Week 20 - #@!$ Transfers

Well Ohlo family!

Soo.. welp i'm just gonna say this week has seriously made me wanna punch a baby or something. I was honestly hoping to be the one transferred, i LOVE fairfield and i love the people here but, the district and zone that i'm serving with are well... not so obedient. And it can make it really hard to be just stuck with some really dumb missionaries. I was hoping to get out of cypress and start a new transfer with new faces, clearly that was not God's plan for me. I no longer have a tongan companion and it has been actually really difficult with my new comp. I'm training Sister Possin (po-seen) and man... oh man. Possin is from Minnesota, comes from a family of 9 kids, and has been home schooled all her life.  I feel that these next 6 weeks are gonna be full of a lot of learning, especially for me. I'm striving to find ways to serve her but everytime i go to do something she starts asking what i'm doing so then i don't really feel like doing it anymore. Sunday was fast and testimony meeting of course and after i bore my testimony Michelle Stanton got up to bear hers. In her testimony she started talking about how me and tau have left such an impression on her. She also said that she didn't want to embarrass me but then she talked about how i used to be a dancer and made some sacrifices to come out on a mission. She said that that was a huge unselfish act that she could never do. Afterwards a couple ward members came up and said why haven't you told us that you dance? You're a ballerina? i didn't even know! Just a lot of talking and whatnot, this ward has seriously become like a home ward to me. It's crazy to think i've been here for only 3 months but i feel like i know almost everyone so well. But anyways when we got home after church my comp just flopped onto her bed and started crying. She said everyone just loves you and they don't even pay attention to me. I don't even know how they can like you so much if they didn't know you were a dancer.  I wasn't really sure how to respond but i just told her, ya know they love me because i've worked really hard to be the missionary that they need. When we go into their homes i rarely rarely talk about myself or what i used to do. i talk about them. They are the important ones, they are the ones that my focus is on. If i went into a house and just talked about myself the entire time, i'm pretty sure they wouldn't be so keen as to inviting us back over. As a missionary we are no longer the stars of the show, whatever our story or our background might be that doesn't matter. I'm not trying to tell you that you don't matter cuz you do, but it's time to forget that. This isn't about Possin, this is about the people here in fairfield.

 

I think though that that conversation went in 1 ear and out the other cuz i have yet to see some change. I also realize though that this is going to most definitely help me learn some patience, patience with others and also with myself. Here's to a long coming 6 weeks! haha i'm just hanging in there for sure!

 

ON A GOOD NOTE!

Thursday after transfers we had a lesson with our new investigator Kiley Westbrook, she is part of a less active, part member family and will be turning 9 soon! As we went over there and gave the lesson at the very end her mom amber said I'm really glad you weren't transferred, after you and the other girl left i said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father to keep you here cuz i needed you. As she said that i just thought to myself wow, welp i guess that's why i'm still trapped in fairfield hahaha. but It was relieving to hear that.

I ALSO HAVE THE BEST NEWS IN THE WORLD!

So last night as we were out at dinner with one of our investigators i checked our phone and the Henke's had called us. When we got home i called them up and michelle answers and says hey is this sister bowden? I say yeah sister henke! how are you? and she says i'm really really good, todd wants to talk to you really fast. All of the sudden todd's voice comes on and he says Is this my favorite missionary? (in a really cheesy way) haha i start laughing and said well of course it is. and he says Hey so me and michelle were talking (ps we had a way awesome lesson with them sunday night about missionary work and at the end of it i stated what our purpose is as missionaries, and no it's not we invite others to come unto christ yada yada yada. My purpose as a missionary is a lot more than that. I want people to have faith. I want them to have faith in Christ, their families, and themselves. I want them to know that Christ suffered for them, he felt every single pain and temptation that they have felt and will still feel in the future. Once they have this foundation of faith, i want them to change. I want to see that person make those changes necessary so that they truly can come closer to Christ. Once they have gone through this process then and only then do i want them to get baptized. And i don't want someone to get baptized just so that they can be a name on our roles, or a number in my planner. I want them to be baptized so that they can be forgiven of their sins, so that they can start a new life. With this new life they will have the companionship of the Holy Ghost. I want all of these things because i love them. I care for them. And i want them to be better.) and we've done some calculating. I was kinda confused so i just say well alright?? And he says you go home in October of 2014 right? And i say oh yeah! that's when my mission ends yep. He then says and for us to be sealed in the temple i have to be baptized for year right? and I say Yep that's typically what happens, you'll get baptized and then a year later you can go to the temple. He then asks well if me and michelle decided we wanted to be sealed in the Salt Lake temple, would you be able to come to it? It finally all starts clicking in my brain what is happening here and i say Oh my gosh! Yes i would love that more than anything to be at the temple! He then says, well then i think i'm gonna get baptized in October!  OH MY HECK! Todd Henke, like the man who i was kinda scared of 3 months ago is getting baptized next month!! I'm dying, i'm dying, i'm dying:] I told him that he basically just made my whole mission, and that i couldn't be more excited for him. He said he's gonna pray about the day but that he's gonna get back to us!

 

It's just so neat to me. This family means so much to me, and i just will forever be grateful for the opportunity that i had to be a part of it:] My heart is just happy.

So if anything this is what i've learned. Opposition in all things, haha unfortunately that's part of the deal. uhmm i'm not 100% sure what will happen this week, but i am hopeful. I'm trying my very best and i know that the Lord is gonna be right there with me. We don't always necessarily get what we want, but I know that we always get what we need. i'm grateful for refining moments, those moments where Heavenly Father says yeah well you're doing pretty good... but it's time for you to move up a notch. woof i'm not sure how many more notches he has in store for me, but hey, i'll do it:] I know that He's the guy in charge and i'm just trying to make him happy. Haha well i love ya familia! Thanks for raising me in a normal environment! hahahaha ok that was mean. but really i love you guys and i appreciate all the support. Let me know if there is anything that i could possibly do for you while being out here! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Bowden