Hola family and
friends!
My new companion is
here! Her name is Hermana Maxwell and she's from San Diego, CA..Literally my
sixth comp from cali! Crazy fact too...As we got in the car to go back to our
area she asked, "Do you know an Hermana Clement?" uhh, yes! I laughed
and told her that I just served with her. Hermana Clement was transferred to
the Houston 6th ward so we're in the same zone (meaning that we'll see each
other frequently).
This week has been a
little bit nuts, the few days leading up to getting Hermana Maxwell were stressful!
ha..that's the life of a missionary. I said goodbye to my mom (sister
schellhous)...she's home! As we passed through the mission office, I looked at
the board of incoming missionaries of wondered who my companion would be. I saw
Hermana Maxwell's picture and said to Sister Winterton (temporary comp..we live
in the same apartment), "She is going to be my companion." Thursday
came and we had a training meeting with all of the trainers and trainees..At
the end of the meeting, we got our companions and all of the stress seemed to
wash away and I was filled with excitement. New missionaries have so much
energy and are just ready to conquer the world. One night as we were planning,
I asked, how many investigators do you think we can find tomorrow? She looked
at me and said, "Three!" My first thought was, oh dear...this is
going to be hard! But as a trainer, you can't squish goals or expectations so I
just smiled and said, Yeah! Well guess what? We found three new investigators!
Hermana Maxwell was a
little bit freaked out by how ghetto our area is and I've begun to realize that
it's pretty ghetto! Being a missionary for a long time, I've gotten used to all
of the crazy things that happen but she's fresh out of the MTC and into the
real world..*Don't worry, we're safe!*
I love my companion so
much and we have so much in common. We laugh until we cry on a daily
basis...For instance..We were knocking in the evening and it was her SECOND
door. I looked to her and said, "Are you ready?" She knocked and
moments later, a man's eyes peered out through the blinds..awk..and then..He
answered the door..with no clothes on. He hid himself behind the door but it
was very obvious that he was naked. I looked to Maxwell and she quietly
giggled..I couldn't help myself but I began to laugh as well..And there we
were..two sister missionaries laughing at a doorstep. It was so bad but the
more I tried to stop, the harder I laughed. Through my giggles I introduced
ourselves and couldn't say anything after that so I just gave him a pass along
card..I mean, who the heck answers the door without any clothes on?! This
wasn't the first time that this has happened to me but it was certainly the
funniest door approach I've ever had on my mission. We walked away from the
door, holding our stomachs from laughing so hard.
Paola is still
continuing to progress towards baptism..Ahh...I love her..We saw her on Monday
night so Clement could say goodbye to her and we read a chapter with her in the
BOM. We asked, "So where are you at in the Book of Mormon?" (we
invited her last week to start from the beginning because she was kinda jumping
around the book ha-ha) Well, guess how much she had read? 80 pages! We and
Hermano Izaguirre (her boyfriend) couldn't believe it. She was like, what did I
do wrong?!? ha-ha...NOTHING! We saw Hermana Razo (Gaby's cousin) and read with
her in the Book of Mormon. She wants to be baptized so badly but her husband is
against it. :( It's the strangest thing because our lessons with the entire
family are always super powerful. Gaby told us afterwards that she had similar
experiences when she was on her mission. People can feel the spirit and know
that it's true, they just don't want to change and leave behind their old
habits. That's certainly the most frustrating part about the mission but hey, I
can still say that I'm fulfilling my purpose. And that is to INVITE others to
come unto Christ. That's all I can do and if I do my best, then I can say one
day that I did everything I possibly could to help these people.
Our ward mission
leader gave all of us missionaries a list of inactive in our areas and we set a
goal as a district to activate 5 families/people as a companionship..Having 15
people or families back in the ward? That would be incredible! And you know
what? We're going to do it!
These past few days
have kind of been a roller coaster haha..Trying to teach someone Spanish is so
hard and it's even harder being thrown into the language. Hermana Maxwell
didn't take Spanish in high school so she's only known it for 6 weeks..pray for
her that she'll have the patience to learn it!
We can't learn things
all in one day. It might take weeks, months, years..line upon line, precept
upon precept. but learning it is the important part.
The Atonement is real.
It might not be a reach out and touch sort of thing but I can truly feel it's
power. The Savior is ALWAYS here to help us and he never leaves us alone. I
love you all!!
Hermana Emma Seymour
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