June 20, 2011

Hey Family!

I will keep this short since I just spoke with Mom and Dad yesterday (Happy Fathers Day! and Happy Birthday to Lindsey!). Life is going great... and too fast. I feel like I was just sitting at these computers typing away my previous week's experiences. But, oh well. So this past week was full of companion exchanges. As a district leader I need to go on splits with the Sisters in my district for a few hours. I went with one companionship a day for three days, just three hours during our square time. It is really fun to see how they do things differently and what they can get away with based on their personalities.

The first companionship I went with tried the "sneak attack" approach - people would walk by and they would try to have a conversation with them even after they walked past. My first thought was, 'Wo, that is awkward," but it worked for them! I tried that once - didn't work. The next day I was on exchanges with the only companionship that isn't training and we met cool people! The first man was really funny but we couldn't tell if he wanted us there or not. A few times we just stood back and if he wanted us to go away then we were already kinda gone. But he kept turning around and saying, "Well, are ya coming?" Ok then, on with the tour! We took him everywhere and he opened up little by little: recovering alcoholic, no family, no hope, but he believed in a higher power. At the end when we invited he said, "What?! You want missionaries to come pound on my door?" I said, "Well, they actually.... yes, yes we do. But knowing all of this will make you so happy!" So he gave me his business card, then asked if we could pray. Without waiting for a yes or no he grabbed the other Sisters' hands and we stood in a circle. Feeling awkward I grabbed their pinky fingers with one eye closed and the other eye searching for people staring at us. He finished his prayer then walked out of the gates. We just stood there with confused looks on our faces.

The next day I went on exchanges with the companionship from Taiwan and Korea. I was so excited. For some reason I LOVE language tours. I can't contribute but I just love watching them. We found a Korean family and they referred! The Sister from Korea just got here and she is already amazing. The Sister talked to two men from mainland China but they didn't refer because they were afraid of the government. She said that many of them are brainwashed into fearing the government. Kinda scary; glad I live here.

They are all really good and make my job way easier. Sister Perez and I are just talking to everyone we see. We met a couple from Australia who LOVED everything about what we believed. We invited them but they just stared at us. I guess all of the questions of "What would it mean to you if...." or "What do you think about....." didn't register that this was for them. They have no concept of religion and see no need for it. Really sad; I wanted it for them so badly. This guy from Switzerland that we met was actually not only interested in religion BUT was meeting with Jehovah Witnesses. Dang. He couldn't get over the fact that everyone can go to Heaven. I don't know about you but everyone going back sounds about 144,000 times better than only a few of us. But that is their choice. We have talked to so many good people lately. I love summer. Anyway gotta run but I plan on having a wonderful birthday (Happy Birthday Bruce! Ha ha, I win!) Next Sunday I will be old... aka 22. Bye!