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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

"...you're breathing really well today"

This week's shout out goes out to the pioneers. I didn't realize how big a deal July 24th was until half of my companions came from Utah and told me. 

I went on exchanges into the Spanish program! Everyone thinks I'm Filipino. And they told me I eat like a hispanic haha just send me to Mexico already. But it was really neat. I was trying really hard to pay attention because EVERYTHING was in Spanish and I don't speak Spanish. So I was sitting there listening, and I would understand. It didn't happen all the time, because at dinner, Sister Hernandez was sharing the spiritual thought and the wife just started crying out of nowhere. Turns out she is having a super rough time and I guess we shared just the right thing. It was a blessing to be there. But even though I didn't understand everything, I understood enough. And we had some service to do and the lady was so grateful. 

We helped a bunch of people move this week. This is a super transient area. My muscles are getting bigger. Or something. 

We were able to meet with a bunch of less actives this week. They are always welcoming to us but when it comes to actually going to church, they won't do it. For the most part, they're either having too much fun, or they were offended. We really do have a million reasons to leave the church, but the reason we stay is the reason we should cling to. We have eternities to lose for moments. 

The ward put on a hoedown this week. It was a great opportunity to meet the members! There are so many and they were so happy to see us there. We got to know them on a close level and interact with them. Super nice. In addition, we also got roped into square dancing! Me and Sister Sotele were just kind of chilling there so I was like "We should just do it" and she was like "No." repeatedly. And so I gave up but then this old man in our ward came over and said he needed a partner, and Sister Sotele pushed me over to him so I got stuck. Then after that another guy went over and asked her to dance and she couldn't say no. I just about died laughing. It was the best thing ever. However, we were also able to meet with our recent converts and a bunch of non-members. It was truly a blessing that we attended the ward activity. 

I guess I'm super behind but last week I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting! They gave me an open topic, so I just talked about my life story and how I was converted over time. The ward really enjoyed it because well. I'm kind of funny sometimes. But also I think they enjoyed how real it was. Overall it was a success. I had actually written 3 different talks before because they felt like good topics at the time, but none of them ended up being good. So I sat up there on the stand and waited for the inspiration to come... and it did. 

Despite the fact that all our appointments that we set fell through, and my companion's emotional struggles, we still had a good week. We were really blessed. And it brings to mind President Uchtdorf's talk about gratitude from this past general conference. He talked specifically about being grateful IN our circumstance. We acknowledge the fact that we have a problem, but at the same time we can see that things are ok. Being grateful is supposed to be proven to make us happier (Oprah? I don't know who said that). But I'd like to challenge you all this week to log three things that you're grateful for each day. I know it works and I can promise you that things will lighten up. 

Love you all!

Sister Kwan 

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