Transfer week is the full-time missionary version of receiving a mission call...all over again.
Stress levels are through. the. roof.
So we usually receive a text around 10am Saturday morning, telling us whether or not we will be receiving a transfer call. Then, at around 9pm, we'll get the call from President.
Only this time around, Saturday morning rolls by.....no txt.
1 pm........one or two texts from other companionships start popping up: "let us know when you hear about transfers!"
2 pm.........by now almost every compship has sent out a text underlined by paranoia: "has anyone gotten transfer texts yet???"
3 pm...........panic starts setting in and the text messages start flying: "have you heard anything??? What's going on??!!"
FINALLY, at 4:30 pm....."You WILL be receiving a transfer call tonight!"
Stress levels have arrived at Pluto.
Then we're forced to wait for 4 hours for "THE CALL", all the while my mind is going BIZERK.
Possibilities....
Totally lost my appetite, and resorted to being an introvert for those longest 4 hours of my life.....THAT'S how stressed I was (Sis. Houghton, see where I'm at? :)!
THEN...President called. At 8:30 pm. "Sister Parker.......(and of course, there's a long pause......"ah, you're killing me, smalls!")
"We would like for you to TRAIN ANOTHER NEW MISSIONARY!"
Happiness levels to the sun and back!!!!!! Yup!! I'm gonna train AGAIN!!!!
With only 17 new missionaries coming in, and so many trainers available who have done this much longer than I have, I have NO idea why they've picked me to train again!
"Well, she failed at it once, maybe we should give her a second try:)" (I know its gotta have come up in SOME meeting!)
Hahahahaha!
For reals though, I'm SO excited to train again! Training really does motivate me to do my best, pushes me to grow, and teaches me to be efficient and hardworking. It's a HUGE responsibility, but I'm excited for the challenge!
So, tomorrow, I become a new momma:) #take2 #superstoked
Sis Stradling is going to be transferring to North Shore 2nd where my MTC companion and bestie, Sis Butler is currently serving with her greenie, Sis Raccuia. (They are the closest set of missionaries to us,
and even meet in our same chapel).
Sis Butler is going home for medical reasons, and my heart is breaking seeing her go!! She has been my best friend ever since the MTC (and even before that, actually, thanks to FB:) and I feel like I'm saying
goodbye to my sister! I will miss her with all my heart, but this is God's will for her, and she has been an inspiration to me of trusting the Lord and facing challenge with faith and hope.
She and I were talking on Tuesday about Chicago accents, and realized that it's spreading to us.....YIKES.
SO....Chicagoans have this way of saying "yea, yea, yea" at the end of their phrases, and sure enough........IM SAYING IT!!!!
#killerrealization #imbecomingoneofthem #headsupbwoston #chigirlnow
This past Thursday, we got to go downtown [insert raise the roof motion!] for a night of Christmas music that the YSA ward put on. We missionaries were asked to perform for one of the numbers.
After a painful attempt at coming in together, we managed to get through "Still, Still, Still" as the last musical number, before joining in with the audience for "Silent Night."
It was all going well till we realized we were singing the the 2nd verse while the audience was singing the 1st and the conductor was singing the 3rd.
SILENT NIGHT MASHUP.
#inthehouse
We were all so clearly confused, mixed up, and exchanging desperate "what are you singing??" looks that if nothing else, we passed as comic relief for night.
#lol
Speaking of Christmas........Chi town is decked!! Makes me SO happy! I love love love the lights, nativities, and music!!
AND....we got SNOW yesterday!!!! (The elders couldn't resist.....flipping donuts in the parking lot MAY have occurred.......#iaintguilty)
My winter driving, shoveling, and un-stucking car skills are coming in handy with a companion from desert-dry Arizzony:) It's crazy how fast Christmas it coming up!!!! WEIRD!!! EXCITING!!!!
Oh and wasn't the Christmas devotional SO good!!!! Elder Uchtdorf's talk was my favorite.
#mormonidol
The Lord has a special way of bringing you to points in your life where you feel like you can't find assurance or peace anywhere....and then an inspired message from church leaders come, and you're convinced that they wrote it just for you.
#SOML
His words totally hit home for me. I left that devotional feeling recharged, comforted, and inspired.
This church must be true or something!!
And now for the weekly health update you've all been waiting for:
My consultation with the EP went well, he was a really good doctor and assured me that there's nothing seriously wrong with my heart. WHEW. Yea, my heart beats weird, but it's nothing to be concerned
about...that's just the way its decided to tick for the rest of my life.
[insert "Just the Way You Are" lyrics.... (James, don't hate!)]
However, he said I should continue to try and figure out the whole dizziness, shakiness, exhaustion, etc, stuff going on. Sooooooo.........back to the GP I go. More doctors appointments.....
JOY.
For good news though, the heart problems don't seem to be problems any more:) He thinks it could be a brain thing, though, so he suggested getting a neuro consult.
Stay tuned.........
Work wise, this week has been slow. Depressing slow. I feel like all but maybe two of our investigators can be classified as non-bipolar investigators. All the rest, it's hit-or-miss, up-and-down, progressing-to-failing status every. other. week.
It's kinda exhausting trying to keep up with all of them. We're thinking of dropping a few of them to be able to focus our efforts more effectively on new investigators.
#sadday
But, even during weeks like this, The Lord is helping us become better missionaries, breaking us down, so He can build us back up.
Missions are amazing things. They're hard....not gonna lie. But they make and mold you into someone you could never be without it.
There are times when I feel like I've hit rock bottom. Like I can't keep going. Like I've failed. Like I'm not enough.
But The Lord knows that. He knows when we are spent and I'm gaining a testimony of why He pushes us to our limits: because when He pushes us to the point where we can go no further, THAT is when we find Him--on our knees in awe of His ability to take the wheel and lift us out of our pain.
A friend out here texted me this morning after we talked about the difficulties of our lives,
"Take pride in how far you have come. Have faith in how far you can go. Trust in the work you put in."
I love it.
As missionaries, sometimes we feel like we're expected to be perfect. Perfectly obedient, perfectly dressed, perfectly versed, perfectly successful, perfectly spiritual........it's exhausting sometimes:)
Truth is, we're not. And we'll never be.
But as long as we try our best, learn from our mistakes, have faith in His strength, and trust in our abilities, The Lord will make up for the rest.
I'm so far from being the missionary I want to be. SO FAR. But letting that get to me is a tool of Satan's and is totally destructive.
Let it go. Do your best, leave the rest to HIM.
If I'm doing my best, then I can rest assured that I'm being the missionary The Lord wants me to be.
SIMPLE AS THAT.
Keep it real. Keep it tight. But not real tight;)
I love you all a million! Letters mean the world to me! Prayers keep me going!
Onward and upward,
Sister Anna Parker
Yea, yea, yea:)
