For family home evening we played Kings Cup... apparently its a drinking
game but we played Mormon style with just nasty juices. Tonic Water was the
worst followed by Ginger Beer... thought i was gonna gag!!!! but the YSA kids
LOVE IT! They also think its funny to see us missionaries taste weird stuff.. I
never understood that... why does making missionaries eat things that are weird
fascinate people so much.. don't know guess i will find out when i get home ;)
Kennewick Washington missionaries look out you might have a touch of CWM at meal
appointments from now on! On Monday night I tried to focus on the Adjusting To
Missionary Life handbook to deal with my stress and it helped a little but i
have decided they need to have one of those for old missionaries or missionaries
who are going home! because we deal with stress too but its not exactly the same
as new missionaries! either way that book as INCREDIBLE INSIGHTS! I think the
insight that stood out to me the most this week was one of the scriptures it
quotes. "And [Jesus] said unto [His disciples], Come ye yourselves apart into a
desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they
had no leisure so much as to eat" I guess it didn't hit me tell this that Jesus
and his disciples would know the feelings I go through as a missionary! When we
are so busy we don't have time to eat, or when we worry about the salvation of
the people we are teaching, or where we want to support those we have already
taught who are falling away but we are too far to see them anymore... They
understand what we have been through, we can relate to each other! I just
thought that was so neat!
The SPCA this week brought the CUTEST puppies I have ever seen in my
entire life. They were part pug puppies that were just to die for cute! So we
got to hold them and play with them for a little bit and I picked one that I
just stuck with! I named her Speckles! She was soooo cute! Then Sister Hudson
named one Joey, not quite sure why... then the Elders got to pick the name for
all the other puppies (five more puppies) and they named them all Tom haha....
good thing we wont forget their names or mess them up at all... super creative
elders! Then me and Sister Hudson went through the white hand book and wrote
down all the rules we needed to focus on to improve ourselves spiritually and
physically. It was good to see how much we were doing right. It's really easy to
focus on the things we get wrong all the time that going through the white hand
book it was a relief to see what was already going right! Then we had sports
night where at the end I became an evil twin because the little girls that come
where playing a game... and so I chased them around and they just laughed and
laughed then they started wanting to put me in jail so my good twin came back!
yep i know have multiple personality disorder and my good twin is a lot easier
to handle haha... so they let me stay out of jail until after closing prayer...
then they were convinced that the evil twin had come back and required me to go
to jail and see the judge. Luckily the jail was the car and the judge was God in
my evening prayers, those girls let me off easy :)
We spent all of Wednesday in Saskatoon for ZTM and doctors
appointments... The upside to our trip there was I got to see the Cooks! and
Ricah! it was Ricah's and Jay's birthday so it was INCREDIBLE to still be able
to share these special moments with these people I love so much! ZTM (haha
Canadians say its zed.t.m because z is zed up here if its not in a word... its
been a debate for a while) was really good! It had a lot to do with faith of
reaching our baptismal goal of 225... since we are only at 60 something 225 is
quite a distance still but we can do it! We had a mission wide fast for it on
Sunday and we are all determined to get three baptisms before the end of the
year... kind of had a realization that I wont be here at the end of the year so
I did the math... I need to contribute on more baptism to help the CWM mission
to reach its goal... so that is my goal.. one baptism before I get home! Keep
that in your prayers please! Then we went home and we were planning for our next
day when we could have sworn something was in the apartment. I was the one
closest to the hallway and I saw a flash of black in the hallway and
FLIPPED!!!!!! We still had no idea what it was until the STUPID BAT flew around
the corner... yes there was a vampire, flesh-eating, horrible creature in our
apartment. Really it was just a nice bat that eats mosquitoes and other bugs
that I don't like but I don't appreciate it being in my apartment. So I
screamed! Quite loudly actually, and you know what that did... absolutely
nothing! In fact it made the bat freak out and start swooping towards us! So I
ran with the phone into the bathroom and called the Elders knowing they couldn't
help but thought it was worth a try and Sister Hudson went for a broom, opened
the screen door, and then ended up just laying on the floor until the bat just
left. We still have NO idea how it got into our apartment, we are thinking the
chimney but really I am tired of creepy, crawly, and flying things getting into
our apartment. I thought i would add in her version of it too so you got both
sides of it... it makes it more entertaining "Then at the end of a long
day we were planning in our apartment as we do every night. In the middle of
planning, we heard a rustling sound coming from the bedroom. We had no idea what
it was. Sister Harrison was like "Is there something in our apartment?" and from
where she was sitting on the floor she could see into the hallway while I
couldn't. So I watched her face turn to one of absolute HORROR and I started
freaking out, thinking someone had broken into our apartment and was going to
murder us. It was the most terrifying moment of my life. I had no idea what was
going on because Sister Harrison wasn't saying anything. Then this bat comes
flying out and we were screaming/laughing/crying/ducking (it kept swooping
at us) until Sister Harrison hid in the bathroom and I closed all the doors and
got a broom. I ended up just lying on the floor so it would stop swooping at me,
and then it flew out of the porch door I had opened for it."
While we were at the food bank this week Elder Schmidt said I was the
senior companion of the district! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS CALLING ME OLD! haha
but I am old and they use that to their advantage and have me make
decisions...haha poor elders! But even the old comment couldn't ruin my time at
the food bank! I love it there!!!! it is one of my favorite service
opportunities ever! Then Sister Hudson got sick. She got a nasty cold and we
tried to tackle it day one by making her sleep but no luck... she still got it
hard and coughs and sneezes all the time! Its her first time being sick on her
mission and she said its worse then being sick at home! I would completely agree
with her! So while she took a nap I called Sister Marx who is the CWM councilor
for missionaries and worked with her on some relaxation techniques. I really
liked them and I am gonna keep trying them on my own. My favorite was her
imagery one where she took me to the lake! It was an amazing journey that really
worked with the whole relaxation thing... now its just making the time to do it
again haha! I have started sending messages to the random people who add me
online! I realized that the only way I am gonna find is by being creative... so
for friend requests for people I dont know, that dont have a thousand other
missionaries as friends already, i sent this
... "Hello!
I noticed you sent me a friend request. As a representative of Jesus Christ I am
always excited to meet new people who want to get closer to their saviour. Since
I am a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I love to
invite all to come closer to Christ and listen to the unique message of the
restoration that we share with the world. Would you be interested in hearing
more about this message!?"
It may seem like a lame message but I got a response. I am now teaching a
less active from California who is living in Calgary who was outreaching to
anyone and will HOPEFULLY start meeting with missionaries in her own area soon!
She is incredible and its been a really neat experience to get to meet her and
teach her! We are still finding everywhere we go.. .online, at investigators
homes, somehow we have been able to consistently find one to two investigators
each week this transfer... even though TWO OF THEM DROPPED US IN ONE DAY! We
cant have a perfect teaching pool its just hard when people you feel like could
progress so much decide not to study with you anymore! But you keep them in your
prayers and you know that one day they will get there, its just not
today!
Weekly planning went sour this week when we hit a stump and didn't know
how to help a family that I have been working with since I got in this area.
They are super open to lessons and if we push they come to church but Sister
Thomas reminded us this week that it wasnt our job to push them that our job as
missionaries is to invite others to come unto Christ, whether they come or not
is their decision... it makes planning and getting ready for this family to
progress a little harder but we aren't ready to give up yet! Then I got to go
the hospital to get some blood work done... and what did they do THEY ADMITTED
ME TO THE HOSPITAL! The one thing Sister Thomas said to make sure they didnt
do... yep I got a bracelet and everything... Luckily six vile of blood and 144
dollars later I escaped with Sister Hudson... really they just let us go... but
we had a joke with the lady at the front that they were gonna keep us and so she
was part of our escape. Then we got to see President Thomas and Sister Thomas...
they came up to visit us in Prince Albert and to do interviews! It was sooo good
to be able to talk to President Thomas and he is so incredible! He has so much
love for each of us and worries about us so much! Then we had so many
cancellations... this week has just been full of them... so one night I was
singing 'err body hates us no one loves us why dont we eat cake' and you know
what we did after that... haha we ate cake! and did companionship inventory! it
was grand! oh and I spilled a milkshake all over because im clumsy and cant hold
on to anything (I blame it on losing a lot of blood) but its okay a miracle
happened... the milkshake missed my planner, thank goodness because i dont think
that blueberry deliciousness would have come out haha. OH AND THE MOST BEAUTIFUL
LIGHTNING STORM HAPPENED! I wish I had dad's nice camera so I could have taken
pictures but HOLY it was GORGEOUS! Made me happy to be woken up in the middle of
the night!
The weekend proved to be slower and less eventful which was a blessing.
One of our less actives got up and moved to Melfort (which is like an hour away)
just out of the blue.. in the middle of the night... so hes gone and its sad!
Then we finished weekly planning for the first time EVER this transfer! that was
a miracle! Then I got to talk to my family. As much as its unfortunate that
things got to the point that I had to call my family I was truly grateful for
the chance to talk to them. It really helped more then they will ever know! Our
neighbor came to church with us.. then disappeared, we still arent sure if she
was found but her daughter texted us asking where she was and she didnt know
where she was that night either... luckily she is a grown woman and can take
care of herself and her daughter is an adult too and can survive a day without
her but its still weird. I dont know if I have told you about Sister
Deschambeault at all either. She is an elderly lady in our ward that lives at
the hospital and we go with the elders to give her the sacrament each week. I
LOVE DOING THAT! She reminds me a lot of Corette and i love just feeling her
spirit. Then we had a supper appointment with one of the Mission Presidents
Councilors and it was good! the most annoying part was an elder kept distracting
everyone during our lesson to try and get a picture of a hummingbird... and he
moved so fast he scared it away every time! I really do love PA its hard but its
great! And I have met people here I will keep in contact with forever... Well
this week we get transfer calls... our last transfer call EVER on our mission..
its weird... But I am excited and hopefully for what heavenly father has in
store for me. Thank you for all your support, and letters, and love! I LOVE
YOU!
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