My dear people.
Oh boy. Three weeks just feels like a LOT less than one month. Stressing out haha A couple times I've considered just omitting these parts from my letters (the parts that might make it seems like I'm trunky or distracted), but I want you all to know and understand how this really is. I LOVE being a missionary. It is my whole life, my whole being right now, and this time has been an interesting switch over. Part of me knows that I'm coming home, and is so excited. I just want to see my family, visit my grandparents, be in my own house, walk around BYU campus...
Another part of me looks around me at my dear Chile and feels so sad. Do I really have to leave this?? So many people that I love so much. I have never loved like I love the people here- it is a different feeling than any other, and I don't know if I'll ever see or hear from them again. I have faith that I will, and I pray that we will have one eternal reunion someday in our celestial home.
Amidst all of this, there are also so many blessed moments of quiet joy and happiness. Fun events and parts of the Going Home process that really do bring me joy, satisfaction, swells of gratitude. It is a wonderful little roller coaster. Please pray for my companion, the poor thing hahaha She has been a great support.
Want to hear the best part of this week?? Thomas, Yesenia, and Mayra decided to be baptized!!!!! Well, Thomas always knew he wanted to be baptized, but his sisters were still searching for an answer. They didn't come to church last Sunday, so we went to visit them Monday night and were ready for anything. We taught them about tithing and they gladly accepted the law, and at the end of the lesson they sprung the news on us. "We decided we want to be baptized. Is the 16th still ok?"
The night they told us they wanted to be baptized!!! Fabian, Mayra, Thomas, Solange, then Yesenia.
Ahhhhhh!!!! Yesssss!! The 16th is still ok!!!!
We asked them how they'd felt, how they decided, and I was so touched by the way they responded. Yesy and Mayra especially. They said that everything we'd taught them felt like something they already knew and believed. For being young, beautiful girls, they really are rather unusual in the standards that they've kept. They said that sometimes they looked at all of their friends and asked themselves if they were the ones in the wrong, if they were all alone in believing in a higher standard. They said "Now we know we´re not alone."
They opened their hearts, they recognized the small whisperings of the Spirit, and they know that this is good and true. Even Thomas said, "Before I started going to church, I had a different view of my future. I thought I'd be a partier, drink a lot with my friends, stuff like that. But now I'm protected from all of that, and I need to hurry and graduate high school so that I can go on a mission. This really changed my whole life."
That family is the biggest blessing the Lord could've given me in this crazy time. I treasure them so much. In addition to making us cry, they really make us laugh, too... Thomas was so excited this week because he was going to fast for the first time. He said "Want to know what I'm going to fast for? So that my sisters can find good, respectful, loving husbands." They just looked at him with that "You dork, we do NOT want to get married yet" kind of look, and he just threw up his hands and smiled, saying "Well, when the time comes."
He also let me know that he downloaded Skype on his phone so he can talk to me when I come home hahaha
I just love life!! I hope you're all enjoying it and finding happiness in the little things. These moments and days are interwoven with spiritual threads that we may see if we'll look a little harder- it has been so interesting to me to see how the Lord really takes a part in EVERYTHING. How he knows the begginning, the end, and all of the in between. It is so easy to feel the divinity of our daily happenings. We just need to open our eyes-
I love you all.
Hermana Oldroyd
Oh boy. Three weeks just feels like a LOT less than one month. Stressing out haha A couple times I've considered just omitting these parts from my letters (the parts that might make it seems like I'm trunky or distracted), but I want you all to know and understand how this really is. I LOVE being a missionary. It is my whole life, my whole being right now, and this time has been an interesting switch over. Part of me knows that I'm coming home, and is so excited. I just want to see my family, visit my grandparents, be in my own house, walk around BYU campus...
Another part of me looks around me at my dear Chile and feels so sad. Do I really have to leave this?? So many people that I love so much. I have never loved like I love the people here- it is a different feeling than any other, and I don't know if I'll ever see or hear from them again. I have faith that I will, and I pray that we will have one eternal reunion someday in our celestial home.
Amidst all of this, there are also so many blessed moments of quiet joy and happiness. Fun events and parts of the Going Home process that really do bring me joy, satisfaction, swells of gratitude. It is a wonderful little roller coaster. Please pray for my companion, the poor thing hahaha She has been a great support.
Want to hear the best part of this week?? Thomas, Yesenia, and Mayra decided to be baptized!!!!! Well, Thomas always knew he wanted to be baptized, but his sisters were still searching for an answer. They didn't come to church last Sunday, so we went to visit them Monday night and were ready for anything. We taught them about tithing and they gladly accepted the law, and at the end of the lesson they sprung the news on us. "We decided we want to be baptized. Is the 16th still ok?"
Ahhhhhh!!!! Yesssss!! The 16th is still ok!!!!
We asked them how they'd felt, how they decided, and I was so touched by the way they responded. Yesy and Mayra especially. They said that everything we'd taught them felt like something they already knew and believed. For being young, beautiful girls, they really are rather unusual in the standards that they've kept. They said that sometimes they looked at all of their friends and asked themselves if they were the ones in the wrong, if they were all alone in believing in a higher standard. They said "Now we know we´re not alone."
They opened their hearts, they recognized the small whisperings of the Spirit, and they know that this is good and true. Even Thomas said, "Before I started going to church, I had a different view of my future. I thought I'd be a partier, drink a lot with my friends, stuff like that. But now I'm protected from all of that, and I need to hurry and graduate high school so that I can go on a mission. This really changed my whole life."
That family is the biggest blessing the Lord could've given me in this crazy time. I treasure them so much. In addition to making us cry, they really make us laugh, too... Thomas was so excited this week because he was going to fast for the first time. He said "Want to know what I'm going to fast for? So that my sisters can find good, respectful, loving husbands." They just looked at him with that "You dork, we do NOT want to get married yet" kind of look, and he just threw up his hands and smiled, saying "Well, when the time comes."
He also let me know that he downloaded Skype on his phone so he can talk to me when I come home hahaha
I just love life!! I hope you're all enjoying it and finding happiness in the little things. These moments and days are interwoven with spiritual threads that we may see if we'll look a little harder- it has been so interesting to me to see how the Lord really takes a part in EVERYTHING. How he knows the begginning, the end, and all of the in between. It is so easy to feel the divinity of our daily happenings. We just need to open our eyes-
I love you all.
Hermana Oldroyd
a Pirka- hot dog, cheese, and ketchup inside a flaky butter bread. Love it
Face paint at the ward party..
wow! that mustache sure reminds me of your father! Can't believe you are coming home so soon! You are so lovely Erica! Thanks for your diligence in journaling for all of us!
ReplyDeleteKatie Seguritan
Oh, even though I never served a mission, I can identify with the bittersweetness! When we truly serve with all our hearts, we learn what it is to truly love-that love of Christ. Chile will always hold part of your heart-you'll feel like there's a hole in it because you're not THERE with those you've served but fill that hole with gratitude, memories, and prayer. Being back with your great family will help, too :-)
ReplyDeleteSo excited to hear of that special triple baptism coming up!!!! What a wonderful family! We always pray that our missionaries will be led to those whose hearts have been prepared and these most certainly were :-) We hope that Thomas will find a good, respectful, loving wife like he prays for his sisters!
See you soon :-))))))