Sister in Spain: 6 Months!!!

Well. This week was a tough one I'm not going to lie. I had a hard week, emotionally. My Spanish actually got made fun of a lot. And that was hard. I already get frustrated and beat myself up about it, but that's okay. One time was at consejo de barrio and they all literally just laughed and made fun of my Spanish. That was the hardest. I barely kept it together. When we left apparently our ward mission leader yelled at them all. So that's nice. He also happened to be in a cita where the man flat out said I had bad Spanish and laughed at me and I cried afterwards. So he already knew I was struggling. Which is weird. I've never had people be rude to me about it before and even my companion was like I don't get it your Spanish isn't bad..but it's just a trial!

Then on Saturday morning I got an email saying my fhe brother passed away the day before from a car accident. So it's been a rough couple of days. I just bawled all Saturday night but luckily I have an amazing companion who stayed up and talked to me and really helped me calm down. She's been such a blessing. I've been praying to have a companion that I felt was like a real friend and I could talk to and be the real me, and I got one. I'm so grateful. She's so much fun and she helps me not dwell on the bad moments but to just always be having fun! Of course while working super hard! She told me after everything on Saturday "I won't bring anything up but if you want to talk about it I'm here" that was so nice to hear that she's not dwelling on anything or making me dwell on anything but when it gets brought up she talks to me about it.

So now that I've complained enough (sorry) can we just say...6 MONTHS TOMORROW?! How crazy!!!!! These have been the longest shortest months ever. It doesn't even make sense. Funny thing is I used to think missionaries with 6 months were like old and knew what they were doing. Man was I wrong!! Haha I still feel like a baby in the mission!!!

And then 21??!? I'm going to be 21!!!!! How crazy is that?? Not gonna lie I'm freaking out a wee bit. It's just weird. It'll be hard to be away from home but my piso is so much fun that I know I won't be able to be sad! I just love my hermanas. They're so great. We had a sleepover last night in our room (it's the only bedroom with ac and its hot!!!) and it was so much fun! I think my favorite part of the mission is the relationships I get to make with people. They're different then the type I would make just at home being normal Ruth (not that I'm THAT different but still) but on a mission the relationships are everything, with my investigators, my members, my companion, and other missionaries. And why are they so different? Love. Seriously, me and hermana graham have talked about this topic a lot lately. In a mission conference Elder Dyches told us:
Love is the most powerful tool we have been given.

1 John 4:19 "we love Him because He first loved us"
We love Him [Christ] because he first loved us. He suffered the Atonement for us.

I read this this morning in a talk about the Atonement:

Some years ago, President Gordon B. Hinckley told “something of a parable” about “a one room school house in the mountains of Virginia where the boys were so rough no teacher had been able to handle them.
“Then one day an inexperienced young teacher applied. He was told that every teacher had received an awful beating, but the teacher accepted the risk. The first day of school the teacher asked the boys to establish their own rules and the penalty for breaking the rules. The class came up with 10 rules, which were written on the blackboard. Then the teacher asked, ‘What shall we do with one who breaks the rules?’
“‘Beat him across the back ten times without his coat on,’ came the response.
“A day or so later, … the lunch of a big student, named Tom, was stolen. ‘The thief was located--a little hungry fellow, about ten years old.’
“As Little Jim came up to take his licking, he pleaded to keep his coat on. ‘Take your coat off,’ the teacher said. ‘You helped make the rules!’
“The boy took off the coat. He had no shirt and revealed a bony little crippled body. As the teacher hesitated with the rod, Big Tom jumped to his feet and volunteered to take the boy’s licking.
“‘Very well, there is a certain law that one can become a substitute for another. Are you all agreed?’ the teacher asked.
“After five strokes across Tom’s back, the rod broke. The class was sobbing. ‘Little Jim had reached up and caught Tom with both arms around his neck. “Tom, I’m sorry that I stole your lunch, but I was awful hungry. Tom, I will love you till I die for taking my licking for me! Yes, I will love you forever!”’”

The biggest thing that stuck out to me is the love that Little Jim felt for Tim.

Why do I love being a missionary? A sister? A daughter?

Because I love who I am when I'm doing it.

So if you don't love who you are or what your doing, change. Use the Atonement! It's there for us. He loved us first.

Sorry those are just my random thoughts that I wanted to share with you all this week! I'm gonna send pictures now!!!

I love you!

Love, Hermana Terrazas :)