October 31, 2011:
Keeping busy as first transfer is over
Ok hi! This email will be short, but I will try to get in as much as possible!
First things first... MY FIRST TRANSFER [= a period of several weeks when a missionary is in a certain city with a certain missionary companion] IS OVER. Can you believe that? I sure can't. Sister Smith goes home next week, and our Preparation Day is transfer day, so you won’t hear from me till Wednesday. This is not an excuse for ya'll not to write me, however. Don't forget me! Haha, I will write you Wednesday. And we'll see if I get moved or not! Sister Smith is veeerrry excited to go home. She has been wonderful, and we are ending her mission on a happy high. HITTING the pavement we is!
This week was super busy! We had a Relief Society [= women’s organization] night on Friday and then a Halloween party on Saturday. Sister Francis was totally overwhelmed, so we helped her set up for it on Saturday, and it was a huge hit! On the SD card I'm sending home are videos and pictures of the party. You'll love it! It was so hard for me though, because missionaries can’t dance! Oh, I was DYING!!! I might have danced in the kitchen while doing the dishes afterwards, and Sister Francis found me and whipped me with a rag. It was hilarious.
Right now we have one investigator. He is the man who built the chapel. He is wonderful, and we taught him on Saturday. I was drawing figures on the board about the third lesson, and afterwards Sister Smith told me that I did such a good job! And it was true, looking back on it I could tell the Spirit was there, because I pretty much led the whole lesson. It was neat. We had a member there and everything. We focused on getting people to church this week, but he doesn’t want to come because he is scared of people for some reason. Weird because he is really a cool normal guy, but he is just scared. So we are praying about what to do with him. Church is really important. He is wonderful though and is almost through [reading] Second Nephi! What a stud. He is great!
Siegfried is interesting. I harassed him lovingly into coming to English [class], and he loves it, so he did. Then I also had this idea where I could have an "English Film Night" after English for everyone including the other classes during the gospel study, and people came! It was rockin’. We showed the 20 minute Joseph Smith movie, and Siegfried came and smiled the whole time. It was great, and people came who hadn’t learned about the restoration [of the gospel] yet, and I bore my testimony at the end, and the Spirit was very powerful. It's been great being on a mission, because I can finally just do all these fun things that I always want to do and make things spiritual for people, and it’s just such a blessing, because I am learning so much through the preparation and through studying. I just love the gospel. I love the scriptures so much.
Today I was reading in Alma about Moroni and Amalickiah, and I made the connection about how Moroni is like Jesus and Amalickiah is like Satan. Jesus fights front line with us while Amalickiah looks on as we die. Moroni works for years to build up cities for protection, and Amalickiah tries to tear [the work] down. Building testimonies and spiritual fortresses is hard, but it is oh so worth it when Satan attacks. I hope I can help people build their fortresses. I love these people. My language is improving. Faster than I think, but slowly enough that I don’t really notice it. Well right now we are going to a castle to get "knighted."
I love you!
Love, Satu
Keeping busy as first transfer is over
Ok hi! This email will be short, but I will try to get in as much as possible!
First things first... MY FIRST TRANSFER [= a period of several weeks when a missionary is in a certain city with a certain missionary companion] IS OVER. Can you believe that? I sure can't. Sister Smith goes home next week, and our Preparation Day is transfer day, so you won’t hear from me till Wednesday. This is not an excuse for ya'll not to write me, however. Don't forget me! Haha, I will write you Wednesday. And we'll see if I get moved or not! Sister Smith is veeerrry excited to go home. She has been wonderful, and we are ending her mission on a happy high. HITTING the pavement we is!
This week was super busy! We had a Relief Society [= women’s organization] night on Friday and then a Halloween party on Saturday. Sister Francis was totally overwhelmed, so we helped her set up for it on Saturday, and it was a huge hit! On the SD card I'm sending home are videos and pictures of the party. You'll love it! It was so hard for me though, because missionaries can’t dance! Oh, I was DYING!!! I might have danced in the kitchen while doing the dishes afterwards, and Sister Francis found me and whipped me with a rag. It was hilarious.
Right now we have one investigator. He is the man who built the chapel. He is wonderful, and we taught him on Saturday. I was drawing figures on the board about the third lesson, and afterwards Sister Smith told me that I did such a good job! And it was true, looking back on it I could tell the Spirit was there, because I pretty much led the whole lesson. It was neat. We had a member there and everything. We focused on getting people to church this week, but he doesn’t want to come because he is scared of people for some reason. Weird because he is really a cool normal guy, but he is just scared. So we are praying about what to do with him. Church is really important. He is wonderful though and is almost through [reading] Second Nephi! What a stud. He is great!
Siegfried is interesting. I harassed him lovingly into coming to English [class], and he loves it, so he did. Then I also had this idea where I could have an "English Film Night" after English for everyone including the other classes during the gospel study, and people came! It was rockin’. We showed the 20 minute Joseph Smith movie, and Siegfried came and smiled the whole time. It was great, and people came who hadn’t learned about the restoration [of the gospel] yet, and I bore my testimony at the end, and the Spirit was very powerful. It's been great being on a mission, because I can finally just do all these fun things that I always want to do and make things spiritual for people, and it’s just such a blessing, because I am learning so much through the preparation and through studying. I just love the gospel. I love the scriptures so much.
Today I was reading in Alma about Moroni and Amalickiah, and I made the connection about how Moroni is like Jesus and Amalickiah is like Satan. Jesus fights front line with us while Amalickiah looks on as we die. Moroni works for years to build up cities for protection, and Amalickiah tries to tear [the work] down. Building testimonies and spiritual fortresses is hard, but it is oh so worth it when Satan attacks. I hope I can help people build their fortresses. I love these people. My language is improving. Faster than I think, but slowly enough that I don’t really notice it. Well right now we are going to a castle to get "knighted."
I love you!
Love, Satu