Today Sister Liu is going to Arlington with other missionaries who are
leaving within the next 6 months so I'm chilling with a couple sisters
at a different apartment. It's a party. They have a cool sofa. And
wifi (:
Last week was really interesting and memorable.
Monday night after P day ended we went to Sister Connell's house.
She's a single older missionary who is in charge of President Cooke's
schedule and a million other things. She also comes to the Chinese
branch every week and is awesome. Sister Connell invited the four
Chinese elders, us, and 3 other companionships of sisters and a senior
couple over for Thanksgiving dinner. It was so fun. We had traditional
turkey and potatoes and whatnot and we all talked and enjoyed
ourselves and played charades. It was a fun break.
Tuesday was crazy. After district meeting in the morning we went to a
service project in DC. We got to prepare food to feed the homeless
Thanksgiving dinner. I helped to cut a ton of apple pies and to
organize pastries. I enjoyed it.
Sister Connell offered to give us a ride back to her house after the
service project and then we would just take the metro home from there.
She also was giving two other sisters, Sister Connelly and Sister
Kohler, a ride. Sister Liu has never seen China Town so Sister Connell
decided to drive through it. They put in China Town on the GPS and we
drove through super bad traffic for over 20 minutes. When we got there
it was just a dinky restaurant called China Town and not the actual
town. Sister Connell was so mad haha. We then started driving home but
the traffic was horrible and we ended up spending over 2 hours in the
car getting home while cars were honking left and right at Sister
Connell and Sister Connelly was using the GPS to give directions.
I had been feeling sick on Monday but woke up feeling alright on
Tuesday. However as the day progressed my throat started really
hurting and I started getting body aches and chills. We had a dinner
appointment with our investigator, Lin, that night and I wasn't going
to cancel. As soon as we got to Sister Connell's house, we got on the
metro and went back towards DC to meet him at a restaurant. We didn't
have time to go home and change so we just went in our jeans. We met
him and went into a Pizza Restaurant that had a bar with lots of loud
people drinking. I went into the bathroom and felt horrible and prayed
that I would make it through dinner without puking. I actually managed
to eat three pieces of pizza and it didn't come back up the next day.
We had a really good conversation with him so I'm glad we went.
Wednesday I was at the vc and spent three hours drawing for a
Christmas project another elder and I am working on while Sister Liu
was in the temple with the other missionaries who are going home next
week. We didn't really do much the rest of the day since I still felt
sick.
Thursday was Thanksgiving! It was a non proselyting day. At noon we
went to a members house where there were 15 other people and we had
turkey. We then went home for a few hours to enjoy the day off. At 6pm
we went to the branch President, President Huang's, house for dinner.
Instead of having the usual Thanksgiving dinner we had hot pot which
is a traditional Chinese dinner. We also had ribs and chicken legs on
the side and oranges for dessert. Chinese people don't really eat
dessert unless it's fruit. That's why they are all skinny. It was
pretty good and definitely a first.
Friday I woke up with no voice. I came back after a few hours although
it was lower. Saturday morning I woke up with no voice again and it's
been gone ever since. So my sickness turned into a cold. Great.
Yesterday was a good day. We had church which was grand. After church
we went to our branch mission leaders house to teach Lin. We had lunch
and taught him the rest of the commandments and went over the
baptismal interview questions. He has his interview Wednesday night
and then he's getting baptized this Saturday! It was fun and awkward
teaching him with no voice.
After church a less active couple called and invited us over for
dinner. They have been ignoring us even when they see us at the
library or the weeks that they've started coming back. For some reason
they had a change of heart and so we went over and enjoyed homemade
dumplings. I love dumplings.
After the meal was over and while we were talking and I choked out
Chinese words, Lin called us. President and Sister Cooke were having
FHE at their home and we had invited Lin but he said he was too busy.
It started at 7 and he called at 6:15 to say he actually wants to go
and asked if we can find him a ride. Anything for my investigator! I
went into the hallway and spent 15 minutes making a ton of phone calls
to senior couples and the zone leaders to find him a ride. It was kind
of funny because I couldn't talk very well and every time I hung up
the phone Lin or a missionary or a potential ride would call. It was a
super stressful 15 minutes but I finally found him a ride. I then went
back to where Sister Liu and the couple were and I apologized and
explained the situation in Chinese and then we said a prayer and left.
We drove to the mission home as fast as possible while calling
President Cooke for directions. We got there 10 minutes late but thank
goodness they were starting late and Lin got there 20 minutes later
right as the lesson was starting. The lesson was about Christmas and
what we are going to give the Savior for Christmas. We each wrote down
something and Lin showed me his to see if he spelled it right and it
said "keep the commandments." (: (: who is this guy? He's the best. We
then played a Christmas carol game which was fun and then had dessert.
Lin really enjoyed it. Apparently I forgot to mention that it was at
the mission president's home so he was surprised. He said it was very
eye opening and that he wants to come to the next one. I'm so glad he
came and had fun. There were a ton of people there so he was able to
see a lot of other missionaries and people who are either
investigating or were recently baptized. It was a good night.
This morning as we drove to the metro I felt so sick. I was worried to
the point that I grabbed a bag from our car and held it as I drove and
took it on the metro. I really hope I'm better by tomorrow because its
Ambassador night and I've been looking forward to this my whole
mission and I will be so upset if I'm sick or still don't have my
voice. Lame. Lame. Lame.
Now for a little bit of news. This is a secret. I'm not getting
another Chinese sister next transfer. Salt Lake won't send a Temple
Square sister because it's festival and they aren't supposed to be in
the VC so I'm going to go back to English for a transfer, maybe two. I
found out Saturday. Now I don't know what to do with our
investigators. I feel like God is giving me a break. I have loved
being Chinese but it was super stressful and I wasn't super thrilled
at the thought of being there for the rest of my mission so I'm glad
I'm getting a little break and then I'll go back. President Cooke told
me that I'm going to be really happy where he's putting me next
transfer so I'm very curious about where I'm going. I will go back to
Chinese for sure, I just don't know when. So yeah. (:
I'm so excited for Festival! Sister Liu and I are on shift Tuesday to
Saturday this week so it's gonna be so fun!
Mosiah 2:17
Love you all! I'll attach a few pictures of the service project and a
couple drawings I've done this week.
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