Wednesday, January 25, 2012

2nd Transfer, Week 1 In which Sister Westrup sings publically for the first time

Okay, so I'm a little behind in sharing Sister Westrup's letters.  But I'm catching up.

Dear Family,
 
As I mentioned last P-day, our district gathered for a meat buffet. It was a special occasion because of transfers. Our district didn't change too much. Just one Elder got transferred to another area in our district. So, nothing to exciting. The meat, however, was DELICIOUS! There's just tons of uncooked meat set out. You bring it to your table and then you cook it there. It's really more of an Elder activity I think. Sister Bush and I decided on the way home that Sisters just don't really go out to stuff their faces with as much meat as possible. Nevertheless, it was mighty tasty.
 
Every week on Wednesday night, we have an English class at the church. Sister Bush and I were in charge of giving the spiritual thought. Sister Bush is quite musical. As most people have come to find out by the excruciating pain in their ears that comes any time I try to belt out a tune, I cannot sing at all... This particular week, we had more people at English class than every before. They had no idea what they were in for. Sister Bush and I stood up to sing at the end of the class. My knees were shaking. And I felt like I was going to vomit. But just as with speaking Korean, I've found that whenever I open my mouth to share my message, Heavenly Father blesses me, and it's all ok. We sang I am a Child of God. One verse in English, one in Korean. I think it really touched people. It was a miracle! I sang in front of people! That night, we got a lunch invitation to meet with a lady whose been coming to English class for the past 10 years. She's been taught all the lessons, mulitiple times even! But she just won't get baptized. It was a miracle that she invited us! We're going to try our best to work with her, but not be overwhemling. (When we were singing I am a Child of God, she was mouthing all the words... in English) She's basically a member of the church already.
 
We've had to move back our baptismal dates again! It's so devastating! The sisters love us, and they keep all of their committments, EXCEPT coming to church. We've corraled one of the YSA into "fellowshipping" her. Really, we just want them to get married. But more than that, we just want her to come to church. I think they might invite us over this next week for dinner. That is perfect because we've only been teaching them at the church. If we can find out where they live, we'll just go pick them up before church. They'll have to come.
 
In other news, Sister Bush is a riot! I love her so much! We laugh all the time. Missionary work is so fun with her! When we go door knocking, she'll do the funniest things in between doors, and I have to try so hard not to laugh out loud as we share our message with people.
 
We also started a contest with some Elders in our district to see who could be done with Pass-off first. Pass-off is just a little program our mission has to memorize sentences for each lesson (or discussion if you're old school... Dad). This Elder is a transfer ahead of me. We discovered last week that we were in the same lesson, even though he's been here for two months longer than I have (because of the whole delayed in the MTC thing). So, me and my big mouth decided it would be a good idea to challenge him and see who could be done first. The loser has to buy the winner ice cream. I've been working like crazy trying to memorize sentences. I did 18 in one day last week. But he's still ahead... BOO!
 
This week we've focused more on reading the Book of Mormon with our investigators. There's something special when you read the Book of Mormon in a group setting. You can gain insights and feel the Spirit in a way that's so unique. It's hard to explain unless you try it for yourself. So, that's my challenge this week. Read the Book of Mormon with each other this week! Even if it's only a few verses. I know that when we read the Book of Mormon with those we love, our love for them will only continue to grow deeper and stronger, and our understanding of our divine identies will increase. Funny how those two things always correlate huh?
 
Today Sister Bush and I are going to do some shopping, and then get ice cream (this is beginning to not only become a pday tradition, but an every day tradition).
 
Alright family, I think that's it for today!
 
Love you!
웨스트럽 자매

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