Have you ever woken up in the morning feeling like somebody must have beaten you in your sleep because you don't feel rested at all and your body just hurts and getting out of bed is the hardest thing you've ever done? Yeah, that's been me like, every morning this week.
This week has not been the easiest of weeks, but those happen sometimes. Missions are hard, and I'm just feeling that a little more than usual this week. But, everything that I've been dealing with this week ties back into what I'd like to discuss today. So here we go:
Something that keeps popping up in my studies and in my discussions with people on the street is the Godhead. Something I've realized throughout the year is that each religion tends to have a different idea of what the Godhead actually is. Some think it's all one person -- that God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are all one mighty being. Some think God and Jesus are the same, and the Holy Spirit is something completely different. Some don't even know what they believe.
To quote the first Article of Faith, "we [as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints] believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. " They are three separate beings that share the same purpose of bringing the Children of God (that's us!) back home. There are instances and evidence of this fact in the Old and New Testaments, along with the Book of Mormon (the most commonly known being the baptism of Jesus Christ --Jesus is Baptized, God speaks from the heavens, and the Holy Spirit descends in a physical form to Christ). They each have their own role. They each have their own importance. They each have their own necessity. Now, I won't go too deep into all three, because that would take forever and I think some of you would just roll your eyes and go "Great, she's going on a rant again!" so I'm only going to stick with one today: The Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost has a few roles: He testifies of the Father and Son, He testifies of all truth, He sanctifies (Baptism by fire, anyone?) He teaches, and He comforts. Today, I'm focusing on "He Comforts".
Throughout the scriptures, the Holy Ghost is often referred to as "the Comforter". Throughout my life, I have felt the comforting influences in times of trial, fear, opposition, etc. Right now, I would like to share with you the instances of comfort I have found, especially in this past week.
For those of you who do not know, I have an ill family member at home. I'm very close to this family member, and I love and miss them very much. Being away from them during their time of trial and fear is not easy for me. I also still have Shelley, Trevor, and their girls at home. Leaving them at the end of last summer was not an easy thing, and leaving them for a whole 18 months isn't any easier. It's especially painful, because I know that if I were there, I'd be of help, and everyone would have a little less to worry about. That knowledge, however, directly contradicts with the knowledge that I need to be out here in the mission field, and that my family will be blessed because of the work I am doing.
Now add in the stress and anxiety of moving to a different area in a different country with a different companion. Add in the trip to the ER this week (I'm fine!) and think about the feelings of stress, fear, and doubt that come with that. When you're a missionary and all these things keep happening that make it seem like you would be better off at home, it can be really hard to hold oon to the knowledge that you're actually doing the right thing.
I know I'm in the right place at the right time. I know I know that, and I know you know that, because I say it in just about every email. But what you might not know, is how I know that. So let me explain:
I have had moments during my mission, and particularly this week, where I have prayed on my knees, bent over so far that my head was on the ground, crying to my Heavenly Father for comfort and direction, begging to know if I really am on the right track or not, pleading for the knowledge that everything is going to be okay. I have felt sadness, despair and frustration. But the thing that has never failed to come to me when I ask and search for it is the comfort that comes with the presence of the Holy Ghost. Every time I fell to my knees in a moment of weakness, the Holy Ghost was right there with me, bringing hope to my heart and peace to my soul. I treasure those feelings of peace. They are the same feelings I had when I came home to my family after being away. They're the same feelings I had when I made the decision to serve. They are the same feelings that come when I read in the scriptures. They are the same feelings that will come to me throughout the rest of my life when I ask and search for them in times of trial, fear, or oppression.
They are the feelings that come when I speak, read, or learn of the truth.
I know that every individual is a divine child of God. He is our Heavenly Father. Jesus the Christ came to earth, He lived, He suffered, and He died so that we may all return to our Father and live once more, free from our burdens. The Holy Ghost bears witness to all of that. If you've been paying attention, He may be speaking words, feelings, or thoughts of comfort and truth to you right now.
To sum up: Life is hard. Missions are hard. But Brother Juha Toropainen, one of my teachers in the MTC, once gave our class a piece of advice that I will use for the rest of my life. I actually don't remember the very beginning of it (Sorry, Bruder T - I know where I wrote it down though!) but it goes similarly to as follows: If you ask the Lord for experience, He will give you a mountain. If you ask for strength, He'll make you climb it. But if you ask for love, He will always give love."
When I start teaching new people, one of the first things I explain is that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father, and if they only get one thing out of our lessons, it needs to be that.
I am, once again, out of time, so I'll leave it at that.
I love you all, and I appreciate all of your support. <3
Until next week,
Sister Sally Priest
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
I had a witty title......August 3
Well, friends and family, today will be another short email, because I was bad at organizing my time today and I'm almost out of time.
A quick update: I'm being transferred to Linz, Austria. I'll go there on Thursday. :) I'm looking forward to it!
This weekend was a Swiss holiday, and we were invited to a party by a member. It was really fun! I'll try to attach a picture or two.
It's been a really good week. We're working with some really cool people. :)
Gahhhh, I'm so sorry this is so short. I'm running out of things to talk about, which is really weird for me.
How about some pictures?
Blurry but kind of cool looking photo of a firework:
This is Tina. She's the one who threw the party. She returned from her mission in Frankfurt the same time I started my mission here. We have a hard time being serious together.
Alright, well, I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to end this here. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep in touch!
Love, Sister Sally Priest
A quick update: I'm being transferred to Linz, Austria. I'll go there on Thursday. :) I'm looking forward to it!
This weekend was a Swiss holiday, and we were invited to a party by a member. It was really fun! I'll try to attach a picture or two.
It's been a really good week. We're working with some really cool people. :)
Gahhhh, I'm so sorry this is so short. I'm running out of things to talk about, which is really weird for me.
How about some pictures?
Blurry but kind of cool looking photo of a firework:
This is Tina. She's the one who threw the party. She returned from her mission in Frankfurt the same time I started my mission here. We have a hard time being serious together.
Alright, well, I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to end this here. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Keep in touch!
Love, Sister Sally Priest
July 27
Alright, y'all. IT's been a pretty normal week and I honestly don't have much to say. Also, I've taken some time to respond to the individuals who email me instead of taking a longer time on the group email. I do however, have some photos for all of you, along with their corresponding stories.
Sister Fenton's birthday twas this week, and we had some lovely adventures, including finding a big sunflower field, (Her favorite flower) and taking loads of pictures. She was pretty excited.
Today, we went on a bike ride with a member. We stopped in some really pretty places and I (of course) took some photos, including my typical shoe picture. I think that since I'm not a huge fan of taking photos of myself in places. I'll just keep on with my shoe pictures. Maybe I'll piece them all together at the end of my mission and it'll look cool or something.
And swans. :) they're all over the place here!
Well, other than that, this week has been pretty fine! We've got two new investigators, both of whom seem pretty promising. It should be a fun week this week.
I wish you all a wonderful day!
With love,
Sister Sally Priest
Sister Fenton's birthday twas this week, and we had some lovely adventures, including finding a big sunflower field, (Her favorite flower) and taking loads of pictures. She was pretty excited.
Today, we went on a bike ride with a member. We stopped in some really pretty places and I (of course) took some photos, including my typical shoe picture. I think that since I'm not a huge fan of taking photos of myself in places. I'll just keep on with my shoe pictures. Maybe I'll piece them all together at the end of my mission and it'll look cool or something.
And swans. :) they're all over the place here!
Well, other than that, this week has been pretty fine! We've got two new investigators, both of whom seem pretty promising. It should be a fun week this week.
I wish you all a wonderful day!
With love,
Sister Sally Priest
Pressure - July 20
Companions are a pretty amazing concept, did you know that? I mean, there's the scriptural points of preaching the gospel 2 by 2, the safety reasons of never being alone, and the lessons learned in knowing how to deal with other peole that you may or may not completely get along with.
I've been blessed with some pretty great companions. My first transfer in the field was a little rough, but I definitely learned some important life lessons with those two comanions. My 2nd and 3rd transfer were comletley different from my first. I only had one companion ( with the exception of the emergency transfer, when we were a drit for the last 10 days of my 2nd transfer), and things in the area were much more relaxed. I clicked immediately with my companion and struggled a little bit when she was transferred out of the area. I entered my 4th transfer with 4 companions under my belt, and ready to receive my 5th. Sister Fenton i sgreat. I won't lie in saying that I was a little intimidated by her at first. She's a lot girlier than I am, and I had a little hit in my self-esteem for the first week or so. Thankfully, we've managed to grow pretty close to each other (I hear that happens when you live with someone 24/7 for several weeks on end. Either that or you get at each others throats...but that's not he case!) and we had a bit of a realization last night. Our companionship works very similarly to the partnership between Chris and Ben on Parks and Recreation.
Let me explain: Sister Fenton is the most bubbly, upbeat, smiley person I've ever met. She always finds the best in people and builds them up. I'm the bluntly honest, to-the-point - bringer-of-the-honest-news. It's pretty hilarious.
But anyway, that's not actuallywhat I wanted to talk about today. Today I want to talk about pressure.
This week, we had an exchange with the sisters in Freiburg. Sister Fenton went to Freiburg swith Sister Mehr, and I got to work with Sister Fast for a day. Sister Fast is brand new to the mission. She's only been out of the MTC for a few weeks. She's a fabulous missionary already, and she has so much potnential. I can't wait to swee where she goes. During our time together, I took her to the main area of the town to do some street contacting. She explained that she hadn't really had any experience talking to people on the street, so I figured that'd be something I could work with her on. For that one hour, I dealt with some of the meanest people I have ever dealt with on my mission! Since I was working with a brand new missionary, I was the one responsible or handling the people who were spurting thoughtless words of hate towards the two of us - and I'm only six months out. My German is pretty good, good enough to explain that I don't want to argue and that I wish them a good day, but I'm definitely not fluent. I was most definitely under pressure.
Pressure is not always a bad thing. There is a level of pressure that we often need to be under in order to improve. Let me give an example:
I'm a violist. I've been playing viola since I was 9 or so years old. I joined a youth symphony when I was 13 and I've been playing in youth or college symphonies ever since. A viola is slightly bigger than a violin. It has different strings, and therefore, a lower range than a violin. The body of a viola is significantly deeper than that of a violin. This depth allows one to play on the lowest string with clarity and beauty. However, depth is not the only factor. In order to play a note on the lowest string with good tone and vibranc, one must put the correct amount of pressure on the bow. Not enough pressure gives it an airy, gutless souond, while too much pressure causes a horrendous crunching In both cases, It is difficult to keep the bow in a smooth, consistent stroke across the string. With the correct amount of pressure, a musician can create a wonderful tone with great vibrance, even on the most difficult string.
Just like needing pressure to produce a good sound, we need a bit of pressur ein our lives in order to perform at our best.
Some of my best moments have happened when I was under just the right amount of pressure. The best swimming race of my life happened when my coach used a tactic that made me raise my own bar of expectations to the right level. It was my sophomore year of high school at the city championship meet. I was swimming one of the first events and I had two main competitors. One had beated me by a frustrating .02 seconds in our last meet. The other was about 3 seconds faster than me. My coach pulled me aside before the race and told me he expected me to beat both of them. In my mind, I knew I could beat the one who had barely out-touched me, but I wasn't so sure about the girl who was 3 seconds faster. Long story short: I had a moment of pure motivation as I looked at both of my competitiors and stepped up on the block I dove into the water with the thought "this race is MINE" going through my head. I gave my all in that race. WHen I touched the wall at the end of the last lap, I looked up at the board, saw the lit up "1" by my name, put both my hands in the air, gave a shout of victory, and went back under water. I came up to see my coach screaming his head off and jumping up and down, absolutely ecstatic. I had dropped FOUR seconds off my time, and I got the ball of motivation rolling for the rest of the team. My team won the city championship for the first time in a couple decades.
What I didn't know, was that my coach didn't really think I'be be able to win it. He had expected me to get second place. He had taken a slight risk in telling me otherwise, and boy, did it work! He had managed to find just the right amount of pressure I needed to be under in order to succeed. His coaching towards me for the rest of my time on that team was, from that point on, a mix of tricking me into thinking I needed to prove him wrong during meets in order to drop time, and making me his personal punching bag during practice in order to gain endurance. I had some of my most frustrating swimming experiences under his coaching, but I also had most of my best races.
Pressure is a necessary part of life. How else would be motivated to pass tests, progress in our careers, or succeed in our personal goals? Do not be afraid of pressure. Being afraid of pressure will only cause you to not have enough pressure, which will slow you down in a race or give you an airy, gutless tone. Then , when you are under more pressure that is out of your control, you will not have the endurance it takes to survive it.
This has a flip side though. Do not put yourself under too much pressure You are hearing this from someone who beats herself up way too much. It's something I've been hearing ever since the MTC (and probably a bit before that, too), and after 6 months, I'm finally realizing how much stress and anxiety I could have saved myself if I had just given myself credit for the good things I was doing instead of constantly focusing on the areas I need to improve in.
Finding your correct amount of pressure takes some practice. I've been blessed with experiences and people that have helped me find my correct amount at the young age of 20, but I still have moments on an almost daily basis where I have to stop, evaluate myself, take a breath, and let go of the the things that are pushing me down. It will probably be a life-long process, but that's part of why I'm talking about it now. The sooner we can realize what sort of pressure we're under and adjust it to the pressure we need, the more we will see ourselves grow.
As an afterthought, I want you all to know that it is definitely okay to have times when you're not under any pressure at all. We all have these great moments of success where the pressure falls off our shoulders and we seem to fly for a bit. It's also okay to give yourself a break. While pressure is necessary, it's also necessary to remember that we are all human, and we all need a break every now and then.
To end on a fun note (not to undermine my pressure lecture), here are some photos from last Monday. We climbed Hohtentwiel again, but this time, I brought the light sabers I found in my apartments cleaning closet...
My companion and Zone Leaders did some turret climbing and yoga while I stood back and played photographer.
And then I had some fun with macro once more. :)
I hope you all are having a great summer. :) I wish you all a great week. Feel free to send me your responses! I'm getting better at managing my limited internet time, and will probably be a lost better at responding on individual levels.
Until next week!
SIster Sally Priest
I've been blessed with some pretty great companions. My first transfer in the field was a little rough, but I definitely learned some important life lessons with those two comanions. My 2nd and 3rd transfer were comletley different from my first. I only had one companion ( with the exception of the emergency transfer, when we were a drit for the last 10 days of my 2nd transfer), and things in the area were much more relaxed. I clicked immediately with my companion and struggled a little bit when she was transferred out of the area. I entered my 4th transfer with 4 companions under my belt, and ready to receive my 5th. Sister Fenton i sgreat. I won't lie in saying that I was a little intimidated by her at first. She's a lot girlier than I am, and I had a little hit in my self-esteem for the first week or so. Thankfully, we've managed to grow pretty close to each other (I hear that happens when you live with someone 24/7 for several weeks on end. Either that or you get at each others throats...but that's not he case!) and we had a bit of a realization last night. Our companionship works very similarly to the partnership between Chris and Ben on Parks and Recreation.
Let me explain: Sister Fenton is the most bubbly, upbeat, smiley person I've ever met. She always finds the best in people and builds them up. I'm the bluntly honest, to-the-point - bringer-of-the-honest-news. It's pretty hilarious.
But anyway, that's not actuallywhat I wanted to talk about today. Today I want to talk about pressure.
This week, we had an exchange with the sisters in Freiburg. Sister Fenton went to Freiburg swith Sister Mehr, and I got to work with Sister Fast for a day. Sister Fast is brand new to the mission. She's only been out of the MTC for a few weeks. She's a fabulous missionary already, and she has so much potnential. I can't wait to swee where she goes. During our time together, I took her to the main area of the town to do some street contacting. She explained that she hadn't really had any experience talking to people on the street, so I figured that'd be something I could work with her on. For that one hour, I dealt with some of the meanest people I have ever dealt with on my mission! Since I was working with a brand new missionary, I was the one responsible or handling the people who were spurting thoughtless words of hate towards the two of us - and I'm only six months out. My German is pretty good, good enough to explain that I don't want to argue and that I wish them a good day, but I'm definitely not fluent. I was most definitely under pressure.
Pressure is not always a bad thing. There is a level of pressure that we often need to be under in order to improve. Let me give an example:
I'm a violist. I've been playing viola since I was 9 or so years old. I joined a youth symphony when I was 13 and I've been playing in youth or college symphonies ever since. A viola is slightly bigger than a violin. It has different strings, and therefore, a lower range than a violin. The body of a viola is significantly deeper than that of a violin. This depth allows one to play on the lowest string with clarity and beauty. However, depth is not the only factor. In order to play a note on the lowest string with good tone and vibranc, one must put the correct amount of pressure on the bow. Not enough pressure gives it an airy, gutless souond, while too much pressure causes a horrendous crunching In both cases, It is difficult to keep the bow in a smooth, consistent stroke across the string. With the correct amount of pressure, a musician can create a wonderful tone with great vibrance, even on the most difficult string.
Just like needing pressure to produce a good sound, we need a bit of pressur ein our lives in order to perform at our best.
Some of my best moments have happened when I was under just the right amount of pressure. The best swimming race of my life happened when my coach used a tactic that made me raise my own bar of expectations to the right level. It was my sophomore year of high school at the city championship meet. I was swimming one of the first events and I had two main competitors. One had beated me by a frustrating .02 seconds in our last meet. The other was about 3 seconds faster than me. My coach pulled me aside before the race and told me he expected me to beat both of them. In my mind, I knew I could beat the one who had barely out-touched me, but I wasn't so sure about the girl who was 3 seconds faster. Long story short: I had a moment of pure motivation as I looked at both of my competitiors and stepped up on the block I dove into the water with the thought "this race is MINE" going through my head. I gave my all in that race. WHen I touched the wall at the end of the last lap, I looked up at the board, saw the lit up "1" by my name, put both my hands in the air, gave a shout of victory, and went back under water. I came up to see my coach screaming his head off and jumping up and down, absolutely ecstatic. I had dropped FOUR seconds off my time, and I got the ball of motivation rolling for the rest of the team. My team won the city championship for the first time in a couple decades.
What I didn't know, was that my coach didn't really think I'be be able to win it. He had expected me to get second place. He had taken a slight risk in telling me otherwise, and boy, did it work! He had managed to find just the right amount of pressure I needed to be under in order to succeed. His coaching towards me for the rest of my time on that team was, from that point on, a mix of tricking me into thinking I needed to prove him wrong during meets in order to drop time, and making me his personal punching bag during practice in order to gain endurance. I had some of my most frustrating swimming experiences under his coaching, but I also had most of my best races.
Pressure is a necessary part of life. How else would be motivated to pass tests, progress in our careers, or succeed in our personal goals? Do not be afraid of pressure. Being afraid of pressure will only cause you to not have enough pressure, which will slow you down in a race or give you an airy, gutless tone. Then , when you are under more pressure that is out of your control, you will not have the endurance it takes to survive it.
This has a flip side though. Do not put yourself under too much pressure You are hearing this from someone who beats herself up way too much. It's something I've been hearing ever since the MTC (and probably a bit before that, too), and after 6 months, I'm finally realizing how much stress and anxiety I could have saved myself if I had just given myself credit for the good things I was doing instead of constantly focusing on the areas I need to improve in.
Finding your correct amount of pressure takes some practice. I've been blessed with experiences and people that have helped me find my correct amount at the young age of 20, but I still have moments on an almost daily basis where I have to stop, evaluate myself, take a breath, and let go of the the things that are pushing me down. It will probably be a life-long process, but that's part of why I'm talking about it now. The sooner we can realize what sort of pressure we're under and adjust it to the pressure we need, the more we will see ourselves grow.
As an afterthought, I want you all to know that it is definitely okay to have times when you're not under any pressure at all. We all have these great moments of success where the pressure falls off our shoulders and we seem to fly for a bit. It's also okay to give yourself a break. While pressure is necessary, it's also necessary to remember that we are all human, and we all need a break every now and then.
To end on a fun note (not to undermine my pressure lecture), here are some photos from last Monday. We climbed Hohtentwiel again, but this time, I brought the light sabers I found in my apartments cleaning closet...
My companion and Zone Leaders did some turret climbing and yoga while I stood back and played photographer.
And then I had some fun with macro once more. :)
I hope you all are having a great summer. :) I wish you all a great week. Feel free to send me your responses! I'm getting better at managing my limited internet time, and will probably be a lost better at responding on individual levels.
Until next week!
SIster Sally Priest
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Climb Stairs Facing Forward!
I'll start with the beginning of the week and see where I go from there. Sound good? Good.
Monday wasn't anything super spectacular. Sister Fenton and I were both really tired and we just kind of had a chill day of emailing, browsing in stores, and buying a couple things (I now have sufficient clothes that won't kill me in this heat.)
Tuesday was fairly normal as well. We went up to Uberlingen to help a YSA of ours pack for her mission (Colea - she's the one going to Armenia!) After that we all went back to the Church for Institute.
Wednesday was a beautiful day. Colea and her dad, Benji, our ward mission leader, were able to go through the temple for the first time. It was a beautiful experience. I had some time for...I can't remember the english word....Nachdenken...while I was in the celestial room. I was thinking back to my high school days (insert cringe here), and I was able to compare my past self to my present self. It was an interesting experience. When I was in high school, I was a bit of an idiot (not an uncommon occurrence. I challenge anyone to look aback at their high school self and not cringe) and I did some things that damaged a lot of my friendships, some that I don't think I"ll ever be able to fully repair. People lost their trust in me, and I had given them good reason. It was a pretty horrible experience, because there were also things happening in my life that were very real and very scary, but I had done so much damage that people weren't very ready to help, support, or even believe me.
But what I did doesn't really matter anymore. It's in the past and it's going to stay there. What matters is how I (eventually) decided to handle the situation and what I learned from it.
While comparing my past self to my preset self, I realized a few things that have changed. Because of the experiences I had in high school I am now a much more honest person (some may say I'm blunt at times). I'm more understanding and less hesitant to forgive. I'm more aware of peoples' struggles, and I'm better at figuring out what they need and how I can help. I now know how to form good relationships founded on honesty and communication. My heart changed and I didn't want to go back to where I was before.
But perhaps the greatest blessing I received was an increased thankfulness for the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
This kind of ties back to the email entitled "burns" from a few weeks ago. When I would lie and spread rumors in high school, I was metaphorically burning myself, and possibly other people as well. Except it was more of a slow, unnoticable boiling-a-frog-in-cold-water type burn instead. Started small, but eventually boiled over into a massive painful mess. For awhile afterwards, I stayed out of the kitchen. I actually switched schools (for more reasons than just the mess I made, though it played a big factor) in order to get a new start. And that worked a lot of good thins for me. I was able to really look at my life and realize what I had done. I went through the rest of my high school life flying under the radar, and working forwards towards bigger and better things. It wasn't something that healed immediately. I had times when I went into town to do some shopping and actually had to turn around very quickly for fear of running into the wrong people. I was talked about and made fun of on Facebook and Twitter for some times afterwards as well. I was reaping my punishment, and it wasn't fun.
But I learned to endure. I learned to rely on the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He had felt the same embarrassment and anguish I was feeling at that point in my life. He really understood me and had been waiting for me to ask him for help since the very beginning.
So while pondering (that's what nachdenken means!) and reflecting on my past, I did feel some lingering pain from all that had happened, just as someone will remember the pain of being burned, but what I felt the most was the love that my Heavenly Father has for me. I felpt how proud He is of me. And then I looked at Colea nad felt how proud He is of her too. And then I thought about my family and friends back home and felt the love that He has for htem. While sitting the celestial room, so incredibly close to the presence of God our Heavenly Father, the feelings that came to me were not ones of regret, fear , of shame, but instead they were of love, hope, gratitude, appreciation, comfort, strength, and a knowledge that Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us and that I am 100% on the right path.
A lesson I learned awhile back, but one of my favorite things to explain is this: When walking up stairs, if you try to look backwards, you will fall. When we move forward in life, if we look backwards at the things we've done, the places we used to be, we will fall back to that level. If you focus on the sins you've committed, the burns you've recieved, you will not learn. You will continue to fall, your burns will not heal, and you will not be able to move forwards. When you are climbing stairs, look forwards, not backwards. The Atonement is there to help you stay on the forward moving path. Rely on Chirst and keep facing forward. THAT, my lovely friends, is how you will make progress.
I love you all. I'ls include some shots from the temple and I"ll leave this week's email at that.
Have a good week!
Sister Priest
Turning Up the Heat
On the bright side, along with the heat comes the sun, and that really makes me happy. I love feeling the warmth of the sun soak into my skin, though I do prefer that without the soaking of the seat into my clothes. Oh well! I'm still in the most beautiful place I've ever been and I'm incredibly blessed to be here, so I actually don't care that much.
Well, nothing too exciting happened this week. 4th of July was a thing, but only to the 6 of us missionaries here in Singen. The missionary couple had us over for pulled pork, chips, watermelon, etc, and we all got a little American flag to take home. So now that is somewhat ironically sitting right by my little Switzerland flag on my desk.
So I got a little curious and had a little fun with the iPad this week. For my personal study, I downloaded the first few copies of the Ensign (the monthly magazine the LDS church publishes) dating back to 1970. The stories and articles written in there are some of the most interesting things I've ever read - Partly because some of the things they say in these older copies are so blunt and honest that some people today might choose to be offended by them - and I love it. It's becoming one of my favorite things to study. I highly suggest either finding the old copies online or downloading them into your Gospel Library app and reading them while you brush your teeth, eat breakfast, wait in line, etc. Fill your mind with uplifting and encouraging messages instead of pointless mind-numbing video games. challenge yourself to learn something new (Gospel, religion in general, or even just history, because history is actually really cool) before you allow yourself those moments of thoughtless screen time (which I do understand, really).
We all have so many resources right at our fingertips. I firmly believe that we have such technology to benefit out lives and strengthen our relationships with family, friends, and God. It all depends, however, on house you use it. WIth the integration of iPads into this mission, I've been learning a lot about how to use technology for good, how to use it with a purpose, and also how to use it without wasting time. I don't think I'll go back to using technology the way I did before my mission. I'll use it,k for user. I'm sure I"ll still play games on my phone and have Instagram and such, but I think I"ll use it a lot differently.
Sorry this email is a bit shorter than usual, and kind of rambly. I'm honestly completely beat by the heat and the work this week.
I hope you all had a good week. Keep in touch. :)
Here, have a picture! On transfer day, I spent a couple hours with Sister Bishop. We got a kick out of our names. :) That's our picture at the top.
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
New Things, Old Stories
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| Castle on the border of Germany and Switzerland |
Shonen Woche, meine Familie und Freunde,
I hope all is going well with all of you this week! exciting things are happening in the mission, such as:
- The implementation of iPad usage in the mission
- Transfers
- And actually, that's it. Not much else has happened.
So, since I know a few of you are really curious about it, yes, I now have an iPad. No, I don't have internet in my apartment, neither will I soon get it. I will either be in the church or at a McDonald's. If I need to use the internet, which really isn't that frequently. A lot of the stuff we use as missionaries doesn't need internet access to work once it's been downloaded.
Also, no, I'm not back on Facebook (yet). Within the next month or so, Facebook will be approved for missionary uses. I'll have to change some settings and such on my Facebook, and I won't be able to chat with people like I used to while I'm still a missionary. The point of using Facebook will be to make it easier for the people I teach to be able to 1. have easier and more comfortable contact with my companion and me. 2. Have more exposure to the things we teach through our posts. and 3. be able to connect with me as the normal (well as normal as I get) person I actually am.
SO, if you are reading this through a link you've found on Facebook, either through my page or through my mother's, I suggest that you either 1) follow the blog itself so you can receive updates or 2) Friend my mom (Yes, my mom. She's super cool and can be really funny sometimes, even if it's an accident (I love you, Mommio<3) so that you can see the posts on her page. I don't know if she'll be able to tag me in her posts, so you will only see them if you are friends with her. I haven't received all the information on that yet. Besides, I've got plenty of time before it even happens, so no worries.
Alright, so transfers! There's been a switch up. Sister Smith will be going to Graz, Austria, and I will be receiving Sister Fenton, who has been serving in Salzburg, Austria, for a couple of months. I've met her briefly , and I'm looking forward to working with her. :)
Other than that, the only other thing I was planning on sharing with you guys is a story from one of our recent converts, Christiana, and long overdue photos.
Christiana's story is really long and I probably will not have time to write it all out in this email, but it's one worth hearing. Christiana is a refugee from Nigeria. Before she was a refugee, she had a fairly normal African village life. In her village, there was a woman who sold a mixture of friend beans and meat. In order to sell the food, she used pieces of paper as dishes/napkins. She got the papers from a separate vendor. Keep in mind that nearly everyone in this village is illiterate. No one can read. Also, there are only two religions in this village: Muslim, and Christian. At some point, these vendors sold her paper that had been ripped out of the Quran. The wrong person with the wrong attitude realized what he was eating off of. He told the higher up Muslim folk, and they came and destroyed this old woman's store. They also came with intentions to kill her, but she escaped. Unsatisfied, they rallied and angered up a lot of the Muslim community, and the Christians in the village began to be slaughtered. Christiana, along with hundreds of others, fled the country.
In order to flee the country, however, they only had two options. One has to ride in a cigarrette truck that would carry 6 people. It cost the equivilent of #350, which was money non of these people had. THe other option was to be crammed in the back of a swmi-truck with 200 other people, packed in like sardines. You were only allowed to bring about 2 gallons of water. It cost $50, which is what most everyone could afford.
These trucks would drive across the African desert to Libya. People died every day from heat and dehydration. Surviving the truck ride was a miracle. When someone would die, the driver would simply throw them on the road, tell the others to get over it, and keep moving. Often times, these trucks would have to wait in small villages for another truck, because if one truck breaks down in the desert and no one knows about it, everyone is dead.
So, Christiana survived the horrific truck ride. She lived in Libya for a few years. Her comments on Libya include, "It was a nice place. I had a job, I had a home. If I wanted to go outside, I had to wear clothes that would cover me head to toe, otherwise I'd get stoned. Also there were people, crazy people, who would literally steal food right out of your mouth! The first time this happened to me, I was sitting in the sand eating tuna. A man a few meters away from me all of the sudden stood up, ran towards me, grabbed the can with one hand and the bite of food in my mouth with the other, and ran away. I actually do not know if these people were human or animals. I could only ever see their eyes. I don't think they were human. They did terrible things...Humans don't do those things. "
SO now there's a war in Libya. Long story short: Christiana's house gets blown up one night. She has a one year old daughter at this point, and the baby gets hit with debris and bomb shrapnel. Christiana rushers her child to the hospital, where people with missing legs and chunks of body blown off are getting turned away because there are not enough doctors to handle the onslaught of wounded. One doctor sees the bleeding baby, takes her from Christiana, cleans and patches her up, hands her back to Christiana and tells her to flee the country.
I think next time, I will have to finish the story of how she did that! It's a miracle in itself.
Basically I cannot even imagine the things this woman went through. I can try, but I really have no idea. It was an incredibly humbling experience to hear her story.
Now for a change of pace, I'll add some pictures. :D
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| The Bern Temple |
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| Covered bridge |
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