March 18, 2011

Hello Everyone!
So.....two days ago the greatest thing in the history of the world happened and none of you even knew about it......................I GOT MY TRAVEL PLANS TO TAMPA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am literally so excited that I can barely breathe! I'm pretty sure I jumped up and down for a good hour, screamed a couple times, and couldn't even eat dinner I was so excited! A week from Monday, the 28th of March, I will be gathering outside the travel office with my two companions and the two elders coming with us at 3:00 am. About 11 hours later, at 3:50 pm local time, we arrive in Tampa. I can literally not sit still when I think or talk about this, so I should probably move on to other topics since it is really hard to type, think, and jump up and down all at the same time!
It is amazing how isolated the MTC makes you. We are so cut off from news and the world that when we hear something we don't always know how to react. It is hard to remember that earthquakes, basketball tournaments and cell phones still exist! When I do hear about these things it always makes me think, "I am so grateful to be where I am." I mentioned this in my last letter, but missionaries and being a missionary is really cool. We can know and do things that would simply be impossible in any other setting.
I can't believe the responsibility and power of my call sometimes. I feel honored and inadequate a good portion of the time. One scripture I love is Mark 10:27. When Jesus is teaching the people he says, "With men it IS impossible, but not with God: for with God ALL things are possible." I know that is true. I know that with all my heart. Just yesterday I had a moment where I was so frustrated with Spanish that it consumed me. Then God gave me the opportunity to overhear some missionaries who had been here for two weeks...turns out I CAN speak Spanish. And you know what? They will too. I know that when I get out to the field and I here the natives speak to me and I try to respond I am going to be beyond frustrated, and feel like I don't know anything. But one thing I can do is bear my testimony. I KNOW I can do that in Spanish. And I KNOW that God will give me the Spanish that I need to teach his children. I just need to have faith.
Faith, now there is a topic that has been in my mind a lot lately. I was thinking about faith just yesterday in fact when talking with one of my investigators. She is having a really hard time committing to something because she doesn't know if it will work out the way she wants it to. I kept picturing a dark room. It is so much easier to stand in the dimly lit hallway than to step into the dark room, close the door, and look for the light switch. It doesn't matter that you KNOW there IS a light switch in there. It also doesn't matter that you don't really WANT to be in the hallway. When it comes right down to it, it is just plain scary to be in the dark. Then comes to mind the beautiful scripture in Ether 12:6, "I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because you see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.”
Faith is hard, and scary. But in every situation, if that dark room is a room that the Lord has directed you to, if you know that despite the difficulty and fear that it is the right place to be, that you will find the light switch and the light that comes will be brilliant beyond your comprehension. Trust in God. Trust that He will lead and guide you. He will. Have Faith.
Sometimes, I don't know what to say in these letters, in fact, I usually am not the one deciding. I hope that they help someone or answer some question that someone has. But if any of you out there have a question or a concern or anything at all, you have someone who will listen to your every burden, and gladly bear them with you. Turn to your Heavenly Father in every way, and in every thing you do. I would love to help in any way that I can, but know that I am simply a humble servant of my God, and he is the Master of my feet.
I love you all. I pray for each of you. I know that I have been blessed with some of the greatest people on earth to be a part of my life.
Love, Hermana Levanger