....It takes approximately 36 hours to drive from Seymour IN to Lynden WA.
We didn't e-mail yesterday because the library was closed, hopefully you figured that out.
Tuesday:
We went and gave service, sometimes it's kind of boring. It is just
really slow so we don't do a whole lot. Then we had a lesson with
Donita. Sis Fullmer met her the previous week so it was my first time
meeting with her. We reviewed the Restoration, talked about the
importance of baptism and being able to do baptisms for the dead. Both
her and her 11 year old son said they would be baptized. It was great!
Unfortunately they said they would be able to go to church, but then
they could last minute. We were also supposed to have a lesson with them
right after this, but she just cancelled.....
We also had another lesson with Bro Rollie. I got frustrated
because we ended up talking about the Godhead again, and I couldn't
answer his questions. We are teaching him again tonight and we are going
to talk about faith....
Then we taught the Gasaway's again. We watched the Restoration DVD
and talked more about prophets, etc. They still want to get baptized
which is great.
Wednesday: Sis Fullmer and I gave the training
at district meeting. We trained on Christ like attributes in finding. So
we talked about faith in Jesus Christ, hope, patience, and diligence. It
was great to be able to spend time studying for this training. As we
were up their talking I realized just how much I need to apply them. My
finding skills have been tanking. Basically I need to focus on asking
the people questions and making sure I'm bearing my testimony. That's
one thing that I've really learned. The Holy Ghost can only testify of
truth, so if I'm not sharing what I know to be true, they can never
start the process of conversion.
Thursday: Sometimes I just really enjoy eating dinner with
members. We went out to the Lykin's house. Bro and Sis Lykins are an
older couple who own and tobacco farm, and their youngest daughter,
Talara now runs it. Anyways, Bro Lykins has quite the sense of humor,
and Sis Lykins just glares at him. Afterwards we taught them the
Restoration lesson. At the end Bro Lykins made a comment that really
changed my perspective. A lot of the people we meet are really concerned
with the world we live in. There are definitely scary things going on
around us. However, with the gospel these are very exciting times. Not
only does it provide us with peace, but we are able to see all the
miracles happening around us. There has never been a more exciting time
to live on the earth.
Well a little miracle happened that day. We got a text that
afternoon asking if Sis Donaldson could call me that night. I had no
idea why she was calling. I had mailed her a letter
on Tuesday,
but there was no way it could have gotten to the mission office and
than forwarded to her in Kokomo. So all night I was wondering how she
knew to call. So after planning was done I waited around until she
called. As soon as I heard her voice I got very excited. She said she
had gotten me letter!!!!! I really have no idea how it happened.
Anyways, basically she read my letter and then called Sis Collins to get
permission to call me. That phone call was exactly what I needed. She
was able to provide me the reassurance and support I need right now. I
was able to tell her a little bit about what I have been feeling. I was
also grateful that she was able to share some of her struggles with me.
Sometimes I think missionary work is just easy for her because she is
such a pro. However, she told me that she has also had a difficult time.
She asked me if I had gotten her letter, and I told her no. But it came
today!!! Anyways, I definitely didn't take advantage of the time I had
with her. I miss her like crazy now that she's not around. But I always
know that she's thinking about me....
Friday: Sis Magellon fed us really Mexican food. I don't
know if I've told you about her. Basically she's an eternal investigator
because she doesn't have a birth certificate. She has five children and
some of them like to go to church. She is way sweet and has a
testimony, she just has a lot to overcome because her mother is a devout
Catholic. Anyways we toke it as a good sign that she wanted to feed us.
She made this soup with bacon and huge pieces of pork. I could have
eaten about 10 bowls, but I didn't.
Saturday: I was dreading Saturday because we didn't have a
single appointment scheduled, that's the worse. We had mission
correlation and PCed around Seymour and then we headed out the
Brownstown. We went to a member's home for lunch. Sis Peter's husband
passed away 15+ years ago and basically built her house by herself. She
is completely surrounded by trees and when we build up to the house I
immediately thought of Spur's house in "The Man From Snowy River". It
was so cool!!! Anyways, she is super nice and very chatty because she
lives by herself. After we went and knocked some doors with no luck.
Saturday morning I got this REALLY bright idea. I knew that it
was going to be a difficult day because we didn't have any plans. So I
thought to myself "we should go to Cracker Barrel for dinner". So that's
what we did! It was a great way to end the day.
Sundays: Ok I miss home the most on Sundays. Basically I just
go to church and miss our little branch, I hate it. Then we go out
tracting and everyone is eating with the family, BBQ, etc, and taking
naps. During Relief Society we talked about Pres Uchtdorf's talk, "Of
Regrets and Resolutions" and the importance of family, that made it even
worse.
That night we went and ate with another Lykins family (they
make up about half the ward). They have two younger kids and he's a
police officer with a lot of sass. He got home from work the same time
that we showed up. Sis Lykins had made chile. He turned to her and said
"what kind of random meal is this? Don't you know that our blessings are
dependent on the quality of the food we feed the Lord's servants?" Sis
Fullmer and I about died laughing. Hopefully you are feeding the
missionaries :). Anyways then later he asked us if we would be
disobedient and watch their favorite television program. Sis Lykins got
after him for that comment. It was certainly a great dinner
appointment.
I'm learning a ton about the kind of person I want to be when I
get home. Unfortunately as missionaries we hear more ward gossip than
we would like to. It makes me realize how important it is to be Christ
like at all times. Visiting teaching is important, meeting new members
is important, and just talking to ward members is important. I think
it's very possible that I'm on a mission to learn how to talk to people.
It's definitely true that if I'm the only one converted then there has
been some success.
Well transfers are in one week.....who knows what is going to
happen. Basically I'm scared of every single option: both of us staying
here, me leaving, or me staying. Training is a very real possibility
because there are 15 sisters coming out. However, I don't want to tell
myself I'm going to train and then get disappointed.
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