Siervas

 

It was an eventful week here in Benjamin. 

We had interviews with President Hernandez this past Tuesday. I love being able to talk to President and hear his insights. He told me the same thing he told me when I entered the field and that is that the mission is for me. He said I'll be a better daughter, sister, mother, wife, student, and employee because of it. President and Hermana Hernandez are such wonderful people. They are from Puerto Rico and both are dentists. 

Wednesday we were told we couldn't leave our apartments at all because there was a storm passing through (Hurricane Chantel). It ended up being a lot more wimpy than anticipated and was just a little bit of rain and wind. But still we were told to stay inside. 

It was also a week of breakdowns. We have formed a wonderful relationship with a recent convert who just moved to the area. She has started to experience increasingly severe pain in her feet and hands and they are quite swollen. When we were visiting her she had a breakdown. She is scared about her health and worried she wont be able to work. One of our investigatores opened up about her failing marriage and dysfunctional family. Her husband comes home around 3am every morning after a night of partying. There is a young Haitian mother of a three-year-old baby who visited the church once so we've been meeting with her. She expressed her fear because neither her nor her husband can find a job and they literally have nothing. I went door to door with her for a while asking shops if they were looking for help cleaning or anything; but nobody was hiring. I know that isn't really my job as a missionary but its hard to just do nothing.

Almost everyone shares their hardships with us. People look at us as mesengers from God and seek comfort and advice. We always get called "siervas" (servants), meaning God's servants. The balance between caring about people and trying to help them and accepting the reality that I can't fix their problems is an interesting equation and one I have yet to master.

 

The mission is a time when you try not to think about yourself and dedicate your time to helping others. For me it can be a little tricky taking on the problems of others. My own problems are less complex and I feel more in control. This has given me a better taste of Christ's atonement. The way he carried all the loneliness, illness, poverty, abuse, and sin for all of us. I can't tell you how grateful I am for a loving family and for such wonderful friends. I love this church and I love the Dominican people. 

Love you

Hermana Christensen