And now I’m just going to do that thing where I go through my journal entries for the last week because that’s the only way to bring anything to my remembrance. #missionbrain
1. My favorite irony: Since entering the mission field, I have become a tea drinker. Herbal, obvs, but a tea drinker nonetheless. It’s just so soothing. So mom, if you want to send me some, I wouldn’t say no to that. One of the members of our stake (who sometimes feeds us/ lets us do laundry) gave us some really good cinnamon stuff. So. Maybe something along those lines.
2. A little miracle: Our RS pres asked us to track down a number of people. One of those people, Brandi, didn’t have any current information on our ward list, so we were at a loss. Last week at Walmart, when we were on our way out, this girl stops us and says “hey, are you the singles ward sisters?” to which we responded in the affirmative. So she says “well I used to have the missionaries over for dinner all the time and I really want to start doing that again. My name’s Brandi by the way.” Found and fed.
3. We had zone conference last week, where we heard from our mission president and his wife, along with Elder Baxter (of the 70) and his wife. The Baxters are from Scotland and England, respectively, so we learned a lot about the inferiority of American English (his words) and missionary work. It was equal parts inspiring and humbling.
4. Sister Cope came down with the flu this week, so we spent Thursday at the homestead. I got so much done. Even had a little time to reflect on my experience thus far. Here’s what I learned in a nutshell. There’s no use dwelling on the bad things, it only brings you down. In fact there’s no use dwelling on anything. Turns out the only way to function as a missionary is to keep your head above water and to live in the now. #taotechang #motherswhoknow. Anyway, you can probably draw a direct line between that little nugget and my inability to remember anything other than what I’m teaching today (if that).
5. I know, without any reservation, that Jesus Christ is my Savior and Redeemer. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God, that Joseph Smith was and Thomas S. Monson is a prophet, and that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is God’s Kingdom established on the earth preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah. I know it with so much conviction that it breaks my heart to think that there are people out there who don’t know it. And that’s why I’m here.
6. We went to a baptism for some kids in another ward. There was a lady standing not too far off who was introducing her kids to someone else. She was just going around the circle (she had a lot of kids) “this is so and so, so and so, Jennifer, Jocelyn, so and so…” Needless to say, I got really excited, and may or may not have revealed my first name to her.
7. The other night we were out street contacting (or OYMing, as the lingo goes (open your mouth)). There was this group of girls heading in to their apartment for the night. We were across the street, but I really wanted to talk to them, so I started calling out to them. For any of you who have seen hot rod (please tell me Jordan is reading this) it was sort of a “babe, wait” scenario. Anyway, all but one of the group made it inside before we made it over to them. But we got to talking to the one. Her name is Kanoe, she’s from Hawaii, and her best friend just left on his mission to North Carolina. In fact, his departure was so fresh, that she actually started crying when she realized who we were. One lesson later and we’ve learned that she has every intention of being baptized, she just wants to wait for her friend to get home. But we’ll see about that.
That’s all folks. #Iloveyoualwaysforever #sodoesGod
Sister Joslin
Sisters Christensen, Peacock and Joslin
Sisters Cope and Joslin in a cornfield in Fruita