WHERE TO BEGIN. Transfer week has been loco!! Monday i said goodbye to all the dear members and investigadores in miguel aleman...they all hugged me with tears in their eyes and it made me reflect on the powerful relationships I have formed here. Tuesday morning 100 of us missionaries eagerly waited to hear our "cambios"...as i am elected "mission pianist" haha as i heard my name be called, i stood up at the piano bench and heard the words Ën America 1.2 está Hna Guillen, y su nueva compañera será hna Riches y es una hermana líder"
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| us hermanas who had cambios this week. |
FIRST OFF. yes, really, my ward is named ämerica"....and yes it makes me a bit homesick haha. Hna Guillen and I will definitely make it a "party in the USA". 2ND Sada Vidrio, miguel aleman, and america....the areas I've served in.... are literally all next to each other haha! and they all border the mission offices so i havn't had much of a "scenery change" here in the mission. Presidente definitely wants to keep the blonde hermana safe and secure by the mission offices so don't worry mom and dad haha! and 3RD. I'm still in the same zone and stake so i get to see hermana flores and all my zone friends each tuesday for zone meetings :)
ok now i shall explain my "leadership responsibilities". Here in the mission there are about 40 hermanas, and there are 6 "hermana leaders". (3 companionships). that are each in charge of 10 hermanas (5 companionships) and i've been selected as one of these 6 hermanas! some of our responsibilities include:
- each night we call 2 companionships to see how theyre day went, how we can help motivate them, etc.
- each tuesday and friday we go on ïntercambios" where we switch companions for 24 hours and give the companionship feedback.. tomorrow i will go work with another hermana in another area while my companion is here in america and then on wednesday we will meet back up again! then we inform president how the intercambios went and how the hermanas are doing.
- every month we have a conference with all the zone leaders, pres bird to go over mission topics and make decisions/ changes. new goals, etc.
I feel honored with this calling but i also know it is going to be super busy and a bit stressful!
my new companion is HNA GUILLEN....20 years old from baja california. She goes home in september and got baptized just 4 years ago! again i'm glad to be speaking spanish 24/7 :) she is pretty quiet, such a sweetheart full of love and humility. We are different on all levels haha but i know i am going to grow and learn so much being her companion.
We are in the same ward as the assistants to pres bird! It's pretty awesome being with them..... we get the full inside scoop on it all haha! Elder Aguila is from mexico city and recently called assistant elder cook from idaho...ok funny story. I met elder cook 5 years ago at a byu summer camp and we've been facebook friends since then-- pretty small world that i'm now in the same ward as Elder Braydon Cook haha! we eat with them every day unless they have "super important plans with presidente" haha.
This past week we had 2 FANTASTIC conferences with an area 70 elder ortiz. On friday we met with half the mission....SO GREAT TO SEE ALL MY FRIENDS :) it was awesome because normally we focus everything on our investigadores but this conference was focused on US and what we are currently doing in our mission to prepare for our futures. It's pretty easy to say that marriage is drilled into your head as a missionary hahaha! It made me reflect so much on the personal progress i've had here as a missionary and person. Long story short. SUPER POWERFUL CONFERENCE!.....all in spanish ;)
On saturday we had a special conference with the 20 zone leaders, 6 hermana leaders, pres and hna bird, and Elder Ortiz and his wife. So Fantastic. Completely opened my eyes to the essence of leadership. We focused on a talk by Pres Spencer W Kimball called "Jesus: The perfect leader" 1983....
inorder to be a successful leader like jesus you need to:
1. know who you are, your purpose, and be constant in your personality and actions
2. understand and love those around you
3. be self sacrificing
4. trust in the abilities of your followers-- help them progress
5. make good use of your time
6. take responsibility of all your thoughts and actions
7. take advantage of all opportunities around you-- recognize your potential
LITERALLY SO MUCH i wanna share but not enough time! i feel a bit of pressure being one of these leaders in the mission, but I know i am going to adapt lots more qualities and really lose myself in this work. haha saturday i had to give a 5 min spiritual thought on the spot in front of all these leaders! It went well! it's gunna be awesome working alongside all the zone leaders and getting to know the hermanas more.
Well next week i will give ya'll the update on my area and my companion! I've worked here in america quite a few times during intercambios in the past, so some faces and streets are familiar. Every new area i get the same reaction: "Hna Paris Hilton!" "Hna Britney Spears!" "Hna Barbie" hahaha i don't know if i should feel flattered or not......
LOVE YOU ALL. TALK TO YOU NEXT MONDAY.
sorry if i didn't reply to some emails! pushed for time!
C O N A M O R
hermana riches
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