Faith in a Calling from a Prophet. Week 12

Well well well!
The work is progressing! :) We're talking to a lot of people. There have been at least three times when we were talking to someone and they told us that they felt like we were sent from heaven to help them. It was pretty cool. However, these people are struggling to meet with us. They're so busy, and so are we. It breaks my heart.

We met a man who was totally interested and wanted to hear more, so we asked him for his address, and he said he doesn't have one, because he just lives with a few different families... he just moves from one to the other and never knows where he'll be next. :( That's happened at least twice. Oh man.

The other day we had a lesson with one of these sisters (one who said we came to her at just the right time and she felt like we were sent from God) the other day about baptism, but her aunt was there and she was very Catholic and the aunt's daughter was too, and she was very vocal about her feelings on the subject... >_> We still taught the lesson and tried to bring the Spirit. We're going to meet her again tonight. Hopefully things will go better!

The other day we were trying to meet a sister, but she wasn't home, but this random man was there instead, so we talked to him and invited him to the Battalion. He came with a friend and he LOVED it! We saw him again (we were trying yet again to talk to Irma) and talked to him some more about the gospel and the Battalion and he was just so excited. He agreed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I'm still struggling to speak Spanish and understand the people more, but I feel more comfortable with it, at least. :)

My companion is amazing. She's so patient with me. She's really good at just loving people. It's pretty awesome, because before I got out here, I had been praying that I could learn to have that kind of love. Heavenly Father really answers our prayers. Sometimes we still have a hard time communicating, but we're improving. We're also speaking more Spanish around the apartment and on the street, so that's good.

We've set a goal to learn 5 new words each day. We should probably have a better outline of what to learn each week, but we only just made the goal yesterday. I learned cejas, vanidoso, calentador, fosas nasales, y delegad. They're pretty random, I know. The point, though, is that it's a lot of fun learning together. I've been helping her with her pronunciation, and she's been helping me with grammar and such in Spanish. It's perfect! :D I wish all my comps could be native Spanish speakers.

I'm getting better at giving tours at the Battalion. I gave my first solo tour on Sunday, and I only had like...5 really awkward moments. Hahaha! It's fine, though. I think they knew I was just doing my best. Actually, a lady came through yesterday and she told us that she is a theatre teacher, and she thought we were fantastic! So I guess I'm not completely horrible anymore. :) I'm learning. It's a process.

Oh. One of the lines from the script says something like, "Once the men received these straps (they're talking about the ammunition case, bayonet, and the belt, all of which have or are a white strap) their enlistment suddenly became real to them. They were just farmers and craftsmen, with no experience as soldiers. But they were marching with faith in a promise from a prophet of God." Anyway, I realized that that is me! When I received my name tag, my calling suddenly became real to me. I'm just a student/young adult, with no real experience being a missionary. But, I'm driving off in San Diego with faith in a calling from a prophet of God. :)

I am feeling a lot more comfortable with everything. I think I get the area a lot better, and I feel much more comfortable driving. My hip is still hurting me, but it's feeling better in general. We got to buy fruits and vegetables today, so I won't die of scurvy. :) I'm excited to do some cooking once we get back to the apartment today! I feel so much more comfortable with the whole mission idea. I'm still scared and nervous and not sure how to talk to people, but I feel more confident that if I do everything I'm supposed to, the Lord will help me do His work.

We got to attend a baptism the other day. It was so awesome. I just felt such love and peace! I just want to be able to help people have that in their lives more.

We got to work at the temple! Well, outside the temple. We've got a "visitors center" there. It's a canopy with the words "Temporary Visitors Center" across the top. It was so awesome. We met so many prepared people and got to talk about eternal families and Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. The San Diego temple is so sweet. :D

We had MTEs the other day. Basically it's a meeting where they teach us how to teach and then we do a lot of role playing. We practiced teaching briefly and powerfully. We can now give the Restoration message in a little over a minute (in English... hahaha). :) It's progress. My companion and I are working on the whole switching often while teaching thing. We have been struggling a little (lies. A lot) with that, so I can really see the progress. :)

Okay one last story. So there's this awesome family that we visited. We went to visit the daughter (18) because we want to have her come out with us for lessons, but her parents were there too, so we talked with all of them. Her parents (her father in specific, but I think it's both) are less active. They're so awesome, though! When we left they gave us some of those Mexican bread things... hmm. I can't remember the word, and my companion just calls it bread. >_> Anyway, they've got the cool design thing on top, with lightly sugared stuff. They're super delicous. I think the name has a ch and a c in it. But... I can't remember. The point here is that it was super delicious!!!

And then when we visited them a second time, they got us pizza!! I haven't had pizza in forever. It was SO GOOD. I've been eating like... protein shakes, pb&js and granola bars for a week (or a little bit of chicken on spaghetti or rice when there's a moment to spare) so it was like heaven. Oh man. Well, basically these people are so giving. They just want to give and give and give. I love being here. I want to be more like them. :)

I felt way more at ease in the ward on Sunday. I still don't know very many people, but that doesn't mean I can give them all hugs! They're all so loving and welcoming. It's wonderful. :) Oh, btw, I've spoken to three people who speak German, and I told them all that my heart was full. :) I hope you appreciate that, dad. I'm afraid my German pronuciation (and English spelling) is horrible at the moment, though. Spanish is taking over! XD Well, I need to go now. I love you all!

--Hermana Harris