Hey, I'm in Indiana: A Humorous Rejection

Well team, for my last transfer I'm headed to a new area.

This week was quite the adventure.

On Monday, we got to email and shop, but then it was back to work 'cause we were planning to go to the temple on Saturday (which takes the place of our preparation day. This is always hard 1) 'cause you're just uber tired without much of a break,and 2) because you miss playing with the other missionaries. We taught some good lessons, and then just before 5:00, we found out that we would not be able to go to the temple on Saturday anymore. That was really sad. But on the bright side, while we were visiting a member that afternoon, her apartment manager came by. She invited him on a church tour, and he seemed purdy interested. Hopefully that will go down sometime this week :)

On Tuesday we taught T about the Word of Wisdom. That's gonna be hard for her 'cause she smokes. But she said, "I really love smoking, and don't really want to stop, but I want this so bad that I will." Or something close to that :) That was purdy cool.

We were uber worn out, and a little discouraged by Wednesday. I just wanted to skip the whole day. Our one appointment we had set up canceled before we even started studies. I was praying and trying hard to be motivated to find people to teach...and after a while it worked! It was a long, cold, very wet day, but I was able to head out with a good attitude to conquer the day. Sometimes these small miracles are the most miraculous.

On Saturday we were having a branch activity, so we spent Thursday evening inviting people. We stopped by a less active family. The obviously American man of the house, opened to door slightly, and said, "We don't speak English!" And then closed the door. It was one of the more humorous rejections I've ever experienced.

On Friday, we had our last district meeting of the transfer, which was an adventure. Our appointments for that day fell through as well, but one of the ladies (who we haven't started teaching yet) apologized that she really didn't have time that day, and gave us a plate of cookies. A sweet rejection (although, she does want to meet, she was legitimately busy that day). We also stumbled across a man who we had taught a couple times, but then lost track of. He apologized for not coming to church again, but didn't want to come under false pretenses. He then told me that I was very pretty and that he had "been wanting to get flirtatious," which was flattering, but true to my character I pushed it aside and continued on about how I thought he'd really enjoy King Benjamin's sermon. Thank goodness that kind of obtuse behavior is a skill on a mission ;)

Saturday we took a little time to clean our apartment, and went out for the day. We knocked on a door for a lady that had been referred to us by a neighbor several week previous. She opened the door, asked if we were there to pray with her, and invited us in. She was slightly crazy, but very pleasant. That night was the ward activity. M came with her husband S!! He had a fantastic time, and expressed interest to her later about coming to church with her sometime. They are coming to dinner with us at a member's house this evening. That is another miracle.

It was something of a slow week, but we were still made very aware of Heavenly Father's love for us.

I'm a little nervous for my last six weeks. It'll be hard to invest a lot of energy in an area that I know I won't be staying in for very long, especially as it's starting to get colder. It'll be a good adventure for sure, though.

Hope e'rybody has a fantastic week,

Much love,

Sister Bowen

More pictures!

Me, Sister Mercer, and Elder Foster