We gave drunk people cookies, went Christmas caroling in Navajo, brought tons of new faces to church, and best of all, we found ourselves a shima sani!
A brief history of shimas.
Picture a 92-year-old lady. Now imagine she is just over the 4 foot mark.
Now put wrinkles all over her, and a TON of heavy turquoise jewelry on her wrists, ears, etc.
She is wearing a little skirt, and strap on Nike shoes so she can run faster.
If you are doing this right, you see a little oompa loompa lady in you mind.
She has a hunch back, and a cane, and she has about 2 teeth. She mutters random Navajo and smacks you with her cane if you don't reply fast enough.
Now if you have properly imagined this woman, you will be having feelings of incredulous wonder.
How could one amazing lady be so small?
How is this woman still alive?
Why does she have such impeccable fashion?
Why do I have the irrepressible urge to hug this lady?
All very valid questions.
This week I taught in my first hooghan (circular 1-room home, dirt floor, wood stove, traditional to Navajos). It was TINY and there were 4 kids, their grandmother, and their shima sani, Rose, living inside! It was crammed full of things, and they had no electricity, so we went and sat on the bed, and had to use the light of the fire from the wood stove to see. We taught Joseph, who is 10, and he wants to be baptized! So they came to church on Sunday for the first time! Joseph's grandmother agreed to help Joseph to learn and be at church. She is a member herself, in fact, but hasn't been for some time. We gave Rose, the shima sani, a plate of cookies and immediately her wrinkled eyes opened wide. "Baa likani!! Baa likani! Ayoo shil ya'at'eeh! Ahehee' Ahehee'! Aoo'! Ahehee' shiyazh!!!" (Cookie, cookie!! I love cookies! Thank you, thank you!! Thank you sons!") Then she proceed to munch away with her two teeth, as she sat by the wood stove in her own little world, eating away.
It was THE BEST THING that I have seen on my mission so far.
Being in that tiny hooghan was so humbling. The family was so nice, and happy, and humble. Even though I am around those kinds of things every day, it really gave me a reality check.
The Atonement is so real.
It is the only thing that can heal a broken soul. The sacrifice of Christ allows for us to choose to return to our God. It gives us the opportunity to be with our families and friends in the eternities. We all know the scripture that says: "we are saved through the grace that is in Christ Jesus, but faith without works is dead", claiming that it is all about our actions! And that is right. Without choosing to follow Christ's footsteps, we have no chance of receiving His blessings. But it is too often that we focus on the "works" aspect, and don't give credit to the first half of the scripture. It is too often that we forget the grace of Jesus Christ, and the enabling power of His love. Without His gift, we would never be able to return to God. Without His Atonement, we would inevitably fall, and even with our own "works", we would be in no position to redeem our souls. The laws of Justice would not allow for our redemption. Only through the Atonement is salvation possible.
So let's focus on Christ and His gift to us.
A lot of people feel like their sin is too great to be covered by repentance in Christ's name.
But that is not ever true. When a mom pays for her child's piano lessons, she pays the price, willingly and happily. She wants her child to learn to play, to perfect the instrument! But it is not the child's job to pay back his mother. Practicing the piano does not make up for the debt! But when the mother hears the notes being played, she is happy! She is excited to see her child make progress. When the child messes up, misses notes and ruins scales, the mother does not become angry and expect her child to stop playing. In fact, she expects mistakes. In order for her child to become perfect, he must make mistakes!
It is the same with Christ. We do not owe Christ for the cost of His love. In fact, we can NEVER repay Him. But what we can do is USE His gift. He expects us to keep trying, and He will ALWAYS be by our sides as we continue to grow and learn. We should never feel like He has left us. In fact, only WE can leave HIM. Letting Christ into your life is a choice. You can either accept Him or not. It is as simple as that. He is never angry at us if we try, He will never abandon us. Only WE can abandon HIM.
So play the piano! Make mistakes! Learn! Grow! Make every note count!
Ask Christ to aid you on your way. God will strengthen you, and He will be with you.
You do not understand His grace if you feel separated from Him.
So I challenge you all to work to feel close to Him. Stop worrying about whether or not He feels close by, and rid yourself of anything that separates you from your Savior. If something is between you and your happiness, then turn away from it, and follow Christ.
I promise you will IMMEDIATELY feel His love as you follow His commandments.
You will be happy, and you will have more light.
Merry Christmas, everyone.
Love,
Elder Hilton.
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| Scripture case! A Navajo lady made it for me out of fleece :D |
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Natural Bridge hike on P-day!
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| The sisters have two investigators who had this little guy. I held Julian on the hike to Natural Bridge. He is hilarious! |
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| 6 people live in this tiny little hooghan. Dirt floor, no electricity, wood stove! The one on the left burnt down so they had to build a new one. |
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| Christmas at the trailer consists of blasting hymns and shooting nerf blow darts everywhere.
Elder Livermont has a mean shot.
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| What we do with what little spare time we have..... Elder Lind is a good artist! I think we were all bitter that we couldn't see The Hobbit. |
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