Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter! March 27, 2013



Hey there :)
This week has been the most exhausting week of my mission! AH!!! Being senior companion is harder than I thought it would be. And my lovely Russian isn't too thrilled about being in this new area, so it makes things a little more difficult. BUT! All is well, and the work continues to progress! I love Bowie so much!

Cheryl is doing well. Her walls and stubbornness are slowly crumbling, and she's opening up more to he Gospel. She's still a little uneasy about her baptismal date, but I'm confident it will hold. Heavenly Father's hand is in His work.

Mandy is great!! So sweet and so sincere. And she doesn't hide anything from us. I love having her husband, Jason, in the lessons with us! Even though he is less-active, he still has a super strong testimony of the doctrine! GAH! They are so golden! I love them so much! And their kids are super adorable and well behaved so that's a perk :)

We started teaching the husband of an active member of our ward! Jodi Scheide served a mission in NJ, came home, and 2 years later married a non-member, Thomas (or TJ). They have an adorable little boy, also Thomas, and are due with their second son in May. Thomas has come to church with Jodi every Sunday of their married life (that's every Sunday for 3 years!!!), and almost got baptized 2 years ago. But he has some doubts and concerns, so he backed out. But then, at the beginning of last transfer, while we were in the temple, Sister Gros and I felt that we needed to work with them and reteach the lessons. Then finally, last week we were able to tell them this! And they agreed! We're so excited for this! YAY!

We've also been doing a lot of work for the ward- a TON of checking on less actives and "do not contacts". The ward asked us to do it so I'm happy to spend some time working on that. My companion would rather be out tracting. I don't think tracting is efficient or very productive, especially not in Bowie. So I'm not so willing to schedule an hour everyday for tracting... But, this just goes to show how prideful I am. So this week, I will really be trying to humble myself and maybe do a little tracting.

Being senior companion doesn't really mean anything. But if the companions can't agree on something, the junior is to follow the counsel of the senior... But that still doesn't mean anything. So really, it's just a fancy title that means you're older in the mission than your companion. Does that explanation make sense? Probably not but oh well.


Sister Bullock and Sister Lavrentyeva celebrate Sister Bullock's Birthday

It was fun reading all of the birthday wishes! Thank you so much for that :) For my birthday, we took a picture, made a birthday card, and delivered it to all the March birthday's in the ward :) It was fun! Then we had dinner with one of my favorite families in the ward, the Herds. They're so great! Sister Herd even bought me a birthday balloon and attached it to a water bottle full of chocolate, haha. Then they sang Happy Birthday and we had some ice cream. Of course I missed having family time, but it was nice to be with loving members :)
Sister Bullock's Birthday Balloon from a family in her ward

Easter is this weekend, as you know :) It's the best holiday EVER because we get to rejoice in our risen Savior! I know that Christ lives. And because of His triumph over death, we can all be resurrected and live in complete joy and happiness with our Heavenly Father and our Savior for eternity! What a wonderful blessing and promise! As you hunt for Easter eggs or wait for the Easter Bunny to bring you Chocolate, remember the true meaning for Easter, okay? :)
This coming week should be better and more eventful! Hopefully I'll have more to report for you next time! I love you and miss you all! Have a wonderful week! :)
Love, Sister Bullock