Today's email got here a bit sooner than the past couple of weeks…of course it's never as soon as I want it to be! (But then again, the public library probably isn't open at 5:00 a.m.!)
Hello to you and you and YOU!
Once again I just feel like a very lucky girl. The weather has continued to be absolutely delightful (not that my sense of self-worth is directly tied to the forecast), and I'm consistently reminded of my blessings. Autumn is just an easy time of the year to have gratitude.
Last night we got to go up to the Cambridge Stake Center for a fireside. Clayton Christensen was the speaker and it was (unsurprisingly) amazing. P*, our investigator, came, which is why we got to go :) It was announced that the topic would be the History of the Church in New England, which is cool, but it turned out to be more about story telling. He (President Christensen) LOVES story telling as a way to teach/make a point. He and a woman named Karen Smith Daley spoke about this process of turning over 200 interviews into transcripts, and then compiling those transcripts into a book, which I believe is now available. It's called For All the Saints and, from what I can gather, it talks a lot about building up the Kingdom specifically here in New England, but it will likely teach principles that are universally applicable. If I were allowed to read it right now, I would run swiftly to my nearest Deseret Book (which I'm guessing is several thousand miles away) to purchase it and then read it while running (perhaps less swiftly, at this point) back to my area to resume missionary work. That's how good it is. You should go look it up and read it and then tell me how right I am about it being awesome.
One of the main themes he shared was from D&C 20:19-21. President Christensen pointed out that when the Lord established that system, it wasn't just that He would use the weak members to tide the church over until more capable members could come in - this is just how the Lord WORKS. It reminds me of a phrase I've been pondering about a lot lately - that the Lord doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the CALLED. Very humbling and makes me feel better about being a missionary. I'm expected to not be awesome at everything, but I AM expected to rely on Him.
So that was just wonderful to get to feel the Spirit so strongly and learn from a hero. It was also fun to be back in Cambridge - I got to say hi to a lot of people I knew and loved from the LP wards! Such a blessing to get to see them again. I love people (<-- who AM I??). One more thing about yesterday and then I promise I'll move on. In Sacrament meeting I learned a lot from the two speakers. A brother from our ward and then a High Councilor.
* Something he said made me ask myself, "Do I petition the Lord to manifest Himself through ME through spiritual gifts?"
* Everyone knows that Christ can take something good and make it better, but another miracle is that He can take something bad and make it good - our suffering can be productive!
* Korihor would have taught (to use a farming analogy) that you shouldn't waste your time preparing the ground, or watering or fertilizing until you see the sprouts poke through the soil and know for sure that it's worth it, that it was a good seed. But even a non-farmer knows that you have to put forth the effort for at least a little while WITHOUT seeing outward results - that's where faith comes in!
Anyway I just loved yesterday. I feel so grateful to be here in a place where I get to learn so much from the incredible people around me. It makes the "I'm all set"s seem not as bad :)
In other news, I got the package you sent - thanks so much! It arrived quickly - on the 13th, which I believe was just two days after you sent it. Impressive. It actually arrived faster than the letter! Anyway it was very much appreciated. I've been sharing the Annacdotes and Dave Barry quotes with my companion/roommates and we've all enjoyed that. I've worn both of the new shirts you sent, as well as the necklace. The DINOSAUR TRANSFORMER was awesome! (Duh. With a name like "Dinosaur Transformer" - it would be impossible to be lame). Thanks, Garrett! Also the dinosaur sandwich cutter is also awesome. I had to laugh at myself as I reasoned through how I would use it. I thought to myself, well, I'm cutting out bread as much as possible (I seriously haven't bought bread in like 3 months) so I won't ever really make a sandwich.... I guess I'll have to make COOKIES! haha. Because clearly, cookies are less bad for you than bread.
Our week was very lovely. It flew by (they always do, lately) and I feel like it was a good one. We have two new investigators! S* and L*. They were both contacted on the street by Elders in our district and then given to us as referrals. And (wonder of wonder miracle of miracles) they BOTH turned into new investigators - meaning that they didn't cancel the appointment, they were actually home, and they accepted a return appointment. AWESOME. S* is from El Salvador (and is going to teach us how to make pupusas - SCORE!!) and L* is from Sierra Leon. I LOVE Boston. So much more diversity this side of the river :)
We also had good interactions with our members! Of our many member lessons, two stand out as being particularly rewarding. One was with C*, the woman who was baptized into the ward the week before we got here. She is a delight - I think I've told you about her before. She just soaks things up and is so loving. She writes songs about church/the Spirit/her conversion, and always texts us things like, "You know, you REALLY left the Holy Ghost with me - I can't stop writing!" haha. She makes crafts for us and just appreciates getting to meet with us. I love her - I want to write her for the rest of my life. The other was with Sister G*. I KNOW I've told you about HER before - she's the one from Nepal with the awesome history. Anyway she is doing the BYU-I pathways program to learn English. They use the Book of Mormon as a main tool to teach English (which, I don't know if that's the smartest idea since it's not really written in modern English, but no one consulted ME about it, so I'll just stay quiet). She's really excited about it, but she has a distinct disadvantage because everyone else in the class has a Book of Mormon in their native language (most are Chinese, Haitian, Spanish, or Portuguese speakers) but the Book of Mormon hasn't yet been translated into Nepalese! So she asked to meet with us and we got to go through the first two chapters of 1 Nephi with her and pause after every verse and explain words to her. It was such a cool experience and we know she really appreciated it.
The musical fireside is coming along okay. We're going to need to spend a lot of time on it this week to get the outline done by next Sunday, but it's doable.
Things back home sound exciting! Lots of basil, fun dates (that girl you took to Homecoming is CUTE, Joshua! And she looks really nice. Good choice), and a bow-hunt within city limits! Wowzer. Thanks so much for those updates, I really do love to hear how home is doing!
Tomorrow morning we have to be at the train station at 7:00 to get picked up to go to a special Zone Conference tomorrow. What a treat! An extra Zone Conference is like, better than a dead rat with rabies! [Editor's note: She's really not insulting zone conference - "a dead rat with rabies" is just one of those inside family jokes…] Elder O. Vincent Haleck of the Seventy is coming to our mission! I'm so excited - it's going to be a blast. It's my first visiting general authority - apparently I just missed D. Todd Christofferson last year (BUMMER!) as well as President Eyring and President Packer when they came to rededicate the LP Chapel. But I'm not complaining. The point I'm wanting to make is that I'm excited.
Before I close I want to share a couple pictures and an explanation with you. One day we were eating lunch outside between appointments because it was lovely weather and the timing worked out perfectly. I was a little tired/sore but still hungry. So I decided to lay down with my bag of baby carrots on my belly and eat it like that. Then I decided that I wanted to dip my carrots in Sister Jordan's salsa. So please picture that scene in your head - it probably looks a lot like this:
I love you a lot! Thanks for the updates you sent. I love to hear how you're doing and I am always comforted and happy to hear that you think about me and pray for me multiple times a day. The feeling/acts is/are mutual.
Ciao,
Sister "I bought a belt today for two dollars. TWO DOLLARS!" Broekhuijsen
P.S. Lately, during my lunch hour, I have been reading the Liahona in Spanish, translating it to English in my head, and then comparing it to the Ensign. I am getting good. I guess what I'm trying to say is: I'm now fluent in Spanish. Congratulations!
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