I think I'll start off by saying that I haven't had a week so
stressful since the MTC (and that's a story I should share with you in person).
On Monday, Aoki left early for transfers and stayed in another apartment
closer to where the actual transfers would take place, so Sister Abe and I were
left unexpectedly in a very quiet apartment....We have gotten to know each other
a lot more this week, we both don't like quiet.
On Tuesday, we went to see the transfers take place. I got to see Sister
Grant! But I don't think she was happy to see me haha. After that we went to a
Trainer's Training, where Sister Abe and I shared our insights on the training
program with other missionaries who would be receiving trainees this transfer.
It wasn't until after this meeting when I received about 4 phone calls that I
realized just how hectic this ward can be. (That's not necessarily a bad thing -
they just happen to be on-the-go, all-the-time). That night we visited a recent
convert, who essentially told me that he is going less-active, meaning that he
doesn't want to be involved with the church. It broke my heart - when I came to
this area, he loved the gospel so much that he was preparing to serve a
mission.
What happened?
Then later that night, another recent convert calls me to tell me that she
is so sick, she had a fever of 39.9~ (in Cel.) and that she needed to cancel our
appointment we had made to study the gospel together. This would mean that we
would not be able to meet with her for the next fifteen days or so, because her
son was then scheduled to have surgery on his knees and that recovery time, all
ten days of it, is spent in the hospital.
On Wednesday, we taught Tsuchida, and prepared a birthday part for the
recent-convert-less-active. He was so happy, it's been a while since I've seen
him smile like that. I just remember going home that night feeling totally
exhausted, and just wanting to cry, knowing that I'm doing my best but that
things will still fall through. I love this boy so much, but I can only do so
much. I've had to acknowledge that right now, I just need to be his friend, and
do all that I can to keep his dimming faith burning. I had also tried to visit
the sick recent convert, but she wasn't home. I told my companion how stressed I
was feeling and how I was at a loss of what to do, and she decided we should
make her some food.
We didn't have so much good food on our shelves, but on Thursday, we made
her a mushroom pasta, some fruit salad, and picked out a health drink at the
grocery store. We dropped it off at her house. She didn't have much time to look
at it, (she was so sick, she couldn't even speak) but we got a text from her
later that day saying she was so grateful for it.
On Friday we visited her again, and she was doing much better. She told us
that when we gave her the food, she hadn't eaten in almost 24 hours, and the
food tasted so good! It helped her so much. I almost cried, I was so happy and
relieved.
The weekend starts to wind down there, time filled with preparations for
the next ward event, meeting potential investigators, planning and training,
which brings me to my Disney reference for this week;
Sister Abe is doing so very much better with her training. She wasn't awful
before, but her head was so in the clouds and not down here with me where it
needed to be that I was so nervous that she would not make it when she is left
here in Fukutoku and I need to leave. This week she has surprised me as I've
given her more and more responsibility, and with seemingly no (almost, there was
a little) struggle, she has been able to take it in her stride. It seems like we
might make it out of training okay!
This week I've been trying to have her get a bearing of where she is at all
times. I have her be in front when we ride bikes and try as hard as I can not to
tell her where to go. I've given her the cellphone, so she has a GPS if she
needs it, but sometimes even that can't help her. I never realized my mom wasn't
kidding when she said I was blessed with a sense of direction until I met
someone who didn't have a hint of one. Yesterday, we were riding along, and I
asked her; "Where are you going?"
She replied, "I don't...know"
"Are we going to visit an investigator? or are we going home to do more
preparations?2
"I don't know...."
"Well what direction are you heading in?"
"I don't know....Where should I go?"
"Well that depends on where you want to go?"
"I don't know..."
and I laughed to myself as I finished in my head "then it really doesn't
matter where you go".
Gotta love some Alice in Wonderland.
