Hey Family,
It is soooo good
to hear from you. Didn't know how much I missed you until I read your
email this morning. Man I miss getting mail everyday at the MTC. Haha. I
was spoiled rotton. Lets be honest, I am still being spoiled rotten.
I've got the cushiest gig around.
I hope that this email doesn't sound negative... and now with an intro like that here is my first week.
In
the MTC they preped us, saying that our trainers would probably have
appointments already set up for the day and we'd barely have time to
drop our suitcases off before heading off to start teaching the
gospel... I was prepared for that. But thats not what happened. Because
we are blinding this area we didn't know anyone... so we didn't have any
appointments. So day 1 we spent unpacking and doing a little grocery
shopping. I was grateful for the slow start...
But... its still been REALLY slow. I don't even feel
like we've even taught a real lesson yet. We've visited a lot of members
and some inactives and met with two investigators but mostly its just
trying to get to know people, where they are at in the process, and
figure out what steps to take next. We still haven't made contact with
some of the people the Elders that were here were working with before.
Its doesn't help that the Elders that are here in Riverhead with us seem
to be going 100 miles a minute... They're not really blinding the area
but man... I wish we were that busy. I was prepared to get up in the
morning, get ready, and leave the apartment not planning to return all
day... I wasn't prepared for this. I just want to feel like I am using
the Lord's time well.
O! I kinda lied to you. When I wrote last week we were
under the impression that we were English only, turns out all four of
the missionaries stationed here are called spanish so we're working what
is called a Zebra Pool. Basically that means we can teach in both
English and Spanish. It actually makes it really nice because when we
knock on a door we dont have to worry about what language will be
spoken, either way we will understand... and if by some miracle they let
us in we can teach them whether they speak English or Spanish (which
means if we find an awesome English investigator we don't have to pass
them off to the English missionaries or vise versa.)
Daddy... I'm discouraged... I know this is where I am
supposed to be... but i'm still trying to really want to be here. That
sounds so bad. I'm sorry. Don't let the boys read that part... or maybe
do... I dont know its just hard out here. I wonder what I would be
doing differently if I wasn't new... What would I know how to do better
if I wasn't a greenie fresh out of the MTC. My companion is timid too,
she tries really really hard but she's just as scared as I am... that
means we probably don't push each other as much as we should, me because
I'm new and barely know which way is up and her because she's shy.
We've really got to start figuring all this out.
The people that I have met I find myself falling in
love with almost instantly. They all have crazy stories and I am
surprised at how much information they are willing to share. I can tell
my heart is going to take a beating out here. The first day my mission
president asked me "If you can only tell me one thing about yourself
what would it be?..." when I hesitated he modified the question so it
said "If there was one thing your mom would tell me about you what would
it be?" After he asked that It was a no brainer... I told him "I love
and I love hard." He said that love would serve me well, but I would
also get my heart broken. Its true. But I think I'm going to chose to
love anyways.
Okay... lets try to liven things up a bit. Let me tell
you about some of these awesome people we have met that I have already
started loving.
The first is Sister Batista. She
is an awesome Dominican woman, been a member all her life (with some
bouts of inactivitiy) and right now she is a single mother raising
5 AMAZING kids. They range in ages from 15 to 6. The circumstances that
brought her to her current situation are very sad, but o man she is so
strong. She is always being pulled in 100 different directions but she
does everything to give her kids every chance. She helps them do lots of
sports, excel in school, and whatever else they want to do. She is an
amazing woman and mother, and her Faith! She has witnessed some pretty
awesome miracles and her faith is strong, she knows God will take care
of her no matter what. We've just got to help her see the part that
church has to play in that equation. She just got in a pretty serious
car accident that she probably shouldn't have survived but pretty much
walked away without a scratch. Unfortunately that means she doesn't have
a car right now so its hard for her to get to church. Its amazing to me
how many people don't have cars out here. Members are awesome in their
willingness to give rides but there aren't a lot of big cars out here
that can handle that many people. We need a few mission 15 passenger
vans. That would be awesome!
One of our investigators lives a few doors down. The
elders were working with her a little bit before they left but she has
been suffering from horrible horrible headaches for the past 7 months so
she has a hard time accepting company. She had pretty much told
the Elders not to call her, she would call them if she had any questions
(they'd given her a book of Mormon.) She has slow comprehension and I
guess the Elders would really overwhelm her with information that she
couldn't handle, I think she liked our pace better because she agreed
to set up a weekly appointment with her. Its not very often but
hopefully its a pace that will work for her. She really just wants to
find happiness, not sure how much she wants to work for it but we'll try
to help her see that this path can bring her what she is looking for.
She has had a rough go of it, came from a family and a home probably not
much different that the one I grew up in and even raised her family in a
similar setting... but recently she's had to move to an apartment
and has lost both her cars. She's trying to turn to God but doesn't
see that its making her situation any better. She trust him but she's
wondering why it almost seems like its getting harder when she's trying
to do the right thing. I really hope we can help her. (Her name is Diane
by the way).
Another investigator the Elders left to us is named
Gjina. We met her for the first time at church yesterday. She has
already committed to baptism! And more than that she is really proactive
in wanting it to be done sooner than later. Originally the goal was
March 3 but since missionaries have switched and nobody really knows her
story the District and Zone leaders want to push it back so we can be
sure its true conversion. From everything I have heard from her I think
she really is... We'll meet with her again today and hopefully set
things more in stone. She still has to be taught some things but I
think it'll all work out. One of the things she said is that her family
is mostly indifferent to her decision or happy that she has found
something that makes her happy but her sister, who unfortunately she
lives with, is very very against it. She gets discouraged by that
sometimes but she says what she really wishes is that she could just
shake her until she get it, until she can know what she knows. If that
isn't a sign of true conversion I don't know what is. Wanting to share
the gospel with others is a big step towards it at least. We're hoping
we can set her baptism date in stone today.
We went tracting in a mobile home park this week and
tracted into a young hispanic girl named Liliana. She was so cute. I
don't know if she was super interested in what we had to say and she was
about to run out the door but she did set up a return appointment with
us for tomorrow. I have high hopes for her. I'm not going to lie, I am
already so grateful that I have been called to speak spanish. The
hispanic people are amazing and their culture is so friendly. I'm glad
I've been called to work primarily with them.
Finally... last night we had our first Dinner
Appointment with a member. Her name is Lorraine and she was baptized
maybe only a year and a half ago and Wow! What a lady. She made us
amazing food and shared with us the first talk she had ever given in
sacrament meeting which had been almost a year ago. It was the story of
her conversion and the discovery of her own testimony. It was so tender.
There was so much emotion, I feel like we went through that journey
with her. After a long day and week of feeling discouraged what she read
to us was exactly what I needed to hear. More than once already I have
heard missionaries talk about how the only people they baptize out here
are the ones that are already looking for the Gospel. The ones that come
to them basically instead of the ones they find on their own. Lorraine
was that way, but the point is she still needed the missionaries. If I
can find just one person like her, just one who is looking for the truth
and really gets what is being placed before them... then my mission
will all be worth it. Just one. I know they're here somewhere... I just
have to be obedient and faithful and then God will send them my way. God
is the fisherman, we are just the Net in a way, he drops us where he
wants us, where he knows the good fish will be and then, if we are a
good net and doing what we have been made (called) to do, then we are
allowed to catch some fish. (is that a weird analogy? I dont know, it
makes sense in my head.)
I wouldn't be surpirsed if I am here for at least six
months. Maybe more. Honestly I may have to be training as soon as I am
done training and they better not send me back to the city to do that...
I think I would curl up and die. We're getting 20 new sister
missionaries in the next transfer out from the MTC and yet there aren't
even that many sisters in the mission right now... especially since 7 of
them are training the 7 that came in with me. Some of them will be in
trio's and who knows how many the next transfer with bring after that.
Everything is exploding out here! The branch here is so so excited to
have sister missionaries, I think they've only seen elders for a long
long time. I really think we can do things here that the Elders
couldn't... its an amazing thing.
Today is a zone activity for P-day so we're going to go
play laser-tag up in terryville. Pretty cool huh? Haha. We'll see how
it compares to laser tag back home... hopefully I can hold my own and
the Elders wont completely kick my but. Wouldn't it be cool if I could
totally cream all of them. :D I'll have to try and find a good sniper
spot.
O yeah! Another cool thing... since we're out here in a
branch we may (not sure if this is a rumor) but we may be allowed to go
with the Branch to the temple on their Branch Temple Trip. How cool
would that be?!? To get to do to the temple in my first transfer!? Can i
get anymore spoiled. The trip is set sometime in late March so we'll
have to verify if it really true but I really really hope so.
I had to buy a GPS for our car. There is no rhyme or
reason to the roads out here... Brigham Young was an amazing city
planner. There is not way to know where this road is or if it connects
to this road. There is no grid! Maps are hard because there aren't
really numbers so it all depends on if you can manage to find it on a
map in really small writing. The Beal's (the senior couple we live with)
let us borrow theirs a few times and honestly its so much easier. We
went to target one day and they had one on an amazing sale so I took the
money I had just gotten back on my card from my baggage receipt and got
that for us. Its been a HUGE blessing. Like I said I am gussing i'll be
out here for a while so I think it was a good value buy.
Sorry, this is getting kinda scatterbrained, I am just
writing things as they come to me. Please don't be afraid to write me
handwritten letters, they wont take too long to get here and I promise I
will respond in kind.
I miss you. Mommy, I really wish I could get a hug
right now... there is no substitute for Mom hugs. Jake you should
probably start stocking up on those... they run out fast out here.
I love you all. I am so grateful everyday for the family that I have,
the parents that raised me, my sisters that have supported me, and my
brothers that have taught me so much. We are so amazingly blessed. Utah
is an amazing place to grow up, I don't care what anyone says. The
bubble is great! One of the biggest trials out here is when we baptize
someone and then they start dating a non-member... but really... who
else are they suppose to date? I love being able to assume that 95% of
everyone I talk to is LDS or at least understand and respect my
standards. Boys... be ever so grateful for it. Love it and take
advantage, there is no where else like happy valley Utah.
Les Amo!
-Hermana Maren Hale
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