Hey everyone!
I hope you've had a great week, and I hope you're planning for another good one. : ) I know I am.
So, Transfer calls came last Monday (sorry about not sending an email, I'm working on typing it up and hopefully I'll get it sent out this week). After all that hype about transfers, I actually started to think we wouldn't get one, so it was a surprise after all. I'm now pinkwashing in Beulah, North Dakota, training Sister Robinson from Seattle. It is amazing.
So, let's get going!
As I already said, last Monday we got our transfer calls. So that morning we decided we wanted to beat all the Rally traffic to Walmart, so at 8:00 a.m. we drove over to Spearfish to get our groceries. Sister C was getting super jumpy, and I was getting complacent, and then all of a sudden our Belle Fourche phone went off with President Hess's ringtone and we started jumping up and down next to the apples... He also drew out the suspense by talking about motorcycles and Rally and all that unimportant stuff. : ) And then he finally started talking about training, and then he announced that I would be pinkwashing in Beulah, North Dakota, while training a new Sister, and that Sister C would stay here in both areas and train as well. Holy guacamole! Suddenly that transfer feeling flew right back into my gut, and we were nervous and laughing and started buying weird food. I guess now I know why they do calls in the morning, so that we're at home when we get news. Oh well. I got some awesome motorcycle pictures. I took at good nap that P-day. The Js had us over for dinner that night, and we also had a fun FHE with our Elder Birch story, and they fed us a delicious brownie/strawberry/cream cheese trifle. I love that family! I've learned so much from Sister Js' wisdom and patience.
Tuesday we were summoned (demanded, almost) to Rapid for a 12-Week Training Meeting, even though we were all done training. We ended up talking about what is important in training, because in the Rapid City Zone all the companionships (except 1 I think?) will be training new missionaries, and I think that goes the same for the whole mission. It's almost like that wave of missionaries from 2013, except it's two years later. How exciting! Out with the old missionaries, in with the new. We stopped by Minnie R's home (met her on exchanges with Sister G), she let us in and we taught her the Restoration and I'm pretty sure Sister C will be seeing her at Church soon. Hopefully the waters of Baptism, right? Then we went to Sister Wehr's house again to help recover after Girls' Camp, and they also fed us taco salad for dinner. And then we had our "last lesson" with Ashley, but they were too sad so we scheduled another for the next day.
Wednesday was crazy productive! At 10 a.m. we had our first lesson with Sister B's grandchildren, and now they're both on date for baptism and new investigators. Then we met with Caitlin, then had lunch (I worked on packing mostly), then we met with Ashley again, said final goodbyes, and had area call while I finished packing. On the side note, I seem to have picked up a few more things in this area. With all my bedding and winter AND summer clothes, I had to kneel on my suitcase in order to zip it closed! I felt so bad for the Elders who had to heft it up! Sister S and Sister Stein fed us a snack of fresh vegetables (my request), and gave me a gift of hollyhock and chive seeds. Then we took our dinner hour, and everything was all packed up so we ended up taking a nap at 5:00 (weird, right?), then we drove out of Belle Fourche and that was that. I hadn't even cried yet, so I thought all was pretty well. Ha ha. We stopped at the Han's on the way up to Rapid City since they hadn't signed my book and I hadn't gotten a picture with them, and Jackie was there and as soon as I gave her a hug I just started bawling. The hardest part of being a missionary is leaving the people you love. We had a pretty somber ride after that. It was raining and all the poor motorcyclists looked miserable, and I kept wiping tears off my face and trying to help Sister C be happy. Whew. Emotionally exhausting. I'll never forget looking at Sturgis and knowing that it would never be the same there. : (
Transfers. Meh.
We stayed in Rapid City with all the Sisters in the Zone who were either being transferred or going home--I got to see Sister N again! I can't believe it but she's already a dying missionary. She actually probably gave her homecoming address on Sunday! Actually, I can hardly believe I'm already almost at my year mark. It's going by way too fast!
Sister C was trying to pretend that we were just up early for some training. I kept taking pictures. : )
So Thursday morning we woke up and drove to the Stake Center. Sister C and I were the only ones on time, go figure. : ) We did fine until the last hug goodbye, and then I just started crying again. I decided I'd better not ever get married and have kids, because it is WAY hard to say goodbye. I can empathize a little bit better how hard it must be to send your missionary off. Heartstrings = snipped. And then the transfer van drove back through a nice tour of my area--Sturgis, Belle Fourche, and even Fruitdale, Newell, and Nisland! That felt a little like beating a dead horse, but whatever. Our 6-hour-long (?) drive went by pretty quick, and I was suddenly in the parking lot by the Bismarck Church building and Temple, trying to find my new Sister. And I found her! Her name is Sister R, she's from Seattle and reminds me of a morphed reflection of myself. Just kind of the same person. It's super cool and weird. I totally love being her companion. : ) She has a fabulous wardrobe and loves to read.
Then there was some crazy stuff about how the Elders we were pinkwashing in Beulah...one of them had to go to the emergency room that day so they weren't done packing and their car was in Beulah? Anyway, we ended up watching the Assistant Elder Gruver pack all 4 of our huge suitcases into the back of a Jeep Compass (an amazing feat), then three Elders sat in the back with the rest of our luggage on their laps. I felt so bad, but what can you do? We then drove, all five of us, to Beulah, North Dakota. It's about an hour and a half from Bismarck, so not bad.
Beaulah is beautiful. I've never had such an amazing welcome to an area before. From the first moment we got there, Sister Bill, the RS Pres, drove down to feed us dinner and then showed us the Church and a Branch director and a map of the town, and then the next day Sister Whit, also in RS presidency, fed us lunch and drove us on a tour of Beulah, and then we've been fed dinner every day since then (and our meals are looking up). So Beulah was opened about two years ago for missionary work and did amazingly well, they had about 15 baptisms in one year, and then it slowed down and the members have been hoping for Sister Missionaries since most people here are stay-at-home Moms. Our Branch covers about 15 towns, most of which have active missionary work happening. We drive all over, we get to deal with Mountain Time and Central Time, the members are just spoiling us because they're so excited for Sisters, and to top it off Sister R and I are having a good time getting to know each other as we try to get organized.
That's pretty much what's happening.
Church was amazing yesterday. We have a brand-new building, but it's looking like they'll need to expand again. Sister R and I got blessings from President Thu, who is amazing and told us over and over that we need to ask them for help because they're ready to be on fire. Holy cow! Promised land indeed. I feel so blessed and humbled to be here.
To top it all off, there are sunflower fields in our area. Ever since I first went to the Rapid City mission home and saw a picture of Sister And in the sunflowers, I hoped I'd get to have that opportunity. I will take a million flower pictures I'm sure. : )
There are so many amazing things happening that all I can say is I lay down on the floor of the apartment, unable to contain all my happiness and excitement.
As Hymn 227 says,
"There is gladness in my soul today,
I love you all! Have a wonderful week!
Love,
Sister F
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