Dear
Family,
First, let’s clear up
a small error from my last letter.... The scripture “If ye love me keep my
commandments” was written by John, NOT Matthew... Ha! Ha! Ha! Sorry about that. The direct scripture reference is John
14:15...or perhaps 15:14... I blame getting the name wrong on the fact that all
the names in Spanish are different.... Hopefully Rachel caught on and fixed it
before publishing that letter to my blog for the world to see and making me
look like an idiot... but if not, oh well, we all make mistakes!
Anyway, let’s move on
with things..... So my companion had to have surgery last week.... She had a
gallstone of 14 mm and so they took out her gallbladder. She’s been having problems for the past
couple weeks and we spent some time in the emergency room last week and I was
going to write you about it last week, but I ran out of time... But now you
know. She had surgery on Halloween, so
this night as all of you were having fun, eating candy and thinking about me
preaching the gospel, I was actually spending the night in the hospital with
nothing but the clothes that I had on, being woken up every 15 minutes due to
my frantic, drugged companion.... Ha! Ha! It was one of the longest nights of my
life....
Hermana Ramos has
never had surgery before or ever been seriously ill and she was freaking out
and crying all night long.... Oh man, I love that girl. :) We’ve pretty much been in the house ever
since. She can’t walk very much, so I am
actually writing you from the house of our mamita. (Mamita— the lady who does
our laundry. BUT, our mamita just happens to live directly behind us and
therefore is a little more than just a mamita.) She is always at our house and
she feeds us and helps us with everything that we need. She’s great! Also, she is absolutely crazy! Hahaha!!
I love her. She has a personality that
is super loud and kind of obnoxious and she’s always making inappropriate jokes
and laughs super hard. For example— (side
note first: earthquakes are very common here. I’ve probably felt at least
20-30 upon arriving. They are super small and everything just shakes for a bit
and they usually happen in the night.) So,
there were like 3 earthquakes last week and they were all during the night. The mamita was in our house one morning so I
asked if she felt the earthquake and her response was along the lines of “I
didn’t notice because it’s always earth-quaking in the night with my
husband.... Hahaha…..gross.... :)
Anyway, all is well
with me. My health is doing well! I’ve just been taking care of my companion
and we’ve been watching a lot of church/mission approved videos during the past
couple of days. I don’t know for how
much longer we will have to stay in, but I am looking forward for the day when
things get back to normal. Nothing is as
satisfying as doing the Lord’s work and being out in the street talking to
people, no matter how tiring it is.
Yesterday, we went to
a different ward because it’s closer to our house and my companion wanted to
bear her testimony... this meant that I had to bear my testimony, too. Ha! As
I was sitting there, I had no idea what to say, but I went up anyway. As I started talking, the words just started
coming. I bore testimony about
repentance and living the basic principles of the gospel. It was short, but I
know that it was inspired of God. I can
always tell when I’m speaking by the spirit because I don’t have to think about
Spanish grammar; the words and sentences just flow. As I sat down the scripture
that Bishop Reams told me at my farewell came to mind... “Oh that I were an
angel and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth with the
trump of God and cry repentance unto every people!” -Alma 29:1 (I’m not sure if
I quoted that right because it was purely from memory, but you get my drift).
Sometimes, I get
feeling like my mission is completely changing the course of my life. Not that I was headed in the wrong direction
before, just that certain things, perspectives, and out-looks have been cleared
up, strengthened, and bettered. It’s
weird but at the same time, it’s incredibly cool. The workings of the Lord and the Spirit are
extremely detailed. Those are two of my
favorite things to learn about, 1- The Savior and 2- How the Spirit works in
and through me.
Well, upon finishing
up this e-mail, I want to leave you with my testimony that God is involved in
the details of our lives. That He loves us more than we can even understand and
no matter is too small to talk to the Lord about. He is waiting for us, ready to listen, ready
to respond. The Savior loves us. That is why He died for us, so that we can
bring our burdens to Him and He will make them light. I love the Savior with all my heart and I want
nothing more than to be His servant, be His disciple and do the things that He
would have me do. These things I share
in His sacred name. Amen.
I LOVE YOU
ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-Hermana Hermansen
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