11/18/13

Hey folks back home!

This week/this Pday is one of my best weeks in the mission to date. I

will start by sharing the funny story that prompted the subject of

this email...Hermana C., Hermana I. and I were sitting on

our beds, practicing/preparing for a lesson. All of a sudden, Hermana

C. said to us, "Tengo hambre!" (I'm hungry), and pulled a giant

pack of cookies from her skirt pocket. Hermana I. and I looked

at each other and started laughing.

In terms of the great news, I didn't want to jinx it, but we had our

first baptism this weekend! She is a sweet sweet girl, who has an

incredible desire to follow Christ and be an example to her (less

active) boyfriend, and to her family. The ward has been so supportive

of her, which I love!

I have also been growing so much personally. One of the things that

has been my goal my whole mission is learning to be more charitable.

Perhaps I am pretty good at being nice to others (or, for the least,

not being mean), but I feel like I lack the true charity, which is

having the pure love of God for all people always in your heart. This

week the method of how to do this (in my case, always be asking myself

if I am a blessing or a burden to my companions) became very clear to

me, and at the same time, I learned to forgive and love myself as I

am. Which is another flaw of mine, that I tend to be quite self

critical.

An object lesson from a FHE here in Las Arboledas: A brother from the

ward drew a black dot on a white piece of paper and asked us what we

saw. Answers varied from a hole, an oreo, a point, a dot, etc. After

everyone in the room had answered, he explained that, when looking at

others, so often we focus on the point, on their flaws (the black

point). We ignore everything else about them (the white paper) and

focus on these small flaws. I feel like the same applies to

ourselves--that we need to be forgiving and loving to ourselves. I am

not a perfect missionary. I often feel like Moses in Exodus 4:10, that

I am slow and stuttering of tongue in Spanish. But I am not called to

be perfect, only to give all I can.

As far as my food, I just want to reassure you that I am in great

hands! The wife of our bishop has basically adopted us, and she makes

us lunch (complete with vegetables and meat!) almost every day. In

this mission, we have funds provided for having a cook, so we pay her

for this incredible service (just so you don't worry about us imposing

on her). I think this is one of the changes that I have seen in this

ward since I got here--that they are really starting to love and

appreciate us missionaries, and that likewise, we are trying to serve

them in return. In Latin culture, food is a sign of love, so seeing

that people want to feed us really is progress!

Another cool thing about this week, is the multizone conference in

which we were spiritually fed. I learned a lot, and (as is custom of

the Glaziers), walked away with a new pithy question to ask myself: Is

this helping me baptize and retain? Everything in the mission

ultimately comes down to these two words: baptize and retain. As I

strive to emulate the example of Christ, I need to keep in mind his

purposes in life: help others live a more virtuous life that

ultimately leads to the presence of God. The way we can measure if we

are working towards this goals is thinking about these two things

(baptize new people, and help retain everyone that is already on the

path).

I too, have been praying as you, Mom for Aunt Linda, and that the will

of the Lord may be accomplished in her situation. I admire your love

and your service so much.

Loving you all so much,

Hermana Romero