Querida Familia,
Hermana Tetelpa from Salt Lake City, a native Spanish speaker, moved into our room last week. Hermana Howze and I agree that she is the best thing that ever happened to our Spanish. Tomorrow two other native speakers move into our room and on Thursday Hermana Howze leaves for the Dominican Republic MTC. This means I will be in a room of all native Spanish speakers. It will be good for my Spanish, but I'm not sure what it will do for my sanity!
Coincidentally I met a sister, her name is Hermana Galarza from California (originally from Ecuador)and she is going to serve in Seattle. She is a native speaker so she leaves soon for Seattle. We are hoping to be companions. She asked if I would help her with her English while she helps me with my Spanish.
One thing being a missionary is teaching me is that I can do hard things. The other day my district had a shift in the referral center (RC) where people can call in to have free DVDs or books (Bibles or copies of the Book of Mormon) mailed to them. There were no English calls so my teacher encouraged me to do Spanish calls. I did not want to and I was so afraid, but then I remembered that I came on a mission to do hard things. It turned out that most people weren't home when I called to confirm that they had received the items they asked for. One man hung up on me when I started talking about the church, and one woman patiently listened to me testify of Jesus Christ and told me I could call back. Yay!
Another thing I like about being a missionary is that the message sells itself. What I mean by this is that we as missionaries have an amazing message: the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. I love preparing with my companion to invite the Spirit and then being able to testify of the message with complete certainty that if those we teach will read the Book of Mormon with an open heart and pray to their Heavenly Father to see if it is true with intent to act on their answer, they will know that it is the word of God, that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. With such a powerful message, I can feel confidence that as I do all I can to serve the Lord, great things will happen in the lives of those I contact.
Hermana. Howze and I have had many opportunities to teach in the last few weeks. Twice we even taught part of the first lesson in Spanish. It was nerve-wracking. We love teaching and we have started to feel very comfortable transitioning back and forth, teaching with the spirit, teaching to needs, and teaching varying lengths of lessons with little preparation. It motivates me to learn Spanish so we can feel this same comfort and power when we teach in Spanish.
We are learning about Lesson 2 this week. I love the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation, especially how it is centered on the Savior and His Atonement. Today we were able to attend the temple, the perfect place to learn more about the plan. I love the temple and can't wait to go back next week. I can't say it enough, but serving a mission is hard work. I see how I have a death-grip on weaknesses, bad habits, and pride that I am working every day to loosen. I want to be "more fit for the kingdom." But this isn't something only for missionaries and the new year is a perfect time to look at our lives and see what we can change to become more like our Savior and be more fit to serve Him. I love you all. Thank your for your support. I hope you have a wonderful week.
Con amor,
Hermana Kinghorn
