I used to be so good at writing in my journal but that seemed to stop
as soon as I came on a mission. Hmmm. Something is not right about
that. I've thought about it and realized that my time at night is
spent updating teaching and progress records. And I really have
thought about making copies of them and then gluing them in my journal
so that I remember that I actually did something on my mission, but
we'll see.
Anyway, Quince Orchard, Sister Gros and I are all doing fantastic.
Susan and Sabir are getting baptized this Saturday!!! Sabir talked to
his Mom last night and told us this morning that she is completely
fine with him making this choice. It was such a relief to hear,
because when we met with him on Monday, he was extremely nervous
about talking to her, and frankly, we didn't blame him. It makes me
laugh to think about it now because he was telling us that whenever
they have to have a serious conversation, he likes to stand, but she
wants him to sit close to her, but he gets so nervous that when he
looks at her it's like she's moving farther and farther away, and the
longer he looks at her the smaller her head seems to get. Poor guy.
He really was nervous. But because we're nerdy missionaries and know
the best way to help him is to have him practice, we role-played with
him. :] It certainly was good entertainment for us and good practice
for him. We asked him if he felt better afterward and he said, "Yeah,
but I just know my mom's head is going to do that shrinking thing
again." It was REALLY hard not to laugh. But he did seem to feel
calmer and better prepared. The rest of the lesson he couldn't stop
smiling and asked us if the interview was going to be serious or if he
could smile during it. We told him he couldn't smile. And he got a
really scared look on his face...until we couldn't take it and just
started laughing. I don't think he would have been able to stop
smiling even if we told him too.
Susan is very excited as well and is more worried about things like
what to wear, who to invite, etc. She should have some friends coming
that aren't members and we're praying that her parents come as well.
One thing I'm looking forward to is being able to spend two days a
week with Tracy and Anthony. We haven't had that time to give to them
lately, (it's just been one appointment a week and daily phone calls)
but now that her husband seems to be expressing a little interest, and
they're letting a friend (Brian) stay with them, we should be able to
help them progress more quickly. They've invited us for dinner
tonight and we're going to go over the Family Proclamation afterwards.
We're excited.
Other funny story. Last week we met a referral given to us from a
family in our ward. His name is Josh, he's in his thirties, has two
little boys, is going through a divorce. He's had a really rough time
lately and told us that he's been questioning the purpose/point to
life and if God is really there and told us that we came at the right
time for him. He opened up easily and we were just talking to him on
his porch when it starts POURING only like it can in Maryland. Within
two seconds my shoes/clothes/hair were soaked. We tried to crowd
under the porch and block it with our umbrellas, but it was coming
down too hard. But, because we're missionaries, and persistent, we
kept talking so that we could set up an appointment and he just yells
above the rain, "Go home! We'll talk later! Why are you still here?!"
And we yell back, "Because it's true!" Then we set up an appointment
really fast and he goes back inside while we dash into the rain. Now,
to explain the rest of this story: sometimes the "missionary joy" is
just too much to keep inside, and sometimes Sister Welch doesn't watch
where she's running and jumps in a puddle and water goes all the way
up her leg, and sometimes a person just has to scream and laugh. And
that's what happened. But that's a normal day, so we just kept
running back to our car, and thought nothing of it. A couple of days
later however, Josh calls us to reschedule and we talk for a couple of
minutes until he says, "Remember that night when you two came over and
it started raining? Well, I heard you screaming and laughing as you
were running away and I thought, 'That's what I'm missing!' I need
that back in my life." Oh boy. How embarrassing. I almost told him
that all he needed to do was to jump in an enormous puddle and he'd
feel better, but... I didn't. Instead I apologized that he had to
hear me acting like a 5 year old and told him we'd talk during our
lesson about how to get that joy back in his life. That is what the
gospel's about.
Stay true to what's eternal.
Love, Sister Welch
as soon as I came on a mission. Hmmm. Something is not right about
that. I've thought about it and realized that my time at night is
spent updating teaching and progress records. And I really have
thought about making copies of them and then gluing them in my journal
so that I remember that I actually did something on my mission, but
we'll see.
Anyway, Quince Orchard, Sister Gros and I are all doing fantastic.
Susan and Sabir are getting baptized this Saturday!!! Sabir talked to
his Mom last night and told us this morning that she is completely
fine with him making this choice. It was such a relief to hear,
because when we met with him on Monday, he was extremely nervous
about talking to her, and frankly, we didn't blame him. It makes me
laugh to think about it now because he was telling us that whenever
they have to have a serious conversation, he likes to stand, but she
wants him to sit close to her, but he gets so nervous that when he
looks at her it's like she's moving farther and farther away, and the
longer he looks at her the smaller her head seems to get. Poor guy.
He really was nervous. But because we're nerdy missionaries and know
the best way to help him is to have him practice, we role-played with
him. :] It certainly was good entertainment for us and good practice
for him. We asked him if he felt better afterward and he said, "Yeah,
but I just know my mom's head is going to do that shrinking thing
again." It was REALLY hard not to laugh. But he did seem to feel
calmer and better prepared. The rest of the lesson he couldn't stop
smiling and asked us if the interview was going to be serious or if he
could smile during it. We told him he couldn't smile. And he got a
really scared look on his face...until we couldn't take it and just
started laughing. I don't think he would have been able to stop
smiling even if we told him too.
Susan is very excited as well and is more worried about things like
what to wear, who to invite, etc. She should have some friends coming
that aren't members and we're praying that her parents come as well.
One thing I'm looking forward to is being able to spend two days a
week with Tracy and Anthony. We haven't had that time to give to them
lately, (it's just been one appointment a week and daily phone calls)
but now that her husband seems to be expressing a little interest, and
they're letting a friend (Brian) stay with them, we should be able to
help them progress more quickly. They've invited us for dinner
tonight and we're going to go over the Family Proclamation afterwards.
We're excited.
Other funny story. Last week we met a referral given to us from a
family in our ward. His name is Josh, he's in his thirties, has two
little boys, is going through a divorce. He's had a really rough time
lately and told us that he's been questioning the purpose/point to
life and if God is really there and told us that we came at the right
time for him. He opened up easily and we were just talking to him on
his porch when it starts POURING only like it can in Maryland. Within
two seconds my shoes/clothes/hair were soaked. We tried to crowd
under the porch and block it with our umbrellas, but it was coming
down too hard. But, because we're missionaries, and persistent, we
kept talking so that we could set up an appointment and he just yells
above the rain, "Go home! We'll talk later! Why are you still here?!"
And we yell back, "Because it's true!" Then we set up an appointment
really fast and he goes back inside while we dash into the rain. Now,
to explain the rest of this story: sometimes the "missionary joy" is
just too much to keep inside, and sometimes Sister Welch doesn't watch
where she's running and jumps in a puddle and water goes all the way
up her leg, and sometimes a person just has to scream and laugh. And
that's what happened. But that's a normal day, so we just kept
running back to our car, and thought nothing of it. A couple of days
later however, Josh calls us to reschedule and we talk for a couple of
minutes until he says, "Remember that night when you two came over and
it started raining? Well, I heard you screaming and laughing as you
were running away and I thought, 'That's what I'm missing!' I need
that back in my life." Oh boy. How embarrassing. I almost told him
that all he needed to do was to jump in an enormous puddle and he'd
feel better, but... I didn't. Instead I apologized that he had to
hear me acting like a 5 year old and told him we'd talk during our
lesson about how to get that joy back in his life. That is what the
gospel's about.
Stay true to what's eternal.
Love, Sister Welch
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