30 Seconds of Courage

 Heyyy everyone! Okay first off, thank you all so much for the birthday wishes this last week!!!!

My birthday was superrr fun and my sweet companion Hermana Buhrley took good care of me. She decorated all cute and made sure it was the best day ever!! I also got to teach English Class that day and hear our Spanish-speaking friends sing happy birthday to me in English. Such a proud teacher moment

This week, some people who aren't from our church used our church building to put on an event for Mixteco-speakers who need to learn more about the medical, legal, and educational resources here in California. It was a super cool event and it was an AWESOME missionary opportunity! President and Hermana Rodriguez came and had a few sets of Mixteco missionaries come too. We got to help out and give away a LOT of English Class invites and pass-along cards!

I got to have exchanges with SISTER JOHNSON this week!!! She just barely came into the mission like a week ago, and it's fun to be with someone fresh out of the MTC because I feel like you leave it extra spiritually nourished haha. She is so sweet and we had a great day together! Also, she's from Lehi, UT and lives super close to me!

I've really seen God's hand in my life on exchange days. He puts people into our paths who we need to meet. We usually don't have tons of people come up and talk to us before we even talk to them, but the last two exchanges I've had that's happened! It was really cool, because Sister Johnson and I were sitting at a table studying, and a man named Juan came up to us and told us he had talked with missionaries before. He ended up sitting down at the table with us and we had a full lesson answering some of his questions. We invited him to church and he said he didn't know that there were services in Spanish, he thought they were only in English before.

I also really wanted Sister Johnson and I to be able to find an English-speaking friend to teach that day, but talking to the English speakers can be intimidating and there is a lot more rejection generally haha. We still tried hard to contact English-speakers though! After we'd faced a lot of rejection and were walking to the car at the end of the day, we saw a girl walking down the road. We almost walked past her, feeling a little dejected. But we didn't, and I'm so grateful we didn't! We asked her if she wanted a card and started talking about Jesus Christ, and she ended up saying yes and said, "I love Jesus Christ. I have a picture of him in my phone case that I always keep with me." She pulled out the picture and it was one of our church's pass-along cards! It was such a cool moment and I could feel how much she loved Christ. We set up a lesson with her and I hope the sisters get to keep teaching her! I felt Heavenly Father bless us so much that day.

Some days throughout this transfer I'm going to be in a trio! Hermana Mackay just came home from her mission in Chile a little early and she's serving a service mission for now! She switches off between the other Hermanas and us and spends the day with us. She spent one day this last week with us and it was way fun!

On Sunday, I gave a talk in church on charity. It went well, but at the 6pm service I was asked to give it again and President and Hermana Rodriguez surprise-visited our ward. I don't if it's the fact that they're my mission presidents or that they're native Spanish-speakers, but their presence definitely made me nervous to give my talk haha. Anyways it went good!

SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:

A few months ago, President Rodriguez talked with the missionaries about having "30 seconds of courage."

Being a missionary can be scary sometimes, and talking to everyone and sharing beliefs isn't always easy! But one thing I've noticed is that the scariest part is getting the courage to start. Once we're talking to people, whether they respond the way we want them to or not, I can feel the Lord helping me through it!

Satan works hard to get us to do the wrong thing, but he ALSO works hard to get us to never START doing the right thing.

Sometimes, we just need a little starting push in the right direction, and with the momentum, we can keep moving.

Hence, the "30 seconds of courage."

President invited us to pray for help to have 30 seconds of courage when we see someone walking down the street and when we know we should talk to them, or when don't feel motivated to do the right thing.

I've seen this mentality strengthen me so much when I need help doing missionary work. I know that if I can give my little part, and take just 30 seconds to start doing what I know God wants me to do, He can help make up for the rest.

My invitation for you all is to have just 30 seconds of courage this week. Compliment a stranger when it feels out of your comfort zone. Stand up for your beliefs when you don't know how people will react. God WILL make up the difference, and the joyful result WILL come!

I love you all!

-Hermana DeMordaunt