Joy in the Journey

It is finally warming up around here!! Well, Idaho kind of warm which is in between 55-75 degrees. The perfect temperature in my opinion. It has certainly made tracting a lot easier. And thank goodness because that is all we have been doing lately. Through it we have found some marvelous new investigators with one of them saying yes to baptism!!! We are still working on a date and there is the whole working-on-Sunday issue, but we are excited!!

 

Some other lesson adventures:

*A young 6-year-old girl who loved to talk and talk and talk. And she wanted to read the whole Book of Mormon while we were there.

*A new family moved into the ward!! Wooohooo! They are fresh from Provo so it was fun to talk to them.

*A lively woman at the furniture store. What started out as me playing "Nearer My God to Thee" on this antique piano, ended up as a borderline Bible bash. Usually I am somewhat calm and able to deflect such arguments, but when she started getting on to me about how I haven't felt the Holy Ghost, I somewhat lost my cool. Don't worry I repented later that night. And it took poor Sister Clark a couple of hours to recooperate after her first experience with a Pentecostal minister.

*The full working day in which we had ONE lesson. One. Single. Lesson. We made a few good contacts and we had a most wonderful impromptu service opportunity, but it was definitely a learning day for us Hartford sisters.

 

The mission is plenty stocked with learning experiences and prep for future roles. Those roles include: Spouse, parent, visiting/home teacher, regular teacher, friend, church leader. The mission is a ridiculous balancing act. Spirit of the law vs letter of the law. Too loving, too harsh. Never ending cycle of adjusting to the situation and to that person. The mission is one challenge and trial after another and I love it. It is great.

 

Lately I have come across a lot of "not what I use to be" situations. It is in the 80-year-old lady whose memory is slowing. It is in the 50-year-old woman who recently went through a lot of physical afflictions and now must rely on others. It is in the 20-year-old missionary who has lost the fire she once had. Summing up the words of many wise ones before me, the secret to life is enjoying your current phase. So maybe you can't remember, cook, or find investigators like you use to be able to. But the Lord has you in this place for a reason. And He needs the current you, not the past you. Use the opportunities from the past and always strive for improvement, but find great joy in the journey! (Cue 90's EFY Theme Song)

 

WILL YOU accept one of life's frustrating moments today with gratitude and joy?

 

Thank you for the prayers! I can feel them!

 

Love you to the moon pie and back!

 

Love Sister Neener (: