It is cooling down ever so slightly! It's now in the high 90's! And the wind is picking up which feels good. However, the wind is giving me allergies so honestly I've just come to terms with the fact that I will never win here hahaha! Jk, everyone keeps telling me that it'll be the best weather soon enough. So I'm just holding on lol! Sister Gadd gets mad because I like to turn the ac down to make the apartment cold so that I can bundle up in a sweatshirt and blankets. I've never loved the feeling of being cold so much! And when I say cold it's really not even that cold. I think the lowest I put it was at like 68 but she was ticked that I did that. So we keep it at like 72-75.
I'm really working on having charity and making sure that the people that I meet can feel that I have a genuine interest and concern for them. Also working on having charity towards sister Gadd. I love her but it's easy to get annoyed with her. She has a sleeping disorder kind of like narcolepsy, I mean it's not like she will just randomly pass out. But she runs out of energy pretty fast. She sleeps a ton! She falls asleep in most of the meetings. And it's hard because that's what we do is sit in meetings, go to appointments, sit some more. I mean awkward silence is just part of being a missionary, so I am constantly kicking her so that she doesn't fall over. Maybe one of these times I should let her fall and see if she wakes up. It's hard though because I have the opposite problem. I have a really hard time sleeping. So she isn't very considerate of noise control when I'm trying to sleep. She likes to talk to her old comps on the phone at night. But she feels the need to yell into the phone just in case the whole complex wants to listen in! But lately when I wake up it's been kind of nice because I just go outside and look at the stars. The nights are cooling down enough that I don't sweat as soon as I step out the door! And I don't know if I have mentioned this earlier, but Tucson has laws against street lights, it's because there are a bunch of observatories. So the city is dark, but the sky is beautiful! Gotta watch out for critters though. Mainly just lizards, but every now and then we'll see a scorpion or a tarantula!
I'm pretty sure I already talked about how if you rub a lizard's stomach it'll fall asleep. Well I found out this week why they do that! There is a man in the ward, I call him Bob Ross because he looks just like him. We went over for dinner and it turns out he is a extraordinary painter, just like Bob Ross! And he works with reptiles and knows all about it. So here I am thinking that lizard's like belly rubs, he sure informed me I was wrong. They put themselves to sleep when they think they're going to die so that it's not as painful. Hahaha we like to catch lizards and make them fall asleep!
We are focusing mainly on helping less active member's back into activity and getting to the temple. It's hard because most people just kinda shove off the missionaries, which I totally get, but now that I am the missionary it sucks. So we get a ton of cancellations and have to find last minute back up plans. But we are still finding new people, and passing out BoM's is still going well! We had one of the most powerful lessons this week, it was amazing! Our investigator Michael had us over and we talked about what his concerns about baptism are. He basically said that he needs everything in order, all his ducks lined up, before he does anything. And I understand his thinking, but we talked about faith and how this church is still true weather his life is all lined up or not. We talked about how by being baptized and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost will help him figure out how to get his life in order. It was a spiritual smack down no joke. But it was the furthest we have ever gotten with him.
The best part of this week no doubt was Rachel's baptism! She was the first investigator I met in the field and was the first person I have ever invited to be baptized! She wanted to be baptized today, the 18th, because it's her birthday. But because converts have to be confirmed in sacrament that would've been way too long without the Holy Ghost! So she agreed to be baptized on the 16th was and confirmed yesterday in sacrament! Her husband is a less active and was listening to a conference talk one day and Rachel overheard. It was on temple marriage. She listened to it and decided that she wanted one. So she went to church and the missionaries found her. And I had the privilege of teaching her most of the lessons and watching her get baptized! It was amazing. Sister Gadd and I got to sing a rendition of I Know that my Redeemer Lives as part of the program. Her kids were so funny! They kept running around during the talks and laughing and screaming. The little girl Rosetta, kept asking about the "bathtub" and when could she get in. It was really cute. I love her kids! They get really excited when we come over and they call us the amen girls. She is so awesome!
Our ward mission leader can be a bit overwhelming to say the least. But Rachel has such a great attitude. He doesn't always fully explain himself either.. He was explaining to her how the confirmation was gonna go. But he said something like, I made sure that there will be lots of men to be apart of this and we are all going to circle around you and lay our hands on you and touch you as we pray. Then he started getting all emotional... I kinda feel bad because sister Gadd and I just totally started laughing! I mean, he chose the weirdest way to explain confirmation. He made everything sound so weird but we clarified and everything went well!
I can't wait, we are hoping to take her to the temple in the next couple weeks to do baptisms. She is really into family history. And I hadn't had the chance to go to the temple here yet. I've only passed by one time on the first day.
Hope everyone is doing well! Don't be shy, send lots of emails, even if it's not long.
xoxoXOXXoxoOX
Sister Grant