Hermana Eliason: 15 Months ... And Still Lovin' It!

We received an answer to our fasting and prayers on Monday. The Nino Family had invited us and Enriqueta with her daughters to have a Family Home Evening night together. Since Enriqueta's older daughter, Danahi, has never been interested in listening to us - which has been holding back her mom and sisters from being baptized - Hermana Rivera and I were pleasantly surprised when she showed up to the FHE (Family Home Evening)! At first Danahi was timid, but as we all talked together and made each other laugh, she opened up. Hermano Nino taught about the importance of saying specific prayers. When we pray, we express the feelings or desires of our heart. A prayer is not something memorized or repeated, rather, a conversation with our loving Heavenly Father. One thing I love about prayer, is we can ask questions and receive our answers to those questions through the scriptures, words of living prophets, personal experiences, or even other people. After the lesson, we all ate dinner together and continued chatting till it was sadly time to go. Hermana Rivera and I couldn't help but smile the whole way home because of the beautiful answer to our specific prayer that Danahi would open her heart and listen to our message. It was an amazing experience.

Tuesday flew by because after lunch we went straight to the bus station to go to Aguascalientes. It was actually really cool, because we went out for pizza with Hermana Ferrer & her companion. (Hermana Rivera and Hermana Ferrer are close friends who are both from Puerto Rico, but had never seen each other during the mission. So since Hermana Ferrer is finishing the mission in 2 weeks, the President gave us special permission to see them.)

Wednesday was the Council Meeting with the President and all the leaders. As always, it was fantastic and a privilege to be a STL (Sister Trainer Leader) and attend all the meetings that have helped me learn and grow. It was my 6th Council Meeting and if I have changes next week, then it might have been my last. I received my family's Christmas package and 2 Christmas cards!! I also received 2 Valentine's Day packages and I am now loaded with chocolate. :)

Thank you so much to all who have continued reading my blog, emailing me, or sending me things in the mail. It means a lot that you haven't forgotten me. Your letters and prayers give me strength to continue and motivate me to try my best. I am so grateful for you all.

On Thursday, it started getting cold. (crazy bipolar weather here!) We visited several people in the evening - because we had weekly planning in the morning. (Oh, and in the morning we tested each other's vocab for language study while walking through the park.) Sometimes it feels nice to just breathe the fresh air and enjoy nature. One of my favorite quotes from this week was, "Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy."

Walking in the Tangamanga Park

Friday was the Zone Conference/meeting. I talked about Leadership and explained how we all have leadership abilities and skills. Every missionary is a leader - which means we all have responsibilities to complete. I think it went well, and it was a great meeting. In the afternoon we taught 2 new investigators and had some really amazing lessons. I love how unified Hermana Rivera and I are in our teaching methods. We are pretty much telepathic :) It's fun.

Saturday I held a parrot!! We were contacting a butcher who was cutting up some meat and then heard, "Quiero agua. agua. quiero agua." Then we saw that the source of the squawking voice was his 10 year old green parrot, named Bocho. He was kind enough to let us hold him and snap some quick shots.

We were able to visit a lot of people [on Saturday]. The Rose family finished the Jenga they made for me!! Since Hermano Rosa is a carpenter, he was able to cut the wooden pieces for me and make a Jenga game for me. But what is super cool is that all the members and people here will each be able to sign a block and write me a little note. That way, I'll be able to remember them all and have a fun game that will also hold fond memories of my time here. At night, we taught Enriqueta and her daughters about the temple and family history work. They loved it and said they would love to go inside a temple some day.

Rain!

Sunday was "Dia de la Mujer" (Women's Day). Does that exist in the U.S.? haha There were bands playing and even some fireworks. :) And I also only have exactly 3 months until I finish the mission. It blows my mind how fast the time has flown by here - I can't believe I've been away from home for 15 months. Church went well and the youth speakers talked about seminary - which was great for Mariela and Ximena. In the evening it rained but we still managed to make visits. All in all, a great day and an excellent week.

Hope all is well and I'll see you all in 3 months. :) [Herman Eliason returns from Mexico on June 8th and will be giving a homecoming talk on Sunday, June 14th at 9am. All are welcome to attend. 3354 Eucalyptus Avenue, Chino Hills 91709]

xoxo,
Hermana Eliason