Where do I begin….
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!
Wow, so we have gotten to 2016, crazy eh? I honestly cannot believe it. I hope that you all had a wonderful holiday and that you are all ready for these next 365 blank pages!
We had a really weird week. On Tuesday we had a fabulous district meeting. We talked about working hard, about success and goals for this new year. We watched a leadership training segment by a man named Yokoi Kenji (he is Colombian….. and Japanese) and he shared something very profound about success. He said that in the Japanese culture, true success is recognized over large periods of time, decades if necessary. Honorable success never comes instantly, rather it requires hard work, patience and endurance. It made me think a lot about my mission and how I am feeling towards the end. Truly, honestly, I had thought that my mission would end very differently. I was hoping a steady stream to the baptismal font or a chapel filled with reactivated members. But, missionary work almost never has instant results, the most lasting, fulfilling blessings of our father’s work, will not show fruits until we are brought again to the presence of our Heavenly Father. The harvest has not ended yet; the show goes on. We just have to work our hardest in the time that the Lord gives us, and in the end, all will be okay. We just have to remember the “why” of service, that it is not about what we want to see, or the end result, rather it is because we love the Lord, and we want to show our love to him by serving his children.
On New Year’s Eve, due to widespread merriment and festive firework throwing, we had to enter the house at eight. We had plans to eat dinner with an inactive family. We showed up and we helped them finish cooking. Just like Christmas, the tradition is chicken, salad and rice. We were so excited to eat together, but we sat down to eat at seven forty-five. Five minutes to eat, ten to get back home, challenge accepted. But then we went to serve the chicken…. it was still raw…. and they had forgotten to clean out some crucial organs……. #chefintraining
so, we ate our rice and salad and then ran home! We planned and then popped some popcorn and spent the night listening to the great and spacious fiesta outside and watching “The Best Two Years.” We finished the movie around ten thirty-ish, bed time, but due to the huge fireworks at the neighbor’s house, we laid awake until the wee hours of the morning.
New Year’s day as we left the house, the streets were filled with the ghosts of the night before. The streets were littered with newspaper shreds, broken bottles, and dinners that had not settled too well…. and not a soul in sight. We had a wonderful lunch eating the chicken we were supposed to have eaten for dinner, and we tried visiting those that were still in town.
In an attempt to better serve the members of our ward, we unintentionally have converted into a dog-sitting service. A couple families left town for a few days and left their canine companions at home…. so we stopped by to feed them. On Friday we stopped to feed Memo, the Cocker Spaniel of our cook, and the pobrecito did not have any food… and everything was closed…. so we ended up giving him rice, and sweet bread, and tortillas. He was still alive when they got home on Saturday so, that is good!
On Sunday the ward reorganized four organizations, and we got a new Ward Mission Leader!!
Anyways, so crazy week. I am really just very excited to have things go back to normal, without any crazy parties, makes the work run so much smoother.
I love you all so much. I am grateful for the unlimited opportunities that this new year has, and I am excited to see what the Lord has in store!
Hoorah for Israel!
Love, Hermana Hipol!
