So yesterday marked my 5 month mark. I've been away from home from 5
months! And then in a couple weeks it'll be that I've been out in the field for
5 months! Crazy how fast time goes by. I don't think I will ever understand
mission time. It's weird. But a good weird...no worries!
Alright. So this week was pretty great! On Monday we were able to see a
paratrooper jump (with permission from the zone leaders) on post. It was
incredible! The Hills (the senior missionary couple) took us and I'm so grateful
they did! They kept saying that it was a once in a lifetime experience. They
didn't end up coming until late...so it was really dark. But! The lights from a
distance lit it up just right so that we could actually see the jumpers! They
looked like blobs and shadows, but we could still see them!! Hoorah! It was
incredible!! A plane would go by and then there would just be a trail of
jumpers. Like there was so many of them. It was neat! Later on that night, Elder
Hill told us this: "We witnessed history tonight - 21 planes - there hasn't been
a jump this big since WWII."
Crazy, hey? It was such a neat experience!
On Wednesday, we had Activity Zone Conference, in Wilmington. So 3 zones
(the southern zones - in the mission we call it the Southern Kingdom - hehe. And
then the 3 zones up north are called the Northern Kingdom. Love it.) all got
together and the spiritual portion of it went from around 9 to 12. And then we
had lunch, and then we played games from 1-3! And then we had a fun little
devotional type thing with President and Sister Bernhisel afterwards. It was so
much fun!!! The spiritual portion of it was really uplifting. It was mostly
focused on how to get members excited to do missionary work. It was great.
President showed a clip of a movie (I can't remember what it's called) but it
was about the olympics and the USA team playing hockey and whatever and the last
part was "Whose team are you on?!" And the hockey player said "the united states
of america" and then that's when the clip stopped. And then President was like
ah, that part makes me want to tear up! No offense to our Canadian missionaries.
Haha and then everyone looked at me...there's only like 3 of us Canadians in the
Southern Kingdom. Haha I didn't know how to respond...but it was funny! And then
for lunch we had a southern meal - pulled pork sandwiches in a vinegar based
sauce. I love that haha it's sooo good! And then we changed and got into our
grubbies (exercise clothes) and we got put into teams and then we played! There
was 4 games - Capture the Flag, Soccer, Ultimate Frisbee, and Zombie Ball. They
were all a lot of fun! It was weird seeing everyone in normal clothes
though...hahah. Zombie Ball is like a break off of dodge ball. Except for there
aren't teams, you're on your own. Survival of the fittest. So what happens is
there's one ball and it gets thrown around and if you get hit by it, you have to
sit on your bum and become a 'zombie'. The only way to stand back up (to rid
yourself of your zombie-ness haha) is if you tag someone else who's standing
(you're allowed to butt scooch, or zombie crawl on your stomach) and then you
get to stand up and they have to sit down, or! You catch the ball. It was
interesting hahah it was kinda sketchy! Especially when you're one of the few
who are standing and you have to dodge the ball and watch out for all the people
sitting on the floor scooching towards you. Hahaha like I said before..it was
interesting. But yeah! Zone Conference was a ton of fun! It was nice to just
take a break for a couple hours and release all the pent up energy haha. This
only happens once a year and I'm already so excited for next year's haha. And
then afterwards, we took a group picture with President and his wife. And then
we all sat under this roof thing (I can't think of what's it's called) and
President and Sister Bernhisel both bore their testimonies and gave us a little
message. They're going home in June...it breaks my heart! But I'm sure the new
mission president and his wife will be great :) I'm just going to miss the
Bernhisel's like crazy! It's okay though. And then we sang this southern song
called The Preacher and the Bear. Or something like that hahaha it was fun
singing that with all the other missionaries :)
And then we all went home! We didn't get back to Fayetteville until like
7pm. It was crazy ahah. But sooo worth it! I loved it!
And then on Friday! We were able to see Sister Mentzer! Remember her? Haha.
Anywho, she had her baby and he's such a cutie! He's adorable! His name is
James. She's so happy now! You can feel the spirit more in her home. It's great.
Babies just have such a special spirit about them that they bring into homes.
It's amazing to see. But yeah, we had a lesson with her. Sister Hill came along
and pretty much just asked her why she isn't baptized yet. Haha Sister Hill is
very bold...it's great. And then a lot of Sister Mentzer's concerns came out. It
mostly had to do with the Priesthood and she doesn't understand why there are
priestess's in the Bible but not anymore. And why that changed. And she doesn't
believe that there's only one prophet on the earth today...because again the
bible's time there were many prophets. Sister Hill had a lot of inspired
answers. But we told her we would study it more and get back to her. They're
valid questions! Haha something I've never really thought about before. It'll be
interesting to study! But overall, it was a pretty good lesson. I just love
Sister Mentzer :) she's great.
Sunday was pretty good too. In the YSA branch's sacrament meeting there was
a speaker and he was talking about how we shouldn't just swim in the scriptures,
but we should scuba dive in them and get the most out of them as we can. He was
telling us that when he studies the scriptures he asks himself questions like
why is this in here? Engraving the plates wasn't easy, so this obviously means
something more. And how does this apply to me? And then he went on to elaborate
on 1 Nephi 2:15 (Jon's favourite scripture!). He was saying something along the
lines of, when they were out in the wilderness, they would sometimes be in one
place for a long time and he didn't understand why they didn't just build houses
and things. And then he was like, and then it hit me. Tents are used for mobile
reasons. Lehi dwelt in a tent because that made them mobile. They didn't know
when the Lord was going to tell them to leave, but did know that they had to be
ready. Hence the tents. And then he's like alright. How does this apply to me?
Then he talked about an experience he had where him and his wife moved to a
different state and the first few days of being there and settling in, their
stake president stopped by and he's like you don't know me, but I'm the stake
president and you all just moved in. I'm here to tell you that you all need to
go on a mission. Talk to your bishop as soon as you can. And so they talked to
their bishop and they had their papers started a few days later! And then he
went on to say, that "if you are so in love with what you got, you won't be able
to leave." We have to be prepared for anything. If the Lord asked you to move
somewhere else, would you? Because Lehi's faith was so strong, he had that
mentality of, I will go where you want me to go, dear Lord. Again, going back to
the tent. He showed that faith through his actions. He didn't build anything
because he didn't know how long they were going to be there before the Lord told
them to keep going. He was waiting on the Lord.
It was interesting to hear! I never really thought about that scripture
that deep before! Haha. Proof that you can get SO MUCH from every scripture!!
You just have to dig deeper -- or scuba dive deeper. :)
Ahh I love being a missionary here in North Carolina. I love being able to
say that I am a representative of Jesus Christ. :) Some days are so hard, some
days seem to go by so slow, and some days, I feel like I'm walking on sunshine!
But ALL days are great days. I can honestly say that at the close of each day, I
sincerely thank my Father in Heaven for that day and for everything that
happened. For without those hard days, we wouldn't appreciate the good days.
Being out here is worth everything. I am SO grateful I have been given this
opportunity to serve a full time mission. And I am so very grateful for all the
love and support I feel from back home. :) Y'all are amazing. I love you all so
much and miss you like crazy! But I know the Lord is taking care of you...and
that gives me peace :)
I hope you all have a wonderful week and remember that I'm sending lots of
love from North Carolina!! Take care and God Bless!
Much Love,
Sister Blumel
xoxoxo
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