Hermana Hess en Chile: Sad Endings, New Beginnings

hola familia!

This has been a week of miracles and tears, sad goodbyes and remembering just how blessed we are for this time to represent the Lord. hna Cordoba leaves for Colombia this Wednesday. I am so sad to see her go. She was and is by far my favorite companion. With her I learned so much. With her I really felt that I became an adult. With her I came to know Padre Celestial y Jesucristo even more.

The first cambio with her was really rough. We did not get along one bit. We are so different, with different backgrounds and experiences. With her I learned how to make something out of nothing. I learned patience and hope.

There were times when I thought that I couldn’t make it another day. I felt like a zombie at first, just going through the motions, waiting and hoping for cambios.... we both knew that our companionship was in trouble right from the start.

It was a weird relationship. We acted like work partners. The only thing that united us was that we were missionaries. There was a wall in between us that was slowly sucking the life and joy out of the mission and out of both of us. Comp inventories were brutal. I felt like I was stuck in a bad marriage.

Then the week before cambios we decided to start praying together right before bed. All during cambios week, I didn’t feel like I was leaving and neither did hna Cordoba. Our relationship was still really stressed and a friend wouldn’t be one of the words I would have used to describe her. But I felt like we were trying and I felt like there was hope.

I had really mixed feelings about cambios. I was hoping for cambios so that I could enjoy the mission more and hopefully get along better with my new comp. but I also felt that there was hope on the horizon. I knew it would be difficult but I knew that I would progress more as a person if we stayed together. Every night I prayed that I could accept God’s will and if it so be that we are together for one more cambio that He would give me the strength I needed.

Cambios came and went and we never got called which meant that we would be together for one more cambio. The first 2 weeks were just as difficult but I testify on the power of prayer. After about a week of praying together, we began noticing a difference in our companionship.

I’m not sure how, I’m not sure when, but now she is one of my best friends. I could be with her for another cambio and be every happy. She taught me to be confident in myself. She taught me to serve everyone. She taught me about the power of forgiveness. In these two cambios with her, I needed to learn patience, humility, and confidence. She needed to learn to use nice words, how to build others up, and patience.

But recognize that this is just one-sided. I’m sure she’d say something different that she learned, like patience, long suffering and humility, from me.

I am so graaaateful for these two cambios that I have had with hna Cordoba. I love her so much! We both were what we needed to continue to progress, we both helped each other develop more Christ-like attributes.

None of this would have been possible without the divine help of Padre Celestial and prayer. Prayer changes hearts, it changes people, it changes us. Like the song, en verdad (truly), prayer can change the night to day.

The next time you feel like you can’t do it, that you feel like a zombie just going through the motions waiting for the trial to end, WAKE UP!!!!! Get on your knees, then get up and learn. Get up and go to work. Get up and trust in God and in good things to come because they always come.

I am going to miss la hna Cordoba. She has changed my life forever. I am so grateful that we were able to have two cambios together. haha like I said, with the other 2 comps that I have been with for 2 cambios, by the time 90 days came around I was really ready for cambios, but with her I could’ve stayed one more. Miracles happen. Sometimes we just have to accept the will of God and let things play out with the hope that tomorrow will be a little better.

Oh and just so you know.... my camera got a virus and I lost all my fotos of the past 7 months....

love you all and hope you enjoy this week!!!!