Salaam (Punjabi/HIndi)

This last week is a little fuzzy…my brain shut down a few times & after the morning we had today – not sure what sort of a report this will be! All things considered, this week was great!

On Sunday I started off the day by burning my forearm on the iron. First time! I was proud :) We called Argha in India & he voluntarily said he would call the Bishop & ask about getting a ride to church! Because we’re in GS for 6 hrs every day we have found that we are SUPER rusty on our Square tactics. It’s embarrassing! By our last tour we’ve usually warmed up enough…but then we have motors. This system is hard to beat – we’re working on improving our adaption skills.

On Monday we ran into Megan, Dianne & Sister Leavitt! Small world :) We had the craziest phone call of our lives Monday night. We called Marlene in Florida to clarify her address & tell her more about church(obviously). She said she didn’t know the zip code and at that point there was some muffling & all of a sudden Marlene is very energetic & helps us find the address. We teach her for 10 minutes – all the while she’s being the perfect stereotype of a Southern Baptist enthusiast, which always makes phone calls interesting. We asked, “Marlene, will you pray about the things we’ve taught you?” Again with the muffling & all of a sudden the voice on the other end is very slow & deep. My thought? ‘Oh GREAT! We’ve got a MPD case as one of our investigators!’ False. Turns out, the slow voice is Marlene, the enthusiastic voice was her sister, Sylvia who got on the phone to help us with the address!!!! It was hilarious! But then we talked for another 5 minutes, prayed & had TWO new investigators :)

On Tuesday I was waiting for my President’s Interview when I hear Sister Hardy (covering us in GS) “Yo no hablo español. Un momento! ---- I don’t speak Spanish! Ahhh!” An unusual wave of confidence came over me & I heard myself say, “I do!” hahahahaha So I took the call. Finished, I turned around to find 8 people staring at me! One of them being our senior AP, Sister Inoue. She took my hand & said, “You’re passing off.” Despite my reluctance & what I thought to be valid concerns, she basically told me I was going to be passing off for Summer! BUT Spanish calls always make my day so I was in a wonderful mood for my interview! I told President how everything is going just perfectly & how we love GS & how I’m working on my Spanish & how I love the mission! During CI today Sis Nelson told me, “Just….be BOLD!” other than that – you’re PERFECT!” I told her she was the companion I always wanted, I felt like a 5 year old asking Santa for a pony & actually getting it!

On the Square, Wednesday I contacted a lady from Chile! [So this was all in Spanish]I told her all about the temple, the pioneers and the restoration. She had some questions about the Book of Mormon, which the Lord allowed me to clear up for her. I was so caught up in telling her everything, correctly – that I forgot to invite her! AGH! Next time :)

Thursday night we called Kemarley in Texas, he told us that the Elders had come by! Yay for IRCs! It’s been a while since we’ve had things work so smoothly with investigators, so we were both VERY excited. He said he’d like to go to church next Sunday! We actually had all 1s for teaching numbers today. Our new investigator is Donald from Sacramento. He is a little slow but very sweet. He is saving up money to buy an outfit for church so he doesn’t feel out of place – precious :)
6:50 AM Friday morning: Mission Meeting. Due to our awesomeness of being in GS we are privy to classified information. However, this has very little to do with the mission meeting. We just knew that the new version of the Joseph Smith movie came out that morning – so we assumed that’s what the meeting was about. We were right :) It was good, I love the beginning & the emphasis on doctrine throughout. However, I thought the ending was a little weak. Hopefully y’all will be able to see it for yourselves! We had surprise service at Heritage Park. We did inventory at the shop. Sis Nelson & I revolutionized how they weigh their chocolates for inventory days. We were very proud. And very grateful for the free hot chocolate they gave us! MONTY SORENSON: Your mother says hi! Thank her for sharing her candy with us :)

Dear missionaries of the world: When an 88 year old woman puts a NO SOLICITING sign on her house, has a door mat that says GO AWAY & (though you may not know) has an alarm in her house for when people walk too close…please don’t leave a pass-along card on her mailbox. Thanks :)
No that didn’t have anything to do with a phone call I had on Friday.

JUSTIN IS GOING TO AFRICA! After I read his letter I told all the sisters that I saw for the rest of the day, “Hey! Look! My friend is going to Mozambique on his mission!!! Isn’t that awesome!?! I’m so excited!” I’m not only excited for the amazing work that he will get to do but also for the Mozambique referrals that will be pouring in to the Square so that we can send them through to him!
YIEAAAA MISSIONARY WORK!

Saturday….I don’t really want to talk about this morning. Let’s just say, pretty much everything went wrong! I accidentally knocked the white board down, as I was leaving a potential a message – the monitor shut off, sisters assigned to a tour decided to take OTHER people around….it was quite the morning!

Today we’re off to the Clark Planetarium, the Belgian Waffle stand & Wal-mart!
As always, this week has been a week of growth. We have had many small adventures & more than our fair share of awkward moments. Being on a mission is hard but there’s no place I’d rather be. Last P-day we were down at Gateway for longer than usual & after that, we were all afraid to go back to real life. It is so important that we stick close to the gospel. It is vital for our lives & the lives of our children, that we remain faithful to what we know is true. Every day is a good day for a reality check. Make sure you’re doing what you are supposed to be doing. With all the free time people seem to have – are you accomplishing good things, or are you wasting your life away? Life can be utterly fulfilling as we constantly work to improve ourselves. Always choose the right. You’ll never regret it.

Love you all,

Sister Ainsley Marie