This week has been very trying and rewarding at the same time. At the
beginning of this new transfer...I thought I would be counting down every
day to be completely honest. And that is just so negative! Hermana
Lagunes is my new companion. The very first day she says to me "so what is
your take on obedience?" And I said, "I will be exactly obedient. I don't
know about you, but that is what I expect out of myself." And her reply
was, "See, that's where we're probably going to clash."...I was not amused.
This first week took a lot of me. But I know that that is what I needed so
that I can learn to better rely, and solely rely, on my Savior. I prayed so
hard every morning...right after that...and right after that...haha I just
kept praying for patience and a humble heart. I really felt an instant
comfort, too. I know the Lord answers my prayers! I see it every single
day. I opened up to Matthew 14:29-31 randomly during studies the other
day, and I read about Peter walking on the water.
"And He said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked
on the water, to go to Jesus.
"But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink,
he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
"And immediately Jesus stretched forth His hand, and caught Him, and said
unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
I thought to myself, 'Sister Hurst...what are you thinking! He is right
there with you! And He knows what He is doing. You wouldn't be here, where
you are, facing what you're facing, if it wasn't the exact place and exact
thing you needed to be doing.' Satan is the one who tries to discourage us
in our trying times. I wrote this poem in response to that scripture in
Matthew. (Kind of a dialogue)
"Come." Jesus calls, "And we will walk on water."
"Be of faith," He says. "You are my beloved daughter."
--"But the winds are blowing in,
And I am sore afraid,
I'm sinking, Lord. Save me.
I cannot find my way."--
"Immediately I will come to you, my daughter as you sway.
And my hand is out-stretched toward you,
So do not lose your faith!"
The Savior is right there as we sink and doubt. It says He immediately
catches and lifts us as we do. I have felt that immediate hand stretch out
and reach me to let me know that He has been there all along.
My companion and I, we're different people and so I can't judge, only
encourage (: I decided to just keep doing what I do and be an example. It
has already started working, but I know it will take some time. Anyways,
to say the least, my heart has softened and I love her (: We've been having
a great time together thus far! We talked about all of our differences and
she told me how she is really trying to be a better person. I told her
that I am to and so we are working on it together! It's really fun and I am
excited because I had the feeling when this week started that we are going
to see miracles. I see them everyday...but I mean reeeeallly awesome
miracles. And we already have! (: To start off, we got into 2 different
houses that Sister Smyth and I were never able to even catch someone at the
door. We met a guy named Luis. He is 19 and he has seen to the moon and
back and probably to the moon again! South Tucson is full of trouble. I
haven't met a youth outside of the church YET that hasn't been involved in
or see a little trouble. This kid...wow. I can't even begin to describe.
He tells us he wants to change sooo much! And we are just praying that he
will listen to the Spirit as we teach him. We've taught him twice now and
he didn't come to church yesterday...but our hopes are high.
Speaking of rough, little Tucson, our cute Maria got robbed last week! She
is so scared to be home now. The man was still in her home when she got
there and so it really shook her up even more. There's a lot of gang
violence and drug dealings/ drug-related crimes around here. Maria's
husband passed away about 2 years ago and so she is all alone! With her son
who has special needs. Ay...Tucson. Ya killin' meh. But It was really
neat because before we knew this happened, I had the feeling that she
needed some comfort. So we wrote her a note with a scripture and we
"heart-attacked" her door and left it. She called us after she found it
and told us all about it. Soooo pretty crazy. Interesting week. But not
too bad! Lovin' it, lovin' it! Oh! And I just cannot begin to describe
how much I love the young women! And how glad I am that I get to work with
the cute youth of the world (: They are so special! I just love them soooo
much!!! (:
Other than that, one fun thing this week: the Elderes syran wrapped our
car! Psh. That was good times. haha Well, have a great week! And remember
that Heavenly Father is just a prayer away. Shine on (:
Love!
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