Dear Everyone,
Well, it´s been an interesting week! I wish there was more to tell but to be honest, there hasn´t been a lot to do this week. President Deere said that on Christmas Eve and Day that we shouldn´t go see anyone who wasn´t expecting us, so basically if we didn´t have citas then there wasn´t much we could do. And not many people actually like to have lessons during Christmas vacation so there hasn´t been much to do even after Christmas either...so there has been lots of walking around. LOTS of walking around. Oh well!
Also, Christmas Eve and New Years Eve we are allowed to be with members until midnight and then go straight home. So Christmas Eve was fun because early in the evening a bunch of missioanries in the Málaga Zone got together in the centro and sang Christmas carols while a couple missionaries handed out cards and talked to people. The lights in downtown Málaga were sweet and the Spirit of the night was really cool. Then we were with a member family and ate good food and then played board games until midnight. Then Christmas Day we actually didn´t go anywhere because no one had invited us. Cmas Eve seems to be more of a big deal here than Cmas Day, because plenty of people asked what we were doing for Cmas Eve but no one asked about Cmas Day. So Cmas Day we just met a bunch of missionaries in the Chapel and played card games and ate Chinese food. Then we went and SKYPED OUR FAMILIES. And I really needed that conversation. I am not an emotional person ever. Anyone who has watched a sad movie with me knows I don´t cry. I had been excited all day so I didn´t actually think I´d end up crying but the second I heard their voices I just got really choked up and almost couldn´t speak, but then had to get over it quickly because we only had an hour haha. But after hanging up the tears came back. Anyone who has served a mission understands that it´s on your mission that you truly realize how amazing families are. And ANY other time of your life if you´re having a hard time your family is just a phone call away. But on the mission...only an hour and a half of email every week doesn´t always help in the moment that you actually feel like you need the support and love. So just hearing a chorus of voices telling me that they loved me and that they were proud of me...well, I think it´d make anyone cry. But I didn´t cry for very long because I think Sandra (the member) was worried or thought that I was super sad, which I wasn´t sad necessarily, just overwhelmed. Plus she made me food so I ate and talked to her and didn´t cry anymore haha.
Although I don´t think all missions have rules that let you stay up later. So for anyone who thinks we shouldn´t be allowed to stay up that late ever, I´ll tell you, it is NOT as fun as it sounds. Why? Because missionaries go to bed and wake up at the exact same time every single night and day, without exceptions. So I´ve come to find that any change in that pattern completely messes with me and I just end up more tired. As of now we don´t have any plans for New Years Eve and honestly at this point, I´m almost hoping we just go to bed like normal :p But yeah, this is the last time you will all hear from me in 2013! Also, I thought of this, since I left for my mission in 2013 and will come home in 2015, 2014 will be the only year of my entire life without seeing my family. Just kind of weird to think about...
Want to know something funny about English? I´ve never realized this before, but to say ¨you are not¨ you can either say ¨you´re not¨ or ¨you aren´t.¨ There are 2 different contractions for the exact same thing and you can use them interchangably. There aren´t actually any rules about which one to use at what times. I´ve never noticed that before and found it kind of interesting.
Time for some spiritual things! I don´t know if I told you all this, but the mission together started reading the BoM after General Conference and are finishing it by the end of the year, or tomorrow. I was behind but I managed to catch up and am on track to finish tomorrow! So now i can say that this is the first time I´ve read the BoM all the way through twice in one year, and I´ve now read the BoM twice in Spanish! Maybe next year I´ll make it a goal to read the BoM 3 times in one year! haha there´s lots of super crazy awesome scriptures in DyC and the Bible though, so we´ll see! But anyway, as a mission we were reading to focus on all the references of Christ and his direct words. So I kept a list of every single name that Christ has in the BoM, and I haven´t counted them yet, but there are quite a few! But it´s been really cool for me to read through all these names and realize all the roles that Christ has in the Church, in the world and in our lives. it´s incredible. There are some names that inspire awe and wonder, like Supreme Creator or Lord Omnipotent or Lord God Almighty. But I think my favorite names are the ones that show what light and peace and salvation He brings to my life personally, like Redeemer, Rock of my Salvation, Counselor, Prince of Peace, Good Shepherd (especially after reading pres Monson´s talk about True Shepherds), and a God of Miracles. And even though there are so many names that I love, if I have to pick a favorite name that Christ has and the one that has the most significance for me, it would have to be Savior. After all is said and done, He came to Earth to save us from our sins, mistakes, sorrows, weaknesses and trials. I know without a doubt that He lives and loves us and He has laid out a path for our salvation, and we can find that path in the scriptures. We just have to choose to start walking on it. I hope that this Christmas all of you were able to think about what Christ´s life means to you and what you can do this next year to show Him that you´re willing to follow Him and do His will.
And to explain my title, I picked my quote of the year for 2014. It´s from one of Pres Uchtdorf´s talks from I think the April General Conference. ¨I believe that every life is a collection of individual journey stories.¨ I loved that quote a lot, and obviously it´s not talking about only physical journeys, but this year I´m going to have more physical journeys than I´ve ever had before and there are places in Spain that I´m going to live in and fall in love with, so I picked this quote to represent the many physical and spiritual journeys i´m going to experience this year. I´m so excited :)
Well, that´s it for this week. Transfers are next week and Hna T and I have 2 transfers together so we´re for sure getting ¨the call¨ this week! Exciting! Logically, I would be the one leaving because i´ve been here longest, but apparently our District Leader thinks she´s the one leaving but he won´t tell us why he thinks that...so who knows what could happen. Stay tuned for next week I guess. And have a Happy New Year and be safe and make really awesome resolutions because there are always things we can do to be better!
Love you all!
Hna Andrew
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