Chopped off arms

Buenos días, las personas del mundo!

Hey guess what? God has a plan for you. It's pretty cool. It's called the plan of happiness, because it makes you happy. And you can't be happy if you're bored, so God needs to keep your life spontaneous. And the only way to do that is to hurl some trials at you. Sometimes that trial is a giant freaking ice storm. 

La tormenta de hielo 

A couple days ago, everyone in our mission got a text from our car leader saying that a giant snow storm was approaching, and that we aren't allowed to drive until probably Monday night (tonight). 

This was a little surprising because all of that day, and leading up to the storm, there wasn't a single cloud in sight. No sign whatsoever. It kinda reminded me of that one episode in Avatar the Last Airbender(iykyk). 

But nonetheless, it came mid-day Saturday, buckets of snow getting dumped every minute. Then it dropped below freezing, and all that snow very quickly became ice. So yeah, now everything is covered with an inch-thick layer of ice(See pics down below or in my album). 

Church got canceled, which really sucked. But on the bright side, our amigo's jobs got canceled too, which meant more time for lessons! I've never had more lessons at a time than I have had in the past two days! Just back to back for like 3 hours straight, then studies/meals, then back to teaching. It felt surprisingly productive.

Compleaños

Before the chaos that was the ice storm, we had two birthdays in our District! Woohoo! Élder Monson's was Friday, and on Wednesday it was none other than my very own compañera's, Hermana Lopez! They both turned 20! (Haha old.)

We mostly just celebrated by going to their favorite restaurants! Shout out to Chick-fil-A and Big Kahuna's! Yum!

Also just before English class, our members Carmen and Sindy surprised us with some delicious dinner, and our amigo Josue brought a cake! So that was awesome!

Pensamiento Espiritual 

During my full read through of the Book of Mormon, I felt particularly inspired by the story of Ammon (yes, the one that chops off arms.) Now if you can't remember what happens and don't feel like reading Alma 17:18-39, let me sum up what happens:

*Ammon feels like visiting the Lamanite people who regularly murder his brethren*

King Lamoni: Would you prefer to be with the Nephites or the Lamanites?

Ammon: Probably you guys, you seem pretty chill.

KL: Dang, I like you. I guess I won't murder you. Actually, do you wanna like, marry my daughter?

Ammon: naw, I'll just be your indentured servant.

KL: ok rad

*Ammon helps guard KL's sheep with some other servants when suddenly some jerks come around and scatter them away. The servants are worried that KL is gonna murder them for this, so Ammon helps get the sheep back. Then the jerks come back to scatter the sheep AGAIN, but Ammon stones a few and chops off some of their arms before they can.*

Servants (holding one of the chopped arms): King Lamoni, Ammon's a dog bro

KL: Holy crap! He did this?

Servants:Yep

KL: What's he doing now?

Servants: Feeding your horses

KL: The ones that I'm taking to impress my father that I'm low-key scared of?

Servants: Yep

KL: He must God.

*later*

KL: Hey Ammon, are you God?

Ammon: Naw, but I do have part of God within me to guide me throughout life. You can too actually. Do you wanna learn more?

KL: heck yeah I do!

Long story short, King Lamoni and his family get converted.

I really love this story because all that Ammon did was serve people. He didn't bother trying to preach at a time when it would be hard for the lamanites to hear. He helped them out and waited until they asked him before he told them more. 

I know that service is the best way to help people feel and understand the joy of the Gospel! And I know that service is something we all can do! 

Fin

Could you tell that I'm a missionary stuck inside my house on a P-day because of a snow storm? Jaja... probably. Hope you guys love life! If not, tell me why, I'm all ears!

Jesus te ama!

Hermana Perkins