Crawdads, Fantastic Five, and Pregnancy Brain
August 4, 2014
All y'all,
Keo and Jane are still slow-moving, but we got to talk to Keo's wife Pong again last night, which is a miracle and progress!! I really hope we can start working with Pong. Our number one goal is to friendship Pong and help Keo build his testimony. He readily accepts doctrine, but he doesn't have a testimony yet. God has special plans for that family.
All y'all,
So this week, I've been a little out of it.
Exhibit A: While I was driving and we were waiting at a red light, I closed my eyes and told Sister Hjorth to tell me when the light turned blue.
Exhibit B: Yesterday before we tracted, I asked Sister Hjorth if she'd grabbed the moon out of the car (I meant phone....).
Exhibit C: I've had emotional highs and lows and random cravings. Does that sound like pregnancy brain to you?
....I'm TRAINING!!!
(In missionary lingo, you're "pregnant" if you're going to be training a brand new missionary, and for sisters the missionary you train is your daughter and you're their mom.) Sister Hjorth is uncannily good at guessing transfers, so I actually wasn't very surprised because Sister Hjorth has been telling me all transfer that I would be training. So I am!
I am incredibly nervous and chalk full of inadequacies.,,,but it's apparently normal to be this nervous for a first time trainer. ;) I don't want to lose the confidence I've gained over the last 10 months, but I do want to be humble so I can teach and lead by the Spirit. I'm really looking forward to meeting the new sister and getting her started on the best eighteen months ever.
So I got brave again with Southern foods. I ate a crawdad! They're like mini-lobsters-- they're soaked in Creole seasoning and served whole. You break off the tail, peel out the meat (like shrimp)-- then you suck the gut juice out of the other half. It tasted like Creole seasoning which I like, so it was actually pretty good!
We did have kind of a sad experience. We met an awesome lady, Nelly, a mom in her mid-thirties, who seemed interested and let us come back. We taught her about how the gospel blesses families and how Christ's church was brought back to the earth. She agreed to meet with us again and read the Book of Mormon. She texted us a few days later, canceled the appointment, and said we could come pick up the book. We were so sad, especially because her story and background made now seem like the perfect time for her family to grow in the gospel. We'll pray for her and she'll have more opportunities to listen when the time is right.
Our fantastic five, the Fosters, were out of town this weekend and didn't come to church, but we should be seeing them several times this week. But early last week, we had an awesome review lesson. Mostly because, did we teach it? No...Shaqkeem taught pretty much the whole thing. Elder Foster-- I mean, Shaqkeem-- is amazing! He better be a missionary someday, because he has a gift for it. Using the paper labels we used to teach them, he taught his siblings and neighbor kids, in detail, each step of the Plan of Salvation. He invited them to ask questions, which opened a great discussion on the Resurrection and why we are here. All the siblings are progressing differently, so I'm trying to go at the paces they need. We're taking it one day at a time and following the Spirit. Hopefully several of them will have a baptism date by the end of this week.
We had a great lesson with Jeff and Georgina, the Baptist/Catholic couple we're teaching. The member that came with us had a Baptist/Catholic background, which was perfect!! You can tell they're looking for answers, and they're curious about our message. I know they'll feel the truth and love of God as they read the Book of Mormon. It always rings true to me, even if the messages are subtle. Several members have volunteered to have them over for dinner this week, which would be awesome to help them feel loved and involved. In the works!
We had a great lesson with Jeff and Georgina, the Baptist/Catholic couple we're teaching. The member that came with us had a Baptist/Catholic background, which was perfect!! You can tell they're looking for answers, and they're curious about our message. I know they'll feel the truth and love of God as they read the Book of Mormon. It always rings true to me, even if the messages are subtle. Several members have volunteered to have them over for dinner this week, which would be awesome to help them feel loved and involved. In the works!
Keo and Jane are still slow-moving, but we got to talk to Keo's wife Pong again last night, which is a miracle and progress!! I really hope we can start working with Pong. Our number one goal is to friendship Pong and help Keo build his testimony. He readily accepts doctrine, but he doesn't have a testimony yet. God has special plans for that family.
I've really loved this transfer with Sister Hjorth, and I'm sad to see her go. We played car games, uno tournaments almost every night, rapped and beatboxed and sang back and forth together, and just had fun while we worked hard. I'll miss her. :)
Love, your favorite peach,
Sister Taylor
Love, your favorite peach,
Sister Taylor
P.S. Some pics from Stone Mountain hike last week. :)
Aria doing Irish leaps on various vacation locations inspired me to do one atop Stone Mountain.
Left to right: Sister Katie Hjorth, cute teen from the ward (Aurora Bond), and Sister Taylor (me!)