Welp the mission practically exploded this week, and I was relatively unharmed. We got 10 new sisters (plus a bunch of Elders but I am less than concerned about them), so most people are training. Fortunately, Sister Szuch and I stayed the same- we have a lot going on in Waterloo, plus we are working on revamping the referral system at the Visitors' Center and will be presenting a training in a few weeks. Staying together makes all of that quite a bit easier. None of those going home in 6 weeks are training, but everyone else is. I escaped! Haha. Ha. Ok. Did I mention all 10 are under the age of 21? It's fun.
So Sister Adams is still living with us in the vortex of insanity with her trainee, Sister Tipton from Payson, Utah. She is sweet. And 19. It hasn't even been a full 6 months since the announcement was made that 19 year olds could serve, and already these sisters have voluntarily put everything aside to come! It's astounding, really. There are all amazing. I'm sad by the time I leave they'll only be halfway through training. I had a rough moment where I realized I was leaving that soon and it was harder than I expected. There are days like that. I just can't think like that though- I've been given a certain amount of time to do this work, and I need to be satisfied with that. After my time is up, I need to go and do other things. I don't want to live in the past when I can't be a missionary anymore.
Not to be boring or anything, but I'm fairly uninspired as to any rants today....and those we're teaching are pretty much steadily moving along. Nothing crazy in my life, just working hard and being happy. Today I am tired of hearing my own voice. I would much rather read and hear things from other people. So I will try and write more next week.
Till then!
Sis Raines
Friday, March 29, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Life's hard when you're a little drunkard
Warning: Missionary rant ahead. Proceed at your own risk!
Ok so the second photo didn't actually attach last week. So here it is now.
As I said before, we started losing our minds a bit.
Ok! So this past week was a little less eventful than the week before, but not much. We had a training with both of the Palmyra Zones, and we had someone special show up! This guy and his family happened to be touring the sites:
http://link.brightcove.com/
His name is Kuhau, and he is incredible. It was such a privilege to be able to meet him and hear him play! I have a video of him playing "Called to Serve" while the two zones sing with him, and then he also played at our site meeting that night. It was excellent. Music does things that nothing else can. The guy in the video with him was also there. It was strange because Sister Szuch and I watched that video literally 2 days before we met him. So cool.
Waterloo is kind of taking off! By next week I'll know if I get to stay here for my last 6 weeks and who I'll be with, but until then I'm assuming I'm staying here with Sister Szuch till the end. It's been wonderful to watch how much has happened, especially just in the past few weeks. It's also had me thinking a mile a minute because I have so many people I care about and want to help! I will spare you the details of all of the things I've thought about and learned, but there's one topic this morning that I'll share a bit about, and that's....the law of chastity! Maybe it's because we're teaching a 27 year old guy and a 23 year old guy. The 27 year old has never been married and has two kids. The 23 year old is engaged with one boy and one on the way. Chastity is really a topic you can't avoid in situations like that. This morning I was so impressed with gratitude for my understanding of this law. I've found that in society we really don't use the word "law" correctly. We should use the word "rule" or something of the like. Why? Well the law of gravity is a law. It's unchangeable. You can try and defy it, but really you'd end up with the short end. It would be foolish. There are laws on Earth and in Heaven that are set- they aren't going anywhere. We can test them or rebel against them all we like, but we will yield the same results. You can't win against God in a world He created. Sorry
So to explain what the law of chastity is- it is a law given that prohibits sexual relations outside the bonds of marriage between a man and a woman. There are definitely details, hard aspects, sticky points. Issues like political correctness, "freedom" and character traits attempt to make the entire subject more difficult than it needs to be. We don't believe that God gives us the law of chastity to make us miserable- on the contrary. The law was already in place, but we are given knowledge of it so that we can get the most out of life and love. Consider again the law of gravity. Whether you are aware of its existence or not, you feel it. Those who insist that following this law inhibits their freedom may fling themselves from cliffs but you bet they'll only be free to do it once. I've been thinking back over various experiences in my life, and although I've been fortunate enough not to end up with an early family of my own, I know what it feels like to feel used, worthless and ugly. The adversary and the world would convince us that sex is the way to conquer insecurities. To give in to what is natural is the only way to be free or to be healed. Anyone who has experienced this temptation knows that following these experiences comes the realization that nothing has actually changed. Instead, your worth feels cheapened and you're looking for the next escape. How long does that continue? Till you're 60? 70? Let me offer a piece of wisdom, and it's only a piece: you will never feel beautiful if you're looking for someone else to prove it to you. It's not going to happen. God loves us, so he has sent His prophets throughout time to give us things like the law of chastity to keep us happy and to help us to understand who we are. Don't get lost in the lie.
That was a lot. I would apologize, but I'm not really sure that I should. So...not sorry? :) I just love so many people who are hurting! Yeesh. Just go listen to General Conference, okay? Those guys really do know what they're talking about. I will never be able to deny that!
In case you were all wondering about the weather and if it's warming up, it is currently snowing outside. We've gotten an inch or two like every other day this week. There is no summer in New York?
Ok that's all I've got for the week. Till next week!
Cheerios,
Sister Raines
Ok so the second photo didn't actually attach last week. So here it is now.
As I said before, we started losing our minds a bit.
Ok! So this past week was a little less eventful than the week before, but not much. We had a training with both of the Palmyra Zones, and we had someone special show up! This guy and his family happened to be touring the sites:
http://link.brightcove.com/
His name is Kuhau, and he is incredible. It was such a privilege to be able to meet him and hear him play! I have a video of him playing "Called to Serve" while the two zones sing with him, and then he also played at our site meeting that night. It was excellent. Music does things that nothing else can. The guy in the video with him was also there. It was strange because Sister Szuch and I watched that video literally 2 days before we met him. So cool.
Waterloo is kind of taking off! By next week I'll know if I get to stay here for my last 6 weeks and who I'll be with, but until then I'm assuming I'm staying here with Sister Szuch till the end. It's been wonderful to watch how much has happened, especially just in the past few weeks. It's also had me thinking a mile a minute because I have so many people I care about and want to help! I will spare you the details of all of the things I've thought about and learned, but there's one topic this morning that I'll share a bit about, and that's....the law of chastity! Maybe it's because we're teaching a 27 year old guy and a 23 year old guy. The 27 year old has never been married and has two kids. The 23 year old is engaged with one boy and one on the way. Chastity is really a topic you can't avoid in situations like that. This morning I was so impressed with gratitude for my understanding of this law. I've found that in society we really don't use the word "law" correctly. We should use the word "rule" or something of the like. Why? Well the law of gravity is a law. It's unchangeable. You can try and defy it, but really you'd end up with the short end. It would be foolish. There are laws on Earth and in Heaven that are set- they aren't going anywhere. We can test them or rebel against them all we like, but we will yield the same results. You can't win against God in a world He created. Sorry
So to explain what the law of chastity is- it is a law given that prohibits sexual relations outside the bonds of marriage between a man and a woman. There are definitely details, hard aspects, sticky points. Issues like political correctness, "freedom" and character traits attempt to make the entire subject more difficult than it needs to be. We don't believe that God gives us the law of chastity to make us miserable- on the contrary. The law was already in place, but we are given knowledge of it so that we can get the most out of life and love. Consider again the law of gravity. Whether you are aware of its existence or not, you feel it. Those who insist that following this law inhibits their freedom may fling themselves from cliffs but you bet they'll only be free to do it once. I've been thinking back over various experiences in my life, and although I've been fortunate enough not to end up with an early family of my own, I know what it feels like to feel used, worthless and ugly. The adversary and the world would convince us that sex is the way to conquer insecurities. To give in to what is natural is the only way to be free or to be healed. Anyone who has experienced this temptation knows that following these experiences comes the realization that nothing has actually changed. Instead, your worth feels cheapened and you're looking for the next escape. How long does that continue? Till you're 60? 70? Let me offer a piece of wisdom, and it's only a piece: you will never feel beautiful if you're looking for someone else to prove it to you. It's not going to happen. God loves us, so he has sent His prophets throughout time to give us things like the law of chastity to keep us happy and to help us to understand who we are. Don't get lost in the lie.
That was a lot. I would apologize, but I'm not really sure that I should. So...not sorry? :) I just love so many people who are hurting! Yeesh. Just go listen to General Conference, okay? Those guys really do know what they're talking about. I will never be able to deny that!
In case you were all wondering about the weather and if it's warming up, it is currently snowing outside. We've gotten an inch or two like every other day this week. There is no summer in New York?
Ok that's all I've got for the week. Till next week!
Cheerios,
Sister Raines
 |
| We go a little crazy sometimes. |
Friday, March 15, 2013
Thou art a boat-rocker
A lot has happened...but I'm not sure how I'm gonna go about explaining all of it! I feel like so much of what happens in my life is one of those "you had to be there..." things. So why aren't you all here? Yeesh.
In so many ways this week could have been killer. I think I've mentioned Jenn and Van- people we've worked with online. I feel foolish even telling you all, but it turned out to be a joke? We think. They both just kind of disappeared off the face of the earth after a month of calling and asking questions and things. It's hard to elaborate on that because so much happened. I was a little worried about Sister Szuch at first because I was kind of skeptical the whole time (I'm really just a pessimistic person, though) and she never suspected that anything could be wrong. Plus, she's still kind of new, and dealing with bad intentions can be heart breaking when you've never really encountered it before. We've talked a lot about the balance between being wise and giving people a chance. That's not something you have to think about if you've never lived around a liar or you've never been betrayed. Once it happens, the challenge becomes to keep from hardening and trusting again somehow. A perfect example of this (as in everything) is the life of Christ. We know he was betrayed by Judas, but just as frustrating might have been finding his apostles back at their nets after His resurrection. Those who walked with Him and were called to serve alongside and in His place after His departure weren't getting it! If they didn't understand, who could Christ count on? Ultimately He couldn't count on anyone- all of us are unreliable and imperfect a majority of the time. And still He takes a chance on us. Consider the risk the Lord takes every time we are given a second chance. I can't count how many second chances I've given. In circumstances of various addictions, how many times does an addict say "Ok I'm really done this time"? How many times have we said something ugly or shirked responsibility or thought only of ourselves even when we said we would be better? Christ always expected the best, and each new time He trusts that this time will do it. It's that hope in others and hope in self that eventually leads to lasting change. I don't want to be an idiot, but I don't want to be the one who hardens and doesn't expect anyone to come through for me when I am relying on others to still hope in me when I fall. This may be one of the great lessons of my life- I expect to continue learning it on a deeper level. I'm grateful for this chance I've had to really consider where I stand. I'm grateful for chances to change.
David (the guys with the lost keys) also ended up cancelling on us because religion "just isn't important enough," but we were blessed to be able to get in at the right time to see a few families who have been struggling. Things are looking up! One of my favorite families in the ward set in more heavy with a smoking problem because at the beginning of last week the dad lost his job. It was such a beautiful thing to be able to go in and bring light and hope to that family! We read and prayed with them, but mostly listened to their fears and frustrations. Ultimately we all came to the conclusion that this was what they really needed. Larry wasn't even happy at that job, and although it will be a struggle for him to find another one, he is learning to let go and allow God to lead him to a better place and to be a better man. That's a scary thing to do! I don't think anyone can pretend that it isn't! In Provo there is a place where there's a decent size rock wall overshadowing a foam pit. You're not strapped in to anything because you're only falling on foam, but letting go of that wall is actually kind of terrifying if you think too much! You have to fight your instincts telling you you can't just free fall, and right before you hit the ground your stomach tells you you're going to die. EVERY TIME. I've thought about letting go of that rock wall a lot recently. In so many ways, trusting God- an unseen power- is like fighting your instincts.
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Mosiah 3:19
Do you see how dangerous the thought process of hardening and fighting can be? God has a much bigger plan than we do. If we will search His will and then allow Him to carry it out, we will end up much happier than we would have been otherwise. Quit trying to force everything! Sister Szuch and I have had a few companionship mantras, one of which is "Thing big. Then think bigger." As we come to see the larger plan the Lord has in store, we can let go and trust in good things to come.
The sites have been pretty busy, which is nice! I really love having the privilege of giving tours at these sacred places. I really hope one day all of you will have the opportunity to come through for yourselves. It seems like I'm always gathering plans for Austin and I to visit before too long. Western New York has really come to mean so much to me.
Welp I think that's all I'm going to be able to adequately explain ha. So till next week! Stay warm, everyone.
Sister Raines
In so many ways this week could have been killer. I think I've mentioned Jenn and Van- people we've worked with online. I feel foolish even telling you all, but it turned out to be a joke? We think. They both just kind of disappeared off the face of the earth after a month of calling and asking questions and things. It's hard to elaborate on that because so much happened. I was a little worried about Sister Szuch at first because I was kind of skeptical the whole time (I'm really just a pessimistic person, though) and she never suspected that anything could be wrong. Plus, she's still kind of new, and dealing with bad intentions can be heart breaking when you've never really encountered it before. We've talked a lot about the balance between being wise and giving people a chance. That's not something you have to think about if you've never lived around a liar or you've never been betrayed. Once it happens, the challenge becomes to keep from hardening and trusting again somehow. A perfect example of this (as in everything) is the life of Christ. We know he was betrayed by Judas, but just as frustrating might have been finding his apostles back at their nets after His resurrection. Those who walked with Him and were called to serve alongside and in His place after His departure weren't getting it! If they didn't understand, who could Christ count on? Ultimately He couldn't count on anyone- all of us are unreliable and imperfect a majority of the time. And still He takes a chance on us. Consider the risk the Lord takes every time we are given a second chance. I can't count how many second chances I've given. In circumstances of various addictions, how many times does an addict say "Ok I'm really done this time"? How many times have we said something ugly or shirked responsibility or thought only of ourselves even when we said we would be better? Christ always expected the best, and each new time He trusts that this time will do it. It's that hope in others and hope in self that eventually leads to lasting change. I don't want to be an idiot, but I don't want to be the one who hardens and doesn't expect anyone to come through for me when I am relying on others to still hope in me when I fall. This may be one of the great lessons of my life- I expect to continue learning it on a deeper level. I'm grateful for this chance I've had to really consider where I stand. I'm grateful for chances to change.
David (the guys with the lost keys) also ended up cancelling on us because religion "just isn't important enough," but we were blessed to be able to get in at the right time to see a few families who have been struggling. Things are looking up! One of my favorite families in the ward set in more heavy with a smoking problem because at the beginning of last week the dad lost his job. It was such a beautiful thing to be able to go in and bring light and hope to that family! We read and prayed with them, but mostly listened to their fears and frustrations. Ultimately we all came to the conclusion that this was what they really needed. Larry wasn't even happy at that job, and although it will be a struggle for him to find another one, he is learning to let go and allow God to lead him to a better place and to be a better man. That's a scary thing to do! I don't think anyone can pretend that it isn't! In Provo there is a place where there's a decent size rock wall overshadowing a foam pit. You're not strapped in to anything because you're only falling on foam, but letting go of that wall is actually kind of terrifying if you think too much! You have to fight your instincts telling you you can't just free fall, and right before you hit the ground your stomach tells you you're going to die. EVERY TIME. I've thought about letting go of that rock wall a lot recently. In so many ways, trusting God- an unseen power- is like fighting your instincts.
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father." Mosiah 3:19
Do you see how dangerous the thought process of hardening and fighting can be? God has a much bigger plan than we do. If we will search His will and then allow Him to carry it out, we will end up much happier than we would have been otherwise. Quit trying to force everything! Sister Szuch and I have had a few companionship mantras, one of which is "Thing big. Then think bigger." As we come to see the larger plan the Lord has in store, we can let go and trust in good things to come.
The sites have been pretty busy, which is nice! I really love having the privilege of giving tours at these sacred places. I really hope one day all of you will have the opportunity to come through for yourselves. It seems like I'm always gathering plans for Austin and I to visit before too long. Western New York has really come to mean so much to me.
Welp I think that's all I'm going to be able to adequately explain ha. So till next week! Stay warm, everyone.
Sister Raines
Monday, March 11, 2013
"How do you live to be 107?"
"That's
easy! Go to church and look both ways when you cross the street!"
Hello! So surprise- our preparation day has now been changed to Friday. This happens in my mission with the Sisters because once Spring Break hits there need to be sister missionaries at the sites every day of the week, so we can't all be gone on Monday. So today I am serving at the Book of Mormon Publication site, and I will get a chance to do all the normal stuff on Friday. Since you would have assumed my death by then though, I am emailing you quickly today to let you know that I will send you news then! Not dead.
This week I:
-Successfully touched my toes
-Learned to make a mean omelet
-Gave a tour to the entire cast of the Book of Mormon Musical
YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT MY FRIENDS! Sister Szuch and I were serving at the Smith Family farm and got to take the touring cast of the Book of Mormon Musical on tour! All of the senior couples were bracing themselves (we knew a few days in advance) because they assumed they would be abrasive or rude considering the nature of the play, but they were all extremely nice. How many people would love to testify of the validity of the Book of Mormon to that cast? On the Smith Farm no less? Ah yes. Lucky lucky am I. Sometimes I'll remember that it happened and kind of flip out all over again. MY LIFE IS AWESOME.
Another beautiful moment this week! We were walking in Waterloo and found someone's keys in a pile of snow. Not a good sign, generally. Luckily, there was a library card on them, so we went and got the persons address and things (it really shouldn't have been that easy- what if I had bad intentions? Anyways...) and then we took the keys to his house. This man's name was David! He was shocked and offered a reward, but of course the best reward is a chance to share our message, so he said we could come back and share a message in the future. Success. So! We brought a really awesome lady from the area with us a few days later. David admitted he never would have let us in had we just knocked on the door, but he felt very distinctly that God was trying to tell him something. (You think??) He decided to be open minded and to give it a shot. I know I've said this before, but that is my favorite part of our message! I would have hated walking around New York for 18 months trying to convince people that I'm right. That's really not my style. I love giving people the Book of Mormon and inviting them to go to God and ask Him if it's true or not. He's certainly not going to lie to you! The connecting theme between the musical cast and David is really prayer. At least a few of the cast members explained to me that they have made a habit of flipping open and reading a page of the Book of Mormon (there are copies all around the set) in the down times. They have found greater peace, but can't remember the last time they've prayed. You have to ask! Perhaps you've read the entire book. If you haven't sincerely asked God if it is a true record, you are not going to know. I love telling people to go pray. I will never feel bad about it, and I will never get tired of it. If you haven't prayed today, you should know what my advice is to you. My email will still be here when you get back.
So with that....I might be out of news. I anticipate more things happening between now and Friday so I'll have more things to tell you all. I hope everything is well out in the world over there! Things are good here.
Till later,
Sister Raines
PS. The first 19 year old sister comes to the mission in 2 weeks. HERE WE GO!
PPS. Why couldn't the printer make an impression?
He wasn't her type.
Haaa site missionary jokes. Yeah.
Hello! So surprise- our preparation day has now been changed to Friday. This happens in my mission with the Sisters because once Spring Break hits there need to be sister missionaries at the sites every day of the week, so we can't all be gone on Monday. So today I am serving at the Book of Mormon Publication site, and I will get a chance to do all the normal stuff on Friday. Since you would have assumed my death by then though, I am emailing you quickly today to let you know that I will send you news then! Not dead.
This week I:
-Successfully touched my toes
-Learned to make a mean omelet
-Gave a tour to the entire cast of the Book of Mormon Musical
YES YOU READ THAT RIGHT MY FRIENDS! Sister Szuch and I were serving at the Smith Family farm and got to take the touring cast of the Book of Mormon Musical on tour! All of the senior couples were bracing themselves (we knew a few days in advance) because they assumed they would be abrasive or rude considering the nature of the play, but they were all extremely nice. How many people would love to testify of the validity of the Book of Mormon to that cast? On the Smith Farm no less? Ah yes. Lucky lucky am I. Sometimes I'll remember that it happened and kind of flip out all over again. MY LIFE IS AWESOME.
Another beautiful moment this week! We were walking in Waterloo and found someone's keys in a pile of snow. Not a good sign, generally. Luckily, there was a library card on them, so we went and got the persons address and things (it really shouldn't have been that easy- what if I had bad intentions? Anyways...) and then we took the keys to his house. This man's name was David! He was shocked and offered a reward, but of course the best reward is a chance to share our message, so he said we could come back and share a message in the future. Success. So! We brought a really awesome lady from the area with us a few days later. David admitted he never would have let us in had we just knocked on the door, but he felt very distinctly that God was trying to tell him something. (You think??) He decided to be open minded and to give it a shot. I know I've said this before, but that is my favorite part of our message! I would have hated walking around New York for 18 months trying to convince people that I'm right. That's really not my style. I love giving people the Book of Mormon and inviting them to go to God and ask Him if it's true or not. He's certainly not going to lie to you! The connecting theme between the musical cast and David is really prayer. At least a few of the cast members explained to me that they have made a habit of flipping open and reading a page of the Book of Mormon (there are copies all around the set) in the down times. They have found greater peace, but can't remember the last time they've prayed. You have to ask! Perhaps you've read the entire book. If you haven't sincerely asked God if it is a true record, you are not going to know. I love telling people to go pray. I will never feel bad about it, and I will never get tired of it. If you haven't prayed today, you should know what my advice is to you. My email will still be here when you get back.
So with that....I might be out of news. I anticipate more things happening between now and Friday so I'll have more things to tell you all. I hope everything is well out in the world over there! Things are good here.
Till later,
Sister Raines
PS. The first 19 year old sister comes to the mission in 2 weeks. HERE WE GO!
PPS. Why couldn't the printer make an impression?
He wasn't her type.
Haaa site missionary jokes. Yeah.
Monday, March 4, 2013
I am no sidekick
So this week was a bit of a blur!
To sum up the sickness stuff: It turns out I had pink eye in both eyes, likely caused from the fever I spiked the week before. A few days into the antibiotics, this random thing formed in the back of my throat. It was kind of cool looking. To make a long story short, we were able to pull it out! No doctors necessary. Twas awesome. And now I am all better :) The interesting thing was, one night Sister Szuch and I were planning and I said to her, "Sister Szuch, tomorrow I will not be sick anymore." She looked at me funny because my eyes were red and I had trouble talking because of the thing in my throat. I must have appeared a tad crazy. After we were done planning the next day I went upstairs and decided to try and pull the bacteria thing out and after a try or two it worked! Then the next morning my eyes started healing, and by the end of the day I was good as new. The power of positive thinking, right? Ha.
In my altered mental state last week I failed to acknowledge one other birthday! J-BIEBS IS ONE YEAR OLDER, YA'LL! All day I walked around wishing everyone a Happy Bieber Birthday. Only people I knew, mind you. No worries. Such a good birthday week!
This week, Sister Earl (goes home a transfer after me) was telling someone that she had 2 transfers left and I felt an intense pain of....something? I'm still not really sure! My immediate response was to plug my ears or something but I resisted and said "Sister Earl! You have 3 transfers left. Don't do that to me." She reminded me that this transfer is half over. I lost that battle. It's not that I don't want go home, I just want to go home AND stay out here. At the same time. The thought of not being able to teach the same way or just jump into people lives is pretty painful, guys. I am trying to make the most of the time I have left so that when it's time to leave it I'll be ready. Right now I just know I still have things to do.
This week we watched a devotional from Elder Bednar- the same man who came and spoke to us about the character of Christ while I was in the MTC- and something he said really stuck out to me. Well, lots of things. Anyways! He had a friend, married 3 weeks before, who was diagnosed with bone cancer. As I may have mentioned a month or two ago, a good friend of mine, married a year before, was just diagnosed with bone cancer. Elder Bednar talked to us about "the faith not to be healed" which is a concept I had never considered before. So often when hard things happen we talk about the faith to be healed, meaning having trust that God will do whatever it is you want Him to do. But what if that doesn't happen? What if someone dies or hurts you or leaves and everything you prayed wouldn't happen happens anyway? What if you serve a mission for 18 months and it looks like you didn't help anyone along the way? Coming to "have the faith not to be healed" means faith that whatever God has planned for us is best, even if it's not easy, comfortable, or pretty. That takes a lot more than praying for everything to be perfect. That doesn't mean we don't hope for good things to happen, but if it's not part of the plan, we can't just up and ditch things we know to be true! Faith means things will be alright in the long run. It means He will never abandon or forsake us. He loves us more than we do, remember?
Ok well that's pretty much all I've got for this week. Three cheers for March! I miss the sunshine. I hope it comes back before too long.
Cheerio,
Hermana Raines
To sum up the sickness stuff: It turns out I had pink eye in both eyes, likely caused from the fever I spiked the week before. A few days into the antibiotics, this random thing formed in the back of my throat. It was kind of cool looking. To make a long story short, we were able to pull it out! No doctors necessary. Twas awesome. And now I am all better :) The interesting thing was, one night Sister Szuch and I were planning and I said to her, "Sister Szuch, tomorrow I will not be sick anymore." She looked at me funny because my eyes were red and I had trouble talking because of the thing in my throat. I must have appeared a tad crazy. After we were done planning the next day I went upstairs and decided to try and pull the bacteria thing out and after a try or two it worked! Then the next morning my eyes started healing, and by the end of the day I was good as new. The power of positive thinking, right? Ha.
In my altered mental state last week I failed to acknowledge one other birthday! J-BIEBS IS ONE YEAR OLDER, YA'LL! All day I walked around wishing everyone a Happy Bieber Birthday. Only people I knew, mind you. No worries. Such a good birthday week!
This week, Sister Earl (goes home a transfer after me) was telling someone that she had 2 transfers left and I felt an intense pain of....something? I'm still not really sure! My immediate response was to plug my ears or something but I resisted and said "Sister Earl! You have 3 transfers left. Don't do that to me." She reminded me that this transfer is half over. I lost that battle. It's not that I don't want go home, I just want to go home AND stay out here. At the same time. The thought of not being able to teach the same way or just jump into people lives is pretty painful, guys. I am trying to make the most of the time I have left so that when it's time to leave it I'll be ready. Right now I just know I still have things to do.
This week we watched a devotional from Elder Bednar- the same man who came and spoke to us about the character of Christ while I was in the MTC- and something he said really stuck out to me. Well, lots of things. Anyways! He had a friend, married 3 weeks before, who was diagnosed with bone cancer. As I may have mentioned a month or two ago, a good friend of mine, married a year before, was just diagnosed with bone cancer. Elder Bednar talked to us about "the faith not to be healed" which is a concept I had never considered before. So often when hard things happen we talk about the faith to be healed, meaning having trust that God will do whatever it is you want Him to do. But what if that doesn't happen? What if someone dies or hurts you or leaves and everything you prayed wouldn't happen happens anyway? What if you serve a mission for 18 months and it looks like you didn't help anyone along the way? Coming to "have the faith not to be healed" means faith that whatever God has planned for us is best, even if it's not easy, comfortable, or pretty. That takes a lot more than praying for everything to be perfect. That doesn't mean we don't hope for good things to happen, but if it's not part of the plan, we can't just up and ditch things we know to be true! Faith means things will be alright in the long run. It means He will never abandon or forsake us. He loves us more than we do, remember?
Ok well that's pretty much all I've got for this week. Three cheers for March! I miss the sunshine. I hope it comes back before too long.
Cheerio,
Hermana Raines
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