Week-15

This week wasn't super exciting, but there were a bunch of meetings and a couple of lessons that went well. I even went on exchanges for the first time in this area.


MONDAY was a lot of the normal p-day stuff like shopping, writing my email, playing games with the other missionaries, and talking with family. As soon as p-day ended, it was right back to work because we had a lesson with one of our friends right at 6. The lesson went really well, with us taking time to get to know them and going over the restoration of the gospel. They even said that they felt the spirit really strongly during the lesson.


TUESDAY was a busy day because of interviews, tightly packed lessons, and traffic. We had been able to set up a bunch of lessons for today, so we ended up having to really focus on staying on schedule, or else we'd end up being late to everything. The lessons all went pretty well, with us being able to share the restoration, plan of salvation, and a couple of other topics too. Interviews were also today, so we had to head into town to the mission office to meet with President and Sister Edwards. It was a really good experience, and I feel like I've learned a lot from being able to speak with them and receive advice from them. On the way back from interviews, we unfortunately got stuck in the evening traffic, which made our time to get to our lessons a bit short. We managed to make good use of our time though by messaging some of our friends we'd been having trouble contacting.


WEDNESDAY was my first exchange in this area, and I'd say it went pretty well. We were able to focus a lot on following the spirit and trying to be in the right place at the right time. When lunchtime came around, I was a bit surprised to see our companions that were on exchanges at the apartment. Apparently, one of them had forgotten his belt and came back to get it. Since they were there, we decided to all just go and have lunch together at a buffet nearby. When we got there, we headed inside, and just when we finished paying, the power for the building went out. The timing was pretty crazy, but we were still able to go in and enjoy a meal.


THURSDAY we went out finding with one of the youth from the priests' quorum in some of the neighborhoods around our area. It was pretty weird to hear about how school is now that I've graduated and been on the mission for a bit, but I guess that it was going to come at some point.


FRIDAY was more meetings with missionaries at District council, pickleball in the morning, and lunch with the zone. In the evening, we'd just finished up with dinner at our apartment and decided to go and walk around our complex to try and talk with some people. What we thought would just be a short walk ended up becoming a 2-hour hike to the edge of one of our ward boundaries. It went this long because we had been finding so many people just out walking and decided it would be more effective to just stay out instead of getting our car. Thankfully, when we realized how late it had gotten, we called our zone leaders, and they came and picked us up.


SATURDAY ended up very similar to Friday with us taking another 5-mile hike, just in the other direction this time. There weren't as many people this time, but we did meet some members we hadn't before and did get a couple of numbers for people to teach.


SUNDAY we didn't have a meeting before church, so we were able to stay at the apartment a bit longer than usual. I was pretty happy for that because I was still pretty sore from all the hiking. At church, we heard some really good talks on the temple and were even able to sit and talk with some less active members that had come that day. Right after church, we had a lesson with one of our friends where we read 3 Nephi 11, and they really seemed to enjoy it and feel the spirit as we were reading it.


I'm pretty happy that we were able to have so many lessons and meet with so many people this week. It's definitely better to be busy than to have nothing to do. My spiritual thought for the week comes from the very last chapter of the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon. It says, "34 Now the last words which are written by Ether are these: Whether the Lord will that I be translated, or that I suffer the will of the Lord in the flesh, it mattereth not, if it so be that I am saved in the kingdom of God. Amen." It's really easy to get caught up in your day just looking for the right way to do something, but we need to remember that whatever happens, the Lord has a plan. Our goals and mindset should be something that helps us to prepare to return to the Lord one day, no matter how it may happen.


1. nice sunset while in traffic
2. coyote in the road
3. Christmas already
4. lunch with the power out
5. some very sad news
6. nice lights





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