So, have you ever spent four nights in the maternity ward of a Tahitian hospital?....
'Cuz I have.
Ha ha! Oh, Mom, don't fret! Oh, you can't know how much I have been dying to send that phrase off! K, catch your breath, 'cuz I'm not even sick. But my dear friend and very first companion in the MTC, was very, very sick pretty much the whole time she has been here. They have tried and tried to figure it out, and had pretty much decided it was in her head. Then one night our mission president just had the inspiration that they needed to take her to the hospital immediately. When they got there, her blood sugar was so extremely high that another day without help would have sent her into a diabetic coma. It turns out that she has diabetes! It was an absolute miracle that President Sinjoux took her to the hospital when he did! And we were so grateful to finally find out what the problem is and that she can manage it! The little clinic she was at just happened to stick her in the maternity ward, and I just happened to be lucky enough to get four sleep-overs with her while she stayed there! I slept on the ground on a little air mattress. And every day I was awoken at six AM by a boisterous, white-haired, fast-talkin' French doctor who flipped on the lights and started ramblin' off about carbohydrates. Good thing I've become a morning person! It really was fun to spend time with my li'l Soeurry and help her feel better. She is doing great.
Mom, I got the package you sent! It was absolutely WONDERFUL! I love, love, love the clothes! I mean it, they are perfect! It is so nice to have new, pretty things to wear, and I feel like the real me when I've got vanilla Bath and Body works lip gloss on! Seriously, it was so refreshing! You are so nice, Mom! Thank you!!
Now, the biggest, best event of all! I am so, so, so happy to announce that this weekend was the baptism of three wonderful people, the three dressed in white in the photo attached! Michel, Moana, and Kalina! What a joyful thing! (Side note - my companion is not actually three feet tall, she's just standing on a lower step.) Truly, June 8th, 2013, was one of the most fulfilling days of my life. From the very first few days that I arrived in this area, I knew that I had a big job to do here, and that if nothing else happened, I needed to help Moana and Michel know Jesus Christ and live the goodness of the gospel. I made the goal that I would help them get baptized. And Saturday was the day! Some of the most precious moments of my mission were the three testimonies they bore - I will never forget Moana looking straight at me and Soeur D'agnillo and saying, "Thank you for helping me hope for a better life." And all the mosquitoes and stomach aches and stressful phone calls and hard stuff of the mission just melted into nothing. It's funny how its hard to keep perspective sometimes, not just on a mission, but in life all the time. Sometimes we forget why we are doing things or what the big picture is, but when we search for them or at least allow them to come, there are moments of clarity. And those moments where we grasp the big picture, like seeing a man who has gone from hopeless to hopeful through Jesus Christ, those are the moments that keep this world turning. Its so important to have them, it's just as important to remember them. I will try to remember that moment forever.
I had another moment of clarity this week, something that was very personal and sacred, but that I want to try and share a little bit. Last week I received the news that someone I love very much is having a very, very hard time. And I mean a truly bad time. I felt heartbroken. I couldn't stop thinking about it. The next morning I knelt down to say my prayer for my personal study with the heaviest heart. But something really amazing happened. I started talking to Heavenly Father with more pleading and sincerity than I have in quite awhile, and in praying, I felt what can only be described as real, true love. It felt like I was going to burst because I realized that I really, really loved this person whom I was praying for, and I realized that Heavenly Father loves them even more. I felt the reality of our relationship to Father in Heaven - we are really His children, we're really all brothers and sisters. And praying for a brother or sister to our Father is a real thing. We can do it without hesitation. We don't have to be perfect or even close. The truth is that He loves us infinitely. We can go to Him for absolutely everything, and we can ask Him to take care of the people we love. I prayed and prayed, and in the end I thought, "I don't know how He will fix this. But I know He'll take care of this person. He loves them." Prayer is power because it is love.
How cool is it to be alive? Its wonderful. I know that the Plan of Salvation is real. I'm so happy to be here right now doing the "earth thing." I'm joyful to know that it will just keep getting better.
I love you with all my heart!
- Soeur Mann
