January 2nd, 2017:
We had a ton of snow today! Fortunately,
a neighbor helped us out with a snow blower. It then snowed in the
evening time, so it may be a hard day tomorrow. I would like to thank my
parents for getting me the waterproof boots! They're worth their weight
in gold.
Today for p-day we played soccer, then
basketball, then volleyball. It was a pretty good time. Lunch was
from panda express.
I spent less than $4 at shopping today!
All I got was milk and bananas. We've built up a good food supply, so if
I don't get transferred I'll be well set.
I feel like Elder Bach and I tire each
other out. We have a weird relationship–we're very different, but somehow
we get along pretty well…yet at the same time we do not "click."
January 3rd, 2017:
We didn't get to do much today. We
ended up at a long-time investigator's house for two hours while the many
people there talked about their family history. While it was a good thing
to do, two hours is far too long!
After dinner, we had basketball. I'm
exhausted.
We've started texting whenever we go
outside mission boundaries (which we do frequently in Chinese). I think
it's a good idea.
January 4th, 2016:
I went on exchanges with Elder Evans
today. It was a cold but clear day. We walked for a good portion of
the day and as a result my feet are swollen. I have a small rash on my
ankles. I was wearing thermals, it was fairly cold, and I hadn't talked
so far for a while.
Elder Evans is just finishing up his first
transfer. He is usually kind but can be pretty sassy (jokingly) at times.
I love working around new missionaries and seeing how they have figured things
out on the field.
By the way, those waterproof Ecco boots I
have are invaluable. While the sidewalks are usually cleared in the city,
often the intersections have slush accumulated in pools.
We did not have any lessons today, which
let me experience more of what a walking area is like. While driving a
car would be faster, often the areas with cars have them because they need
them–the travel time is comparable to a typical walking area. In fact, it
can be harder to get members to come with us as people live so far away.
There is a new app for our iPads that
lets us type by holding down a finger and tracing a path through the letters of
a word. It's pretty cool, but I've yet to get used to it.
January 5th, 2017:
Happy birthday Spencer!
Today, I had a grand realization. Elder
Bach would often shoot down ideas I brought up during planning, but today I realized
I completely understand! It's like Elder Wagner and I in the MTC. I
was only bringing up the doubts that immediately occurred in my mind to test
the strength of his ideas, while now I thought Elder Bach was attacking my
ideas to find problems with them so he could do it his way. Now that I can see
both sides, I have learned to keep my mind open – more so than before. It
relates to how not many like the person in the group who points out the
problems to suggested solutions.
January 6th, 2016:
I'm 25% done! That's a lot!
We had a really good lesson today. We
were able to teach very simply and they ended up getting on date! It was
amazing–the wife opened up about her Word of Wisdom concern and it all went
well.
However, we ended up getting in way too
late. We need to work on planning/time management. It's hard with
Elder Bach's reduced studies, but I don't blame him…
…it's just hard sometimes…
January 7th, 2017:
Elder Bach felt sick today–I was not
feeling my best, either–so we mostly stayed in. We taught an investigator
of ours about the Word of Wisdom–in depth this time, as she is seeking to
understand it as she tries to change–and we tried to contact a referral. It
was a pretty slow day…
At the time of writing this, I have not
heard if I am to stay or go yet. While I was more partial to getting a
different companion before, I have again returned to my neutral state that
wherever I am asked to work, I will do fine.
…
I guess I just feel less effective, more
limited, by my companion. But that's a selfish way to think. I do
not know how to help him [or so I feel]. I have tried to teach him what I
discovered is most valuable to me. It's so hard. I also hoped to to
learn from Elder Bach and to discover what I need to work on. Or, rather,
where my troubles as a missionary lie and how to help reduce them. It's
hard, too.
I guess a bit part of my struggles on my
mission has been expressing my feelings. I can talk–way too much–without
feeling like I hit what I was trying to express effectively.
Another part has been knowing what to do.
How do I go about helping my companion see how he can improve? I don't
want to offend him, but I want him to see. Sometimes I don't frankly know
if my advice is good! How do I go about talking to people on the street?
There are many golden principles in PMG, but I haven't been familiar enough to
use them.
That's one more thing; I wish I could apply
PMG better. In all aspects of the work–apply PMG, my purpose, and the
mission rules–for I suspect that is the fastest route to progress and all the
social/mental cloudiness aforementioned will vanish. That is why I love
the rules and PMG so much: if I could just follow them, I would be so much more
effective. I'm just not quite there yet.
~Later~
Ha. No one is moving. Only
two in our zone move, and one was on his last transfer anyway.
January 8th, 2016:
Whew! We were sick today. We
both stayed in bed to 11 or so. It was not fun. On the bright side,
I had a lot of spiritually nourishing moments.
Fast and Testimony Meeting: I didn't
understand what some people said at all, but I could feel the Spirit through
them.
The Devotional: it was the worldwide
young adult devotional. I took notes.
I'm really glad I’ll have this time ahead
to prepare! P-days are always so busy for me…
______________________________
I would like to share some stories from my mission. This is an old email that's been sitting in my drafts for a while. I'll just describe what I've experienced.
Rachel: Rachel is a mom going through college. She's
married with two kids. We've been teaching them for a little bit, and
while she has a lot of concerns when we teach her she's also one of the only
investigators who I've really seen progress. Teaching her can be hard,
because they want to meet in the evenings on Sundays but we can't go too late
or their kids will get cranky (as it's passed their bed time). She has a
huge Saint Bernard named Tank; he's large enough that he will walk up while we
are sitting on the couch and slobber into our laps. He's great, though,
ignoring the slobber and shedding. Rachel's biggest concern is with the
bishop, as they aren't on the best terms right now, and maybe with some of the
people in her ward.
Going out to Rachel's house is crazy. She lives out in
Hilliard, so we have to drive for half an hour. Once we turn off the car
and get out, we're greeted by total silence. It's open--there are hills
in the distance, but it's pretty flat--and it's just the wind.
Deafeningly silent.
Roy: Roy has been taught for over a year by the missionaries
in Evanston south. That's a long time. The only issue he's been
working with is quitting smoking, but he's tried many times. He's a
really good person, it's just been hard for him. He's been smoking since
he was 9, and his wife doesn't want to quit with him, which is
frustrating. I just hope he can quit eventually. He's had some
recent realizations that could lead him to quit.
Also, Roy has a dog named Annie. She's some kind of
short-haired hunting dog. Kirsten would probably know the name; the breed
doesn't slow down with age until they die. She was a bird dog, sheds like
crazy, and loves attention.
It's hard, on a mission, to see people struggle with all the
things they do. Sometimes I just want to hug them and spend all my time
with them as they struggle to improve, but I do what I can.
Robert: Robert came up to Elder Owen and Elder Masten (the
previous missionaries in the area) and told them that he wanted to be baptized
and turn his life around. When I met him he knew a bunch about the gospel
and was ready to be baptized. However he got put on probation. He
had a restraining order from his wife against him and has had a pretty rough
time lately, but I can already see things have been getting better for him
which is amazing. Some people can rebound so well. Robert is really
humble and a wonderful person; he's going to be interviewed by President Hillier
to see if he can get baptized early (while on probation).
Robert was one of the first people I gave a blessing
to. I didn't say the blessing, but I participated. The spirit was
really strong then.
We normally teach Robert at a fellowshipper's house.
They have one little boy and two dogs, Charlie and Kai. They're both
small. Charlie is crazy for attention while Kai (a mini Husky?) took a
while to warm up to us.
Jose E: Jose is a young man in the Spanish Branch. He
is investigating the church because he loves the good examples his LDS friends
are to him. He's all set to be baptized, but his parents have sometimes
prevented him from going to church. He's a really nice guy.
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