Hello there!
This week had some very interesting parts with it! Starting with my 3 MONTH MARK AND 12 WEEK TRAINING IS OVER!!! Wahoooo!!! Technically I'm still a greenie, but I'm not super fresh anymore! Quoting shania twain "Man, I feel like a [true missionary]."
The next crazy thing was Specialized Training! It is like Zone Conference, but not quite. If focuses on some aspect to help us in our work here. This one was on health. Emotional health, self-reliance, and physical health. We did the personality color test, and discovered how to work with that and others with their certain colors. We talked about being independent and budgeting. And then we learned about the poisonous plants & animals here and how to stay healthy in the summer. Those hats are gonna help a ton!! [There are new-this-week quidelines that include hats and glasses for all missionaries - yay!] Then here's the strangest part. We played a game in the gym called Umpa Lumpa. It is a combo of basketball, football and Frisbee. Frisbee rules, Basketball court, and a football as the ball. It was crazy!! And the most awkward part of all... we played with the elders. President Baker is SOOOO strict on elder sister relationships, so it was weird to be in gym clothes in front of them, let alone run around and play with them! Thankfully, we played an only sisters match after words, so then I went all out. It was super fun and I felt good and energized!
Then, we had a movie night at the church! Salem and Kempsville wards got together with friends and investigators and watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. And guess who came... T and R!!! They really enjoyed the movie, met the elders, other members etc... it was great! And afterwards, we had a church tour, so they would feel comfortable on Sunday! They were super stoked to come to church, but T got another nasty migraine and was throwing up all that night. So they cancelled. It was super sad. ugh. They are required to come to church 3 times before they can baptized, and they have only got 3 chances left until their baptism date! Praying for T to be well! We may set up for her to get a priesthood blessing for her migraines. That would be awesome!
But yeah, the rest of the week was just filled with saying hi to people, contacting potentials, and visiting less actives. We teach a lot of restoration lessons, and then people get "busy" or "sick" and can't meet with us for a little while which is so hard and they don't feel the spirit for such a long time! It's frustrating, as if they are too busy for salvation or something. Haha JK, but really though, it's just crazy.
It has just rained, and rained, and rained! The members are quite surprised! They say it never rains this much! Crazy... hopefully it will warm up soon, I need that vitamin D!
Transfer calls are this week!! "I distinctly remember, transfer calls were last transfer." (Name that movie) But really though, this transfer was quick! Maybe cuz it was 6 weeks instead of 7, but still! It also isn't helping that Sister Brakey will go home next transfer! She is thinking she is staying, but we will see! Maybe. We have even guessed that we would trio train a newbie! That would be fun, but crowded in our new, much smaller apartment. You'll hear the scoop next week!
Thought for the week: "Don't teach so they understand. Teach so they don't misunderstand." We talked to R a few days later about how the word of wisdom is going, and he had talked to his Mormon friend about it. His friend told him he had to have his Mountain Dew with caffeine! And R thought that was against the word of wisdom, which made me mad at myself for not teaching that clearly! So lesson learned - the doctrine must be presented in a straightforward manner, and not misunderstood at all. Cuz if that is the case, their testimony isn't gonna be solid and they will get confused later in life. So even though we are nervous to teach the Law of Chastity with them today, it is just our job to teach it, and their job to accept it. As long as we center it around Christ and our purpose here on this earth, then things will work out all right.
Well, hope y'all have a blessed week, hope you have some fun in the sun!
Love, Sista Poulsen
Bonus Content from the Questions Email:
[Talking to Justin about his camping adventures this week:] Wow, that sounds like fun! There are some cool wooded areas here, with rivers infested with eels and big fish. Pretty scary, put super cool!
[There is a fun video on the VA Mission Facebook page of a Senior Couple being called to help a campanionship with a "Giant Moth" problem. Theses two sisters were so scared of the regular size but big moth that was swooping them at their desk that they called for reinforcements. One sisters was literally on the counter and both were laughing hysterically at themselves for being so afraid. Elder Debow caught and killed the moth while Sister Debow filmed it in a mock rescue voiceover. She titled it: "Missionary life can be so frightening at times..." Senior Couples for the win! I was telling Tara about it and asking if she knew them. Her response:] The Debows are in our area! And yea, that was Sister Weibee and Sister Seigmiller! They told us all bout that! It sounded hilarious! I'm so glad you go to see it, so funny! Weibee and Seigmiller are the YSA [Young Single Adult] sisters in our area, and we are total pals. Who knew someone could be so afraid of a moth :)
Peace and blessings, talk to ya next week!
