There are about a million different things that I love about Ocoa. It's got cool mountains, delicious fruit, huge avocados and a lot of really nice people. And I LOVE talking to nice people.
Elder West and I had a fun moment the other day where I talked him through some ways to start a conversation with anyone in Spanish, and we hit the streets so he could try talking to people on his own. Before leaving, I warmed him up by playing out what I imagined a pretty typical conversation would be pretending to be an old lady with an elaborate backstory (moved from the capital to live with son, got 2 daughters in the states, favorite food is spaghetti, etc). Then the first person he talked to wound up saying verbatim all the same things my imaginary old lady said, right down to the invitation to come to the house for spaghetti at the end. We freaked out! I guess I've done this a few times haha.
We made a lot of new friends right by our house, including a young family whose dad passed away just a week before we met them. Their mom was still pretty shaken up, so we just talked to them and played some games with the kids (they loved my hackysack). After we got to know them a bit we had the incredible privilege to explain to them exactly where their father/husband was according to the plan of salvation that was revealed to us through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We testified of a loving Heavenly Father, who prepared the way for us to live with our families again.
Beyond that special experience not too many things particularly extraordinary happened this week, but I have noticed that I've been finding more joy in the regular miracles of my life.
I love waking up early so I can start my day with exercise that gets me sweaty enough to enjoy the cold shower. I find a lot of enjoyment in brewing and eating cinnamon-apple oatmeal in the morning with Elder West, Bruick and Simmons. I love deciding which tie I'm going to wear today. I love finding a pair of clean socks I didn't know I had at the back of my drawer and re-committing to not forget to wash my clothes tonight. I love learning spanish. I actually get such a kick out of walking around all day talking to strangers. I love reading the scriptures and discovering new ideas in old stories.
More than anything, I love living worthy to have the Holy Spirit with me! It is so awesome.
What are some of your favorite regular miracles?
Enjoy your week everybody! Keep up the good work and stuff 😎
