If the Savior Stood Beside Me

This week. This week. Was indescribable. I can't describe it.

So I'll just tell you about it in a few days :)

Just kidding.

Well sometimes we hope that our last week we'll be able to go out with a bang and get the highest numbers in the planet, and we got the lowest. But we had an incredible week. It started last week after moving when we met with our leaders to plan and I felt we needed to center our conference completely on the Savior and do something different. So I started studying a lot about that.

Tuesday morning really early we headed to Tuxtla for my last council and got to see everyone up there. We began singing "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" (but in Spanish of course) and about halfway through the second verse I pretty much lost it and was just crying. I felt something so special. The Savior has become an even closer friend and He has changed so much for me. Only my companion noticed so that was nice. She's gotten to see me cry...a LOT. I decided I like crying now. The spirit changes us so much. But it was amazing because President talked only for a minute with us all and said he wanted our missionaries to understand the Savior better. So much inspiration going on everywhere.

We zoomed home and went at it preparing things with the zone leaders for the next morning's conference and had a really, REALLy special conference, in which we were able to throw together several activities and workshops, AND a completely impromptu musical number in which I suddenly had the violin I'd borrowed longer than I'd expected, and brought it, called the bishop to see if he could help, and halfway through the conference we snuck out with the ZL's to throw together an arrangement and practice one time with the bishop in the other room as some other elders were giving their workshop. It ended up going perfectly, I played "I'm trying to be like Jesus" on the violin with the bishop on the piano, and then he did a cool transition into "If the Savior Stood Beside Me" and the four of us came in singing the first two verses. Once again I lost it a little. And then the third verse we had the words on the board and the bishop did this huge introduction, and we ALL CAME IN SINGING with me on the violin doing harmony-obligato things and the HEAVENS OPENED ALL AROUND. I'm not sure if anyone else really felt it or if music is just such a powerful thing for me but it may have been one of the most beautiful moments of my existence. One elder was crying. Aw.

Here are our guys in Comitan. They're perfect. And basically our brothers.

Then we spent the week working a couple afternoons fixing problems in the new house, going to Comitan for amazing conference round 2 in which we tried some other ideas and also had an incredible experience, and THEN I came home and my eye had exploded with red and I was coughing a ton and my throat hurt and we were like "What just HAPPENED?" and luckily it was time to go home so we did, and the next morning I woke up with a fever and stomach problems and all the above from the day before and it was awesome. I told my companion she did a good job in "matarme" (killing me), which is what we say here for those who send their companions home.

When I called the leaders to tell them they just laughed. So did I. It was awesome. I was like "I always wanted to get sick in the mission!"  Too bad it didn't have a cool name or anything. It was just pure death. But they were nice and came to give me a blessing, we did it in a member's house closeby, where conveniently three other people wanted a blessing as well and then they gave us all protein shakes, and they took care of me all day even the mom who isn't a member was just bringing me things and rubbing my back and saying "poor thiiiiiing so far from home" and I was just laughing and I just sat in death and didn't want to eat or look at anything. But I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm not sure why. There's something satisfying about getting really sick your last day in the mission.

But now I'm pretty good, I just have a Miley Cyrus voice.

The point is, I love you all and am ridiculously grateful and happy and not sad, just really grateful for everything in the whole world and really excited to see you all . In the morning I head to visit Coita, (Ocozocoautla) go to Tuxtla, and that's where I'll be til Thursday morning.

Have a great day!

Here are Hermana Riches and me being killed by our zone.