Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! Hi, Mill! Hi, Berns! Hi, Benny! If there is one thing I want to say, its this: I love you. Holy cow, I love you guys so much.
THANK YOU for your emails. Please keep writing me every week and talk about whatever the heck you want. And please write me letters! I will try and send some, too. They are apparently faster going out than going in.
Fam, I miss you so bad. But I'm realizing that its okay, and you know why? Because we love each other. And I believe in love. Our family knows that love is not just an emotion, but a real, binding, eternal power. If you really believe in Jesus Christ, you believe that. I cant really express this in an email, especially with a time constraint, but I want you to know that I really believe in families. I believe they last forever. I love you with all my heart, and I know that it is really only through Jesus Christ that we are the happy, eternal family we are. And I love Him for that.
Now I would like to tell you a story. One morning this week I was trying to do personal study next to my companion and our friend Hereti. The stress and loneliness of the language and homesickness was just wearing on me so bad. I quietly left the table and went into the bathroom, knelt down and cried. I cried and cried. My companions eventually figured out what was going on and kinda comforted me, and I brushed myself off and moved on.
Later that day we had a first lesson with an older lady. She brought us onto her patio and introduced us to her mom, a very, very old lady, all wrinkled and small. Her eyes are kind of cloudy with cataracts, and she can barely hear or talk. During the lesson my companion talked with the first lady, but I just kept eye contact with this sweet old woman. She kept pointing to her ears and mouth, trying to explain to me that she couldnt understand.
My heart was just bursting. Everyone else kept talking, but I just stared at this lady with all the love I could possibly give. For the whole lesson, I held her gaze and smiled. At the end, I went over and stroked her hand and kissed her on the head. Neither of us followed everything in the lesson, but we had spoken to each other. As we rode our bikes away, I cried for the second time that day, out of gratitidue for the beautiful way God teaches us. Without the pain of the morning, I wouldnt have understood this womans frustration they way I did. But because of my small suffering, I was able to relate to her and love her with a real sincerity.
Life is beautiful!
All my love,
Soeur Mann
