Hi Everyone, I’m
officially in Baltimore in a cute little town called Frederick. The people here are so kind! I love the branch I am serving in because the
Hispanics are so sweet. They are hard to
understand at times because the people are mostly Dominican Republic or Cuban,
so their Spanish is super fast and slurred.
They are very sweet though! I
just have to tell them to slow down at times otherwise the whole conversation I
have with them goes right over my head.
Also, THEIR food is good. THANK
GOODNESS!! These Cuban women make such
good food and they LOVE sweets! They
made us these pancakes that have fruit in them and you put jam and ice cream on
it…oh my goodness it was so good! Though
what I’m not excited for is chicken soup… they put all the parts of the chicken
in it! I’m not joking when I say all the
parts of the chicken. You get the heart,
liver, and their favorite..the feet!
They love the feet and the heart.
Other then that my companion and I like to live off cereal and hot
pockets.
My companion’s name is Hermana Sedillo! She’s the sweetest thing. She started her mission as English speaking
and then got moved to Spanish speaking her 6th month into the
mission and now she is training me. She
is really quiet and a little shy. I honestly
thought she didn’t like me the first couple of days because she wouldn’t talk
to me unless it was to teach me something or to correct my Spanish. She has started to open up and talks to me a
little bit more so that’s good.
There are only 8
Hermanas including me who serve in our mission!
That is so small! Though I love
it because our mission president likes it when we all get together and support each
other. So we get to see the other
Hermanas often. Its funny when we are
with the English missionaries and the Spanish missionaries start speaking to
each other in Spanish and they can’t understand. That was eye opening when a sister asked me
what I was saying because it just shows how fast I have been learning! It is such a blessing!
When serving these
people they remind me so much of the people in Mexico City and there are some
that come from places and conditions like that.
The people from Mexico City were really really poor. A lot of the houses were not finished so the
families didn’t have to pay house taxes.
Their homes were really not like houses, more like a shelter. They were very limited on food and
clothing. During this time of year it
get cold! So a lot of the people
freeze. A lot of the families get really
sick and die because of the open sewer systems.
The whole city would smell so bad because of that. There were a lot of people who would live out
in the streets and would sell anything they had to make money for their
family. You would see moms walking
around in the streets with their babies on their backs trying to sell stuff to
people driving by. From my experience in
Mexico I have never been so grateful for the small and simple things I have been
blessed with. I had a lady tell me that
having nothing and living in the United States is better the having nothing and
living in Mexico. We are seriously so
blessed to have what we have. At night
you could hear gunshots and wild dogs at night.
When I flew back into the States with an Elder as soon as we stepped off
the plane in Atlanta we almost cried.
Mostly because the air smelled so good, but also because we didn’t know
how lucky we were before.
This month we
have been teaching “lluminadad el mundo” light the world during this
season. List the thing you are grateful
for and find someone you can serve and lighten.
Everyone go watch the light the world video! It’s my favorite and it’s the best way to
remind us what this season is all about.
I love you all and miss and think of you all daily. Thanks so much for all your prayers, love and
support. Have a Happy Holiday and
remember the reason for the season!!
www.lds.org
www.mormon.org
https://youtu.be/P_VRN7hcL_8
www.lds.org
www.mormon.org
https://youtu.be/P_VRN7hcL_8
Amor Siempre
Hermana Hirsbrunner
President and Sister Christiansen
Belief is the reason we go on a mission. It is the motive for preaching about Christ and sharing/Proclaiming his love. Faith is understanding we are children of God and our Heavenly Father. May the definition of faith bless you in life Faith is defined again and because faith has an inherent joy it gives us a solid foundation that we finally have the peace we have been searching for.
ReplyDelete"Many believer's feed themselves on what God hasn't done. When I dwell on what hasn't happened, I create the atmosphere for the spirit of offense to arise and to thrive. When I dwell on what hasn't happened, I legitimize unbelief. I live with a sense of justification, for not believing God.
Faith in the purest sense is the ceasing of resistance. even when there's no physical evidence, when the other evidence is present. Not feeding ourselves on what God hasn't done Faith in it's purest form is the absence of resistance
Heaven is a place where everyone is celebrated, some are more honored but everyone is celebrated. All men and all women shall be judged on the light which they have received. Heaven is a permissible culture. God's nature is eternally permissible. These statements protect us from credit.
Faith in the purest sense is the ceasing of resistance, even when there's no physical evidence, when the other evidence is present. Not feeding ourselves on what God hasn't done. Faith in it's purest form is the absence of resistance. Faith doesn't deny a problems existence, it denies it's influence. He or she was someone whom aridity and desolation never disturbed for he or she had a deeply rooted, and a vigorous faith.
Now we can act as we have always dreamed. Now we can act as we have always been. Now we can step into the light and gather the sunlight instead of blocking out our possibilities. Instead of blocking out our joy. Variety will bloom in/under the sun. We can show off our best, we can enjoy other people's gifts. We can blossom where we stand upon the joy that faith provides us. Upon the joy that faith inherently has, which blossoms the entire field of flowers"
.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDYaxabUfkA - The Definition of Faith