Why helloooooooo!
As always, this week was nuts.First off, CONGRATULATIONS BRITT AND TRISTAN! I swear I won't know my family when I get home. Auntie Ali to the 8th power? Uhm yes please. [Note from Dawn: Brittany just announced that they are expecting a baby girl January 7, 2014]
Creature update: the ants are back. but not in the kitchen. In our bedroom and bathroom. Where there is no food. It's so weird. And so disgusting. I think it's because our house is surrounded by dirt. Aka it's one giant ant hill. We ran out of raid. So we've been killing them with Windex, totally My Big Fat Greek Wedding style. I never thought I would have nightmares about ants. But... lets just say I woke up a lot last night, haha.
Also, I held a giant python snake thing this week. I'll let you imagine my facial expressions in the pictures. Merciful. I was on exchanges of course. We finished our last one this week! And obviously the highlight of my exchange was seeing HEATHER'S MOM, BROTHER, AND HOUSEHOLD. So fun. THANKS AGAIN MAMA VIRGO. Seriously, made my day. And congratulations Heather for being a piano-trophy-winning champ. Please talk to Amy about trophies. She loves that topic. #christmaspresent2007
I loved getting to work with sisters this transfer. So fun.
Oh another weird thing. We got introduced to Kongan water by some people in our stake. I call it Tuck Everlasting water. I don't have time to really type out the quirkiness of our introduction, but just look it up. Maybe it'll cure anyone's reflux.
We got to teach some training to the zone leaders/sister training leaders that they took to all the missionaries this week. We based it off of a quote from Elder Richard Scott about how there are three types of people in this work. 1) people who don't have a testimony and are not converted 2) people who have a testimony, but aren't converted 3) people who have a testimony and who are converted. We then compared that quote with the three groups of people in Lehi's vision of the tree of life (1 Nephi Chapter 8 in the Book of Mormon). The way we become fully converted really is through our daily gospel study and putting it into action. I finished reading the Moroni chapters this week. I just love The Book of Mormon so much. It has brought me so much closer to my Savior.
Investigator highlight of the week was teaching Sidney. She's facing some family opposition. But it was so powerful to testify how she had to know for herself. She's a champ.
Our "tool building", the new idea I spoke of last week, has been an adventure and a half. It has been insane. I can't believe it's only been two weeks. We are trying to get everything done in the next week and half, so that starting next transfer we can really launch the campaign..or as Sister Jones would say "we can stinking shred". [Note from Dawn: I have no idea what that means] It has been SO weird to spend time on a computer again, haha. To answer your question Mom, no we don't have our own facebook account. We don't know when our mission will get that authorization nor do we know yet how it will work. But our website is looking so sweet. And we filmed a lot of people this week and had a photoshoot yesterday with a professional photographer who lives in the stake. We can't believe transfers are next week. We are just praying that we stay together (Sister Jones is a visitor's center sister and has already been out full-field for 3 months and she ends her mission in 2 transfers...so the odds are against us being able to stay together), but we pray we can get the ball really rolling together. Besides building the tools, we have been focusing on building the branch. We had a meeting with our branch presidency this week (whom I love so much. just so much), and on Sunday there was some auxiliary reorganization, we started on time, our ward council meeting was focused more on individuals, we had a home teaching/visiting teaching night, etc. MIRACLES. So progress is being made, haha. The biggest thing is to have our game plan of how everything is going to work, done in the next week. That basically means very detailed check lists for a lot of people who are helping us from the stake, to other missionaries, to branch members, to people with specific callings, etc. But once it is all delegated out, it's going to be so effective! For example, we are going to "mobilize our zone". Our zone of missionaries covers the stake [geographical area] that we cover. We have 800 young single adults who are on stake records (most are less active), but are on their family wards' records. The missionaries in each family ward will be given a list of the ysa less actives in their ward to go visit and figure out their story and encourage them to come to the branch. (But it won't be a waste for those missionaries, because they're still working in their areas. and most of the ysa's live with their families who are also less active or who are nonmembers.. and we're all united in the same cause. So exciting.) And then they have called a ysa representative from each home ward and their calling is to help encourage people in their home ward to come to the branch (we're still working on getting them coming to the branch -_-, haha). But one of their jobs will be to add every single one of the ysa's on their ward list to our facebook group and to figure out their emails so we can link them to the website. So!! All of our 800 people will be able to have been contacted face to face, and virtually, in a matter of weeks rather than Sister Jones and I trying to outreach to every single one of them (they just never will happen). Anyways. I love this campaign. I just pray that we'll be given the opportunity to see it through. But it's the Lord's work, so it'll all work out the way it's supposed to.
I had a favorite quote from the Lorenzo Snow manual from a church lesson yesterday "Knowing our religion to be true, we ought to be the most devoted people on the face of the earth to the cause we have embraced." I was thinking about the most devoted people in this world that I could think of. And then I was evaluating my level of devotion to the gospel. I'm constantly changing and trying to be better. The mission just opens my eyes to just how much room for improvement there is in my life, you know, haha. I just know that I can never go back to the way I did my callings or the way I read my scriptures or they way I served others. I just love this Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm coming to know my Savior Jesus Christ more and more each day; I'm not just learning about Him. I'm really trying to live the principle mentioned in one of my favorite children's songs "He knows I will follow Him...give all my life to Him." This is the most important cause we can embrace. I know that. I love it. And obviously, I love every single one of you. Truly. Thanks for your prayers, letters/emails, and support!
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