Emenyo, Jessica, & Adriano!

December 2, 2010

Hey hey hey!

Whew! So I was sitting in this exact same chair last week - but it feels like yesterday! If there's one thing I've learned from being on a mission it's that time...is weird. The End.

Alright, this week was insane, ridiculously fun & spiritually fortifying. The Lights are on (finalmente) and there is snow EVERYWHERE & I love my mission! It occurred to me yesterday that I have 1 year & 2 months left?!? And all of a sudden I felt that "sense of urgency" that everyone talks about in regards to missionary work. It was a "QUICK! We gotta talk to them! They need the gospel & I don't have my entire life to take these chances! C'mon -- run!" moment. :) It's the best.

Friday: In the Christmas Kickoff meeting we found out that next transfer we are moving from six to eight zones & instead of having one teaching zone, we are going to have SIX teaching zones!!! Exciting! Right? Ya...that's what I thought too. Then it hit me that those of us who are in teaching right now are going to have decreased computer time! Lame! Chat Finding is my all-time favorite thing to do! It's thrilling & cathartic & productive! How am I supposed to live without Chat Finding??? .....no idea. I guess we'll see! I'm mostly just afraid of withdrawal pains ;)

Saturday: As part of the Temple Square Sister Missionary Choir -- I can officially say that I have performed in the Assembly Hall!!!!!!! Not that that's a big deal or that there was a lot of pressure or that the benches are original pioneer-carved & used or that any of us were nervous or anything...nothing like that. When we were in the warm up room in the basement I felt like I was back in 4th/5th grade getting ready for our Pieces of Gold performance. Good times. So we did well & no one died! Even after I accompanied (mostly successfully) I didn't feel like crawling under a bench! So I'd say the performance went well. We got a standing ovation from one guy for "12 Days of Christmas" . He loved it. We do have pretty cute little actions to go with it, if I do say so myself.

We were contacting in the NVC while a local choir was singing "Still, Still, Still" which reminded me of caroling at home. I miss caroling at home :( I ran into Corrine!!! She is always so bubbly & happy & excited about life -- love her! She told me Courtney is going on a mission! AHHHH!!!!!! I love our little Cary 2nd ward :)

Walking home, a lady stopped us & told us about an Elder from her ward who had to come home for medical reasons ie "they found a lump...a tumor...in, where -- where the pants cover the body." We promised to keep him in our prayers.

Sunday: Sister Garbett & I performed in Sacrament meeting!!! We did a variation on "In Humility, Our Savior" and while it was not as good as some of our practices, I still feel like it was a nice contribution to the spirit of the meeting. The topic was the Holy Ghost but the Sister who spoke right before us tied it into the Atonement -- which was the perfect intro to our song! It was fantastic! (In case you forgot how cool my mission is, we have Sacrament Meeting in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building...just saying) So, so far I have performed in the Assembly Hall & the JSMB! Who would have ever thought that I'd be able to say that?!?!

Sister Garbett got to announce for “go-see” after Music & the Spoken Word! They had a practice meeting & then we got to congregate in front of the flagpole & take pictures of them while standing in two feet of snow! Oh ya! I forgot to mention, it snowed through the night so we woke up to a winter wonderland & then it NEVER stopped snowing all day! So we ended up with A LOT of snow! I love it! So Sister Garbett announced beautifully, I mean, English is her first language so she didn't have a problem but it was still great! Michael met up with us afterward so we could show him around. We had a wonderful conversation, answered a lot of his questions (which isn't always a good thing because then usually they don't refer) and felt very productive as we cleared up some of his misconceptions. We took him into the theatre in the Conference Center (CC) & as we made our way there, two different hostesses told him to have us sing for him! The CC Hosts have Sunday meetings with us, so they would have heard us -- we had to explain more to Michael about that. In the auditorium I had the chance to bear my testimony to him. It was a nice reminder of how important it is to testify as we take people around. He didn't refer but it was still a constructive experience.

I had my first experience with inbound calls, where people are calling in for a DVD or a Book of Mormon. I talked with 36 year old "DJ" who wants to have missionaries come visit him, for us to teach him over the phone & for a copy of The Book of Mormon! Love those phone calls. It's a tricky situation though, he has a criminal record & is on antipsychotics. The missionaries met with him really promptly & we are looking at 2 more phone calls & then a very friendly good bye -- for personal safety reasons.

We met 18 yr old Adriano on ChatFinding, he lives in Toluca, Mexico and agreed to a phone call with us! Something must be going around because he is on antipsychotics too. Ya. Not so sure about these people we're finding but we're going to teach them anyways! We called him & taught him how to pray. I told him how the gospel of Jesus Christ could provide that relief that he's looking for. He liked the idea of that. We sent him El Libro de Mormon via email. Technology rocks.

We took around a couple from Georgia (Romania originally) who were very curious but not interested in switching religions or furthering their learning. We learned that in Romania they don't eat animal products for 40 days before Christmas! Who knew?

I was waiting for Sister Garbett down in the SVC when Sister Lamprecht(AP) passed me, complimenting me on my performance that morning. "Good job on singing this morning. Seriously, it was beautiful!" "Thanks!" "Have you had voice lessons? or training?" "Nope!" "Oh! Well - now we know who to go to for music stuff!"

Thank you Mom & Dad for raising me in a musical home :)

Monday: We had "invention dinner" with Friends. It ended up being tortillas with black beans, corn, melted American cheese & salsa! Sounds kinda gross, right? It wasn't! Or...well then again I suppose when you haven't eaten for six hours you don't really care what you eat. But still - we thought it was delicious.

Sister Gandolph (Taiwan) & Sister Curtis (Guatemala) wrote me! I love hearing about their missionary work! It's so different! Meg got spit on??? Lame! Here, people yell at us & try to convince us of what they think we believe but no one has spit on us....yet! They're both doing GREAT! Oh get this, Elder Christofferson came to listen to our Christmas Choir in the NVC!!! Yup! We're like...famous :)

We got two potentials! We are so so so grateful for members who are willing to share the gospel with their friends! You are fantastic! After seeing so many different families throughout the nights I have decided something: I always want to make time to listen to my children.

Tuesday: Right before I woke up, I was at a Selena Gomez concert. Of all the things to dream about....?

We had van maintenance at 5:50 AM which no one was excited about but it was my first time, so I thought we were going to be down in the garage hand washing the vans & the water would be freezing -- so I wasn't too psyched either! But get this, we drove to the COB & went through a car wash. Ugh! But it's so hard! And it's so early & I have to like....sit in the van while it gets cleaned by an automatic machine that does all the work -- "you're ruining my life!" [FreakyFriday] So it was actually a really great morning! I love van maintenance! Car washes are so entertaining & fun! I'd do it every week if we had to - gladly! The whole automatic car wash was exciting but just wait, it gets even cooler. We were vacuuming out the inside of our vans when guess what happened? WE MET ELDER DALLIN H. OAKS!!!!!!!!!!!! As in, we shook his hand & he asked where we were from & told us all to write home to our parents with his regards because he feels that sometimes the wonderful parents are not thanked enough. THANKS MOM & DAD YOU ARE THE BEST EVER!!!!!!! You have taught me so many things and prepared me for my mission in so many ways, you probably didn't (or...actually did) know! A bajillion times a day I'm put in situations where I think "oh MAN I'm glad Mom taught me how to do this!" or "My Dad is the bomb.com -- he's the best example of hard work, this is a piece of cake." So, THANKS!

District Meeting went really well! During "real plays" I was our investigator Adriano. We do it this way so the other sisters can give us a new perspective on teaching. I did my best to follow the spirit as I answered questions like he would. Sister Garbett said I was too golden. So we'll see how that plays out.

I got a referral from RC calls today! He was from a potential we got when we met his friends here when they were going to a Singles Stake Conference. His name is Emenyo & he has been playing basketball with them for a while & goes to church with his brother-in-law & he's going to meet with missionaries! See? Inviting people to basketball really does work!

You may not believe what I am about to tell you but that's ok. It's true. Are you ready? *drumroll* We officially have an investigator named "Jessica 4"!!!!!! I know, it's insane -- something with us & Jessicas?!? She lives in Alberta. For those of you who are coming in at this point & don't know the story: We had two Jessicas baptized in October, one in Arizona & the other in Florida. Our third Jessica lives in Georgia & she was meeting with the missionaries with a baptismal date of Nov 14 --- which we need to check on. So now we have our fourth Jessica. She doesn't have a phone so we teach her over chat but she is a typical Jessica: *golden* Church is two hours away and we were afraid that would be her catch but we promised her that if she went she would be able to feel how much Heavenly Father truly does love her. She said, " :D Sure, I end up in town a few times a week anyways." I may or may not have then proceeded to do a happy dance.

I love bearing my testimony over chat. I was telling this guy about a recent experience I had with answers to prayers & how I know that Heavenly Father is there listening to us & that what we want is important to Him. I know that as we study things out in our mind and present our decision to the Lord, He will answer us. Maybe not how or when we want but He will.

Wednesday: The Departing Class had their temple trip this morning, so I was on exchanges with Sister Michelle Peets from Chapel Hill! We talked & really found out how many people we both know --- it's insane! And next Wednesday we're getting another Sister from NC -- Caitlin Nichols (sp?) and Jamie Morgan knows her & Sis Peets knows her! Small world, huh? I mentioned that Sister Patti Maxwell writes me & she was like, "Maxwell? Maxwell....where do I know that name from???" She knows Brian Maxwell & Andrew Dixon!!! She knows the brother of the guy who married Becky Lou Pigg's sister! Hahahahaha and that's where it gets confusing :)

We called Adriano in Toluca and had one of the best phone calls of my mission. My role play ended up being almost dead on! It was amazing & kind of priceless. He read The Introduction & liked how it said that we should pray to find out for ourselves if it is true. We taught him about the Atonement and he loved the idea that Christ has felt everything we go through & that God is always there for us. He was trying to ask a question but we weren't understanding him, so Sister Garbett asked him to say it in Spanish. He did & I finally got what he was trying to say! [Score!!!] He was wondering if God loves us even for what we are, sins included. I was very glad to tell him that God does love us! While He loves us, it still does not make Him happy when we choose the wrong. He said that he knows he is living in sin but he wants to change some things, other things he says he's too far into. I told him that if he has even the smallest desire to change, God will help him. We told him to pray & that he could pray anywhere! Whenever he feels that he needs it, also to pray to thank God for the wonderful things we have in life. He really liked that and said that he associates God with negative things like sins because he knows they don't make Him happy but he is very grateful for all he has & would love to thank God for them through prayer. Isn't he the greatest? He closed our call with a prayer. It was the most sincere prayer I've ever heard. He really was just having a conversation with God, just like we taught him to! He asked God not to put temptations in his way & that he would try his hardest to fill his time with good things like working out. He'll go out & run around, play soccer because he know that drugs affect his performance & he will do his best to avoid bad situations. He prayed that God would bless him to keep reading, to have a desire to change and that God would answer his prayers as he reads from The Book of Mormon. "En el nombre de Jesucristo, Amen." I felt the spirit so strongly as he prayed, I could tell that he really wanted to quit his bad habits. He sincerely wants to turn his life over to Christ. It's the only phone call that has every made me tear up. He is exactly what I role played for! It was a huge testimony builder for me on the power of the spirit in practicing & preparing for investigators. He's going to make his "greatest effort" to go to church on Sunday!!! We're calling him again on Friday -- can't wait!

We met up with Dave who is in charge of the young men in his ward, we've run into him three times before. His young men were giving the Sister Missionaries candy canes & wishing us a Merry Christmas! Best idea ever! Made my night!

Christmas on Temple Square is exhausting! It's great & I love it but we get home at night and the only thing I want to do is plan & go to bed. I love having this chance to invite others to share the gospel with their friends, it's great to remember the real reason for this Christmas season. Jesus Christ is why I am serving a mission. He is why I deal with the hard moments with optimism. He is the purpose for our lives here & without Him none of this is possible.

But with Him -- all things are possible :)

Have a wonderful week!!!

Sister Despain