Monday, May 12, 2014

Mother's Day Skype (and a Haircut!)




May 12, 2014
Hey President!

Well yesterday was a crazy day. About a million things went wrong, but at the end of the day everything mostly straightened out. SATAN! He always comes after you right when you feel like you are figuring things out! But everything turned out ok. We had 2 investigators at church with their dad who isn't an investigator yet! It was so awesome! And he said that they are coming for all three hours next Sunday!!! Wahoo!!! So that was a miracle. And my Skype with my family so awesome. Somehow it felt a ton shorter than it did this past Christmas. I felt like I said hello and then it was time to go. But it was super great. My parents and my four younger siblings were all there, as well as my grandma who is one of my best friends. It was so great! They are changing so much! My baby sister is 4 years old and she just talks like she's 30. And I left my brother when he was 14, he just turned 15 and his voice has DROPPED! He sounds like a MAN now, even though he says all the same things he used to say. It was so weird. Everyone is happy and healthy! And I got to bear my testimony in Spanish again, they always love that!

So also yesterday, we had a really good lesson with some girls we are hopefully baptizing in the next week or so. Their names are Yohanna (16) and Yomira (18) and they are cousins. They were progressing really well until *SATAN* they started playing tennis which means they have practice every week day and games Saturdays and Sundays. So suddenly they have no time for lessons or to come to church. Well yesterday we went over and taught them about the Sabbath Day. At first we explained everything and they were happy to keep the Sabbath Day. The only thing is we didn't specifically talk about sports or anything. I felt really awkward having to come out and say that they were breaking the Sabbath by not only playing sports on Sunday, but also because they were missing Church becasue of their sports. But I knew that if we didn't specifically address it, we would lose them. So I came out and explained it, and it was a little hard for them. One of them said that she felt bad, but it was out of her control and she repented for it every time. Sister De la Cruz said "That's great, but part of repenting is not doing it again." So we talked about the blessings we had seen in our lives keeping the Sabbath Day holy and asked them what blessings they wanted. "What do you really want that would take a miracle to have?" Yomira really wants to learn English. And Yohanna wants to do better in school. So we told them that they can pray and find a way to keep the Sabbath Day holy, and tell God what they needed in their lives. So they're going to do it! And here in Ceres we have 3 Sacrament Meetings, two in English and one in Spanish. Their games are always during the Spanish session. For now they have agreed to go to the earliest English session and then go to their game in the afternoon. I told them I would go to whatever session they wanted and I would translate everything for them so they could go and have a good experience. Even though it's not everything, this is a huge sacrifice for them!!! I'm so excited they committed to this. And it's a great way for Yomira to learn English! And Sister De la Cruz!

Also, Sister De la Cruz and I have been doing really well. We both are straightforward and don't involve our feelings in correction, so when something happens that bugs the other, we just address it, apologize, and move on, it's so awesome! I hope my marriage can be like that some day. And we've been really working on speaking English in the car, and even in the apartment! She is learning faster already, it's amazing! We talked for a while yesterday and she told me more about how very lonely she has felt her whole mission, largely due to the language barrier. I remember feeling really lonely in the beggining of my mission, and it helped me to feel more compassion and try a lot harder to make sure she is always included in everything. Her mom thanked me yesterday on Skype for looking out for her daughter, and that was when I realized how much just translating meetings and things really meant to Sister De la Cruz who just hasn't really understood anything for months. I am trying to committ myself to my companion first before anyone else. I really love her.

Thanks President! Super excited for Zone Conference next week!!!! Love you!

Sister Zollinger

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