Monday, June 24, 2013

A Great Week!


This week was great!  We started off having a Zone P-day in Burlington and so we traveled there with the Keokuk sisters.  The Zone leaders in Burlington live with a member who lives in an old elementary school.  So once everyone arrived we went over to the church and played kickball.  It was so hot outside, but we still had a lot of fun.  After kickball we went back to the school and the members who own the building have a bunch of foam swords so we had a zone sword fight.  Which sounds like it would be really stupid, but it was so much fun! Also, close to where the elementary is there is a road called Snake Alley which was crazy and of course we all drove down it.  It is all brick and looks like a snake, hence the name Snake Alley.   After Zone P-day ended we came back and had dinner and FHE with a family in our ward and then went tracting.  On Tuesdays and Wednesdays we do a lot of community service so we help at city hall, county health, a care center, library and hospital.  On Tuesday we decided to stop by two random homes out in the middle of nowhere and both homes had people that were really nice and actually listened to us.  We didn't get return appointments, but it was nice to come across people that don't immediately tell you they are not interested. We also had a lesson with the Shallengberger's which went amazing and so hopefully they will continue to keep their commitments!  On Thursday we had our goodbye zone conference for the Jergensen's.  It was a bitter sweet moment, because we are all sad to see them go, but we are all excited for them to be back with their family.  The Jergensen's leave this week and the Jensen's come on Saturday!  After we got back from zone conference we went with a member from our ward out to West Point to have a lesson with a new investigator.  The lesson went well and we will teach her again I think next week, the only problem is that she has health problems and she lives a ways a way so we can't drive out to see her very often because we have limited miles.  Friday we had a lesson with our investigator Sarah.  She is such a great person, but has a long road ahead of her, but my love for her grows every time we meet with her.  That evening we were in Hamilton and decided to check how we were on our miles. We figured that we had 100 miles left for the month since every car was cut back by 200 miles this month.  And so we went into panic mode because Sister Thompson is going to be gone from Tuesday until Saturday this week doing exchanges, and there was no way that we would be able to accomplish all the things we needed to with only 100 miles.  Also, one of the families that Sister Thompson worked with in a previous area was getting sealed in the Nauvoo Temple Saturday and we were approved to attend.  We literally called at least 10 people in our ward to see if we could get a ride to Nauvoo the following morning and we had no luck.  Well, we went and contacted some referrals and tracted some more.  When we got back to our car an hour or so later we looked back in our miles book and found out that the day Sister Thompson and Sister Anderson had mission leadership council in Iowa City we hadn't subtracted those miles.  So we actually have more miles than we thought. (Prayers are answered.) 

Saturday was my 1 month mark of being on my mission!  And it was a great day!  WE started off with being in the temple for the sealing of the Schaale family!  The Nauvoo Temple is absolutely beautiful!  And what better place to be on my one month mark? While in Nauvoo we contacted some of the members in our ward and then went tracting outside of Nauvoo.  We had another lesson with the Shallenberger's and we had a couple in our ward who recently returned from a mission come with us to the lesson.  The lesson went great and they were going to come to church on Sunday, but they said they were sick when we called Sunday morning. 
 
Yesterday was phenomenal!  I loved every moment of it (besides the fact that investigators weren't at church).  Sacrament meeting was wonderful and the talks were on trusting in the Lord as well as Elder Worthlin's talk " Come What May and Love it".  The sister that spoke on Elder Wirthlin's talk was in a serious car accident years ago and wasn't supposed to live, but survived and has been confined to a wheelchair ever since.  She is amazing, is in our Relief Society Presidency, and never, ever complains.  She mentioned to not be a burden to be around.  Also, that in the midst of trial and adversity there is always another in need of help. 
 
I also loved the broadcast last night and if you haven't watched it I would say that it is equal to if not better than a session of Conference!  Elders Perry, Holland, Anderson, and Nelson spoke as well as President Packer and President Monson!  Talk about some powerful men! And even better it was all about how everyone can step up and be better missionaries because in your baptismal covenant you promise to stand as a witness of God at all times.  This covenant is not just for missionaries, it is for everyone who has participated in baptismal covenants.  I also loved how they emphasized love. That if an invitation is extended with love for others and for Jesus Christ it will never be seen as offensive.  Also, how we shouldn't have to have assignments for us to go and act.  We need to be motivated by love and act out of love towards all! 
 
After the broadcast BYU's Vocal Point group did a fireside which was amazing as well!  They sang hymns and arrangements of hymns as well as the director didn't tell any of the members who would be speaking, so they found out if they would be speaking as the audience found out, but each message was so wonderful.  One of the messages I really liked was, "Don't let fear stop you from being the best you can be."  We tend to compare ourselves and then doubt our own strengths.  But each of us is a child of God; we are a representative of Christ!  Trust in the Lord and become the best you can be! 
 
Love you all,
 
Sister Call
 
 (Editors Note:  To understand Hannah’s letter to her dad, you need to read his letter to her.  It is published with his permission.)
 
 Dear Sister Call,
How was that? I addressed the letter Sister Call.  I still prefer Hannah.  Anyway, I hope you had another rewarding week and that all is going well.  We all look forward to your letter today.
 

There is not a lot to report here.  We worked during the week and fished on Saturday.  Surprised?  I will share one funny thing that happened during the week however.  I was shooting ground squirrels from the side deck Monday evening, and Lucky was in the house.  He wanted to get out very badly.  He ran to every door of the house in his attempt to escape.  I then heard him running back through the house.  The next thing I knew is Lucky was flying over the deck railing to my side.  I yelled "Lucky, no!" but it was too late.  He crashed into the ground below, got up and headed for the field. Crazy dog!
 

Keep up the good work Hannah.  Know that the work you are doing is supremely important although it is not appreciated by the masses.  The Lord will help you daily as you place your trust in Him and are obedient. 
 
 
Keep your chin up and your knees bent.
 
Love, Dad
 
Thank you so much for the email Dad!  I loved the story about Lucky!  haha I miss that crazy dog!  The best part about the story is that I could picture the entire thing happening!  Oh funny story about dogs.  Friday evening we were tracting and Sister Thompson had to go to the bathroom so bad and so we knocked on several doors and no one was home so Sister Thompson saw a cute house she wanted to knock on so we go up and knock on the door.  The dogs went crazy.  Now we are used to little dogs going crazy but these were big dogs and they are barking and the next thing we know one of the dogs ran into the door and scared us half to death, so we decided to go to another house to use the restroom, but we were laughing because the dogs startled us and Sister Thompson was about to pee her pants. 
 
Well I hope you have a great week!  Also, did Palisades ever fill up? 
 
 Love you,
Sister Call
 




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