Monday, August 11, 2014

The Bad, The Great and The Pathetic

Hello Family and Friends:

Many things happened this week. Some good. Some bad. Some ugly. I decided that "sugar-coated" blogs should just be a big ol' no no. I am a missionary. Things are not all puppies and rainbows and miracles and fun here in Northern Virginia. Sometimes it's actually old kitties, rainstorms, tragedies, and hard work! I want my posts to be real. So here you go readers. The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. But we're going to do, "The Bad, The Great, and The Pathetic" instead...just to shake things up a bit.

The Bad

To begin, my companion, Sister Savage and I had a lesson with Tian, our "golden investigator." 

Okay, Strike #1. "Golden Investigators" should not be a thing. What does that even mean? No investigator should be too easy.  If  missionaries say they have a "golden investigator," that just means that they are not really teaching the lessons or they are not checking in with the "golden investigator," and making sure they are ok. Conversion is hard. End of story. But it is so worth it. 

With Tian, everything had been going great. Word of Wisdom? Easy! She hates alcohol and coffee and everything in between. Book of Mormon? She reads it everyday. Church? She comes every week. Chastity? Not even a concern for her. TITHING? Oh boy...that's where we hit the bump in the road. While preparing for the lesson on "The Law of Tithing," Sister Savage and I thought, "hmmm this should be a breeze!" If she can handle all the other lessons, she will be fine with this one. So, let's not over prepare.  

Strike #2. Big mistake. Just because certain things are easy for some people does NOT mean that EVERYTHING is easy for all. NO! Not even. We seriously should have reminded ourselves of that because what started out as a cute little lesson on paying 10% of your income to God turned into a 3 hour lesson of a passive-aggresive debate, tears, and confusion on everyone's part. Tian refused to pay tithing because she thought that God was asking too much, especially considering her financial situation. Between us missionaries and the Muir Family (a family from the ward who hosted the lesson) we probably told about 20 personal stories of how during financial struggles, we all still paid tithing. We all put our hearts and souls into this discussion. After the lesson, Sister Savage broke down. What did we do? Can she even get baptized now?  

Strike #3. Why were we so quick to give up? Just because there's a bump in the road it doesn't mean that it's all over. We must always have hope.

Strike #4. We also had a potential investigator fall through but yet he still continued to send us creepy, flirty texts hours after he canceled on us. My personal favorite text was, "Never hesistate to come to my house for a glass of water ;)" ummmm yeah right.

Strike #5, #6 and #7. Waking up at 6:15 a.m.? No me gusta. Not being able to take any sort of rest? #struggle.
Being really stressed and having no outlet to decompress because you're too busy? #theworst

The Great

Boon #1. Tian and the tithing problem was solved through a series of miracles. The Muirs offered Tian an opportunity to move in with them. They have extra space in their home. Tian can have reduced rent in exchange for teaching the Muir boys Mandarin. With some financial burdens lifted, Tian, now has the means to pay tithing. What a miracle. One of the best parts of all of this was that the Muirs called to tell us the news on my grandpa's (Poppa) birthday, August 6th. Brother Muir is from the same small town in Montana as Poppa. I truly believe Poppa was in the planning stages getting this whole situation handled for Tian. "Get it handled," was one of Poppa's famous catch-phrases. What a miracle!!! How blessed Tian is and how grateful we are for the Muirs and their generosity!

Boon #2. Another beautiful thing happened this week. A lady from our ward had a health scare...the EXACT same one I had Fall Semester at BYU-Provo.  I consider the BYU Student Health Center the depths of all evil. This lady called us late at night, feeling prompted to share her health worry. It was such a blessing because I was able to share my experience and let her know that it was going to be okay and that I was there for her. In tears she told me that maybe the reason why I had that health scare (which was SUCH a waste of money) was so I could help her. So true. Heavenly Father awlays has a better plan for us. NEVER forget that. This past year, I have struggled with why God gave me that trial and panic, when it turned out to be nothing? Why???? Well through this lady in my ward, I am humbled and have a better understanding of God's work.
  
Boon #2.5 I want to add that the only thing I did not like about BYU was the Student Health Center. Even though NO ONE gets my BYU stories or thinks that they are funny (I have just stoppped telling them all together #tears), I am so eternally grateful for the experience I had there. So many memories, so many friendships....and...so much academic work to catch up on (that last comment is for you, dad). I love BYU and I am so excited to see all my amazing friends again. 

Boon #3. The Oakton Ward is incredible. The support we get is amazing and humbling. Every single family is so great. There are some people from this ward that have influenced me for the good and I will forever be grateful.

The Pathetic:

Insert Eye-roll #1. Mosquitoes just love me. My legs are out of control with bites. The Virginia bites on my legs are 10x worse than the Wisconsin bites. They hurt! I have so many scars and I look like a malaria victim. Gee thanks Mother Nature...

Insert Eye-roll #2. I am always afraid of getting Lyme Disease since sooooo many missionaires here get it. One of the sister missionary's face got paralyzed! One more reason for me to HATE NATURE.

Insert Eye-roll #3. I love gospel music. After years of mocking Mormon artists with their "Mormon-y tunes" it is now all we listen to and ughhhh I have to confess that I know all the lyrics.

Reality Wrap-up

Sometimes I think, "I can't do this!" "I'm giving up!" when let's be real, it's all Satan. Never forget that fear is ALWAYS Satan. So pathetic of  him. Never give up. If you give yourself to God and "Come Unto Christ,"
(one of the Mormon-y tunes Sister Savage and I reverently jam out to-haha) then you will always win. I promise.
I hope everyone is well! Keep in touch.

Peace 'n Blessins'
Sister Kelly

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