The Weekend

It has been a busy week. The weather has been variable, but alright. I want to tell you about my weekend because that is what is most memorable for me this week. It has been quite the experience.

Friday evening, Sister Smith came out finding with us for an hour. Sister Smith is the Relief Society president in the YSA ward. She also conveniently served her mission here a few years ago. She is a fantastic missionary and shares her wealth of knowledge with others by teaching at the MTC. Unfortunately, she was not my teacher, but now I can learn from her as we work side by side :) The only word I can use to describe it is BRILLIANT! I think I loved it so much because Sister Smith and I are rather similar, just a bit of an age-gap. We both have that proactive attitude. We just stopped person after person and were able to boldly testify of the truth of the things we shared. More importantly, we had fun. For example, we met this one man who had a folding bicycle. We had a lovely conversation with him. I can’t accurately describe how the conversation went, but we were able to share about the gospel as well as laugh together. It was just a fantastic hour where some good missionary work got done.

This weekend, we have had a fast, find, and feast. Friday, we fasted to find new investigators in the mission. Saturday, we had set time during the day to find. And today, we are going to feast—going to an all you can eat buffet. I enjoyed the fasting and finding. We fasted and I had a lot of faith. Kamila, a convert from Poland, even came out with us for the day. Kamila is great! She is putting in her mission papers and has that sincerity in her desire to serve. All I have to say is if I went out finding with the missionaries for a whole day before coming on a mission, I am not sure if I would have stepped foot on that plane. I never knew missionary work would be so hard some days... Back to the story though... I completely expected to find those two new investigators we fasted for. However, that blessing was not bestowed upon us. I am not going to lie, I was a bit disappointed. While we taught some wonderful lessons, not one became a new investigator (at least yet). I truly felt I had put in my full heart, might, mind, and strength, yet the desired result did not come.

This result only added to those feelings of being a “headless chicken” for lack of a better phrase. My best analogy is back to my days when I played football (soccer). I always played midfield. It didn’t seem to matter how hard you worked, some games you just did a lot of running. The ball seemed to constantly be going back and forth between defense and forward. As a result, you feel like a headless chicken because your work isn’t getting you anywhere. That is how I have kind of been feeling recently. The recent emphasis on baptism and helping people progress has probably helped me to recognize that lack in our work. While we do have a focus and direction, it seems no matter how hard we are working toward it, I feel like a headless chicken. Here is where the talk, “The Power of Self-Mastery” by James E. Faust comes in. I felt inspired to read it, and this is what I learned. First, these sentences stood out to me, “As full-time missionaries we learn great lessons in self-mastery. We learn to get up when we should get up, to work when we should work, and to go to bed when we should go to bed. Full-time missionaries are generally admired and even respected, though their message may not be as well received as we would like.” No matter how much I want someone to listen to me, I can’t take away their agency. While I would like for people to receive me, it is simply not something that is up to me. Second, I was once again impressed by the motto Ralph Waldo Emerson lived by: “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” Missionary work does get easier over time. Not that the work has changed, but our perspective has. That ultimate trust in the Lord is what matters most—recognizing that He has a plan and will for each of us. We are accomplishing something far greater; we are just not always aware of what that is.

Life is good though. I loved last Monday with all the exercise we did. We played chair football as well as four on four. Then we played frisbee for FHE. I was even sore the next morning. I can't even remember the last time I was sore... There are some things you will just always love, like sports for me :) It is sometimes small things like sports that bring that true joy to help you continue onward.

That is all for now. Have a fantastic week!

Love, Becca

p.s. These photos are from the specialized training on August 22