living on a prayer!
i don´t know where to begin this letter. so many great things are
happening, and continue to happen. as i relfect on the week when i sit
down to type this letter, i can truly see the Lord´s hand in my life.
i´ve got a lot of mail telling me about Wendy Walton´s mission call!
congrats Wendy, girl! make the most of it! i also want to say happy
birthday to Katie Paine while i get the chance! love you, kpaine!
so the latinos love me, well they actually just love my name. every
time i walk by a group of them, i´ve become notorious for yelling
"hola!" and they all yell back. but they love saying "bond, hermana
bond!" it was funny... the first 1861379 times. i am also becoming
THAT sister that sings every where she goes. i´ve found that it´s the
best way to learn the language! but it was one of the cook´s birthdays
yesterday and he asked me to sing him happy birthday. i ended up doing
the "birthday rap" i learned as a counselor at Camp Loughridge 5 years
ago. the cooks acutally recorded me doing it, and now they clap every
time i come into the cafe. typical, bond! we had exchanges this past
week, which means i got a new companion for one day. her name Hermana
Aviles. she is from Australia but her parents are from Chile. she is a
neat girl. i made her say "put another shrimp on the barbie" and she
made me say "howdy, yáll!" there is a new guatemalan hermana here
named Hermana Ixcoy. she´s from a mayan culture here in guate and she
speaks Kiche. she is learning spanish too! we had a tutorial together,
and she taught me her dialect, and i taught her spanish! she always
smiles when she sees me-- i think she is really brave for serving a
mission. since i´m in leadership meetings now, i get to attend weekly
meetings with the branch presidents here. the entire meeting is in
spanish and i have to report 5 things to them twice a week-- so i´m
learning how to say more things in spanish that i never thought i
would´ve needed. Hermana Belnap and i taught 4 lessons this week and i
was able to recite Joseph Smith´s First Vision that i memorized almost
2 weeks ago. i really felt the Spirit as i shared that experience with
the investigator.
i´m learning that as a missionary sometimes we must go through hard
things. but, i have also learned that there is beauty in the breaking.
i have drawn a lot of strength from 2 Timothy 1:7-9 this week. in the
words of Ezra Taft Benson: "every person eventually is backed up to
the wall of faith, and there they must make their stand." i also love
the mormon message by Jeffrey R Holland "God´s Words Never Cease".
please take the time to watch that-- you could find it on youtube.
we had the chance to watch the Joseph Smith movie on sunday night, and
i think my favorite part this time around was at the very end, when
Joseph is killed, and as he enters the presence of God, he whispers,
"Oh, Lord. My God." it´s so beautiful. i know one day we will all walk
back into the presence of God, as we live His will and obey His
commandments. i have learned a lot about who i am to Him, and what
all of you mean to Him. i just want all of you to know that no matter
what you´re called to face in this life, your loving Heavenly Father
is mindful of you ALWAYS and He will never leave you. call on Him.
well, just 2.5 more weeks till Panama! i´m very excited! the work
moves forward! i love you all! till next week! - Hermana Bond
