Eliza Doolittle in the Desert

August 19, 2013

Yes, so the moral of the story is to never pour boiling hot corn-water into a stubbornly soapy water bottle. Story unnecessary, just don't do it.

In other tidbits of information, I am no longer homeless (hallelujah) and therefore have an actual factual address to which I can receive large, bulging amounts of mail.

Sister Hope Thomas

Mediterra Apartment Homes

43-100 Palm Royale, #1724

LaQuinta, CA 92253 

You should probably send me five or six letters to make sure that the postal system is functioning properly. As a concerned taxpayer I might even go so far as to call it a duty.

This week was an adventure. Well, missionary work is an adventure, and I have officially relinquished the idea that a "normal" transfer exists. It's just not possible. And if there DID happen to be a normal transfer, it wouldn't be normal anyway because having a normal one… isn't normal.

THIS transfer, between sharing an apartment between 5 girls (one bedroom, one bathroom....yikes,) which is why we moved by-the-way, and having to basically start from scratch looking for housing because we found legitimate mushrooms growing in our kitchen (like good-sized mushrooms,) has made the first couple weeks crazy-hectic, but also crazy-fun!

For example. one of my companions, Hermana Sudweeks, said that one of the best ways to learn the language was to read the Book of Mormon. Out loud. In Spanish. With a PEN in my mouth........yes. please share in my confusion. (Suppose to help with pronunciation?) But I decided to try it (oh the desperateness of missionaries to learn the language.)  And I thought you might enjoy a tasteful photo of Language Study Time.

   

Yes. Not sure if it really helps, or if the Hermanas just needed a good laugh, but as of now I can add "reading Spanish with pen in my mouth" to the "talents" portion on any job application. Should undoubtedly propel me toward success in the business world.

Another semi-noteworthy note worth noting is that I completely threw out my back this week. I have NO idea how it happened, but I am now walking around in a graceful 95-year-old fashion. BUT the upside is that I have become REALLY good at picking things up without actually bending down. (My resume is just getting better and better.) Have no fear, though. It is definitely healing and my Venezuelan companion has taught me the little song  they sing to their kids when they get an owie.

"sana sana,

culito de rana

si no sana hoy

sanara manana"

Which basically just says if it doesn't get better today it will get better tomorrow. So I decided to make up my own little saying and embroider it on my hand towel. (keep in mind that last transfer I was very sick for a few days)

"I've thrown up my food

I've thrown out my back

but I won't throw in the towel."

O.k. I think Mother Goose would be satisfied with my number of rhymes for this week, so let's move on.

WIWTK: Repentance. It's not a punishment, it's a privilege.

But more on that next time. I'm running out of minutes.

-Hermana Thomas

  

Woo Hoo! We're opening a new area!

August 12, 2013

I lied.

I'm not in Palm Springs, I'm in Palm DESERT. And Desert it is. I break into a sweat walking to the car so........sun dresses it is! Also. I am currently homeless which means I am currently home-address-less. Thus: When (notice my deliberate use of "when" and not "if") you decide to send me mail, just send it to the "Highland" address listed conveniently to the right side of this post. High fives for Highland. Also, some parties have asked who was driving when the car crashed......the person filling out the accident report is in this picture.

Well.

I don't even know where to begin. Which is exactly how I felt when I arrived in my new area be-cauuuuuuuuuse… it hasn’t been opened to missionaries for a long time! Woo Hoo! This is the paperwork part of missionary work--where you are re-writing lost information--finding lost data and updating outdated info. *SNAP* open up the binder rings, add new pages to the New Area Book and presto we’re excited and ready to get to work!

(Missionary Dictionary: The "Area Book" is a binder containing all the records of the people who were/are interested in meeting with the missionaries.  It includes important facts like what we've already taught and discussed with each interested person.  This is helpful to subsequent missionaries so when they start meeting with these same people, they don't sound like a broken record or a broken record or a broken record or a broken record or a broken record)

Anyway, there is a LOT of work that goes into opening a new area, but a lot of work and a lot of love is a great combination. And SPEAKING of love, I LOVE my new companions!!! I am in a trio again, and my companions se llaman (call themselves) Hermana Sudweeks and Hermana Taboada. y ellas son de (" They are from" ...see, my blog is educational and everything. Watch out Dora, I'm teaching people Spanish!) North Carolina (shout out to all of my fav North Carolina-ers) and Venezuela (She's the only person I know from Venezuela, so shout out to the whole population).

They're pretty much the best and we've already spent enough time together that we basically all say the same thing at the same time. At this very moment they are probably writing the exact same sentence home to their families.

Adventure of this week:

well. I ate a fish.

Yeah. Not like grilled fish or breaded fish, like an actual whole complete fish with eyeballs and fins and bones and a spinal cord and everything. The family that fed us just *PLOP* put it in the deep fryer for half an hour and served it to us with a side of lime.

It. was. delicious!!!! minus the spinal cord which Elder Sloan dared me to eat (oh goodness I'm turning into an elder. must remember to put nail polish on the grocery list)

WIWTK (WHAT I WISH THEY KNEW):

Something I have grown a testimony of, especially as a missionary, is that receiving challenges is a gift from God. Some people I talk to say that God cannot exist or be merciful because if He did, He wouldn't allow such horrible things happen to us. I say that God can ONLY be merciful by letting us go through trials. We rarely grow when we keep ourselves in our safe daily routines.  Most of us, left on our own, wouldn’t deliberately choose difficult, stretching challenges.  There is a really great chapter in the Book of Mormon that likens the Children of God to a vineyard, and likens God, to the "Lord of the Vineyard." Many times the Lord goes down into the vineyard and does everything He can to help it grow. It says that He prunes it and dungs it and digs about it. How could a loving Lord of a vineyard prune a tree? How could He not let the branches keep growing however they want to?  How could a loving Lord of a vineyard "dung" it? It smells bad; it’s unpleasant, and gross! How could He do that to a vineyard that He loves? Well, because he wants it to grow and flourish and bring forth much good fruit. He knows that cutting it down and dung-ing it will yield the best results for the tree eventually, even if at the time it seems harsh or unpleasant. God doesn't make us go through trials to punish us, He allows us to go through trials to bless us. And if we invite Him, He wil love and guide us through every step of our trials.  He walked through a storm to help His apostles and He will walk through our storms to help us too!

He is the perfect, loving gardener and with His care we will reach our greatest potential and be our happiest selves!

(If you want to read that chapter, it is in the Book of Mormon in the book of Jacob, chapter 5)



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDrhvm9EnJ4
(here is a video related to Hermana Thomases preceding thoughts, titled: God is the Gardener.  This insert is via la mom!)

I love you.

lovelovelovelovelove

Hermana Thomas

At the end of the lesson we asked her if she was ready to get baptized!

August 5, 2013

Bueno bueno bueno!

So first things first. Adios Amigos! I'm off to Palm Springs for Vay-cay-shun!.......Well, mas o menos. 

We're having transfers this week, and neither of my companions are staying with me or together, which is a shame, because when you spend 24 hours a day with someone for seven and a half weeks..... they start to grow on ya. A moment of silence for the B-ates, T-homas W-oller trio (we're missionaries BTW)  

S

I

L

E

N

C

E

Thank you for your reverence! 

Moving on to what happened in Redlands before I move on to what will happen in Palm Springs. 

This week I got rejected. Broken up with. Left at the altar. Or rather the font. But let's start at the beginning. 

(Rewind sounds from those old-school VCR's) 

It was a beautiful, scorching hot day, as per usual. The birds were singing, wind was blowing, and dogs were frolicking playfully about yard (i.e. trying to break the fence down to bite me. California has some MEAN dogs!) 

Notwithstanding, it was a good day to be a missionary (every day is a good day to be a missionary.) We had a lesson planned with one of our investigators so we drove up to her house, said a prayer, and knocked on the door. I could probably summarize the wonderful, spiritual lesson in some way, but I don't want your little eyes to get tired from reading. I want them fresh so they can get big in surprise for what came next: 

At the end of the lesson, we asked her if she was ready to get baptized. Let me preface her answer with a little background info. (second grade taught me to ALWAYS include background information in my writing. Here you go Mrs. Potter, I learned something.)   

Background Info: 

We KNOW that she's ready to get baptized. She's been going to church off and on for 10 years, she knows it's true, and we've asked her about 846,238 times if she's ready (give or take 1 or 2 inquiries) and she always says she wants to wait a few months. 

Continuance of the story in a dialogue form-ette (translations from Spanish to English courtesy of Thomas Including closed Captioning: 

ME: We know that you've been trying to figure out a date you think you will be ready to get baptized. Will you prepare yourself for this Sunday?

HER: Do you think I'm ready? 

HNA. WOLLER: Very ready. 

HER: Yes. I Think I'm ready. 

ME: We're so happy for you, we know how prepared you are! 

ME (IN MY HEAD): ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!! Yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!

*I deem it necessary to explain my excitement. 

NOT reasons why I was excited:

Not because she would be the first of my investigators to get baptized.

Not because I could say I "had 3 baptisms" (her kids wanted to get baptized too, ages 9 and 11) 

Not because I had seen her through from the beginning of the lessons to the end.

Reasons why I was excited:

I had seen her faith grown immensely, and I knew that she was ready.

She would receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after her baptism, a gift that has helped me every single hour of my life.

She was going to follow the example of Jesus Christ, the Son of God and only perfect person to be born on this earth.

As a missionary, my joy has grown to be exceedingly full at witnessing the fulfillment of righteousness. 

Anyway, this that and the other happened (i.e. picking up the flattering white jumpsuits, changing dinner appointments and calling every bishop in the entire stake because the stake building coordinator decided to go MIA) 

Fast-forward two days. The Day before the baptism: 

Hermana Woller gets a call. 

She's "not ready." 

We go over to her house and do everything in our power to remind her of why she chose to be baptized this Sunday, why postponing isn't a good idea and how we need to have the faith to act. I honestly did and said EVERYTHING I possibly could, to the point where I can now say that I testified with "All the energy of my soul." Which is not as easy as it sounds in Spanish, but to no avail.  

We left the house with zero energy, zero smiles and zero desire to do anything but curl up and eat chocolate, which we promptly bought at the nearest gas station. 

What I Wish they knew. What I wish She knew. What I wish I knew sometimes: 

Faith: Everybody gets hung up on that little word, and I think that all too often we confuse it with "knowledge."  I talk to many many many many people who want to develop their faith, and yet are unwilling do put forth any action. They are waiting to read their scriptures, or pray, or go to church, or quit smoking until they have faith. What they don't understand is that the way to develop faith, is to act. Faith begins with hope, a hope that a certain action of righteousness will bring forth good consequences even if you don't understand how. Then you must act on that hope. When you see that what you hoped for is coming to pass or has come to pass, you have a little bit of faith in it.  This is because you have experimented on that primary hope. As you continue to act, your faith gets stronger and stronger, firmer and firmer, until your faith is so strong you can say "I know." You know because it has proved itself to be true time and time again. Start with hope. Act. Then comes faith. 

(for more about faith read Alma 32: 21, 28-43) 

For your homework tonight: PRAY. Pray with the hope that God is listening and not only that He can but that He WANTS to answer your questions, guide you, and comfort you. 

I love you, and I like you and I love you. 

Write me letter. Until I know my new address, you can address them to the Highland address located conveniently and at your constant disposal to the right of this blog. 

Oh yeah, and I got in a car crash but I'm ok.

-Hermana Thomas