Letter #76 - February 28, 2011

Hello everybody,

This week was pretty uneventful which is just as well because I only have about five minutes to write about it. Haha. Well We are still working hard with the families we're teaching but none of them were able to come to church this week. Carlos hasn't been drinking at all, which is great, but Julio has been drunk all week despite our super human efforts to help him to stop. We practically camped out at his house a few days this week but to no avail. However, we have also been contacting families and have found a few more really positive families to work with.

Thanks for the good counsel, dad, about writing those things in my journal. To be honest, it has been harder and harder to write in my journal and I really need to dedicate some time to it and record EVERYTHING.  One day this week I was walking home from our dinner appointment with the other three hermanas, joking and laughing with them as we went. It had been such a good day, full of great experiences and I just felt so full of joy, full right up to the brim. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks how soon all of this would be coming to an end and I got quiet and a little bit sad. Oh how I will miss people arguing in Spanish in the streets, saying "adios" to all the little kids who shout out "Hermana Crosland!", talking to anyone I want to in the street, walking into any house and becoming instant friends with complete strangers, testifying of Jesus Christ and how the gospel will change their lives. It really is a strange and beautiful thing to be a missionary. I know that this is a singular experience that I will only live once and now it is coming to an end. How strange it feels. All I know is that I am going to squeeze all the juice out of these last two weeks, every last drop.

Being a missionary is the greatest thing in the world - angels on earth.

Love, Hna. Crosland