Dear Family:
What a blessing it is to be here! I just can’t get over that sometimes. I think sometimes we as a society don’t take the time to “enjoy the journey.” I’ve definitely been guilty of that. But we’ve had a great week just having fun doing what missionaries do.
Saturday was definitely a highlight! The three Cincinnati Stakes hosted a Priest/Laurel Conference on Missionary Work and all the missionaries were invited. (Well not ALL of the missionaries, but all of the Sisters were there! It’s been 6 months since I’ve seen some of them!) We held a “Zone Conference” for them: trainings, role plays, and food included! It was as fun as our zone conferences! All of us were paired up with a few new companions for the day and we went out to a couple of real appointments with investigators. That was a treat for me! The first appointment I got to take Erin and Hannah to see Gina, which was perfect because Hannah is in our ward so she invited Gina to come to church (again). And the second appointment I got to take Aimee and Emily to see Debbie.
The highlight of the day was being able to listen in on their testimony meeting. What an opportunity to feel the Spirit! When I was a laurel I would have been terrified to go out with the Sisters, but to hear their testimonies of missionary work and the “instant love” they felt for those they just met made me feel those “warm fuzzies” again. ha ha.
I’ve actually been pondering a lot about that for the last few weeks. That “instant love” I feel for almost everyone we meet. It’s indescribable! No matter who they are, where they’ve been, or how they treat you, you love them. And not just a little, A LOT! The more I’ve thought about it the more I realize that it’s the “joy” referred to in the scriptures! And THEN I realized why all of our covenants center around missionary work (they do! Just think about it)… it’s because that is what brings us the most joy. When someone we love purely accepts and lives the gospel of Jesus Christ and is able to experience the same joy we feel it INCREASES our joy (D&C 10). And THEN it occurred to me that all of this is because God’s plan is centered on our happiness and receiving his “fullness of joy.” It’s perfect!
I’m grateful to have this experience to truly learn to love. It’s pretty neat.
This week’s adventure was Sister White’s Wong Tong soup. ha ha. Sister White is Ji Soo and Hannah’s aunt (who is also from South Korea). We stopped by the other night to see how they were and Sister White asked if we had dinner yet. We told her we hadn’t, so she quickly insisted on making something for us. She’s just sweet like that. Well, we sat down to something a little bit “different” with a definite fishy smell. ha ha. It was REALLY good! Until I had a funny looking object on my spoon and just happened to ask her what it was. Battered fish skin. Yep. It was already on my spoon so I had the whole thing in one bite. I just wanted to let you know that and I expect you to be REALLY proud of me for getting it all the way down. And I survived. (Especially since Sister Gundersen ate three of them before she realized what it was! Ha ha)
I love you lots!
Sister Painter
Pictures included are my companions on Saturday and ALL the Sisters in the OCM now!
1 comment:
That sounds yummy. Like throw up in my tummy. Good thing you kept it down. I dont' think she would have believe that you liked her soup had it come back up.
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