¡Mi Misión!

This blog was initially intended for Chile-only related posts. But, since Chile cemented my desire to serve a mission, I suppose this is entirely appropriate. In the months since my return to the States, I’ve submitted my papers and received my mission call. And so (drum roll please), I report to the Provo MTC on June 23 to begin my 18-month mission for the Norway Oslo Mission. That’s right. NORWAY. No joke.

My feelings on this? I think surprised sums it up pretty well. But, I love it. Honest. I’m so excited and I feel good about it. But, Spanish was no cakewalk, so I must admit that I’m terribly nervous about this Norwegian language business. I don’t know how to count to ten, or how to say “hello,” or even how to say “Jesus Christ” in Norwegian, but I do know the Lord qualifies those He calls. Entonces, me voy a Noruega. Woop-yeah!

Right: Eli and I with my call. Surprised faces all around. Left: The "Where in the WORLD is Sister Stevens Serving?" guess poster. (Pun off of "Where in the WORLD is Carmen San Diego, and a sweet alliteration if you ask me.) The closest anyone got was Germany, and when I initially saw that guess I thought to myself, "you jerk! Don't write anything in Europe!"

Splits with the Sisters

Yesterday I finally worked out a time I could go on Splits with the Sister Missionaries. One of the Sisters was sick and I went out with her companion so she could get some rest. May I please explain why this is so cool? We set it all up via phone conversations (meaning I can talk on the phone in Spanish), I figured out which Micro to take to get to a town I'd never heard of (Quintero, about an hour away), and then I did as Sister Missionaries do for almost five hours. If that's not progress from four months ago I don't know what is. Okay, well, don't think my Spanish is bomb, but it was fun to help out and get a taste of the Missionary work in Chile.

Mi nueva amiga, Hermana Rivera de Honduras

Truly, we are blessed

A woman in the ward gave this puzzle of the Plan of Salvation to Alina at her baptism. (Please click on it to see a larger image.) I love it. One time in Seminary Sister Knowles drew unlabeled circles and a few lines on the board and asked the class what it was. We all told her it was the Plan of Salvation; Premortal Existence, the Veil, Mortality, Death, Spirit Paradise or Prison, Resurrection, Judgment, and the Three Degrees of Glory. Nothing was labeled. It was just circles and lines on the chalkboard. But a group of high school kids knew the answers to questions people have been asking forever. Yes, I really do love how Alina's present reminds me how valuable our knowledge is.

The Universal Language

I have a calling in my ward. I am the Pianist for the Agua Santa Ward in the Vina del Mar Stake. It is a blessing in so many ways. I have a purpose, I have an obtainable goal to work toward every week, and I am getting so much better at playing the Hymns.

Remember that part in Remember the Titans when Coach Denzel Washington walks onto the football field and says, "this, is my sanctuary." Well, I have a key to the Church, and when I walk into the empty Chapel to practice, I usually stop to take in the wonderful feeling and I think to myself, "this, is my sanctuary." When I go to the empty Church Building it doesn't matter that I didn't understand anything my teachers said in class, it doesn't matter that I don't use direct or indirect object pronouns correctly when I speak, I doesn't matter that I forget how to conjugate verbs properly or that I forget new vocabulary words I wrote down all of three seconds ago.

All that I have to think about is music. I don't even think in English much. I just thing about music, the glorious, wonderful, universal language that I can speak. I'm not the best pianist by any means, but I love this calling because I can feel myself improving. I can play Hymns that I struggled to get through a week ago. It's like Spanish in fast-forward. As of late, when I'm feeling really good about things--and especially when I'm not--I sing along with the Hymns (in Spanish of course). My favorite Hymn is Mas cerca, Dios, de ti. Words cannot explain how good it feels to sing my heart out in an empty Chapel. Like I said, I am blessed.

Here is the most wonderful sight to my eyes; the empty Chapel. The keyboard is the left of the window. Denzel said it best, "this, is my sanctuary."

I Love to See the Temple

On Friday I had the opportunity to travel go to the Santiago Temple with a Vina Ward and do Baptisms. It was a wonderful experience. I did the work for the bisabuela (great-grandmother) de mi padre y I got a very small taste of how much some people have to sacrifice to get to the Temple. The Denver Temple only 20 minutes away, and the Provo and Rexburg the Temples are within walking distance. We went to Santiago via bus, and it took two hours each way, so it's an all day commitment to go to the Temple (I was gone from 12:30 p.m. - 10:15 p.m.). I thoroughly enjoyed the Santiago Temple and I love that I felt the same way inside this Temple as I do others. The Church most certainly is true.

The Santiago, Chile Temple: a small, but beautiful Temple nonetheless.

Before and after pictures of the Ward . As you can see in the lack of sunlight in the second pic, it took a long time to do work for everyone in the group (and I was perfectly happy to spend so much time at the Temple).