Life in North Platte

I'm a little behind in posting Loradona's letters. This one came July 22nd.
This week has been interesting. We have tried so hard to teach lessons to investigators with members of the ward with us, but either ward members aren't available, or when we get one, the person cancels. Sigh. So here's my encouragement to you: Go with the missionaries when they ask. Or volunteer to go. Say, "I can go with you Tuesday evening. Do you have people to teach that night?" They will love you for it. I promise. And then drive them. It saves their miles.

The weather continues to have its ups and downs. I feel a little in the dark about what is going on in the outside world and in the weather. We just get dressed for what we think might happen and then roll with it. Yesterday, the morning started out 64 and rainy (yessss!), but the day ended with 95 and sunny. How do you even plan for that?

Speaking of plans... Some things happen even when you don't plan for them. Like when you are leaving a member's apartment, and then a guy stops you and your companion, and it's totally apparent that he is less than sober, but he's very nice, and then he calls you Sister Amy because he can't quite read your tag, and then tells you that you should marry the Elders, but then tells you you shouldn't because that would be a waste, and then when you shake his hand as you leave, he wrangles it in to kissing your hand. Yeah, that happened. Sister Stiles and I held it together until we had walked around the corner, and then we burst out laughing. Sometimes things happen that you never imagine! When we told our Ward Mission Leader about it, he told us to be careful and safe, so don't worry--we're being looked after. And we are being safe; I promise. 

We went to Grand Island for a training meeting on Tuesday, which was great! We were trained by President and Sister Weston and the APs. And I got to see more Sisters in one place than I have in six weeks. It was wonderful! President Weston said that if we want friends in North Platte, we need to find them a place to live with members. We're trying! We'd really like to have friends out here, and by friends I mean other Sisters. It would make P Day a little more exciting. 

We also had exchanges with the Kearney Sisters. (Have I told you that out here, they pronounce Kearney "Carney"? It's so strange to me!) That was pretty cool, especially since one of the Kearney Sisters is Sister Youngberg, whom you may recall from such shows as "It's the MTC!" 

And then on Sunday, I sang in church. Sister Stiles wrangled me and Elder Riley into singing while she played her own arrangement of a medley of "Abide With Me Tis Eventide" and "Homeward Bound." We actually sounded good. :) We tried to use it as a way to invite people to come to sacrament meeting, but none of our investigators came. Some less active members came, which was nice, but I just keep hoping that we can finally get an investigator to come, dangit! 

This week is transfers, which will be Friday. I don't think we're going anywhere, but you never know. I can't make a prediction about anything because I have no idea what is going on. I know we're getting new zone leaders because one is going home and the other is going to be an AP, but other than that, I have no idea. If you want to send me letters this week, I might recommend sending them to the mission office rather than my address in North Platte this week, just in case. 

Also, I highly recommend sending me letters, pictures, emails, whatever. It makes me happy! Also, it helps me to know what to write if people ask questions, otherwise I just ramble about transfers and getting kissed on the hand (which, I must admit, was another banner day in Nebraska. I know you are all jealous!). 

I love you all!

Love,

Sister Loradona May

Another Week on the Platte!

I'm a little behind in posting Loradona's letters. This came July 15th.
So... This week has been busy, but this upcoming week will be busier!

We met one new investigator whose cousin is a member. Her cousin told her that if she has the missionaries over, she has to feed them, so we're going to her house for dinner next week! Awesome! Which reminds me: Feed the missionaries. They love it. And then help them find people to teach. They will then love YOU! 

We have still been working to find people on the ward list, sometimes with more success than others. And we're working through a list of referrals from the Elders, which is good.

This week is going to be nuts: We have a training meeting in Grand Island tomorrow (about 3 hours away), then district meeting in Lexington on Wednesday (over an hour away), then Exchanges with the Kearney Sisters (about an hour and a half away). So we're totally going to be crazy by the end of the week. Aaaaand all of this will likely use all of our miles, too. Sigh. We're trying to be conservative with our car and only drive when we have to, but when it's 105 outside, your desire to walk everywhere is greatly diminished, and your will to live almost evaporates entirely. I try to think chilly thoughts, like Alaskan tundra kind of thoughts, but I haven't decided if it helps or not. 

We stopped in at the local food pantry this week to see if we could arrange to volunteer. I don't know if we will, but we arrived just as their delivery truck did, so we were able to help unload the goods and put them on the shelves, so that's something, right? 

Today we helped a sister in the ward to prepare for her family's vacation by helping do laundry. Here's to hoping that we get blessings for helping her on our P day! I have a terrible time saying no, and I just couldn't say no to her especially. I'm just glad she trusted us to ask us. 

On Sunday we ended up attending both wards in North Platte, and then we taught Relief Society for the 2nd Ward. We were pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. But that much church is a lot, even for a missionary. And none of our investigators came to church, which really bummed us out. It's hard when you know that something will help someone's life, and they just don't follow through with it. 

I wish I had more to say, but sometimes I feel like every thought flies right out of my head and I don't know where it goes! By the time I get home, I think to myself, "I know what I wanted to tell the family!" But by then it's too late. I feel like all of my best thoughts never get to you all. Just know that I love you and miss you, but that I am also doing well and am quite happy. 

Here's an award for the week: The Garage Sale Award goes to North Platte, NE, for having a bajillion garage sales on Saturday despite the obnoxious heat. 

Speaking of which, North Platte also wins the Obnoxious Heat award. People say it's less humid than Omaha, which I suppose must be true, but the humidity still killllllllllls me! 

Transfers are next week, which I suppose is fine. I don't think I'm going anywhere, but I honestly have no predictions. I just go where I'm supposed to. So I guess the "Speedy Gonzalez Award" for a quickly moving mission goes to Nebraska Omaha Mission! I feel like my time is just whizzing by, but then I think about it and say, "Chill out! You still have 16 months (ish) left! But it still feels fast. 

I love you all, miss you all, and wish I could see you all! So just send me pictures instead, and I shall be happy.

Love,

Sister May

Hellooooo family!

Hellooooo family!

We had an interesting week! I got a new (to me) black skirt at the local Goodwill for $3.50, so that was awesome. Then, sadly, we had to bid adieu to an investigator. I'm only mildly sad about it, mostly because things got really weird, and then she was mad at us, but not? But then mad again, and we just had to say goodbye.

Oh, and Happy 4th of July! We did not get to see fireworks, because we were supposed to be in at 6. Sad. We ended up getting back a little late, because we had a dinner at a member's house, and not only do they live a little ways out of town, but the barbecue ran late. Oh well. It was delicious, and we got to meet the Branch President of one of the local branches in the stake. Also something to be excited about: the homemade ice cream. Yum! You should all be jealous. Also: croquet.

On Saturday, Sister Stiles and I were going about our business when we received a call from the Zone Leaders, who happen to be the Elders in the neighboring ward. Were we busy? they asked. Could we come help volunteer at a Gospel Fest Revival Thingy in town? Apparently, they had met some folks in the WalMart who were running the event, and the Elders volunteered to help. Then they needed more volunteers, so all six North Platte missionaries went and helped out at a Christian church event. It was awesome and kind of funny, too. At the very beginning, before things were even started, some guy came up and started freaking out that there were Mormons there. He was yelling at the Elders and Sister Stiles (I was about 10 feet away, and I chose to ignore him completely). He wasn't looking to convince us, or anybody else--He just wanted to yell at us. One of the event organizers came up and started yelling at the Crabby Man to cut it out or leave, and it was all just too surreal. One of our Zone Leaders just shook his head and said to me, "That never happens!" It was a good day, regardless, and we found out some funny news yesterday from President and Sister Marshall, whom we live with: Apparently, there had been a news crew at the event, and both the Elders and Sister Stiles and I were on the news spot. HA! Apparently, we were the only people the spot really focused on (visually anyway), and I guess you could only see Sister Stiles and I from the back, but you could see the elders from the front and see their nametags. I just thought it was so hilarious!

On Sunday a woman we'd been teaching cancelled coming to church, which was sad. She needs a ride, and we line rides up for her... and she cancels. I'm glad she calls us, but it is sad and frustrating that she isn't coming. She likes what we teach, and she feels good about it, but getting her to commit to coming to church is hard.

At church, the primary lessons were on missionary work, and Sister Stiles and I went and spoke to one class about being missionaries. On our way back to Relief Society, we ran into a class of 4 year-olds who were wearing black name tags and were looking for people to "teach," so we let them teach us. It was so cute!

Okay, all, I love you, and I will be going for now. I think that the only award I have for this week is for Nebraska, for Most Obnoxious Heat Wave. Ugh. The end. It's supposed to last the rest of the week, and it's times like this that I miss the beach the most. Some one go there for me, okay? Hugs and kisses, especially to the nieces and nephew (!).

Love,

Sister Loradona May

Hello!

Hello my family!

I miss you all, and I look forward to your letters and emails soooooo much. Thank you for sending them to me. Speaking of which: I need more pictures of adorable children. The end.

This week has been an odd one. We've been mostly trying to meet the members of the ward still, and that has been good, but we also wanted to teach investigators... One of them got sick and has not been available to teach, two others are kind of avoiding us, and another... well, she doesn't much care for us... but she likes what we teach? It's confusing. That's okay. We're working on it. 

One of my favorite things I saw this week was on a door of a family in the ward. There was a sign that said, "Beware of Dog." A small handwritten note underneath the sign said, "The ferrets are pretty shady too."" Bwahahahaha! Sister Stiles and I had a really good laugh over that one. Apparently the daughter, who has two ferrets, added the addendum. 

Also, I made Sister Stiles laugh so hard that she tripped and skinned her knee. Oops, but also hilarious. Note: Do not make your companion laugh so hard she trips. It isn't nice. Note 2: There is no graceful way to fall in a skirt. Note 3: There is no graceful way to get up from falling while wearing a skirt. Basically, skirts make life awkward.

Also awkward? There is a North Platte District, but Sister Stiles and I are in the Lexington District. Use Google maps to see the distance between North Platte and Lexington. It takes us over an hour to get to our district meeting, when if we were in the North Platte district, it would take 2 minutes if we drove, or 15 minutes if we walked. I know why they did it, though (I think). I think it's so we can be in a district that has another set of sisters, Sister Anderson and Sister Rasmussen in Holdredge. Our district leader is Elder Rasmussen in Lexington, and it is funny to have an Elder and Sister Rasmussen in the same district. They are not related, which is unsurprising considering the proliferation of the name Rasmussen. I only find it interesting because of my own sister Rasmussen. :)

I love our district, though. They are all nice people, though it is smaller than my last district. My last district had 3 sets of Elders and 3 sets of Sisters, and it just felt so much bigger! It's good, though. 

I'm trying to think if there's anything else worth saying... Our bishop is trying to fatten us up. Sister Marshall, whom we live with, was out of town for a few days to visit her mother, and so we stayed with the Bishop and his wife. Each night we arrived to their home to find candy bars awaiting our arrival. It is very sweet (see what I did there?). 

Life is good. No one told me what the temperature was last week (it's okay, I forgive you), but this week was much nicer, and this morning it was around 70ish. Ahh! Bliss! Supposedly, the 4th is going to be around 76. I'll believe it when I see (feel?) it. 

How is life for you all out there? I miss you all and think about you frequently. Give everyone hugs from me!

Also: remember that obedience is happiness. I was reading in Ether this morning, and When the people are obedient, they are prosperous, peaceful, and happy. When they are wicked, they have divisions, wars, and unhappiness. Just do the right thing, and happiness will follow. 

I love you!

Love,

Sister Loradona May