This week I hit my three months!
Woohoo!! Only 15 more to go! ;) Among the many things we did this week,
we: packed a full semi-truck of shoes in boxes, visited UCR's Botanical
Gardens, taped boxes for Feeding America, talked with our Russian
neighbors, ate some of Sister Shirley's amazing chocolate chip cookies,
attended zone conference (and won cleanest apartment "golden plunger"
award), and more! It has been quite the week and a great one overall. :)
On
Thursday night Elder Abraham, an elder in my zone, called and asked if I
would play the piano at a baptism the next day. Of course I said yes!
What I DIDN'T know was that the baptism was for the Spanish ward, so no
one spoke English. The opening song went well so I sat down for the rest
of the baptism. While we were waiting for the baptized person to
return, they were saying something in Spanish and the next thing I know
everyone is looking at me! Finally Elder McLaughlin explained they
wanted me to play hymn #73, "I Believe In Christ" while we waited. First
off, the hymn book numbers are different for English and Spanish and
second off, #73 in either book is not "I Believe In Christ." So I just flipped to "I
Believe In Christ" and attempted to play. I've never practiced this
song before and I was messing up SO BAD. I got through the intro and
started playing the first verse and no one was singing!! I kind of
awkwardly stopped playing and faded out, and then Elder McLaughlin said
"sorry, I meant 'I Know That My Redeemer Lives.'" NOW you tell me!!
Hahaha whoops. One of many embarrassing experiences I've had on my
mission... But Hermana Grant said "you have an English name tag so all is
forgiven." ;)
We
were able to build better relationships with Tony and put him back on
date for February 29th (yes, leap year!). We were at Lynn's this week
and we could tell she was very tired. So we showed her sons, Julian and
Jeremiah, some Inspirational Messages and then played two rounds of
Super Smash Bros. To everyone's surprise (including my own), yours truly
won both rounds. ;) That's pretty good for someone who never grew up
with video games! Hahaha... We've also had lots of referrals from others
and we're excited to meet them!
If
you'd like to hear a quick inspirational thought, read on! :) 1) For
zone conference they quoted Elder Uchtdorf: "We gain spiritual
self-reliance as we center our lives on Jesus Christ and understand it
must be an eternal focus. Do things intentionally." How are you
spiritually self-reliant? How can you increase your self-reliance?
2) "God does not begin by asking us about our ability, but only about
our availability, and if we then prove our dependability, He will
increase our capability." -Neal A Maxwell. I don't know who needs that
quote, but I know it can apply to all of us in one way or another. 3) We
are all working on discipleship. As we work towards this goal, our
persona will literally change. We will exude more light! People will
notice you are brighter and happier.
Thank
you all for your support! It means the world. :) I didn't realize what a
sacrifice it is to go on a mission until I'm on one, but I would
happily give up this time to my Savior who's given up all His time for
me. It is a privilege and an honor to serve Him this way! I only get 15
more months to be His set-apart witness! I am so blessed!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING and check out LighttheWorld.org! Let's light the world this season!!
Y'all are amazing! Love you so much!!
Sister Mary Goss
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| The 4-man winning both golden plunger and cleanest car 👌 |
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| Our clean Corolla |
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| Riverside sisters |
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| Riverside zone (the best!!) |
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| Cafe Rio after zone conference |
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| Soles 4 Souls: loading the whole truck! |
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