Hello Wonderful Souls!
So, last week was absolutely crazy. Tuesday we both woke up very sick and consequently spent the day in our apartment. While being sick wasn't fun at all, honestly, I feel like we needed the day to recoup from emotional exhaustion in addition to physical illness. The work of missionaries is a great work, but it is also a work that takes a lot out of you and doesn't always replenish as one might hope. It was good to have extra time to study the scriptures and rest. Sister Hibbert drew more amazing things and we had a good time talking, even if we didn't eat all day. We were supposed to have exchanges on Tuesday, but as we were both sick, we rescheduled them for Friday.
Wednesday ended up being pretty great. We did some geneology in the afternoon and I was able to trace our family back to Adam and Eve through Grandmother's lines. It turns out that we're related to some pretty important royal people...like King John Plantagenet, William the Conquerer, Emperor Charlemagne, and a host of other important people (like Roman Emperors and Visigoth royalty and Ostragoth royalty). I always knew there was a reason that I thought I was a princess haha. It was very cool to get to see the years go further and further back until all of a sudden I was looking at the name Abraham, father of Isaac. Then of course it just kept going back until I found Shem, Noah, and the rest is history. I mean, I know we're all connected to Adam and Eve, because duh, but it was really cool to actually trace the line back.
Thursday's p-day was largely commandeered by the temple, but I would say that it was easily the best commandeering of p-day time that has occurred thus far in my missionary world. Wednesday night Sister Hibbert and I were going through our temple bags to make sure that we had everything when she realized that she didn't know where her temple recommend was. We called President as soon as she had looked for it in every possible place and he told us to come to the mission home the next morning and he would do an interview. We were so grateful that President was able to fit her into his schedule so we could go to the temple. We got to the temple without getting lost and it was brilliant. There was a girl in our session who was going through for the first time in preparation to leave on her mission soon. One of the sisters in our district ended up sitting next to her and was able to tell her that she was in a room full of missionaries. There was also an older couple going through for the first time who were also sealed that day. It was one of the sweetest things to see them making those covenants for themselves. One of the tenderest moments for me was watching the daughter reunite with her mom and dad in the Celestial Room. It was the smallest glimpse of what I'm sure we all looked like just a few months ago when we went to the temple before Dad had to leave back for Kentucky. I had to stop looking because it was going to make me cry. So shout out to my parental people for loving me so much and being examples so that we could be in the temple together, that is something I will always cherish.
Exchanges happened on Friday, which was the rainiest day I have seen in my whole life. I love Ohio rain, primarily because it isn't Ohio snow. Sister Meecham came to Delaware and Sister Hibbert went to Worthington. Exchanges are such an interesting experience. It's really cool to see how other missionaries teach and handle different situations, but it's also really frustrating in some ways because you just want your companion to be there. One thing that Sister Meecham did that I thought was really cool was that she would ask the people we were visiting what they felt like they needed prayers for before she would pray at the end of a visit. That is something that I've been trying to incorporate when appropriate into our teaching and it's been really cool to see the tiny miracles and the ways people just open up about their concerns when you ask them that specific question. We had a good time together in our matching coats with our matching water bottles, but I was also very happy to have Sister Hibbert back on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday evening after getting to teach Dan and Clarence, we also got to go and see Judy. Judy is seriously my adopted grandmother here in Delaware. She is the sweetest. We talked about how our talents are things that we will take with us after we leave this life. Judy is so supportive of Sister Hibbert and me in our respective art and writing talents. She wants us to write a children's book together, which is something we've been thinking about. It'll be adorable when it happens.
My favorite lesson that we taught this week was with Sam, who can't be baptized until she's eighteen. We read about Moroni and the ways that he prepared the Nephite people for the battle with the Lamanites that inevitably was going to happen and the blessings that came from that preparation. We then related that to our own lives and each of us thought of a long term goal and then started to brain storm where we needed to fortify our faith, what our weak places were, and the other places that we would need to fortify. I used to be so frustrated with Mormon for including the war chapters in the Book of Mormon. I can see now that I was wholly and entirely wrong to be frustrated as they give a lot of really important instruction as to how we can face Satan and be prepared for the battles that will inevitably come. I know that the things that are in the Book of Mormon really are there for our benefit and I'm so grateful that I wasn't responsible for abridging it. I think I might have left some important things out, not realizing how significant they are.
The Church is True, Life is Good, God's in Charge, Satan Hates you.
And of course, as always, I love you all!
Jessica
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