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| Where the sidewalk ends |
On Monday I got my hair cut and Sister Davis got hers cut and colored. An awesome lady in the ward did it for us. We also got to hang out at her house with her cute kids and watch 17 Miracles while she was doing our hair, pretty fun. Then we just went to the church and played volleyball. We then went to a part member family's house for dinner and to start teaching their 9 year old son the lessons so he can be baptized. The mom is a member and the dad is Catholic and they just do everything in both churches.
On Tuesday Sister Davis got a package that included a few
little toy cars, the kind that you pull the thing and they zoom off. I
was bored so I asked her if I could play with one and she said yes. I was
playing with it on the counter while she was in the other room and it kept
falling off and Sister Davis would yell at me to not break it. So I had
the great idea to just get on the floor in the kitchen and play with it so it
couldn't fall. First time I pull the thing it zooms off.....and goes
underneath the stove -__- I made a sound indicating something was wrong
and Sister Davis yells from the other room, "what did you do?"
I ignored her and promptly got the broom to try and get it out, but only
succeeded in getting it more stuck. Sister Davis finally had to come out,
move the stove and then get it out. I am not allowed to play with them
anymore.
Wednesday was hump day. I have officially been out for
nine months!!!!! That is really crazy to think that I am halfway through
my mission. I don't feel like I have been out that long. I feel
like I just left Parkway, but I have been here for just over three months and
will probably be here for another three. Crazy!!!! I felt kind of
weird the whole day, like I was about to burst into tears, weird right?
Our dinner appointment never got back to us, which I was secretly glad
about. I didn't want to spend such a momentous occasion with a family
that I wasn't especially close with or just made me feel awkward.
So we called
up our ward mission leader's wife and asked if we could have dinner with them
and they said yes. That family just makes me happy :) They are
hilarious and were just what I needed. Their kids were awesome, there
were lots of funny stories told as well. My ward mission leader was so
exhausted from work and a month of traveling around that he was totally loopy,
laughing at a play on words he made over and over. His son in the other
room kept yelling, "It's not funny dad!" It was great. We then
had an appointment with another family that was hilarious and afterward we
visited with a member whose kids kept us laughing the whole time with story
after story. It was great.
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| She likes to chase our car when we leave her house |
On Thursday we did weekly planning and volunteered at the food
bank with our district. We also delivered 9 copies of the Book of Mormon
to some members. One family had asked for 2 to hand out, then one of the
seminary teachers needed 5. He said that Friday was "invite a friend to
seminary" day and he needed 5 more copies in addition to the 2 we had
delivered the day before, saying he had grossly underestimated the power of his
seminary class. He decided to give him a few extras, just in case. Seminary is pretty awesome. That is how we got one of our investigators,
his friend invited him to seminary. Never underestimate the power of
seminary and institute!!!
We also had an amazing lesson with a part member family. We are going through the whole ward and teaching them the missionary lessons as part of what is called the 5x5 program. So the Magdirila family was next on the list. Only one of the children, Sister Magdirila, and her non-member husband were able to come, but it was amazing. The Spirit was so strong!!!!! Throughout the lesson Mr. Magdirila was listening, and though he didn't want to show us, he was paying attention. At the end of the lesson I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it will bring us closer to Christ than any other book will and that I know it is true. At the end of the lesson we asked if everybody would read the Book of Mormon everyday, and even he nodded. It was amazing. I just left their home so happy.
We also had an amazing lesson with a part member family. We are going through the whole ward and teaching them the missionary lessons as part of what is called the 5x5 program. So the Magdirila family was next on the list. Only one of the children, Sister Magdirila, and her non-member husband were able to come, but it was amazing. The Spirit was so strong!!!!! Throughout the lesson Mr. Magdirila was listening, and though he didn't want to show us, he was paying attention. At the end of the lesson I bore my testimony of the Book of Mormon and how it will bring us closer to Christ than any other book will and that I know it is true. At the end of the lesson we asked if everybody would read the Book of Mormon everyday, and even he nodded. It was amazing. I just left their home so happy.
On Friday we had district meeting and it was our turn to be
in charge of lunch. We had decided to make pancakes, eggs, and bacon.
We were a little low on miles and since we gave the elders a ride last
week (they are in a trio so we can carpool since it is an uneven amount of
elders and sisters), we got a ride from them this week. We get to the
church building where we normally have our meetings and discover the parking
lot filled with cars and a hearse. We didn't really feel like crashing a
funeral so we made an emergency change of plans and relocated our meeting the
Katy Mills elder's apartment office.
We had our meeting in a theater room and then we had to figure out how to cook in the apartment lobby's stove. We kept having to send the elders to their apartment to grab different things like plates, utensils, and pans. Then the gas wasn't turned on so we had to find someone to turn it on. Then the elders didn't have enough plates for 9 people so we had to share. It was a crazy time, but it all worked out in the end. Felt kind of bad though because we stuck them with a bunch of dishes since there was no soap or sponge in the lobby, and they had to take us home. Hopefully it wasn't too hard on them. At least we were able to enjoy the car ride. Elder Petersen, Sister Davis, and I sang pretty loud in the backseat, it was a lot of fun. Elder Nielson and Elder Thomas in the front seats did not join our sing along, but they were laughing pretty hard,so they must have enjoyed it.
We spent the rest of our day visiting with members, and one of them found out we didn't have a dinner so she insisted that we go out to dinner with her and her mother-in-law (whom they share the house with). She is too nice. So we went to dinner at around 7 and since it was a Friday night it was packed. We waited an hour to be seated. Was not a total waste of time though. Three non-members and two members came up and talked to us. That is more non-members than we usually talk to in a week!! So it was pretty awesome. Oh, and the food was really great too :)
We had our meeting in a theater room and then we had to figure out how to cook in the apartment lobby's stove. We kept having to send the elders to their apartment to grab different things like plates, utensils, and pans. Then the gas wasn't turned on so we had to find someone to turn it on. Then the elders didn't have enough plates for 9 people so we had to share. It was a crazy time, but it all worked out in the end. Felt kind of bad though because we stuck them with a bunch of dishes since there was no soap or sponge in the lobby, and they had to take us home. Hopefully it wasn't too hard on them. At least we were able to enjoy the car ride. Elder Petersen, Sister Davis, and I sang pretty loud in the backseat, it was a lot of fun. Elder Nielson and Elder Thomas in the front seats did not join our sing along, but they were laughing pretty hard,so they must have enjoyed it.
We spent the rest of our day visiting with members, and one of them found out we didn't have a dinner so she insisted that we go out to dinner with her and her mother-in-law (whom they share the house with). She is too nice. So we went to dinner at around 7 and since it was a Friday night it was packed. We waited an hour to be seated. Was not a total waste of time though. Three non-members and two members came up and talked to us. That is more non-members than we usually talk to in a week!! So it was pretty awesome. Oh, and the food was really great too :)
On Saturday we volunteered at the Stake Fun Run. Got
there at 7 to help with registration and then we helped with taking down times.
We would tear off this little slip from the number pinned to their front
and write the time on the back. It was only awkward when the person was
super sweaty, not wearing a shirt, or had it pinned to their leg, or sometimes
all three! It was fun though and they had a little carnival afterward.
I think I ate way too much popcorn. In between the fun run and the
baptism of one of the kids we are teaching we just studied at the church.
The baptism was nice, though we were all a little worried because the kid had had food poisoning all night and they weren't sure if he was going to last the whole time without an incident, but it turned out fine.
We had dinner at home and then I started practicing my flute for the piece we are playing for choir. I had been practicing beforehand, but I had finally gotten a CD of what it was supposed to sound like. I thought that I had it down, I didn't. So we spent the rest of the night at a member's house practicing. I am getting better.
The baptism was nice, though we were all a little worried because the kid had had food poisoning all night and they weren't sure if he was going to last the whole time without an incident, but it turned out fine.
We had dinner at home and then I started practicing my flute for the piece we are playing for choir. I had been practicing beforehand, but I had finally gotten a CD of what it was supposed to sound like. I thought that I had it down, I didn't. So we spent the rest of the night at a member's house practicing. I am getting better.
Sunday was busy busy!! We had a lot going on in the
evening so we had a lunch appointment instead of dinner. It was pretty nice.
Then we went to the choir pianist's house so I could practice with her
before we went to choir practice. I have a lot of work I need to do!
But as I played during choir practice, I was really able to see the
difference and I was able to improve. Or at least pick up playing after a
mistake. We then had an appointment with Madilyn, only it was kind of
awkward because when we got there, the elders were already there. They had an
appointment with them right before us and were still there. Only a little
weird. Elder Thomas was able to keep the dog quiet though, so we were
trying to get them to kidnap the dog so it wouldn't bark through our lesson
like it normally does. They didn't. Said they already kidnapped a
dog today. They didn't give details. We had a good lesson though and the
dog wasn't too distracting.
So, I had a pretty awesome week :) And it is only going to get better from here!!
Sister Hudgens
