Hayleys First Letter from Mexico MTC: First of all I love, Love, LOVE the CCM. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! It is the best feeling in the world! This has been the most amazing week of my life and probably one of the most challenging all in one! So, mi compañera is Hermana Hogge. She is from Utah, she is a violinist, and I love her so stinking much it is not even funny! We were talking about it just a few days ago and we completely believe that companionships are divinely inspired. She is just so amazing and has helped me in so many ways. In many ways she reminds me of Alyssa, which is funny because she said that I remind her of one of her sisters. It is nice to have a little reminder of home with me always. Our roommates are Hermana Dean, from Utah as well, and Hermana Singer, from Houston Texas. I love them so much too. We have become such great friends in such a shorty time. One thing that I learned my first full day of being at the CCM was that the Lord will never make preaching His gospel impossible. There is always a way to find and to reach those of His children who are searching and even those who don´t even know what exactly they are looking for yet. Before I left on my mission I would here returned missionaries say that they felt the Spirit in a way they never had previously while they were full-time missionaries and I can now attest to the truthfulness of that statement. I feel connected to the Spirit in such an amazing way now and it truly does guide all that I do each day. Our first Friday we had to teach our very first investigator en Español. At first Hermana Hogge and I were so nervous because we knew what we wanted to say but we didn´t exactly know how to say it. We met that night with Pedro, our investigator, and it was wonderful! The Spirit says everything that we cannot. I cannot even express how essential the Spirit is in sharing the gospel. We gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon this past Satuday and challenged him to read it. It was so amazing! We felt as though things were going well with how we were teaching but then we had a truly inspired devotional that was President Bednar´s talk Being a Preach My Gospel Missionary. He showed us that we needed to listen more to the investigator. He said to listen, observe, discern, and then teach. He defined discernment as hearing with spiritual ears and feeling with the heart. This work is not about us - it is about the Lord. We need to do our best to get out of our own way and become vessels for the Spirit. I know that if we do this we will be happier and more fulfilled in all that we do. After hearing Elder Bednar´s talk Hermana Hogge and I completely changed our strategy while teaching him. We wanted him to lead the discussion and let the Spirit guide us trusting that He would help us find the words to say to touch Pedro´s heart. We had prepared topics to speak to him about but where the conversation went was no where near our thoughts. The Spirit taught that lesson. We share Pedro with our entire district and the Elder´s that went before us had extended the invitation to be baptized but he said he was unsure but following our lesson we had the impression to extend the invitation to him with a specific date and he said YES! It was perhaps one of the most amazing feelings of my life! Hermana Hogge and I just love Pedro so much and without love and the Spirit missionary work would be impossible. Last night during our lesson with him he told us that he truly knew and felt how much we loved him and he knew that the love he felt was not just from us but from Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. There are so many things that have happened and I just want to tell you all about them but I will end with this. Never miss an opportunity to share your testimony with others or show your love through service - especially to those we do not know. Open doors in their lives to let the love of Christ in. Live each day so you can get on your knees each night and tell Heavenly Father that you did the best that you could. That is all he ever asks of us and in the grand scheme of things, it is very little when compared to all He has given us. I know that I am here in the CCM for a reason and I know that my Savior needs me and he needs you in His work. Live for Him, love for Him, do all you can for Him, and he will bless you with even more than you could have ever imagined. Yes it has been difficult since I arrived here but I want all of you to know that there has not been one minute that I regretted my decision. I love the Lord so much and as mi compañera told Hermana Dean, Hermana Singer, and me of a feeling she had where she felt our Savior say Just take a moment to feel how much I love you. Don´t give up! As Elder Bednar told us You can do this... the Lord known you can do this... you will have His help. Trust in him. I love you all! Hermana Cook
Posted on: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 23:34:46 +0000
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