Meetings, lots of Meetings

2-16-15

Trying to stay awake and pineapple is helping.

Heart Attack from a 9 year old investigator.

Dear family,
     With the little amount of time I have I have so much to tell you and I'm on my iPad and my short fat thumbs aren't very fast... So no judging my typos and stuff.  Where do I even begin...I have said that I have had crazy weeks before but this week...this week was downright exhausting. So so much. So much went down.
     I have been busier than ever as an STL. Tuesday we had an all-day meeting for all the leadership in the whole mission. This meeting is then broken down and taught by the STLs and zone leaders in zone training meetings. We cover two zones, so that means double the zone training meetings, and I also discovered double the zone conferences we need to attend. Yep. Sooooooo many meetings. So many. I think my brain is fried...they are all really good! But they have a tendency to exhaust you and make you feel like you could be doing so much better than you are currently doing. Humbling week to the max.  As an STL we go on splits with other Sisters, help sisters who might be struggling, teach leadership lessons, and generally help wherever we are needed.
          Thursday we had a miscommunication with our dinner. We were eating with a Hispanic lady and we had to go to the temple for one of Sis Robertson’s recent converts getting doing baptisms, and so we needed to leave dinner early. Well she didn't have dinner prepared when we got there so she was running everywhere trying to get food ready. I don't think I have eaten that fast in my life! And when we were done we were getting p to go and she pulled out a huge thing of ice cream and cake and flan (Mexican cake stuff) and insisted we have some and then take some home with us! I thought I was going to die! Haha! It was on our way to the temple late that we got the call from Pres McCune that he was transferring Sis B to our area and he wanted us to organize the transfer, including housing and helping sisters move and get situated in new areas....did I mention that we teach 34 lessons a week? And we had to juggle all of this In-between lessons and teaching and a bunch of other things. It was crazy stressful! 

Aspen Grove Zone

       Saturday was our first zone training meeting and it went really well! The focus was all on following the spirit and knowing our purpose as missionaries because we know our relationship with Christ. Remember when I wrote you about the question "what does Christ think of you?" And you told me that Uncle Lance used it for a youth conferences? Well I took his idea with the signs of "horrible" "meh" "okay" and "awesome" and we did the whole activity asking them how good they were at different aspects of missionary work, and then finishing with the question "What do you think Christ thinks of you?" It was a really cool experience! And a super spiritual zone training meeting! But I'm pretty sure Sis Robertson and I looked horrible because that morning we were supposed to go to the temple at 6:30, so we set our alarm for 6, but it didn't go off! So we woke up to the sound of our ride pounding on our door! I seriously threw a skirt on and brushed my teeth and we were out the door. My hair looked like it had been through a blender and I had zero makeup on. We were going with one of our recent converts named Megan and we got there in time to be able to watch her do baptisms. It was great! But I was so tired and looked like death!
      After the zone meeting one of our other sisters was sad because her grandmother is going into surgery this week for cancer and we are all fasting for her today. She also found out her uncle has cancer too, so life is just unloading on her. We had to make sure that she got a blessing. 

     Later Saturday afternoon we had another sister who was struggling so we went to council with her. Her companion, Sister T who was in the MTC with me told me something I really needed to hear, and I didn't realize how overwhelmed I was with everything and trying to be perfect and how much stress was building until these words came out of her mouth:
     "Expecting to be perfect is denying the need for a Savior." It was like all the sudden all the sudden a bunch of air had rushed out of me and I realized I wasn't letting the Savior and his atonement ease my burden. I was insisting on carrying it all alone. I was so tired that my eyes ached and I couldn't even think for myself because I was so worried about so many of the sisters and I was so overwhelmed with everything I needed to get done and be doing that I didn't let myself tap into my access of the atonement and let it cover. Sometimes we limit ourselves to how much the atonement covers us...and we really shouldn't. It doesn't ever stop. It's always there. But we are the ones to decide how much and how often we let it lift us. Just like with a little boy named K we taught this week and his older sisters. We taught about our identity as children of God and invited them to pray and ask God what he thinks of them. Nine year old K got down on his knees in the closing prayer and Sadie most sincere prayer I have ever hear. At the end he said "God, what do you think of all of us?" And he paused. It was like we all felt drenched in the spirit and a wall of love just smacked me in the face. It was so overwhelming and so real and powerful. I'm so thankful for K’s faith and the love I felt from my Savior even though I had been trying to help them feel His love.
     I feel like I haven't even grazed the surface of everything that went on this week. But I have a billion more meetings and exchanges this next week, so be prepared for more. I have never wanted to sleep so badly in my life, and my district is dragging me to go play soccer. Pray for me. Pretty please. Haha love you all and miss you! The Savior's is so GOOD and so is his gospel!
     Love,
Sister Lenise Diane Volmer