Still Here

Another transfer has come and gone and... drum roll... nothing happened. Hermana Thomas and I are still together. There is nothing like Sunday night when you are sitting waiting for your call telling you where you will move to on Tuesday morning. I had already started packing my stuff and was telling Hermana Thomas how much I'd miss her. The joke was on me. We did see an investigator as we were walking to the internet cafe and he said, "You are staying! God heard my prayers!" That makes it all worth it. It’s the investigator that is sitting in the chair in one of the photos. 

You asked about my Spanish. It has definitely improved and my thick Gringa accent is getting better. I can follow most conversations. Even if I don't know every word that is said I know enough to figure it out. I can’t always say exactly what I want so sometimes I take a round-about way to describe stuff. But I have really come to love the Spanish language! Something that makes me laugh is sometimes when I go on intercambios with some of the Latinas, they will be like, "what did the investigator just say?" “I dont know! It’s your language!” But the Dominican accent is really thick so sometimes other latinos don’t understand.  

 

We are still working with the woman we found last week. She is awesome. I really have connected with her and appreciate all her thoughtful questions and that she longs for truth in her life. She has had some really painful, terrible things happen to her. She doesn't open up completely about these things but we have an idea based on her reaction to certain subjects and some of her questions. What she has said to us is that this is the closest she has ever come to talking about the things that happened to her. She has never had anyone to confide in or anyone to defend or fight for her. On top of the challenges from her childhood, she got in a really bad accident a couple months ago and hasn’t been able to work since but she has two kids to feed. 

She asked again why God sent us here and why wouldn't he relieve his children from their suffering and why he would cause trials. She said she just can't quite make sense of it in her mind but she is trying. I don’t know where this came from but I compared it to the mission. Right now we're away from home and have limited communication with our parents. However, they still give us advice and want the best for us. It’s their love and support that helps us during the difficult times. Our parents don’t cause the challenges we face in the mission nor do they want us to suffer. However, they know we will grow from this experience and they want the best for us. And we'll see them after the mission. Life is like one big mission. It’s not a perfect analogy but she liked it! So thank you for all your love, support and help- it gives me analogies for investigators. But, I love this woman and hope that she can find more peace. She said she was going to cancel our appointment with her but when she saw us walk up to her door it felt like her best friends were visiting her and she thanked us for the peace we have brought to her life. She hasn't been able to go to church yet but is reading the Book of Mormon. 

In this area, it is quite difficult to get people to go to church. The church is far from the areas we work in. We hear all kinds of wonderful reasons explaining why people can’t go to church. My favorite one has to be "If I go there no one will be here to watch the house." I want to assure them their house is not going to grow legs and run away while they are gone.

Dominicans do love to be visited. It is pretty easy to get into houses. Some people on the street will ask when we are going to visit them; some clarify it is to visit them and not to preach to them.  

You asked about D. Oh my, it makes me so sad. After we explained to the bishopric why he probably shouldn’t be confirmed on the Sunday after his baptism, I think one of the bishopric members talked to him and he hasn’t wanted to come back to church since. We still visit him. He reads the Book of Mormon really thoroughly and writes us a summary of the things he has read. It is a reminder that we need to be gentle with people's weaknesses and the way we talk to them.

Good job Cate - killing it on the soccer field. O. is getting so tall and his hair is so long- I miss that little guy. I am glad Mikey's birthday celebrations went well. I can’t believe it’s been a year since he made the Facebook group for his birthday and invited everyone. Tell him hi for me. Meish goes home in exactly two months!!!!!!!!!! Wow, and Andrew is more than a year into his mission. Thank you for all the updates and stories. I am doing well and I am a happy missionary. I love you to the moon and back. 

Peace and blessings, 

hermana Christensen