This past week there was something wrong with the myldsmail, so we didn't receive any contact from Sister Partridge via email. But we did receive a long letter that we will share some of what she has to say:
I read The Book of Mormon in Spanish, and now I can understand almost everything I read. Wahoo!
Carlos, one of our converts is doing great! He reads The Book of Mormon everyday and tells us what he reads. The Bishop has talked to him about receiving the priesthood and he feels honored.
My Spanish is slowly getting better. I can understand most of what is said to me, but there are still verbs I don't know & a ton of vocabulary. Poco a Poco. It'll get better.
I'm beginning to realize the lessons that I'm learning but first off I want to say that trusting in the Lord is the best thing we can do for our lives but it's also the hardest because sometimes we wonder why didn't I get this job I wanted or I didn't get into the school I wanted or something of the sort but from experience and stories he does that because there is something better for us ahead.
Well Mom you asked what I do on a daily basis. Let me tell you.
6:30 a.m. Wake up
6:30-7:00 exercise
7:00-8:00 get ready (shower, do whatever you need to do)
8:00-9:00 personal study
9:00-11:00 companionship study
11:00-12:00 language study
12:00-1:00 lunch
1:00-9:00 Work and when I mean work, I mean we
work like horses. We have appointments every half an hour and we contact in between. Everyday we have a goal we have to try and complete, 2 lessons with a member present, 6 other lessons (investigators), 2 recent converts and 2 less actives. The work is what I thought it would be. I knew I would have to work hard and I actually enjoy the work.
You know you've been in the mission a long time when you start dreaming about teaching lessons in your sleep. I finally had a dream in Spanish! I was so happy!
I have a long way to go and a lot to learn! I'm also kinda nervous because now I'm not in training and I have the responsibility to baptize and I don't know if my Spanish is good enough or if I can teach very well. Seriously, I just need to have faith that everything will be OK and that the Lord will help me.
I looked up every scripture about putting your trust in the Lord, which did bring me peace. Every person in the Bible and the Book of Mormon that put their trust in the Lord, overcame every obstacle but they did have challenges.
So far the lessons I have learned here are to:
-serve others and forget yourself
- put your trust in the Lord
-Fasting and Prayer have power...you have to pray a lot
-Patience and long suffering
-so many others I can't remember.
The thing is every lesson isn't a one time experience of learning, for the rest of my life, I think I'll continue to learn these.
Serve those around you so you don't look back and think "What could I have done more?" Do it now! I also learned that you can't wait for your situation to change, you have to do something to change your situation and don't think "Well I'll be happy when this happens... Life's too short to live with regrets, today, we can change our situation, we can be happy today!
I'll probably have to be reminded of this a lot on my mission, so when times get hard and I e-mail you about it, please remind me.
So yesterday, 1/21/16, was the first day with my new companion. Her name is Hna. Perez and I think she's about 4'11". She's super small but she's always smiling and she loves the work which will help my excitement and animo.
I feel so much peace in my life right now. Yesterday I felt like a real missionary! We contacted houses and I was able to answer difficult questions people had. It's seriously a miracle, it's like overnight my Spanish improved ten fold and I can understand people so much better! Hna. Perez is awesome! We make a good team.
So the woman from Switzerland that was yelling at me in English about the church in Nicaragua was a good learning experience. At first, I was shocked that she was yelling at me and the things she was saying. Then, after 5 minutes I had to try not to laugh because this woman kept going and she was so mad and I couldn't understand why a church could make someone this angry if it didn't affect their life. So today in my "Stand a Little Taller" book by Pres. Hinckley about counsel and inspiration for each day of the year, in today's date I read this: "Return Good for Evil" "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. - Matthew 5:11
I also remember that Joseph Smith's name will be known for good and evil. But I didn't feel any hate towards this woman. I pitied her because if a person can have so much hate for something like that must need more love. Who knows but she taught me a good lesson.
The rest of the message of Gordon B. Hinckley says, "Draw comfort from the words of the Master when we as a church are spoken of by those whose lives are torn with hate. They lash out at one thing and another. They manufacture and spread vile falsehoods behind which there is not a shred of truth. There is nothing new about this. But we shall go forward, returning good for evil, being helpful and kind and generous."
It was a nice B-day! In the morning we had a multi Mission Conference where Elder Craig C. Christensen and Jose L. Alonso from the Seventy talked to us about why we are here and it's to teach repentance and bring people unto Christ. It was a good spiritual experience for me because they said we need to help less actives come back and make the temple their goal. Hna. Perez is great! We joke around and talk a lot and she smiles when we walk, and when she talks to people. We had breakfast at Hna. Ivi's house because she invited me over for my birthday and we had pancakes! She's so nice and the other day Hna. Wendy and Oscar gave me a present which was a nice backpack with Merry Christmas on it. It was a huge sacrifice for them to give me that because they live in a dirt floor house.
Today, I want to talk about a lesson that I will be learning my whole mission. And it's something that I'm going to try and not do and that is gossip. Here the Hermana's compare and talk about each other. Gossip can hurt people. If I'm going to gossip then it's only going to be good things about the person. Sometimes as members we can't help but talk about people. I want to challenge everyone to stop gossiping, even if it's about ourselves.
My Spanish is so much better! I can talk to people without having to think about what I am going to say before. Well, with some words I have to think, but I'm getting better. My feet feel like they're going to fall off! So much walking!
Hna. Perez and I are getting along just fine. We'll buy each other stuff to eat here and there. And every night she says "buenas noches" or "te quiero" and sometimes she'll tell me in English and in the mornings "buenas dias." And she loves mangos. We eat them everyday!
P-DAY! Finally I get to sleep!! This past week was crazy!! All week Pastors wanted to Bible bash with us. I am so amazed at the silly doctrine people teach, and also how a pastor can twist a verse in the Bible to the way he wants it. Oh well. So this past week Pres. raised the numbers. Now we have to bring 7 investigators to church each Sunday. Teach 2 lessons a day with a member and 6 or 7 other lessons along with 5 recent converts or less active members per day. I've been talking to my friends in other missions and they tell me they have goals but not numbers, they have to complete everyday. Our mission is the only mission that does this. Perhaps with the new mission Pres. he'll change it because it's hard to have a spiritual lesson when you're trying to complete numbers everyday. Oh well, I'm doing good here in the mission and it's been a good day so far.
So yesterday I tried to mail the letter but couldn't because it didn't have the return address. So one more day of writing. Today, so far we visited Aminta and old lady w/spunk. We gave her a Book of Mormon and she accepted it and said she'll read it. She's super positivo! Now I'm sitting here waiting to eat lunch which turns out to be soup...hot soup on a hot day...yipee Oh well I'm just so happy that I'm serving a mission. Some days I realize "I'm a missionary...like I've always wanted to be!!" It's a great feeling!
Love,
Hermana Partridge
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