The Long Winter. A Little Bit Lame.

The long winter: 1) A book in the "Little House" series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Also, one of the few books I've never finished (guess it was a little TOO long.) 2) Also, an 8 week transfer encompassing ALL the winter holidays. I'll be spending it in Lleida with Hermana Ingram (killed the suspense there, but since I forgot to mention last time that we would be having transfers, there wasn't much to build up to.)

Lame: 1) inability to walk normally as a result of injury to the leg or foot 2) (of an explanation or excuse) unconvincingly feeble.

Let's start out with a word you haven't heard in my emails lately...
Intercambio. Yes, I still do them, but there aren't very many hermanas in this smaller zone so they're a bit less frequent.  Anyway I had the strange yet pleasant opportunity to go on an intercambio with Hermana Manotas this Wednesday/Thursday. It was a strange blast from the past, complete with multiple bus rides, contacting in dimly lit streets, and always feeling slightly lost. It was remarkably like our transfer in Valencia! The only difference was US. We've both changed and grown because of and since that long-ago transfer together and now we can look back and see how important and necessary it was for both of us. We talked as old friends, taught together, and worked in beautiful Zaragoza.

Hermanas Een and Manotas, together again for an intercambio

Norma is an investigator out here who is PERFECT.... And she has plans to get married in February, so we're excited for her, but we have also been visiting with her sister Ana. She recently had a baby and has been SO open and sincere and ready to learn. We challenged her and her husband (not the baby, that's The Catholic Church) to prepare to be baptized on Christmas Day. We're working towards a white Christmas, my friends!

Another lesson I learned this past week is that pride comes before a fall. I was telling my companion the day before (as she continues to wage a war on her internal intestinal battlefield) that I've never stayed in piso [apartment] on the mission because of my own sickness or health challenges. And then that next morning my foot slipped out from under me as I was doing wall sits and slammed into the table in front of me.  Did I really just have a repeat baby toe injury? Yes, this time on the other foot. I iced it and tried to ignore it and we went out that morning to test it out. Upon returning and taking off the sock I was greeted with the satisfying fact that I wasn't being lame (making a fuss unnecessarily) but that I was, in fact, somewhat lame, as my purple toe and ugly bruise proved. We called it in and stayed the rest of the day icing and elevating it. (Applicable scripture, James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.) now we're being more careful, and I'm learning patience yet again.
         

As Christmas approaches, with all the fun festivities, I'm remembering more and more this year, the real reason. That God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. For us. As part of a grand, eternal, and perfect plan, of which a Savior is an essential part.  Mosiah 3:5 For behold, the time cometh, and is not far distant, that with power, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is from all eternity to all eternity, shall come down from heaven among the children of men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle of clay, and shall go forth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receive their sight, and the deaf to hear, and curing all manner of diseases.  In third Nephi, after tumult and destruction, Christ's voice is heard pleading for the people to come so he can heal them. That is why he came and why we still celebrate his birth, because he heals and makes us whole, in his own, perfect timing. And I've never been so sure of anything.

Companion facts:  once lived next door to Miley Cyrus. Likes picking things up with her toes/ is actually really good at it.