Monday, August 25, 2014

Exciting news!


Good Morning, Good Morning!

There's some exciting news here in Enid, Oklahoma! I'm gonna be a trainer to a new missionary! We have a meeting on Wednesday, on Sunday we'll find out where Hermana Chugg is going, and by next Wednesday I'll get to meet her! I'm a little nervous because I still don't know Enid very well, but I know that the spirit will guide us wherever we need to be, even if we have no idea where we are. :)

Things from this week that are notable:

We got to go to the temple! I haven't been since Salt Lake because our mission is so big that we only go once every six months. But it was such a blessing, and I am so grateful to be on a mission. The temple always helps me recognize how important and fragile our lives are. And how much responsibility we really do have here. It was beautiful. A tiny, tiny temple. But so special. Pictures attached. :)

Somebody had me take a quiz and I learned that my spirit animal is a butterfly. So weak.

We've been having so much fun talking to people lately. Everybody we see, I get this empty feeling in my stomach if we don't stop and talk to them. Which is a good way to spend time, especially because it's been hard to get into anybody's house this week, which has been frustrating. The English work and the Spanish work here in Enid are two different works. Those who teach in English see baptisms all the time, they always have a ton of progressing investigators, their investigators keep commitments, and when they make appointments with people, the people are actually home. Most of the people we teach work 18 hour days... And when they have a day off, it's not easy to track them down. They're usually with their families out doing things. So it's been a pretty tricky week, especially with school starting back up.

But we did have some crazy experiences this week.

We saw some people while we were on our bikes and pulled over to talk to them. They were sitting on lawn chairs watching traffic, like classic Okies, and we talked to them for 3 hours about the Gospel.

And we got invited into this house that ended up being 10 guys from Mexico, all about our age, sitting in the backyard drinking beer and using a car hood as a table. We spent about ten minutes trying to act like our Spanish was too bad to understand that they were hitting on us and get them to pray with us. Finally we gave up and had to sneak out the side gate...

And we taught a crazy-powerful Restoration to a man named Ernesto. Seating was limited so I preached the fine word sitting on a stack of tires. Pic. attached. ;)

Some of the things that have been on my mind the most are how faith always moves forward. How it restores, motivates, propels, encourages, and inspires. We are to trust that our Heavenly Father wants us to progress and will never give us any trials that would hold us back. Every experience is for our benefit, even if it seems terrible and insurmountable right now. I'm also learning that the best way to change our attitudes is by identifying the blessings and results of things we have to do in the moment. So if we HAVE to go to school, not just drudging through it with our degree as motivation, but actually finding joy in each class, utilizing the knowledge that we gain in various aspects of our lives, and living in the moment, enjoying in the moment.

I'm eager to meet my "daughter", the Hermana that I'm training, and try to help her understand missionary work. I'm praying for her and praying that I'll be able to comfort her the way my trainer comforted me. I was  a nutcase my first couple transfers. Definitely cried in the closet a couple times, hahah. But I know that this work is flawless and worth it, if we are only willing to humble ourselves and learn all that we can.

I love you all! I challenge you to sit down and actually TALK to God. Like he really is your heavenly father. One on one. That's something that I've been working on. Let me know how it goes for you!

Love,

Hermana Best

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