July 22, 2013

Hola, mi familia! 

Sounds like you guys are having a BOMBIN time in Bear Lake! The other day I was in a tv store and there was a picture of a lake that looked exactly like Bloomington and I was like, ¨....shoot.¨

What a good week it has been. To build our district unity, the President suggested that we clean an elders' house that they just moved out of. We walk in and girls started gagging and I yelled WHAT IN THE WORLD. Haha It was disgusting! There were eighteen cockroaches and trash everywhere. How did the elders feel the Spirit? I don't have one idea. It took us five hours to deep clean and then another five to paint the next day. And that's when everyone told me that I should go into interior design because apparently i have a creative eye. (I'll worry about that later) Anyway, painting and cleaning really did bring unity to some Hermanas. 

Before I forget, there is this song that I love that is always playing in the streets, and I finally stopped a guy and asked, ¨Who sings this!?¨ He told me that Marc Anthony sings it and its called Vivir Mi Vida. So if anyone wants a little taste of the DR, I say go for it because I secretly wish that I could listen to that song a billion times. 

We did intercombios on Wed and the girl that I went with has been on the mission for eleven months. I got to push my Spanish and put more trust in the Lord. And that got me thinking about how the Lord trusts us as well. I think that sometimes our Heavenly Father doesn´t give a very concrete answer to our prayers because either choice is good. For example. when I was praying on whether or not I should go on a mission, I didn´t get a huge spiritual experience that I was hoping for. At first I didn´t even get a very firm "yes" on whether I should go. In the beginning I figured that something was wrong with me or my choice didn´t mean much to Him. Which was far from the truth. Looking back on it, Heavenly Father was showing me that either choice was a great choice and He trusted me to use my agency to feel like what was best for me. We should trust in the Lord in all things, but sometimes I forget that He trusts us as well. Being here, I know on a deeper level that I'M supposed to be here. Looking back on life is a funny thing at times.  

Transfers are coming up at the end of this week and everyone is freaking out. My comp will probably leave and I'll probably stay in the city. She and I have had some really fun and cool times together. We´ve come a long way in our companionship, and I love it. A mission is..interesting. There are people who go on missions to fix things, which I say would´nt be the best idea. If anything, all of my flaws and imperfections have been laid out on the table. I´ve learned that having problems doesn´t necessarily have to be a bad thing though. Struggling with problems is the very core of life´s purpose. As we feel closer to our Heavenly Father, He will show us our weaknesses, and through Him make us wiser and stronger and our weaknesses vanish. If we see more of our weaknesses, that just might mean that we´re moving closer to Him, not farther. And He love us enough to patiently help us change. 

I'm so grateful for my mission. I love it so dearly. Can you believe it that I almost have 4 months? And that I haven´t seen some of my friends for almost 6 months? That just blows my mind. Anyway, sorry that this letter was LAME. But I love you all so much. I love this gospel. It's perfect. I know that there are some things that we just have to simply go by faith. Like Emma Smith. She never saw angels or even the golden plates, but she knew the church was true, even though she experiences a lot of sorrow and heartache. And everything that her husband saw was tangible. I'm glad that everyone is happy and alive and well. 
Con amor,
Hermana Buhrley