Evergreen Avenue : Week 21: Almost Gave President a Concussion...

IT'S SO FLUFFY I'M GONNA DIEEEEEE

Heyo Fam-Bam!

Ok well I am just going to skip to what I studied and learned this week because I am impatient and stoked to tell you all that I have learned! So bare with me… you get a good story at the end if you endure it. Haha.

Ok so this past week I studied Charity in Preach my Gospel (the manna from Heaven) because ya know… it is something I struggle with.. haha just a mean, cold person… just teasing. But it has been the attribute of Christ that I have always loved to study. It is a trait I want to obtain and remember every single day.

I used to think charity meant volunteering at the homeless shelter once in a while, serving an 18 month mission or something haha. But it is so SO much more! Serving, being patient, avoiding negative feelings like anger, envy, lust, or covetousness, avoid judging others, gossiping… Instead, LOVE.. loving others. Serving because you just absolutely LOVE with all of your heart.

I was reading in Matthew when Jesus hears that John the Baptist, his friend, was killed. His heart broke… He loved John and John loved him SO much… John rejoiced even before they were born just when Mary (with Jesus) was nearby her cousin Elisabeth. When Jesus got the news He departed and people followed Him. His disciples told him to tell them to leave (It said that when He heard He departed… I think maybe to go to John? You will have to help me with that part) But He told His disciples not to send the multitude away, but to feed them. I read this just in awe how He immediately thought of others, turning outward rather than inwards like the natural man would want to do… He was so sad, but He still just served others. Also, I read when Peter walked on the water and when his faith shook , Christ IMMEDIATELY caught him. He didn’t watch and get mad that Peter was scared, He immediately stretched forth his hand lovingly.

He is truly the greatest example of love and charity… 2000 years later even if people have no religion they KNOW the name “Jesus Christ…” Because he had this love. I was reading Articles of Faith by James E. Talmage one night after planning. (This book give me the biggest headache) and Chapter 24 is about practical religion (article 13). There is this one part where it says, “Religion without morality, professions of Godliness without charity, church-membership without adequate responsibility as to individual conduct in daily life, are but as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals… noise without music, the words without the spirit of prayer.” Then it says, “Honesty of purpose, integrity of soul, individual purity, freedom of conscience, willingness to do good to all men even enemies. Characteristics of the true church.” Pure benevolence, benevolence as defined in this book (This book that I have come close to throwing out the window because it is so cool and stressed me outtt) says, “Benevolence is founded on love for fellow men; it embraces, though it far exceeds charity etc. etc.” Benevolence (or charity) is placed only second to love for God. These two commandments are virtually one. “He who abideth one of the two will abide both; for without love for our fellowmen, it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God.” Oh but wait… it gets better… Then we read in 1 John 4:7, 8, 20, 21: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.” Still with me? Ok now we are reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 13, the epistle of Paul to the saints at Corinth. At the beginning it says, “charity, a pure love, excels and exceeds almost all else.” Then at the end of verse 2, 3, and 13 we read, “And though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; BUT the GREATEST is CHARITY.

So…. Yeah at the end of my study you know I was just in a corner hyperventilating wanting to call anyone I have ever wronged or been rude to… haha just kidding… but it really is eye opening! Holy cow! How do we obtain the gift of charity or any of the attributes that we want in this life? “Pray unto the Father with all the energy of Heart, that you may be filled with this love.” (Moroni 7:48)

We are full of imperfections… But when we recognize our imperfections it is not the time to just give up and say, “That’s just how I am.” Or, “I’ve always been like that so…” We are evolving beings! How cool? I am so guilty of these sayings… “Well she has never been nice to me so I aint gonna try to be her friend!” Or, Sarah’s personal fav or mine… “I’m just an introvert! Leave me alone, I need my own space!” Haha sorry sista…

When we have imperfections we need to pray to God to give us the gifts that can correct our imperfections. President George Q Cannon said, “If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the gospel. They are intended for this purpose.” The attributes of Christ are developed one action and decision at a time. It takes ACTION. Haha I love teaching our investigators about taking action to grow their understanding and faith… I always throw my planner on the ground and say, “Can you move my planner with your faith?” They say no… Then I say, “I CAN!” They look at me all wide eyed like I am about to reveal my super powers… then I just pick it up… hahaha Then we explain how faith needs ACTION!! It’s so true. If we want Christlike attributes we take action and work on it every day. I want to obtain the attribute of charity so bad… I compare myself a lot… I tend to put myself down comparing my Spanish to others, teaching skills, etc. And that is never going to make me happy in life. And if you have charity you don’t compare. We need to keep gathering light and live to our full potential and strive to become like Christ. God put a little bit of his light in all of us… we need to keep helping it grow. I love studying about the light of Christ and his attributes. I am so grateful for such an incredible example! I hope this all made sense haha… Next week I am studying the light of Christ! Or I guess this week? If you guys want to put in your thoughts about the light of Christ! Oh also, last thing, I read the talk, “Perfection Pending” By Russel M. Nelson this week. Read it read it read it!

3 things that sum up my week…

1. I learned that I can’t paint a house (a wall) to save my life.

2. We had 3 earthquakes in one day. One in the middle of the night

3. We almost gave President a mini concussion… accident don’t judge yet.

I’ll start from the beginning. We have been painting a member’s house all week! It has been so much fun! I love service projects. PLUS, they have a pet polar bear… well he’s a puppy… but I am obsessed. We were buddies the whole time and I accidentally made him blue… The paint wasn’t exactly dry when I picked him up. Anyways, it was great. We painted the hosue literally the same exact color that it already was but they said they wanted it to be green and gave us a color that I swear is the same color… oh well… I’ve come to accept that some things just don’t make sense. One time we did a service project and moved all of this dirt that they told us to move… Then told us to put it back… So you just accept it. Wow my painting skills are lacking though… You’d think I would have gotten something out of karate kid (painting the fence) but I always happened to get more paint on my clothes rather than on the wall… I feel bad.. I should have just pet the dog. But hey we finished! It looks….the same. Helping someone out was fun though. J

Explains the struggle... This was the only wall a different color.. The other walls were the exact same.

We survived 3 more earthquakes! One was when I was reading the good Book of Mormon in Helaman 14 and I kid you not I was around verse 20-24 when we felt the earthquake… Go read it and you will understand why that was weird haha! I kind of just thought, “wow! Nobody told me this book comes with special effects! Haha There was another Earthquake during the day and then one when we were sleeping.. I think I’ve been here for a while because I woke up to the whole bed and room shaking and I was more annoyed that I had been woken up than scared or excited haha we were getting texts and calls form the other Hermanas who said, “Did you feel that one?!” Yes.. now please go to bed. Nah I was nice ;) But really tired. So yeah! All is well… It wasn’t anything too big because it was somewhere else in Peru so it was a 4 here but a 6.2 I think they said in the other place. I think 6.2 is pretty big! Because the one that leveled the city in Italy was 6.5 right? I think that’s what our Pensionista told us. Anyways… still breathing, still living.

Our President is also alive and well… Wednesday night around 9:30 we got a random call that President and Hermana marbles were on their way to our house! You can imagine it was pretty close to the scene from the Best 2 Years… running around, re-arranging, Hermana Torres flipping over the pictures of her 3 boyfriends back to the First Presidency… haha totally kidding we are actually very tidy so nothing like that. They came up and just talked! I am proud to say they loved our rooms! Especially our pictures! They loved the one of dad as a missionary and Jackson and Mickey too. It was just kind of like a fun chat/small devotional! Hermana Marbles was doing room inspections to make sure we have first aid kids, blankets, etc. It was fun to talk to them. Hermana Marble is the sweetest lady I have ever met! So after we talked for a little, we had a fam prayer all together and then walked outside and “WHACK!” Cement stairs (with absolutely no purpose here): 1, President: 0. President hit his head super hard on the cement stairs because you walk under them… and he is really tall… Ah we felt so bad! His head started bleeding! So then he was talking to us but kept feeling his head and then Hermana Marbles was talking to us and he kept politely saying, “ok darling maybe we should go…” (while feeling his head).. Then they left and we just kind of stood there like, “Well that went well I guess?...” We now know he is alive and well so that’s good!

Well, have a great week! Sounds like you all are doing awesome. Haha I LOVE Ethan’s emails! Ethan, I can’t believe you escaped the 4 walls… Haha Love you all so much! Keep reading the Book of Mormon together! And I am totally doing the family fitspiration challenge with yall… except when I am force fed food.. right? And I have an idea… instead of the prize being going to Canada… I say Machu Picchu in October… wink wink.. way better than Canada! K leaving haha bye!

Love your llama Hermana Springer