Sunday, December 8, 2013

Cuatro. Dias. Mas.: October 10, 2013


Elder Jamias (speaking to the Hermanas in our District): "There's a kind, loving, chiseled piece of man waiting for all of you guys."
Elder Ledakis: "Hey! We are not objects."
Hola famila y amigos!
This is going to be the lamest, shortest email I have written up to this point, so bear with me.  I have twenty minutes to write this, and I'm going to make those minutes count with my speedy typing skills.
Four more days at the CCM. Four. More. Days.  I can't even believe it; time just doesn't seem to exist here.  I just went to the temple today for the last time in 17 months, if you can believe it.  I'm going to miss Mexico. The colorful laundry drying outside on cement rooftops, the billboards, the gutsy pedestrians who walk into the middle of the road and weave in and out of four lanes of traffic, the billboards and advertisements and chaos everywhere.  It's kind of a decaying city, but a beautiful sort of decay, if that makes sense.
As many of you have indicated, General Conference was amazing.  I have never watched every session before, and I think the Prophet was right when he said that this was on the of the most spiritually edifying conferences yet.  When it ended, I was legitimately sad.   I think the neatest part of Conference for me was seeing first hand how God answers our questions.  Before Conference, we took a "Questions of the Soul" class and were told to write down one question that has been troubling us that we would ask God if we could see Him now.  Mine was very specific.  I wrote down, "Why do people suffer from mental illnesses? Will they be judged according to the perceptions of things/what is the doctrine that we should teach them?"  I'll be honest, I wasn't really expecting to find an answer to that question.  Well, I can happily say I was proved wrong.  If you watched Conference, then you know about Elder Holland and how he somehow heard my prayer, because he talked on just that--genetic predispositions and mental illnesses, the most weirdly specific topic mentioned during Conference.  My jaw literally dropped when he said that's what he would be talking about.  It was just one of those small miracles that happen all of the time, a small little confirmation that God loves me and cares about my questions.  I know he cares about all of yours, too.  I hope that Conference answered many of the questions you had and strengthened you spiritually. It certainly did for me.  I don't think I've ever been so legitimately disappointed to have conference end before.
I have loved my time at the CCM, as fleeting as it has been.  Playing soccer everyday with my district for gym time, singing hymns obnoxiously in Spanish all of the time (they're better in Spanish, I think), and continuing to eat weird, slightly-questionable food.  It is beautiful here.  I walked outside this morning to a velvety dawn, the lights of the hundreds of the casas surrounding us making the dark shadows of the hills glitter and the silhouettes of the palm trees constrast starkly and distinctly against the pastel sky.  Definitely one of those moments I'll add to my collection of unforgettable images.  If I didn't get attacked by a cloud of mosquitos every single morning, I would almost say it was perfect.
I think right now I'm just mentally preparing myself for the next big step. I'll be in Nicaragua Tuesday!! I'm feeling the strange combination of excited and anxious and inadequate and hopeful, but I know Nicaragua is where I'm supposed to be, and I am going to serve with all my might--you can count on it.  You can count on many more embarrassing stories to come, too.  This week, we were playing volleyball and Hermana Hawkins (wearing her light gray exercise pants), decided it would be a good idea to sit in the dewy grass for a minute before playing.  Consequently, she looked like she had peed herself. I wish she would have let me document the event, because it was seriously hilarious.  She had to play right up front and center, too. haha, I love her.
I will be able to email one last time before I head out, so be looking out for me.  I'll also get my scripture case tomorrow evening (so excited!!).  Melquisedek actually told all of us that he would no longer be able to make us cases because of time constraints, and so most people left it at that.  But I am my Yaya's granddaughter, and I have adopted her philosophy that it never hurts to ask....and bribe slightly if necessary.  So, I pulled a few strings, and I'll be getting my case tomorrow night.  Success.
I love you all and hope you are doing well! I hope you know I pray for you each individually every night.  Time is a blur, but every minute has been worth it.
Les quiero!
<3 Hermana Behan

No comments:

Post a Comment