May 10, 2010 "Cinco de Mustache and Yopped Hair"

It was a fun week! Last preparation day, I decided it was pixie cut time. No boyfriends telling me what to do with my hair, no time to do it anyway and hot Missouri sun equals Sister Roo gets a haircut. And I love it! A sister from 4th ward (if you remember me ever telling you about my favorite family the Browns) cut it. She is rad.

Second amazing thing that happened this week was our favorite holiday, Cinco de Mustache! My boy haircut along with my hilarious friend, Sister Stanton's made for some stellar pictures. I love my life! There was a tractor parade the other day on Independence Square. Only in Missouri. Ha ha! Hundreds of tractors all inching their way down Truman.

Quotes from the week:

"Count how many churches are on this street." -Me

"...six, seven..." - Sis Bethany Maddox

"That's a fire station" - Sis Wathen

"They save people too!" - Sister Maddox

"If you don't get her, you don't love her. I don't get her, but I love her"- Sis Wathen about a previous companion. Profound, I think.

"Heavenly Father, there are a lot of bugs and we don't want them here anymore." - Sis Wathen's prayer. We have an ant infestation.

As for the work, it was a slow week. We have elders in the ward too (our district leader) and neither of us had much success as far as the outward measurements. But I love that Sister Wathen and I are really learning that the work is about the people. I love not having a "numbers" companion. I am developing more charity every day, just by being around Sister Wathen. She is incredible. We keep having these lessons where I have this thought "I don't care how many lessons we teach today, we needed to be here right now." We have had several people tell us this week that they needed us.

I have to make all the Spanish phone calls and I am kind of getting used to it. I have lots of people willing to help me. At our dinner appt. last Monday, we ate with the S***** family. They moved here recently and he works from home, so we asked why the move. They just felt like they needed to. I honestly believe the Lord is sending people here to help build up Zion. We're not all supposed to up and move to Jackson County, but yes. Some are! It's so neat. They left behind their comfortable Mormon environment in Idaho and now the kids are some of the only members at their school. It's a struggle to fit in. I admire them so much for following the Spirit in guiding their family here. After dinner, we gathered around while Dad played some hymns on the guitar. It was so great. Such a good feeling. Then he said "How can we help you?" That's our job! People never ask us that, it seems, because we are always asking for their help. Then he said he would like to help me learn Spanish and promised to only speak it to me from here on out. He said to call whenever I have a question. It was the nicest thing in the world. I don't know if I will ever actually call him, but it was the idea that someone out here is on my team. Someone is here to support me. It was so great! I love this ward with all my heart. (OK, only part of my heart...Mound City branch has all of it).

Heavenly Father is funny. He had to let me hit rock bottom out here last transfer so that I could appreciate what it's like to breathe, to work, to be a missionary. And anyone can blah blah blah about how trials make us stronger and we need opposition, but I get it now. Well, I am beginning to understand anyway. I know now that I need to spend more time on my knees. I need to express my love more. We are in this together. And we are on the winning team when we follow the laws the Lord has set. As long as we are progressing a little bit every day, we will feel fulfilled. A large part of faith is knowing you are on the right path. This is God's work and we get to be His hands for a while. A short while. We gotta make the most of it! Love you dearly. Thanks for your emails and letters. I apologize for not writing back to you personally sooner. Missions are chaos.

con amor,

hna adamson