The Joys of Missionary Work

Hey everyone!

Sorry about last week's email, if it seemed like a rant, that's because it kinda was.  *cue embarrassed cheesy grin*  If you didn't see it that way, awesome!  Then you can move on to the rest of the email. :)

Anyways, this week has been pretty good! 

Picture #1: I just bear-ly took that selfie today... (if you didn't see that pun coming, then you must not know me very well. ;)

Picture #2: I didn't realize it at the time, but I was practicing my impression of a cross-eyed dinosaur, what do you think?  XD

Picture #3:  That picture was taken of the Elders in my district the morning that Elder Finlay, the elder on the far left, was emergency transferred to El Paso.  They were staying at our apartment the night before, so we got up and instead of exercising we drove them to their apartment so he could take the 2 hours he could to pack before he left.

Picture #4:  I make muffins for the district so we can eat them after district council on Fridays. The muffins usually bake for 14-16 minutes, but one batch may or may not have been in the oven for 35 minutes...  I bet you can't tell which ones they are. XD #whoops

The two wards we cover now have meeting times that overlap: Sage ward meets at 9, and Ladera has ward council at 9:30, so we go on splits for church now-  and it's been pretty sweet so far!  Slightly difficult to explain to some of the members that we need to have specific companions during ward meetings, but fun!  The brother who was my companion for sacrament meeting, has only been a member of the church for about eight years, and it was hilarious!  He turns to me and says, "You're the senior companion here, I follow you."  They might have been pulling faces at the kids in front of us, but him and his wife are awesome!

Funny story for you: a brother from the Spanish ward just returned from his mission, and the family had an open house for him at the church this last Saturday.  We had just given a church tour to an investigator, and we walk in to see what was happening.  The open house was over, and there was still food out... We walked in too far.  One sister pulled us over to the food, and proceeded to pack us a meal.  The funny part, is that they had the little cutie oranges.  They began to give us all of the leftover oranges.  Our hands were full, but that wasn't going to stop these sisters.  What did they do?  They opened my backpack while I was wearing it to figure out where to put these last oranges.  *sigh*  Don't worry about me going hungry, that's for sure.

Some events the last two weeks have lead to me ponder this quote from this last general conference: 

"The Lord has more in mind for you than you have in mind for yourself!  You have been reserved and preserved for this time and place.... 

"The Lord needs you to change the world.  As you accept and follow His will for you, you will find yourself accomplishing the impossible!"

-President Russell M. Nelson, as quoted in John C. Pingree Jr.'s talk "I Have A Work for Thee" from the October 2017 General Conference

God has a plan for you, just come closer to Him and you will be changing the world! 

Te whanaunga mo ake tonu!

Elder Eli James Dial