Hi people :)
This week literally flew by. Seriously, it went so fast.
Monday: I fell and basically killed myself. I think I've gotten even
clumsier these days, which I didn't know was possible. Anyhow, so I was getting
on the bus and had a bunch of stuff in my hands and was distracted by a number
of other things and well, I missed the step. It was suuuuper embarrassing. So I
fell and cut up my left leg pretty bad. Basically it felt like someone took a
hammer to my shin and blood was running down my leg. We went home and cleaned it
up and went back out to work. From right below my knee to right about my ankle
is all bruises and it's all swollen and it looks pretty awesome. It's a week
later and now the bruises are finally starting to turn yellow, but I think the
cut is infected though so that sucks. I've developed a little bit of a limp, but
all is well.
Tuesday: We spent mediodia at my favorite Bolivian restaurant to celebrate
Eduardo's (my recent convert from Leganes) birthday and it was really fun seeing
him. We've decided to start singing with the Sullivans in the park every Tuesday
evening and it's been awesome. This particular Tuesday I had two really
spiritual experiences. The first was with this couple from Boston. I was excited
because they were American and I could talk to them in English. They hadn't
heard a whole lot about that church and asked for the basics. When I got to the
Joseph Smith story I felt the Spirit so strong, like soooo strong. I almost
started to cry as I testified of the boy prophet when the man stopped me. He
said, ''Sister Munden, thank you for telling us about your church. I think this
is the longest I've ever listened to someone talk about Mormons. But don't go
on. I've already zoned out and I don't want to hear anything more. Please
stop.'' And then just like that they walked away. For some reason I was so hurt.
I've gotten so used to rejection that normally it doesn't hurt anymore, but this
time it stung. I was confused as to why I had been prompted to talk to that
couple. I was stunned that even though I was feeling the Spirit so intensly,
they weren't. And I was sad that they'd asked me to stop. I returned to the
group and i got choked up as I sang, but then a few minutes later I felt a
similar prompting, and had another experience.
His name wa José Antonio and he was Spanish. I sat next to him and
explained why we were singing in the park and what we're doing here as
missionaries. I said he believed in God and I asked him how he'd seen the
presence of God in his life. He counted to me an experience (is that how you say
it?) he'd had when his wife was dying in the same hopsital his mother had passed
away in. He had to leave her for the night and he said he was suffering on his
walk home alone. He wasn't sure she was going to make it and he was really low,
when all of a sudden he felt someone walking with him. He looked around and
nobody was there, but he knew that God was with him. He knew he had a Father in
Heaven who loved him and his wife and that, no matter what happened, everything
would be okay. We both had tears in our eyes and I knew that this man knew God.
I testified of the plan of salvation and then it was time to go. Unfortunately,
José Antonio doesn't live in our area, but I passed his number along to the
missionaries who work near where he lives.
Wednesday: One year since I went to the temple! It was actually a super
lame day and not a thing stands out as cool. Haha except we ate with the
bishop's wife and she made us some bomb Peruvian food.
Thursday: We had Zone Conference and it was super good. President and
Hermana Jackson were wearing red white and blue and we started the conference by
singing the national anthem. It was an awesome conference. We read parts of
Jacob 5 and President talked about the allegory of the olive tree and how we're
the people talked about when the Lord goes to nourish his vineyard for ''the
last time.'' At the end of verse 70 it says the laborers were few and then I
love what it says in verses 71 and 72. We are laboring with the Lord and we have
finding joy in the fruit. This is His work and it is a joyous work. We talked
even more about miracles and then we had our own little miracle on
Friday...
Friday: We had the best lesson ever with Oscar. This man is seriously
incredible and things just keep getting better and better with him. The one
thing we have been nervous about though is that he smokes a lot. We've been
really anxious about bringing up the Word of Wisdom and aren't sure how he'll
react to it. So in weekly planning we asked Heavenly Father help us find a way
to help Oscar with his addiction. And then the answer to our prayer came in our
lesson that night. We just got done teaching him the plan of salvation and he
was about to say the prayer when he pulled out his pack of cigarettes and set
them on the table in front of him and goes, ''You'll see in a second why I took
these out.'' Then he says the most sincere prayer. He expressed gratitude for us
and for the change that is taking place in him. Then he told Heavenly Father he
wants to quit smoking and asked for help to ''get rid of this vice.'' I was
shocked! And so grateful at the same time! We didn't have to bring up the
smoking issue, he did it on his own! We told him about this cool 15 step quit
smoking program we have and told him we'd bring it to him on Sunday. He also
asked me if, when they day comes, I would baptize him and even thought I
explained that I couldn't, it was super sweet!
Saturday: We went to Hermana Hansen and Hermana Smith's baptism and then we
had English class. It was show and tell! People brought the most random things,
but it was super fun. When it was my turn I talked about my tag and why it was
special to me. Then afterwards we invited two people to a baptism we were going
to that night. Jaime's baptism! I'm sure you remember Jaime. I taught him with
Hermana Olsen and then we found out he didn't live in our area. Well, he got
baptized! He was so cute and I was glad I got to go.
Madrid is on fire. It was 41º the other day and I think that's something
like 106º. We're dying - especially because we don't have air conditioning. We
just have a bunch of fans and turn all the lights off. We go to bed sweating, we
wake up sweating, and we're basically just gross all the time. Haha it's super
fun. But life is good. Transfers are in two weeks and I'm really hoping I get to
go to the north.
I hope everything is good back home! I can't WAIT to hear when Conner is
going so I hope he gets his call reeeeaal quick. I love you!!!!
Love,
Hermana Munden
P.S. I have pictures, but I forgot my cord. Next week!
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