hello hello hello!
Welcome back friends and family to week 73 of Sister Copeland's mission. Wow. 73. out of 75. That's insane.
Anyway, the grind never stops, even when you are on week 73. Soooo, let's get right into it.
This week was a blast! First off, church was awesome! It was the primary program which was adorable and super fun to translate haha. Sometimes I wouldn't be able to translate some of the responses, not because I didn't know how, but because the children were just way too hard to understand haha. It was adorable though! We had a mix of the 5th ward kiddos and our branch kids, which was so cute. They all went up and gave an answer to an open-ended question, like "How do you show love?" or "What does it mean to walk with Jesus?" It was so freaking cute.
One of the families we teach is this super cute Arabic speaking family. They have two little kids and then their mom, and they are seriously the sweetest. They came to English class, and the little girl brought smarties for "You, your sisters, and your grandma." "Grandma" is this super sweet member that visited them with us one time. They also invited us over for spaghetti dinner. We are going over this upcoming Friday to eat with them which will be so fun. They came to church and the little girl gave an answer in the primary program in her super cute broken English. She then hugged us all of church and afterward. She's seriously the cutest kid and I love her. She says, "You teach me Swahili then English, and I teach you language Arabic and language Dinka." I don't know what Dinka is or if I even spelled it right, but she is set on teaching me it. A cutie for sure.
Another thing that happened this week was we were able to catch up with Noel! He is a super cool guy that lives with our friend, Etienne, but we haven't seen either of them in a while. We ended up finding out that Noel is actually related to another family we teach lol. Who would've thought lol. But, he loves studying and finding out things about other religions, and he is super interested in just learning, but at his own pace. He said he wants to read the Book of Mormon, but he is gonna do it on his own. He did agree to come with us to see the Pocatello Temple this weekend though! He is super excited to see it and learn about it.
Speaking of the Pocatello Temple, we are inviting literally everyone we know to come see it this weekend! Our branch rented a full-on school bus so that we could all go down together haha! It's gonna be super fun. Families we haven't been able to see in a while have all said they would come, which is so awesome! It's going to be an awesome experience. The temple is beautiful! We've also got some RM Swahili missionaries coming back to go with us! Super exciting!
Also, we got to go and see our refugee branch football team play in their flag football game! It's a bunch of cute little 8-10 year olds from the branch that are on this little team coached by the Elders. Most of the games have been during our English class, but luckily this week there was one in the afternoon! So, we went and cheered them on! Maneno is kinda killer at football ngl. He kept running up to me and saying how many points he had scored. What a good kid haha. The best part was there was this little kid on the other team who just screamed the entire time a play was happening, offense or defense, winning or losing. It was absolutely hysterical, and honestly my favorite part of the game. This kid just yelled and yelled and yelled, and stopped for nothing lol. Kids.
We filmed more and more Swahili class videos! We are getting going and honestly getting in a groove. It's so fun to be able to put all of the language knowledge I have on film so that anyone who needs to learn it after me, can! So, if you wanna go home and know how to talk to me in Swahili, check 'em out on Facebook and YouTube lol.
On Sunday morning, we were going around and waking people up for church, and we pulled up to someone's apartment, and as we knocked, there was a huge black widow on the door... so needless to say we backed up. But, this house has lots of children and we didn't want it to get them, so we had to figure out how to get rid of it. So I, the bravest one, picked up a stick so I could get it off their door and then smash it. (cue safety zone theme song) But, I poked it, and then the spider lifted its front two legs at me, (cue even more intense safety zone theme song) and I decided I'd let it be. So, we texted in our branch group chat, and asked whoever was brave enough to come and kill it. And like an icon, Marla Christensen, our little old Relief Society President, walked up and smashed it haha. She's amazing.
We went to Fausta and Vestina's house and Vestina tried to shove a flour-water covered banana in my mouth, and I kept saying "Siwezi, siwezi," which means I can't, so I had to explain my gluten free life story again. She sort of understood by the end and ended up giving me the recipe for the cure. Sooooo, beat that.
We got to teach the seminary classes this week, which was so fun! I forgot how crazy high schoolers are lol. But, we taught them, and I got to roast the kid we live with in front of his whole class which was sooo worth it. lol. But, hopefully it was good for the classes to hear about our presentation. We talked about opening up friend groups and trying not to be exclusive. I think they took it to heart, but you never know with teenagers haha.
We had this AWESOME experience with this lady that we do service with named Pamela! We see her every so often to set up refugee homes for incoming refugees! We were setting up a house this week, just us and her, and we got talking. She said, "What do you guys do?" So we started talking about missionary work, and then she asked, "Okay, I wanna learn more about your church, and I think you all should teach me something new every time we are together. I'm thinking about trying out church." IT WAS SO COOL! Our intention was never to teach her, but she saw the light we had and asked to talk on her own! She's super sweet, and we are excited to keep sharing our testimonies with one another.
I got to share a testimony with Muhindo about how important his family is to me. I told him that I've met a lot of people, but his family has a very special place in my heart. I told him that I knew God wanted to bless him and had blessings waiting for him, he just needs to take the steps necessary for God to give him those blessings. I hope he was listening, because it's all true:) I know I was meant to meet them. They are so awesome and so prepared for the blessings God has in store.
Here is a thought that is spiritual for you:
I was reading in Doctrine and Covenants 117 with one of the seminary classes and it told the story of Oliver Granger. He was given an assignment, and long story short, he completely failed. He didn't complete his task and it just didn't go well at all. But, in D&C 117, the Lord says this:
"And again, I say unto you, I remember my servant Oliver Granger; behold, verily I say unto him that his name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord...and when he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord."
Even though Oliver Granger failed, the Lord says that his name will be held in sacred remembrance. Why? Could it be that even when we fail, God is proud? ABSOLUTELY. He says that even though he falls, he will rise again. AND, his SACRIFICE will be more than his INCREASE. God doesn't care if we win or lose, succeed or fail. ALL HE CARES ABOUT is that we try and we are willing to sacrifice for him. Sometimes I look back at my mission, and see failures. I see the people that could've been baptized but didn't, or people that rejected our message, or people that stopped listening, and the list goes on. BUT RIGHT HERE. IN THE WORDS OF THE LORD HIMSELF, He says that the sacrifice is more important. It doesn't matter your increase or your success, or anything else. It matters that you consecrated your efforts to Him. So, look at your failures. Maybe they aren't really failures. Idk. Think about it:)
Anyway. I love you all and am so glad you enjoyed this email. Yes, I'm reading your mind lol.
See you for the next 2:)
Love you all,
sister copeland
Adorable little kids that I'm gonna miss
No comments:
Post a Comment