I'm trying to collect my thoughts... it isn't working so
well. It's been a long week full of awesomeness. Let me explain.
First of all, it was Christmas Eve. Are you sure? Time is
passing by so quickly, it's ridiculous. We spent most of the day with Megan and
her family and the Elders. It was just wonderful. We were talking about weird
Mormon things with them one day and I mentioned my intense love for funeral
potatoes, so Megan made them just for me! I almost cried - but that would
inhibit my eating them, so I snapped out of it. We played board games
(including a round of nertz, which does not bring out my Christlike
attributes,) and the Elders thought up a wonderful game called throw bouncy
balls at people across the pool and laugh when we totally miss and people get
wet. I did not join in on this game. Probably because I'm a stick in the mud.
We were able to read some of the Christmas story in the Bible, and then we
talked about the signs of His birth in the Americas, which I think they really
enjoyed. Megan has apparently been waking up at 5:30 to read the Book of Mormon
without us even reminding her. Oh, my goodness. I just love her.
Christmas was fabulous! We opened presents as soon as we
woke up, played a round of jelly bean roulette with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor
Beans (which lasted until I got vomit and dirt flavored beans,) and put a
puzzle together. That was followed by breakfast with my Texas family and
skyping and dinner with one of my favorite families in the ward. After dinner I
was able to talk with the dad and his wife's son, who just got back from
his mission. We chatted about my expectations of myself and of my mission, and
helped me to be a lot less of a stress case. They were able to help me
break down a lot of walls and give me a new perspective on why I'm
serving. It was just a really good day.
After all of my frustration and despair of being
sick for the last two weeks and how excited I was to finally have gotten
better... I got sick again on Friday. It's a cold this time. It's
mostly gone away now, but I was so very frustrated on Friday. We sat in
the car outside of a member's house for about an hour as I freaked out and
ranted and raved about how frustrated I was to still be sick when I
wanted so badly to work and there was a lot of work to be done. She, in
true awesome fashion, quoted the Work and the Glory for me (there's a
line where one of the main characters says, "Let's not pretend
that every sickness is a curse from God!") and then talked through it with
me, reminding me that I have zero control over whether my body gets sick or not
beyond taking care of myself, and that everything happens for a reason.
We were able to meet with Ashlee on Saturday. We started
talking to her about everything that's going on, and it's really
interesting to be able to teach her, because we're able to see that the Lord is
putting her right where she needs to be to accept the gospel. She was a little
stressed about some housework that needed to be done, so we helped her out with
that as we talked. She really is starting to get it. She was always wishy washy
before, and she's now at a point where I think she can see
that blessings are coming and that she needs to act on it. We're excited -
I'll let you know what happens.
The bishop asked about a week ago if I would sing and Sister
Sylvester would speak in sacrament meeting yesterday. I was really, really
excited. I love singing, and I had the greatest song picked out...and then the
germs got a hold of my throat. I woke up yesterday morning and sounded like a
dying frog. It was really bad, and I was really worried about it. However, I
was able to coax most of the nastiness away and sang reasonably well. Sister
Sylvester's talk was awesome, the ward loved it - it was a good day. After the
meeting, one of the young women came up to me and said that I sounded like a
Disney princess. As you can surely imagine, I was overjoyed and said (probably
louder than I should have) "I'm a princess!" Taylor, the boy who just
came home from his mission, walked by just as I said that. He gave me a funny
look. I felt a little silly.
Then, we did not get a call last night, which means that
Sister Sylvester and I will be tearing up the Oak Ridge ward for another 6
weeks. Booyah! I am really excited. I feel like I've been given another chance
to do the work here that I've been asked to do, and I am so grateful for it.
Also, I get to hang out with Sister Sylvester some more. I'm a happy camper,
let me tell you.
That's about all, I think. Y'all are great. Remember that,
okay? Make good choices, look both ways, and don't do anything I wouldn't do or
that your mom wouldn't approve of. Take some time to read your scriptures and
pray - all the time. Blessings will come, I promise. Salmond scout's honor. I
lerf yew!
Sister Liljenquist
Skype time!
Ellie is probably the cutest thing of all time
Elder Gonzalez wanted to try on Ellie's Christmas pajamas.
He looks dashing, no?
The Spring District - including the dumb Elders who ruined
my picture. Grump, grump, grump...
Elder Martinez shows off his token gray hair.
Texas frosted the other day. It was crazy stuff. I even had
to scrape the windows.
Jelly bean roulette is not a very fun game - especially not
after the vomit and dirt flavored beans. Curse you, Bertie Botts...
Elder Gonzalez and Elder Martinez love each other a lot.
Elder Barney thought he was pretty cool. And, let's be
honest, it was kind of cool.
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