Good week. It's been raining quite a bit lately, which is good because it's been really humid. The air is finally just braking and letting it all go. Oh, yep...there's the thunder, just now. :) Thank goodness. Heat is one thing but humidity can be just downright uncomfortable.
Our mission has some very specific goals for this transfer since a ginormous group of missionaries will be going home this transfer and the next. President has scattered all us old people all over, even creating some split zone leaderships where the zone leaders are in two separate companionships, so we can "spread our music" before we're all gone. It's pretty smart, actually.
Anyway, as a mission we're focusing hard on 3 things in exchanges, district meetings, zone meetings, and other trainings. We're focusing on effective and meaningful nightly planning, effective and meaningful morning studies like Preach my Gospel outlines, and on teaching short & powerful lessons, especially the Restoration. When the Mission Department visited our mission they taught us how to teach the Restoration with the pamphlet in less than 10 minutes, asking them what they see in the pictures and teaching according to their answers. It's POWERFUL. I used to think teaching simply meant making sure they understood every little detail. But simplicity means focusing on short, clear declarations of pure doctrine, cutting out the fluff so the Spirit can testify. It has made such a difference in our teaching. We've had a lot more opportunities to teach people we meet on the street right there and we can see very quickly if they're interested or not. Usually they're not. But that's ok because the sooner we figure that out, the sooner we can move on to find those who truly are ready to receive us.
So all this rain and thunder outside is reminding me of a couple weeks ago after I was so sad to be transferred. We were driving home and it started just down-pouring. We were both in kind of a bad mood and, even though we both would always talk about how much we loved the rain and wanted a Texas thunderstorm, we just weren't in the mood for it at the moment. We ran out of the car to get the mail and I was annoyed to be running through the rain. But then I thought, "Wait a minute, I love the rain!" and suddenly I realized how cool it was to be out there stuck in the rainstorm. Such is life, such is the mission. You love it when you're not stuck in it, when you're looking back on it or looking forward to it. But the trick is to learn how to love it when you're in it. It's the storms that make life meaningful and interesting. It's the storms that make it a challenge, that make it fun.
Anyway, the mission is good. Exciting and monotonous, heartbreaking and overflowingly happy, frustrating and miraculously smooth, way too slow and way too fast. And all good.
Love you all! Have a fantastic week and find the good in the bad.
Hermana Lund
No comments:
Post a Comment