer would say, "I'm FREAKIN' OUT here!" WOW. Wow. HERMANA BLACKBURN YOU'RE A ROCKSTAR.
Ok, so my week- kind of unusual with my little sickness thing. Mon-Wed I spent most of the mornings sleeping and we went out for an appt or two in the evenings. Hermana Brewer really believed I was sick because I would sleep all day then sleep all night for lots of days in a row...she has NO IDEA what my sleeping capacity is ;) Thursday was a SNOW DAY. Can you believe it?! Apparently they don't get a whole lot of snow here in VA, so when they do, EVERYTHING shuts down. They don't really plow or put down salt or anything, so the roads get super icy and we get banned from driving. Our people are way far away, so no driving pretty much means no working with investigators. And we may have ventured out at any other time, but since I was in recovery mode from being sick, we stayed in. Poor Hma Brewer...By Friday we were back in the swing of things.
In terms of funny things that happened this week- not a whole lot, except that I had no voice. All week. Literally from the time I woke up Monday morning until Sunday morning my vocal cords were not producing a single sound. So I whispered in every lesson. Kind of awkward actually, haha. The part that was so great is that the Hispanics have the most interesting concoctions to heal you...so I got lots of funny recommendations. One man suggested cutting a potato, soaking it in rubbing alcohol, then putting the pieces on my forehead and chest. Another man made me this lime/chamomile tea by boiling limes and chamomile and making me drink the whole blessed thing! I got a suggestion about drinking an onion/sugar syrup? Crazy, huh? I just took some drugs and called it good :) I was so glad you made me buy that thermometer Mom, things went down EXACTLY as you predicted- they wanted updates on my temp and I was like, sha-BAM, yeah, I've got a thermometer!
I think I'm mostly healthy now! My voice is- uh- questionable, but sound is coming out so I'm using it! I'm pretty sure I've never heard of someone losing their voice randomly for almost a whole week, so I'm pretty sure God was trying to teach me a lesson...kind of like Zacharias, you know? Not enough faith and BAM! Like I wasn't using it, so He took it...so the goal is to talk enough that God doesn't take it again! We're not running outside in the mornings for a while, which is oddly really sad. Don't tell dad, but my body MISSES exercising hard.
We didn't teach a ton of lessons this week- due to our in-stay and lots of people not being home/falling through, but we have this AWESOME investigator named Alma who I may have mentioned. We taught her family on my first day here and she is just great. I mostly just smile and testify occasionally, but it's exciting nevertheless to be a part of someone's spiritual progression! A lot of Hispanic people apparently live here with their "esposo" but they aren't actually married, and Alma is no exception...and you can't get baptized unless you're married to the significant other you are living with...so we're having a wedding! At the beginning of January! She is SO pumped! haha, How fun, huh?? The last lesson we had with her on Saturday was amazing- turns out she saw the Restoration DVD like 8 months ago (we had NO idea) and she was describing the feelings she had when she watched it...incredible. We were like YESSSSSSSSSS!!! That's the SPIRIT TESTIFYING OF TRUTH!!! Hopefully we can set her for baptism this transfer, she is just dynamite. God has prepared her in so many ways that we are continuing to see- the feild is all white and ready to harvest!
Merry Christmas everybody! I can't believe this coming week is CHRISTMAS! I was kind of hoping Ry would have the time thing all worked out with you already...I can't call to set it up and Hma Brewer needs to tell her family when they should expect her call. So...Let's plan for like 3pm my time tentatively? Maybe I'll have to call earlier on Christmas to get the scoop on the time situation- I think President would OK that with the whole brother-in-Honduras situation.
This should be a big week- we're going on exchanges! Cool, huh? Apparently the sisters don't do them very often- which is weird since there are more sisters here then in ANY OTHER MISSION but temple square...but I'm going to go to Newport News and do some English work for a day! Oh blessed, blessed English! We have mission conference on Thursday with half of the mission as well, which is gonna be AWESOME. Then Christmas Eve and Christmas we have some meal appts set up with members, so it's gonna be a busy week! I'm not homesick really, or homesick in the sense that I'm yearning for people or things from my "past life." I miss you all, and miss lots of things, but I just KNOW that I'm doing what the Lord wants me to do, so that eases those thoughts. I always remember my setting apart where it talks about how I'm leaving behind things- not necessarily bad things- but that I will have a chance to return to them, so I just need to appreciate this time for what it is. So when I hear music in the grocery store and I can BARELY CONTAIN my moves- I just remember that my inner desires to groove aren't bad, just on hold ;)
I'm trying to think if I'm covering all the details that Mom would want...my physical state, my emotional and mental state, my spiritual state, my daily schedule...
I'm still adjusting to the missionary routine, not gonna lie. We all know how much I don't love change, but I've realized that about myself, so I'm just hanging in there for the adjustment period to work itself out. The goal is to BECOME a missionary and not just do missionary things. I want to be devastated at the thought of being released. My Spanish is, still, uh, you know...limited. And my understanding of Spanish is...yeah...severely handicapped...but hey, God knew He was putting me here in a non-immersion situation where I'd just have to pick it up with the occasional dose- so I figure He's partly responsible for helping me out. I want SO BADLY to really BE a disciple of Jesus Christ- I want to realize in everything that I do that I'm called to literally stand as his representative. Being just a normal person makes that really hard, but I'm trying. Like I said last week- it's so humbling to realize that the best you have to give just isn't very much. And the responsibility of knowing that people's salvation is affected by my action or inaction is kind of a heavy load. But I CAN testify that God and Jesus Christ are literally ALIVE. And that they really DO answer prayers. And the scriptures?! WHOA. Read 'em and weep! The world looks SO different through missionary eyes...things like church attendance, prayers, gospel study just aren't optional because we NEED the blessings of obedience! And it's so hard to see people who aren't getting to enjoy those blessings! Like, PEOPLE! God is just WAITING for you do ANYTHING so he can BLESS you! I know that's the typical missionary sentiment, and quite frankly, I needed a pretty large kick in the pants myself before I came out, so I'm hardly one to talk. But that's the beauty of it- Now, I AM one to talk! I have been set apart by a prophet of God to talk! (and hopefully my voice sticks around so I CAN ;)
Ok, it's time to peace out- keep up the good work, family. I LOVE you and am so grateful that I have been so blessed. I see that more and more, that I really grew up in such a blessed environment. God wants me here, and I want me here, and I am SO grateful for all the letters and packages and LOVE I get in the mail!!!!
Your Resident Defender of Truth and Righteousness,
Hermana Sinclair
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