Dear Friends & Family,
This week was hecka intense! P-Day was spent lounging, eating, and saying goodbye. I was still in the trio with Sister M and Sister B (Bartlett area), and Sister B and I continued our streak of ignoring sleep in order to talk to one another. It was a super fun time, but by this time I'm pretty sure Sister M was done hanging out with us , since we're so crazy.
We did contact this cool guy named D, however, who told us he is super excited to learn from us because he has spent a lot of time researching Mormons, and he feels like out of all the religions out there, our belief system matches up best with his own. He works a lot, and that makes him hard to see, but I am excited to see how things go with him.
Tuesday we were still in the trio, and we spent a lot of the day allowing Sister M to say goodbye to those people she had grown close to over the past two transfers. I was happy that my first experience with the sadness of leaving an area was not my own, but it was cool to see how many lives she had touched in the brief three months that we were together in Lakeland.
That evening we had to eat dinner and then head to pick up Sister M from the airport. She is Sister B's companion in Bartlett. Her mother passed away the previous Thursday night, and she had flown home for the funeral, thus the trio. We did not end up eating at the member's home we had scheduled dinner in, however, because while we were there and she was cooking, the Pyrex exploded in the oven! It was super crazy, but we didn't have time to even stay and help before we headed to the airport!
Sister S, whose house we were at, drove us to the airport, and we were so worried we would be late, only to arrive and find out her flight was an hour and fifteen minutes behind and wouldn't be landing until 9:00! Sister B and I were so tired, and just a little slap happy, and we got very silly in the back of Sister S's car. It was so fun though, I am so thankful to have such a good friend and example in Sister B. Since we hadn't eaten yet and we had plenty of time, Sister S took us to Chick-Fil-A. We accidentally drove straight through Orange Mound to get there though! Poor Sister S is new to Memphis and was not prepared for that level of sketchy.
We finally got Sister M though, and it was so wonderful to have her back with us. We all love her so much, and I am unbelievably thankful to know her. I am impressed by her every day.
Wednesday was transfer meeting, and I sent Sister M off to Arkansas at 8:00 am. I think she was ready to go. She has been on the Tennessee side almost her whole mission and I think she was ready for the change. I also think that training me was not the experience she expected it to be, but I am thankful for the lessons I learned from her. I know we were meant to serve together, and I hope I have been humble enough these last two transfers to learn all that the Lord had prepared for me to learn.
The biggest surprise of the week was definitely when I showed up to transfer meeting prepared to train, and when President W called my name, it wasn't a greenie's name he called next.....it was Sister M!!!!! I was surprised, but so, so happy. I am thankful that I have been blessed with the opportunity to serve Sister M, to be served by Sister M, and to serve with her.
I was very excited to train, and I will admit that initially I was a little bit disappointed when I discovered that I wasn't, but I have realized that those feelings came from my own pride more than anything else, and these past few days with Sister M have been absolutely wonderful. I have gained such a powerful testimony of the revelation that goes into transfers, and even though I allowed my pride to initially make me disappointed, I am now so thankful for a Heavenly Father who knows me better than I know myself. I know this companionship is divinely inspired, and I am so blessed to be a part of it. She continuously blows my mind with her strength, courage, and capacity to love. I just hope I can be the companion that she needs and deserves. She is literally a beacon to all those who know her, and I am going to do everything in my power to help her in this time of need, because so many people need her light.
AND, Sister B went STL (sister training leader)!!! What a HUGE blessing!! She is now my leader, and I have the opportunity to work with her, go on exchanges with her, and be blessed by her knowledge, example, and strength. I literally could not have asked for anything better.
We spent most of the rest of the week tracting. Our teaching pool has gotten somewhat shallow as of late, and we are working hard to build it back up! It has been frustrating to see the effects of inconsistent work, and I feel bad that Sister M became new to the area, with very few people to teach, but we have committed ourselves to turning the area around, working hard to build on our successes, and strengthening our weaknesses. There is no such thing as a dead area, but there is such thing as dead missionaries. There have been points in my mission when we have not worked very hard, and even avoided work we didn't want to do, and I NEVER want to feel the way I felt then, again. I don't want to be a dead missionary. I want to be the type of missionary who leaves no room for doubt about their dedication to the work. I have a while to get there, but I want it. The Lord needs me to be that missionary.
One last funny story- we are currently on bike week, and we don't have a key chain, so I have just been carrying around our loose apartment key. Well Sunday night, I left the key in our apartment and locked us out!!! I was SO upset with myself, and I didn't know what to do. I felt prompted to try and pop the lock with a credit card, the way they always do in the movies, but both of my credit cards were too flimsy. I was freaking out because it was already 9:30 and we were stuck outside our apartment! Suddenly I remembered my clipper card from my trip to San Francisco in April. It was a thick, solid card, and I had never thrown it away for some reason!! I tried it, and it took a couple of times, but I popped the lock and got us into our apartment! I am officially a safecracker.
I will do my best to never forget the key again, but I am very thankful for a Heavenly Father who helps us out of bad situations, even when we got ourselves into them by being silly or forgetful.
Over all it was a very good week, I am thankful for this ward, the people we are teaching, and the people we haven't found yet.
Sister Hannah Kathryn Thomas
ARLM
Sister G gave me this outfit! Nike leggings and Texans shirt for workouts! Houston represent!! :)
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