Blog email post 2!

Quote of the week: Spencer W. Kimball said: "I have learned that where there is a prayerful heart, a hungering after righteousness, a forsaking of sins, and obedience to the commandments of God, the Lord pours out more and more light until there is finally power to pierce the heavenly veil. ... A person of such righteousness has the priceless promise that one day he shall see the Lord's face and know that he is"

This week a lot happened. I guess you don't anticipate when hard times come usually, haha, that's definitely not easy to learn. Our district went through some tough things this week. Me, and my companion did. But part of serving the lord, and striving to learn to be a great missionary, includes difficult downturns. But the important thing to help you in those times, is to look to the Lord for grace and mercy, and to remember the reasons you're out here serving God!

 Monday was good, I got two adorable packages from some friends which was such a nice surprise! We had a great day Tuesday, we got to hear from elder D. Todd Christofferson! Hes an apostle in our church, an apostle of God!! So amazing, I got chills and felt the spirit so much that night. We got to sing in the huge mtc choir of 700 people, and it was so powerful and such an honor!! I'm so glad we joined the choir! The devotional was broadcasted to all the 14 MTCs in the world, so that was amazing! We sang 'I know that my redeemer lives,' it was so so special.

Wednesday was when it started to get hard for me, because the night before actually I felt sick. So Wednesday I had a fever the whole day almost, except I took a lot of Advil and Tylenol because we were hosting the new missionaries, so I had to be healthy! But after hosting I crashed, because hosting consists of meeting all the missionaries coming in, taking their luggage, which is super heavy upstairs, and telling them everything about the mtc super fast 100 mph haha because you don't have that much time. So I felt super hot and exhausted afterwards and thought I had the flu. Then at dinner I felt dead, my fever was awful and burning. I felt like and looked like a ghost. the elders and everyone was so concerned for me, and my companion, they kept asking if I wanted a blessing. It was so kind, and so eventually I said yes after I didn't eat much dinner. Elder paez and elder kiene gave me and blessing, and it was the most thoughtful and sweet thing ever in my life. I felt so loved and taken care of I was just crying, both because I felt so sick, but also felt so loved. It was a really special experience and I know the blessing they gave me healed me the next morning. The power of God, the priesthood, can work miracles by those who carry it! Elder paez wrote me such a nice letter that night after I had gone to bed that night after the blessing, missing class. He wrote his impressions from the blessing and about how if I or any sister need anything he and his companion will do whatever it takes to help us! He is the greatest elder! I love all the people here! Such a blessing from god! I know god answers our prayers and hears us. It's amazing! I feel like I am in heaven even in my lowest points.

Thursday was a difficult day for my companion, the language barrier is hard still sometimes and especially for her. We taught the 1st TRC lesson, with a 'real' investigator, and it was not that good. Hermana mallett had a hard time after, it gets you down when the language is overwhelming to learn, when you can't speak what is on your mind. So then that night she also got a blessing. We both have had to depend on the priesthood to help us! 

So, funny though about this week is that when some other hermanas were teaching a lesson, the member they had with them said his first lesson it was so funny. He said that the Book of Mormon was found on 'gold plantains,' not 'gold plates' because the Spanish word is 'platanos' for plantains, and the word for 'plates' is 'planchas' very close, so that was so funny to hear that he said los platanos de oro instead of planchas de oro!! Jajaja!

In whatever we do, we should not decide nor act out of a spirit of fear. Truly, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear" (2 Timothy 1:7) It has been said that for evil to prevail, it is only necessary for good people to do nothing. The question "Do we trust Him?" may be better stated, "Do we have the faith to trust Him?" hard is part of the circle of life. It is hard for a baby chick to hatch out of that tough eggshell. But when someone tries to make it easier, the chick does not develop the strength necessary to live. Hard makes us stronger, humbles us, and gives us a chance to prove ourselves. 

I have learned from a talk from elder Holland, called 'missions are forever,' something interesting. He said that it is not enough for us to have just a testimony of the gospel and these teachings, but we have to be converted through and through. What we learn on our missions should affect and be engraved into the rest of our lives, because your mission IS real life! He says, salvation is not a cheap or easy experience because it was never easy for Him, meaning Jesus Christ. That is why conversion is tough. 

I think personally that anything great that we want in this life, if it be hard, and a big though goal, that it will require great things an sacrifices. 

Xoxo 

Hermana Chelsea Martines 

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