Oh, hello there. I'm really not a fan of Monday holidays.
Don't people know that P-Day is a really stupid day for a holiday? Get the
hint, people.
We spent a lot of the day last Monday saying goodbye to people
in the ward and zone. I didn't see nearly as many people as I wanted to, but I
was able to spend some good time with some of my favorite people. I also had to
pack, and let's get real - packing STINKS. I had no idea where I was going or
who I was with, which was really hard. I'm a planner, and not having any sort
of plan drove me bonkers.
Tuesday morning, we were all packed and headed out the door
when Sister Sylvester got a call from President Pingree asking if she'd be
willing to train. She said yes, and we started scrambling to get everything in
the car and go pick up the other Sisters so she wouldn't be alone once I left.
Then, we were at transfer meeting. Here's how it goes - everyone goes to the
Hafer building. Once you get there, you track down a transfer sheet, which has
all of the missionaries in the mission listed where they're serving. Once you
find one of those, you look for your name, and see who your companions are. You
then creepily stalk around the parking lot and look for someone with that name
on their tag and say, "Oh, hey. I guess we're companions." After much
socializing and goodbyes, you then get all of your stuff into your new
companion's car and drive away. It's craziness.
I'm now serving in the Westfield Ward with Sister Hardy and
Sister McLean. We're really close to the mission office and the airport, which
is pretty cool. Sister McLean came out at the same time as I did, and Sister
Hardy came out the transfer after we did - this is Sister Hardy's baby area,
and Sister McLean left her first area to come here last transfer. I definitely
did not expect to be in a trio, and it's a totally new experience.
I didn't know how hard it was to leave your first area - no
one said anything about it (cough, Elder Vought, cough, Sister Quist, cough...)
It's been a really hard week, I won't lie. There's been lots of crying and so
much newness. I don't think I realized just how many things change when you
leave an area - almost literally everything you know changes. It was especially
hard to leave Sister Sylvester, especially because she and I are just best
friends. The hardest thing for me is that there really wasn't anything that
made it better except time - there's that endurance thing again. You just have
to keep going and know that things will get better. I've been trying really
hard not to dwell too much on my last area - I'm not sure how well I'm doing,
but I'm trying.
Westfield is a very different place from Oak Ridge. It's
more sketchy, and there are approximately 7 million apartment complexes in our
area. We do a lot of sneaking through gates. We have some really great
investigators and potential investigators though. I like them a lot. One of
our investigators, Christelle, is being baptized on Saturday. She's wonderful,
and her two year old, Mahalia, is the cutest thing of all time. I love
them.
Oh - and then I turned six months old on Friday. For reals?
I just got here. I remember when Sister Sylvester told me she'd been out for 6
months and I was so impressed, even though she always said that she felt like
she'd just gotten here. I see what she means.
On Sunday, we went to a member's house for dinner, and she fed
us some strawberries and chocolate, but it was some raw organic recipe, so it
had pure cacao powder in it (for the record, it was delicious.) She warned us
that we might be a little hyper that night because of the caffeine in the cacao,
but I didn't think much of it. Let's just say that we kind of went psycho
crazy. It took us an hour and a half to do nightly planning, where it usually
only takes a half an hour at the most. It was insane, but it helped to break
down a lot of walls and make us closer.
So, that's all. I'm not doing spectacularly, but I'm getting
there. It's just going to take some time, so I'll work on patience. Sigh. I'm
not very good at that. This week I was lead to this really cool connection
between two scriptures. In 3 Nephi 21:10, the Lord is talking about Joseph
Smith and the things he'd have to face - that he might be hurt, but that the
Lord was taking care of him and he'd be healed. Then I chanced upon D&C
127:2, where Joseph is giving his account of his trials. He faced a lot, and he
had to endure a lot, but his perspective was what made all the difference. Look
it up. It's great.
So, y'all are great. I like you a whole lot, and I'm so
grateful for such excellent people to call my friends.
Love,
Me.
Sister Sylvester loves it when I take pictures of her.
Mahalia and I are quite entertained by the camera.
Mahalia and Sister McLean.
This is my man catching face. I was practicing selfies in
the car. It went well.
That's us.
This is Micah. He had his farewell yesterday, and he got
this fabulous lei. Why did I not get a fabulous lei at my farewell?
We take awkward missionary pictures. It's fun.
Sister McLean sees if she can pencil me in on her
calendar.
Hermana Phillips and Sister Hardy. Don't be too jealous of
her cute face.
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