Crazy how time flies. Umm... also, heard that my gorgeous cousin Aubrey is engaged?! What the heck? Congrats girl!!
Also, congratulations to Haley on having her first baby! Love ya girl :)
Tuesday: We had Specialized Training/Interviews. Finally! That was pretty awesome. During my short interview, President said that he felt impressed to tell me that Heavenly Father loves me, is very proud of me, knows that I'm trying hard and loves my heart. That was exactly what I needed to hear because the week before interviews, I was feeling particularly discouraged. But hearing that just confirmed to me that, while I'm not perfect (despite what Allie thinks) I am trying and Heavenly Father knows that. And only He can measure my effort. It felt really good.
Interviews took longer than we thought, so we got back just in time for dinner with Dan and Margaret. We had yummy food- venison fingers! Like chicken fingers, but with deer meat. Soooo good. Dan did a really good job with the food.
Sister Rainsdon was feeling pretty sick, so we swung by Walmart on our way back home so that she could grab some medicine. She also grabbed a lunchbox (why? we know not...) and put a cool pack thingy in there to see if it would fit... and forgot about it. We didn't realize until we got home that she'd accidentally stolen something!! So, being the good and honest missionaries that we are, we promptly rushed back to the store and paid for it. Oh the irony in that whole situation.. just makes me laugh!
Wednesday: We got to go to the temple!! Cool thing- the name that I went through for was Brazilian. Thought that was pretty neat :) An elder in my district had a Portuguese name too, and asked me how to pronounce it before we went into the session. It was "Joao" which is pronounced sorta like "Joe-ow." Anyways, I love the temple. Every time I go there, I grow so much spiritually. I learn so many new things, and I feel the Spirit so strongly! Also, rumor has it that there is another new temple video coming out! Apparently they've started showing it in UT and Idaho. So hopefully we'll get to see that one next time!
Also, before we went into the temple, we drove by some of the houses on the surrounding block. Can I just say holy cow?! Mansions. Seriously huge mansions. We're talking like the guest house is the size of a normal home. Apparently Sister Rainsdon's trainer used to serve in that area, and they tracted those houses once. One guy actually let them in- but only to show off his super expensive stuff. Her trainer drank from a glass made of crystal and sat on a couch of solid gold. No lie.
On the way back home, we stopped at Buc-ee's! Its like a 5 star gas station. I really don't know how to describe it. They've got everything in there, and its actually classy. Seriously, they've got clothes, pictures, picture frames, decorations, food, etc. And its all pretty cool actually. I have never felt so elegant at a gas station.
Because the temple is so far away, we got back just in time to go to Mary's for dinner. Vegetarian spaghetti! It was delicious. Her sister is coming in town this week to help her while she has a cataract surgery later in the week. So we'll get to meet her this Wednesday! I'm pretty stoked about that.
Thursday: Weekly planning, and then we tried to visit people. We didn't really have a whole lot of luck, to be honest. That's alright though. We had dinner with the Crawfords, and had our Missionary Correlation Meeting with Brother Crawford while we were there. That was awesome, and hilarious. Dinner at the Crawfords always reminds me of dinner at home. Everybody is always laughing, and someone usually starts crying because they're laughing so hard. We also worked out for Sister Crawford to come to Sean's lesson with us! We were pretty excited by the time we got home.
Friday: Well, District Meeting! It was our District Leader, Elder Christensen's last District Meeting EVER. That's right, folks, he's headed home.
After that, we headed over to Somerville to teach Sean. Unfortunately, Sister Crawford got sick and couldn't come :( But, we went and knocked, super excited and ready to teach. No answer. Knocked again. No answer. Knocked for a third time AND... no answer. So, we decided we'd go to downtown Somerville and finish up our Companionship Study outside, since it got cut short so we could make it to District Meeting on time. After our hour of study, we made our way back to Sean's house and knocked 3 more times. No answer. Feeling kind of discouraged, we left a note on his door and went to a different part of Somerville to visit the Farmers. They were sick, and so had to leave. We went to the Boat Ramp in their neighborhood (because its the only place where our cellphone gets service) so Sister Rainsdon could finish her lunch and so Sister Paddock could call the Doctor about something. Well, the doctor didn't answer, but after she hung up, lo and behold, Sean called! He told us he'd had a doctor's appointment that took longer than usual, and was mad that he missed us. He asked if we were still in town, because he would still love to hear a lesson. Well, of course we zipped right on over to his house and taught him the Plan of Salvation! He was much more relaxed this time, and was joking around with us a lot more. He kept talking about how he loved church, how it went by so fast, and how he felt so comfortable there. He also talked about how during church, he got this really good feeling. He remembered that we'd told him that he would get a good feeling while reading the Book of Mormon. He said, "I know they said I'd feel good when I was reading but its happening now!" So I testified that what he'd felt at church was the Spirit telling him that what he was hearing was the truth. He nodded and said, "That's what I thought." We also explained that you can feel the Spirit any time there's truth, not just while you're reading scriptures. He loved the Plan of Salvation lesson and asked a few questions this time. He said that most of the time, when he has questions, we answer them before he even realizes that he has a question. So that means that our lessons have definitely been directed by the Spirit. Booyah! He really appreciated that we're so open to questions, that we're not pushy or phony, and how everyone seems equal. He's really starting to understand and appreciate the Atonement as well. And he keeps saying that everything just makes sense to him.
HALLELUYER!!! I'm pretty happy about this, y'all! :D To quote Sister Rainsdon, "I'm so happy!! I'm like... skipping on rocks!!"
We also had dinner with Bill, and read another page in the Book of Mormon with him in the middle of the China Pan Buffet. Is anything to awkward for a missionary? No, nothing is too awkward. I mean, it says in 1 Peter that we're a peculiar people anyway. And people already look at us strange. Might as well take advantage of it!
Saturday: Well, to be honest, it was not the best day. Nothing was working out, and Sister Rainsdon was so sick that she was just plain tired. We couldn't really do anything. The good news is that it rained, and that always soothes my soul. She also told me a strange joke...
Q: What's black and white and red all over?
A: A penguin in a blender!
Yupp... That's Sister Rainsdon's favorite joke. So, of course, I told her my favorite.
Q: What's green and has wheels?
A: Grass! I lied about the wheels!
Hee hee... Why do I think that's funny? No idea. But it is.
Sunday: Well, we turned off our air unit for the night. Hence, when I woke up and started writing in my journal (in place of working out), my first sentence was "Currently, I'm a blanket burrito." It was true. It was cold! So we turned it on and got the heat going promptly. I don't like being cold. Blech. Hence I was called to Brasil and reassigned to TX.
Sean came to church!!!! The Binghams picked him up again, those fabulous people. I think Sean really felt the Spirit during Testimony Meeting. When I got up to bear my testimony, I noticed that he was listening intently and that he had tears in his eyes. He loved church, once again, and learned what Zion means! He is also convinced that Bob Marley stole some of his song lyrics from the Book of Mormon- something about "One heart and one mind."
(Oh heck, somebody is rapping while listening to their music behind me. Hilarious.)
We tried to visit some new members that moved in, but no luck. We also tried to visit Connie, but no luck. After a few more failed attempts, we headed over to the Gambles for dinner. We shared a spiritual thought about building testimonies, and how its like a first aid kit- you've got to keep it supplied so you can take care of wounds you get. And if you don't have supplies to take care of the minor things, then they turn into major things and you have to go to the doctor. We related that to the Atonement and Repentance, and Sister Paddock did a much better job of explaining than I'm doing right now.
Well, that's my week! I'm in a wonderful mood today, and I'm positive that wonderful things are about to happen! We're gonna teach Marsha, and Rex will be there, and hopefully we'll have another member present lesson with Sean, and life is just going to be amazing! I'm pretty stoked.
I love being a missionary :)
"Life is the bubbles!"
-Sebastian, The Little Mermaid
com amor,
Sister Shell
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