Hey guys! :)
It`s been a pretty
good week. Full of adventures. It has also been getting colder. I will probably
be repeating that statement for the next 6 months. Just for the record.
We had some very
strange expériences this week. For one, we were on the metro last night and
there was this family of three (a mother, a father, and their daughter) sitting
near me. Elder Aulner was sitting down the metro car a little ways (we usually
don`t sit right next to each other). Well anyways, this father and his daughter
were joking around. But then all of a sudden the dad went into overdrive clown
mode. It was like 8h30 on a Sunday night and he was yelling in a super high
pitched voice about addition and subtraction (I think he was correcting the
daughter`s homework or something). The whole metro was busting up laughing, as
was their family. The mother kept trying to get him and her daughter to calm
down, but she couldn`t stop laughing herself. I had to look out the window and
hide my grin behind my hand. It reminded me quite a bit of my family. :P I
looked over at Elder Aulner and he was dying laughing. It was tough not to
laugh when the man next to you kept yelling "Zero plus zero minus zero
plus zero equals zero!" followed by a maniacal clown laugh. Quite the
experience.
I don`t know what it
was about yesterday, but we also had a fun time where Elder Aulner and I went
into a first appointment with a man who we`d met on the street a few weeks ago.
He was a little weird, but not creepy or anything and so we went to see him and
his wife. Well, it turned out to be a very strange experience... during
the course of the lesson, I was trying really hard to focus on what the man
was explaining about the evil in the world when I heard the wife say
very loudly to Elder Aulner, "WHAT`S YOUR NAME?!" To which he
responded respectfully, "Elder Aulner." She then repeated,
"Howler Esther" about six times (I think that was what she thought
his name was). The whole time, she was holding his hand between both of hers. I
refocused on what the man was saying, but about 20 seconds later, I looked back
over to see her kissing Elder Aulner`s hand. He was looking at me like,
"THIS IS NOT COVERED IN THE MISSIONARY HANDBOOK WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO
DO" and I was BARELY avoiding busting up laughing. She then asked him if
he was married, to which he responded (truthfully but reluctantly), "Not
yet." She then yelled, "YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO GET MARRIED YOU
KNOW." Now I was REALLY trying not to laugh. I had to cover my mouth while
trying to listen to this man speak but it was so hard to hear him over his
wife, especially since he had gone off on some sort of tangent about dicators
and terrorists. We very quickly ended the appointment and invited them to read
a brochure we`d left them and call us if they had any questions. Funniest
appointment I`ve ever had.
I think the greatest
lesson I learned this week was about attitude. I got some great advice about
doing missionary work from another elder who I really look up to. He was
relating an experience he`d had when he was upset at how his day was going and
how nobody seemed to be interested. He then said, "I realized something. I
am the one who chooses what my attitude is. My happiness is not decided by the
things that happen to me."
I`ve heard this
statement before, but I`ve always disregarded it. Of course our happiness is
determined by the events around us! Right?
No! False! Because you
know what? I took this elder`s advice to heart and it WORKED! I went out and I
decided that no matter what happened I was going to smile and I was going to
talk to people who I`d just met like we`d been best friends since 3rd grade.
And you know what? I freaked out some people! But it was super fun and once
they climbed back down from the ceiling we had some great conversations!
People love being
around happy people. Happy people just draw others to them. So my invitation to
each of you this week is this: choose joy. Choose happiness. Let it eminate
from you and watch how your life changes. This isn`t "faking it til
you make it," this is faith becoming a principle of action, and I
testify that it works!
I love you all! En
avant!
The Hochelaga district
(which was separated this past transfer). Left to right: Sœur Dinge, Sœur
Burnah, Elder Burnah, Sœur Bennett, Sœur Xiong, Sœur Johnson, Elder Bourdeau,
Elder Udave, Elder Christensen, Sœur Christensen, Elder Tallon, Elder Yerke,
Elder Aulner, and me doing some strange Superman pose. Nah, I don`t know why I
did that.
The sun was shining really
cool through this tree outside our window. I liked it so I took a picture. :)
General Conference!
This was a super creepy cathedral at night, but my camera made it less creepy. Darn technology.
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