My dad and Sharon are here visiting for a few days at the end of their trip to Peru. We all went to church this morning together. I love that the church we belong to is worldwide and the same wherever we go. We have an automatic family! The primary program is next week and Hallie and Jace now have parts :). There were at least 4 sets of missionaries there, so Mishell got to meet with them so they could explain better what was happening. The elders are coming over this afternoon to continue talking to her. We have let her know that it is her decision if she wants to be taught or not, and so far she said yes. She said she especially enjoyed the songs at church. I am proud to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints and I have a testimony of its truth!
Before we went to church, we told Mishell a little bit about church and that we go every week. She has had some introduction to God and Jesus Christ as she was in a Catholic orphanage. She also said she went to church each week, but when I told her that we go for three hours, she was shocked. :)
We walked to the church, which took about 20 minutes. We first encountered a set of sister missionaries, one of whom was clearly white. We had a little chat with them but sacrament was about to start. I could see that Mishell was a little overwhelmed with everything going on, so Devin and I decided that it would best to have some of the missionaries meet with her during the Sunday school hour to explain what it is we are doing and what we believe. We have not wanted to push Mishell with religion at all, so we asked her if she wanted to talk to the missionaries that we met on the way in. She was agreeable, so we did that during the Sunday school hour. The blonde missionary is from North Salt Lake (two towns away from us) and her companion is from Argentina, which was great because she is a native Spanish speaker. They had a short discussion with Mishell and then took her on a tour of the church. During this, we went into the chapel to find Hallie and Jace on the stand with all the other kids practicing for the primary program next week. Each had an ipad in their hands with the words to the songs in Spanish. I couldn't help but laugh. Hallie could maybe catch a word here or there, but since she is just starting to read in English, reading and singing in Spanish is probably a bit out of her league. Jace on the other hand cannot even read in English, so he just stood there with the ipad in his hands. It was comical. Oh, and they also both have parts for the program next week. Multiple people wanted to make sure that we would bring them for the primary practice on Saturday. :) It's great.
The sisters gave Mishell a Book of Mormon in Spanish and a pamphlet explaining basic things about the church. After the tour, they introduced us to the elders who cover our area. They are secretaries to the President and a companionship of three (this week- transfers are tonight). They made an appointment to come at 4 pm today (again with Mishell's okay)Its crazy that as soon as we started talking about what we are doing here and our adoption story, two of the elders mentioned that they have siblings who were adopted. Of the three coming to our house, one was white and from Colorado, and he had two sisters adopted from China. They were 5 and 9 when they came home, so he remembers having the missionaries over as a family to teach his sisters. The other two elders are from Peru and Argentina, so again native Spanish speakers, which I think is good.
Mishell and I went to the last half of Relief Society and she was bored stiff, so I think next week she will try Primary. She didn't want to today...which of course I don't blame her. But I think she is all Relief Society'd out after one half of a lesson. :)
We came home, had lunch and naps, and then the missionaries came over. There were actually four of them, the three elders and one Ecuadorian waiting for his visa to serve in the Ogden, Utah mission. :) We thought it would be cool to have him be able to continue to teach Mishell when he gets there, but the boundaries were just changed and Farmington is not in that mission anymore. Bummer.
The missionaries talked to Mishell about God and Jesus Christ and their love for us. They asked her how she was feeling and she said "better. Good." And they talked to her about feeling the spirit. It was a special meeting. We then watched a short Mormon messages video. It seemed to go well, but she did seem to be a bit overwhelmed by the end. I think 4 people all trying to teach you would be hard. They did a great job though. The one Elder with adopted siblings talked about his experience with their adoption and how special it was for their family and shared his feelings that they are his siblings just like the others in his family. They had my dad and me share our feelings about Mishell coming into our family. We fed the missionaries dessert and then sent them on their way. I think we will meet with them again next Sunday. The one from Peru is transferring tonight, but the other two and the local one waiting for a visa will come again.
After the missionaries, Mishell was bouncing off the wall a bit. She was really hyped up. We Skyped with Devin's family who were all gathered for his parents' missionary homecoming. That was really fun. She was interactive and waving at all the kids and trying out their names. She thought Uncle Travis was one of the people in the Mormon Messages movie we had just watched and couldn't get over it. That was pretty funny. She was also confused by the fact that we were talking to abuelos in the computer when she had abuelos in the kitchen here. It's got to be hard to go from no family to this big, huge family that we have. She is taking it all in and doing well though.
Tomorrow we are off to Otavalo, a town about two hours away. It will be a fun day trip!
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| Bad picture, but I couldn't help but take a picture of Hallie on the stand trying to sing with the other kids for the Primary practice |
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| Church with Grandma and Grandpa |
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| And all of us together! wish Flor was looking and the wind wasn't blowing in my face, but oh well. |
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| LOOK!! I braided that mop of hair all by myself!! So proud. Be proud- it was a feat! |
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| The kids with the missionaries. Elder Bahr from Colorado, Elder G. (cannot recall, it's a hard one) from Argentina, Elder M. (again, cannot recall) from Peru and Pablo (Aka David Archuleta-- I swear he looks just like him!) |
Hasta luego! Things are moving along here. Just needing a court date as soon as possible and that will be lovely!
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