The One Where Katelynn Wasn't Baptized
Companion's Log
Stardate: Jan 28-Feb 3, 2020
Oh dang.
How do I even begin to describe this week? So much has happened and yet I still can't believe it's already p-day again. Alright here comes a long one but it's worth it, trust me!
Okay let's just cut to the chase. Basically we got some really hard news from Katelynn's mom on Monday, and I kinda maybe had a little panic attack I guess? Yeah it's a huge mess and I took it really hard, probably the lowest, hardest point of my mission so far. It was rough. After President told us on Monday I sat outside alone in the cold for like an hour. When I was finally able to come in I got a blessing, tried to go back to normal, but kept thinking about it so I cried during our lesson and we decided to call it a night and drown our sorrows in bread lol
The next day was kinda weird, we did Come Follow Me, lunch and service with Sister Lewis's district (the deadbeats) but then our appointment and dinner canceled so we ended up taking a mental health day, napped and journaled. I was able to process everything some more and actually felt a lot better by the end of the night. We also heard from our ward mission leader that Katelynn is going to postpone her baptism for now, which relieved a lot of stress because we didn't have to figure out this whole situation in just a few days.
Did some service at the Palace Playhouse, painting sets, so that was cool. We had Zone Conference take 2, my zone this time. And it was amazing! I really loved it, got so much out of it, lots of revelation, really uplifting and inspiring (and very different from the one we went to for Sister Lewis's zone). So that was super great. Even better was that after like 3 freaking months of back and forth doorstep "phone tag" and last minute cancellations we finally had a contact with Nielza!! Finally gave her the Christmas present we got for her lol! we were expecting to just drop it off so we didn't arrange to have any translators with us but we were able to carry a conversation with her pretty well.
We decided to go to Sister Lewis's district council this time, and since the Ap's were busy out of town, Elder Savage and Sorensen needed something to do so...another revenge prank on the elders in Lewis's district who we found out helped prank our apartment and who also conveniently never lock their door. Yup. But first we had a cereal party district breakfast. Our dinner for that night had to cancel because they were going on a campout with the young women, so we were like how bout we come? So we took an awesome drive through the beautiful mountains and had dinner with the young women in a yurt. Then we got to share our testimonies and why we wanted to serve and answer their questions about missions. It was so cool the spirit was so strong and I loved it! (even though we got a little lost in the dark cold mountains after that)
We also had an awesome Come Follow me study with the homie district. It was so dang good I learned so much. Likening scriptures to yourself is so freaking powerful! I really love that concept. We can read the Book of Mormon everyday for the rest of our lives and it will never get old because as we grow and change and continue to liken we get something new out of the same stories and verses we've already read. I've heard the story of Nephi breaking his bow a million times but it's never resonated this strongly with me before and now I truly understand what we are to learn from it.
I learned so much about the danger of expectations. I had expectations for how I wanted to see and feel God's love in my life. A certain mold for how I expected Him and my friends to show that they cared about me. But when those expectations weren't met I could only be painfully disappointed and lash out in self-pity. I instead need to observe and appreciate how they already do show their love for me. Later in the week I realized the same was true about receiving answers to prayers, we can't put God's voice in a box of expectations, that only blinds us to all the ways He is speaking to us. Maybe Laman and Lemuel prayed and had faith that the Lord would provide but they expected it come to them. God could send manna from the heavens like He did for Moses or send ravens with pieces of bread like He did for Elijah. But for Nephi, He had already provided the trees for wood and materials he needed to make his own bow. The Lord could have miraculously provided them with food, it is certainly within His power and mercy, but Nephi had to act for himself and use the resources already available to him.
So another complicated, long, mood-swingy week. But here's what I truly believe and what I told the young women: serving a mission is hard, probably some of the hardest stuff I've been through, but I have already learned so much about myself and the gospel in just these 4 months, I have grown so much as a person in just this week! My mom always says "you can't have a testimony without a test" I know that when faith is tested it becomes strong. 1 Nephi 17: 1-2 "...And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness...And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us" It's about how we respond to our trials, about seeing them as opportunities to progress and witness Heavenly Father's love and power. I know that as we truly come unto Him, He will ease our burdens that we won't feel them upon our backs.
-Sister Dunn out
P.s. if you've gotten this far thank you for bearing with me and reading all that.
Stardate: Jan 28-Feb 3, 2020
Oh dang.
How do I even begin to describe this week? So much has happened and yet I still can't believe it's already p-day again. Alright here comes a long one but it's worth it, trust me!
Okay let's just cut to the chase. Basically we got some really hard news from Katelynn's mom on Monday, and I kinda maybe had a little panic attack I guess? Yeah it's a huge mess and I took it really hard, probably the lowest, hardest point of my mission so far. It was rough. After President told us on Monday I sat outside alone in the cold for like an hour. When I was finally able to come in I got a blessing, tried to go back to normal, but kept thinking about it so I cried during our lesson and we decided to call it a night and drown our sorrows in bread lol
The next day was kinda weird, we did Come Follow Me, lunch and service with Sister Lewis's district (the deadbeats) but then our appointment and dinner canceled so we ended up taking a mental health day, napped and journaled. I was able to process everything some more and actually felt a lot better by the end of the night. We also heard from our ward mission leader that Katelynn is going to postpone her baptism for now, which relieved a lot of stress because we didn't have to figure out this whole situation in just a few days.
Did some service at the Palace Playhouse, painting sets, so that was cool. We had Zone Conference take 2, my zone this time. And it was amazing! I really loved it, got so much out of it, lots of revelation, really uplifting and inspiring (and very different from the one we went to for Sister Lewis's zone). So that was super great. Even better was that after like 3 freaking months of back and forth doorstep "phone tag" and last minute cancellations we finally had a contact with Nielza!! Finally gave her the Christmas present we got for her lol! we were expecting to just drop it off so we didn't arrange to have any translators with us but we were able to carry a conversation with her pretty well.
We decided to go to Sister Lewis's district council this time, and since the Ap's were busy out of town, Elder Savage and Sorensen needed something to do so...another revenge prank on the elders in Lewis's district who we found out helped prank our apartment and who also conveniently never lock their door. Yup. But first we had a cereal party district breakfast. Our dinner for that night had to cancel because they were going on a campout with the young women, so we were like how bout we come? So we took an awesome drive through the beautiful mountains and had dinner with the young women in a yurt. Then we got to share our testimonies and why we wanted to serve and answer their questions about missions. It was so cool the spirit was so strong and I loved it! (even though we got a little lost in the dark cold mountains after that)
We also had an awesome Come Follow me study with the homie district. It was so dang good I learned so much. Likening scriptures to yourself is so freaking powerful! I really love that concept. We can read the Book of Mormon everyday for the rest of our lives and it will never get old because as we grow and change and continue to liken we get something new out of the same stories and verses we've already read. I've heard the story of Nephi breaking his bow a million times but it's never resonated this strongly with me before and now I truly understand what we are to learn from it.
I learned so much about the danger of expectations. I had expectations for how I wanted to see and feel God's love in my life. A certain mold for how I expected Him and my friends to show that they cared about me. But when those expectations weren't met I could only be painfully disappointed and lash out in self-pity. I instead need to observe and appreciate how they already do show their love for me. Later in the week I realized the same was true about receiving answers to prayers, we can't put God's voice in a box of expectations, that only blinds us to all the ways He is speaking to us. Maybe Laman and Lemuel prayed and had faith that the Lord would provide but they expected it come to them. God could send manna from the heavens like He did for Moses or send ravens with pieces of bread like He did for Elijah. But for Nephi, He had already provided the trees for wood and materials he needed to make his own bow. The Lord could have miraculously provided them with food, it is certainly within His power and mercy, but Nephi had to act for himself and use the resources already available to him.
So another complicated, long, mood-swingy week. But here's what I truly believe and what I told the young women: serving a mission is hard, probably some of the hardest stuff I've been through, but I have already learned so much about myself and the gospel in just these 4 months, I have grown so much as a person in just this week! My mom always says "you can't have a testimony without a test" I know that when faith is tested it becomes strong. 1 Nephi 17: 1-2 "...And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness...And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us" It's about how we respond to our trials, about seeing them as opportunities to progress and witness Heavenly Father's love and power. I know that as we truly come unto Him, He will ease our burdens that we won't feel them upon our backs.
-Sister Dunn out
P.s. if you've gotten this far thank you for bearing with me and reading all that.
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