El Fin del Mundo

The phone call from the office Elders came as a bit of a shock last Monday. I was fairly certain I would be in Tigre for the entire transfer (the mission is divided into 6 week periods, each period is called a transfer and there was only 2 weeks left in the transfer). I left at 4:30 Tuesday morning and spent the next 14 traveling to la Tierra del Fuego. I have no clue why it’s called that, fuego means fire, and it is definitely not warm here. But I can drink the water, so that’s exciting:) My new Companion is Hermana Gonzalez. She hails from Chile and has 7 months is the mission, I already have 3.5! Crazy how time flies. It’s gorgeous here and I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to serve the people here. Black ice is everywhere and we’re always climbing, therefore my most recent temporal goal is to maintain my footing.

This morning I was studying in 1 Nephi chapter 15 verse 11. There are three brothers, Laman, Lemuel and Nephi, in a tent. The first two are trying to figure out what their dad just said. Sometimes I feel that way, like I don’t have a clue. Many times we are told things and we do not understand what was meant. We are prompted to do something and we don’t know why. We have rules that we don’t understand. And it’s easy to lose sight of the main purpose of these things. It’s easy to get distracted and forget the blessings of God in our lives. But because we have a loving Heavenly Father, we have the opportunity to repent and try again. Nephi tells us that we need to remember to keep the commandments so that when we ask for help, for clarification, for strength, for the ability to focus, and for the knowledge to be effective instruments in the Lords hands, we can receive these things.

There are 9 hours of light here, and my trial is staying focused when it’s dark, because we are out working in the dark. We’re exercising and getting ready from 7am-8am. Studying from 8am-11am. Out working from 11am -10pm and lights out at 11pm. The life of a missionary is definitely a handful. But when we focus on the people we are teaching, the time goes quick. And we lose ourselves. It’s an incredible feeling, its 10 o’clock and the day is gone, but more people have the gospel because we were focused. When we see the big picture, when we understand our purpose in this life, we can feel secure. I love it here, I love the people, I love the work, I love God and I love you. ¡Nos Vemos!

Sonrei - Hna. Milmont