Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Week 11 - Imperial Tour (Dun dun dun dun dun dun, dun dun dun)

First, all of the duns in the subject title are the imperial march from Star Wars.  This week was great! I'm really starting to have less fear of talking to people and really loving the work.
I can feel myself getting closer to Jesus Christ everyday :)

The week started off interesting, because Tuesday night, we finished planning at like 9:20, and Sister Tuia was like "Have you ever dyed hair before?"  And I was like "No." And she was like "You're about to learn!" So I dyed her hair black. And it actually looks pretty good because we got the chance to talk for an hour or so and we became a lot closer.  And it was a crazy trust exercise because she was trusting me with her hair!  Maybe I've found my new calling. ;)

We did some service this week, and painted a table and chairs! Then my hair ended up getting colored red from the spray paint....so that was exciting!  But it was good to do some service.  Then on Saturday we had a ward activity that Sister Tuia and I planned.  It was a lot of work getting everything set up.  We had to set up the projector and screen.  And then we wanted to have something for the kids to do in case they weren't interested in the movie.  So we set up a table with paper and crayons for that.  And then we were going to set out blankets to sit on, but then we remembered that we have a ton of old ladies in the ward.  So we took all of the red chairs and ugly floral couches out of the foyers and carried them into the gym (that was quite the workout, let me tell ya!  Those couches and chairs were not light!)   It was good, we watched "Meet the Mormons"! We had a less active member come and a couple other people from the branch came. We found out they might be dissolving the branch because there are not enough priesthood holders, so we're trying to bring out less actives to keep the branch alive.  If any of the priesthood holders go out of town, we have to call someone in to help bless and pass the sacrament.  And we only need one person to pass because the branch is so small.   There are about 70 members total, but only about 12-15 come out on Sunday so its hard.  But we'll see what happens !

Monday was one of the most discouraging days I've had so far on the mission.  Everyone we talked to said no, and our investigators wouldn't let us come over or weren't home.  We taught like two lessons.  But we tried to have a good attitude because attitude makes everything on the mission!

Then today (Tuesday) the Senior couple, Elder and Sister Reilly, took us on a tour of Imperial Valley!  It was really cool, and I'll attach a bunch of pictures from the tour.

This week I read a really good talk, it is called "The Healing Power of Forgiveness." And there was a quote from it that really struck me:
"Brothers and sisters, please do not misunderstand. To forgive is not to condone. We do not rationalize bad behavior or allow others to mistreat us because of their struggles, pains, or weaknesses. But we can gain greater understanding and peace when we see with a broader perspective."

So I invite you all to broaden your perspective! Look at people as the children of God that they are! Because when we look at people that way, we are happier and the people we associate with are happier. :)
I think that's all for the week! Here's some pictures from the tour today. I love you all and hope you have a great week! ❤️

Love,
Hermana Fowlks

Imperial Valley Swap Meet
 
The Hermanas in our hats from the swap meet.
 
 Salvation Mountain.  Made of clay, paint and straw.
 Slab City is a place where people live in trailers without electricity or running water.  Its crazy but cool to see a different way of life!

 The second tallest flagpole in the world!

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