Bufallo WINGZ

I AM GETTING TRANSFERRED!

TO NORTH BUFFALO!

We got the call last night and I seriously could not sleep. This is a MASSIVE change. My new companion will be Sister Thomas who I love so much- North Buffalo has been closed for a while so Sister Thomas and I will be the first missionaries there for quite some time.  It's a Spanish speaking area, too! Also, Buffalo zone is full proselyting, so I won't be at the Visitors' Centers for at least a few months. I will definitely miss working there and seeing everyone every week...everyone kind of jokes that Buffalo is it's own mission because we don't see people as often as the other 3 zones. Today I'm going to need to get all my stuff together and then tomorrow I'll be in a new area, with a new companion, and I probably won't be driver anymore- Sister Thomas has been out longer than me. Weird weird weird and so GOOD!
Story of the call:
Elder Hallam (district leader) called me and told me I would be moving to North Buffalo and I didn't believe him because I'm not done training so that's not common and North Buffalo wasn't open...clearly a joke right? So after some reassurance I said ok and hung up, but I was staying at a house since we're in Palmyra today so the 5 other Sisters in the house screamed immediately because I didn't ask who my companion was. I called Elder Hallam back and asked who, and he said Sister Thomas, who was sitting in the room with me! I just looked at her and pointed and shouted, "YOU!" and Elder Hallam hung up because he couldn't hear anything over the ridiculous screams of the 6 of us. Way too much for one night, I tell you. Oh and when I realized I will be leaving Sister Fetuli I tackled her and clung for a little while. She's not one for that kind of thing but I didn't much care at the moment. I think she secretly appreciated it :) Haha.

Ok back to this past week! Rita and Paul are progressing, and we hope they will be out of the hospital this week sometime. Sister Fetuli will probably keep me updated on their progress.

We had mission conference on Wednesday and Elder Cook (of the Seventy) came and I really liked what he talked about, but one thing in particular stood out to me. He talked about lawns. How we kill weeds, mow everything to be exactly the same height, add whatever we need to do to make the lawn look perfectly combed and uniform. However! What does God plant? He plants meadows. Full of countless varieties of flowers and plants- different heights, colors, widths, you name it. And it's the same with people. Why is it that we are so bent on making people the same? That if someone doesn't fit into our perception of beautiful that they don't make the cut. Heavenly Father made each of us different and so beautiful! We have different talents and experiences to offer and He expects us to use them the most we can. Enough lawns, eh?

I've also been taught a lot about the Lord's schedule this week haha. There have been so many times where I got frustrated because the plans we made fell through- people cancelled, something would come up...and so often it would yield a greater result. A member cancelled a dinner appointment and I would up at my apartment eating mac & cheese and drinking Dr. Pepper. It was a really nice chance to have a quiet moment. I needed it more than I had realized I think. On Thursday we had 15 appointments to teach people and ALL of them bailed. All. Really? Then at the end of the day someone called and asked us to come- we hadn't met them before- and it was one of the best lessons I've seen since I've been out! Had we been busy with all the other appointments we had, we would not have been able to go over to that unplanned appointment. I'm also reminded of the first day I had in the field when we got lost right out of transfer meeting for like 40 minutes. I was frustrated, but in our pathetic plight someone came up and offered to help (anyone who carries around a map these days is in serious trouble) and now he is actually learning more about the church. You just can never know how things work out. As soon as I start to think I'm in control He nudges everything off just to help me to understand the true status quo ha. Perfect.

Is it strange that I don't consider myself a religious person? And I'm dedicating my life to it? I realized this week that I've never thought of myself as that "type." Ok stay with me here. I tried to figure out why I feel that way, and I think it's because I don't see it as a classification. A while back I talked about how frustrating it is when people say "it's not my thing." I don't think of myself as religious- I don't think about how I'm a homo sapien all the time, either. It's just part of being alive. I don't see that as separating me from anyone else. Maybe it's because I've come to a state of knowledge rather than belief. Do you consider yourself to be a scientist because you know what an atom is?

One of our zone leaders, Elder Peck, is leaving this transfer! I'm not happy about it. I'm really going to miss him! I used to get upset in the MTC all the time because people left so often. Now I just get bugged every 6 weeks :) WHY do I like people so much?! I swear it would be so much easier if I just refused to make any more friends.

Ok that's all for this week, folks! Next week I'll be emailing you from NORTH BUFFALO! WOO!
Love love,
Hermana Ray

PS Buffalo is the coldest place in the mission...if you gotta go might as well go in the Spring, right? Perrrfect.

Sweet sweet sue

BIG week.

First of all something amazing happened this week....IT WAS WARM! It was 60 degrees!! On Wednesday I came out of the apartment and howled out of sheer happiness. We walked everywhere Wednesday so it was absolutely perfect. I was so happy. I've practically been in the clouds ever since even though it snowed on Thursday. This week it's supposed to be back in the 60s and everything is good. 

I start with that because something really very serious happened this week as well. We've been teaching this older couple- Paul and Rita- and they didn't show up to church on Sunday and immediately Sister Fetuli and I knew something was wrong. The thing that really made me nervous was that Sister Fetuli had a dream that we were alone at church and then people rushed by with someone on a stretcher and then we were at the hospital. Rita's birthday is today (86) so we stopped by last night to check on them. Their car was there, but no one answered the door. The little girl from the apartment above theirs was sitting on the stairs and just said, "Paul's dead." Paul was NOT dead, and I could hit her for scaring me so bad for nothing! Paul was in the hospital. He has a pretty bad lung problem and it hit a low point so an ambulance came and got him. He's still in pretty bad condition. Last night we went and stayed with Rita for awhile in the emergency room. We got her something to eat since she hadn't eaten all day and just held her hands as she cried. It was heartbreaking, really. I thought about all the people I love so much and how sad it is that this is part of life. Even if Paul pulls through, it's hard to watch him be in pain, especially hooked up to all of these machines and in a sense humiliated in front of total strangers. We are listed as the emergency contact since none of their children are on good terms with them, so the hospital has been calling us for information and updates and whatnot. We just met them a month ago and we are the closest friends they have because Rita has a pretty bad temper and she burned bridges with her children years ago. No one thinks about being 85 when being rude or abusive.

Something else that happened this week that might seem small to some- we went to a birthday party for 4 year old Zach whose mom we've been teaching, and we spent the time split between his grandmother and an 8 year old cousin. Sister Fetuli walked away from the party with a teeny plastic water gun...when I asked her why in the world she had it she shrugged and said, referring to the 8 year old: "She gave it to me and said 'have this- you're my very best friend.'" Ok so that might not be a big deal on first thought, but it hit me- why can't we be more like that? Here this little girl appreciated Sister Fetuli listening and talking to her. She felt it of the utmost importance that she give something- anything- of hers to her because she cared. Isn't that interesting? And yet how many times have I been stubborn or selfish with the things that I have, even with people who I know and care about a lot? Do I walk around and give all my things away because I care about people so much? Obviously there's a line because we still need to sustain ourselves, but for a minute I witnessed pure unfailing charity, and it took an 8 year old with nothing to give to teach me.

Another lesson I learned was taught to me by flowers! I'm sending the picture. My reasoning will make more sense if you're looking at the picture. I noticed that the flower closest to the light flourished, and the third flower for some reason shrunk from the light- it looks like it's running away!- and it was the first to die. It made SO MUCH SENSE in the middle of my life as a missionary walking around trying to help people help themselves. Those who refuse to take refuge are the first to fall. It's tragic, and it doesn't have to be that way. We don't have to be so miserable all the time! I am thoroughly convinced that our own poor choices are the only things that can make us truly unhappy. It was even like that with the flowers. When I put the pot on the table, all were aligned with contact with sunshine. I thought about times that maybe I esteemed myself to be not good enough or something and hid behind those who were healthy. It just can't work like that.

Funny experience! We went to visit Maria, my Puerto Rican investigator :), and she had just made some flan. For any who are not acquainted with flan...try it at your own risk. Most people seem to like it, but I'm not a fan of caramel jello. No thanks. Anyways she offered (in Spanish) and I figured since Sister Fetuli is crazy about anything with sugar, she would like some. I made the mistake of not translating because I forgot the conversation was in Spanish. Sister Fetuli promptly reminded me after the appointment haha. Anyways Maria brought out a bowl with some of the flan in it for Sister Fetuli to have. Her face was one of the funniest things I have seen since being in New York! She couldn't really do anything because she's learned that it's rude to refuse food in those circumstances, and it's even more rude to say that you don't like it. All the poor thing could get out was, "so yummy." She was spitting all the way down the road hahaha I won't be offering any Latin deserts from now on!

I wrote a new song during a shift at the Peter Whitmer farm the other day! I'm sending the lyrics. I really like the music for this one, but I'm pretty satisfied with the lyrics, too. I wasn't going to send them because they really portray my state of being about two weeks ago, but here they are.

On an island in the sea

There's a spot of sand for me

Where I built a tiny house

Where I thought I could be free

But the waves came crashing down

And I know I should have known

But there's no point being free

If you'll always be alone

In an unfamiliar land

I am hanging up to dry

I am wistful and nostalgic

As the days go slowly by

On the street as people pass me

I close up the place and hide

I thought it better to refuse to love

Than let them come inside

Now you turn to me and ask

How you can make it every day

How to let the flowers grow

Without the weeds and the decay

Well the truth is you will not avoid

The pain of death and strife

Because the flowers use the ashes

As they grow and give new life

One of the Senior couples found out that I write songs a few weeks ago when I stole away to play for a bit, and so now I'm assigned to play at a site meeting in the beginning of May. This is why you don't tell people play. Yeesh.

Anyways that's pretty much it for the week. I've gotten letters from various people this week that have really helped buoy me up, which I'm really thankful for. I have some really good people in my life, you know? No one deserves to be supported by such beautiful people. At least not me!

A couple random things rill quick:

-Everyone is crazy about apple pie, applesauce and real maple syrup here. I'm still not a fan of applesauce, but I've come to really like apple pie! Soon I will obtain a good recipe and then it's ALL over.

-Transfers are next week! President is toying  with the idea of moving me to a more Spanish speaking area even though I'm not done training. Honestly two weeks ago I would have been thrilled but now Sister Fetuli and I have really become best friends and I love this area. I'm praying that I'll be here for a long time.

-We went to this little breakfast place before district meeting this week and President Christianson came because we challenged him to the pancake challenge! What it is is three MASSIVE pancakes. If you finish it (I've never seen anyone finish) they give you a free tshirt. Turns out President isn't competitive enough hahaha. If you're wondering, I didn't even try. My stomach is nowhere big enough. I couldn't even finish one normal sized pancake. I didn't hear the end of that one from the Elders that's for sure.

I hope everyone is doing well! 

Cheerio till next week from Hermana Ray

In the Sacred Grove

Pancake Challenge

Barn where I work