healthier and hard work

I am doing better health-wise this week. No days where I was down for body betrayal. I appreciate the book about elimination diet stuff, and I'll look over it when I get it, but there's no way I can do while I'm here- the members feed us very frequently (we actually are booked all this week in that regard), and for the most part they remember I'm dairy free. I tried soy-milk for the first time and enjoyed that. The members we live with also bought me a container of lactose-free vanilla ice cream, and it was delicious. I had a big bowl.

 

It sounds like it's been a good week for all at home- I'm glad to hear it! I can't wait to see the boys' new computers and to see mom's new vintage sewing books (I might have to look at them myself ;) ) We have not gotten IPad and I do believe it’s because our mission president is pushing against them- every mission I've heard of getting them has had a steady decline in obedience since their arrival. So it's going to be more interesting to see if the new mission president allows them (or if the mission department will even give him a choice)... But this is all conjecture.  (The IPads are to make it easier for the Missionaries to show the videos to investigators, schedule appointments, and get appropriate information…however, since they are connected to the internet, I imagine that the temptation of that can be too much for some.)

 

We haven't been directed to ask members to pray about who they could invite into their homes, but it’s a common idea, as I understand. We have a couple of different go-to lessons for members. My current favorite is inviting families to create some form of family mission plan.

It has been getting warmer, but we're scheduled for a whole week of rain as I understand, and the house we live in is very well insulated, so it remains cool all day inside. So far we have not suffered much in the way of heat, knock on wood. But I am coming to the end. 2 months to go.

This week has been noteworthy- Monday afternoon some hooligans graffitied the church building and suggested that religion was quote 'the opiate of the people'... But as we were not the only ones hit, it didn't seem to be specifically Mormon related. Our building just happened to be easiest because our north facing wall faces a corn field and nothing else, whereas most other buildings have suburbia on all sides.

We did a ton of service this week- it seems everyone's got that spring cleaning, so I feel like I spent most of this week in pants. A welcome change. We set up a couch and a desk and have taken in total dozens and dozens of trash bags to the curb. The most noteworthy of our house cleanings is a 25-year-plus hoarder who is finally agreeing to part with things. She's excited to find the things we've found in our excavations and has been willing to part with a fair amount of it. Progress!

We have started a regular service thing every week where we are recorded reading magazines or newspapers. They are then broadcasted so the blind can listen to them. I enjoy it because it makes me feel like I'm Cecil from the podcast 'Welcome to Nightvale'. I sort of want a microphone of some quality to do amateur voice acting stuff online when I go home... So I guess I have people I can talk to about that now. Get some direction as to good starter pieces. My companion however, is uncomfortable with the service as she's super self-conscious about her voice. But we'll see.

We saw a former investigator this week and she was sad we were no longer working with her. We had a small lesson and told her we couldn't work with her if she wasn't willing to keep commitments. Hopefully she starts to progress, but she didn't keep the commitment to come to church, so we'll see.

We did find a new investigator, which was a miracle in and of itself, as we dallied at a previous appointment and arrived just in time to have her appear at her house. She had forgotten about us but was super pleased to have caught us. We have a more formal appointment next week.

 

We had dinner this week with the bishop and there was this outpouring of love and adoration and he told each of us that we are fantastic missionaries and such. Then my district leader described me as bubbly (though not in an airheaded sort of way). It was an interesting experience.

And then my companion accidentally called 911 (butt-dial) and 2 sheriffs appeared at our mission leader's house after we had left. Woops.

Eventful week. Hope all is well at home. Love you!        Christine