Hello my dear family!
Did you know that there are people in New Mexico and Texas
that only speak German? They come from a German colony in Mexico and they ended
up moving to the states! I have met a whole kaleidoscope of people this last
week. I've also spoken more Spanish in the past six days than I did in all of
my time in Lubbock! Yay! Exciting! Carlsbad is so different from both Roswell and Lubbock.
I can't explain it. It's a pretty small town (pop.~3500) and it's pretty spread
out so it feels nothing like Lubbock. It's an oil field boom town, so a whole
bunch of people work in the oil business--which makes it difficult to keep
consistent teaching appointments with them (grrr) but that's okay because there
are some really solid and special people here! We actually talked to a man at
Walmart today about the gospel. His name was Manuel and he spoke Spanish to us
and was asking about our name tags. We talked about the Bible and I asked if he
had heard about the Book of Mormon. He said no, so Sister Russell pulled one
out of her bag and I briefly explained/introduced it. He was quiet, but then he
asked "Can I have one?" And he was super excited about it! We invited
him to church too, and the thing is, that he asked for all of the
information, so it's kind of like he invited himself!
I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting yesterday, being
the new missionary and all, and I talked a little about the Atonement and
related it to Alma 22 when Aaron is teaching King Lamoni's father. He was
willing to give up everything he had, his riches, his kingdom, even
his sins, so that he could come to know God. And that made me think, how much
is it worth to me to know God? And so I want to ask y'all that
as well: How much is it worth to YOU to know God? And what does it
even mean to know God?
One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how much the Lord
is teaching me while I'm serving this mission. I keep thinking that I'm here to
teach, but I'm figuring out that I am here to be taught. Sometimes it's
gentle, and sometimes it feels like I've been hit by a train, but I always
learn something every day.
I love you all dearly and I hope you have a splendid week!
:D
Love, Sister Tycksen
Here's that picture of us with Jessica!
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