DANG.
If last week we kicked trash, this week we BOMBED Sidon's Mountain. hahaha!
This week was AMAZING!! The Lord is SO incredibly good to us! It was tough, it was long, and it was demanding, but we did it!!
On Tuesday evening, after a long day at new missionary training, we got a phone call from President Woodbury telling us that Elder Rhodes, one of the visiting general authorities for stake conference, asked that the North Shore 1st missionaries come prepared to the priesthood session of stake conference to enact a mock ward council, complete with progress records...
..............Ahhhhh haha. YIKES.
SO.....we committed early on in the week to make this the BEST week of our missions! We set high goals and did e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. we could to do our very best! It was crazy seeing how the Lord poured out blessings as we put aside fatigue, sickness, discomfort, cold, and discouragement! By the end of the week, I looked back and I can honestly say, I've NEVER WORKED HARDER than this week!!! and guess what?? The Lord made up for our weakness, gave us words to speak as we taught, and showed us miracles through our efforts!
For example.......we had an investigator who hasn't met with us for at least two months, FINALLY commit to a lesson! We had a REALLY good turn out for the blood drive (more deets to come:) and all the staff
left with Books of Mormon! Margaret was interviewed for baptism and is set to go for next Sunday! A man I'm teaching on FB, turns out, lives in Nigeria where missionaries can't go......D&C 84:62!! And stake conference was all about hastening the work!!!!.m.B
Dang-a-rang!!!!!!!!
By the end of the week, our numbers were higher than they've been my entire mission!!!! 27 lessons taught total!!!! Yeh yeh!!
#blessings
We also did something crazy this weekend as well (I can't use the word "stupid" or we'll get busted by our district leader:)........
WE DONATED BLOOD.
For those who don't know me....I'm a trypanophobic......ok so that was a big fancy term, so here's the break down: I HATE NEEDLES. Yup. I can take a crushing tackle in rugby, a fall from a horse going 20 mph, an elbow to the face in basketball, blistered hands from hauling hay, bruised calves from cleats, or a welting paintgun bullet.....but get me near a needle and I'm guaranteed to FREAK OUT.
Somehow, though, after months of trying to get this blood drive into works, I was able to convince myself that I could do it. It's like this whole sister missionary thing went to my head or something. Soooo......come time to donate, I muster up enough courage to get into the chair, before thinking, "What on earth am I doing?!?!"
WELL.......
Too late to turn back now.....with four gawking elders, multiple wardies hanging around, the bishop right across from me in another chair, my companion nervously waiting in line behind me, and a nurse cinching my arm. Blast.
HERE GOES NOTHING.
Hahahaha! It was actually WAY better than I thought it would be! Needless to say....the animal crackers at the end helped:) By the end of the drive, we had 36 donations!!!!! And LifeSource (the blood drive
people) told us they considered 30 donations a big success!!!!
#lifesavers #mormonstatus
We were SO happy with the results! So was LifeSource:D Mormon missionaries: saving souls......and lives:)
THATS HOW WE ROLL
Come Saturday night, we went into priesthood session to wait to be called up for our mock ward council. Kinda awkward sitting in there. Ratios of estrogen to testosterone were WAY OFF. Let's get real, girls..........Occupy Priesthood.........totally overrated. I'll stick to RS broadcasts and Time Out For Women:)
Anywhoozies....after getting called up to do our thing, it was kinda bumpy from there. The way it worked out was totally not what we expected and we felt a bit like we were in the hot seat for the night, but by the end, it worked itself out. Our progress record didn't even get a side glance, but instead our empty planner for next week got microscoped (we missed planning day because of zone conference:/). It was kinda a let-down and hard to take, but we pulled it back together;) The adult session that night was SO good--all about the HASTENING.........love that topic, yehz I do:)
We're excited to see the work start rolling out thanks to the members:) Fingers crossed!
Other events of note for this week included "celestializing" our music, spending four freakin hours trying to get our oil changed, getting hit on by McDonald drive-thru cashiers (awwwwwwkward....:), and trying to stay sane while dealing with the cold and sickness:/ But, ya know what? IT'S ALL GOOD. This MUST be the Lord's work or something, because happiness and satisfaction could not come out of work this hard!
One night this week, we dropped by the office to deliver some paper work and one if the senior missionary couples, Elder and Sister Crook, offered to take us out for dinner when they learned our dinner appointment with a wardie had been canceled. That night, over dinner, Elder Crook said something that really impressed me. He was talking about the two different kinds of missionaries you can be:
"Are you out here serving time, or are you having a time serving?"
FOOD FOR THOUGHT.
Totally rang true to me! As with anything in life, are you serving time, or having a time serving? Counting time, or making the time count? Living out or living up the days? Life is what you make of it. Make. it. worth. it.!
"LIFE IS TO BE ENJOYED, NOT JUST ENDURED!" --President Hinckley
This gospel brings that happiness and purpose! And it's up to us to use it to find joy in the journey! The good life awaits!
Onward and upward,
Sister Anna Parker
