This is Danie's most recent letter to us. I give up on making corrections. I will post another one from a week ago when I figure out which one it is I missed. We are so glad she is happy in doing the Lord's work
Hey Family :)
You
should expect a visit from a very nice elder in the next little while...
His name is Elder Murdoch. Actually he probably won´t be Elder by
the time he stops by. I think his name is Matthew? I don´t know.
Anyway, he is one of the elders I worked with directly in my area and he
has finished his mission. He offered to bring a little something by the
house since he lives sort of close by and his cousin lives even closer :) (do
we know an eric hansen? That´s his cousin) So I took him up on the offer
and sent him with a little something. It was kind of last minute so I am
sorry it is not much but I hope you enjoy :) Also, if he remembers, he
has some photos of me as well. Don´t be alarmed haha :D the only reason
for this is because our area is kind of unique in Bell Ville so we worked
really closely with our zone leaders and he was the only one who ever
remembered to bring his camera. I think missionaires who are close to
going home remember this better than those of us who are a little bit newer..
Okay,
on to other things. I am finding a new confidence in myself right
now. Wow! My companion is awesome!!!
She truly loves each and every one of our investigators. She will do
anything to ensure that they are taken care of. I love this! She is
also so bold! She has no problem sharing the gospel and while I don´t
either, I am definitely learning how to be more bold and I love it :)
Things
are rarely easy here, but to feel so close to our Father in Heaven is so worth
it. I literally cannot do this without him. The best part is, even
though it is so hard, I can still be happy which really makes it easy.
Sorry I cannot explain it very well, but I am so grateful for my
relationship with our Father in Heaven.
Okay
now for something slightly less spiritual...I got to sing in a choir this
week!!!! Turns out there is an Argentine version of Ms. Frederick haha :D
This choir practices in our capilla every Saturday and we
happened to be there during their practice this week :) They are working
on a song in English right now and asked if I would listen and help them pronounce
the words correctly. After they finished and I gave them a few
suggestions, the Elders told them I wanted to sing with them. (I started
singing here long before I could speak haha :D) I didn´t say this, of
course, and I was super embarrassed, but they were so excited so I decided to
join in and sing their english song with them :) It was so fun!!!!!! The
song they are working on is very gospely, como southern baptist gospel choir.
Yeah I am pretty sure Elder Murdoch has pictures of this so hopefully he
will remember to show them to you :) I felt right at home with the choir
and we are hoping that maybe I can sing this song with them for a performance
in september. We of course have to clear everything with president, but
this could really be a great missionary opportunity. We shall see :)
Que
mas? Update on the spanish, it is still coming along well. I have
truly wittnessed a miracle here on my mission because after only one transfer I
speak fine and understand pretty well too (as in, i can carry on a conversation
no problem, i just have to ask for the meaning of some words) :) Of
course I am far from perfect and I have so much to learn, but the spirit really
has helped me communicate with the people here. It´s amazing! I
love spanish!!!! I have done my best to read as much as I can from the
book of mormon in spanish and I have no doubt that this has helped my ability
to speak immensly. :) Wow, so cool. How on earth did I get to
be bilingual? I am really excited for the day when I speak well enough
that my accent is not a distraction to the spirit. I imagine it is
difficult for our investigators right now to hear the spirit when they are
working on understanding me, but I am seeing improvements so I just have to
keep working and creating opportunities to practice and help others. I am
hoping to start up an english class pretty soon to invite more people to have
the opportunity to hear about the gospel.
I
know you don´t know these people but I want to share a little about the people
I am teaching. There is one young man named Orlando that we have been
talking with for the past little while and wow, he is fantastic!! He is
21 years old like me which is kind of wierd to think about but he is super
great :) His heart really is in the right place and he is so good at
serving others. It is so neat :) We also just found this sweet
family the other night and when we started talking about the restoration the
dad was sucked right in to the conversation. You could see the wheels
turning in his head and, wow, I don´t know how to describe it but it was neat
to have the spirit there :) We also ran into a lady the other day and as
we began sharing our message she started to cry. I think she was a little
embarrassed because she insisted that she needed to go after she began crying.
We asked if we could visit her another time and she told us no, but
gladly accepted a folleto on the plan of salvation. She was looking for
help, but she didn´t realize that we had been put in her path for that very
reason. I hope that she will be able to find what she needs soon :) maybe
not with us, but possibly another set of missionaries, she may see that the
gospel of Jesus Christ really can bless her life. There really is a monton de
cosas decir, but I don´t have time to share them all. To answer the
spanish question, I think in Spanish quite a lot actually. I owe that to
praying in Spanish. Even though I didn´t get the chance to speak that much
spanish in St. George I was still praying in Spanish and since many of my
thoughts are directed toward the man upstairs, during the day, they were in
spanish as well and my mind got used to thinking in spanish. There are
still some things that I have to translate first, but I can actually see the
difference between my spanish mind and my english mind and there are a few
things I just can´t explain in english anymore :) I am most definitely
content with this because I have barely over a year left to share this important
message. I need all of the language help I can get :)
I am
so sorry to hear about Mike. That kind of loss never is easy, and really
there aren´t words to fix it or make it better. The spirit is the one
thing that can truly comfort ones heart. I hope and pray the family can
feel the power of the holy ghost ahora in this time of need. He was a
good man and the really neat thing is, we know that he still IS a really great
man. He has just been called to another place Alma 22:4 There is a
missionary here who just finished his mission this last week. I found out
a little while ago that his dad died while he was on his mission. Yet he
stayed and continued to serve. Wow, so amazing. I wish you could hear his
testimony of the plan of salvation. It is simply beautiful.
This
work is amazing. I love sharing the gospel with others. Even when
my mission with a name tag ends I will always work to give everyone I know the
opportunity to hear the gospel and know of the hope and happiness that it
brings. :)
I
don´t mean to sound preachy, I just know it is true :)
Oh
my goodness I have taken an eternity, for now I have to go, but I will write
again next week :) If there is anyway I can get recipes for the glaze for
orange rolls or a glaze in general that would be wonderful. Pancakes too.
I am hoping to share them with our ward mission leader here. He is
in the cake buisiness :) Oh, last update, we got our transfer calls and I
am here in Bell Ville for another six weeks with my same companion :) We
are going to have a great transfer!!!!!!! I love you all! Until
Next week :) cuidese :)
Con
Amor,
Hermana Fairbanks/Danie
