From Tuesday to Tuesday a lot has occurred! Shall we begin?
Tuesday: Country and Latin dancing
As all of you have probably noticed, I enjoy dancing! After getting out of my 251 English class I headed over to dance. When I got there and as I was setting my stuff down I say someone out of the corner of my eye staring at me, a shocked expression written on her face. None other but Madeline Hawkins, one of the sisters who served with me in Buenos Aires and a CCM buddy. She ditched momentarily the guy she was dancing with and tackled me in a hug. It was so great to see her! We both had a great time country dancing :) I stayed for the latin dancing, and was able to help out a guy who was just learning. He picked up quickly and was a pro at dips! I danced with a couple very talented latin guys and managed to keep up, although we were all exhausted as the dancing ended at 10.
Wednesday: Country swing date
After getting out of class at 7:40... which was extremely interesting as usual, I had time to make a quick dinner before getting picked up by Thew, a guy in my ward who had invited me to go country dancing. We walked over to his car, talking about the joys of being English majors until we arrived. It was a blast to get to dance a second day! While we were there someone proposed to his girlfriend. I'm pretty short, so I didn't catch on until I pushed my way closer to the front.
A fun night!
Thursday: Temple visit and Relief Society Activity
As always, I was running from work to my classes to my home to somewhere else! I knew I didn't have a lot of time, but I've been committed to doing whatever it takes to go to the temple, and so I did. Inside the sense of peace was so evident after running from one task to the other. I was able to quietly contemplate, not only on questions I had, but on the very nature of the work that I was performing for those who didn't have the chance to accept the gospel in this life. I got out right at 6:30, which was when our Relief Society activity started.
Friday: Doctor's visit, Mexican food, Walmart trip, and "The Hundred-Foot Journey"
The joy's of the doctor;) Don't have a lot of exciting details from my doctor's visit, although I can say that eating at a Mexican restaurant with Cynthia afterwards was quite memorable! Cynthia and I switched purely to Spanish as we entered, as the owners didn't speak a lick of English. Spanish music was blasting and the mild food was still really spicy, or Picante. I loved it! Although not Argentine, it brought me back to the good old latin culture that I have been missing! When Cynthia dropped off I had time to do some homework, which consisted of reading "Paradise Lost" before going to Walmart with Sage. We picked up her grandma on the way and were able to help her get groceries and put them away :) Yet another missionary moment! On the drive back Sage's mom sent us a text, inviting me to a movie and pizza. I don't turn down free pizza, and so off we went! The movie we ended up watching, "The Hundred-Foot Journey", just blew me away! The depth of the characters and the symbolism was remarkable. I'm not sure if the movie was just designed that way or if I've been doing so many English assignments that I'm now stuck in a "criticism and deep reading" mode... You'll have to watch it and see for yourself through an unbiased lens ;)
Saturday: Seeing Dominique!, walking around downtown, the flag store, Chilean food, and Mission Reunion
FINALLY. I got to see my wonderful cousin/sister/twin/roommate/swolemate/paintswatch ninja for the first time in a year and a half! To be honest it felt a lot like a dream when I opened the door to my apartment and was hugged by Dominique. After reuniting the dream team I went with her and her mom and dad to walk around downtown. They were able to see the outside of the new temple and her dad and I were able to have some quality Argentina time, as he served in the greatest mission on earth as well;)
Sunday: Getting to church early, feeling the "temple" spirit, dinner with the "family", and skyping Joshua
I decided to do my Sunday a little bit differently. My roommate was out of town, and so instead of getting a ride from her to get to church I decided to leave about 40 minutes early. I walked up to the chapel and found a seat outside, reading from the book of John for my New Testament class until about 2. Our church starts at 2:30, so I had 30 minutes to sit quietly and listen to the piano prelude as I read through the hymn lyrics on my Savior. Because I had put in the time before the actual meeting started I was able to feel such a strong sense of peace and comfort as I partook of the bread and water of the sacrament. One of the speakers talked about the fact that God MISSES us. Take a second to think about that. That the God of the entire universe, actually of All of them, misses You. Yes, you reading this silly blog. He loves and cares about You. Feel free to insert your name where the "you" is.
Our second hour was spent outside, where we talked about Isaiah. Great stuff, read his writings ;)
In third hour we talked all about prayer. I found that ironic, because that was the answer to the question I had brought to the temple on Thursday. As I was sitting in Relief Society I realized that all of the answers and feelings I had gotten in the temple I had just gotten in church. And why? Because I had come PREPARED. I realized that I don't have to be in the building that is the temple to receive answers or feel peace and the spirit. I just have to be LOOKING for those things, and prepared. The location isn't actually very important.
After church I made a new friend walking back to the apartments, and got to make even more friends as I had dinner with a group of people from my ward:) This was followed by skyping with my friend Joshua and his girlfriend.
This picture pretty much sums up Joshua: a sass and a whole lot of fun.
To wrap up my Sunday I got to talk to mom on the phone :)
Monday: Hermana Cuevas's first baptism and FHE!
So, got to talk to my daughter, who said she just had her first baptism!! Yes, I am one proud mama! Also got a package from my awesome grandma and had a wonderful FHE with all my other adopted children ;) It was great to get to know them better and see just how much each of them has to contribute in their own way.
Tuesday: Country and Latin dancing
As all of you have probably noticed, I enjoy dancing! After getting out of my 251 English class I headed over to dance. When I got there and as I was setting my stuff down I say someone out of the corner of my eye staring at me, a shocked expression written on her face. None other but Madeline Hawkins, one of the sisters who served with me in Buenos Aires and a CCM buddy. She ditched momentarily the guy she was dancing with and tackled me in a hug. It was so great to see her! We both had a great time country dancing :) I stayed for the latin dancing, and was able to help out a guy who was just learning. He picked up quickly and was a pro at dips! I danced with a couple very talented latin guys and managed to keep up, although we were all exhausted as the dancing ended at 10.
Wednesday: Country swing date
After getting out of class at 7:40... which was extremely interesting as usual, I had time to make a quick dinner before getting picked up by Thew, a guy in my ward who had invited me to go country dancing. We walked over to his car, talking about the joys of being English majors until we arrived. It was a blast to get to dance a second day! While we were there someone proposed to his girlfriend. I'm pretty short, so I didn't catch on until I pushed my way closer to the front.
A fun night!
Thursday: Temple visit and Relief Society Activity
As always, I was running from work to my classes to my home to somewhere else! I knew I didn't have a lot of time, but I've been committed to doing whatever it takes to go to the temple, and so I did. Inside the sense of peace was so evident after running from one task to the other. I was able to quietly contemplate, not only on questions I had, but on the very nature of the work that I was performing for those who didn't have the chance to accept the gospel in this life. I got out right at 6:30, which was when our Relief Society activity started.
Needless to say from the pictures below, it was delicious! The coolest part of the activity was getting to know the people at my table better. On my left were three of my roommates, while sitting on my right were two girls I didn't know. I'm still working on getting to know my roommates and the ward, and felt a little out of the loop at first. However, lately I've been working on getting out of my own shell and focusing more on what other people need. That being said, I pulled a missionary, asking the girl to my right what her name was. We got into a great conversation, and soon the entire table was talking and getting to know each other better. I learned that one of my roommates is Very similar to myself (a love of giraffes and an early work schedule do that to people). It was quite reminiscent of the mission, of the need to get to know other people and engage in conversation, even if you don't really know anyone.
Friday: Doctor's visit, Mexican food, Walmart trip, and "The Hundred-Foot Journey"
The joy's of the doctor;) Don't have a lot of exciting details from my doctor's visit, although I can say that eating at a Mexican restaurant with Cynthia afterwards was quite memorable! Cynthia and I switched purely to Spanish as we entered, as the owners didn't speak a lick of English. Spanish music was blasting and the mild food was still really spicy, or Picante. I loved it! Although not Argentine, it brought me back to the good old latin culture that I have been missing! When Cynthia dropped off I had time to do some homework, which consisted of reading "Paradise Lost" before going to Walmart with Sage. We picked up her grandma on the way and were able to help her get groceries and put them away :) Yet another missionary moment! On the drive back Sage's mom sent us a text, inviting me to a movie and pizza. I don't turn down free pizza, and so off we went! The movie we ended up watching, "The Hundred-Foot Journey", just blew me away! The depth of the characters and the symbolism was remarkable. I'm not sure if the movie was just designed that way or if I've been doing so many English assignments that I'm now stuck in a "criticism and deep reading" mode... You'll have to watch it and see for yourself through an unbiased lens ;)
Saturday: Seeing Dominique!, walking around downtown, the flag store, Chilean food, and Mission Reunion
FINALLY. I got to see my wonderful cousin/sister/twin/roommate/swolemate/paintswatch ninja for the first time in a year and a half! To be honest it felt a lot like a dream when I opened the door to my apartment and was hugged by Dominique. After reuniting the dream team I went with her and her mom and dad to walk around downtown. They were able to see the outside of the new temple and her dad and I were able to have some quality Argentina time, as he served in the greatest mission on earth as well;)
After walking around and enjoying the Beautiful weather we stopped to get food at a Chilean restaurant that, we were informed by the proud owner, was often frequented by David Archuleta himself. did we see him? Nay, but that's ok, the food made up for that;)
Unfortunately, the time came where we had to momentarily split so I could squeeze in the rest of "Paradise Lost" before being picked up for a mission reunion! It was so wonderful to see my mission family and give them hugs and catch up! There is certainly a strong connection between myself and my fellow missionaries that can only be described as how I feel around my family members. Not to mention the fact that Gabe, aka Elder Johnson (my old District leader and Zone leader), brought about 7 decks of cards... for NERTS of all games!
Needless to say, that's where I was;)
Sunday: Getting to church early, feeling the "temple" spirit, dinner with the "family", and skyping Joshua
I decided to do my Sunday a little bit differently. My roommate was out of town, and so instead of getting a ride from her to get to church I decided to leave about 40 minutes early. I walked up to the chapel and found a seat outside, reading from the book of John for my New Testament class until about 2. Our church starts at 2:30, so I had 30 minutes to sit quietly and listen to the piano prelude as I read through the hymn lyrics on my Savior. Because I had put in the time before the actual meeting started I was able to feel such a strong sense of peace and comfort as I partook of the bread and water of the sacrament. One of the speakers talked about the fact that God MISSES us. Take a second to think about that. That the God of the entire universe, actually of All of them, misses You. Yes, you reading this silly blog. He loves and cares about You. Feel free to insert your name where the "you" is.
Our second hour was spent outside, where we talked about Isaiah. Great stuff, read his writings ;)
In third hour we talked all about prayer. I found that ironic, because that was the answer to the question I had brought to the temple on Thursday. As I was sitting in Relief Society I realized that all of the answers and feelings I had gotten in the temple I had just gotten in church. And why? Because I had come PREPARED. I realized that I don't have to be in the building that is the temple to receive answers or feel peace and the spirit. I just have to be LOOKING for those things, and prepared. The location isn't actually very important.
After church I made a new friend walking back to the apartments, and got to make even more friends as I had dinner with a group of people from my ward:) This was followed by skyping with my friend Joshua and his girlfriend.
This picture pretty much sums up Joshua: a sass and a whole lot of fun.
To wrap up my Sunday I got to talk to mom on the phone :)
Monday: Hermana Cuevas's first baptism and FHE!
So, got to talk to my daughter, who said she just had her first baptism!! Yes, I am one proud mama! Also got a package from my awesome grandma and had a wonderful FHE with all my other adopted children ;) It was great to get to know them better and see just how much each of them has to contribute in their own way.
It was an awesome week! :)
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