Whitewashed!

As I expected, I was transferred on Thursday. I was completely surprised, though, when I found out that I would be going to San Antonio De Padua, and that me and my new companion, Hermana Johnson, were to be whitewashed in (that means a transfer for both missionaries in a companionship, rather than one at a time as is usual). Mostly because I knew it was an area of the elders and it´s right next to Libertad, where I started my mission. It´s a really great area and we have a lot of support from the ward. They´re all so excited to have hermanas again after so much time with elders. We´re excited to be here and help the work move forward.

The difficult part is that the elders only left us with one investigator. She´s wonderful, but we have a lot of work to do in finding new people to teach so that we can actually work with the ward. Hermana Johnson and I are a good match, too. We´re a lot alike and we have the opportunity to really push each other to be better. We´ve spent the last few days visiting members and old investigators, talking to everyone we can, and trying to learn the area. It´s a lot of work and exhausting, but we´re really learning so much about ourselves and how we can do missionary work in the way the Lord would have us do it.

We´ve been able to evaluate ourselves so much the last few days and realize, with the help of the Spirit of course, what exactly it is that we need to do to be able to see success here and be better missionaries. I´m learning how to manage my time better and organize my priorities. I have a little bit of apprehension, but I feel better about this transfer than I have about any of the other ones. I think the apprehension I feel is just enough to get me to my knees and rely on the Lord for what I don´t know or can´t do yet. I´m excited to see my personal growth and how the changes I´m making in myself help the people we teach make changes in their own lives.

I realized something the other day. I´m not sure how or why it occurred to me, I don´t really remember, but I feel like it was a piece of personal revelation that will help me throughout my life. I think we were talking about how Christ "went about doing good" and how we are happier when we follow His example and serve others.

I thought in that moment about how everything God does is for our well-being and personal happiness. He spends every single moment doing things for us because He loves us. And He is the happiest of all people.

I realized that if we want to experience the same kind of happiness that God does, we need to love the way He loves and serve the way He serves. How many times does He do something to bless us and we don`t even realize or thank Him for it? I thought about how much I love it when people show their love for me and serve me. It makes me happy. But I don´t have to get service from others to be able to live happily. I need to be the one who serves. It was a lesson I needed learning and I´m sure I´ll spend the rest of my life trying to master it, but I´m so grateful for the little moments that God tells us what we need to know and what we need to change to become more like Him.

I love you all. I hope you have a wonderful week.

Erin