November 21, 2011

Adventures of the Week

Attack of the Earwigs! We came home one day to find our living room full of earwigs. On the floor, walls and ceiling. we killed them all and mopped the floor and prayed that we wouldn't get infested again. that hasnt happened again, but i found one on my bath towel, hna. kraemer found one in her cereal and we are terrified of where else we will find them. hna. lopez has a paranoia of them and screams everytime she sees one. we cant have this. we are going to bug bomb our house next week.

okay that was really the only adventure.

but here's my cultural minute. i think i talked about the besos before (as a gretting people kiss on the cheek here). as missionaries we only greet with a beso to women, not men. but everyone greets with a beso everyone else. for example in the church we have a lot of activities and meetings and everytime you come or go you greet everyone. even people you dont know. its kind of rude not to. its kind of fun. when you come you go around the room and greet everyone and then when you leave you go around the room and greet everyone. its a lot more personable! but takes a little bit of time. i understand the hymn now that says ''as we greet with a kiss!''

Last week I forgot to write about one of the things that Elder Kent Richards said in our mision conference that i liked. He said that a grain of wheat thrown into the wind reveals the direction of the wind. Thus in the small things in our lives we can see the direction we are moving. (Sorry that was a bad translation from Spanish) but i like the idea that if we want to evaluate the course of our life we need to look at the small things, they will reveal our course. i think also of our tesimony and faith, if we look at the small things we will see the strength of our testimony and faith. Small things like modesty, scripture reading, daily prayer, fasting, visiting and home teaching, the words we use, the music we listen to, the movies we watch, the video games we play, etc. if we look at the choices we make in these areas we will be able to see the course of our spiritual lives. i had never thought of that before he said that. i am familiar and love the saying that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass, but i like this perspective that the small things reveal the greater things!

Another thing I learned this week was about the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is basically to have faith in Jesus Christ, repent, make and keep covenants (like the covenant we make at baptism), receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and follow its promptings, and endure to the end. Of all that we teach in the Church it all comes back to these basic principles. We have to live these things all of our lives, they aren't a one time thing. they are so simple and clear, and they bring so much happiness.  The thing I love about this Gospel is that it is a pattern of living. When we are teaching people i often wonder how to help them understand this principle, that to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is not just to be baptized into another church...rather it is to live the Gospel in its fullness!

Once again I am pressed for time and can't write more. But thank you for your prayers and support! I love you.

Hna. Bowns