Hola family!!
Well, it hasn't snowed much at all, only like once or twice since I've been here. But guess what? Today it is snowing! A lot!! It's soo pretty I just want to go frolic in it. But I'm praying that it will snow on Christmas, soooo if anyone wants to join me in that prayer, I'd be okay with that :)
So Mom, I'm soo sorry to hear about your job. I can't believe it!! I got your dear elder at like 6 last night and just started crying. And I had class for 3 hours right after that, and I had to teach a lesson. But after about 15 minutes I was able to pull it together. Heavenly Father helped me for sure, cause we all know when I have something to cry about I can't put on a happy face and push it to the back of my mind. But anyway, Mom, I'm sorry. I know this will be okay. I know you will be fine and find another job, that makes you happier and allows you to enjoy life more and not have to wake up before the sun is up! It is all going to be fine. I am a missionary, you will get my blessings! This is a blessing in disguise. I think since you never give yourself a break, Heavenly Father is giving you one for you. Full salary til May and insurance with not having to go to work? That's a blessing, I'd say. Have faith and keep praying, you will be okay. Take advantage of this time to spend some time for you. :) I always pray for you, and Dad, every day. I hope you can feel it.
So I forgot last week to mention that Hermana McKay sang at mission conference last Sunday! Mission conf is every fast sunday at the MTC (bad idea, the whole MTC sitting for 2+ hours while we're fasting) but she sang "Once in Royal David's City." It was beautiful. She's so good. We were famous all that week (okay she was famous), everyone was telling her, and still is, how wonderful she did. But then this past Sunday, I got to share my conversion story during Relief Society! So now I'm the famous one! Haha, just kidding, but a bunch of sisters have came to me and thanked me for sharing my story. So during RS, we get to have a speaker come. Like general authorities, but usually women like in the Primary Presidency or Young Women's or something. Well, this Sunday, we had Ann M. Dibb come speak to us. She is in the Young Women General Presidency... and she's also THE PROPHET'S DAUGHTER! Oh, it was so cool to hear from her. We got to sit on the stand with her since I was sharing my story. She mentioned me in her talk once or twice (cause I spoke before her), and afterwards she hugged me and we talked for a bit. She's soo nice and she shared a bunch of stories about her dad, President Monson, during her talk. It was neat to hear more about him in a personal way. He's such a sweet man. So, yeah, it was pretty darn cool. :)
So, yeah... Consecration week... Not 100% Spanish :( Ahh. Fail. Except we have been speaking a lot more Spanish than we used to, so it's not a complete failure. But we do need to re-commit and be more focused on it. I love Spanish though! In other news, we're doing a secret santa with our zone. So that's been fun/funny. All the Hermanas in my room are pretty crafty, like finding old clothes in the give away box and sewing them into cute things and embroidering. It's so cute. I am not very crafty but was determined to do something more than just buy my elder some candy. So I found this light blue sweater and started making a snow man. When I got to the head, it had this little fluffy thing on top and the face kinda looked like a bunny face. So I made the fluff ears and drew a bunny face on it. Hahaha. It's hideous. But oh well. I'll get him some candy too. Okay, more exciting news about my running, last week I got up early and ran 2.5 miles, then during gym time I ran 3 more for a total of (yes, I know you can add) 5.5 miles!! Yay! It was about as much as I used to do back home, so that made me happy. It was broken up with a couple hours in between but still I'm happy.
So Mom besides the pockets in your coat, the buttons and the snap have been on the verge of falling off. Sad. But this Elder in my zone is like super good at sewing, so he offered to fix it. I only told him about the snap but he fixed all the loop button things (he called them toggles?) and found that my pockets had holes in them, so he fixed those too. Hah, it was the best! It looks super good he did a great job. I think he even lint rolled it for me cause it looked cleaner when he brought it back to me. Hahah. I bought him some oreos to pay him. :) And the watch, mom I sent it home uhh yesterday I think. The band is fixed, an Elder in my district took it and closed it better with some pliers. Yay, everyone is so helpful I love it. But the clasp is still just really old so it won't stay closed. But it is in the mail hopefully will get to you soon.
This week I was realizing I have learned so much here it's ridiculous. But my thoughts are all scattered and hidden throughout the many pages of my journal. So, I decided to buy a "things I learned" journal. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm writing something every day that I learned. Yay. Reminding everyone, don't write me here after 12/31! Cause I will be leaving here around the 2nd, no travel plans yet but I don't need a visa so I think it's safe to say I'll leave on the 2nd as planned.
We have this thing here called the TRC, I think it means teaching resource center. Well volunteers, just members of the church usually BYU students who are returned missionaries, come to the TRC and we teach them a lesson in addition to our normal like...7 lessons a week that we already teach. But it's neat because they're already members and we just try to help them feel the Spirit and learn something new. Because we are always, always learning! So anyway Saturday night Hermana McKay and I had a really neat experience. We taught two people, the first was this retired man. He didn't speak much Spanish which was different than how the TRC usually is. But he was so sweet. We just had so much love for him. He and his wife serve in the temple two times a week, volunter at the MTC two times a week, and teach English as a second language 2 times a week. We were teaching about how to receive revelation through going to church and asked him if there was anything in his life he'd like to receieve revelation for. He thought for awhile, and then very sincerely said, "to be a better husband." It was so sweet. The next girl we taught was from Colombia, and she joined the church about a year ago. We loved her right away. She was so cute and nice and just happy. She said usually she doesn't do much to prepare for church, but we testified that if we go to church with a question, we will receive inspiration about it. She really loved the lesson and the Spirit. She said it was the best lesson she's heard on this subject, and she's been volunteering here awhile so she's heard it a lot. It was flattering, but Hna. McKay and I agreed we didn't really do much. It was the Spirit there that did the teaching and really touched her heart. I am so grateful for the Spirit. HE is the real teacher. Not us. If we don't have the Spirit with us, we can't teach.
I'm running out of time much too soon, as usual, but I wanted to share a scripture. I've been doing a study on not being afraid, because God is with us. This is from Psalm 46:1 and 10- God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried in the the midst of the sea... Be still, and know that I am God.
I know God is with us. He loves us more than we can imagine. We are His children, and he will not forsake us.
Time's up. Love you all so much. Have a great week!!!
Love and hugs,
Hermana Danielle Anderton
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