Not My Work

This week has been jam packed, full of hard work, many people, and some serious rain. Overall there were a lot of peaches, Hermana Jacobson and I share our peach and our pit of the day every night right after comp prayer and there were several nights when it was hard to come up with a pit of the day. Not just because we were both so exhausted and ready to fall into bed but because it had been a peachy day, those are the best kind of days, when you have to really think hard to come up with a hard part of it. One of the days the only pit I could come up with was "When that house with 6 dogs had one of the dogs puke on the carpet and the other one wouldn't stop licking my leg... ew." The best part is that isn't even that abnormal, back home we would probably talk about that for days, here its just part of the normal day to day grind: dogs and yucky houses are everywhere yet they are always surrounded by good people. I really am so blessed to have met some amazing people out here, I have learned so much and can only hope I've influenced and taught something as well. Which leads me to want to share one of things I have really learned this week and am trying to remind myself is that it's NOT MY WORK.

Sometimes I get really caught up in the "what if's."  Well what if I would have said this different? Would they have wanted to come to church? What if I would have smiled bigger when they were closing the door? Would they have opened it wider and allowed us in? What if I get transferred before we get to teach them? Will she still want to be baptized? What if, what if, what if? As I read back over those I realize how selfish that sounds... "what if's" are selfish scenarios, this is Christ's work. It is Heavenly Father's will and it is done by His power. President Griffin always signs his emails with "His work... His way... by His power..."  I can't come between that, it's His. He'll provide a way. He'll help me know what to do, what to say, and where to go and when He does, I need to trust it. Trust Him, and if things don't go how I thought they should, hoped they would, or envisioned they could, well I need to just step back and realize who is the captain of this ship. I need to take my own advice and believe the testimony I love to share that "all things work together for good" (Romans 8:28). Anytime I remove myself from the equation I realize it's not my work, I'm just lucky to be able to get a glimpse of how Heavenly Father does His work, through perfectly imperfect people.  Hermana Jacobson has a friend that came home from her mission and confidently said she had zero baptisms. She had been a part of teaching several people who changed their lives and entered the waters of baptism, but she recognized that they were not hers they are His. I love that. It's so easy to get caught up in claim, numbers, attention, and praise. Everyone wants to be remembered, but that's not what life is about, we are here to remember what we already know: that we are children of a Heavenly Father. We lived with Him before this life and will live with Him again, we are here to learn and grow in families and figure out how to let our spirits be what controls our bodies instead of our passions, pleasures, and priorities. We are here to learn about Christ and believe in Him and believe Him and his promises. We are here with Him as our ultimate role model. And my favorite thing about this gospel and bettering ourselves is that as we do so we want to help others and as we help others we both learn and grow. There is nothing selfish about service and helping others come unto Christ... We all benefit as we do so. It's amazing and humbling, and His work and His glory.

Like I said we had a peachy week we were given some amazing opportunities to be a part of. I'd like to quickly share three.

Number one: our ward's beloved eternigator entered the baptismal font all in his own willingness this Saturday no one had to hog tie him and throw him in or trip him in, though they've been threatening to do so for two and a half YEARS!!! It's been a long journey getting him to this point... he's worked with over a dozen sets of missionaries and has been preparing little by little over that time. He stopped many of the habits he grew up with, asked many many thought provoking questions, has attended church over 80 times (that are recorded anyway... he's been more active than some of the members), he drives the four hours to the Nashville temple with his wife once a month and sits in the waiting room all day waiting for her to complete temple work. And now he is the newest member of the ward and in one years time can go into the upper rooms of the temple and be sealed to his sweet wife. It was so sweet to witness the ward coming together in support of him in his good ol' "dirty rotten, evil, cantankerous, bullheadex, stubborn, obstinate, and opinionated" self and witness as he covenanted to become a little more "clean, fresh, good, willing, voluntary, docile, obedient, and compassionate" (these quotes are first what his wife described him as being when they first met, than we came up with the second list of opposites that he is becoming, we even made signs and tool pics with him... Classic) His work... His way... by His power... NOT MINE.




Number two: we had received a referral from the Elders a week before conference, they set up an appointment with a woman whose fiancee had given her their number from a pass-along card. Unfortunately for them but fortunately for us she is on our half of the area so we get to visit with and teach her. It has been cool the way the Lord has been preparing her. She grew up in Palmyra New York she has been to some church history sites but doesn't know a lot about the church,  no problem we can help with that. Not going to lie our first couple of lessons were so awkward, they went fairly well just felt so uncomfortable. This past week though we read 2 Nephi 31 about the gospel of Jesus Christ, with an emphasis on baptism, we tied it into temples and long story short we committed her to baptism! We are preparing for May 20 as of right now, and we are so excited for her! It was so great to feel the spirit that was there and to not feel awkward, there was a discussion and it was less one sided and more conversational. Testifying that this is what is right in her life and promising that Heavenly Father and Christ are excited for her and we are too was so amazing. She and her fiancee came to church and Hermana Jacobson spoke and gave an awesome talk, and I sat down with them. They politely declined staying after sacrament which was a bummer but we are planning on heading over there again this week with hopefully a good followup lesson, there again though, His work... His way... by His power... NOT MINE.

Number three: we visited a less active geared up with our peppermint oil. We had a really good lesson with her surrounded by flies and roaches and a pit bull puppy that went to the bathroom on Jacobson's shoes. Later that night she called us and gave a us a referral. Her friend had called her in distress, her mom that helped take care of her kids left unexpectedly during the night and she is currently left alone with piling bills and crazy kids ages 7, 8, and 9. We went and met with her thinking that she was going to ask us for financial help, we can only provide spiritual help and somewhat surprisingly that's all she wanted, prayers. We prayed with her, talked with her kids, shared a Book of Mormon and told her we'd arrange for a ward member to pick them up for church. The kids were fighting over the picture of Christ we gave them and the Book of Mormon saying "I wanna read it! No I wanna read it!" It was kind of shocking but in a good way. We left and prayed prayed prayed that they would read and come to church. Our sweet ward member went to get pick her up but sadly ended up walking into the church alone. The little family had just woken up when she got there and weren't able to come. I was so bummed! It made me sad inside all day until in relief society we had a lesson on sharing the gospel and this sweet sister shared her experience driving to go pick them up. She shared that it had been a rough couple of days and she was praying that she could perk up and be a good example and have a happy attitude for this family so they would be excited for church. By the time she got to their house she was feeling a lot better and excited to walk up the driveway and stand in the rain outside their trailer until they came out. She said that she felt a connection with the mom and feels love for her and hopes they will come another time. She was grateful for the opportunity. I was awestruck that that was her experience, that's not what I had in mind but it's what Heavenly Father had in mind. His work... His way... by His power. NOT MINE.

I honestly just love being on a mission. I love Rockwood, I love my companion, I love our nasty moldy old house, I love the ward, I love the people that smoke cigarettes in our faces, I love the many people that have prophesied we are going to enter a nuclear world war (it's so weird being removed from world news but there are many people stirred up about something, all we can do is pray) I even love the crazy guy that brought a frog into his house mid lesson and then dropped it and it jumped up my dress, the same guy that came up to us in Walmart and said "What's up dude, I didn't know you could shop here, I thought you were like Mendenites and had to sew your own clothes..." I love the old man that wants us to find him a good Christian woman to marry, I love the paranoid woman that thinks a tree is going to crash through her house, I love the old woman that just had carpal tunnel surgery and always plays country music when we stop by and offer to help her with housework, I love the woman who when asked if a certain family lived there said "oh beep no they live in Chattanooga" and then slams the door, I love the two teen moms that want to talk more about God, I love the shirtless man in a wheelchair that is called the "Christmas Man" who puts together packages for kids in need for Christmas, I love the lady that talked to us for an hour about her suicidal niece that just got hauled off by the cops, I love the kid that runs past us while tracting screaming and looking for "Larry Butthead" apparently his cat,  I love you all who are reading this and hopefully smiling and most importantly I love my Savior, I learn more about Him each day and I know He is there and knows me perfectly. Turn to Him always and remember this is His work, it is done His way, always by His power. NOT OURS.
Love y'all
Have a blessed week!
Love,
Hermana Hall
                            Also,

I was thinking about the many things I've learned out here in Tennessee and the "culture shock" I have experienced and have decided to start a list of things that will help someone who is embarking on a mission especially one in Tennesee or I guess the south in general:

- You can say nearly anything as long as you follow it up with "Bless their heart" for example: "he is a blubbering idiot, but bless his heart" yep totally acceptable
-Shopping carts are called buggies
-Expect to see about 10 dead opossums in the road daily. I've heard a joke: "Why did the chicken cross the road? .... to show the opossum that it could be done"
-Expect to receive more advice about marriage and birthing children then ever before in your life. Everyone has an opinion about both of the two.
- The phrase "everyone and their dog" is so crazy true because I've been in two houses my entire mission that haven't owned a dog, two. That's it. Everyone and their dog means just about everyone.
-Peppermint oil under the nose to cope with unpleasant smells and scents
-I've also heard peppermint oil on the back of the neck to help feel cooler on hot days, will definitely be trying that one out in the summer
-Apparently creeping out into the intersection before making a left hand turn is a Utah thing and is illegal out here???
-Put a can of lysol in the car to spray clothes with before coming inside if you've been in a grungy house
-Divide personal study time into time slots have a set time amount for Bible study, Book of Mormon, Preach My Gospel, and/or other.
-Fold the corner of a pass-along card when leaving in a door, it stays in better and can go in outer glass doors
-A lot of people will say "I don't care to" that essentially means "I don't mind" it's an agreement not a dismissal
-Sticky notes are so awesome
-Always have cookie or muffin mixes in the cupboards for times when you want to take treats to people
-Investing five bucks for those canvas bins to put books and study materials in  is so worth it and they pack easy
-Wax melters really do help keep the house smelling nice
-Why pay to use car wash vacuums when you can use the one at your apartment with an extension cord?
-Many women should but don't wear bras
-There is an entire aisle in the store dedicated to sweet tea
-Both men and women have facial hair
-Forget y'all the one you need to know about is "you'uns" it's supposed to be something like you ings or young uns I think? We hear the phrase "you'uns aren't from here are ya?" ALL the time.
-sometimes it seems that EVERYONE smokes, some even roll their own cigarettes either by hand or a machine
-You can pickle just about anything
-There is a breed of cat that don't have tails, don't worry its not that their owners chopped them off but you never know
-Trailers are the norm houses are the exception
-Mac n' cheese is a side and almost considered a vegetable
-Cigarette butts are in buckets, vases, jars, cups, flower pots, boxes, Walmart sacks, on nearly every porch
-Toilets more often called "commodes"
-One of my all time favorite phrases is instead of saying "it's kind of like" they say "it's kindly like" and with the accent ah I love it!
-You can ask people to pray with you and it doesn't matter where you are sidewalks, doorsteps, parking lot, anywhere
-Often when you pray with people they'll hold hands and circle up with you
-Southern dessert classics: cobblers, pies, coconut cake, pineapple upside down cake
-Corn bread actually has kernels of corn in it

GOOD DOG, CARL!

'Nuff said...