Passport to Peru: Annnddd now, for This Week In Micaela...

Dearest family and friends,

To start off, just wanted to remind you all that I love you all so much! It's funny because when people ask me how long I've been in the mission and I tell them it's been a whole year, the first thing they always ask me is "Don't you miss your family? or your friends?" And I just kind of laugh and say "Of course I do!" But more than anything, being here in the mission has taught me that you can miss someone without being sad. As this year has passed, I've just been able to learn every day to appreciate the wonderful people that the Lord has sent to my life. I'm so grateful for each one of you! Thank you for being part of my life!

And with that, here's for the update from this week in hot, sunny, good old Micaela Bastidas! Last Monday night we were able to have a family home evening in Hermana T.'s house (the friend of the sister that washes our clothes-Hna K.-that I told you all about last week) with Hermana K. and her family. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and the wonderful blessings that it can bring to our families if we're willing to do what God requires of us while we're here on earth. It went really well and it was such a HUGE blessing to have Hermana K. and her husband and family there. It was a really neat time and even though we ran out of time and didn't get to the games, there was a really special spirit there and it was amazing.

Sadly, the adversary is also working really hard in this area right now, and the next day, Hna T. had a really rough argument with her husband. It tore her apart and it was so sad to see the difference in her from Monday night to Wednesday morning after their argument. But thankfully we were able to help her see that these types of things happen and that the devil wants us to take little things like that and let them build up inside of us as grudges that last forever and not want to forgive, but if we do forgive and are willing to forget then we can have a family a lot more united and happy. It was a neat experience to help her. We were also able to refer her to the Book of Mormon as a fountain of guidance and peace in her time of frustration. It's really amazing to see the change that is happening in her :)

Our story with her for this last week ended yesterday morning when we had stake conference and she and her kids went with us to the stake center. Even though we ended up getting there about 30 minutes late and were in one of the overflow rooms (all the missionaries teased us today that we didn't even show up to the conference), seeing her so focused on listening to the messages and the neat spirit that surrounded her as we left the conference made it all worth it. Today we're going to have another family home evening with her and the Bishop's family. I know that the Lord is working amazing miracles in her life and we're just hoping that we can be there every step of the way to help her recognize the relief and joy that this gospel can really provide for her and her family :)

Something else that stood out to me from this last week was something that I learned in my personal strudy. I was reading in chapter 10 of Preach My Gospel about Teaching Skills under the section of Listening. I love the quote from Elder Holland that's there that talks about if we listen with love, we'll never have to wonder what to say, because the Spirit will tell us what to say. I know that that's really true. When we take the time to listen to a person and REALLY listen, there are miracles that happen. As I was reading that it hit me that sometimes I tend to apply those things in our lessons but forget about them in all the other situations in my life....for example when I'm talking to my companion. Sometimes when she's talking to me I'll be listening but I'm also writing something down in my planner or cutting out a piece of paper or looking for a scripture or something. I realized that that's really not listening with love! I know it sounds so obvious, but it really hit me. I was able to take a moment and reflect back on the examples that my parents have always given me...so many times that I've interrupted them working, writing, reading, or even sleeping and they were always so willing to drop whatever they were doing in the moment to listen to their daughter. Maybe I didn't appreciate it in the moment, but now I look back on those moments and realize that wow, they really do love me! :) I know that when we take the time to really listen to a person, not only will the Spirit know that we're listening with love and tell us what we should say, but the person that we're talking to will also know that we're listening to them with love and miracles will happen.

I love this work so much. I know that this church is true with all of my heart. I know that Jesus Christ lives and that He came to teach us what we need to do to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father and reach Exaltation. I know there are still so many people in this world that need to know that these things are true. Let's go out and find them :)

Love,

Hermana Garner