Week 74
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| Garrett and his companion, from a member in his area |
Tuesday, November
28th, 2017:
Our p-day was moved to Tuesday, so we could go to the temple. That was really
nice. I liked the time I had to sit and reflect while there.
We also got haircuts with two other missionaries. These two things made it hard to complete our other p-day activities: cleaning, shopping, emailing, and dinner. We didn't clean and got out at 6:30 pm. It wasn't our best p-day track record.
We dropped off our leftovers at Staci's house. She was there, but Tristyn wasn't. I made nacho chicken, which is good comfort food.
We visited few other people tonight.
Zone conference is tomorrow. I hope the new Facebook imitative will help us, but I also feel it will take great effort to make it beneficial overall.
Wednesday, November 29th, 2017:
Zone conference was today. We now have smartphones! And Facebook! And sure, why not, there was also a change to how we plan. There were a lot of changes and I'm sure it will be for the better but for now it's very new. I've never used a Samsung mobile device before. We need to stay focused on our purpose for these new things to do us much good. Even today has seen difficulties, as Elder Heyward and I disagree on what's appropriate use for our phones.
We didn't get to do much else today, just two meetings and contacting some people. While I know it's overall better for us, sometimes I wish I could break free of the organizational structure of a mission and ward to just go and preach the gospel and help people change their lives.
Thursday, November 30th, 2017:
Something I forgot to mention: Sister Balling finishes her mission soon. She's the mission nurse. I think everyone was bummed to hear that. She’s been like a mom away-from-home.
We didn't plan for today for the week. We cleaned, studied, wrote 10 lesson reports, called a few people, and organized records, and sent off a referral.
We had some great lessons tonight. We talked openly with Simeon, Madeline, and Hannah about questions they had in reading the Book of Mormon. I think Simeon may be genuinely investigating, but his wife and their roommate don't seem to have as much time [or interest] at the moment. The other lesson was with Adriel and Keirsten; we haven't been visiting them as much, but they're doing well. He was activated and she was baptized by previous missionaries in the area and they've taken the gospel into their lives.
Friday, December 1st, 2017:
Yesterday, I went to family services. I talked to Kyle about being unable to focus on the present moment; he said it came as a sort of exhaustion (or "burnout"). Discipline seems to be a crucial part in responding well to this, too, as well as most all other parts of my missionary life.
We didn't weekly plan today. We spent time doing other things; I really don't know why we didn't plan. I didn't think of it as we carried on doing other things in the afternoon.
We went to our second Christmas party tonight. Both have been good uses of time as we got to know more potential investigators in the wards.
I've realized that ward activities will not become community activities by just changing the name, as some wards have done. Ward parties will only really become community parties when members (well, all people) stop seeing a line between members and non-members.
We also got haircuts with two other missionaries. These two things made it hard to complete our other p-day activities: cleaning, shopping, emailing, and dinner. We didn't clean and got out at 6:30 pm. It wasn't our best p-day track record.
We dropped off our leftovers at Staci's house. She was there, but Tristyn wasn't. I made nacho chicken, which is good comfort food.
We visited few other people tonight.
Zone conference is tomorrow. I hope the new Facebook imitative will help us, but I also feel it will take great effort to make it beneficial overall.
Wednesday, November 29th, 2017:
Zone conference was today. We now have smartphones! And Facebook! And sure, why not, there was also a change to how we plan. There were a lot of changes and I'm sure it will be for the better but for now it's very new. I've never used a Samsung mobile device before. We need to stay focused on our purpose for these new things to do us much good. Even today has seen difficulties, as Elder Heyward and I disagree on what's appropriate use for our phones.
We didn't get to do much else today, just two meetings and contacting some people. While I know it's overall better for us, sometimes I wish I could break free of the organizational structure of a mission and ward to just go and preach the gospel and help people change their lives.
Thursday, November 30th, 2017:
Something I forgot to mention: Sister Balling finishes her mission soon. She's the mission nurse. I think everyone was bummed to hear that. She’s been like a mom away-from-home.
We didn't plan for today for the week. We cleaned, studied, wrote 10 lesson reports, called a few people, and organized records, and sent off a referral.
We had some great lessons tonight. We talked openly with Simeon, Madeline, and Hannah about questions they had in reading the Book of Mormon. I think Simeon may be genuinely investigating, but his wife and their roommate don't seem to have as much time [or interest] at the moment. The other lesson was with Adriel and Keirsten; we haven't been visiting them as much, but they're doing well. He was activated and she was baptized by previous missionaries in the area and they've taken the gospel into their lives.
Friday, December 1st, 2017:
Yesterday, I went to family services. I talked to Kyle about being unable to focus on the present moment; he said it came as a sort of exhaustion (or "burnout"). Discipline seems to be a crucial part in responding well to this, too, as well as most all other parts of my missionary life.
We didn't weekly plan today. We spent time doing other things; I really don't know why we didn't plan. I didn't think of it as we carried on doing other things in the afternoon.
We went to our second Christmas party tonight. Both have been good uses of time as we got to know more potential investigators in the wards.
I've realized that ward activities will not become community activities by just changing the name, as some wards have done. Ward parties will only really become community parties when members (well, all people) stop seeing a line between members and non-members.
Saturday, December 2nd, 2017:
Today's light the world theme is giving water to others. Are you sticking with it?
In the morning, we thought we had a Christmas breakfast, so a quick turn-around from basketball had us in suits and getting a ride, but unable to find it. Turns out it wasn't happening until later in the month, so we went to the stake baptisms instead.
The stake baptisms were very spiritual, which was refreshing. They also helped me gain a greater awe at people who say they aren't interested; I couldn't imagine a single person who wouldn't like the feeling present there. I don't think badly of anyone who says no to us; don't get me wrong.
We did service for five hours today--3:00-8:00. We directed traffic to help This is the Place parking with a German market festival. Our mission set it up for us. When we arrived, we knew we had made a mistake; I thought we were going to help clean the trails like we did months ago, so we wore service clothes. Not only was it packed with people but we found all the other missionaries were in formal proselyting attire. It didn't matter too much, though, as we bundled up in jackets and donned bright vests, waving around the mini-lightsaber-like wands to direct cars to park. As we walked by the vendor stands to be picked up, we splurged on some licorice. It was a good time, in spite of standing in the cold.
The sister who did our laundry last week helped us again this week, as we had no time on p-day. Elder Heyward and I both wore our last pair of garments for the last three days (!). I'm so happy to have clean clothes.
We still didn't do weekly planning. On a related note, I asked Elder Heyward what he finds hard about having me as a companion. He said he doesn't have any chemistry with me, unlike his other companions. I can tell it's been hard for him. Really, he doesn't know what to think of me. I think differently than other companions (and people, in general), which can make working with me hard. He assured me it's not inherently a bad thing to be the way I am. I'm trying to keep my lesson plans simpler, in part to work better with Elder Heyward, and thus support him.
Sunday, December 3rd, 2017:
Busy Sunday: 7:30 mission prep; 8:15 7th ward council; then visiting three fast and testimony meetings. We weren't rushing so strongly this time.
President Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was in one sacrament meeting. His great-granddaughter was being blessed. We bore our testimonies right before him but didn't have time to say hello. We left right after his testimony and right before the closing hymn so we could get to the next ward. We figured that he probably is tired of people giving him so much attention so we didn’t hang around.
I also met Kenneth Cope, a famous singer, but I don't really know him and so I didn't recognize him.
Simeon and Madeline went to church for the first time, which is great! Staci also went; she got a powerful prompting to do so. Tristyn got home as we visited Staci in the evening; her dad is getting better. Staci told us Tristyn is having a harder time with her dad dying, so I'm glad he's [relatively] stable now.
It felt nice to bear my testimony so many times, but I wish I could have heard more of others. I think sacrament meetings are one of the ways I reconnect emotionally to myself. It's also the busiest time for us. The two can sometimes compete.
I made a vital connection against my depression. In considering moments of decision, I realized (i.e. I was able to more fully understand through experiencing) that difficult things are difficult sometimes because we don't feel like we want to do them. This was after Elder Heyward called priests from 6-7 trying to find a ride and I prayed from 7 to 7:15 or so because I felt that if I ended the prayer I would almost certainly fall into depression. It felt great to find more insight.
We met with the Highland View ward bishop; even after a months-wide gap, he was still warm to our efforts. It's amazing; I think our earlier efforts helped change his outlook on missionary work.
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