March 30 Letter

Mis queridos,
¿Que puedo decir de esta semana? Estoy un poco desanimada porque le pidimos a una mujer de la sociedad de socorro a buscar a Olga para caminar con ella a la iglesia, pero ella no estaba en casa. Estamos pensando que necesitamos dejarla porque habiamos fijado como 3 citas para esta semana pero no la vimos. I hope someone can explain that first paragraph to you! I hope my spanish isn't too outrageous that someone more advanced than I am (Race) would say...she's been speaking spanish for 3 months now and still can't get it right?! Anyway, we have three new investigators this week. Dad, nothing became of any of the 5 investigators that we found a few weeks ago. We haven't seen any of them since that first or second time because they "are too busy" or their schedules "are compicated". Even Miriam. I tried calling her but she didn't answer her phone. We've seen her parents a couple times around Centro and they're nice and everything, but her dad's a little outta wack. He always says, "I congratulate you for your work, hallelujah, amen." Weird things like that. I'm going to try again this week to call her. They told me that some weeks she works during the night and some weeks she works in the moring and I called in the night time so she was probably working. I'm going to try again this week. I refuse to give up on her. She's ripe, I know it. Anyway, about the other 3. Viviana, Marly, and...holy crap I can't remember the name of the other one....Oh well, I'm over it. Ah! Isabel! We were contacting a less active and knocked on Isabel's door. We asked for the less active and she gave us the address for them and then we presented ourselves and talked about the plan of salvation. She said we could come back and talk about it some more. When we did, her best friend, Viviana was there. We gave the plan of salvation in full. Viviana is a single mother with three kids and Isabel...I really have no idea cuz she talks so dadgum fast I don't even know what she's saying. Plus she's got these crazy big eyes that look like they're gonna pop right out of their sockets. It's kind of distracting. I could tell that Viviana was kind of a little more into it than Marly. When we asked if we could come back she said, "yeah, that would be wonderful." Anyway, we've got another appointment with them tonight so pray that it all goes well! Well, by the time you read this it will probably be over, but igual, pray for us anyway! Marly-we taught her in the park on Saturday night. This park we were in was FILLED with women and children. As my crazy Chilean companion would say, "This place is filled up with mommies." We taught her a mix of lesson 1 and two. We focused on lesson 1, but we also talked a lot about the plan of happiness that Heavenly Father has for His children. We asked her what she looks for in her life and she said she wants peace. People ALWAYS say this! We then testify and say that "we know we can't convince them, that's why we invite you to read_____(fill in the blank) and pray and ask Heavenly Father if this is really how you can find peace. We know that"...sometimes people want the peace, but they aren't willing to try something new to find it. Probably afraid of being let down again. Why is it that everyone tries every other church BEFORE they try this one? They would be satisfied so much faster. Dadgum. Anyway, last week Federico, the husband of a woman in our ward died from cancer. Did I ever say anything about him? He's the one that looked like a holocaust survivor because he was so skinny, and had cancer, but yet he was smoking? Anyway, I don't know if I mentioned that on Sunday, the 15, he came to church for the first time in a long time and talked to the bishop about being baptized. He had told the missionaries this before, right before I arrived, but had never really shown any signs of being serious about it. This was the first time, however that he had spoken to the bishop about it. The catch is, he couldn't enter water because of the surgery he had just had. The one where they were going to take out his cancer, but when they opened him up it was everywhere. The doctors told his wife what they saw, but she didn't tell Federico anything. He thought he was healing. Anyway, so the bishop asked us if there was any way he could get baptized in this condition. We knew there wasn't but we said we would ask. That following Friday, we ate lunch with the bishop and his family and talked more about what could be done. He told us to just teach him and see if he keeps the commitments. The commitment to quit smoking, for example. I then said, "yes, we'll do that. If Federico is sincere about getting bapized, the Lord will provide a way for it to happen." The next day, Saturday, he was in the hospital. Monday morning he passed away. We didn't find out until Tuesday. I was so sad for this family. Hermana Yañez gave me some comfort when she said, "Hermana, it's like you said, if he was serious about being baptized, the Lord would provide a way. Federico couldn't get baptized in this life, with his condition, but now he can." It's so true. How grateful I am for the knowledge I have of the amazing plan of happiness that Heavenly Father has for us and those we lose. Upon the needed visit with this family, I learned from the oldest daughter that she and the second oldest are from a different father who had also died when the oldest had only one year. This woman has lost two husbands and she has 4 daughters to take care of by herself. Her job pays almost nothing and she tries to make life so good for her girls. I tried to comfort her by telling her this: "I don't know what it's like to lose a dad or a husband, but I do know what it's like to lose someone close to me." I the told her about how uncle Doug committed suicide a year and a half ago and that our family was really really sad. I told her about how I needed to talk to someone about how I was feeling because the hurt was just too much. How I wasn't happy and for the first time in my life I didn't even want to fake happiness. I went to my institute director who told me that as members of the church, when these things happen we need to stick to what we know. We know about the plan of salvation. We know there is life after death and that we will see our loved ones again. The woman, Marcela, also told me of how her girls have been through so much and she doesn't want anymore trials. She's tired, she wants a good life for her daughters and she doesn't want any more hardships. The night Hermana Capener and I watched Legacy with them entered my head at that moment. I asked, "Hermana, do you remember the night we watched legacy with you and your family and what you told your girls?" She said no. I said, "You told them that these women in this movie and at that time had to be very strong. Many times they traveled with nothing or almost nothing and their children and husbands died, but they stayed strong and they put their trust and faith in Heavenly Father and He blessed them. I know that He will do the same for you, this is a hard time, yes, but you can get through it." I don't know if that helped, but I really really hope it did. I can't express the weight that tugged at my heart when I saw the 2nd youngest girl who's only 9 crying. I wanted nothing more than to just hold her in my arms and tell her everything would be okay. They really have been through so much. I wish I could do more for them... Anyway, I've gotta sign off for now. This e-mail is super long! My hands kind of hurt! I love you all so much. Heavenly Father has His divine plan for His children. If you know nothing else, hold on to the knowledge that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have a personal love for each of us. They know what we have going on in our lives. If you can't talk to anyone else, talk to them. I love them so much. The strength I receive to walk in this unbearable heat definitely does not come from me. Every day I have to lean on them. They are my strength, their perfect plan is my hope and this work is my life. Have an amazing week everyone! Alicia, thank you for keeping me updated on the blog. I love it! The boys are so big! Tell Kaden I love him and I can't wait to talk to him on Mother's Day! I love that story you told me about what he said. He's so cute and so big! Help him to know that his aunt is wanting so much to play with him and thinks about him every day. Give Brendon a huge kiss for me and help him know me so he won't be scared when I get home. I love you all! God bless.
Hermana Shumway