This week we did service a couple of different times for
April Cook. She moved apartments so we helped her set up her bed in her new
apartment and clean out her old one. April wanted her bed up high so she could
have some storage underneath it. It turned out pretty cool, actually. At her
old apartment, Sister Thorup and I had to take apart her vacuum cleaner to see
why it wasn't working properly. She has two cats and her vacuum was so full of
cat hair that the hose was clogged and wouldn't suck even when we dumped out
the canister. It's funny because we literally just had a training about
cleaning the day before and we were able to apply that to our service. We also
found some fun toys in one of her closets, so Sister Thorup and I decided to
have a "companionship inventory" with them.
Holidays just kind of
sneak up on me now. I didn't even think about Labor Day until Sunday afternoon
when missionaries were talking about libraries being closed. I hope ya'll got
to enjoy the three day weekend. We got enjoy it a little differently. Our
recent convert Kathie is so tight with President Hanks. He gave her permission
to take the three of us {Thorup, Haslam, and Woodard} out of our area and up to
Huntsville to visit her family. So we had a nice little road trip yesterday
that kept us busy the whole day. The sad thing is that my batteries for my
camera died and I wasn't able to get any pictures of our adventure. Oh
well.....
We
had to take our car in today because the axles are being recalled for some
reason or other. They looked at our car and decided it needed new axles.
Because of some deal, we were supposed to get a rental car free of charge while
our car is in the shop. We didn't have all the details to share with Enterprise
because the Church set up that policy so we didn't have all the answers. We
spent about and hour or more at the rental car place trying to get the payment
figured out {who's insurance was going to pay for it, the Church's or the
dealership}. We went in to the dealership around 9:30 and didn't get a rental
car until almost 1. But the person helping us was super nice and it wasn't
really that bad. It would have been worse if someone on either side became
frustrated or impatient. It just goes to show that our reactions really
matter.
IF I
were to have a favorite part of missionary work, it would definitely be working
with the members, whether they are active, less active or recent converts. One
of our lessons this week was a new member lesson with the Black family
{formerly the Bells until Yolanda and Lawrence were married.} Sister Thorup
came up with this great activity to illustrate the concept of faith. In
Sandpiper Apartments there is this open grass field with trees around it and
that's where we set up a maze with string. We tied string to the trees and to
chairs, leading to one particular tree that had pictures of Jesus Christ. We
blind folded this family, gave them an egg in their left hand that symbolized
something they held dear, told them to hold onto the string with their right hand
and let them go along the "path of life." We had the elders helping
us and it worked out so each person had a guide. If anyone ever ran into
trouble, they simply raised their egg to ask for help. The purpose of the
activity was to show them that life is crazy and you never know where you are
going, but so long as you have faith in Jesus Christ and listen to the Holy
Ghost, you will be able to make it back to live with Him. It was a big hit and
the family really enjoyed participating in it.
I also love love love the youth, in general and in our ward. I'm hoping to work with them more as we try to get Kionnee Bell and Jordan Cross fellowship and get to know the girls. I talked to the Crowley twins on Sunday and they seemed more than willing to help make sure these two girls are included. I'm excited to see what they do.
Life is still good in Vestavia Hills. We're adapting to being in a trio and we work pretty well together. Sister Thorup, Sister Haslam and I wore red dresses on Sunday, our first official one together since last week was stake conference. It was a big hit with the ward members. We got lots of comments and it was a good way to get their attention for them to see who their missionaries were. I think it might be a little tradition for us the next two Sundays before transfers to match each other. Store contacting is not as awkward for me anymore; I actually kind of enjoy it. It's fun to talk to people and get to know them. I try and lead the conversation so that they ask what we are doing here in Alabama. {"I'm not from here, can you explain....." "Where's that at? I'm not familiar with this area."} I feel like I'm not forcing anything onto them when they bring up religion and what we as missionaries do.
I'm
trying to push myself to be better every day {I'm not sure if it's working, but
I'm definitely trying}. It's hard, but I would encourage ya'll to push
yourselves to be a little bit better than you were the day before. There's no
point in staying the same when this whole world was created with the purpose of
changing and becoming better.
Ya'll are amazing and I thank you for your
examples. As they say in the South, have a blessed week!
