Last Monday we got to go to Avon (Whoo!) because Sister Genster had a dentist appt there. It was kind of weird to be going back. It felt like home, but then not at the same time. It made me sad. And Sister Genster found out that she has to get a root canal. No fun :(
Wednesday was my doctor appt in Cleveland. It was in the morning this time and the traffic was so crazy! We were half an hour late. But thankfully my doctors are all awesome and it wasn't a problem. Sister Vellinga always jokes that I am going to know downtown Cleveland better than any other sister in the mission. (President never puts sisters in downtown Cleveland...for obvious reasons) But it's true! I know that area like the back of my hand now! But my lung volumes were higher than they have been in like the past 8 years! Whoohoo! Blessings of a mission.
Friday we moved to our new apartment. It's great! We live with the Sister Training Leader's now so that has been super fun. Sadly though while we were moving Sister Genster sprained her ankle really bad :( She didn't get crutches though until yesterday. I was carrying her around for a few days. Literally haha. But she has been so great through the whole thing. Always smiling and always positive. The first day it was so swollen it looked like she had grown a tennis ball on her ankle! Then she got a huge nasty bruise on it. But it is starting to heal. We will definitely have quite a bit of downtime this week though. To her dismay Sister Vellinga told her to keep it up and stay off of it for a week. So lots of letters and packages will be more than welcome this week!! :D Down time as a missionary is probably in my top 5 things of least favorite things.
Saturday we painted one of our old investigators houses all day. And it also happened to be the hottest day of the week. Of course. But it was really fun. The other sister and elders in the ward came to help as well as some ward members. And she really appreciated it.
By Sunday my body had apparently been worked too hard over the past few days and out of no where I had come down with a really bad cold. (Yeah, in the middle of summer. I don't get it either) I was sitting next to Sister Vellinga during Sunday school and so she heard me sneezing, sniffling, and coughing the whole time, and sent us home to get some rest and let both of our bodies heal. Thankfully I am feeling much better today. I agree with Steph, getting sick is sometimes a blessing from God so you can take a three hour nap!
So a couple weeks ago I wrote about how Satan had torn down my testimony and foundation. A friend had sent me a story back to that email and I absolutely love it! He told me that I couldn't get Satan all the credit. Here's the story for you all:
EPHRAIM HANKS:
On many occasions Ephraim Hanks was rewarded for his obedience to the prophet, Brigham
Young. one spring morning he was at work, building an adobe house in the city. The basement
was almost completed and he was just beginning to lay the sun-dried brick when Brigham drove up in his carriage and said, ‘Ephraim, how thick is that rock wall?’
Ephraim answered that it was eight inches thick.
Brigham said, ‘Tear it all down, Ephraim, and build it twice as thick.’ Then, as if to avoid argument, he turned his carriage around and drove away. Ephraim had been hauling rock from Ensign peak for many days, and had paid a mason a good price to lay it in lime mortar. He dreaded the extra work and expense of doing it all over again.
The mason, too, showed his disapproval by swearing and remarking, ‘Brigham Young may be a saint,but he’s no kind of a prophet about building stone walls!’ Nevertheless, Ephraim re-contracted with the stone mason to double the wall and the next morning started hauling rock again. A month later, they had laid on this sixteen-inch wall much adobe brick and mud. As they were putting up the rafters, a terrific storm started. Rain fell in sheets, causing streamlets of water to run in all directions. In a few minutes the basement of the new house was flooded,but the sturdy, thick walls stood safe and strong, supporting the house.
A few days later when the water had drained out and they finished laying the rafters, Ephraim drove in the nails to the tune of ‘We Thank Thee, oh God, for a prophet.’
On many occasions Ephraim Hanks was rewarded for his obedience to the prophet, Brigham
Young. one spring morning he was at work, building an adobe house in the city. The basement
was almost completed and he was just beginning to lay the sun-dried brick when Brigham drove up in his carriage and said, ‘Ephraim, how thick is that rock wall?’
Ephraim answered that it was eight inches thick.
Brigham said, ‘Tear it all down, Ephraim, and build it twice as thick.’ Then, as if to avoid argument, he turned his carriage around and drove away. Ephraim had been hauling rock from Ensign peak for many days, and had paid a mason a good price to lay it in lime mortar. He dreaded the extra work and expense of doing it all over again.
The mason, too, showed his disapproval by swearing and remarking, ‘Brigham Young may be a saint,but he’s no kind of a prophet about building stone walls!’ Nevertheless, Ephraim re-contracted with the stone mason to double the wall and the next morning started hauling rock again. A month later, they had laid on this sixteen-inch wall much adobe brick and mud. As they were putting up the rafters, a terrific storm started. Rain fell in sheets, causing streamlets of water to run in all directions. In a few minutes the basement of the new house was flooded,but the sturdy, thick walls stood safe and strong, supporting the house.
A few days later when the water had drained out and they finished laying the rafters, Ephraim drove in the nails to the tune of ‘We Thank Thee, oh God, for a prophet.’
How great is that story?! I absolutely loved it! It completely changed my perspective of what had happened and made me so much more grateful for that experience. Then it reminded me of this awesome Mormon Message I had seen a couple months ago. God's plan is truly the best plan for us. Sometimes we loose sight of that or can forget, but He always has a way of reminding us.
I love you all.
I love my mission.
I love this gospel.
Sister Amber Olds
27243 Westown Blvd Apt #310
Westlake, Ohio 44145
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| MISSION MADE!!! |
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| So background story. Throughout the whole mission President Vellinga is known for loving peanut butter and miracle whip sandwiches. Yeah....I know. Sounds gross. Tuesday after District Meeting we had to run over to the mission home real quick to grab my watch (that I had left there Sunday when they had us over for dinner). We were talking to Sister Vellinga about some medical stuff and all of a sudden President goes, "Do you want a peanut butter and miracle whip sandwich?!" Umm....of course!! How often do you get the opportunity to have a PB & MW sandwich made personally by President Vellinga? We even ran out to the car to grab my camera to document it. It was that big! The whole time Sister Vellinga and Kristen were like, "Gross! No. You don't have to eat that. It's disgusting!" Surprisingly though, it was good!! Maybe all those years of my friends daring me eat to eat gross foods have just whacked out my taste buds, but I actually really liked it. President was so thrilled! haha He told us that we were the most spiritual missionaries he had because we had the right taste buds. That definitely made it to my journal that night! |
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| The ULTIMATE picture of President Vellinga! This picture is going to be coveted throughout the whole mission. We are going to get a big print of it and hang it in the mission office. Everything about it is just classic President. peering over the glasses, the PB & MW sandwich, even the miracle whip jar in the background!! haha too great |
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| He was right though! We really did teach better that day! Tuesday was our best day of the whole week! |
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| The painting crew! |
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| This picture cracks me up! Sister Gardner and I were really struggling back there trying to paint behind the bushes. Few spiders in our clothes....not fun. |
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