This week has been pretty normal for once. Which is somewhat of a relief because with so much going on this last month - the storm, so many zone conferences, Christmas and New Years, and various things we've done in preparing my companion to go home. I finally feel again like the language and my teaching skills are progressing so hoorah!!!
Mostly the week has consisted of just plain good 'ol proselyting and teaching, and walking and sweating. The sacrament attendance is staying pretty high which is awesome! It's been a struggle to get the people we really want there. It's amazing how much the culture plays such a huge part in the personal conversion of these people. Most people, at least here in Allen, have such a chill island attitude. It also probably doesn't help that it's such a small town. Many of them don't really care about goals or what their future holds. They just like to hang out all day hahaha. I really don't know what they do all the day long. But because they're not ambitious in their personal lives, or committed really to anything, it is the hardest thing in the world to get them to keep their commitments when it comes to reading and praying and going to church. It's almost frustrating in a way because most of them seem to have such strong testimonies! When we talk to them about the doctrines and concepts they seem to really understand! But obviously they're not strong enough to know that action is the way to receive the blessings we know will come.
Zone interviews are tomorrow so we get a chance to talk to President Maurer one on one! Transfers are in 2 weeks and a lot of the leaders think I might be transferring out of Allen to UEP. Our area is so small and we're not making tons of progress, so he might just combine it with the other Sisters' area that are rooming with us. UEP is a college town. The elders were taken out of it in the middle of the transfer last week because of something that happened. Now they're going to move sisters in this next transfer. So I might be one of them! No one knows for sure, they're just guessing. Who knows, I might stay in Allen. And whereever I am, there's also the possibility of me training which is kind of making me a nervous wreck but what can you do? Take it a day at a time and enjoy being the trainee at the moment.
Transfer day was expected to be really fun for all of us. We were supposed to go to Tacloban, find out our areas and our companions, and I would've seen all my batch from the MTC! This is what has happened for the past couple of years. We found out last week that this won't be happening anymore. I will find out my area and companion the day before the new transfer starts, and I won't be seeing my batch:( Sad sad:(.
Anyways, when I'm not freaking out about the transfer, I'm excited! It means I'm progressing in the mission! At the end of this next transfer, it will be midway through March and I'll hit my 1/3 mark! Woohoo!!!!!
The most exciting thing that happened this week, is that in the middle of the night the other night, I got locked in the bathroom. The handle is faulty and I couldn't get it open for the life of me. I was worried I'd rip it right off the door! I was in there for a good 20 minutes fidgeting with the dang thing and contemplating whether I call out to the girls, which would surely wake them ALL up and all the people downstairs because of the layout of our apartment, or if I should just sleep on the tile in the bathroom until one of them could rescue me in the morning. That's when I saw the small vent in the bottom of the door. Hahahaha, I took it out, and shoved my body through the hole. It was actually fairly easy, and I was very pleased with myself afterward. The girls were dying in the morning though. Especially Sister Resolme who loves to tease me. Thinking of me being stuck was absolutely hilarious to them hahahahah.
Human of the Week: The person of the week this week is one of our investigators D. She's this older lady, who's teenagers are both members. Her husband wants to start taking lessons eventually but knows that he will have to give up smoking and isn't ready yet. She is the cutest lady in the world and has such a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon. Her husband told us that during the storm, when they were leaving the house to evacuate to the church because it's one of the strongest buildings here in Allen, the Book of Mormon is the one thing she grabbed to save. He told her to leave it, but she simply refused. She's told us before that she often sleeps with it next to her pillow because it brings her comfort. Hahahaha way to go D! Before the storm, the two were saving up money so that they could be married and she could get baptised. She wants to be baptized so bad. After the storm hit though, now all of their little savings have gone to fixing up the house. It might be a while before she has the opportunity to be baptized, but she's still progressing and her testimony is going strong!
This week my companion and I relearned something we probably already knew before, but for some reason it just really hit us. In companionship study, we were reading the missionary handbook under health and read the scripture 1 Cor: 6:19 -" Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
This made me ask the question: If we had a complete and perfect understanding and testimony of this concept, would we ever go another day without exercising? Or would we ever eat another cookie again? Hahaha it was a simple question, but truthfully would we? I don't know, maybe not.
Then Sister Mortensen said, "Well, if we had complete understanding of the value and worth and roles of the people around us, we'd likely never do another thing again that could potentially hurt someone."
We decided maybe this is how Christ had the ability to be completely perfect. Perhaps even in mortality, he had complete understanding of the Father and the Plan and of His role as our Savior on this Earth. Perhaps this is why there are so many scriptures and conference talks about the importance of education and learning in this life because we'll carry it with us into the next. Through knowledge and understanding, we are slowly perfected. There. That's my spiritual thought of the week:)
My whole year in the mission, I can't believe it!
Here, New Years is WAY bigger than Christmas. Christmas consists of like...the dinner meal. But new years, everyone blasts music all night long, there was even some fireworks. The kids also make this gun thing out of tin cans taped together and it makes really loud noises. But we were so tired that night we slept right through it.
Have a wonderful week everyone! I love you so much all of you and miss you tons. I'm growing and learning so much here and I'll be able to use all this for the rest of my life! The gospel is without a doubt the true gospel on the Earth today.
Love always,
Sister Russon
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