I wish I could say that Fast Sunday doesn't leave me brain dead... but it totally does. Spiritually uplifted and brain dead. I guess that could be the title of this email...
Monday: Our friend, Brendan, from our ward came back from his visit to Utah for General Conference. On his way back up, he stayed with my family in Idaho Falls and he brought some stuff back for me, including my ukulele! Yay! You'll see below my look of sheer excitement. I've missed that little guy. My ukulele, not Brendan. Lol. For p-day, we played two-hand touch football and a bunch of other outside games because it was so nice outside!! I love it when the weather warms up. So great(:
Tuesday: We had zone training meeting and learned about better ways that we can do missionary work with the members. It's so true, though, that working with members is THE most effective way to do missionary work. Like, so much better than tracting (knocking doors). We then went and heart attacked one of our members who was away for a mission reunion in Utah. Every time we tell people we're heart attacking someone, they literally think we're going to give them a heart attack. Lol. No. Just paper hearts on their door. We then met up with a girl in our ward at the mall and helped her pick out a gift for her dad's birthday while talking about what stuck out to her in General Conference and what we can do to help her. We had a lesson with a guy in our ward who's kind of struggling with his testimony but is doing awesome, and then we had supper with the Rockyview elders and some members in their ward who invited us. They were hilarious and would't let us do the dishes. Lol YSA never objects to letting us do their dishes haha(; We then met with the STL's at the stake center and exchanged!
Wednesday: I was with Sister Trimble, my MTC comp-now STL, and it was so cool to reminisce on the last year and how this time last year we were in the MTC together as companions! Ah. So crazy how much changes in a year. We stopped by some people on their ward list, because they're both new to the area, and it was a lot of fun, meeting new people. One of the ladies we visited was actually the mother of our bishop's wife and it was awesome to get to know her. What a neat lady. We had lunch at a burger place that was fantastic, complete with a Nutella milkshake, and we also visited a lady in the nursing home with the 17th Ave sisters. We sang her some hymns and she asked me who told me I could paint my nails blue. I responded with something usual from Sister Pipkin, "Well nobody told me I couldn't." She laughed and said I'm sassy. Well... :D
We took some photos at the Bow River and then started heading to meet with the other sisters to exchange back. On our way back to the car, I got a bug in my eye and I screamed. Pretty loudly. We look over at this guy sitting on his porch smoking and he just starts laughing. It gave us an excuse to go talk to him, though, and share a #Hallelujah card with him. I guess you could say I took one for the team lol. While on exchanges, Sister Sears put our new investigator, J.R., on date for baptism in May. WE'VE ONLY BEEN TEACHING HIM A WEEK AND HE ACCEPTED THE INVITATION TO BE BAPTIZED!!!!! Ah, so exciting.
Thursday: We did weekly planning, like always, but then we made a cake for Manny, one of our investigators (who also happens to be Brendan's roommate) because it was his birthday! Sister Sears is amazing at making cakes, so she wanted to make him a car cake because he loves cars. However, on the mission, she has limited resources, and the car cake turned into looking like a pig. But we pretended it was a car. It tasted so good, regardless. And Manny loved it. We had a lesson with him after that and it went super well. Maybe because he was "sugared up" with that cake(;
We also went to a tea party held by the Highbanks Society we've been volunteering at, where they showed appreciation for the volunteers. They gave us flowers and some artwork the little kids in their program did for us. It was adorable. Afterwards, we went with the 17th Ave sisters to try and find something to eat for supper. We ended up walking out of two places because their dinner prices were outrageous and ended up resorting to Wendy's. It was pretty comical, looking back. And then, these amazing members saw us at Wendy's and paid for our meals. Awwww(:
Friday: We went to a meeting for the trainers/trainees with President and Sister Miles. Ah. Have I mentioned how much I love hearing from them? They rock. After the meeting, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings with some of the other missionaries and the manager gave us the Thursday deal of 75cent wings even though it was Friday. It was awesome. He then asked us a ton about our missions and stuff. Missionaries go there all the time after meetings and do the Blazin' challenge, so he's pretty familiar with and loves missionaries. Who knows, maybe someday he'll take the discussions(; After lunch, we had another lesson with J.R. He recognized the temptations that he'd be facing as he prepares for baptism, which awesome because then we can help me(: He rocks. We had supper with Jenna and she showed us all the plans she has going for her wedding in August. Ah, love and happiness(:
Saturday: We did some yard work/landscaping stuff at the community gardens again. But it was super windy, and laying mulch in wind is not as fun as you think it would be. One of the elders just sat in the wheel barrow and "supervised" lol. What a guy. We sang some hymns at the retirement center with the zone leaders and the STL's and it was so fun. Old people are the greatest. AND THEN!!! The Feenstra's from my first area came up and took us out to supper. How freaking awesome that was. Oh my goodness, it was amazing to see them again. And then, this was hilarious, we looked out the window and what did we see? Popcorn popping on the apricot tree! Lol just kidding. We saw the Spanish elders coming to eat at the same restaurant we were, and one of the elders had served in the Feenstra's ward the transfer after I left, so it was a mini reunion. Ah. So amazing.
Sunday: Was fast Sunday and it was truly amazing. It was J.R.'s first Sunday at church, not counting General Conference, and Sister Sears and I were kind of nervous. Testimony meeting can be make it or break it for some people. Sometimes, people say some weird things haha. But the testimonies borne were stellar. I always forget how amazing YSA are. They say some of the most inspiring things, they're so in tune with the Spirit. I could see J.R.'s reaction to the words said and I knew that just about every single one of his questions were being addressed in that meeting. It was so neat. And not only his questions, but those of other individuals that we were working with who were in attendance. I hope they were able to feel the Spirit as it was in that meeting. I love fast and testimony meeting, despite the incessant growl of my stomach. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share my testimony with others every day of the week as a missionary! What a blessing that is. We had supper with one of the couples in our bishopric and her guacamole was to die for. Mmm. Oh yeah, mom, I like guacamole now(; We went to Andrea's open house afterwards and took photos and gave hugs and stuff. She leaves for the MTC on Saturday and I'll miss her tons and tons. She'll be an awesome missionary, but I'm selfish and really want her all to myself(:
And that was our week! What a great one it was. I love being a missionary, it's probably the best thing I've ever done. Such a blast getting to know so many different people, I just love it.
I hope everyone has a great week! Love you all so much!
<3 Sister Pipkin
1 & 2) the fake cow we found on someone's front lawn.
3) this cute little take&go library we left a Book of Mormon in
4 & 5) defiantly leaving a card in their mailbox specifically because it says not to
6 & 7) the retirement center we sing at always has these adorable posters they put everywhere. Lol @ gospel singers. We're the whitest "gospel" singers there are
8 & 9) Us and the Feenstra's + the Spanish elders. Lol @ Sister Sear's closed eyes hahaha
10) our girl, Andrea
11) President and Sister Miles
12, 13, 14, 15) E. Ince in his wheel barrow throne. Manny and his cake. He's a hoot. Us and some of the other volunteers at the tea party. My ukulele and I reunited.
No comments:
Post a Comment