Question from parents: Soooo - just curious - you seem so happy/positive/can-do. Would you tell us if you were feeling down or having a hard time? There have been plenty of hard times, but I always recover and by the time I sit down to write the email, it's all under the bridge and not worth retelling. :) I just save it for the journal. And I really do almost forget the hard times, because the triumphs and the good times are worth anything to get there. In all honesty, all the hard times are worth seeing an investigator progress, or to see someone get baptized, or come back to church, or whatever it is. Just like after climbing a mountain, I'd just take in the view, not complain about the sore muscles. I think it's also another blessing of the mission. I've been a lot more positive. Even with flat out rejection or big setbacks, I'm more prone to laugh, not be bitter.
Something about dealing with stress: There's something President Ames said in the sister trainer leader meeting I went to. He talked about how the elders/men are more likely to just roll with it and not stress so much, and sisters/women are more acutely aware of the struggles and more likely to stress. As for me on the mission, I've been more like an elder (me and my male brain...). I see my companions stress out and worry about so many things, but I just roll with it and just keep doing my best, and trust God will make things work out. I've been seeing that in my service as the branch pianist (I'm the only one that can play the piano well enough to accompany people). With sight reading, the trick is to just keep going at the same tempo, regardless of how many mistakes you make. And it gets better over time. Don't stress the mistakes and just keep going. :)
Spiritual experience of the week:
We've been teaching an investigator named Yolanda. She's progressing so much, and has been to church a couple times, and wants to be baptized! We taught her the law of chastity and she committed to keep it by getting married to the member boyfriend she's living with as soon as possible. She said she might be able to get her marriage license this friday. We prayed so much that that would be able to happen. Literally every prayer we said, for the next few days, we prayed that she'd be able to get her marriage license that friday. Friday comes around, but it didn't work out. We then taught her the Word of Wisdom. When we committed her to live the Word of Wisdom, she flat out said no. She really likes her coffee. We asked her to prayed about it and she said she would. We visited her the next day, and she told us that she hadn't had a single coffee, or tea, not even caffeinated soda (we never told her she couldn't have soda...)! She told us she prayed about it with her husband/boyfriend and she knows it's right. Our jaws dropped right there... Nothing short of a miracle! I know that God answers our prayers, even if it's not as expected.
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