Hola Familia!
Wow!! I cannot believe that it has already been
3 weeks here!! Tomorrow marks our half way mark here in the CCM. We have all started crying
already. lol It’s funny...we cry when we first get
here and then we cry because we have to leave. Ironic.
This week feels like it has flown by. That is good and bad, I guess.
To answer all your questions Mommy...
We don't get to print anything here. So that’s
a bummer, but oh wells.
The little mall here didn't have much so please
send me some good quality shoes in the box if you can please. The ones we
bought from Ross are dying already!
Maybe a pair like Aunty Ben talked about.
We wont be able to go back to that little mall
by here anyways. Next pday we
should be going to a market, but I’m not sure if we will.
Oh yeah mom, sorry I haven’t answered your
question as for what I want you to send in my Christmas box. But here goes…..
· Can
you send me some socks, the ballet ones and the kb ones.
· The
most important thing is photos!
Can you please print out some photos of all of you guys and everything
please!
· If
you can print out those quotes you emailed me too that would be awesome.
· A
small Hymn Book in English.
· A
razor stick cuz I forgot mine at home. I brought all the refills but not the
stick! Duh. I have one in the shower and one in my
drawer.
· My
blank journals. I was such a fool
to leave them! I use the ones I
did bring so much! They are in my
bottom drawer. I should have made
room for them in my suitcase.
· Scripture
crayons “Eagle” brand. They are
like $4 from Deseret Book store.
Mine are already super short!
· A
Rock Man t-shirt.
· Could
you please print out some work-outs?
· The
Zumba workout dvd’s if you can buy them.
I think they are expensive though so if no can no problem. They said we
will have little dvd player things out in the mission field and it will be
safer to workout in our apartment.
· Can
you print out cut outs of the plan of salvation and laminate them PLEASE!!!!
· Not
so important but if there is room in the box can you put li hing mui gummy
candies from 7-11 and hi chews candies in the box?
If it is too expensive to send this stuff then
don’t worry about a Christmas box. It is not a problem at all. REALLY!
Things here at the CCM have gotten crazy. We got about 100 latinos this past
week. So the CCM is BUMMIN!! But
really...they moved us to different classrooms and changed everything up on us
so that has been a little hard. But
we can handle.
They also gave us a new schedule this week,
which has taken its toll. We used to have deportes, which is sport time, right
before dinner but now we have it right before lunch. That makes us so tired after lunch.... I feel bad for our
teachers but I am trying my hardest not to be tired.
So here is a little outline of my schedule
since you have been asking:
Wake-up at 6:15
personal study 7:00
language study 8:00
breakfast 8:30
language study 9:00
class till 10:15
then sports till 11:15
lunch at 12:00
then classes till 5:00
5:00 dinner
more classes till snack time at 8:00
then companionship planning at 9:00
prayer and song with totas hermanas at 9:40
lights out at 10:30
hahaha nothing too exciting.
Anyways, now onto this week.
I had the most awesome experience in one of my
lessons. We were teaching our
investigator Josue, or Joshua, in English. We were planning on teaching him about the Atonement. When we walked in and asked how he was
doing he shared with us that his grandma had just passed away and how hard its
been for him. I just remember
praying in my mind to my Heavenly Father to help me know what to say and to
help me help him. I also cried to
Grandma Lahi in my mind and asked her to be with me. I was overwhelmed with the spirit. It was so strong. I didn’t even say very much in the
lesson. I just felt Grandma Lahi’s arms around me and I started to tear
up. I tried to not show that I was
crying. I prayed that Heavenly Father would
help my companion know what to say cuz I couldn’t get the words out. The lesson was beautiful. Josue was touched and so were we. I know that my grandma was there and
that the spirit helped to comfort Josue.
After the lesson we walked out of the room and the first thing, Hermana
Galland turned to me and said: "I felt your presence in there so
strong". I just started to
ball. Both of my companions asked
what was wrong and I shared with them what happened to Lahi. They both told me that they could feel
my grandma’s love and spirit as well.
It was amazing. I know that
our loved ones that have passed away are still so close. I love my grandmas so much. Both of them!
Thanks dad for those awesome stories of how our
family has left a legacy of service.
I thank you and all of my family for the amazing example of service that
you all have set. It is true that so much joy comes from serving others. I have
been trying this week, when I have a moment of bad attitude, to do service to
someone. Whether it’s my
companions or the staff or teachers or elders or whoever. It always makes me feel better! It is interesting how when you are
doing something good for someone else you end up being the biggest
beneficiary!
That night after our lesson with Josue my
district was outside planning for tomorrow and all of a sudden a 10 minute long
firework show goes off. It was so
beautiful and so unexpected. I don’t know why, but I started to cry again. I just felt my Savior's love so strong
for me and I am so grateful for that.
I also thanked Grandma Lahi for helping me in that lesson, because she
really did.
Another awesome thing that happened was on
Sunday. We have district meetings
after devotionals were we talk about personal things with our district. We were outside and an elder named Elder N., who barely ever
talks, says "I feel like we should go around and talk about why we are on
our missions" and everyone was like SURE!. So we went around and everyone shared their “why”. My, can I just tell you how grateful I
was for that. Hearing everyone’s
conversion story and the story of them coming out here was so amazing. These missionaries are coming from all
over the US and they all have such different backgrounds yet we all have the
same desire…. to help share this wonderful message of hope and love! To share with the Central American
people that Christ lives! Even
though coming out here was harder for some than others, I am so thankful for
each and every one of them. I love
them. Elder S. shared his story
and I felt the spirit so strong. Due
to time, I’ll make it short. He has
an older brother who has chosen not to follow the gospel. He said that part of his reason to serve a mission was to
help his brother. He shared about
his love for his brother and I just couldn’t hold it in. Elder S. almost didn’t make it out on
his mission due to financial issues but the Lord works in mysterious ways and
he is out here. His brother is
starting to read the Book Of Mormon and he shared how thankful he was to the Lord for
helping his brother and for answering his prayers.
I love this gospel so much. I am amazed at how much my testimony has
been able to grow just within the first 3 weeks. We talked and learned a lot about the Atonement this week. How awesome it is! Elder Holland gave a
talk called “Missionary Work and The Atonement" and I don’t know that
exact wording but he was talking about missionary work and he said something
along the lines of...
“I am convinced missionary work is not easy because
Salvation is not a cheap experience.
Salvation never was easy.”
I forget it all now but next week I’ll write
the whole quote. I don’t have my
notebook with me! You can read the
talk on www.lds.org
and just search for the title of the talk. Read it! It is
so awesome! Write me and tell me
what you think of that talk.
I am running out of time on the computer! I love and miss you all. I’m happy to
hear that Uncle David and Paini Leka are getting better! What about Bishop?? Hope you feel better too mommy!
I love you all and I miss you like crazy but I
know I am where the Lord wants me to be.
-Hermana Kava-
