September 16, 2012

It is hard to know where to start or when to finish since everything we do seems like a blur most of the time. We come home (interesting how someplace like this can be called home and how it feels ok) at night, and we are tired, and we have a race see who can get out of our “Missionary Clothes” the fastest. After we are comfortable, we start trying to make some sense out of the day and make some notes about the people we met and who were taught.  It is still very difficult to differentiate them as individuals, other than male and female, and once in a while we even miss on that one. To remember names and to associate names with faces is still an almost insurmountable task; one that we are making some headway, but much slower than we like.

Something that we are having zero problems with is loving these amazing people and learning to laugh with them and enjoy their incessant chatter… at least some of the time. There are so many examples of these new members and investigators accepting with their whole hearts the doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and committing to changing their lives to comply with that doctrine. Many of them have very little experience with “Christianity” as the world knows it and no knowledge at all of the Apostasy and Restoration.

I cannot speak for Sharla about whether or not this is getting any easier.  I know she has her spells of homesickness, and perhaps it will strike me at some later date. We are both trying hard to get used to a rigorous schedule and get enough down time to rest and regenerate. We sort of thought that we would get a day or two off each week, and with this assignment that is not the case.  We have responsibilities at the Branch and with the missionaries every day of the week; some of those days being 10 or 12 hours.

 I am doing better with all of the walking, and at least one of the pairs of shoes I brought are starting to feel a bit more comfortable.  We have taken a couple pair of my slacks to have taken in because “Sister Fillmore” would not let me wear them looking so baggy.  Either all the walking is paying off, or Mr. Mac did a poor job of fitting my pants properly. I haven’t been cold hardly at all, and I haven’t worn my coat once, but I wear pants rather than nylons and a skirt.   Sharla is glad for the warm stuff she brought.

We are also enjoying the Elders and admire their hard work, the knowledge they have, and what amazing “teachers” they are. We like having them for dinner; a couple of them just left, and they did not disappoint. (By that I mean that all of the companionships have consumed enormous amounts of food.)  I even had one elder a couple of weeks ago eat two huge omelets with all of the trimmings.

We are anxious to see what this week brings our way and we hope that whatever it brings your way will help you to be of good cheer.