Hey Family!
So guess what? We had transfers and I am still in Mar Vista, but I'm training a new companion. Well, I feel more like she is training me. Her name is Sister Olsen and she is from Rigby Idaho, and she was called to the LA Visitors' Center, English speaking, which means she was in the MTC for four weeks and now she is here in LA. She is really sweet and humble and is already jumping into the work without me hardly having to show her anything. She arrived Wednesday afternoon, and right off the plane we take them out tracting. She was a little nervous, but she even knocked the first door without me showing her first. She is courageous and just trusts in the Lord. She is a natural at talking with people and being friendly. She has a great attitude about everything and looks around for ways to help without me even asking her. I feel incredibly blessed.
I was kind of freaking out at first about training and just worrying that I wasn't good enough or I was going to mess everything up somehow, but I just really prayed and was reading in the Book of Mormon in Mosiah chapters 2-4 and it was the perfect advice for a trainer. It talks about trusting in Jesus Christ, about teaching your children (which in the mission they joke that your trainee is your baby) and it also talks about being diligent, serving with your whole heart, but not running faster than you have strength. I feel like Sister Olsen has been really patient with me as I learn the ropes as well and get used to being a senior companion for the first time, running the area, and driving for the first time in LA. :P It has definitely been a challenge, but Heavenly Father is helping me and is pushing me to grow so that I can rise to meet and overcome it and become a stronger person in the process. Its like lifting weights, as soon as you become comfortable lifting a certain amount it is time to step it up, add more weight and push yourself to grow stronger. I still remember when we would all go to lift weights as a family at Gold's Gym, early in the morning over the summer. Do you remember that? Those are some great memories for me, ha ha. :D Anyways, I just started thinking about that as I made that analogy and it always makes me laugh thinking about us all decked out with our weight lifting gear and everything. We should do that again this summer so that I can get in shape.
Well, back to how the week went. This week has been the rainiest week I have ever experienced here in Los Angeles. It has been pouring. It finally cleared up yesterday. It was really uncharacteristic and led me to wonder how missionaries serve in bad weather, because it makes everything so much harder.
Wednesday we picked up the trainees, took them out tracting, and then they had to have an interview with the president and then go through a lot of orientation things while he decided who would be their companions. There was one other sister that came into the Visitors' Center, named Sister Franks. Her family is really good friends with the Sharettes. It was really weird because when I saw her I thought that she looked so familiar, and so I'm thinking that I probably saw her when she was visiting them or something. We found out who our companion was and then went over to work in the Visitors' Center. It was a long and overwhelming day for the trainees, I think as the first day always is. We got some training about how to be trainers which was good. Mostly they emphasized how being their trainer is going to affect the rest of their entire mission and life and how you better be a good, obedient trainer. Hence the aforementioned freaking out. But I've gotten over it and realized that the Lord is there helping me, so it'll be fine.
Friday night we had great experiences teaching a couple of powerful lessons where the spirit was there so strong. Sister Olsen has such faith and love and a great testimony of the gospel. She is always worried because she didn't read a lot before her mission and feels like she doesn't know enough about all of the facts and the doctrine, but I keep telling her that what matters the most is her testimony and how well she follows the promptings of the spirit, which are both super strong points for her. You can feel her genuine love for the gospel and the pureness of her motivations. I love it. Heavenly Father knows me really well and knows exactly what I needed. I don't think I could have handled a sassy know-it-all kind of companion, and Sister Olsen is so completely the opposite.
Saturday was one of the worst days of my mission so far. It was pouring rain and we were out in our area that afternoon. We decided to go out and visit Janee and her family. They are the group of Christians that came to church a couple of weeks to check it out, which was a miracle because it has been really hard to get people to come to church. We went by and tried to teach them again about Joseph Smith, which was their biggest concern, and they basically told us that they can't accept that he is a prophet and won't even open their hearts to the possibility because it adds on and therefore somehow takes away from their belief in the Savior. They said that even they they didn't know much about the church, that they knew there was something extra that goes above and beyond, like the Pharisees at the times of Christ that added on to the law of Moses. So even without reading the Book of Mormon or knowing anything, or praying with even the slight thought that it might be true, they completely rejected the possibility and wouldn't let the spirit testify that it was true. We were there for a little over an hour, because they kept asking "questions" that logically disproved our beliefs because they want to save us and keep us from being mislead by a false prophet. I felt terrible because the spirit was completely gone. We left and it hurt so much because they are incredible people and we love them, but they just aren't ready. We walked out to our car in the pouring rain and then sat in there for a minute and just prayed so hard to try to get the spirit back, and I was also praying in my heart trying to think of someone, anyone that actually wanted us to be there and would need us and would be willing to accept the gospel.
We drove away and I felt like we should stop on the next street and visit a potential investigator. By this point it was a little after eight, we were in a weird neighborhood in Venice, it was dark and still pouring rain, but i felt like we needed to stop by this house, almost in an effort to prove to myself that I did know how to follow the spirit and that I had faith enough to find someone who actually cared to listen. We got up to the door and I knocked with all of the hope and faith that my heart could muster after being so sad about that horrible lesson, and we knocked and all of the sudden a gruff looking man opened the door restraining his German shepherd that is big enough that it could eat me and says "What is the world are you doing out here? What do you want?" We weakly said something like we were inviting people to church. And then he said "at this time? This is not a good place or time for this. This is not a good neighborhood. Are you lost?" At that point I uncharacteristically broke down and started bawling and through tears said "We are just trying to help people." He softened and let us come in, but then I realized he was the only one home and we needed to leave, and he told us that he wanted nothing to do with what we were teaching, so we left. It was kind of a bummer. I cried in the car and we prayed again. i have realized since that I was being really dramatic, but I'm blaming it on the pouring rain which makes everything more depressing.
Things are actually going pretty good in the area. Well, they are improving and I just need to be patient. Well, i'm out of time, but i love you and hope you have a good week and a great president's day!
- Sister Dansie
Pics:
I can't remember which ones I put, but the last one is me and my new comp. The other ones are of our district.
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