Week 21
Helloooooo!!!
I have some wild
news...we found out if we are having transfers last night...and...HERMANA
EGBERT AND I ARE STAYING TOGETHER AGAIN!! This is wild! That means
by the end of this transfer we will have been together for almost 5 months, but
also we will have seen months July through December together. It’s gonna
be fun!!!!! We are pumped!! And along those same lines, you’re
probably wondering why that is the title of my email. After being with
someone 24/7 for 4 months, sometimes you come across moments of
contention. Disclaimer: Hermana Egbert and I get along realllllyyy
well and we don’t really have things that we fight over or anything. But
sometimes if we are really tired or feel sick then one of us becomes quiet and
then after a while of that it feels weird. We both become annoyed for
absolutely no reason and we can’t figure out what’s going on, but Satan is
working hard to get us to fight. In these moments of frustration, we
usually separate and go take a 5 minute break to pray and then come back
together, give each other a hug, and keep moving on. This week though,
moments like this were happening every day. Satan was attacking us really
hard, and we were getting tired from trying to fight off bad moods for so
long. It’s easier to give in to the bad mood and be sassy or annoyed or
whatever it is. But it’s really hard for a few moments to be humble and change
your mood. One day early on in the week, Hermana Egbert had one of those
moments and we were talking about how we weren’t going to let Satan win at
all!! The next thing we knew, we were doing the hokey-pokey in the
street. It was so uncomfortable at first, but then we started laughing
and got out of our bad moods! We had to stay on guard the rest of the
night so we said things we were grateful for, we laughed, and we looked outside
of ourselves! It’s hard work, but its soo worth it! Ever since
then, we promised Heavenly Father that we would do the Hokey-pokey whenever we
started to feel like that. It’s seriously some of the hardest ten seconds
deciding to change and laugh, but it really works. My favorite moment
with that was when we were dragging around a HUGE vacuum that we took from the
church to vacuum our house out. We looked really strange already and to
top it off, one of those moments came. So we stopped in the middle of the
sidewalk and started doing the dance.
We felt so awkward but
we were laughing so hard, especially when we looked over and saw some people in
their yard watching us with really confused looks on their face. TAKE
TIME TO FIX YOUR PROBLEMS IMMEDIATELY! You CANNOT and SHOULD NOT go on
living without the Spirit.
Anyway...This week has
been really good!! It has been such good weather down here lately!
The sun is beautiful and we have felt so deprived of it for so long!
Halloween was fun! Hermana Egbert and I dressed up as each other and we
even Trick-or-treated ourselves when we got back to the house that night.
We have really been thinking a lot about balance this week. Any virtue
taken to the extreme becomes a vice. Take time to ponder and think.
Take time to work hard and study. Take time to do something fun.
Just find a balance in all things(: Sometimes as missionaries we feel
like we have to kill ourselves from work every day. But that also takes
the spirit away. So we have to find a balance! Sometimes
missionaries feel like they have to be "consecrated" and they can’t
think about their families or their homes or anything. But, families are
forever and that includes right now. The key to happiness is in finding a
balance through the Spirit! I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again...THE
SPIRIT IS EVERYTHING!
One of our
investigators told us that she didn’t want to get baptized on Saturday.
That was pretty sad, but we have felt very peaceful. We know one day in
the future she will get baptized, but for now there are some things going on in
her life that are pretty overwhelming and she felt like it would be better
to wait. Another one also told us that she doesn’t want to get baptized
anymore. That was sad too, but once again, we feel peace. We are
going to keep being patient with her and relying on the Lord. It’s been a
really good week though! And with both of them we had really powerful
lessons! God is in charge. He has a plan. These are His
children and He loves them more than I do. So I can have complete trust that He
will do all he can to help them return home to him! I LOVE being a
missionary!! I still think back to when I opened my call and how shocked
I was. I had no Idea what was coming back then, and I had no idea how
happy I would be! I love you all so much and hope you have an amazing
week!
--Hermana West
