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Oh man! My little brother is going to be a MISSIONARY!!! In the PHILIPPINES!!!!!!! I am so very happy for you, Mackay! I am going to write you your own letter today, so look for that. But I must tell you all my story about hearing the news. Friday, when I heard that it hadn't come on Thursday, I was bummed, but figured that I would hear by Saturday. Well, I forgot that they don't print out dearelders on Saturdays because they print them out every day at 5, but on Saturdays the mail room closes at 2. So I had to wait all the way until MONDAY!!! It was so so hard! Seriously. My whole district was awaiting the news. And they all had guesses out. No one was even close. Every zone is different, but in my zone, we are only supposed to read mail after 9 every night, but I got special permission to read the news of the mission call as soon as it came. I loved how you did it! It made me feel like a part of things. I definitely cried when I read it. I am so proud of you. I will write more in your letter.
So, on to the week! It was good, but we are all SO ready to get out to Argentina and start preaching the gospel. I am grateful for my time here and all of the things that I have learned, but I am really ready to go.
I was able to sing for Relief Society, and here it is all of the Sisters and then all of the Branch Presidency wives... we estimated between 200 and 300. It was a really neat experience. I was so grateful for the opportunity. Sister Rosemary Wixom, the General Primary President was the speaker, which made it extra special. Good times.
The Sunday fireside this week was really good! He talked about how success is a GIFT, not something that I should feel entitled to. The quotable quote from the evening is "The Lord wants us to want what He wants." Really great.
We also had a really great workshop this week all about the process of conversion. We all made a "conversion web" about the things that converted US, since we all have to go through a conversion process, even if we are lifelong members. The Bible Dictionary says that conversion is "conscious acceptance of the will of God." So, we should all be going through a conversion process every day and becoming more and more converted. I love that. It also helped me to relate to my investigators more when I thought about the process of conversion and what it takes to be truly converted to the gospel.
You are probably wondering why the subject of the e-mail is 1 in 132,000. Well, Brother Marlor told us this week that there is 1 missionary for every 132,000 people in the world. WOW! I need to get to work! Missionary work is so important and the Lord really does need His missionaries. It reminded me of when Elder Rasband came to Stake Conference and told us that President Hinckley once said that if we took all of the current missionaries and put them all in to China, it would be like throwing a bucket of water into the ocean. Wow. I am so blessed to be a part of this work.
Did I tell you that Hna Hill had the gym dips record? Ya, she is pretty much awesome. Well... this week it was broken! So "we" are training to get her up to 30 so that she can reclaim her title. ha ha. Love her.
Our roommates are gone. They left for the Dominican Republic MTC, so it is just back to the 4 of us. We are sad and miss them, but so excited for the experience that they will have there.
This week, Hna Hill and I have been brainstorming possible doubts that investigators might have and finding answers in the scriptures together and it has been a really powerful experience. I just love her and honestly do not know what I am going to do without her. We both really hope that we will be able to be companions again. We just fit and get along so well and have so many of the same life experiences. We both just want to do what the Lord wants and be His missionaries.
So, we had 2 districts leave our zone this week, so we are officially the oldest district. Weird. That means that 2 of us will have to speak in Sacrament in Spanish for the next 2 weeks. I feel that I will probably have that opportunity. Pray for me.
Spanish is way better this week. We buckled down on "speak your language," and that has helped SO much! It's amazing that we really can speak a lot and have a lot to say to each other. The gift of tongues is real and I am grateful.
I love you all so much! Thank you for your prayers, love, and support. I really can feel them. This is the first week that I have had 5 min left to e-mail instead of frantically pushing send with 30 seconds to spare, so I guess I will send a little Spanish love!
Yo sé que Jesucristo es mi Salvador y Redentor. Yo sé que Dios nos ama y Él tiene un plan para nosotros. Yo sé que somos Sus hijos. Yo sé que José Smith es un profeta de Dios. Yo testifico que la Iglesia es verdadera. La obra misional es muy importante. La obra es difícil, pero estoy muy agradecida ser un misionera. Me encanta el Evangelio. Me encantan las Escrituras. El Libro de Mormón es verdadera. La gente del mundo necesitan el Evangelio, y yo puedo dar les el don. Este es la obra de Dios. Soy un representante de Él.
LOVE YOU ALL!!! I can´t believe I only have 2 and a half more weeks here. Time really does fly. I am so excited and grateful to be a full time missionary. It is the biggest blessing.
Love you and take care,
Hermana Shelley
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