I HAAAATE summer. It's officially come and I don't think it's going away anytime soon. I thought I hated it before I was a missionary, but now it's just dreadful. Riding a bike in a skirt, wearing a backpack and a helmet and an extra layer of clothes, in the middle of the day through a bunch of humidity... All the while trying to look normal enough so that someone will somehow have a desire to keep a conversation with us. But hey, at least we're not in South America.
Basically this whole week we spent meeting with "R", planning for "R", communicating with "R", talking about "R", thinking about "R", for the purpose of trying to decide if he's ready to be baptized on July 12. I'm not really sure how to explain it, but the whole week I was so torn about if this day was right for him or not. I've never felt so stumped about a big decision I've had to make in my entire life. I prayed and prayed and prayed and fasted and still didn't know, until last night in our lesson with him, we both felt confident that we needed to move it to the 27th. I'm not sure if I've explained this before, but last month, Sister Stuart and I fasted that we would be able to find someone who would be ready to be baptized the next month. Right after we began our fast, my foot got bitten by a spider, which caused us to get our bikes stolen, which led us to finding "R". I know that he'll be baptized, it's just a matter of when he's ready.
In other news, "KLS" is officially in France :( but he told us the other day that he might only be gone for 2 weeks!! Hallelujah! P-days aren't p-days without a lesson in the evening with "KLS" at the church. Last Monday, he made a surprising announcement, and said that he wants us to come over and officially meet his wife! This was big news! Ever since we've been meeting with him, he's always said that he doesn't have a good marriage and wants to move out and find a new apartment and would never let us talk about his wife. But he came to us and invited us to come over. He wanted it to be sneaky, so this is what he told us to do, in his old Chinese man logic: "You're going to come over and pretend you're trying out this new massage chair I just bought, to see if you want to buy one for your uncle. You'll show up around lunch time when I'm making food, so I'll be polite and invite you to eat with us. Then you can talk with my wife." Well, we did just that. Turns out she's just as crazy as her husband but doesn't want anything to do with us, hahaha. Worth a try I guess.
In reference to the title of this week, we had exchanges this week and Sister Knecht from Hannover came to be with me for the day. We met with "R" Thursday morning, and he told us to "bring our own cups." Meaning he was going to bring some tea and we should bring some cups to drink out of. We met at the park and starting drinking this "authentic Slovakian tea" (which we weren't completely positive was in accordance to the Word of Wisdom, even though he swore it was), which tasted wretched and we ended up pouring on the grass behind his back, hahaha.
Hmm, what else did we do this week. We celebrated the Fourth of July at ping pong on Friday with sugar cookies with red, white, and blue sprinkles and bought fresh strawberries and wore America colors. We had Zone Training Meeting, which I learned A TON from. We made brownies for Emily's birthday yesterday (she's finally 15!! She definitely acts older:)). And OH, here's a funny story from this week:
When we ate with "KLS" and President Jensen and his wife at the church, "KLS" put chicken wings directly on the rank in the oven so that all the oil and fat from the chicken would drip off and it would be healthier. Well let me tell ya, that oil dripped off. We forgot about it until Friday, when we came to the church starving. We had some food with us but they didn't have a microwave to warm it up in, so we turned on the oven. After about 10 minutes, I opened up the oven and smoke just POURS out. To make matters worse, there was a super, super old less active playing on the organ in the next room over, so we couldn't just open all the doors and let the kitchen air out, because she'd probably keel over and die right on the organ. Well, we couldn't just leave it, because we were partly responsible for it, so we just stood in the kitchen and fanned the smoke that was seeping out the sides of the oven. My eyes were burning and I could taste smoke on my tongue even in the other room, that's how bad it was. We came back the next day to clean it, and the oil had basically just destroyed the bottom of the oven and become a cancerous blob of charred blackness. As far as we know, it still works. We hope.
WELL, that's about it for this week. The work is progressing still. We're already in the fourth week of the transfer, which is just beyond crazy. Time really goes too fast. I'm so so grateful for all of the many things I'm learning as a missionary. This mission and these people are changing me right to the core. I love this work, and you should too. :)
luv ya,
Sister Bia Seamons
Basically this whole week we spent meeting with "R", planning for "R", communicating with "R", talking about "R", thinking about "R", for the purpose of trying to decide if he's ready to be baptized on July 12. I'm not really sure how to explain it, but the whole week I was so torn about if this day was right for him or not. I've never felt so stumped about a big decision I've had to make in my entire life. I prayed and prayed and prayed and fasted and still didn't know, until last night in our lesson with him, we both felt confident that we needed to move it to the 27th. I'm not sure if I've explained this before, but last month, Sister Stuart and I fasted that we would be able to find someone who would be ready to be baptized the next month. Right after we began our fast, my foot got bitten by a spider, which caused us to get our bikes stolen, which led us to finding "R". I know that he'll be baptized, it's just a matter of when he's ready.
In other news, "KLS" is officially in France :( but he told us the other day that he might only be gone for 2 weeks!! Hallelujah! P-days aren't p-days without a lesson in the evening with "KLS" at the church. Last Monday, he made a surprising announcement, and said that he wants us to come over and officially meet his wife! This was big news! Ever since we've been meeting with him, he's always said that he doesn't have a good marriage and wants to move out and find a new apartment and would never let us talk about his wife. But he came to us and invited us to come over. He wanted it to be sneaky, so this is what he told us to do, in his old Chinese man logic: "You're going to come over and pretend you're trying out this new massage chair I just bought, to see if you want to buy one for your uncle. You'll show up around lunch time when I'm making food, so I'll be polite and invite you to eat with us. Then you can talk with my wife." Well, we did just that. Turns out she's just as crazy as her husband but doesn't want anything to do with us, hahaha. Worth a try I guess.
In reference to the title of this week, we had exchanges this week and Sister Knecht from Hannover came to be with me for the day. We met with "R" Thursday morning, and he told us to "bring our own cups." Meaning he was going to bring some tea and we should bring some cups to drink out of. We met at the park and starting drinking this "authentic Slovakian tea" (which we weren't completely positive was in accordance to the Word of Wisdom, even though he swore it was), which tasted wretched and we ended up pouring on the grass behind his back, hahaha.
Hmm, what else did we do this week. We celebrated the Fourth of July at ping pong on Friday with sugar cookies with red, white, and blue sprinkles and bought fresh strawberries and wore America colors. We had Zone Training Meeting, which I learned A TON from. We made brownies for Emily's birthday yesterday (she's finally 15!! She definitely acts older:)). And OH, here's a funny story from this week:
When we ate with "KLS" and President Jensen and his wife at the church, "KLS" put chicken wings directly on the rank in the oven so that all the oil and fat from the chicken would drip off and it would be healthier. Well let me tell ya, that oil dripped off. We forgot about it until Friday, when we came to the church starving. We had some food with us but they didn't have a microwave to warm it up in, so we turned on the oven. After about 10 minutes, I opened up the oven and smoke just POURS out. To make matters worse, there was a super, super old less active playing on the organ in the next room over, so we couldn't just open all the doors and let the kitchen air out, because she'd probably keel over and die right on the organ. Well, we couldn't just leave it, because we were partly responsible for it, so we just stood in the kitchen and fanned the smoke that was seeping out the sides of the oven. My eyes were burning and I could taste smoke on my tongue even in the other room, that's how bad it was. We came back the next day to clean it, and the oil had basically just destroyed the bottom of the oven and become a cancerous blob of charred blackness. As far as we know, it still works. We hope.
WELL, that's about it for this week. The work is progressing still. We're already in the fourth week of the transfer, which is just beyond crazy. Time really goes too fast. I'm so so grateful for all of the many things I'm learning as a missionary. This mission and these people are changing me right to the core. I love this work, and you should too. :)
luv ya,
Sister Bia Seamons
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