Listen. I`m in Milagro, Ecuador right now.
I got changed this morning and left my dear sector of Acacias in Guayaquil. I could go on and on about what a bummer it was to leave because I adored that sector. And my companion. And the members. And my converts. But the truth is it`s hard for anyone else to understand unless you`ve lived it. I learned very profound things in Acacias and had lots of experiences that changed me in ways I never thought were possible. I had to leave behind some of my dearest friends, but I am excited for the new adventures ahead.
And now I am here. In Milagro, land of the pineapple. Really all I know is that we have hot water and our apartment is much nicer than my old one. And we have a bunch of investigators that are super rad (so I hear) and I am stoked to get to know them.
My companion is Hermana Smith, from Phoenix, AZ. She is a sweetheart. We worked together for a couple hours when I was in Machala because she came for a conference. We will have a lovely time together, no doubt.
Here is something I love about Ecuadorians. They are very sentimental. They always say really awesome cheesy things on birthdays and graduations and goodbyes. Please forgive me if some of the cheesiness sticks for the rest of my life.
I was pretty sure I was going to have changes. It was hard to work this week because I kept having this haunting thought in the back of my head that it was my last week there. I had a dream that they made me the nurse of the mission...which would have been really tragic because the likelihood of severe illnesses would have been much higher with me in charge. I woke up the next day and told Hermana Egas, who had a dream almost identical. So that sort of freaked me out. And then I kept remembering all sorts of weird things that have happened in the mission that were pointing towards becoming the nurse and I got all wigged out. Except I figured it would be an adventure and I`d for sure learn a heck of a lot.
But in the end none of that came true, and I am still just a regular missionary in Milagro. So. Guess it wasn`t revelation after all. Ha.
So. I can`t believe it was conference again already. I promise we just had conference 5 minutes ago. But it was awesome, as always. We only went to 3 sessions because we had a bunch of appointments, but I am excited to read all the talks when the Liahona comes out.
I was thinking a lot this week about the Book of Mormon, and they talked a lot about it in conference. As missionaries we obviously get a lot of questions about it...what is the Book of Mormon? Why does it have that weird name? Who is Mormon? Why isn`t the Bible enough? Who wrote it? How do you know it comes from God? And a thousand other questions (some bizarre, some reasonable). It has made me think a lot about what the Book of Mormon means to me, how I know it`s true, and what impact it has had in my life.
I have been a member of the church all my life. I have heard the stories of the Book of Mormon since the time I was little and have read it frequently (perhaps not as much as I should, but hey, no one is perfect). Sometimes I get jealous of converts who have a powerful testimony of how the Book of Mormon has changed their lives. They have seen a huge difference in their lives with the whole before and after effect. I have never had that. It`s always just been there. But I`m learning that you don`t need that whole before and after thing to know it`s true and to see a change in your life because of it.
But here in the mission I have learned over and over and over and over again (for almost 365 days) that it is true. It`s simple. A book that was written thousands of years ago still has a profound affect on our lives today. Why? Because it teaches us the only way to be happy, the true purpose of our lives here, and how the infinite atonement of a loving Savior can help us daily.
If we read it, we will be changed. We don`t need to have a powerful conversion to know it`s true or to be a living testimony of the changes the Book of Mormon leads to. It happens slowly sometimes...almost unnoticeably. But it happens. And if we take a second to look behind us and see where we were in comparison to where we are, we`ll see the difference.
I am thankful for the opportunity I had this week to look back on 22 years of life and see how my testimony of the Book of Mormon has changed me. As I`ve read stories of a family going on a crazy journey through a wilderness and entire civilizations at war, I have gone on my own adventures and had my own wars. And I know that without the Book of Mormon I would still be wandering in the desert and I definitely would have died in a lot of the battles I have faced.
It`s simple. The book can change us if we let it. All God requires is that we read it, pray about it, think about it, and live it. It`s not hard. We make it hard. We forget to make time for it and forget how it has helped us through some of the crappiest situations in our lives.
Why does it help? Because it helps us become like Christ. Easy.
I don`t really see any logical reason to leave it on the shelf and ignore it.
This week I am thankful for the chance I had to bear my testimony of the truthfulness of this book when we were teaching a very catholic family. They laughed at our convictions and essentially told us we were crazy for believing that God would call prophets in America and that He would lead a young man to a hill and help him translate ancient words written in an unknown language. But it didn`t matter what they said. I have no doubt that this book is true. It is so frustrating sometimes when people have no desire to listen...no desire to just give it a try. It`s like having this super rad secret to success that you want to share with the entire world, but they are too busy or too lazy or too complacent with what they`ve got to listen.
Anyways...it was a good week. I hope and pray that Acacias has crazy amounts of success. 2 of the girls I have trained will be there as companions...Hermana Egas and Hermana Cando. They will rock it.
And we will have a lovely time here in Milagro saving souls. Bah. I love being a missionary. I wish sometimes I could twirl and sing and gallop through the streets about it.
Love you all more than sitting in an unventilated room with a stranger drenched in old lady perfume.
Have the most splendid week of your lives.
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