Well, hello, everyone. I love you.
This week was one of the strangest and definitely funniest weeks of my mission. So the old companionship of elders that used to be in our area got split-up- one of them went out to the outer islands, and the other, Elder Martinson, stayed here because he is finishing his mission tomorrow, so he just stuck around in our area for the week to show us around. He stuck with an RM in our ward, who recently got back from Australia, and who also happens to be quite possibly the funniest person that lives on this island. So this week we were a foursome- two elders and two sisters! Ha ha! If only you guys could understand what I lived this week...
First of all, remember when I said last week that my area is made entirely of hills. Well that was a lil' understatement. These are mountains, people. Well, no, not by Utah standard. But the point I want to make is that our sector is ridiculous on a bike. And I LOVE it. That's not like a fake, trying-to-be-positive statement. Seriously, my soul is rejoicing. It is so, so good to be on a bike, getting the blood pumping again. I worked out more this week than I have in the past 7 months combined! I got my old tan lines back, and I'm lovin it. And it was all the more fun this week with the combination of the two elders and my companion. I believe I also laughed more this past week than in the last 7 months. We named every single dog we saw. There are a lot of dogs here.
The area is fantastic. I'm guessing I will probably finish here, but you never know. There are not a lot of investigators in progress here, like basically three. We have a big job to do, but it will be great. Working on a bike is a lot different- I forgot how much that changes things. We're going to have to be a little creative in order to find work in the evenings, cuz we can't really just wander around on our bikes once it's dark, but that will work out.
Something that I forgot to tell you a couple weeks ago that is very important is that I saw a whale. Not quite the same level as Court, who actually ate one, but it was seriously amazing! One day I will also tell you about how I touched a whale bone and how whales kind of became the personal theme of my mission, but for now I will just tell you that I stood at the harbor and saw with my very own eyes a real, live whale spout water out of its head in a fountain of glory! It was fantastic!
Do we really realize how fascinating the Book of Mormon is? Ive been trying lately to really just internalize the story of the BOM, truly think about how these people felt and how they looked and spoke and everything, and suddenly this book is just fascinating. Perhaps one of the greatest blessings of my mission is the testimony I've gained of the truth of the Book of Mormon. If you want to know if it's true, you read it, pray and think about it. Sometimes the things of greatest value actually do have a very small cost.
Just a last little detail, a sweet thing that happened this week. Bishop from Oremu called me just to check up and see how all was going. Today when I got on my email he'd forwarded tons of pictures and videos he'd taken while I served there, complete with little commentaries. Leaving the area didn't mean goodbye forever!
Life is beautiful! Father in Heaven loves us. We can always pray to Him.
All my love,
Soeur Mann
