¨Do you ever wonder if the Lord asks too much?¨

What do you see?

Highlights from my notes last week since I didn't write a blog post...............

We were mostly en casa because of the chinkongunya (try saying it out loud - it's really fun) So this meant a lot of scripture study, and I finished the new testament! First time all the way through in my life. Sad, I know. Inexcusable. 

2 Tim 1:9 ¨Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began!"

I really like Hebrews chapter 11, and all the great examples of faith. All these people ¨died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them a far off, and were persuaded of them¨ They had hope.

All the examples, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sara, Moses, the starring roles of the Old Testament, are all inspiring. But what does that mean for us normal people? Heb 12:1 ¨Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us¨ 

But tell me, of all the emotions we feel when we're running a race (literally) do we ever feel patient???? No, it's not natural! So why is it asked of us? if we have patience, there's no panic. And if we're not panicking there's room for hope.

1Peter 3:15 ¨But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you.¨

But yeah you guys already saw the location of one of the baptisms last week, isn't it gorgeous??? it's called Las Piratas. I guess there's pirates there but I didnt see any. 

It's how I image the waters of Mormon would look. Afterwards almost everyone got in the water like fully clothed and stuff and it was kind of ratchet but hey, in their culture, it's normal! 

While we were sick I also watched a lot of the church videos, and I really liked some of the ones focusing on Emma Smith. When she says ¨Do you ever wonder if the Lord asks too much?¨ and her husband just says ¨I do not let myself.

Sometimes we're like "okay God I have faith in Jesus and everything but I don't think that (insert whatever difficulty) is going to work out." That's not faith at all! So little is asked of us and we don't even do it all.

Okay, back on schedule -

Martes 28 de Abril: So I found out that I don't have transfers. Nobody in my whole district has transfers. We thought it was a little weird but we found out later talking to Hno G (basically the acting bishop here) that he called our mission president and said that we were doing SUCH a good job that he didn't want any of us to leave so I'm going to end up spending 1/3 of my mission in my first area haha. woohooo. 

Miércoles 29 de Abril: happy 6 months in the mission to me.....

Jueves 30 de Abril: Feliz Cumpleaños Nikolai Nielsen 22 holla.....

¨Y me dijo; Comprendes la condescendencia de Dios? Y le respondí:

Sé que ama a sus hijos"

We had the tastiest lunch btw! a little bit of carne asada, the tastiest rice, these refried beans that were perfectly seasoned, freshly made corn tortilla, and salsa verde: leche, avocado, cilantro, onion. Super rico. 

Viernes 1 de Mayo: I really don't love cooking without recipies. I really don't. Like even just making pizza crust like just no. no no no no.

But I made them anyway, with the help of hna I of course because if not I would've just pouted about not having a recipe the whole time. The plan was to make calzones (I also learned that in Bolivia calzones means underwear el oh el) but I changed my mind and decided to make pizza. The elders were super supportive though and said that it smelled good even though hna I made me put cilantro in it. LIke I even explained to her how that doesn't really go with italian flavors and she's like but I've seen it on TV! But they turned out tastier than I thought they would with green olives instead of black and canned mushrooms instead of fresh. 

I washed the pila but I think I put too much clorox in there.

Sábado 2 de Mayo: Concerning the sealing power that we have in this church ¨It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of --- a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven. Nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given. Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it?¨

This probably seems boring to some people but it's awesome to me! We're not just here on this earth dunking people in water and clapping our hands on peoples heads willy nilly. What we do on this earth counts in the heavens! And I have a firm conviction that no other church on the face of the earth has the power to say that. What we do on this eath counts in the heavens! It sounds crazy because it's true and because it's a miracle. it really is. 

Domingo: So we only contacted one house but hey it's something. I taught the gospel principles class and I was kind of nervous that they would be bored or wouldn't understand my lame spanish but it went okay. My first hour long class in spanish all by myself ahhhhh! We had choir practice and I'm just having a blast being choir director. No, but it's really not that bad hahah, we're singing primary songs but we're going to have to cut some because I've been informed that they're too hard hahah. 

Oh and S and L recieved the Aaronic priesthood and they're priests now and i'm so proud of them! 

Lunes (hoy): I made gnocchi and it was a little daunting with 10 hungry people waiting for me prepare it. I got to watch bits and pieces of the Saratov Approach while I was cooking (thinking of you mom! ¨yeah, uh huh, I'm watching! *clanging of pots and pans*) 

but yeah that was a terrible idea because now I'm not going to recieve references from anybody because then I'll get kidnapped!!! no but really, great movie, I hope to be able to watch the whole thing some time. 

So there's the update. Love you mom, love you dad! And I love life in the mission, even with rocky parts.

BTW:  Chinkongunya! It's really not as bad as it sounds! But the rashes are pretty ugly and the muscular and joint pain just made me miss my swim and volleyball days. But I'm all better now!

Just a little bit of pain in my feet in the mornings, but other than that, full recovery :-)