The Many Blessings of Serving a Mission

 Kaitlin is not only sharing the gospel, but learning from those she is teaching.

 

Wednesday was pretty normal (and normal in the mission means wonderful); nothing out of the ordinary.  Every once in awhile we do service by helping one of our investigators study for her exams.  She's studying to be a lawyer.  We read her a paragraph from the text, and then she explains what it said.  Teaching really helps you learn, you know, so it's been a big help for her, plus it's helped us improve in our Spanish abilities.  You know, it's so incredible to look at just how many aspects of my life are being blessed by serving a mission.  Before my mission I wasn't as dedicated a student as I should have been.  I know that.  And little by little, my confidence in my ability to study well and get excellent grades deteriorated.  But I've been inspired by many examples of dedicated students here in Paraguay.  This lady, Estelvina, works full-time and then comes home every night and studies for hours until she goes to bed.  And she does it cheerfully.  There's a lot of people like that here, really, and partly as a result of their example, I've determined to be a better, more dedicated student when I return.

 

 Kaitlin is working with quite a few people who are investigating the church. One of them is Sani...

 

Thursday we had a really powerful lesson with Sani, a 14-year old girl we're teaching that lives in Yukyty (the super poor part of our area).  We had invited her to be baptized the week before, and on Thursday she told us she still wasn't sure about it because her grandma really wants her to be confirmed in the Catholic church.  She said she's confused because every church says that it's the "right one."  She paused for a moment and then said..."Just like Joseph Smith!"  We invited her to do just what Joseph Smith did--read the scriptures, attend church, and pray--with a promise that an answer would come.  She was going to attend church on Sunday--she was really committed--but her parents took her to the yearly Expo, so she didn't end up attending.  Next week!

Kaitlin and Hermana Little, her companion, are also teaching the Gaona family, whom they are growing to love.

We also taught the family Gaona again.  They're the ones with the autistic boy.  I think they're on the road to change.  Oftentimes, change doesn't happen immediately, but yes, I think they're getting there.  We have another appointment with them on Friday.  They are so kind to us.  After the lesson, Hna. Gaona called us into the kitchen, where she had prepared a very lovely dinner of pasta and chorizo, mandioca, and strawberry juice.  Delicious.

 

Kaitlin's faith and steadfastness are a blessing to us, her family.

 

Well, that's about it.  I love this gospel.  My testimony is the most treasured possesion I have.  We are so blessed to have a knowledge of God's perfect plan for us, based on eternal, unchanging truths that lead to eternal happiness.  This gospel is a reality.