Well, friends and family, this week has been full of excitement!
Wednesday we got a message telling all of the missionaries that we were having a surprise transfer call at 5 pm and needed to make sure we were on the call. It was announced that a lot of missionaries were going home due to COVID-19, including some of my closest friends. But we were also told that we'd be getting a bunch of new missionaries who were supposed to go to other places in the world. And as they announced that, though I had been given no warning beforehand, I was announced to be one of the new trainers!
My new companion, Sister Coleman, is the sweetest thing and I've loved working with her! She's hard working, which is perfect because we've been staying crazy busy this last week. We've seen some neat miracles in the progression of people we're teaching, and we've begun taking lessons on how to do Family History. Now on top of that we get extra time for companion study and language study. While I have absolutely no Spanish skills, Sister Coleman has to learn spanish for when she eventually goes back to Panama, so I've been doing my best to help her learn. I've been hearing many prayers in Spanish, we sang some Himnos for Sunday, and our District Leader who is one of the Spanish missionaries has been calling and just talking in Spanish to test her. I've very frequently been asking "¿Que significa?" "What does that mean?"
I've also been hearing the lessons from her in Spanish, which has been really neat. I really learned the importance of the First Vision in the process as well. As we teach the restoration we recite Joseph Smith's own words when we share his experience after he prayed to know which church was true. As Sister Coleman was teaching me the Restoration in Spanish I could pick up little key words occasionally to follow along. But once she started talking about Joseph Smith I got completely lost. Then I suddenly felt the spirit really strong and my first thought was "She must be reciting the First Vision" and a couple seconds later I caught onto a word that made it evident that it was exactly what she was saying. It was such a wonderful experience to see the power that came as she told me about Joseph Smith, even if I couldn't understand the language she spoke. And I now understand why people can handle listening to missionaries who can't fully speak their language.
The spirit is so strong and I truly know that the restoration of Christ's church is true. I hope you all get a chance to watch General Conference this weekend because I know it is truly going to be a memorable experience!
My spiritual message of the week will in fact be the first vision because it was so impactful to me! I hope that you all will take a moment and read over these words and ponder on how it must have felt to be Joseph in this moment.
“I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. … When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”
I love you all and wish you the best!
Love,
Sister Bliss
PICTURES!
*Sister Coleman and I when we learned how to do some Family History activities
*Our last picture with Sister Morales when we found a house with "202", our mission baptismal goal
*Some pictures of me and Sister Coleman
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