"I Thought This Was a Twelve Week Thing" (Week 50)

District P-day – Beautiful Ocean

Monday  August 24, 2015

Hello,

Transfers are on Tuesday and normally the week before transfers I am stressing out.  It was nice this time I wasn't.  I was so confident we would stay together, since we are still in the middle of training.

Saturday rolls around, the Zone Leaders call, and I was right we both are staying.  That is the end of that.

After church we sit down to start training.  We were going to discuss why investigators need to pray in order to receive a testimony.  We noticed we have a voicemail, so we listen to it.  I hear President's voice.  Oh no, what does he want?  Then he asks for me!  Not both of us, just me.  I start to have a mini panic attack.*  Breath sister, breath.  On the voicemail he doesn't say what he wants.  All these thoughts are going through my head.  Does he want me to be an STL?  Normally he asks people earlier. Maybe I have done something wrong and he doesn't want me to finish training Sister Skousen?  My companion suggests that maybe he is calling with news of something with my family.  No that can't be it, I just got an email from Mom a few hours before.

I finally call him back and Sister Skousen keeps telling me to breath.  He asked to talk to me alone, so I put the phone off of speaker phone and walk into another room.  He told me he has a special assignment.  "Okay," I reply uncertainly.  He then said something to the effect of, you say that sounding like what is coming next.  I'm like, "Yep."  He told me he had a Sister he would like to be companions with me.  I said I would do it, so Sister Skousen is being transferred.  I can't explain why President wants me with her, but I do want to say it isn't because she is disobedient.  I don't want you thinking that of her.  I will find out tomorrow who she is.

President Berry then talked to Sister Skousen informing her she was being transferred.  During that entire time I was pacing back and forth.  My nerves were so high.  The title for this week comes from Elder Hummer a few transfers ago.  He has just finished his first transfer and he was then informed he was leaving.  He then said, "I thought this was a twelve week thing," since most trainers and trainee stay together for more twelve weeks or two transfers.  We also texted the Elders on Saturday night telling them we were staying together.  They texted back #trainingsecurity.  Then on Sunday after we found out we texted them #trainingsecurity #itsalie.

I never thought this would happen.  I never thought President would ask me to be companions with someone.  I feel honored that I get the chance to help her, but I also feel inadequate.  I pray that I will be what she needs.

View of the causeway from the library.

Okay I don't have too much time left, but I needed to tell you about the most dramatic experience this week, which was what I just wrote about.

May and Nancy came to a baptism.  Throughout my mission I have invited and tried to get investigators to come to a baptism, but it has never happened, till this past week.  It was a great experience.

May said it was a really nice service.  They also accepted a baptism date for themselves if they receive a testimony by then.  I am confident that if they keep the commitment we extent to them they will receive that witness from the Holy Ghost by then.  It is September 26th.

I don't know if I told you about May and Nancy before.  Nancy is nine and May is her mother.  May's boyfriend/fiancée is Ron, who is a member.  They all live on Ron's boat that is near the causeway we bike.  We teach them at the library, which is right next to their boat.  They use a canoe to get over to land.  May has come to church for some time now.  This week there was also a Elder's quorum barbecue, which we got them to go to.  The Winn (yes mom, the one who keeps sending you pictures) became friends with them.  They also have a nine-year-old daughter.  It is so good for them to have friends.  By the way the Winn are the best members ever.  They are also the main fellowship for Justin and they do a good job at it.  Love them all.

Miracle: Okay so I wrote about this to President so I just copied and pasted.  Here it is: "Another thing that happened this week along with that bullet point is that some people ran out of gas and they asked us to take two dollars and their gas tank, bike to the gas station, get gas, and bike back.  We did it even though we thought if we did we would get rained on.  It didn't matter these people needed help.  We of course tried to share the gospel with them, but as soon as we started talking they left.  It is okay, I feel good about helping them, and maybe one day they will remember what we did and listen to some other Mormon."  The way it is a miracle is that they ran out of gas as they were passing us.  We were in the right place at the right time.

~Sister Aurora Pack

*Under medical definition I am sure it wasn't a panic attack, but my hands did shake a little and I had knots in my stomach.

The Ocean