3 Aug 2010

Well this past week has involved a lot of meeting new people, which is great. It is always a little odd to be transferred, even though this is only my second time doing so. But nonetheless, it still makes you feel like a brand new missionary in good and bad ways. Bad in that sometimes you have no idea what is going on, and good in that it seems that everything is possible ahead. The branch members that I have met so far seem super awesome, and I am excited to get them more involved. They don't come out with the missionaries very much but they all seem so willing to that I think that is just a feeling that has been passed down through missionaries. Sometimes all it takes is asking. We have two area books because the area is one that gets split and combined all the time. I think that it will stay combined for a little while because they just took away our other phone, the area used to have two phones so it was easier to split. I have been going through the area books and there are TONS of former investigators in this area! Most easily translated that means that there are a lot of potential investigators. Just a quick explaination, an area book is where we keep all the information about the people we are teaching, and the people that have been taught. Their records stay in that book until they move or die or go through the temple, so sometimes that means a long time. I always wonder what these former investigators think when new missionaries show up on their doorstep after years of not coming. Little do they know... ;) Speaking of what people think, I have always wanted to do like a photo exhibit of the world from the point of view of missionaries, or missionary work from the point of view of the world (maybe a future project Ky, because I sure can't do it but I do want to see it). Let me explain, there are so many times when we as missionaries see things and you know we are only seeing part of the story, but I would love to capture those moments. Then there are times when we see people's faces and I wish I could see us from their view. Sis. Dewitt and I have started pointing out some of those moments. For example, yesterday we went to teach a less-active. He is a single man, and the family he is living with wasn't home so we had to teach outside. The only place with shade at 3 in the afternoon was under the car ports in the parking lot which faces the main street in our area. And the only place to sit in these car ports were the little parking curbs. Here we were, Sis Dewitt and I sitting in skirts on these curbs with Santiago squatting against a wall. I wish I could have seen that from the view of the many cars passing us on the street! It is amazing that in this crazy world, there are little mini-systems, and when you are in one of those mini-systems, you forget all about the larger system we are all a part of. Missionary work is like that. We are so wrapped up in our little world that sometimes I forget there are people on their way to work passing our car in the street. There are people watching the news inside the houses we knock. There are things going on around that we are just not aware of. The best thing, however, is that in missionary work none of that matters. Missionary work, or the gospel itself, is probably the one mini-system that makes the macrosystem better. We don't have to know the chaos going on in the world around us to be able to make it better. I think that sometimes people watch the news and get so preoccupied with what is happening and worry so much about what they can do to help. Many settle on thinking they can't help hunger in Africa or homelessness in India. That isn't true. In fact, whenever we see that and want to help the world, the fool-proof way to do so is to walk outside and give a Book of Mormon to your neighbor, to invite your coworker to church, or to share your testimony with your friend. It is amazing how effective one baptism is in bringing peace to the world. This is the Lord's world, and we can help in only through the Lord's work.

Not sure where that tangent came from, but I know that it is true and I am so grateful that the Lord gave me the opportunity and called me to be a part of His work 24/7 for 18 months.
Desde Mesa, con amor,
Hermana Ladd