ex-haus-ted

Hna Schomburg, Hna Paulson, Hna Palmer
Last trip to the Santiago Temple before coming home
in three weeks.

you have to take a pause in each of the dashes when you read the title

i am just

so

tired holy cannoli

let me tell you a story

once upon a time in the mission Chile Santiago Norte the missionaries that are headed home all go to the temple with Pres and Hna Videla the friday before their flight and then they have lunch together and after that, all the missionaries that are going home are just really terribly trunky

but one day when hna schomburg was in her last cambio the temple was going to be closed for maintenance her last week so they had to go on the 23rd of august, three weeks before going home

so they went and it was all REALLY EMOTIONALLY EXHAUSTING AND HNA SCHOMBURG WAS WITH HNA PAULSON AND HNA PALMER JUST LIKE HOW SHE STARTED THE MISSION AND SHE COULDNT HANDLE IT AND CRIED FOR LIKE 40 YEARS and then after everything, it was time to write the family and she didnt have any anything left to do anything ever again because she cried so much and she felt so much of the Spirit

the end

those are the circumstances folks, so i apologize if this letter is real lame

but let me try to say some things that will be spiritually uplifting or will let you know how this week went

let me consult my agenda

- on friday we got on the metro and in one of the stations like A BILLION CARABINEROS IN FIGHTIN GEAR AND WITH SHIELDS AND STUFF GOT ON THE TRAIN and we thought it was real cool and then we were thinking more and we were like

why...

why did they have to take the metro? did they all have to pay with their bip?

- on saturday we just had one heck of a day doin a lot of stuff and talkin with a lot of (interesting) people like one man that yelled at me like he was going to fight me and then started talking to me in italian and asking me to kiss his cheek

- on sunday the gospel principles teachers didnt show up so they told me 5 minutes before the class started that i had to teach it #thingsiwillmissaboutbeingamissionary and then in relief society they talked all about marriage

and everybody teased me

because i'm going home in 3 weeks

oh yeah

i'm going home in 3 weeks

I'm so sorry you all have to read this terribly trunky letter, it's just that we JUST WENT TO THE TEMPLE and talked about all these trunky things and it's all fresh still and i promise i will be normal in a little bit

okay

how can i rescue this letter

well, it's still gonna be something a little trunky or sentimental or nostalgic or something, but let me tell it to you anyway because it meant a lot to me

so, yesterday i was in an exchange with Hna Paulson and in the nighttime we picked up Hna Palmer also (so that we could go to the temple today) and we were all thinking back on the CCM and everything that we had done and realizing how much we had grown. We went to teach a recently baptized Haitian man in Hna Paulson's sector and us three went in and sat down and had to teach him in english because he doesnt speak spanish and it just made me chuckle a little bit

remembering the CCM when we struggled to give a lesson in spanish and thinking that we're exactly the same now, except that we struggled to give the lesson in english

and i just got to thinking about the amazing things that the Lord can do. Sometimes it's when we least expect it that he gives us a change; sometimes we don't necessarily want it; sometimes we wait a long time for it, but everything that the Lord wants to happen will happen and in his own time, if we allow him to mold us. Sometimes we focus too much on what we want to happen and it just keeps not happening, even though we're obeying and doing everything right, but it's because we sometimes forget to ask the Lord if what we want is what He wants also. 

A lot of the changes I've seen in myself are not things I was expecting to change here in the mission, but they are things that the Lord wanted me to change. Our goal should not be to always get what we want, but to always want what the Lord wants, because if we submit ourselves to his will and his word and if we accept it, we will always have what we want, because the Lord always fulfills his promises.

I have been extremely blessed to be here in the mission. I am immensely grateful for the experiences I have had, for the changes I have made in myself, and if I was able to help even one person to have a better life and to make it better with Christ, if I was able to the be instrument the Lord needed for one single minute, I am happy with that. The worth of souls is great in the sight of God and when we are granted a small part of that sight, our love grows a whole lot. I feel that I have been privileged to have been a part of this mission and this work and I understand better now the plan the God has for us and the important part that every single one of us plays in his plan. We are all important; we are all special; we are all children of God and we all deserve to know the good news.

I know that this gospel is true! I know that the blessings we receive in the temple are unique and precious and we cannot afford to live without them. Do whatever you must do to be in the temple, especially with your family. I love the gospel. I love my Savior, and I really love the mission and I really really love Chile and I really really really am going to miss this. But I know that my life doesnt stop here; there are lots of things for me to do afterwards. It's all part of the plan :) en el nombre de Jesucristo, amén

sorry if this doesnt make even a little bit of sense

really and truly i 

am

ex-haus-ted

but I love you all and I will talk to you next week and it will make more sense than this week :) I LOVE YOU

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Beautiful sunset with the Chilean flag.