Monday, February 17, 2014: Pictures

Part of the program from the dedication of the new church building.

Part of the program from the dedication of the new church building.

Mortimer, our home.

Cookies for the members.

Mustache cookie!

Monday, February 10, 2014: Life's Beautiful Things--and a Different Kind of Work

Several times over the past few days things have happened to cause me to think of something my sister was doing on her blog for a very long time. She was posting pictures every day of something that happened or something she did that made her happy that day. The point was to show that "Life is full of beautiful things, especially you're looking for the little things that happen every day." That was the attitude I tried to take with me this week! So here's a few things that happened this week that made my days better:

1. Our heater got fixed! Life is so much better now!

2. I got a package from my aunt! Inside were personalized M&M's that said things like "sweet is the work" on them. That just brightened my day! I think my mom would be jealous ;)

3. I got a package from my sister! Two packages in a week? I felt so lucky! She decorated it so cute too. I wish I would have taken a picture before I put everything away, but it was full of all sorts of things I love, like bubbles, Burt's Bee's Chap Stick, Bath and Body Works shower gel, and--of course--lots of candy! 

4. I got two letters from my best friend! Since he's pretty much on the other side of the world, that never happens! I was basically skipping around the house when the second one arrived!

5. My recent convert in Picayune and her husband got called to be ward missionaries! I was told they went out with the missionaries last week to help teach a few investigators. I'm so glad they're doing so well :)

Life really is good. I have to slap myself every once in a while and tell myself to stop exaggerating how bad things are. That's one of the things I've learned this past year: things are never as bad as they seem. When I get put into a new situation, everything bad about that situation seems to be magnified, and so is everything good about the situation I'm leaving. But it's never as horrible as I make it out to be. Last week I thought I was going to die here. Then things started getting better. My ward mission leader fixed our heater so my house isn't so miserably cold anymore. Elder Edwards replaced our broken car with a new one. I figured out that if you flush our toilet twice, it usually won't clog--who knows why. And I found out that we should be getting a washer for our house in a few weeks! Yep. It's really not so bad. I have simply been having to adjust to a different kind of work here in Red Star. When you picture missionary work you picture knocking on doors and teaching lots of people and always being busy. That's not really what it's like here. This is a very unique area. Our instructions from President were to "go about doing good" so we have to be a little more creative with our time. So, this is what we spent the weekend doing: 

 

We wanted to meet a lot of members, but we had also been warned that a lot of them didn't like surprise visits, so we thought bringing food was a good way to make us a little more happy to see us! I think our plan was successful. We got to meet a lot of people and they were all pretty excited about the cupcakes. It took a lot of cake mix and frosting...(yep, I'm definitely broke this month) but I think it was worth it! 

Philippians 4: 11

Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

Monday, February 3, 2014: Tender Mercies

Well, I somehow managed to survive transfers! On top of leaving Picayune and saying goodbye to my companions and dealing with the crazy weather I don't know how I did it. We had to leave the night before transfers to sleep over in Waveland because the roads were possibly going to close and we wouldn't be able to get to transfer point. My companions and I stopped at the ocean while we were there. The shoreline had receded quite a bit while we'd been there, so we started picking up some of the seashells that had been covered before and throwing them...they just skidded. The ocean was frozen! That's how cold it was. It was crazy. 

Anyway, I was supposed to be getting transferred to Wesson, but President called me on the way to transfers and told me he was sending me to Red Star instead. Now I'm even more in the middle of nowhere...even more so than I would have been if I was in Wesson! Red Star isn't a town, it's a community, and it's pretty much all Mormons, so we're pretty much just doing member work while we're here. It's going to be a very unique experience, that's for sure. 

These past couple of days have been kind of rough for me, but here's a few things that show me that the Lord's tender mercies really are over all those whom he hath chosen. First of all, I was paired with Sister Dailey, my companion from the MTC! I feel so lucky to get to be her companion again. That happens very rarely, so we're pretty lucky. If I have to whitewash this area, I'm glad I'm doing it with her! 

Second, our little house (I've named it Mortimer) stays very cold. I don't handle the cold well at all, so it's been tough for me. We put our little space heater in our bedroom and try to avoid leaving that room because it's the only place in our house that will stay warm. I dread having to leave to go to the kitchen or the bathroom. The first night we were there, I stepped out into the kitchen and the hardwood was absolutely freezing. It was like stepping on ice. Then I remembered some slippers I'd gotten from a game we played at our Christmas zone conference. I'm not much of a slipper person, so as I was packing to leave I almost considered giving them away, but for some reason I packed them anyway. Now I'm thankful I had the thought to keep them, because it makes having to get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night a little less miserable. 

There is always, always, always something to be grateful for.