Lessons Learned

Dearest Family and beloved friends. 

 

so this week was good. crazy. but good. 

so.... hermana paiva isnt my companion any more. she came back... changed things again. it was like an emergency transfer back... but now she is officially gone. a week before end of changes.... sometimes im confused and wish i really knew what was going on. but we are ok. we do our best in the circumstances we are in right?? its kind of bitter sweet. when she isnt picky she is great! and i love her!!! and THAT im going to miss. but at the same time, i wont miss feeling judged and picked apart. haha. but we have some good memories together. 

 

sometimes i feel like im the only constant here. the only one that is normal. we have hermana calle who feels like half missionary, half doctor, hermana christainsen who goes home next week, hermana bills who, poor thing was stuck in the middle for ever. playing both teams. (the back wash floaty is what we call her to keep us laughing) and hermana paiva who is off doing bigger and better things and comes and goes as she pleases....... and then.... there is me..... hi. its me sister gonzales. hows it going. yes. i will keep working dilligently. being normal. iré y haré. and im am learning to be adapt. to not freak out inside when everything changes at the last minute and suddenly im companionless.... and my plans go out the window. im learning to support and be patient and take care of others when i secretly want to be taken care of. im learning to turn out when my natural woman would turn in selfishly. lots of good lessons. im learning that you must clean out your inner vessel if you want to teach with power and authority. you have to be WILLING to change and accept that everything isnt going to go how you planned. deal with it. youd think i already learned this stuff in my mission, maybe i have. but here i am learning it again. not going to lie, feeling independent makes you feel a little alone sometimes. and when youre alone, youre under the microscope. and you REALLY start to notice ALLLLL that you lack. which drives you to your knees. which THEN allows you to cry to the heavens and they are opened to you. and THEN you recieve strength beyod your own and THEN things start to come together and you realize you just had to take yourself out of the equation.... and then..... you are grateful. grateful for the things that drive you to your knees. and everthing is in perspective again.l you know i learned that this whole process is ALL LESSON TWO!!!!! the plan of salvation. THIS is why we are here on the earth. DUH SISTER GONZALES! you teach this stuff everyday!!! silly me. and i bet my Father in Heaven says that too sometimes. Silly HErmana... dont you know i got this all under control adn i love you?. yup. thats what he says. 

 

and i like it when he says that. 

i am blessed. we are looking up this week. 

ok fun facts. 

 

we are planning a HUGE stake activity and they kinda put me in charge. remember the music devotional we did? well we are planning it here for our stake. this week i chose which missionaries would be doing the musical numbers. we called all the areas and picked which recent converts and  reactivated members would be talking.  our latest convert rodrigo is giving the closing prayer. we are expecting avout 800 to come to ours. we had quite a few meetings witht he stake president (i am also learning to work with leaders and trust in their keys. kind of cool. ) i love our stake president. he is wonderful! and always asks me about my ukelele. heheh. another hermana we are working with is Hermano Rocky who served his mission in san diego cali and was AP in his misison and helped direct "The District" movies. he is AWESOME! and he knows whats going on. 

 

other fun fact, i dont know if i ever mentioned hermano Fenn. he is american. very white. and he is in charge of the temple construction here in trujillo. HE IS THE MAN! he is also our ward mission leader and he too knows what is going on. unfortunately, he travels all the time for the church and is rarely here. so.... he is our clame to fame and thats pretty much it. he tells us all the gossip on the temple. well. all that he CAN tell us. which isnt much. he cant reveal the date or anythign. but he is cool. the temple looks GREAT and i love teaching about the temple. I MISS THE TEMPLE SO MUCH! ;( 

 

next week is gen conference. ask me if ill be watching it.... NOPE!!! i will not. because, let me explain. this week in peru is ELECTIONS>! and it is kinda a big deal. its such a big deal, that by law, everyone and their dog HAS to vote. if they dont, they have to pay an expensive ticket. and it is also illegal to meet in large groups this day. so we will not be holding church. and the NEXT week we will be watching conferece. so that means, two weeks with out the santa cena. shoot. that just means, tHIS week i had to make it count. and you bet i did. 

 

i took that bread and just looked at it. held it in my hand and stared at it until i could truly get a grasp of what it meant to be taking the sacrament. i just looked at it until i felt that i would fully appreciate what i was about to do. and let me tell you, when you take the sacrament that way, tis a diferent experience. I am so grateful for the cleansing power of my savior. 

 

later that day, we taught two very powerful lessons to two very prepared people. 

Jesus and his two daughters. they are reading the book of mormon like crazy! they are eager to learn! and just eating it up! Hermano jesus wants us to come by every other day and read with him and his daughters. when we call him he says he already read and wants something new to read! he is GOLDEN! his only set back is work on sundays. but we talked about abinidi and how brave he was to enfront noah and stand up for what he beleaved in. and he is oging to talk to his boss this week.

 

later we taught cezar, a teen of  21 years, and he is ateo. (sorry. idk what it is in ingles). but he doesnt belive in god. but last time we taught him about prayer and he has been praying! and wants to know what a prophet is!!! and he feels like he needs to repent! PUCHA! talk about a  180! it was awesome. 

 

we are being blessed. things are going well. 

 

i also learned that spiritual complasency is failure to the lord and i must always be working with my heart and mind. not just my might and strength. and THEN we start to feel edified and our work is acceptable to the lord. i will be careful the rest of my life for spiriutal compasency. 

 

my testimony was strengthened yet again this week. i was humbled, yet again this week. i was reminded of the most basic principles again this week. i remember thinking that at the end of my mission i would be an expert in ALL things. boy was i WRONG! the Lord knows how to keep us humble. andi am grateful for that. 

i love you all 

 

this church is very true. we are in the verdad. y no lo puedo negar.  les amo mucho 

con amor

hermana gonzales 

con amor, hermana Gonzales 

 

ps pic. this is my area. a part of it. from the clinic window. spent my pday in the clinic with hermana paiva instead of the beach with the zone. but hey. its beautiful up here! 

 

 

 

 

A Spirit of Gratitude

dearest all

this week i met a friend of kim hameliton named betsy moore. small world. 

 

Elder Uceda of the  70 came and talked to the leaders of the mission, then all the mission , then all the stakes of trujillo. we are SO CLOSE to the temple. but at the same time SO CLOSE the end of my missionk, i dont think ill be here for the dedication. but it doestn matter. wer are gonna FILL THAT TEMPLE! we are doing a lot to prepare the members for such a huge gift form your Heavenly Father. i havent been tot he temple in a good 16 monts and here i am preparing for THIS temple. ironic right? 

 

but its ok. cause the FIRST thing im doing when i get home iS GO TO THE TEMPLE!!! and like lehi did, i will give a heart of thanks. and not ask for a single thing. just give all the gratitude in my heart for this sacred gift, the mission, that he has given me. 

anyways....

 

also this week we had another musical devotional. where i played my uk. again for lots of ppl. this time we did "where can i turn for peace" in 3 part harmony. AWESOEM,. this seriouly is the BEST investment of my LIFE!!!! such an awesome spirit. i LOOOVOE THE POWER OF MUSIC. it has become such a big part of me. 

then the  19 of oct we are doing the very same activity in OUR very own stake. nothing but musical numbers, mormon messages, testimonies of recent converts, a few words from pres marler and the stake president. and a final hymn. a big one too. I LOVE the gospal. it really just awakens my facutlies. 

 

what a blessing. 

 

those are the high lights of my week. 

gloting in the spirit. sacred expereiences. hermana paiva came back this week so we are now in a trio until she goes again. im a little confused. and of course, when ther are 5 sisters and 2 opf htem have a character, there is a little drama. but the strong spirit makes up for it all. 

 

thats the latest and greatst. still loving my mission. 

con amor,

hermana gonzales 

It's a Good Day

"its a good day to be alive, i know the sun still shining when i close my eyes, theres some,rough days in the neighborhood, but why cant everyday be just this goooood."_some country artist i cant remember 

 

dearest family and friends. 

it was a good week .what happened this week. not much actually. jsut the usual. contacting. finding. finding long lost members who havent been to church in years. finding needs, teaching to needs, finding out what and why and who is escogido and who isnt. just the good old work. i love feeling the spirit everyday. i LOVE my new companion hermana bills. she makes me laugh and makes me feel better bout myself when i feel silly and sometimes when i feel like a bad missionary or a weak leader, she reminds me about the atonement and how im NOT SUPPOSED to do this work by my efforst. she helps me live buy the power of the Faith. I AM VERY BLESSED TO HAVE HER. 

i felt the spirit in every lesson. sometimes i feel like wow, i didnt realize how long it has been since i felt the spirit like this. its REAL! and it is strong. i am afraid to come home and lose this sensibility that i have developed. the mission truly is a sacred thing its hard to put my week to words. 

i am happy. i have never been so happy. im grateful for the things that drive us to our needs. otherwise i probably never would go with all my heart. 

i love my ward, my investigators elvira, (who we just found out is nOT married. she is "conviviente"....great...) and rofrigo taught the lesson in his quorum this week and is taking prep for eternal marriage at institutes.... (what happend to mission=?) o well. as long as its eternal and by the authority thats ok. 

and sofia is GOLDEN. but she went to Tumbes this week. (thats really far) she will be back today so we will be visiting her a lot. 

thats the latest. i am working hard, praying hard. studying hard. i love my mission 

con amor 

hermana gonzales

CONGRATS JULIA!!!! youve made it ETERNAL now its time to make it CELESTIAL! i love you! and you are SO BEAUTIFUL! great call with the dress. you are a QUEEN! 

mom. you look good. beth, you went to the TEMPLE! i cannot believe all these kiddos are TEENAGERS! what happened??? ah! not cool. go family,. doing triathelons and stuff adn SOTW!!!!! that killed me. i miss that so much. i want to be there wtih you all. and hear bethanys surprise solo. i cant wait to see all the talent that has developed in the last 18. 

con amor

hermana Gonzales 

An Emergency Change

dearest family land friends. 

let me explain. i have never had an emergency change in my WHOLE mission cause i have been able to get a long with all of my comps. i have been very blessed. however this was a more challenging relationship that i had with this companionship. i have never prayed to be so humble in my life. i have never prayed to have more charity and compassion so much in my life. i learned A LOT with this one and god heard my prayers. 

 

my companion, has been moved UP on the totum pole of the mission and is working in the office. (kind of). she is now the Sister training leader TRAINER. so she is making a packet for all the sister leaders on how to be on top of things and keep things happy and healthy with all the sisters in the zone, how to do work visits, etc etc etc.. and she will be traveling around the mission visiting all the sister leaders and training htem. so she is living in the mission home and traveling and her companion is hermana marler. WOW. GO PAIVA! 

 

and i am still here.... happy and helthy , working in this part of the vinyard with my new companion hermana BILLS from UTAH who is also an AGGIE!!! GO USU! and she is WONDERFUL!!!!! she too went through a lot of the similar challenges with her previous companion and she too is happy to be with me. we really understand each other. whats wierd is that she was in a trio with the other sisters in our apartment. i already lived with her but she prosolyted in the other area. so the change wasnt too gerastic, but very awkward. she had to move all her stuff from one room to the other while her old companions were watching, sad, and bitterly. and i kinda looked like the bad guy and hermana bills felt bad.... sups tots awk. but we are ok now. she is all moved we have been prosolyting a few days and getting into a new groove.  so hermana bills and i are still the sister leaders for this zone. and we are so super happy to be working together and with the other sisters in the zone. what a blessong.- 

 

that is the latest and greatest. 

 

also this week we had a leadership meeting where we went to the temple to see the progress. and took pix by it. and i made a new covenant with the savior to, for the rest of my life, focus on RETENTION!!!! WE RELy so much on the members to help us in RETENTION. we need to keep the sheep inside the pasture so when the shepheard comes "they will know him as he knows them." and i will be an ACTIVE member the rest of my life. 

 

we had some good sacred experiences this week. i wish i could say them all. ill tell you when i get home. 

 

i love you all. 

 

the church is true. our savior is real. he LIVES. when we have FAITH in HIM, things happen. miracles come about. but heres the thing, its not faith in ourselves, not faith in our companion, not faith in the knowledge we have gained, but literally faith in JESUS CHRIST. and nothing else. we are perfected in HIM and no other way. HE is perfect. he makes me perfect. he covers everything i lack. and i lack a lot. therefore, i KNOW he loves me A LOT. he MUST cause i have seen His hand so many times and the blessings and the tendermercies that i KNOW i dont deserve. The power is real. he is real. he is my savior.

 

i love you all. i love this work 

the mission truly is so sacred. 

 

con amor

hermana gonzales 

 

 

 

The Silent Treatment

dearest family and friends. 

we are having an ok week. i mean, ive had better.... but we are hanging in there. 
this week hermana paiva stayed at home all day for her foot. she is on rest. so i had a different companion everyday for the last 9 days- i have gotten to know the sisters in the ward pretty well cause of it. so that is a blessing. and they have been able to see missionary WORK first hand. hahahah i have been doiong my best to keep her positive cause she feels useless. and sometimes she gets discouraged. to day she had a break down in front of everyone. and wouldnt talk to me. i didnt know whtat to do! i felt like ammon trying to dicern the thoughts of king lamoni. SHE WOULD NOT COMMUNICATE! i have developed some serious mind reading skills here on the mission. im sure it will serve me well down the road .also, hermana calle has been silent for a week as well. and her companions are discouraged cause they have not developed the mind reading skill quite yet. man. some sisters are pretty subborn. but we are learnign charity and compassion..... and like i said. mind reading. 
this week my companion and i recieved blessings from the zone leaders. we love our zone leaders. they are wonderful! 

rodrigo blessed the sacrament. that wasw a blessing.

sang o sole mio again this time for the YSA in the regeon. but paiva didnt dance. obviously..... 

our ZLs are AMAZING! our new one is the X AP! and an answer to our prayers. cause we stuggled with our last ZL. the ap finishes in november wtih me so he gets to pros in his last few months. 

presidetn told us this week that our zone is the model zone for the mission. so we gotta keep working hard.  also it is the largest zone in the mission. SWEET!!! way to rep . so we gotta keep it up with the interchanges and work visits to keep them working well. we also have 4 new MISSIONARIES in the zone. they are fun and i love their fresh faith. we are doing good. 

i love hte mission. we are working hard doing our best to stay positive and juggle all the little things. its hard. but its important,

i have been learning Compassion the most lately. and the law of consecration. how i can be a more consecrated missionary and member of the church. and how to take care and be sensitive to those around me. and staying positive. 

a good quote i found this week 

"...i think it matters but very little what i suffer, what i sacrificed...if it so be that i keep the faith, fight a good fight, and finish my course with joy," parley p pratt.

YOU SAID IT PARLEY! 

love you all 

hurrah for israil. keep the faith. 

con amor

hermana Gonzales