On Thursday night, we had dinner with one of our members and we decided to bike there because it was close enough and we wanted to save our clicks. She lives down this GIANT hill that's so steep that from the top, it looks like you're going straight down. The last time we biked down it we walked our bikes back up and it still took us 10 minutes and we still had to take breaks because it was so hard and when we got to the top, our hearts were pounding so fast that we still thought we were going to die, so we asked the member we were eating with if she knew any alternate routes without as many hills and she said she did! It turns out that the alternate route was the HIGHWAY, which we didn't know until it was too late and we were biking up the first of THREE giant hills in a row! The traffic was... not thrilled. I'm like 98% sure it was illegal but the map told us to bike that way! And it wasn't like we could just turn around and go back down or turn off onto a side street! We got honked out a lot and my bike wouldn't change out of gear 7 and I cut my ankle on the gears, so it definitely counted as an Experience! We finally made it to the church to do online proselyting at 8:45, which is, coincidentally, the time that we have to start biking home to make it before curfew. The Mandarin elders were there (they're always there, I'm honestly not sure what they do with their time) and Elder Jhu, who is from Taiwan, I think, asked me why I was SO red and told me that I was sunburned. I explained that I was just really sweaty and he told me again that he thought I was probably sunburned. He asked me why white people are always getting so red, and in my head I was like "Karen! You can't just ask people why they're white!" I feel like I get unusually red so I am probably not a great example of white people as a whole.
It has been COLD this week. 14 degrees and rainy every day, and I don't have a coat beyond a cardigan or rain boots or anything and so I just freeze on people's doorsteps! It honestly feels like September or October or November and I keep getting excited for the start of school (which I will not be attending) and Halloween (which we do not celebrate) and Christmas (which is four months away). I seriously want to drink hot apple cider and listen to Christmas music by a fire. It SMELLS like fall. It's August 14.
We're teaching this other lady named Marnie, who is definitely not YSA age. She's probably 50? 55? But she wants to be taught by us. She made it very clear that she is vegan and financially challenged and too busy to come to church or read at all this month because she's volunteering at the Calgary Fringe Festival. She is definitely a chatter and INTIMIDATING to teach because she has been going to Institute classes for 20 years! She started going when her daughter was at the University of Calgary because you get free parking at the institute if you take a class, and she just never stopped attending. In that time, she converted from Lutheranism to Catholicism and now she's looking to join our church and she already knows EVERYTHING and is just meeting with us because she knows you have to do it to get baptized. She already believes the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet and when I bore my testimony about the restoration she said "good job!" but told me Joseph Smith wrote that it was Nephi who appeared to him instead of Moroni! Because she already knew everything! I've honestly only been to institute twice, and she's been going since I was born, so I might find myself a little outmatched in my gospel knowledge.
The family ward sisters who cover our area tracted into and passed off this guy named Treay, who is super sweet and interested in the gospel because we said that it would make him happier! Which is awesome! We taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how it brings us joy as we live it, and we could TELL he was feeling the Spirit, which is awesome! And then he came to church for a hot second on Sunday! I love him and every time I see him I think about how much I want him to get baptized. He's gonna have to quit smoking, but it'll be fine. Everyone smokes in Calgary. It's still a ~cool thing to do~ here.
We have been tracting a LOT lately because nobody is outside when it's 14 degrees in August. I learned this week that an hour goes a lot faster when you actually talk to people instead of just standing behind your trainer. Tracting is not super effective to find YSA. And people we talk to are either nice but not interested or mean and not interested. Every time people see us they're like "Oh sorry, I'm Catholic," "Oh sorry, I'm Presbyterian," "Oh sorry, I'm atheist." Which is like ... so not the point. I don't know if they think we're going around looking for people who are already members of our church, or what. Being Catholic doesn't stop you from taking the missionary lessons! I also like it when old men see us and say "Oh! Look! Mormons!" It makes me feel very seen.
On Sunday, I was so trashed (from what, you may ask? getting 8 hours of sleep a night?) that while my companion was filling out pass-along cards I just ... fell asleep. For 20 minutes. Sitting on the couch. We love that mission life!
Being a sister missionary is the BEST kind of missionary because it's just like being at girl's camp and EFY and Young Women rolled into one. We have sleepovers and bake treats and say "love you sisters!" all the time. Yesterday we had a pass-off lesson the in the Southeast with another companionship and this cute girl named Joanne who wants to learn more about God because she thinks religious people are happier and nicer (she's 25 and teaches piano and owns her own house! She said she'd try to come to church on Sunday and our member who was there is definitely a character of his own and told her that he usually just comes for the potluck at 3:30 and so that's when it would be best for her to show up). Anyway, these other sisters have been having a hard transfer so after the lesson we snuck out to their house and heart-attacked their door. Because that's what Jesus would do.
Elder Andersen came to speak to our mission, and he only went to the south! So I didn't get to meet him! Which is fine, because I don't care about meeting apostles anyway. At all. It's fine.
Our zone hit our monthly finding goal in 2 weeks! We've found 46 so far this month, which is awesome. We've just gotta, you know, get them to church...
We love scriptures! Luke 1:45 says "And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." PMG says that having faith in Jesus Christ includes having faith that He has the power to keep His promises! So hold on! We know that everything works out in the end!
On that note, if anyone knows what is going on in Romans please enlighten me because I am Very Confused. I'm beginning to understand why there was an apostasy...
We're going bowling today and I'm pumped because I'm secretly not terrible at bowling. The Calgary YSA zone isn't going to know what hit them.
Send me your favorite scriptures! Because I love scriptures and I love you all!
Have a blesséd week! Love you!
Sister Willis
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