~~~~~Week 61~~~~~
Monday, August 28th, 2017:
Right after planning and personal
study, we were off on exchanges. I went with Elder Jones, an elder who
originally served in Brazil but had to return home and was reassigned. He
now has a year and a season left.
We biked long stretches of road, as
their area is just as wide as ours but goes to 45th South. It's west of
ours, with three stakes and 28 units. We were working to contact some of their ward
mission leaders. One of them is moving to our area--an odd reminder for
me to talk to everyone--while three others had recently been released and
replaced.
At the end of the day, we did phone
work. We had phone work mentally listed as lower in priority to
contacting other people face-to-face, but we realized some people we failed to
contact in person many days in a row were ones we really needed to contact the
most, so phone work made sense.
We taught a kid with Downs
Syndrome. He's adopted from China. I still don't quite know how
issues in accountability work in those circumstances, but we're teaching him as
best we can and home he can comprehend it.
Finally, we gave Jeremy a
blessing. His son is the light of his life, but Jeremy doesn't have full
custody; not having his son has thrown him into some rough patches.
Tuesday, August 29th, 2017:
What an amazing zone conference!
The topics covered were: true conversion, counting our blessings and having joy
in seeing the hand of God, business-type spiritually-flavored council,
revisiting goals and plans, and 100% responsibility and how agency and
responsibility are gospel pairs (my favorite). I loved it.
 |
| Our zone after our meetings. |
My grandma sent me a cook book full of
simple recipes, which could prove useful. I haven't had time to look
through it extensively yet. Also, my parents dropped off a care package
full of snacks. My favorite thing was probably the package of Oreos with
a broken seal and missing middle row [thanks, dad].
After a stay-at-home dinner (the family
we were scheduled to eat with wasn't able to have us over), we met with a few
local leaders, popped over to a ward social, dropped by Hokulia's for a free shaved
ice, and went to bed. We're beat.
Wednesday,
August 30th, 2017:
Our p-day was
today so we could go to the temple. There was so much traffic due to
construction (just like northern VA!) that we barely made it in! It was a
good session. I said a prayer and asked that we make it; we were let in
late in a separate group after everyone had been shown their seats. President
Hillier challenged us all to see the hand of the Lord in our days as we write
in our journals. There you go.
We got to visit
Deseret Books. Elder Parnes got a mini PMG and case while I got a few
more garments. Speaking of which, the family credit card expired. I think
that's the first time we've had one go to its expiration date without one of the
cards being lost/stolen.
We only got to
shop and email for p-day, as we had a dinner appointment scheduled. After
dinner, we gave Jeremy another blessing–this time for a headache. We
walked back, talking to many people (including a WML of ours).
We cover Tanner
Park. It happens to be a very popular place for dogs (and their owners).
That stake's leadership even suggested walking a member's dog around there to
contact people.
A rain storm in
Utah is always heralded by dramatic skies and a strong blast of dust in the
wind. The storms themselves are laughable, lasting only 15 minutes on
average.
Thursday,
August 31st, 2017:
I went to
family services today. We left early to avoid traffic, but there was
none. Due to a little mix up, we just waited instead of doing
companionship study. But it was a good session; I'm learning a lot about
emotions and thoughts.
I had lunch,
but Elder Parnes didn't feel good. He laid down and had lunch later,
during which I fell asleep. I slept for 45 minutes, so while Elder Parnes
did have lunch I don't know what I should have done differently (if anything).
Weekly planning followed; we got halfway.
Two lessons,
one with Evan and one with Tristyn, took the night. Evan will take time
to teach, as he only lasts 30 minutes in lessons.
We asked
Tristyn to think of how we could help her. She hadn't thought of it, but
Staci (her inactive mom) had a list ready:
1. Listen more
to our feelings. Example: let us (the investigators) speak without feeling we
have to say what you (the missionaries) want to hear
2. Let us go at
our pace. Example: Don't rise to our slower pace of understanding and
accepting. Let me go at my own pace, or that desire will fade, and you will
push me away more.
3. Don't shape
us to what you want.
4. Understand
me more. I've been an active member before. I'm not just another convert or new
to this.
5. Be a friend,
not always a missionary.
6. Don't make
me another number or goal when I will be active again. (Don't always
talk about baptism with Tristyn, she will only push away.)
7. Always
remember I am a single mom with full custody of Tristyn and it's not easy.
8. Show
patience, understanding, and friendship, and most of all LISTEN
I asked if
these were even for me specifically, or all missionaries. She said they were
generally applicable. As for me, she said the part about being a friend–talking
for a little about normal things – was something I could do better at. She
also wanted us to continue sending scripture texts like previous missionaries
did.
Her list of
comments is all in Preach My Gospel. But hearing it from Staci helped me learn and
better understand her perspective.
Friday,
September 1st, 2017:
Elder Parnes
had a tough start today. He was up and ready by planning.
The Sorensen’s (senior
missionary couple) are back, and it being a new month they had us over for
lunch. We caught them up and loosely correlated. They took us to
help someone move, so we came up short for time trying to finish weekly
planning before dinner.
After dinner,
Elder Parnes really wasn't feeling well. His Crohns Disease was acting
up. I got a split for our lesson with Kiki, Gong, and Tina, but that's
all we did tonight.
The lesson was
very humbling. The couple across the street have fellowshipped them
closely, so they came with me. We had given them 2 Nephi 2 to read from
last time, but it was far over their heads. The member couple explained
things well and even helped them set a course to study Gospel Principles.
It was not my best lesson, so I'm glad they were there.
By the way, I
met this family before. I was in the Chinese ward and we came over to see
if they wanted to be taught in Chinese. They didn't. It was at the
same couple's house, just across the street. I remember the S-curve from
driving there, too.
Saturday,
September 2nd, 2017:
Elder Parnes
still wasn't feeling well, so we stayed in. He checked with President
Hillier and we can't get members and split up unless we have a lesson, so I
cleaned, studied, caught up on journaling, and wrote a card to Rose. Really, I
should feel refreshed, but I'm exhausted. Not doing the work is tiring.
We had a lesson
with Andrea. She is so involved in helping her family members that she
couldn't even focus on the lesson. Elder Parnes said that's normal for
her. The ward is so helpful, though, so she may be able to push through
and be baptized.
I realize I
should be (and currently am) more grateful for the members providing us dinner.
It's been a blessing, not to mention their more spiritually-sided help in
lessons and other things.
Sunday,
September 3rd, 2017:
Fast Sunday!
We met with the Highland View WML, ward missionaries, and bishopric. Then,
we got to three wards I haven't been to–I should hit all 18 of them in the next
four weeks–and taught a gospel principles lesson on repentance. It was a
busy Sunday, but the bishops were glad to see us in the wards we visited.
We took it slow
between Sacrament meetings and before dinner, as Elder Parnes was still
unsettled. Fortunately, members giving us rides made it possible to get
everywhere. We did walk once to a different meeting house.
During the
Sunday block meetings, we met a sister who went to the same EFY session as me.
It was the Williamsburg one. The chapel also reminded me of my home
building, which was odd because ours is so uncommon.
We had two
lessons tonight, one being a discussion with a recent convert and the other
with Nick. Now, we tried contacting Nick about nine other times
before–"we" being missionaries in this area–with no success. We
planned on dropping him after tonight. When we met Nick, he was wearing
only pants. No shirt, no shoes. Really, he's just one of those
shoe-less guys and was gardening shirtless.
Nick has
investigated religion before, but backed off due to some general social
concerns ("trapped in a box of beliefs," "unable to prove
it," and things about the nature of a higher power). He was reminded
to read the Book of Mormon and wanted to for the first time in 20 years after
seeing the Book of Mormon musical. The Lord works in mysterious ways!
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