We have had a really great week, but it was also sometimes slow. On Tuesday we had five appointments which all went through (those people met with us). That day was just full of teaching and it was awesome.
On Wednesday I went to Morro Bay on an exchange with Elder Peart. He's from Sandy, UT and has been out a transfer and a half. Morro Bay and Cayucas and Cambria are beautiful, quiet, ocean-view towns. There were big waves crashing on the shore as we drove up the highway. No one was surfing. Apparently, those waters have a lot of sharks. About a month ago there was a shark attack, but no one died.
On the exchange we taught a young girl named Ruby! Her baptism is scheduled for November 14th. Elder Peart and I taught the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom to her and her 9 yr old brother and her 7 yr old sister. Yeah . . . it was a bit awkward. We didn't go into real depth, just enough that they knew to treat their bodies and other people's bodies as temples.
Oh, on Monday we carved pumpkins as a Zone. It wasn't as fun as I thought it would be. Maybe because we are all 19-20 year olds? On Halloween some people asked us if we were the real deal (they thought we might be dressed-up for Halloween. Seriously? Who would fake being a missionary at 2pm on a HOT Friday/Saturday by walking around trying to share the gospel? It was funny at first, but no one would talk with us). We had to be in early on Halloween (7pm) and do Weekly Planning then.
The last part of the week was incredibly slow. I was really stressed. We could fill the day with names from our ward list of people who we have never met, but it isn't effective and we felt like chickens running around with their heads cut off. (There were actually some sisters a few transfers back who went to a member's home on P-day to do that to chickens . . .) So we tried to listen to the spirit and pray, but I just got more upset as the days went on. I know that Heavenly Father was/is still aware of us - we were supposed to learn something. I think we were supposed to learn to use the members. On Sunday we set aside the evening to visit members and we found out that they are working with a lot of their friends.
So here's something funny that happened to me. On one of our days, we were walking by a park. There were three people (a man, a woman, and their collage-age kid) and their four chickens (two white and two red/orange). I started talking to them. The lady said I could hold one of the chickens, so I did. I knelt down and took a red chicken from her hands. The chicken was less than pleased to be held by me, so I let her go. As we were preparing to leave, they warned us that the chickens had pooped and to watch out. I got up from my knee and spotted a big you-know-what on my pant leg. Ewwww! I'd been kneeling in that for probably 5-10 minutes. Thankfully, it came out in the wash.
My faith has grown. Recently I have been studying faith as a principle
and an attribute. In conjunction with this study I have also focused on
the Atonement of Jesus Christ because it is Christ who we must put our
faith/trust in. I have come to understand that one reason why I was so
hard on myself is because I didn't understand the Atonement. I relied on
my own strength and then blamed myself when I failed. Having faith in
Christ means that I trust Him and know that I must rely on Him for
strength. After all, this is His work. Not only will I be given more
grace to accomplish the work I am sent to do, I will be fortified
spiritually for greater tasks and against later temptations.
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