Monday, July 28, 2014

Monday, July 28, 2014

Well Hi!!

So. We had a few great exchanges.  I went with Sister Leal again-- the one from Brazil.  She rocks!  We were able to talk more-- she is really just so inspirational.  She is really only there to serve others.  We went to her area. I haven’t left Bensonhurst on quite a few exchanges, but the next 3-4 exchanges I am going to leave the area and go to that sister’s area.  

I have been blessed with such perfect companions.  I could literally spend the next year of my life as Sister Williams’s companion and not ever have a problem.  She and I get along so well and don't have any problems. We seem to see things eye to eye. And I love that she is so willing to do whatever needs to be done.  Nothing is trumped with "I don't want to." She is from Spanish Fork-- did I say that before?  What do you want to know about her? I know you always want to know about my companions, but I never know what to say.

This week was SO, SO, busy. The Sisters’ Conference went just as planned, if not better!  I had been praying that the spirit would be there to testify of truth to the sisters.  Everyone was crying by the end of the day.  Everyone was touched, and ready to work again. :)  

We opened with opening exercises [which is something I should pause and talk about. Opening Exercises are almost always the same in all meetings. But it’s fun because we do the song and prayer and then we do the missionary purpose, which is: "to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them to receive the restored gospel, through faith in Jesus Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end." We do that purpose in all of the languages of the mission.  So we did all 7 of them.]  

After opening exercises I kicked off the theme of the conference.  I talked about how we as leaders came up with the theme, and how we knew that it was inspired based off of the experience that we had counseling on the theme.  So the talk 'Forget Me Not' by President Uchtdorf was what was decided.  

Each of the workshops were super special and meant a lot. We had a RM from this mission, from like 6 months ago come do one of the workshops and that one stood out to me the most. It was all on "being patient with yourself".  It all hit home. Ha-ha! I forget how not patient I am with myself until I hear things like that, which is funny since I tend to be fairly patient with others. So this is one of those weakness' I’ll just have to battle my whole life I’m sure.

After the workshops all the sister training leaders did an hour presentation on district unity vs district friendship. The videos turned out superb and were just hysterical, and really set a good tone for the presentation. The spirit was so strong as we talked about Satan’s role in missionary work, and how he will do anything to stop it.

Our lunch was a MASSSSIVE salad bar, and was just SO good. Sister Calderwood made homemade dressing and there was enough toppings for days! :) The senior couples and Sister Calderwood helped so much. It was definitely keeping us busy, but it all went smoothly. 

We also had President Interviews on Friday. We had our 30 minute STL interview, and then the 15 minutes each interview, and they both went well!  When Elder Gifford Nielsen came he invited us to set goals on ways that we wanted to walk away from the meeting improved, and then challenged President Calderwood to ask us about them when we see him. So in our interview that is what we talked about. I talked to him about pride and how I sensed my pride. He told me that I was in a good place because I noticed my own pride, and he said he was glad he didn’t have to tell me about it. But then he said, "not that I notice it"-- and moved forward.  So-- obviously that is something I need to work on. Ha-ha!  I get so frustrated because it’s one thing that seems so humbling but doesn't seem to stick with me-- so I can't remember the importance of it always.  But he asked if I have any other things that I wanted to go over, and I said "Yes, is there a way to help my companion, and the sisters more?" and with the most serious face he said "Yes, there is." and with a really long pause, I said "Okay, what is it-I’ll do whatever!" and he just smiled and said "RELAX!" Then for the next few minutes we talked about how I can relax. Sometimes I run myself into a wall when it comes to trying my best. But I know what my best is, so I constantly feel like I’m not reaching it.  Haha!  But his words put me at ease. I will always need people reminding me of this through my whole life!  Especially considering this is what we have talked about in a few of my interviews now. Trusting in God. I don't run the show... He does.  Hahaha! --- I just read my president's letter this week. Told ya... ----- ------ ----- ------ "Sister Freeze, Thank you for your leadership.  Now just RELAX and trust in God. He is always in control of everything.  Pc" -----     -------   ------ 

We have been able to contact a lot of the referrals from HQ's and from the family in our ward. That takes all the free time we have. I am thankful for the car-- it makes it so that we can get more done. I thought we would use it for only far away meetings, but we use it in our own area a lot just because of time.  Sometimes it’s faster to just hop in the car, double park, and run and knock on a door and hop back in the car than it is to ride the train, and transfer to buses and things.  

We played the game of "horse" with basketball today for p-day. You would be so proud of me. I really kept up, and the elders weren't even playing easy. 

All my friends go home this transfer. It’s so sad. Like, ALL the sisters that I am close with came in the same transfer, so it feel like the whole mission leaves in 3 weeks. It’s so sad.  

This week was a whirlwind to say the least. I just feel like God is the only way that all the things get done around here. The Lord keeps leading us to people. Lots of good things are happening here. :)  I love you all.

Sister Freeze