Week 75 Journal
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| At the German Festival |
Monday, December 4th,
2017:
It was Elder
Heyward's birthday today. We didn't do much special today, but while we
were shopping someone gave us a $30 gift card. We used it for both of our
groceries, but Elder Heyward had the majority of the items. Happy birthday!
We cleaned, went to
Mr. Mac, shopped, taught Martin, and got a dining room table (we had no dining
table; we had just used to eat at our respective study desks). We had some
free p-day time, which was really odd. I didn't quite know what to
do. I'm not complaining, though, but I do wish I could save the free time
to use during a more hectic time.
My parent sent a
package, which I was able to pick up at the mission office when we helped the
new senior elder in charge of housing move the table. It had a silk
thermal base layer and eight reusable handwarmers. I'm now all set for
the cold--hat, gloves, scarf, jacket, boots, socks, and so on--so thank you,
mom and dad!
We took a priest out
with us for a discussion. He’s been out with us several times before.
He's been doing pretty well, but this time he was somewhat contentious with
Tristyn and Staci. They were uncomfortable and even asked later that we
never bring him to their lessons again. It was a little unsettling, but we’ll
work through it.
We had two meetings,
one of which fell through, and then made some phone calls to end the night.
Tuesday, December
5th, 2017:
I got hit in the lip
in basketball today. It could have been a lot worse; it didn't interfere
with anything later in the day.
I realized something
as we were about to leave the apartment. I had a realization much earlier
in my mission that I only needed to care about what God thinks, not what others
think [unless God cares, like "honor thy father and thy
mother"]. This time, I realized the key is not so much to care less
about what other people think as much as it is not judging myself. When
others do little things, I give them leeway and don't assume anything bad of
them. I thought about when my companions do something I don't think is
okay (like how "thx" isn't professional) and that I judge them.
I recognized I judge myself as though others may judge me harshly. It
made me a lot more controlled as I grew up. By not harshly judging
myself, however, I can be more of myself in a healthy way.
The hot packs my
parents sent me are a good help. With so many (and with them being
reusable), I can help my companion stay warm as well.
I made a lot of calls
today. Elder Heyward started to get a headache, so he laid down and I
composed texts. It felt great to use technology to be able to go and do
things even though we were limited in our ability to get out.
We checked in with
the family that's close to Kiki, Gong, and Tina. They are doing well, but
we haven't been by them in a while. We stopped by after and left them a
note.
We were also able to
visit one older sister's house. Her daughter was there as well. It
was a nice visit.
Wednesday, December
6th, 2017:
I started out this
day very unfocused and sleepy. I did some intense exercise, but I should
have done more to help me focus even better.
We got over to the
Family History Center and emailed the rest of the missionaries on the field
from our stakes. (Most of them, anyway--we hit an emailing limit for the
day, which we didn't know existed.)
On the way back, we
got a ride from some RMs, which was fortunate because the sidewalk was closed
on both sides at one point and we would have had to walk in the street.
It was also a long walk, maybe a half mile.
Jackson took us out
this evening. He's a priest who frequent accompanies us. He has dual
hearing aids and is a pretty sweet kid.
Our dinner was with the
Fawcetts. They had a son who went to Argentina; in his MTC room was an
Elder Pitcher, an Elder Waters, and an Elder Brothers. We then happened
to visit the Pitcher family in our area who had a son in Argentina (we don't
know for sure if he’s the same one, but assume that he is). It’s a small
world!
We met a city council
woman this evening. I must admit, I generally do not trust politicians in
general, but meeting her helped me realize a better perspective. Maybe there
are some honest politicians out there.
We ended the night
with a WML/HCoMW meeting, where we talked about (in part) the addition of
Facebook, priests going on visits, ward breakfasts, Christmas parties (it turns
out we only have 6 ward Christmas parties in our area on December 9th, not 7!),
interacting more with the greater community to break down the feelings of a
"member/non-member divide," and how we're called as teachers. Some
wards wanted us to get more familiar with their members, but our focus is
teaching people who are ready to learn about the church, not friendship active
members.
Thursday, December
7th, 2017:
We went on exchanges
in the other area. Elders Heyward and Shafer covered our area. A
few highlights:
-I packed light for
the night, which was nice because I didn’t have to lug a heavy back=pack
around, like I have sometimes in the past.
-"Spiritual
bananas": Our dinner appointment shared how a testimony is fragile and
perishable, like bananas.
-We taught three
different investigators that night with high potential; their area is going
well.
-I deleted 1500 of
Elder Martin's home screens, as he added a lot his first transfer out of
boredom but didn't know it took longer to delete than make them. But I knew how
to do it quickly.
-We went out with
Elders Lolofie and Opificius while they got their car fixed.
Friday, December 8th,
2017:
While on exchanges,
we were able to visit a number of people in Elder Martin’s area. I wasn’t as familiar with the area and let him
take the lead.
We made it to
district meeting a little late, but missed very little. One part, on
accountability, really hit home for what I hope to work on. They talked
about how we should have the right desires as we go about the work.
We ended the day with
a Christmas party in the eleventh ward, followed by a lesson at temple square
with a family we met at the Canyon Rim 4th Ward’s Christmas party. Temple
Square was wonderful and the family loved it. Their neighbor explained
things around the Square. He knew the area better than us. I brought heat
packs for everyone, which were handy since it was a cold night.
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| #LightTheWorld vending machines - only in Utah! |
We had so many Christmas
Party breakfasts today! We had six, so we called in other elders and
split up. I went to all the ones in Canyon Rim Stake while Elder Heyward
went to the 15th ward. We missed the 16th and 6th wards. So many Christmas
parties, so little time!
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| A toddler got hold of my iPad at a Christmas party and discovered the camera function |
After a very shuffled
morning, we sorted out exchange reports over sodas at a restaurant called the
Park. We later got to a dinner and then a ward Christmas dinner party.
Sunday, December
10th, 2017:
This was a busy
day. We mainly hung around one church building and got to a lot of
meetings. We never made it home to change until we checked in at 9:00 pm.
There was a stake
Christmas sing-along in the Canyon Rim stake. It took the majority of the
evening. They had a full orchestra there. It was great, even with
the elderly man singing very loudly off key right next to me.
That evening, we met
with the stake president, but he told us that there was no one that he knew of
who we could invite to be baptized on the 23rd, which was a goal we
had been trying to meet. In general, I just felt like I oscillated
between frustration and sadness. It was frustrating. Afterwards, Elder
Shafer and Elder Martin talked about possibly playing Munchkin tomorrow during
p-day, so that cheered me up.
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| Goodbye old dumb phones! We've got smart phones now! |
[Editor’s note: on Sunday, Dec. 10, Ken,
Jennifer, Spencer, and Nephi were visiting friends in West Virginia. Ken hit a patch of black
ice and slid off the road and down a hill. Everyone is ok, but the Forester was
totaled.]
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