So I read an entry from my journal from a year ago when I first entered the field, and it was hiliarous. It's weird to see how much you really do change!
Can I tell you how awesome missions are? Amazing. Really they are.
You wake up every morning, you get on your knees. You beg the Lord to protect the people in your area in a morning induced bluhhhh, you get up and watch as your companion runs around in circles around you outside as you walk feeling like a turtle walking in peanut butter. You end your intense excerise, and you go inside and force yourself to eat breakfast even though you are still full from last nights dinner. As your companion takes forever to get ready, you grab your blanket, lay down on the floor and cry as you watch the testaments or D&C videos or the same Mormon Messages over and over for the last year or so (I get ready quicker than most missionaries I think. I have way to much free time in the morning). After that you start personal study. And you beg the Lord for revelation for you area. To guide your studies. To teach you. And you learn so much. He promises you things too. Like your family will be okay. He tells your to repent to. And you pray a lot. You pray the whole personal study.
And you start companionship study. You sing in Portuguese because you don't have an english hymn book. BECAUSE everything you got was Portuguese in the MTC. And your companion and you sing horribly off toon. It's lovely. And then you pray again. This time half in Portuguese and half in English. You pray for days because you just want to thank Heavenly Father for every moment so far even though you have been up for about just three hours. Every moment is great and awesome and given to you by your Heavenly Father. And then you explain what you studied, and your companion explains what they studied and it's awesome. And you learn so much. You kinda feel guilty that yours wasn't as aweome because your were praying most of the time. But awswells. Heavenly Father needs more people to talk to Him even though you think he is getting sick of you.
And then you start the day with another prayer. And your companion is adorable and tells Heavenly Good Morning. And you know he smiles.
And depending the day (and if it's a week like this week), every appointment cancels. The appointments you get in to talk for ever, or they are in Chinese and you have no idea how to tell them you got to go. But they are so happy to see you (but there are some that threaten to call the police on you).
You visit Sister Adkins whose house smells like cat pee and looks like it too. But you clean it for her any way and pluck her random hairs on her face for her. And you do it because you love her. And the Lord loves her. And she needs it. And you love it. You go to another dinner, and you listen to your companions story again, and the members don't appreciate when you tell them she escaped from Finland. And she is a ninja. They don't think that's very funny.
You go see Sophy Pel, your investigator, and you hope she is there, but she's not:(. But you leave a nice note on the door. You drive to Sunol hoping your less actives are home, but they aren't. So you pray (you are praying the whole day. Thanking Heavenly Father for every moment. Every person you talked to. You even thank Him for the people that weren't home so you could be some where else, and they might be mean to you any way).
You get annoyed randomly with someone (mostly your companion because that's whose there with you the whole time) but you pray for Charity, and for the love you feel for them, and your whole body is filled with warmth and love, and you start to cry, and your companion looks at you weird when you tell them that they are the best companion ever. But they are.
Your investigator reschedules their appointment, and you forget about your member who is coming, so you visit Brother Wolters. Who is so drugged up that he has problem eating his dinner. So you help him out, and he looks like he is about to cry. You go to the car and you see a voice mail from your member, and you feel terrible. So you pray to Heavenly Father to forgive your shortcomings, and he does. The Atonement is real and awesome.
Your car breaks down so you have to go to the car store, and it takes out a couple hours of the day. But you go to walmart, and you get asked if you have been saved, and you just want to hug the man named Bill because he reminds you of home. And you say: Yes! Totally, completely! And he asks you when you were saved. And you reply: when Jesus Christ died for me on the cross. And he accuses you of not believing in grace but in works. And you use Brad Wilcox on him and say: I have been saved by grace, and so have you. But have you been changed by grace? And he drives away.
You go to so many Chinese lessons during the week, and you wish that you could speak Chinese. But for some reason randomly in the lesson you feel the spirit, and you just start crying. And they could've been talking about cheese but it was so beautiful. You wait with your investigator while your companion is using her computer to call home. And you teach her the Word of Wisdom explaining why you don't drink tea. And they get confused so you just say you are a crazy American. And the accept that. And then you talk about dreams you had that have come true (because I got the POWER!). And she explains how she has been having those ever since her aunt died. And you bond! And then you see a plane crash land in the middle of the city, and you just continue eating like you see it every day.
And then Sunday comes, and you eat so much cupcakes and junk because it's mothers day. And you listen to your companions talk in chinese with ear phones on for interpretation. And she does amazing. You are praying the whole time for her like you would with your twin. And then you go to eight hours of church for the rest of the day. You get to take the sacrament more than once, and you feel so clean. You think of your Savior. And you love him. And then you are so excited when a potential investigator that has been coming to church for three months straight sits next to you. You don't care that she talks to you the whole entire sacrament meeting because you know she is nervous. And she tells you she has been reading the Book of Mormon and she is at the end of 2 Nephi, and that she wants to say a talk after she gets baptized. And you secretly scream yay! in your mind so she doesn't think you are crazy. But you feel so cool because she is 13 and she sat next to YOU at sacrament. No big. And she went to church even though her friend was sick, and she came all by herself. She is so cool.
And then you get to call your family! And you don't cry because you love them, you cry because you heard you reassignment letter went home. And you cry because you never want to go home. Because missionary work is so awesome. You talk to Heavenly Father all the time, and people learn to talk to Him. They learn Him. And you love Him with all your heart, and you love the people with all your heart. And you just never want to leave.
I love y'all! I know this church is true. I know that Heavnely Father loves us. This work is His. Feed the missionaries (light food please!)
Thanks for all you do,
Sister POwell
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