No te preocupes

Oh, hi!
This will probably not be as organized as last week. It seems my head has been going a bazillion miles a minute! Before my mission I was always thinking about something and adding to theories and whatnot, but now the material that I have to think about everything has multiplied 10 times over. For example, we spend most of our days in trailer parks because I'm on the poorer side of Shortsville. However, yesterday we walked in a more upper-middle class area. I realized something: no matter who it is, what religion they profess to practice, how much money they make or how old they are, we unfortunately share something in common. God is being put second, third, fourth, last and anywhere but first! There is no religion or faith that exempts people from getting their priorities straight...sorry! Let's think about this for a second. First, I admit that I am often harder on people who are faithful because there's much less of an excuse. But really- if you know that God lives and that we are expected to pray, do you have an excuse for not praying? If you know that the Bible and the Book of Mormon are the word of God, is there any lifestyle or schedule that exempts you from reading? So often when we're talking to people they say things like, "well I believe, but I'm really too busy to read every day." By now it really kind of makes me laugh. I've said things like that, too. "I'm too tired." "It's not a big deal." "I'll read tomorrow." "I have too many other things to do." Basically what all of those things mean is: "This isn't important enough for me. I believe in a supreme creator, but what I want to do is more urgent, so I don't really care to give Him the time of day."
Ouch. Back up. Rethink?
It's just interesting to me. That's all.

Man sometimes I wish my brain would slow down for a second.
So more mission info, yeah? I love Sister Fetuli! I'm so glad she's my trainer. She's also the type that I love her more every day- once I got past a lot of the cultural differences and stuff. I'm so glad that I get the chance to learn more about Tonga and about getting over my narrow perception of life. We pretty much spend all of our time in the car going back and forth between two songs on this one cd. We are happy that way, thank you. At least for now haha but we both have a bunch of other cds so I think we'll be alright.
There are only about 90 missionaries in my mission, which is pretty dadgum tiny. Out of those 90, a whopping 30 of them are sisters! That's crazy! And it's because we have the visitors center :) I think I know almost all of the sisters who are serving here right now and they are seriously all some of the greatest people I've ever met. I am so blessed to be serving in an area with such amazing people. How lucky can I get?! Every week we also get district meeting with a smaller group and we go to lunch afterwords. It's nice to have times like that where we regroup and kind of heal from battery haha. Moderation is key. 

Ok do you all realize that in less than a week Austin will have been out for 6 months? And I've already almost been out for 3? That's crazy! The adjustments slow things down but once I get used to the swing of things the weeks start picking up speed. This week I thought a lot about how I've changed already. I'm definitely still weird and me and whatnot, but the parts of me that were selfish at times or weak are slowly being rooted out. Thank goodness for that! I know Austin and I would have been ok if we hadn't served missions, but having this time to realize that my focus should be upwards has really helped me to be better for him, for my family, and all of my friends in the future. It's really just not about me, you know? I kind of thought it was for a little while there.

I forgot to mention this last time! We ARE a blogging and internet mission. So I have a new mission blog and facebook, but its kind of like being reincarnated as a missionary. We get a bit of time every week, but its mainly just to post things that people who live around here can read and such. I'm still not sold on the idea because for the most part when I get on facebook I automatically feel like I'm wasting time that that irks me, but at least it's not very often.

Ok one last little theory thing! I've been thinking about what traits make people successful. I'm not even referring to money, but traits that lead to stability and such. I know there's that book- "7 Habits of Highly Successful People" or something, but this is kind of a different spin. I was thinking about how there are really two levels. The first level is made up of things that anyone can do- it's not a character trait, it's something that anyone can implement into their lives. I came up with 6. Successful people are organized, clean, moderate, healthy, considerate and they are planners. Now, for things that tend to be character traits that help people to naturally become more successful. When these traits are added to the first 6 things I listed, rarely do you find someone who has NOT been successful. In my limited experience, anyways. Ok so the 6 traits I came up with are: courteous, intelligent, driven, visionary, observant, and optimistic.
I think sometimes we get frustrated because we don't separate those two trains of thought. We think, "well I'm just not supposed to be successful. It's easier for them." Well, maybe they have some traits that lend them towards success. However! I'm convinced that the first set- the things that we can become on our own, without the help of a predisposition- can lead anyone there. Sure, it would take a ton of diligence, but it's definitely doable! I don't know. Maybe I'm just blowing smoke here. Any thoughts? Thanks for putting up with my rambling, ya'll :)

Ah one more thing! Amanda Fowlkes' family (Jared and Eric) are up here in the Canandaigua ward! And they're GREAT! Jared teaches gospel principles and he's great! He's the only one I've really gotten to talk to so far, though. I was stunned when he said they already had the low down on me and here I had never seen him before haha. Busted! Anyways that was a nice surprise. I love connections! Also, everyone here is stunned that I don't have an accent hahaha shows what they know about the South.

Ok well that's it for this week. Have a great one!
Love,
Hermana Ray