I turned old this week.
I'm going to try going through
this week day by day this time.
Monday was fun and relaxing.
P-day is my favorite day! I don't think I've talked much about the Nevins
Family, but they're awesome. Bro Nevins comes to church as much as possible but
has to work a lot. Sister Nevins has a very bad back and so she can't get out
of bed. Emily is our favorite and we saw her a LOT this week :) She was
recently a "save" but changes her mind several times a day whether or
not she actually likes church. Ben works 2 jobs so we never see him :( But
Emily came with us to a lesson with Thomas at the church and we got his
baptismal clothes all situated and ready!
Tuesday we had a District
Meeting in Charleston about Christ-like attributes. I needed that lesson.
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| Sister Kunic (in the blue) is moving to Washington State, and she'll miss us. |
There
was a combined Ward Relief Society activity at a park in Charleston that night
so we did a last minute exchange with the Sister Training Leaders and all 4 of
us stayed in Charleston that day. I was having a rough day. But being out there
with Sister Jackson was exactly what I needed to perk up and get a fresh view.
The Relief Society activity was so much fun. Emily came and we actually played
on the teeter totters and swings (which was quite an accomplishment in a skirt)
and had a dance party. The Zone Leaders and Assistants also had some investigators
there that we got to talk to. They're awesome. One of them knew my favorite
person from Morgantown so we got to really connect :)
Wednesday we saw Dennis and we
talked about fasting and tithing. He is excited to pass the Sacrament on
Father's day! We also saw our investigator Danette. She's met with missionaries
on and off for a long time now, but there's something there we can't ignore.
We've been focusing on one principle at a time using a Bible story, and then
connecting it to a scripture in the Book of Mormon. It's working so far and
we're going to keep going ahead with it.
We also saw Pam! She didn't come to
the Relief Society activity because she feels bad for someone to have to push
her around all night.......but she's still doing well. We got to see Jenny, who
has taught with many members in this ward. We brought Sister Cecil and they got
to catch up and have fun but we read the testimony of the 3 witnesses with her
and the Spirit flooded the room. She still hasn't cracked the Book open, but hopefully
after this time she will. It was cool though because Sister Cecil got to share
a bit about how she became a member of the church.
We also saw Thomas that
night at Sister Tucker's. Sister Tucker has us over for dinner once a week, and
we get to help her get ready for bed and do some filing for her because she has
cerebral palsy and it takes her a long time by herself. She's been a member for
about 20 years and is always BEGGING us to bring people to her house. We try!
But everyone always cancels. Thomas didn't. She was so excited to help teach
someone. Thomas is excited to move back to Utah after this summer and find a
wife! Sister Tucker explained it this way, "In Utah you will have many
options, but in West Virginia you are the ONLY option and people will fight for
you." There's a great shortage of single male members in this area :)
Thursday was my birf-day. We
saw Thomas first thing in the morning and had a great lesson at a members home.
Then we found out that we are planning the next fireside for the missionaries
to invite investigators, recent converts, and less-active members. So we
decided to ask the Stake President to host the fireside so (hopefully) more
members will feel like it's something they should come to. We're excited for
it.
Sister Tucker gave me a birthday present of 40 dollars to go get a manicure
and then any other fun we so desired :) The lady who did my nails lived in
Orange County for 20 years (originally from Vietnam) and she laughed saying,
"We were so close for so many years, but we had to come to West Virginia
to meet each other!" We talked a lot about religion and how she feels. It
was actually a very interesting conversation. She's an awesome lady.
We saw
SUZIE! Her son, Logan, was baptized the week before I got here. She's getting
surgery this week so she's been very sick, but has really been wanting to come
to church. And she gave me birthday spankings.......
I can't escape it! We
got to have dinner at the Catterson's. They are the cutest. And they spoiled me
rotten. We had tacos, they bought cupcakes, she made sure there were 22 candles
on there, and they got me presents. After dinner we played basketball at the
church with a big group and had a lot of fun.
Friday we got rid of our 3rd
bed and our couches. All by ourselves. We're pretty buff. I wish I had a
picture of our apartment so you could understand how tricky it was to get it
down the stairs. But that's ok.
We had a lesson with Jeanie. She STILL hasn't
prayed to know about baptism.......I don't know what else she needs. She knows
she needs to do it. We had a media referral for someone requesting a Bible.
When the address was entered into our GPS it would not show up so Sister
Campbell took some time during our library time to find it online. She looked
up some surrounding streets and we went for it. She finagled on the GPS for 15
minutes before finding a rode that we decided to drive down til it ended. And
we found the street! We pulled up this gravel hill and realized very quickly
how difficult it could be to find this house. The main street was very steep
and mountainous, and the driveways were worse! We stopped at the foot of the
first one and tried to decide how we were going to find the right house as
quickly and easily as possible (it was HOT)! I looked up to see a head popping
over the hill looking at us so I jumped out and yelled if she was Tammy.
"Yes?....." "Did you request a free Bible?" "Yes! Get
up here!!!!" Anyways, she's awesome. She is desperate to learn more about
God, is very open, and wants to be baptized :) She's Tammy3. There's too many
Tammy's and Pam's here.
Saturday we moved in the new
couches. They are nice! All recliners. So they were also REALLY heavy. I WISH I
had gotten a picture of us getting them up the stairs. A member had gotten a
new set and need theirs gone. PERFECT! We also played a really good game of
basketball that morning. I'm still sore and tired from it. Dennis took us out
to lunch and gave me a birthday cake! We cleaned the font. That was the first
time I've ever cleaned a font.
Sister Tucker had us over for dinner and she's
just the best. She kept laughing randomly just because she was in a good mood.
She laughs really easily!
Sunday we went to the church
right at 6:30 and started filling the font! My first time for that as
well! We had to be at the church at 8 for a meeting and the baptism started at
9. Everyone was there on time and it was 25 minutes exactly! Thomas got dunked
and everything went great! Then he got confirmed at 10:12 during
Sacrament meeting. Big day for him!
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| I have a weird habit of putting my right arm behind my back during pictures. Maybe I'm just scared to be too close to the guy next to me. I'm just a good missionary! |
Emily came to church because she thought
Pam was coming, but Pam was sick and couldn't come. So Emily was mad she came,
but by the end of it she was very glad she came :) She's figuring it out,
slowly but surely. I sure do love her. We got to teach sharing time in Primary
and we taught about the Holy Ghost leading us to Christ. So we played boolah
boolah (I'm assuming only my siblings and parents will appreciate what this
means).
We saw Tammy for just a few minutes to find out her Grandma had passed
away the day before and she was really struggling. But she had been reading
from the Book of Mormon already. She loves it. We set up an appointment for
next week at a member's house. She's the first person who I've ever had prefer
meeting at someone else's house. Then we got to go to dinner at President and
Sister Salisbury's new house with the Sister Training Leaders. It is SUPER
nice. But they made crepes and that was delicious!
It was a fun night and we
were headed back home. We made it about 10 minutes down the road before turning
back. I needed a blessing. President and I ended up talking for over an hour. I
love being so close to them. I love knowing that they really are here for us.
And we're here for them! You get called to a mission because of the people, and
most importantly, your President.
So yeah, I've been having a
REALLY hard time here in Teays Valley. I've struggled my whole life with
depression and low self-esteem, but it's been on and off. But being on my
mission it has been so difficult to deal with. And being here especially has
really seemed to knocked me flat. All things are for our good and our
experience, but this just sucks sometimes :( I feel helpless a lot of times and
like I have no ability to function.
At the beginning of my mission I was
surrounded by others with extremely sever depression, and I always thought I understood
when they were talking about it. But these past 2 weeks I'm understanding
completely differently. Sometimes, you really can't function. And it's the
saddest thing. No matter how badly I wanted to move, I couldn't even roll
over or get up for the bathroom. No words could come out of my mouth. The idea
of leaving the apartment was paralyzing. I don't know how to explain it. But
I've never been like that before. And I've never understood others when they
talked about it before. Now I do. It's really not fun. Some days are bad, some
are good, some are just ok. It's so frustrating to be dealing with this
out here. I often feel like I'm wasting so many other's time. I'm blessed to be
with an extremely patient companion who never even hints at being frustrated
while waiting for me to work through my days.
Humility. Accepting the Lord's
will. And trusting him that it will be ok. Maybe not today. Maybe not even a
year from now. But one day. In Doctrine and Covenants 67:10 there is a great
promise for missionaries if we can "strip" ourselves from our
jealousies and fears, and humble ourselves. So I decided to list out my
jealousies and fears.
It's been interesting.
One thing at a time.
I'm fearful
of things I didn't even recognize before......
But over all, good week.
-Sister Packard
Best:
1. Cake.
2. Little kiddos that make
your heart melt.
3. New couches!
4. Air conditioning.
5. EMILY!!!!
6. Birthday love.
7. The sound of the font
filling.
8. People dressed in white :)
Worst:
1. Elder Thackeray keeps stepping on my foot every time we play basketball. He's
a big kid!
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