UPDATE:
So, crazy sauce on where I'm currently serving. Are you ready for this?!?
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BACK IN YSA. Yep! Woo! But also…Wha?! Kinda weird to be doing this AGAIN. I forgot what crazy work it is, and especially after 3 extended stints in family ward, it is weiiirrd to be interacting with people my age. And I am--yes, for realsies--awkward as heck. When did this happen?! Oh yeah, when I became an obnoxious, purpose driven missionary. And now people want to talk to me and know me as a person? Boorrrriinnnnggg and lame. Anyways, I'm working on it.
What's also weird…is I got in-zoned! I'm serving in the Halls Lake YSA, which covers the Lynnwood Stake (including Beverly Park Ward where I was just serving) and Shoreline Stake, which is out of the mission. WHICH IS WEIRD. So, instead of going up to almost-Canada like I wanted to, I'm in the furthest south assignment in the mission; so far south, that it's OUT of the mission. But I'm not bitter!
:P No, I'm not though. I know there's important work to be done here, and the Lord wants me to do it. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get shipped up to Burke for my last transfer. ;) I did tell the mission prez that that would be alright with me…;P
I'm also serving with Sister Van Leuvan, who has been in the area 1 transfer and has been an STL before (she's helping me). We drive a light gold Corolla (what other car would a missionary drive?!), and it's name is Korihor the Pale Orc. Pretty funny. :P
PROFILE: (okay! A really quick one. I have no integrity!)
Name: Jessica
Age (increasingly important as a YSA missionary): 20! :D
Accessory of choice: A cat named Yoda
Current occupation: Vet-tech something!
Number of piercings: Multiple. I didn't count.
How we found her: Referral from the spanish missionaries! They get us the best referrals when then tract :)
Unfortunate thing: Her last name is Simpson, and people in Ward Council got all excited about us teaching a pop star :P
Awesome and amazing thing: She let us right in, told us she's been Christian all her life, but waiting for someone to give her some guidance and help in it, and she said she'd be up and willing to come to church and (if she knows it's true) get baptized again! Woot!
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT:
This is really just a thought, and it's not tethered to a scripture (though I could quote a couple)…so, forgive me! But…I've recently realized (I should've known this for a long time, it's just become more clear on the mish) that one of the parts of me I've valued most for a long time was being a bit of a brain. Smart, Ahead, Intellectual, whatever you want to call it. And, to be honest, my interests still lie there; I love learning things, I love dissecting arguments…all that. What's changed I guess is that I'm realizing that raw 'intellect', by the Lord's standard, is not that big of a deal. It's certainly not something that makes a naturally smart person 'better' or 'more privileged' than another of God's children. It's a raw material; a 'talent' per se, and it's our responsibility to do something with it (just as someone who's gifted in sports or drawing (not me) has an obligation to use that talent wisely also). Spirituality (here defined as discipleship, understanding of the Lord's will and willingness to follow it) is infinitely more valuable to the Lord, and when we commit ourselves to that path, he will double (or triple or septuple or whatever) our skills and make them infinitely more than we could accomplish on our own. I've worked with so many people on my mission (companions, ward members, investigators, you name it) who maybe weren't as 'smart' as me, and thus not as valuable to the world (since intellect seems to be super desirable these days), but yet were far more spiritual--understanding of their weaknesses, patient, malleable--than I was, and thus further along in their progression. I've got a long way to go. I've been blessed with lots of cool strengths, but lots of nagging weaknesses also, and the Lord isn't going to be too happy if I sit on my pile of strengths in pride (ironically, because he's the one who gave them to me in the first place) and rationalize away the weaknesses.
Anyways; long thought, simple concept. The end all be all: 'But, to be learned is good if he hearkens unto the councils of God'.
Also, if you want an idea of the difference between our personalities, check out the following…
…guess who sits in which chair?! :P
Love you all to bits. WRITE ME!! (Especially YOU: Dallin, Annie, Catherine…yes, I think it is only you whose communication is most overdue. WRITE WRITE WRITE!)
XOXXO
Sister Hale
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