Conference Weekend

(Sorry that I can't make it stand up....but you get the idea.....)

It’s been a relatively eventful week.

 

Wednesday night we left our area early to drive down to Cedar Rapids in prep for driving to Davenport, and stayed with the sisters there (we went to Red Robin for dinner- thank you dad for that. :) ).It was fun, despite me sleeping in a recliner because they had no spare mattresses (my backkkk). The next morning was the long drive to Davenport, and lots of meetings. They were good though- the first one in a while I felt like I got something (more than one something even) out of it and will be actually trying to do better in those areas using what they talked about.

 

The drive back took forever, and then we did our shopping there (yay having a real town) and the people we were supposed to have dinner with were super late, so we ended up sleeping over in Cedar Rapids again (yeah recliner again) and then driving out the next morning.

 

One bright side, our purchases included a blender and stuff for smoothie/shakes that more or less go in place of meals, so that’s what we do for breakfast. Working on the exercise part, but it’s getting better.

 

A little knocking- mostly ‘WE DONT WANT ANY' or lonely old people who just want to talk but aren't interested at in Jesus. ): We met a lady named Jingles though. She had her name legally changed to the name her husband gave her. Wild.

 

We had one lady come to conference. She slept through some of it though. Not sure how much she got out of it, but she's 91 so we're still trying to figure out if she's actually understanding anything we're teaching her or if it’s another “oh yay someone to talk to!” old person experience. ): I feel bad, and so I try not to rush out of those too fast, but we're not really fulfilling our purpose by just shooting the breeze.

 

(General Conference is our semi-annual meeting where the leadership from Salt Lake speaks to the members world wide. They counsel and encourage us.  See all of their talks HERE.)

Speaking of conference, wow. What an experience. Elder Hales isn't looking so good, and President Monson doesn't sound so good either (but at least he didn't crumple on the stand again)... I wonder if we'll be seeing some seats changing come next conference. I liked a lot of talks (my notebook is pretty full), but it definitely made me trunky (the feeling of wanting to "pack your trunk and go home"....homesickness).

 

Humorous moments- we were in an old folks home talking to one of our members when a lady had a glass of chocolate milk in front of her. She looked at it, puzzled, looked at the nurse, then back at it, and asked "Is it medicine?" It was quite clearly chocolate milk. "No. It's chocolate milk." She went on about medicine for a while. I don't know that she ever actually drank it.

 

Jingles also told us that what we Americans call Canadian Geese, Canadians call American Geese, and it turns out we're all wrong, they're North American Geese. There was some debate as to what Mexicans call them. Who knows.

 

We've been teaching the Addiction Recovery Program lately, and while it’s been a joy to see the progress in the people we teach it to, it’s not something I want to deal with in my life. This is too much for me. I'm out.

 

Today we're going to the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, which is in the area next to us. So we got permission to go. It won't be as cool, because the corn isn't up yet, but it’s there and open to the public, and my companion is all about that baseball life so it’s a must see I guess. Pictures next week on that.

 

Attached is a cut out we found in front of a tiny church along our drive to Davenport.

 

All my love.

 

Christine

Easter

photo sent by a member on Easter Sunday!

Tuesday was a good day- we saw a lot of people and even found two new investigators!

We saw Tom again Wednesday, and he's doing great- he got a blessing and was more or less healed. His car was okay save for the bumper needing to be replaced (which is incredible because from the description of what happened it’s more a wonder he didn't die. Tender mercies of the Lord.)  

It snowed again Wednesday night, so we ended up chipping our car out of the ice and going out that day. We were able to see that lady who wants to come back again. (The weather report looked like it was going to be really nice this week….guess the weather can’t make up its mind over there, too!)

Sunday was nice- we taught Gospel Doctrine class, then a member invited us over for Easter. It was very good- lots of food, good company, good laughs. WE hard boiled our eggs as well, but we'll be decorating them later today. A little late to the party, but we just hadn't found the time before that. (we sent some egg dye, chocolate bunnies, and of course, Peeps! for Easter)

This week we have to go all the way to Davenport (3 hours from here), so after some huffing and puffing and going "well since no one is making decisions, I'm making decisions..." So now we're driving down the night before to Cedar Rapids (1/2 way there) with the trio of sisters from Manchester, doing dinner in a real city and then bunking with the 2 sets of sisters there, then driving the rest of the way with them the next morning. No one argued. Good. Unfortunately, the Sister Training Leaders were teasing me, telling me I'm going to go STL next transfer for all my controlling coordination planning habits. Heaven help me.

Trying hard not to be trunky/distracted by home- it feels like it’s coming fast and I have a lot of time (driving) to think and wonder and such on it, though I'm trying hard not to. (I think a lot on it, too…..)

Anyhow. All my love.
Christine

 

 

Flamingos and Chickens

Tiny Pink Flamingos

Giant metal chicken

The weather can't make up its mind- the temperature tanked into the 30s this week, much to my dismay. I'm being stubborn and wearing only a couple of layers of tights and staying in my lighter jacket despite the threats of snow. If I don't concede maybe it will go away.

Thank you Dad for being so timely about sending the GPS (She's in a VERY large and rural area and getting lost is a problem), because I would have never found some recent appointments on my own.  

I plugged in my home address to see how long it would take me to just drive straight home once already. (It's a bit longer of a drive than I expected.) I do have these moments where I'm like yeah, this worked out, there's God's hand and it's sweet... But you have to slog through a lot of junk to get there, so I guess I have to earn it by the amount of slogging we go through. We're working on looking forward to the good things. (I feel bad about looking forward as much as I do to email because man I miss talking to people about something other than Jesus Christ sometimes. But I look forward to it none the less.)

Thursday evening we were fed by a member who hasn't been to church in a long time and she's more or less like... I'm ready to come back. I want a temple recommend. Can I feed you weekly? Yes. Sweet. Something's paying off.  Please come to church. And please invite us over when your husband's there so even though he's stubborn and won't admit to needing this sort of thing but he's listening. I hope he accepts so they can be sealed in the temple. She's a sweet lady and he's been good for her and he needs those blessings too. A great priesthood holder.

At another door we heard through the door after we knocked "Don't bother about the door, it's just bible people." Kay. Thanks. There was a Methodist church with pretty windows so we wandered in and checked it out, but literally no one was there and it was kind of creepy. Also really unsafe because like... There's expensive audio/visual equipment in here and you left the door unlocked? Okay. We also knocked into a Baptist preacher that insinuated we were probably going to Hell because we 'didn't understand the attributes of God correctly or worship a God that isn't in the Bible'. Uhm. Alright. At least he was very subtle/polite about it. Our day got better when we found a giant metal chicken in someone's front yard and another yard COVERED in tiny flamingos. Attached are pictures.

All my love

Christine

New companion and warmer weather!

new companionship

Whelp. Another transfer done. I have two more after this. 4 1/2 months. Sister L (new companion) is the 3rd of 4, all the rest are boys. She's from Texas, which makes her fairly rough and tumble; which is great. No girly girls for me. She loves sports and is very easy going.  She had only been the temple twice so far, and since we had a member offer, we asked to go. I've been perhaps 10 times on my mission, which is way a lot (since we're technically only supposed to like 3 times? derp.) Hey, if I keep asking, and President keeps saying yes, is it wrong? (guess not….)

The weather here has been good so far; it’s been warm enough that I'm down to one layer of tights and my lighter jackets. It’s supposed to be in the 50s all week and it’s supposed to be all thunder storms. I like this much better than I like the snow. I could deal with this for the rest of my mission. (Too bad the summer is coming….)

Definitely the mission could be described as a roller coaster! I was asked to give a talk in sacrament two weeks ago, but I was so not ready, so I was glad to go to the temple and receive some guidance and inspiration the day before. I think that’s the first time I've successfully talked for my full 12-15 minutes? All the prayers answered. And a great companion, and a new GPS, and a good talk, and good weather, and a member drove us all over the parts of our area we never get to because it’s too far yesterday to see less active members we never see... It was a good week. But of course the stress comes with it. A lost hour for daylight savings, the usual rejection and Sister B is gone! All my sad!

 

One guy that used to call us a lot - we told not to talk to us again until he was sober and committed to staying sober. So needless to say we don't expect to hear from him again. Sad. (we’re praying that he comes around and calls them back…)

Still several people to work with, and with the weather warming up, people will have to come up with a different excuse than 'come back when it’s warmer'. But as always, all the knocking ahead.

It'll be good though. I'm pluggin' along with Personal Progress.(a personal improvement program geared for the young women of the church -  https://www.lds.org/young-women/personal-progress?lang=eng )   It’s far more enjoyable now that I’m older. Though I'm sad not to have Sister B to do it with anymore. ):

Anyhow. All my love.

Christine

 

snow, then no snow

The box mom sent arrived last week on Monday. :) thank you so much for the Girl Scout cookies! I finally packed the box I'm sending home and it goes in the mail today.

Monday we went to visit one of the myriad of Amish communities around here. Super cool stuff, and one guy (and his two adorable little boys) took us back to his barn to show us his horses. The one he referred to as a 'pony' had to be at least 8 ft tall and hooves as big as dinner plates. Bigger than Clydesdales, apparently. It was wild. There was also a store that sold essential oils, so I may meander back some time when I have a little more cash (since they don't exactly take credit cards). We had a grand time, which was really for the best, since we can really use the down time.  

 

It snowed last Monday night, so all the beautiful green grass was covered in another couple inches of snow. Back to the boots and heavy jackets again. Good thing I hadn't packed my cold weather yet... But today it’s back up in the high 50s so the snow is almost entirely gone and the grass is still green. Wat? We’re not sure what the forecast is for the rest of the week, but we're hoping warm. There will likely be a box of cold weather stuff towards the end of this month or the beginning of next.

Mission life continues. I seem to be doing alright, doing my best to keep eating decently and taking my multivitamin (since Sister B thinks I'm low on iron and that's why I'm always so cold all the time), and just keeping focus on the here and now.

 

There's plenty to keep me busy here. We're sure one lady we're working with is on meth, and we're pretty sure another guy we were working with is in jail right now, and it's always a merry-go-round with the small town drama. I just want to talk to people about Jesus Christ. Is that so much to ask?

 

Transfers are on Thursday.  Sister B will be glad to be out of this difficult area, but will be sad to be split up.  I'll get moved the transfer following. Honestly though, I'm really not worried. I'm really in a roll with the punches mood right now. Wild. I love my companion and I'm sad to part with her.

 

All my love. Hope all recover back home. :) (We’re all sick at home…)

 

Love

 

Christine

baptism and a temple trip

Toms baptism

Gettin' silly

Nauvoo Temple

We're 90% sure Sister B will be leaving this transfer, and I will be staying only one more transfer before I will be likely called to either train again or to be a sister training leader.

Tom got baptized and confirmed this week, much to our joy. It was a little awkward, since the young man who baptized him had never done a baptism before, and the water level was a little low, so it took some effort to get him fully immersed. But either way, he still came out of the water grinning ear to ear. And then he was confirmed Sunday, again grinning ear to ear. It will be a good change for him. Pictures attached from the baptism.

We did go to the temple this week and we went Saturday. Attached are pictures with the family who took us.

Other good news; we have several new investigators to work with, in addition to the several we found last week. We're very excited to have lots of people to work with. (YAY!)

We also started doing personal progress together the other week. Seeing how much we can accomplish before I have to give Sister B up to another missionary.

I've been doing well enough. Mostly been powering through any difficulties I've run into with headaches. Nothing has really come up in the way of enlightenment, and I've kind of given up food journaling for the moment (to see if there was a food allergy correlation). I know I need to get back on that, but right now I'm little caught up in other things.

Anyhow. Love you. Hope everyone feels better at home.  
Love, Christine

melting snow and some green grass!



melted snow revealed green grass!  YAY!

cat prints - for mom

 

We visited Vicky on Wednesday, and it’s not working out, so we're probably not going to visit her again. Sad day.

Tom is still doing well. He's all set up for baptism on Wednesday.

I'm just never going to shake these headaches, I feel like. I've gotten a lot of blessings lately (probably more in the last 2 months than I have my whole life), and they seem to help take the edge off, but I'm apparently meant to just get the strength to get through it as opposed to have this burden lifted. It crawls up from where my neck meets my head and spiders up into my forehead and its beginning to spread down into my nose now. Wild. Ears seem to be next after that.

We have several new investigators this week; a lady who's 91 but still lives on her own and is still in the workforce, another lady who's in her 30s with 5 kids and another on the way, and the guy who was referred to us the other week (we finally got to go see him, but we're now concerned that he's just lonely and looking for someone to talk about Jesus with him)...

 

We’re in contact with a recent convert who went a little AWOL for a while. He's doing much better and he's quit smoking tobacco! Yay! So we're going to start working on getting him and his wife ready to go to the temple soon.

 

We get to go to the Temple tomorrow; we're leaving our building at about 6:30am to make the 3 1/2 hour pilgrimage down south to Nauvoo. It'd going to be rough for me (especially since we'll be packed in a little car), but we're looking forward to it. There are some things I want a little more direction on. Too bad we can't linger at all down there for Sister B (who’s never been there), but we need to be back at a reasonable time.

Attached is someone's car hood with muddy cat prints on it. Also the snow is melting (since it’s been warm-40s, so we're seeing... LIVE GRASS AGAIN. WHAT.

Anyhow. love you.

Christine