February 22, 2016

Week 1: Now Behold, A Marvelous Work is About to Come Forth Among the Children of Men

Well, It's snowed a few times, but for the most part the weather has been pretty nice. I'm so glad I didn't come out in the dead of winter...with any luck the weather will stay nice. I'm not a huge fan of the snow....it's pretty from a distance, but up close not so much. 

So the Hodgemans are pretty awesome. I've only had the one interview with President, but it was nice. He's really cool. He asked me how I felt about my call.................and I kinda ugly sobbed all over the place.... but he was totally cool about it. Apparently he and his wife felt the same way when they were called to Provo! That definitely made me feel better, and it was pretty awesome having that in common with my Mission President; the Lord really does work in funny and mysterious ways.

Speaking of which, meet my long lost Samoan sister! Sister Saili is the bomb dignity and best trainer ever. We are alike in so many ways it's kinda hilarious. We both love TV and dunking our Oreos in milk and know that the best stress reliever is ice cream after a long day. She is literally the coolest. Y'all know I'm not the mushy wushy lovey dovey fluffy wuffy type, but I love her. The Lord knew she was exactly who I needed to train with. I'm dreading transfers already! She's been out for almost 9 months now and is just such a great example to me. She is seriously just the coolest. She's from American Samoa, which is super cool. What is it about Polynesians and Utah exactly? 😂 they are everywhere! The YSA Tongan ward literally just got split into two wards....again, Utah is nuts. It's quite overwhelming.

The past few weeks have flown by and I have been so blessed. I've never felt the Lord's love more strongly in my life than I have since I took those first few steps into the MTC. Without a doubt His hands have been holding me up and pushing me along. So much has happened, so many things have been learned, and so many minds have been blown by the Gospel and all the beautiful promises it has to offer us, including my own. Several times. 

I don't even know where to begin or really what to say. It's hard to describe missionary work and the mighty change of heart that comes along with it. It's just awesome. Even when it's stressful and frustrating and awkward and even kinda boring sometimes, it's awesome. I can't wait for Lily to experience it, and Abby, and Jace, and Romney. Everyone needs to experience this marvelous work, and I'm confident that all of you will be even greater missionaries than I can ever hope to be! Just remember that this work isn't about you. It's about our Savior, and helping His lost sheep find their way back to Him. 

So far, the most stressful aspect of serving in Provo is probably the sheer number of stakes and wards we serve. Right now I'm in the YSA South Valley area, which covers two stakes in Provo and one stake in Spanish Fork. Our area goes all the way from Provo to Santaquin, which is somewhere south of Payson. We cover like 30 something wards, just the two of us. It's nuts. And it's kinda annoying when we're driving down the street and I point at 50 different chapels and my companion just laughs at me and says, "Nope. That's not one of ours!" 

Really makes me wanna flip a table, lemme tell ya. Utah is ridiculous. There's like 10 wards in each building. No Bueno. Not a fan. It's really confusing. I don't know how I'm supposed to find my way around since they all look the same. Anyway, so yeah, I'm all over the place. We live in Springville and actually have our own house! It's pretty sweet.