ALLLLright. It's lookin like I'm not going have time this week to do a FULL blown letter (because I want to write back to everyone that emailed me! :D) BUTTT...I will give you a bit of an update on my crazy missionary life. But FIRST: an observation.
I will be 21 3 months from today. WHAT?! Legal drinking age and...on a mission. That was pretty much the plan from the get-go though I guess. ;P
AND as a 3-month-till-my-birthday gift to myself, my companion and I got free haircuts from a woman in the ward. And she ratted my hair and poofed it like a Utah girl. Pictures may be forthcoming. ;P
Alright, more serious matters!
AN UPDATE
We are doing well, though it's getting increasingly obvious that Sister Ah-Chong and I have been together for more than 3 months. For example I...get mad at her that she's not wearing tights outside on a chilly day. Or I take it personally that she chooses to have cereal for dinner instead of letting me make her a sandwich. You know, those kind of things. Also, with the increased familiarity, she is being less obedient to my every demand! But I think that's generally how a mother and daughter relationship grows over time. AmIright? Okay, feeling a little silly today obviously...
IN OTHER update-ey type news...we got (no joke) 6 new investigators this week! BAH! First time in my whole mission, pretty ridonkulous. Quite a few of them are pretty solid too...though maybe we should be more careful about how we count investigators. But moving on! (profile/miracle about some of these newbies to follow)
A PROFILE
Name: Vanessa Dunnels
Approximate age: Erm...probably 30ish.
Accessory of choice: Smart plastic frames, elastic to hold a low ponytail in the back
Scary philosophy that tempts me but is of the devil: "No religion's got it right. They're all hitting at the same truth, but at different angles...so me and my family just take some of the truths common to all religions (God is all powerful, love your neighbor, etc.) and apply those to our life."
Habits she's jacked from Mormon Culture: Food storage, modesty standards for her little girls
Why we're going back tomorrow: Has questions: "God to me is all powerful, and all knowing. Why do you divide him into three parts that then have to communicate with each other? (Father, Son and HG)" and "Isn't sustaining the prophet trusting a lot of your life and decisions to one guy?" We've been researching, and we'll see what we can do in our discussion tomorrow night.
A MIRACLE
There's a super hip couple that lives up the street from one of my favorite families in the ward, went over with mom of said favorite family, and super hip couple COMMITTED TO COME TO CHURCH AND HAVE DINNER AT THEIR HOUSE WITH US THERE!! :D :D Crazy crazy miracle. He's got tattoos up his arm. I think this is a dream come true.
A THOUGHT
Man, all my thoughts are spiritual these days. I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN. How'bout...with this one:
...actually, you know? I'm sending this book of to Benjamin this week, so I'll give you one last quote from it while I have it. This helped me this week. HERE GOES:
"Some people are basically saying, "Well, today I think the Church is true, but ask me again tomorrow." But there must come some point at which our commitment to the gospel and our conviction of its truth settles such questions in advance and predetermines our response to whatever challenge we may encounter to our faith, to whatever commandments we may receive, or to whatever sacrifice we are called upon to make. That isn't blind faith; rather it's a vague suspicion that has finally managed to become true faith. ...Until our faith has a life and strength of its own apart from intellectual argument or even physical evidence, it is not yet faith. In such cases what we thought was faith was merely the strongest human argument we had considered at the time. A testimony isn't like a hypothesis in science, which may be supported by the evidence one day and destroyed by it the next. It is a conviction beyond the available intellectual proof that some things are eternally true."
Whew! Good one. I think a lot of times even as a missionary I attempt to convert people by intellectual argument. That...doesn't actually work that well, and that isn't actually my full relationship with my faith...it's just one avenue of my belief I particularly like and can sometimes over-rely on. But what stands out to me from that is "Until our faith has a life and strength of its own apart from intellectual argument...it is not yet faith." It's okay to depend on that spiritual knowledge sometimes when human knowledge is lacking. And you may not get ultimate respect for it when that's the avenue you choose to take, but you will remain faithful to the spirit you've felt bear witness to you that these things are true. And ultimately I think integrity and loyalty to that spiritual knowledge is more honorable than looking good to the world.
Okay! And I said this wouldn't be long. *sigh*
A PICTURE
Thur's the new hurr. It won't look like that normally, and it's not a huge change...but there it is! And doesn't Sister Ah-Chong look cute?
Alright, that's it for now. Love you all, and stay strong in the faith!
Sister Hale
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