Ok, so we're not really better off dead. But we are so tired this week that we could pass off as zombies for sure. And it's a good movie, so yeah.
Let's see... where to start?!
This week was really hard, I dare say. I was struggling with the whole trunky factor, wanting to be with my family for a hard week that they were having. I'm so grateful for my zone and for the members out here that helped me get my head back into things. They offered me lots of support, scriptures, ice cream, and chocolate. It calmed me down enough to remember why I'm here so far away from my home and family, and that I can do so much more for them here than in my house.
On Wednesday and Friday we had conferences with Elder Waddell from the area presidency. He is ridiculously tall, and rather fabulous. We learned a ton about temples, about covenants, about working with the ward council, and things like that. He burned us a bit as he reminded us that missionary work is not the same anymore. We are not here to find baptisms! In fact, our baptisms don't count for anything if we don't help converts get to the temple and keep their covenants. Interesante. He showed us some super cool scriptures about temple covenants, the Abrahamic Covenant, and the gathering of Israel. What started out as being a little confusing ended up blowing my mind. It was really cool.
On Friday morning we took up the challenge of teaching seminary at 6am. It was almost nostalgic, thinking back on the four years I spent going to seminary with Sister Kelley and Brother Nally. But I dare say, it's much more enjoyable to be the have asleep student than to prepare a lesson until 1 in the morning! It was fun to talk to all of the young men and women about being truly converted to the gospel and the importance of sharing the gospel with others. We might have been really tired the rest of the day, but it was fun.
On Saturday, we had a baptism! That was exciting. I think the more exciting part had to be preparing the baptism. I have to laugh just thinking about it. We stopped by the chapel in the morning to fill up the font, and were slightly surprised to find that it was still full of gross water! Oh good gracious. You would think that there would exist a relatively easy way to drain the font, no? Ha! Definitely not. We didn't have the magical metal bar that was necessary to pull some lever really far in the ground to drain the dang thing, so we did it ourselves with buckets. Between that and scrubbing it down with bleach, it only took about 4 and a half hours! Thankfully our good friend Oscar was there to help us. We laughed a lot as we left soaked and sore. In the end, Alondra was baptized all happy and clean in the pretty font. We left satisfied with our work.
We're a little worn out. But we're happy to be working. Can you all believe that this week I'll be halfway done with my mission? Yeah, me either.
Love you all. Here's to a better week than the last one!
Let's see... where to start?!
This week was really hard, I dare say. I was struggling with the whole trunky factor, wanting to be with my family for a hard week that they were having. I'm so grateful for my zone and for the members out here that helped me get my head back into things. They offered me lots of support, scriptures, ice cream, and chocolate. It calmed me down enough to remember why I'm here so far away from my home and family, and that I can do so much more for them here than in my house.
On Wednesday and Friday we had conferences with Elder Waddell from the area presidency. He is ridiculously tall, and rather fabulous. We learned a ton about temples, about covenants, about working with the ward council, and things like that. He burned us a bit as he reminded us that missionary work is not the same anymore. We are not here to find baptisms! In fact, our baptisms don't count for anything if we don't help converts get to the temple and keep their covenants. Interesante. He showed us some super cool scriptures about temple covenants, the Abrahamic Covenant, and the gathering of Israel. What started out as being a little confusing ended up blowing my mind. It was really cool.
On Friday morning we took up the challenge of teaching seminary at 6am. It was almost nostalgic, thinking back on the four years I spent going to seminary with Sister Kelley and Brother Nally. But I dare say, it's much more enjoyable to be the have asleep student than to prepare a lesson until 1 in the morning! It was fun to talk to all of the young men and women about being truly converted to the gospel and the importance of sharing the gospel with others. We might have been really tired the rest of the day, but it was fun.
On Saturday, we had a baptism! That was exciting. I think the more exciting part had to be preparing the baptism. I have to laugh just thinking about it. We stopped by the chapel in the morning to fill up the font, and were slightly surprised to find that it was still full of gross water! Oh good gracious. You would think that there would exist a relatively easy way to drain the font, no? Ha! Definitely not. We didn't have the magical metal bar that was necessary to pull some lever really far in the ground to drain the dang thing, so we did it ourselves with buckets. Between that and scrubbing it down with bleach, it only took about 4 and a half hours! Thankfully our good friend Oscar was there to help us. We laughed a lot as we left soaked and sore. In the end, Alondra was baptized all happy and clean in the pretty font. We left satisfied with our work.
We're a little worn out. But we're happy to be working. Can you all believe that this week I'll be halfway done with my mission? Yeah, me either.
Love you all. Here's to a better week than the last one!