Today was easily my best
birthday so far for so many reasons. 1) All day I wore my favorite piece of jewelry
– my plaque. 2) I’m in Chile. It’s sacred ground for me. There’s so many people
that I love here. 3) Everything that people did today – I swear my heart is
going to explode in gratitude.
I
LOVE PRESIDENT HARRIS! Oh my, he is the most loving human on this planet. The
interview was quick and he just asked about my family the whole time. He kept
telling me to thank my parents for being so strong and raising me in such a strong
and ideal situation. I learned so much and gained a new motivation and
determination to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ and share the gospel with
everyone!
At
the end of the meeting, we were packing up and the AP’s and the elders in my
zone came in singing happy birthday in English. It was so cute and so nice!
Then
we traveled back to Rengo and I had more time to study! And then I was overcome
with peace and love and I know it’s because mom and dad were in the temple
today. There is so much peace and joy in my heart. I honestly don’t feel like I
was missing anything today. Being sealed to the people I love most not only
secures us together after this life, but connects us spiritually in this life
too, and that brings so much peace into my life.
We
went to an investigator’s house because they wanted to wish me happy birthday.
And Enrique and Ana called us to sing Feliz Cumpleanos just like Grandma and
Grandpa would. When we got home, Hermana Flores gave me a card that Hermana
Betancur had given her for me. I DIED – seriously there is so much love in my
heart. Hermana Flores had planned to do something this morning but since she
had to go to Rancagua, she wasn’t able to do it. So she’s downstairs right now
setting something up and I’m not allowed to go down there. She is so
incredibly sweet. She really has done so much to make me feel special today. I
realized that she has the biggest heart and that’s all that matters. She is
such a great example to me. I was ready to treat today just a normal day, but
she went above and BEYOND to serve me and make me feel so special.
But
out of EVERYTHING today, I learned something about happiness that has taken me
20 birthdays to realize. On your birthday you are determined to make it the
best, happiest day of the year. You wake up smiling, ready to have the best day
ever, little things that would annoy you or cause you to lose your patience you
just let slide so you can stay happy and everyone else around you be happy. It’s
like your happiness and love for people triple on your birthday just because you
decided that this day was going to be special no matter what. But I realized,
why do we only have this attitude one day of the year? Why don’t we decide
every morning to be happy no matter what? If we treated every day the way we
treat our birthday, imagine how special and happy our lives would be. It’s not
that every day should be about ourselves, but if we lived our lives with the
unconditional happiness we do on our birthdays every day, I’m convinced our
lives would be 10x’s happier and our love for others would grow exponentially.
So it’s worth an experiment. I’m going to try starting today to treat every day
with unconditional happiness and see if my life is happier and my love
increases.
Oh but first – what my companion
did was the nicest thing in the WORLD! She woke me up at midnight (pretending
it was the night before) and led me to the stairs. Each step said something I had
to do (like sing my favorite hymn, or say my missionary purpose, etc). I was
half asleep doing random things in the middle of the night making my way down
the stairs. Then I got to the bottom and the last note said close your eyes. I
closed my eyes while my companion sang happy birthday. Then I opened my eyes
and the WHOLE room was decorated. It was the most beautiful sight! There was
candy and cards and I died, it was so nice! We read the cards together, laughed
for a few minutes and went back to bed. It was so sweet. Seriously, she is so
amazing.
Monday we had FHE with some
investigators Marisol and Eduardo and recent converts Enrique and Ana. Ana
walked in and came up to me and gave me this present all wrapped up and everything!
It was so sweet, I died. Seriously these people are amazing. It was this super
soft scrunchie and a little coin purse. The coin purse says, “para alguien
especial” which means “for someone special” and I died because of Elf. J
Also
they brought out a cake that said “Happy Birthday Missionaries” (since Elder
Mendez’s bday is tomorrow!) and they sang to us! And it’s a tradition in Chile
to blow out the candle and then take a little bite of the cake, so I go to take
this tiny bite and they shove my face into the cake! Haha, I like this traditionJ! It was so fun and so
thoughtful of them. Seriously they don’t stop giving. And it gets me every time
they refer to us as “angels.”
We visited a recent convert, a
few less actives, and had an amazing lesson with Eileen and her friend Sebastian.
They had prayed to know if this church is true and they said that they are just
waiting for an answer. They started asking questions about why we don’t drink
coffee and tea, and how God created everything, and then about Joseph Smith. We
taught the Restoration and they were so involved, it was amazing. After
reciting the first vision, the Spirit was so strong that Sebastian asked why he
was feeling this way. We testified of the power of the Holy Ghost and that’s
how we receive answers. It’s so amazing to see the Spirit working inside of
them at their own pace. I love that everyone has their own timing. It’s just
amazing to be a tiny part of helping them come to that light and truth.
Oh, and p.s. I cut my companion’s
bangs today so its official, I’m growing up.
The Zone learned about her terrible CLOWN phobia!
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