Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Tender mercies of this week:

Monday was just a crazy, crazy day that didn't go at all how we planned! We were supposed to have a zone P-Day in Hattiesburg but instead we had an adventurous day of driving on roads that are apparently only meant for golf carts, getting lost on Southern Mississippi campus, losing my companion on an elevator, and a whole bunch of other crazy things that ultimately led to us completely missing out on zone P-Day, the whole reason we were in Hattiesburg in the first place! Long story. But there was one thing that did go according to plan: we were able to go to Books-A-Million and I found myself another journal since I seem to be in the habit of getting very small journals and filling them up way too quickly! 

Tuesday I got a letter from my little sister with my decorated planner covers in it! I guess it doesn't matter how long I'm on my mission; mail still makes me very, very happy. 

Wednesday we were taking to Taco Bell by a member. I've only been there once so it was a bit of an adventure. Turns out they've got a quote on every hot sauce packet. I looked at this one and got really excited because this has been my personal motto for the past couple of years: Do it with passion or not at all. I believe that whatever you do in life, you should be passionate about it, otherwise there's no point doing it. And being the missionary that I am, I think that goes along perfectly with sharing the gospel. One of my companions told me about two missionaries who had gotten very rote in their tracting. They knocked on a door and gave their presentation of who they were and what they were doing. The woman who answered looked at them blankly for a moment and said, "You don't care about what you've got to offer, so why should I?" And then she shut the door. I've tried to keep that in mind as I spread the gospel with others. The Book of Mormon is the most important book they could possibly have in their hands, filled with the most important truths there are in the world, so I'd better show by my actions that it's important to me. 

Friday we had dinner with a guy in our ward and his girlfriend, who he's been trying to share the gospel with. You might say we sort of gospel jumped her last time we saw her (we thought we were supposed to be sharing the restoration with her but her boyfriend hadn't told her anything about it yet...oops) so this time was a little more relaxed to show her we're not complete weirdos! It was a fun night. We made hobo dinners and played Bananagramz, which turns out to be really fun! 

Saturday was great because we were finally, finally able to go tracting! It was awesome! We went out on this country road and it was such a beautiful day. We had some fantastic weather this week and I felt so blessed because of it because warm weather makes me so happy! We were also protected that day...we were talking to this lady on the porch and she asked where our car was. We said it was down the road and she said, "Really? You are lucky because we have a couple of dogs that will just tear you apart." Well, we were walking away and three dogs ran up to us, barking and bearing their teeth. We turned to the lady and said, "I think we found them!" So the lady told us to get on her porch and she'd get her shoes on and walk us away. So she did. And it was scary. Did I mention I've been afraid of big dogs ever since I got knocked down by a couple of strays when I was a little girl? Well...yep! That's definitely a thing! But we were protected. I'm definitely gonna have to invest in some pepper spray before I get back out there. 

And that pretty much sums up the last week of the transfer! I'm now entering into the last six weeks of my mission! Agh! Crazy! Every time I say it, it doesn't feel real. Sister Stacey and I are staying together, so I'm happy about that. So excited to enjoy our last transfer together!