It's
just another wonderful Monday in Patagonia! The sun is shining, the wind is
blowing, the dogs are out, and I have thrown up 7 times! My companion and I
both woke up at 3 a.m., sat up in our beds, asked each other if the both
of us were feeling the same icky feeling, stared at each other for a good 3
seconds, then pathetically raced each other to the toilet. She beat me.
Yeah...it's not so fun being the loser in a throw-up race. After that we took
turns. Our bodies were on the exact same schedules! It was crazy. So needless
to say that turned our fantastic weather p-day plans into a frumpy day. We
stayed in the house all day..... And wow, how strange it is to be in a house
for a whole day. But it was not just resting no no no. The leaders called us
and said our houses were going to be inspected tomorrow so that they are ready
for when president comes. HA! Our house is quite tidy, but let me tell you, it
was in need of a deep cleaning. We discovered lots of fun mold and fungus on
the walls and ooh it has been a good day scrubbing and running back and forth
from the bathroom to throw up. Hermana Maready is a good hard worker and knows
how to clean, so we got a lot done even amidst the nausea! And well this
wonderful beautiful day of a toasty 40 degrees I guess was just not meant to be
explored outside for us. We had a lot of awesome plans, but I'm counting our
blessings because at least we only had to deal with sickyness on a P-day rather
than having to miss out on the work!
This week was a great
one! I love being a missionary.
I focused a lot on
becoming more of a genuine disciple of Christ. I read an amazing chapter in
''Jesus the Christ'' called ''The cost of Discipleship.'' Something that got me
good was when it explained how it is good common sense to count well the cost
before someone enters upon a great-undertaking. It says, '' A man who wishes to
build, say a tower or a house, tries to determine, before he begins the work,
what the expense will be; otherwise he may be able to do no more than lay the
foundation; then, not only will he find himself a loser, for the unfinished
structure will be of no service, but people will laugh at his lack of prudent
forethought.''
I have been here in
Patagonia for 3 and a half months now. In this time I have really been putting
in a lot of effort to take advantage of every moment. And these past 3 weeks or
so, I have really been feeling like my time here with these people and this
ward is running out. Naturally, it is. That's what time does. I feel like I,
alongside my three companions, have managed to lay a foundation, but I am
realizing that yes my time is running out and I don't have all of forever to
make this tower! I have this subtle fear of being called to serve in another area
more north in the south of Chile without feeling like I finished the tower I
needed to build in the time Heavenly Father gave me.
I considered the cost
it has been this far, only to realize the real expense that I have left to put
in! I need to change a lot more. Ah! It's just so overwhelming. I know that no
matter how much I do, I will always need to do more. So I guess I'm thankful
for the grace of Jesus Christ that fills in the gaps of the work I have done. I
love my Savior. I am so thankful for these nearly 8 months he has given me to
work in his Chilean vineyard. I stand all amazed at the love he offers me, each
day that He lets me learn how to be better. I have a lot to do! I don't know
how much more time I will be here, but I at least know for sure that I have
today. And then tomorrow I'm pretty sure, so I'll have a today tomorrow too.
And that's the time that I will use to put in the expense so that maybe I can
leave with a Patagonian tower in my place. DyC seccion 4. I love that section.
I had to memorize it in my mission prep class at BYU Idaho. I had that
memorized before I started my mission, but now, already 8 months into my
mission, I feel like I am just barely learning how to really apply it.
I love being a
missionary!
This Friday our ward
celebrated 17 year anniversary of Barrio Patagonia! It was supposed to start
at 8:30, but naturally, began an hour later. And we had to be in the house
by 10 so we only were there for the first 30 minutes of it all, it was
enjoyable nonetheless! I love my ward! Apparently, everyone danced until 3 in
the morning! hahaha! WHY IS CHILE CULTURE SO COOL?! hahaha
I can't really think
of much more to say even though there are just so many stories I could write
your eyes off.....
Oh a few days ago, I
woke up really early in the morning in a huge major panic. I couldn't remember
where I was or what I was doing or where I was but it lasted longer than one of
those mini panic attacks you get when you wake up during a sleepover and don't
recognized the wall. haha The worst (and I guess the funniest) part of it all
was that I was most in panic because my thoughts were is Spanish and my English
SUBsubconscious was asking WHY AM I SPEAKING SPANISH! And I will not lie to
you, my thoughts literally said, ''¿Por qué estoy hablando Español?'' And then
right after, HOW DO I KNOW SPANISH! And then little by little it all sunk in
within probably 30 seconds (which was a pretty long time of freak out.). Oh,
hey, look at that, you are in Chile, oh because you are a missionary! And hey,
how cool is that you can speak in Spanish. And now you are missing out on your
righteous sleeping time.
So I went back to bed
to finish the story and lived to tell it.
I love you family! I
hope you all have a fantastic week. I love hearing from you all so write me if
you can on the Sunday nights of bliss! Best of luck in starting up school! Be
smart! Stay righteous! Don't get married! ...unless you are Jacob and Sara
:)
Hermana Olson
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