Email from Tuesday, November 18, 2014, Mexico MTC
FAMILY & FRIENDS!
This week, I enjoyed a sweet
slice of humble pie with every meal and it was tough stuff to swallow.
But it was absolutely necessary and I needed every bite. I love failing
because it motivates me to succeed! I had an awesome interview with a
member of my branch presidency on Sunday
and I just am so grateful for inspired priesthood leaders, he gave me
the greatest advice and totally helped me realize the difference
between ¨"not being good enough" and "setting unrealistic goals" and
turns out, I´ve got a problem with misunderstanding that difference. I
want to be achieve all of those goals and improve but then when I fail, I
feel like I´m not good enough to be here. But THAT IS NOT TRUE! The
Lord doesn´t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. I´ve improved
so much since I´ve been here and I just lose sight of that sometimes.
But it´s times like this week that make me so grateful for the Atonement
that allows me to truly change my human nature and BECOME a better
Jennifer Gauger. I LOVE THE ATONEMENT! IT IS EVERYTHING! If you´re
reading this and are unsure of what that word means, I happily invite
you to visit lds.org or mormon.org and find out today how the Atoning Sacrifice of Jesus Christ can change your life.
Anyway,
this week was rough but when I look back on it now, it was an awesome
week. I cannot even believe that this week marks a month since I said
adios to California! In some ways, I feel like I´ve lived here for years
and known my district for my whole life but then I feel like I just got
here and am starting to totally freak out about leaving! I know that
probably doesn´t make sense to a lot of people, but time is a very
interesting concept out here.
Spiritual Highlights
We
watched "Mountain of The Lord" and I was completely overwhelmed with
gratitude for temples on the earth today and the absolute miracle it was
to spend so much time in the temple before I came out here. It truly is
the house of the Lord. We also had a temple challenge before one of our
devotionals and I had been inside almost half of the temples that they
showed. HOW COOL IS THAT?! It breaks my heart to hear people here say
that they only went a few times before they came because the temple was
pivotal in my mission prep and I´m so grateful for parents who
sacrificed so much time this summer to spend time with me in the place
that matters most. Shout out to my pops for all the special moments we
shared together, I think about them all the time.
We
had a devo (via video) of Elder Bednar and IT WAS LIFE-CHANGING. I
could watch it every day and learn something new but instead I just have
to reread my 5 pages of notes every day and be inspired. It was all
about the character of Christ and how if we let this mission be an
opportunity to put off our "natural tendencies" and turn outward in
service and love then we will find that we have become more like Him.
But the trick is that we can´t serve in order to improve, we can´t even
think of ourselves at all and once we lose ourselves, we´ll find
ourselves. It was an incredible thought and it helped me set a lot of
goals for my mission and even since the devotional, I´ve been trying to
constantly put Hna. Rhees first and think of myself less. It´s tough but
worth it.
Temporal Adventures
We
play volleyball every day with our district and I spend half the time on
the ground laughing because we are all terrible and hilariously so. We
also harmonize during our service activities and the boys are such great
singers too and I kid you not, it sounds like angels when we all sing
hymns together. The spirit is always so strong, I love music! Also, I
saved a bird´s life! A bird flew into our casa and couldn´t get out but
was too scared to let anyone catch it so I helped it fly into the
laundry room and then Hermana Rhees got the door just as I herded it
outside. It was such a simple yet satisfying moment. I can´t wait to
save spiritual lives in Bolivia soon. (Actually I can because I can´t
even handle the thought of leaving my district here but I know I´m
supposed to be in Bolivia, I just wish I could take my faves with me)
Anyway,
I´m happy, alive, and loving life. Elder Schmidt said something awesome
the other day and it really made me think. There´s 7 billion people in
the world, 15 million members of the church, 88,000 missionaries, and
less than half of those are sisters. AND I AM ONE OF THEM! This is the
only chance I will ever have to truly represent Jesus Christ (See "Man´s
Search For Happiness" for more info on that statement) and I just think
WHAT A BLESSING. Life is beautiful and wonderful here in the palace
walls and I love it.
I know that my Savior
lives and loves me. I know my Father in Heaven knows me as an individual
and has a plan for my life and part of that plan is to be right here,
right now. I know the Book of Mormon IS the word of God and that reading
it will help you temporally and spiritually and that through it, you
can come to know and love Jesus Christ. I know these things are true and
I´m striving each day to go from having a testimony and being
converted. Conversion comes when the knowledge of these things changes
the way I live and that´s happening every day here. Don´t just have a
testimony, be converted unto the Lord. That´s the best advice I could
possibly give. I love you all!
Con mucho amor,
Hermana Gauger :)
Leaves Are Falling even though it´s 75 degrees and sunny
My main Hermana! She reminds me to work and I remind her to laugh. It works PERFECTLY!
Plus when we scrubbed walls for our service project, she did the bottom
half and I did the top!
Just girly things like mirror selfies
Our Maestra is the BEST
Solo Espanol! Yep, this week we got our solo espanol stickers which means when anyone
talks to us, they´re supposed to test our spanish. it´s tough but
amazing how far I´ve come in just a few weeks! I can totally testify
with power in Spanish and I LOVE IT!
Trying to escape the palace walls! Just kidding, I never want to leave!
Hi, what's the kind of watch you were wearing? I'm looking for one like that
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