Sister Michelle Christine North: Bitter Sweet, but Mostly Sweet‏

It was a bitter sweet week this week. Lets talk about the bad news first, just so that we can get that out of the way. So this week we had to say goodbye to some loves from our zone…and you guys know how I am with goodbyes. This change was extended because of the new mission president and new mission, so Hermana Birtcher and I won’t know if we have changes for another 2 weeks, but for those who were going home, they had changes. Worst ever because the Elders that were leaving were all so great, my BFFFFFFFFFs. (that’s a lot of F’s- And I am not exaggerating). So today it feels a little lonely in San Miguel, but I know that the Lord will bless us with new loves that will teach us new life lessons and give us ANIMO. I have also been battling the Flu these past couple of days. No worries though…ahemmm, Mom, because EVERYONE (like always) has been taking great care of me. Marita made me fresh squeezed orange juice, Cecilia let me sleep on her shoulder during church, Hermana Andrea bought me magic drugs that make me feel better and Hermana Birtcher made me cinnamon tea- because I told her that my mama made that for me when I was sick. They are the best and I am already starting to feel better!
This week Hermana Birtcher and I had the opportunity to learn more about the Nature of God. At the beginning of the week our district leader, Elder Barela (RIP), called us and asked if we could teach the class during our weekly district meeting. It came to a surprise to him that I actually was really excited to take the offer. I had been thinking a lot about my old calling as the Gospel Doctrine teacher in my ward before I came out on my mission and how much I missed teaching the class! It was such a great experience for me, and great practice for my new calling now. Also, I love to teach…like I’ve mentioned before. We had two days to prepare the class and the topic was up to us. As we discussed what we should teach, we decided to base the lesson on an article that one of my sweet friends had sent me (thank you Kiley!), called The Lord is not the Acuser, by Maurine Proctor- a MUST READ by the way. http://ldsmag.com/article/6069 There was so much to learn from this article and I am so grateful for the chance that we had to teach. Because you know, you always get more out of the lessons that you teach than those that you teach to; at least that is what I’ve always experienced.
Something so important to understand as we try to live the gospel of Jesus Christ is to understand (conocer) who God really is. And not to let ourselves make up who he is from what we experience in life but to let him show us and teach us who he is. As we come to that understanding, really knowing that God is our Perfect and Loving Heavenly Father (Matthew 7: 7-11), we can then submit to his will, to pass through our trials with peace and faith that every little thing is gonna be alright. So how do we learn about the Nature of God? The only way that we can come to know God is through prayer, fervent and sincere prayer. The kinds where your whole heart is fully into it. On your knees, pleading for an answer. Those kinds of prayers. When we strive to actually talk and converse with God as we pray, he will teach us and help us understand who He really is. He will teach us little by little, line upon line, precept upon precept (2 Nephi 28:30).
This week we had a tender mercy from the Lord as we got to see Carolyn Zambaro (the Elders investigator) be baptized. Her story is one of those miracle stories. So sometime in May, the Elders began teaching Aurora (Carolyn’s mom) and Carolyn. They were two of the cutest investigators that I’ve met; I fell in love with them right away. We got to know them really well because the Elders are in our ward and Jaime and Aurora got baptized on the same day. Carolyn had BIG desires to be baptized, but she had to quit smoking first. It was a big desafio for her because she smoked a lot. She would leave it for a couple of days and then go back and for months, she tried to quit but couldn’t. Finally the Elders gave her a priesthood blessing to help her quit and here comes the miracle part…ten minutes after the Elders left the appointment, Carolyn felt really sick and drove to the hospital. There they found out that she had cancer in her pancreas (or one of those organs) and that they needed to do emergency surgery. A week later, she was baptized. She was so happy on her baptism day and there was such a sweet spirit at the baptismal service. I am so happy for her and so glad that the Lord was able to help her receive this amazing Blessing. Even if He had to force her to quit, sometimes that’s just better.
I hope that you guys are having a great week back at home! Keep me posted on any exciting news… and all of the normal news too, I like everything! ha
Les quiero Muchisimo

Xox, Hermana North

p.s: I loved this talk from the June ensign. It goes perfect with the must read article, http://www.lds.org/ensign/2013/06/improving-your-personal-prayers?lang=eng ENJOY! :)

picture 1: Yummy homemade, pretty keish for lunch