February 23, 2015
¡Hola hola!
So this week was a crazy one, but what else is new? Each and every week on the mission has been crazy, but I am thankful for each crazy day.
Hermana Brown and I are almost completely done with her training program! WOOOO!! She is incredible. I can´t even believe how much she has grown. She is so strong and she teaches with such love! I am so proud of her. She is getting a companion from Chile, so her Spanish is gonna shoot through the roof. :)
This week we taught a couple of good lessons about the Restoration. It is honestly so special to teach that lesson! Hermana Brown and I felt so happy to be able to resolve some of our investigators´ doubts and that JXXX and GXXX brought their family to church yesterday! We are also on fire with family history. It is so fun to contact people in that way, because they want to know about their ancestors and where they came from.
I keep forgetting to tell you about our cool field trip last week! Last P-day our zone went hiking and we saw a really pretty waterfall. It reminded me somewhat of Helen, but the vegetation was a lot more tropical. I will have to show you the pictures when I get home! It was really fun.
It´s been a roller coaster week. We FINALLY got an apartment approved, so we packed up our entire house and moved this week. It was good for me to have something so entirely consuming to do so that I didn´t spend so much time thinking about Grandma. That phone call broke my heart. I can´t express how sad I feel. I still feel like it´s not real...like we are gonna plan another visit to Auburn and I´ll give Grandma a hug again. But even thought I have felt sad, I also have never felt such peace in a place that wasn´t the temple. I felt a soul-strengthening peace that everything was going to be okay and that our family is eternal. I could feel that Grandma is at peace and feels joy in the presence of her dear husband. It was so against the missionary rules for me to talk to you guys that way...but I´m so glad that Hermana Beecroft let me borrow her phone to talk to you guys. You are right. What Abby and Benjamin said really struck a chord in my heart. Really, it was what Benjamin said. I knew that it was what Grandma would want me to do to finish my mission, even the last 6 days. I prayed and I felt an overwhelming confirmation that I was to finish the commitment that I had made with the Lord to serve His blessed children in Chile until the very end of my mission. So I know that I made the right choice.
In sacrament meeting on Sunday I was thinking about the hymn "Be Still My Soul." One of the verses has the phrase, "through thorny ways leads to a joyful end." These last couple of transfers have been hard. We have had various unexpected things happen that made the work harder. Grandma passing away was the hardest thing, and it happened at the very last of the mission. But even though there have been thorny ways, I know there will be a joyful end when I see you all in the airport. When I was in the beginning of my mission, in my hardest area and with my hardest companions, I prayed so hard because I missed you guys and I felt alone. But Heavenly Father promised me that my joy would be full when I finished my mission and returned to see you all. I know that He keeps His promises. After all, that is how life is. We must pass through thorny ways. But in the end, Heavenly Father only wants all of us to be joyful.
It is really hard for me to say "chao" to Chile! This experience has taught me so many things, and I feel so connected to the people here, and to this great calling. I will miss being a full-time missionary. I will miss Chile. But I know that the Lord has other things in store for me, and I am SO excited to start living them. I am so happy to see you all. I love you with all of my heart and I have missed you for so long...and now I will see you in real life and give you hugs, and hear your laughs!! I will see you at the joyful end on Friday morning!!
With much, much, much love, your sister missionary,
Hermana Latham
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