Oh man, something I've learned this week is that
there is nothing more blissful than Conference as a missionary. It's the
greatest, I tell you! And also, I am severely disappointed at the lack of
Elder Renlund love found throughout my emails. GUYSSS, THAT IS THE APOSTLE THAT
JUST VISITED OUR MISSION. GUYS. I HUGGED HIS WIFE. I WATCHED HIM EAT A
SAMMY. ME AND HIM KNOW EACH OTHER. I thought maybe one person would remember my
obsessive Elder Renlund talks from a few weeks back, but alas, you must now
wait a week to share in my rejoicing. Sister Finlinson and I were joking around
about him being called, AND THEN IT TOTALLY HAPPENED. We were over at the
Roundy's watching Saturday Afternoon, and we 100% screamed and high-fived and
flipped out in every understandable way when Pres. Eyring said his name. I
still am in shock. One day, once the APs email it my way, I'll send you the
picture of me and Elder Renlund, shaking hands and being BFFs. It'll be
glorious. But, I'm getting ahead of myself. I am still JUST SO JAZZED that my
General Authority, the man who was in Bismarck not even three weeks ago, the
one who I gawked at while he trained our mission and TOLD US THE STORY ABOUT
CHAD HE SHARED IN CONFERENCE, AHHHH, is an Apostle. Guys, it's so exciting. BE
EXCITED.
Just in case you forgot. :)
Okay, now that I've gotten all that hullabaloo
outta the way and we've all had a moment to ponder how amazing it is that I was
able to hear from the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve,
let's talk about my week. It was pretty interesting, lots of dropped
appointments and lots of weird/random experiences. I think it was a good week?
I don't even know. We've got a lot of contemplating to do together. When you're
newly discovered fave General Authority is called to be an Apostle, and when
you get weirdly prideful about your weird connection to him, you have to have a
super weird week to maintain your humility. That's just how it goes.
Last Monday was such a good pday...really, I just
love Mondays. Missions are life changing for that reason alone. We wandered
around the Beulah drug store and I found these adorable bull dog earrings that
look just like Buster, Peter the potential's dog that always pees on the porch
when we come by. So, it was a great day. We ate dinner with the Moorheads and
chatted about the Restoration. We're working towards November 21 for Luke's
baptism, but we really want to make sure that the whole fam is totally ready to
support him and be active together. We've been working closely with Becky,
trying to make that happen...but I'll keep you updated. I want him to get
baptized and I want everything to work out, but I'm just not sure. We'll see,
we'll see.
Our last appointment of the day was Brother Lopez,
and Porter Roundy tagged along. It went really well- our two faves totally hit
it off! Yahoo! Brother Lopez committed to reading the Book of Mormon, and it
was just cool. Having Porter there gave us weird amounts of street cred, so
that was productive. And, as usual, we got fancy glass bottles of Coke and Sis
Finlinson had her leather man ready to go. Whatta dreamboat my companion is!
Tuesday, to quote our dearest Sister Finlinson, was
a beautiful day...and all because it was Faye day. I love that Heavenly Father
sometimes plans out our days for us, and that everything comes together just as
it should. It was such an amazing day- being in Beulah makes me feel like such
a lucky duck (and a cheese ball, but what's new?) We started off with the
morning routine and a delicious lunch of crepes (we're so fancy, you already
know...is that even a thing? I don't even know!). We tried potentials and
scheduled appointments before heading over to Halliday to meet with our main
lady, Faye. We picked up Sister Tonya Leach and drove to Faye's. Sis Leach
brought her sweet 8-month old baby, Jake, and he served as the perfect buffer
for all the Law of Chastity awkwardness. Faye, after reading the pamphlet, had
convinced herself that her inability to get married would cause us the drop her
by the wayside and never speak to her again. The drama of 60 year old women,
right? We reassured her that we still love her and God still loves her, and
that we will be there for her every step of the way. We're not sure what
exactly is keeping her from marriage, but we do know that she's here on a work
visa and doesn't want to get deported to the dreary wasteland of Canada (shout
out to my fave Brad Redford, Canada pride! And also, maybe you can use your
Canadian magic to help a sista out? It would be greatly appreciated!). So
anyway, we just hugged and talked a little about the Plan of Salvation before
heading to the Thueson's to watch her get a blessing. Oh man, watching the
Priesthood work in a person's life for the first time is my new favorite thing
of existence. It was so amazing! We're constantly telling her that Heavenly
Father loves her, but that love was tangible during her blessing. Being a
missionary is sometimes the coolest thing ever.
We went to the Phillips for dinner, who are the
real MVPs of the day (that's my new favorite thing to say, so it's going to be
a fun email). I just adore the Phillips. Sister Phillips showed us around her
craft room and we all fan girl’d about Jane Austen while waiting for Brother
Phillips- it was the best. We chatted over missionary work in ND and if the
purification of blood lines is condoned in the gospel over delicious
enchiladas. We shared a message about having faith and got totally schooled by
Bro Phillips, which is my fave. Getting taught by super cool members is what
missionary work is actually about. I laughed so much, because Bro Phillips is
just a total hoot- it was the perfect way to end the day of Faye. It was a
crazy day, and not at all what we had planned, but it was exactly right. Gotta
love days like that!
Wednesday was a crazy day! We started off with a
service project with good ol' Gary Hart, who is moving out of his man cave
warehouse and into another little less gross warehouse. We brought Liberty and
Justice along, and they were total troopers. I was so impressed with them. It
was a little icky to clean and pack the warehouse of a older gentleman (trying
to stay Christlike and really struggling. Old men are just icky. I feel a
little bad about writing that, but I cleaned his bathroom. I feel pretty
entitled to write that phrase). We spend a good amount of time cleaning and
packing and dancing around his empty warehouse. It was a good time.
After Gary, we ate lunch (leftovers for daysssss)
and headed over to Barb's. Oh man, our Barb meeting was glorious! We were chill
yet productive, and the spirit was totally there. No crazy commitments (a sista
can dream), but we are coming back next week to help her move furniture around
to prep for some carpet cleaning. Even though Barb isn't budging, she'll talk
to us about religion and let us into her home- and that's already progress from
the first time we stopped by. ANNNNNND, once it gets cold outside, we're going
to make cards with her. GUYS. CARDS. Barb has found the window to my SOUL. So,
even if she's not in a position to get baptized, at least we can be BFFs and
make cards together (and definitely invite Elder Renlund. We're really
close.).
We stopped by Doug Hodges after seeing Barb, who is
a less-active from Idaho we randomly tracted into a few weeks ago. He was going
to work, so we prayed with him and left him with a Book of Mormon- and
scheduled a return appointment! Go Doug! He straight up prayed us over, that
hooligan, and then wanted to act all surprised that we showed. We don't mess
around, Doug.
Our next stop was Britany, and it went pretty well.
We read a chapter from the Book of Mormon with her and talked about Conference,
nothing too crazy. We stopped back at the apartment to get everything in order,
and I totally had a package waiting for me! Yahoo! Holla to the Renton
Highlands YW for being the real MVPs of my Wednesday, and for sending a package
of Caramel Apple Pops and letters. That's really all I want in life. It was
straight up joyous, and it made our weird Wednesday of problem solving so much
more productive and optimistic.
We went to the Cline's for dinner, where we chatted
about our crazy branch (and all the dumb amounts of love we have for them) and
made enchiladas together. It was a total party. I just love Sister Cline, and I
love that she's all sassy and honest and super cool. It's the best! We did a
Wieland stop by and picked up new jam flavors to try out. My recent favorite is
Blackberry Apple, capitalized to express its obvious divinity. It's the best
thing to happen in my life since...like, I don't even know. That's how good it
is.
Thursday was Sister Finlinson's year mark, yahoo!
We weekly planned like pros and busted out two lessons after all that gloom-
such productivity! We may have taken quite a few breaks, but we endured and
made the best of a crazy day. Mid way through planning, we took our traditional
and requisite milk and eggs pickup break, and the car wash was having free
vacuuming! Yahoo! So now, we have a General Authority ready car (Elder
Renlund?) and a reaffirmed testimony of the goodness of people in North Dakota.
It was a pretty sweet tender mercy.
year mark shenanigans |
free car vacuum!! |
After dinner, we headed over to Brother Lopez and
talked more about reading and prayer. We still haven't gotten him to pray with
us, but he did read the chapter we left with him and he committed to read the
whole Book of Mormon! Progress! There, of course, were Coke bottles all
around...and Brother Lopez got a classy haircut! Is it related to our angelic
influence? I'd like to think so.
Our last stop for the day was Becky. We read Alma
26:27 with her and real talked about being an example to her boys. It was cray
cray but also necessary- one day I'll get good about telling people what they
need to hear. We left her place laughing about my deep and still evident fear
of Stephen Merchant, which Becky thought was ridiculous. I stand by what I've
said before- he has the creepiest face!
Friday! What a great day! We headed over to
Dickinson for our district meeting, and I bought my winter coat! YAHOOOO! So
much stress taken out of my life! It's got a cold weather rating of
temperatures down to -24 L but it's
actually cute...so I think I'll survive the winter. Gotta look styling, dontcha
know! We got all our groceries (and maybe some huge coloring pages, I don't
know. If they show up in the mail, I can't be blamed for it), and had a great
meeting before heading over to Hebron.
my fancy new coat! It goes down to my knees and feels like a quilt. I'm getting pretty jazzed for winter! |
Ah, Hebron. It was an interesting day in Hebron,
the brick city. We started off by meeting Gordy Cherry, who the Elders met with
a few times and may be interested in the gospel? I'm not sure yet. But, he does
have these sweet little boys, Gabe and Issac, who may be the reason he wants to
consider all this. We brought Bro. Parsons along, and they were pretty chatty
about car motors...not our best lesson. We're going to meet with him again next
Friday, so I'll keep you updated. It'll be interesting, no matter what happens.
a pretty overcast view of Hebron |
Hebron: the brick city |
We headed back to Beulah in the middle of a crazy
rainstorm, and I found out that there are no freeway lights in North Dakota.
Are you even surprised? I was flipping out, total serial killer setting during
our hour drive. It was a little freaky. But, we had mail waiting for us in our
apartment- a letter (and Target gift card!!) from Aunt Jeannie and Uncle Clint,
a card from my dear Sariah, and a perfect little Perkins package! So, it was a
three-way tie for the real MVP of our Friday. It was pretty joyful, and it made
almost getting murdered (muckduck) on the North Dakota freeway totally worth
it. Totally worth it.
And now we're back to my crazed intro and subject!
CONFERENCEEEEEE!!! I had a lot of weird, "I'm a missionary watching
conference in North Dakota, AHHH!" moments, so that was a lot of fun. We
watched Saturday morning with the Johnson's, afternoon with the Roundy's, and
dinner with the Lees. It was just a nice day, and I think Pres. Uchtdorf's talk
was my all around fave. But alas, we all know that the real MVP of Conference
weekend is Elder Renlund. Duh. It's a no-brainer. Didn't you guys love him?
Isn't he adorable? I think he's the greatest, in case you were wondering. I
LOVE THAT MAN. Fun fact- he and Pres. Uchtdorf were totes wearing the same tie
during the Sunday morning session...which was the exact same tie he wore during
his training in Bismarck! Holla! And, in another random Conference thought,
Elder D. Todd Christofferson looks just like Brother Wrigley. Right? RIGHT? I
was pretty excited about that observation with no one around to appreciate it.
But anyway, we watched the Sunday sessions with the Thuesons and the Leaches,
such a party. The members here are so amazing, and I feel so blessed to be
right here right now. I think Elder Renlund is probably grateful that I'm here,
too. He's doing well, just got off the phone with him.
Oh man, such a good week! Interesting, exciting,
and so so crazy. One day, I'll send the glorious picture of Elder Renlund and I
shaking hands and bonding, the start of our lifelong friendship. Thank you
soooo much for all your love and support! You all are the real MVPs of the
week! I am so blessed to know each and every one of you. Thank you, thank you,
thank you!
Love,
Sister Robinson
A ND mail truck |
Sister Finlinson's joy while watching "Legacy". It's our favorite pday tradition. |
PACKAGGGGGE |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment