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.

Address Change

Sister Glenn's transfer assignment has changed! Here's her updated mailing address.

3156 Ellzey Dr NW

Wesson MS 39191

Monday, January 27, 2014: I'm Leaving Picayune!

Well, the time has come. I'm very, very sad to say I'm leaving Picayune. I really hoped I would get just one more transfer here but I guess not. I'm headed to Wesson, Mississippi, which is actually Sister Parsons' last area. It has a population of 1200 people--when the community college is in session (and why there's a community college there is beyond me). That's smaller than my high school! Oh yeah, and I'm going to be living in the only trailer in the mission. So...this should be interesting! I'll be honest, I'm a little nervous. It's kind of a hard area. But it'll be fine and I've heard the branch there is awesome. 

 
Well, other than being told that I'm leaving the best place on earth, this week was pretty good. We went over to Clint's and thankfully he was still there! Fortunately for us our other investigator, Jonathan, who is Clint's next door neighbor, has been taking care of Clint. He happened to be there when we came by actually, so we just taught them together and it went so well! We were planning on going over the baptismal questions with Clint so we stuck to that plan, and the whole time Jonathan and Clint were kind of teaching each other. It was awesome. I was kind of nervous too because we hadn't talked about the word of wisdom with Jonathan yet and he had mentioned the day before that he had no intentions of quitting smoking. But when we brought it up in the baptismal questions and explained it to him he said, "Well I wasn't planning on quitting...but I guess I am now!" I admire their faith so much. If I was in their shoes, I don't know if I would accept something like the word of wisdom so easily. Jonathan and Clint now want to be baptized on the same day--February 15. I wish I could be here for it. Also, Clint's mom is doing really well. She should be coming home this week. 

 
We've also been working with a less active in our ward named Dixie. She's really cool. She has two kids living at home with her. Jackson is twelve and very loyal to our church even though he hasn't gone in a long time. Julianne is eight and wants to be baptized, so we've started teaching them the lessons. We taught the Plan of Salvation last week and I think it touched Dixie more than anybody. She said when she had first joined the church in her late twenties she had sat in with the Young Women, and they had talked about the sort of things they should be looking for in a spouse--you know, return missionary, can take you to the temple--stuff like that. She was like, "If I'd just been told that when I was younger I could have skipped over so many mistakes!" And then she got really quiet and she said, "I want all that for her. (Julianne) I want primary, Young Women, the temple, everything." I really don't think I fully realized what an influence those sort of things have made in my life. I'm really lucky to have had that. And I'm excited for this family! Dixie's just having a rough time getting back to church but I know she's going to get there. We also set Julianne's baptism for February 15 as well. New goal--find an excuse to get down to Picayune that day! 
 

Also, here is my new address for anyone who wants to write me/send me happy stuff! 
 

1020 Hill Street Lot 26

Wesson, MS 39191

Love you all!

Monday, January 6, 2014: On Doubting and Agency

Hello everyone! It's been a great week!

We're still working really hard with Clint. I really love that guy. He can't remember things very well but he loves the church and he has such a strong desire to do what's right--plus we found out this week he's been trying to get everyone around him to come to church with him! He's like a missionary already! Anyway, Clint's going to be baptized in just a few weeks, so, after church yesterday we showed him the baptismal font so he knew what it would be like. We were planning on it being a quick thing but it ended up being one of the most spiritual moments on my mission so far. He's really nervous about getting baptized, because he can't walk so he doesn't see how he's going to be able to get in and out of the font. We promised him that God had commanded him to be baptized, so He was going to provide a way for him to do it. I think Clint left feeling a little better, though still afraid. It's just so funny how much we doubt ourselves! Clint's problem is not that he doesn't want to do the things we've invited him to. It's just that he doesn't think he can. Like with smoking, he didn't think he could quit, and he was very afraid to try. And now he's been going strong for over a month! So I know he can get baptized too. I'm very confident that he'll make his date.

Yesterday while tracting we knocked on this older couple's door. After talking to them for a little while, they invited us in. We taught them the restoration and the spirit was SO strong. I can't think of many times I've felt it that strong in a lesson before. And you could tell they were feeling it! But at the end when we invited them to read the Book of Mormon, they said no. My heart just dropped. It was sad because you could tell they knew it was true; it was almost like he was fighting inside himself to say no! One of the hardest things out here for me is realized that people have their agency and even after all you can do, they can still choose not to accept your message.

Monday, December 30, 2013: On Laughter

Hello! 

I know it's been a while since I posted anything on here. Sorry about that. 

But things have been going really well here! We had transfers two weeks ago. Sister Diehl left us but I got to keep Sister Parsons and we got a new one, Sister Helms. I'm thinking I'll probably be leaving Picayune after this transfer, despite informing President McDonough in every weekly letter that I intend to stay here forever. 

Christmas was great! It was so good to get to talk to my family again. I miss those guys. Elder and Sister Platt set up the family history computers at the church so we could skype there and not be in anyone's way. The Platts are absolute angels. They've been taking such good care of us missionaries, especially this week. 

So, quick story for you. A couple of days ago it was raining really, really hard. Unfortunately for us it was our biking week and we had some appointments we needed to get to. It wasn't safe for us to bike, so we decided we would just have to walk there. The sidewalks and streets were flooded with water so by the time we reached our first appointment our feet were soaked, and it was only by the mercy of our umbrellas that the rest of us was still semi-dry. 

Well, as were heading home a truck sped right past us, through a puddle--or maybe I should call it a lake--of water. Well, you can probably guess where this is going. The water came up in a giant tidal wave over us. Sister Helms was walking in front of me and I literally couldn't see her for a moment. Then another car passed by, and another, and another, and...well, you get the idea. After that we didn't even bother walking around any puddles that stood in our way, we just waded right through them--we certainly couldn't get any wetter. 

In situations like those, I think you can either laugh about the situation, or feel miserable. I'm grateful God has given me the ability to laugh when doors get slammed in my face or when I'm biking against the frigid wind or when the day just goes plain wrong--otherwise I don't think I would be able to get through it. 

"The only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache.” -Marjorie Pay Hinckley