Hey Everyone
This week I was informed that literally everyone just straight up calls me Sister Ashley and I never notice. I was surprised because I thought that people got a handle on it after a couple tries, but apparently they don't and I just stop noticing. I also got called Sister Ashton a few times again. #ThrowBack
This week was a lot better. Luckily I have tight homies to tell me how to feel better. I was actually realizing that there has never been a time on my mission where I haven't had a really good friend. #Blessings
This week my friend Elder Gunn blew my mind by telling me that I have secret stress about coming home. He was right. I keep having all these coming home related dreams. I also had a dream about mother's day. Sister Gage and I counted and I had had only 3 days in the past two weeks where I was at a green level of stress. Pretty bad. I couldn't figure out what I was stressed about. I was experiencing all of the symptoms with none of the thought processes. Turns out that it was about going home.
I got really stressed at zone conference during departing testimonies. I'm next! So many of my really good friends are going home. Elder Gee goes home tomorrow. A bunch of people go at the end of the transfer. We're losing two Assistants. Then I go home. I feel like this is what it's like to be old in real life. You just look around and there are fewer and fewer of the people you knew when you were younger. You have an abiding feeling that you are going to be soon. Nobody young wants to make friends with you because they know you're just going to be done soon. You just hang out with all the other old people and talk about who is going to go next. It's even more because President Clark is tending to put people together who have been out about the same amount of time. I go home next transfer. Elder Ball goes home two weeks after me. Sister Gage goes home the end of that transfer. Elder Gunn goes home the transfer after that. We're like an old trunky ward share! It's awful!
I learned that if I make sure to work super super hard then I don't think about it and I don't get stressed out. "Forget yourself and go to work." -Gordon B Hinkley's dad
Anyway! That's enough about death and dying!
We had a really entertaining training at zone conference. It wasn't really a training it was more of a public service announcement from Elder Dr. Finlaysen, our health coordinator. He starts off by showing us this slideshow with all these pictures of baked goods. First some background information is that the last 2 or 3 trainings from him have been about how if we eat healthy foods we will have fewer stomach problems. So he starts off by saying "Elders and Sisters see if these foods look healthy to you." The first picture is whole wheat bread, then some blueberry bread looking stuff, then monkey bread, then cake. We're thinking he's going to talk about refined sugars or something. Then BAM he flips back to the first slide and goes "What if I told you this bread has high levels of THC in it? That's right! This bread is marijuana! These cupcakes are marijuana! All of it is marijuana! You can bake it into anything! It's legal here. Be careful what you take from people. Don't accept baked good from just any source. The street name is space cakes. Etc." We were all rolling. It was hilarious. I mean.... super serious. Be careful guys. We were at Bishop's house and we were like "we aren't sure if we can accept these brownies Bishop. May not be safe."
Elder Chain did the study I told him to do. He learned something really cool. He said that after Alma finished talking to Corianton he went back out on his mission. Then later when Mormon is describing captain Moroni he says "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.
Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God." (Alma48:17-18). When he says Alma and his sons he doesn't say except Corianton. Meaning that even though he was having a bad time in his life Corianton ended up being a man of God.
We did a lot of service this week. Actually on Saturday we literally spent all day from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm doing yard work for two different people with the Elders. This beats the time we accidentally had all three meals at different members' homes with the Elders. Good thing we have nice Elders.
Something that I've learned this week is that when you read the Book of Mormon you receive personal revelation. It isn't even necessarily related to what you are reading. I've also learned that when you fulfill your commitments to Heavenly Father he does not leave you hanging.
Here are some quotes:
"You just stole her punch line! come on man that's jacked up." -Brother Jacobsen to 10 year old daughter
"My daughter would call me and say 'dad I'm doing this installation' and it didn't take me long to begin to understand that each time she called me I wold need a bigger truck." -President Clark
"A man came up to us and said 'lady you got the eyes that make a good man bad and a bad man worse.' so don't look her in the eyes. Use a mirror or something." -Elder Nygren
"You finding by spirit, you teaching by spirit, do you driving by spirit?" -Elder Chao
"Out of all missionaries only 4 yellow drivers. Don't ask me. My wife tell you I'm horrible driver!" -Elder Chao
"So this is what the sisters' table is like?" -Elder Palmer
"I've never seen so much energy contained in one 4ft by 4 ft area" -Elder Boggess
"Well Elders and Sisters be careful of baked goods. You know Elder Chao told me about this ancient Chinese proverb that says man who stand to toilet... high on pot." -Elder Chain
"Confucius say that!" -Elder Chao
"The only women who are named in the Book of Mormon are Sariah, Abish, and Isabel. So by that I can assume that one out of three Book of Mormon women are harlots." -Elder Chain
"Lets be honest my son is a very attractive young man." -Bishop Flora
"Now that we've established you're stressed about going home... how much longer do you have left?" -Elder Houghtalen
"Next transfer." -me
"OH WOW! You're old! You go home soon!" -Elder Houghtalen
"DUDE! You're not helping!" -Elder Gunn
"People ask me if I'm nervous about all the burglaries that have been happening in Nellie Gail lately. They ask me if I need to up my security. I tell them look the most expensive thing in my house is the actual house. If they can steal the house I'll actually just be impressed." -Bishop Flora
Here's a reading assignment:
When you read the scriptures quickly instead of studying each verse you can see the big picture more easily. This week I realized that Jacob chapter 4 is actually about teaching simply. Read through Jacob 5 and focus on what he could be communicating about teaching simply.
Here are some key phrases:
"Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. "
"And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?"
"Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men"
" But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble."
So basically keep your teaching simple and Christ centered.
This week I was informed that literally everyone just straight up calls me Sister Ashley and I never notice. I was surprised because I thought that people got a handle on it after a couple tries, but apparently they don't and I just stop noticing. I also got called Sister Ashton a few times again. #ThrowBack
This week was a lot better. Luckily I have tight homies to tell me how to feel better. I was actually realizing that there has never been a time on my mission where I haven't had a really good friend. #Blessings
This week my friend Elder Gunn blew my mind by telling me that I have secret stress about coming home. He was right. I keep having all these coming home related dreams. I also had a dream about mother's day. Sister Gage and I counted and I had had only 3 days in the past two weeks where I was at a green level of stress. Pretty bad. I couldn't figure out what I was stressed about. I was experiencing all of the symptoms with none of the thought processes. Turns out that it was about going home.
I got really stressed at zone conference during departing testimonies. I'm next! So many of my really good friends are going home. Elder Gee goes home tomorrow. A bunch of people go at the end of the transfer. We're losing two Assistants. Then I go home. I feel like this is what it's like to be old in real life. You just look around and there are fewer and fewer of the people you knew when you were younger. You have an abiding feeling that you are going to be soon. Nobody young wants to make friends with you because they know you're just going to be done soon. You just hang out with all the other old people and talk about who is going to go next. It's even more because President Clark is tending to put people together who have been out about the same amount of time. I go home next transfer. Elder Ball goes home two weeks after me. Sister Gage goes home the end of that transfer. Elder Gunn goes home the transfer after that. We're like an old trunky ward share! It's awful!
I learned that if I make sure to work super super hard then I don't think about it and I don't get stressed out. "Forget yourself and go to work." -Gordon B Hinkley's dad
Anyway! That's enough about death and dying!
We had a really entertaining training at zone conference. It wasn't really a training it was more of a public service announcement from Elder Dr. Finlaysen, our health coordinator. He starts off by showing us this slideshow with all these pictures of baked goods. First some background information is that the last 2 or 3 trainings from him have been about how if we eat healthy foods we will have fewer stomach problems. So he starts off by saying "Elders and Sisters see if these foods look healthy to you." The first picture is whole wheat bread, then some blueberry bread looking stuff, then monkey bread, then cake. We're thinking he's going to talk about refined sugars or something. Then BAM he flips back to the first slide and goes "What if I told you this bread has high levels of THC in it? That's right! This bread is marijuana! These cupcakes are marijuana! All of it is marijuana! You can bake it into anything! It's legal here. Be careful what you take from people. Don't accept baked good from just any source. The street name is space cakes. Etc." We were all rolling. It was hilarious. I mean.... super serious. Be careful guys. We were at Bishop's house and we were like "we aren't sure if we can accept these brownies Bishop. May not be safe."
Elder Chain did the study I told him to do. He learned something really cool. He said that after Alma finished talking to Corianton he went back out on his mission. Then later when Mormon is describing captain Moroni he says "Yea, verily, verily I say unto you, if all men had been, and were, and ever would be, like unto Moroni, behold, the very powers of hell would have been shaken forever; yea, the devil would never have power over the hearts of the children of men.
Behold, he was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God." (Alma48:17-18). When he says Alma and his sons he doesn't say except Corianton. Meaning that even though he was having a bad time in his life Corianton ended up being a man of God.
We did a lot of service this week. Actually on Saturday we literally spent all day from 8:30 am to 6:00 pm doing yard work for two different people with the Elders. This beats the time we accidentally had all three meals at different members' homes with the Elders. Good thing we have nice Elders.
Something that I've learned this week is that when you read the Book of Mormon you receive personal revelation. It isn't even necessarily related to what you are reading. I've also learned that when you fulfill your commitments to Heavenly Father he does not leave you hanging.
Here are some quotes:
"You just stole her punch line! come on man that's jacked up." -Brother Jacobsen to 10 year old daughter
"My daughter would call me and say 'dad I'm doing this installation' and it didn't take me long to begin to understand that each time she called me I wold need a bigger truck." -President Clark
"A man came up to us and said 'lady you got the eyes that make a good man bad and a bad man worse.' so don't look her in the eyes. Use a mirror or something." -Elder Nygren
"You finding by spirit, you teaching by spirit, do you driving by spirit?" -Elder Chao
"Out of all missionaries only 4 yellow drivers. Don't ask me. My wife tell you I'm horrible driver!" -Elder Chao
"So this is what the sisters' table is like?" -Elder Palmer
"I've never seen so much energy contained in one 4ft by 4 ft area" -Elder Boggess
"Well Elders and Sisters be careful of baked goods. You know Elder Chao told me about this ancient Chinese proverb that says man who stand to toilet... high on pot." -Elder Chain
"Confucius say that!" -Elder Chao
"The only women who are named in the Book of Mormon are Sariah, Abish, and Isabel. So by that I can assume that one out of three Book of Mormon women are harlots." -Elder Chain
"Lets be honest my son is a very attractive young man." -Bishop Flora
"Now that we've established you're stressed about going home... how much longer do you have left?" -Elder Houghtalen
"Next transfer." -me
"OH WOW! You're old! You go home soon!" -Elder Houghtalen
"DUDE! You're not helping!" -Elder Gunn
"People ask me if I'm nervous about all the burglaries that have been happening in Nellie Gail lately. They ask me if I need to up my security. I tell them look the most expensive thing in my house is the actual house. If they can steal the house I'll actually just be impressed." -Bishop Flora
Here's a reading assignment:
When you read the scriptures quickly instead of studying each verse you can see the big picture more easily. This week I realized that Jacob chapter 4 is actually about teaching simply. Read through Jacob 5 and focus on what he could be communicating about teaching simply.
Here are some key phrases:
"Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. "
"And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?"
"Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men"
" But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble."
So basically keep your teaching simple and Christ centered.
Love Y'all!
No comments:
Post a Comment