this week has been on the rough side for me. full of cool things and then also not so cool things.
my #1 problem for the week/day/whole mission is my lack of knowledge and comfort with teaching what I do know. I had to give a spiritual thought at MCM this week and i don't know what happened or what I said, but apparently I was wrong and Bro. P. had to tell me how and why and what I should have said. i was soooooo embarrassed! I had worked so hard on that little thought and I was proud of it and I shared my testimony and I still don't understand what I did so wrong but it was enough that apparently warranted correction. and then in church he taught the gospel principles class and he went off on how people can't teach false whatever. if you say something just a little wrong you can't go back and fix it, it's done and you ruined that person's life. I felt so stabbed and hurt! and then to make it all a bigger and worse thing, he has a friend he has been working with for years and years who is finally willing to take the lessons. at church brother P. told us he would rather have the senior couple here teach her... but she wanted the younger missionaries. the way he told us about it was like a warning. he might as well have said: I don't want you, but she does so you better be super careful! he wants us to teach her at his home with him there tomorrow afternoon. I am all up in knots about it.
and then we had a girl named catrina that we tracted into. she has two little boys and is living with the kids' dad and his girlfriend (awkward!). we found her thursday, invited her to church on friday. on saturday we tried on two separate times to talk to her about what to expect at church, but she was too busy and too tired. and then on sunday we got sister Pond and we picked her up and she was ready and her little boys were ready and we went to church! I was super excited until part way through sacrament when she got up and grabbed her boys and told us she felt "uncomfortable" because she was in a ratty sweater and jeans. she dragged her boys out of there so fast! both of them crying and pleading "but I want to meet my teacher" and "I want to go to primary" and "I wanted to learn more about Jesus". it was all very traumatizing!
our goal with lessons for this week was 25, and on Sunday we were at 26 so we thought (or more like sister B made me) set a new goal for 30. just 4 more lessons that day. 7:00 came along and we were at 3 lessons. 29 total. we really wanted 30.... just 1 more! but it was dark and late and cold. we drove around and tried to visit a couple of potentials and none of them were opened up to us. 8:25 and we decided to drive around and find houses with lights still on that we could knock on. we say a prayer that we would be able to get one more lesson. we drive around. we see the first house, I'm driving, I slow way down and we are trying to find a good place to pull over, but we can't find one so we keep going. we see another house, I slow way down and try to find a place to pull over. there are no cars around... it's dark and everyone is at home getting ready for bed. all of a sudden... flashing lights of a cop car. I pull over into a ditch. I have to get out of the car and walk the line and everything because apparently going slow and fast and weaving a little bit is suspicious and drunken looking or something. and the whole time sister burt wants me to teach the cop the gospel so we can get the one more lesson. I cried. the cop let me go. he just laughed at us. it wasn't even a big deal... I'm pretty sure the guy was just bored. but now I'm left with sister burt who thinks he was put there by God so we could teach him and I'm thinking I'm just glad i didn't get a ticket! and by the time it was over it was 8:58 and so I just started to drive us home. sister burt tried to convince me it was okay and we just needed the one more lesson but I was so so so done at that point. I'm so so so done with numbers. that was one bad thing too many because of lessons and numbers.
and now, the good things that happened because of last week:
.........
just kidding.... I'm sure something good came of it......
oh, I met a guy named Hal at a pet-shop.
none of the tracting lessons we got are going to pan out... everyone we talked to said we could read a scripture and pray with them, but none of them want us to come back and they all "have Fesus in their heart" and they will "see us in heaven"
but even those bad things have something good in them.... except for the sunday night adventure.
but even though it's scary with brother P., we did get a referral and she came to church already and she promised to come back and she will probably accept the gospel because she has such a respect and close relationship with the P family. and then catrina promised she would try to get a skirt and come back to church. she said she just can't stand the "crowds" (which is funny, cuz this is a tiny tiny branch) but her kids loved it and they recognized people from church there and they want to come back. so she is no lost cause.
that is basically my whole week....
oh, and another thing! I have had the CRAZIEST dreams all week!
mostly about home but one was with a dog that tried to bite me and so i kicked it and then it came back and really took hold of my ankle... I woke up kicking the sheets off and I fell out of bed. scared sister Burt near to death! and then later that day we saw a guy with a really yappy dog that kept trying to get at my ankles. I was so so so not at all happy about that! sister burt still laughs at me over that coincidence.
and on another note: today we are going to Roaring River state park... you should google that :) I'm going to take a bunch of pictures and it should be fun. and then tonight the branch is doing a family home evening party and they asked us to give the lesson on music. I don't know how to do that.... but at least it's free food :)
