This week was insane. It really can only be described in the word 'insane'. We had interviews and training by our Mission President on Friday, and General Conference on Saturday and Sunday, and then a surprise Typhoon on Monday, and P-Day got moved to Tuesday and WHEW. I'm just TIRED.
Interviews were wonderful - My Mission President gave me a lot of training and counsel that will really guide me for the rest of my Mission.
Conference was also wonderful - I loved pretty much every single talk. They all had a hidden message for me, and I know now that I have some work to do.
Missionary work this week was hard, but we did our best! I do have a rather interesting story to tell you though. While we were tracting one night, it was about 8 at night and we decided to go out and see if we couldn't talk to a couple more people before curfew that night. We were biking one direction and came up to a light. At the same corner was a woman and her son on a bike crossing to the other corner. I called out to them, and my companion began to explain who we were when the woman expressed complete shock, hopped off her bike, and ran over to the side of my bike. She asked me if I remembered her, and I told her yes (although it did not hit me until later). We had met her a couple weeks ago, and though she already had strong faith in Jesus Christ and we had offered our message to her and her son, she wasn't interested, so we commended her on her faith in Jesus Christ and friendly parted ways. Well here she was again, and she asked me if I remembered her and I told her I did. She then told me that she had been trying to remember my name for weeks but had not been able to. I showed her my name tag, and told her I go by 'Johnson Shimai'. I was then about to ask her how she had been but she grabbed one of my hands with her two, bowed her head, and began to PRAY. Right there, on the corner of that busy street, she began to pray aloud that she was grateful to meet me again, that she had been worried with the weather and dangerous streets that we biked along, and that God would protect me for the rest of my travels. The second she finished her prayer, she ran over to her bike, grabbed some chocolates from her basket and put them in my hand. She told me that she had been praying for my safety and protection, but that because she couldn't remember my name she had been sad and because she hadn't seen me recently she was worried (though we only met the once before). She then told me to be careful and hopped on her bike and hurried off, all while my mouth was just hanging open - I was in shock the whole time! It was a wonderful prayer; I hope I can meet this woman again sometime, she was so kind. I'm still in shock though...
Oh here's another shock;
So I talked to my mission president on Friday when we had interviews, and I told him that I had not gotten my "Trunky Papers" yet. These papers essentially come when you are 3 and a half transfers before going home. It's just a quick check to see if they'll be sending you home to the right place and seeing when and where your family will meet you. I have been waiting for my papers all transfer, but they hadn't come, and I thought maybe they were just late this transfer. He said he would look into it, so I didn't worry. I did ask him how hard it was to extend a mission and he said it was nearly impossible - even his best missionaries with the best of reasons had not been able to receive an extension. Well I ended up talking to another Elder who is going home the same day I am and he said he already got his papers, so then I thought it was a glitch in the system. I called the mission office a couple days later and she looked up my date and.... I'M GOING HOME APRIL 7th!! They've extended my mission for me! Haha it was like God was just double checking to see if I would be willing to extend, and then when I thought I couldn't, He just went and did it for me.
Do you remember 'A Bug's Life'? Because I don't. All I really remember from that movie are a couple of lyrics from the opening song;
'It's the time of your life, so live it well.
It's the time of your life, so live it well.
It may only go around just one time,
As far as I can tell.
It's the time of your life, so live it well.'
This is my mission life! And I am so blessed to be given more of it! I will only have this one year and a half to devote to the Lord's will. I've been praying to know if I should try to extend my mission, and received my answer by being told to read D&C 58 every day until I received more instruction. It's a wonderful chapter of those D's and C's, but after knowing I got my extension, I was struck by verse 16;
"Behold his mission is given unto him, and it shall not be given again."
This is my mission, and it will not be given again, so I'm going to do my best to make Him proud.
Interviews were wonderful - My Mission President gave me a lot of training and counsel that will really guide me for the rest of my Mission.
Conference was also wonderful - I loved pretty much every single talk. They all had a hidden message for me, and I know now that I have some work to do.
Missionary work this week was hard, but we did our best! I do have a rather interesting story to tell you though. While we were tracting one night, it was about 8 at night and we decided to go out and see if we couldn't talk to a couple more people before curfew that night. We were biking one direction and came up to a light. At the same corner was a woman and her son on a bike crossing to the other corner. I called out to them, and my companion began to explain who we were when the woman expressed complete shock, hopped off her bike, and ran over to the side of my bike. She asked me if I remembered her, and I told her yes (although it did not hit me until later). We had met her a couple weeks ago, and though she already had strong faith in Jesus Christ and we had offered our message to her and her son, she wasn't interested, so we commended her on her faith in Jesus Christ and friendly parted ways. Well here she was again, and she asked me if I remembered her and I told her I did. She then told me that she had been trying to remember my name for weeks but had not been able to. I showed her my name tag, and told her I go by 'Johnson Shimai'. I was then about to ask her how she had been but she grabbed one of my hands with her two, bowed her head, and began to PRAY. Right there, on the corner of that busy street, she began to pray aloud that she was grateful to meet me again, that she had been worried with the weather and dangerous streets that we biked along, and that God would protect me for the rest of my travels. The second she finished her prayer, she ran over to her bike, grabbed some chocolates from her basket and put them in my hand. She told me that she had been praying for my safety and protection, but that because she couldn't remember my name she had been sad and because she hadn't seen me recently she was worried (though we only met the once before). She then told me to be careful and hopped on her bike and hurried off, all while my mouth was just hanging open - I was in shock the whole time! It was a wonderful prayer; I hope I can meet this woman again sometime, she was so kind. I'm still in shock though...
Oh here's another shock;
So I talked to my mission president on Friday when we had interviews, and I told him that I had not gotten my "Trunky Papers" yet. These papers essentially come when you are 3 and a half transfers before going home. It's just a quick check to see if they'll be sending you home to the right place and seeing when and where your family will meet you. I have been waiting for my papers all transfer, but they hadn't come, and I thought maybe they were just late this transfer. He said he would look into it, so I didn't worry. I did ask him how hard it was to extend a mission and he said it was nearly impossible - even his best missionaries with the best of reasons had not been able to receive an extension. Well I ended up talking to another Elder who is going home the same day I am and he said he already got his papers, so then I thought it was a glitch in the system. I called the mission office a couple days later and she looked up my date and.... I'M GOING HOME APRIL 7th!! They've extended my mission for me! Haha it was like God was just double checking to see if I would be willing to extend, and then when I thought I couldn't, He just went and did it for me.
Do you remember 'A Bug's Life'? Because I don't. All I really remember from that movie are a couple of lyrics from the opening song;
'It's the time of your life, so live it well.
It's the time of your life, so live it well.
It may only go around just one time,
As far as I can tell.
It's the time of your life, so live it well.'
This is my mission life! And I am so blessed to be given more of it! I will only have this one year and a half to devote to the Lord's will. I've been praying to know if I should try to extend my mission, and received my answer by being told to read D&C 58 every day until I received more instruction. It's a wonderful chapter of those D's and C's, but after knowing I got my extension, I was struck by verse 16;
"Behold his mission is given unto him, and it shall not be given again."
This is my mission, and it will not be given again, so I'm going to do my best to make Him proud.
