CRAZY. CRAZY. CRAZY. SO MUCH HAPPENED THIS WEEK. GET READY FOR A WILD RIDE.
So, yesterday was Sunday! Throughout the week, Sister Hyde and I invited literally our entire teaching pool to come to church, and we invited them daily. Well, it ended up working pretty well. Our goal for church attendance was 10 (we average around 8 each week), and we had 11!!! It was awesome. A lot of people who had never come before were there, and it was cool to see how it went. In the middle of the Sacrament meeting, I got a text saying we would do a musical number. I was on stage translating, my companion was sitting with an investigator, and Elder Pitcher was sitting at the piano. So, we communicated, honestly, really well from the stage and stuff.
We decided to do "I am a Child of God,'' in Swahili. So we got up there, all we knew was we were doing three verses and Pitcher would just follow us. Sister Hyde was not informed that he would do a key change in the middle of the song, so after the second verse, I leaned over and whispered, "Get ready for a key change," and honestly, seeing that we had no beforehand knowledge of this musical number, we killed it. We are a dynamic trio of impromptu musical numbers. We've done it countless times haha.
Also, there's this lady named Charlotte. She speaks Swahili and Kinyarwanda, so one time, she helped us translate a lesson from Swahili to Kinyarwanda. After the lesson, she was like, "I really feel the Spirit!" And then, we could never catch her when she was home, but we see her all the time around the city! So, we kept inviting her to church. And, she came! and brought her kids and then her boyfriend!! So we got to meet the whole family and become friends with all of them! So excited.
SO! Do you remember the party I went to where we then were invited to the biggest African party of the year? Well, we NEEDED African dresses for the party because all the girls will be wearing handmade dresses in the same fabric. So, of course, we needed it! So, this week, the fabric came in, and we met up with "the queen of sewing," who makes all the dresses for "Miss Africa Idaho." She measured us and is now making the dresses! Get ready for an email in March where I'll look so cool lol.
Another cool lesson was with a lady named Joan. She was from the refugee Elders' area, and now that they're gone, we have all of their friends now in our area! Joan is such a sweetheart! She hadn't been taught very much but always said that she felt the Spirit. So, we asked her if she wanted to be baptized, and she said yes! She's still got to learn all the lessons and come to church a couple times, but we are excited for her!
As the Zone Leadership, Sister Nielson, Elder Pitcher, Elder Naumann, and I taught a District Leader Training. And honestly, it was really fun to learn from one another! Here's the highlights: Elder Pitcher doing a handstand, Elder Naumann singing in Spanish, and all the Elders making paper airplanes. Wild. I promise it was productive and all of those things make sense in context ahha.
Now for the weirdest night of my mission: We went over to a family's house and it was the parents' anniversary. It was lowkey awkward. They did this thing where the dad got down on one knee and gave her a ring and then flowers and then they hugged SO AWKWARDLY, and then just stood there and people were quiet except for the music playing in the background. And then, we had a dance party, and then, I was teasing the youngest kid by trying to convince him that "Thick" was spelled "Thicccc." We have a video of the debate and it's hilarious. And then, we taught the gospel, and then we were gone haha. Wild.
Spiritual Thought:
As I've studied D&C these past couple weeks, I've learned a lot about missionary work and revelation, and how they are combined. While listening to a podcast about Section 11 of the Doctrine and Covenants, someone said something that really struck me.
"Private victories precede public victories."
What he meant by that is we need to be prepared to receive revelation. There is not a formula to help people come closer to Christ, but when one prepares themselves by feasting on the word of God, they will be ready to be in a situation to help someone change their life. I loved hearing this. I know that I haven't seen a lot of "public victories" with helping people come closer to Christ, but I know that I am having more and more "private victories" as I start to read the scriptures and truly apply them in my life, and as I am patient, success will come, BUT NOT ON MY TIMETABLE, on God's time. Because his time is so much better!
Well, what a long email. Thanks for reading if you've made it all the way through!
I love you all. And my Texas peeps, STAY WARM! I'm praying for you all!
Love,
Sister Copeland
Pictures (mengi):
1. Decorating the Elders' door for Valentines Day!💙
2. Snow!
3. My fav kids :)
4. Best way to put this dish: animal tongue, cinnamon rice, and beans. Yeah... not fantastic.
5. Reallyyyy cute baby
6. More snow haha
7. The cutest valentine I've ever received.
8. Another selfie haha
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