So guess what? Last week, on Wednesday, Sister Lenhart and I made a decision. And the decision was this. That Thursday (THE DAY - to znaczy, the day of the big wedding) was going to be an Ensign Day. (Ensign Day: A day so awesome, and so full of miracles, they write stories about them and send them in to the Ensign, and then people read them and are inspired to be better people and change the world.) We we're going to rack up some miracles and get a new AWESOME investigator who would TOTALLY accept a baptismal date and then rock the Gospel for the rest of her life. We were committed to it. We had faith it was all going to go down. That was the plan.
It was a very nice plan. I would have enjoyed a day like that.
Our day was not like that.
Our day was quite unpleasant.
It started out beautifully. We went to an animal shelter and volunteered. I got to wear jeans. And hold animals. Only later did I find out that holding the animals was not allowed. So that was awkward. But it was great! We cleaned litter boxes (which was not as disgusting as it sounds. Still gross, but not disgusting), and I learned I don't hate cats. In fact, I think I like them. I think I want a cat. I named a cat Gulliver (well, I named a LOT of cats - what can I say, I'm a namer - but Gulliver was the coolest one), and I decided I wanted to take him home. However, that is NOT allowed. Dang it, Jason! Then we clean puppy cages (that was grosser than the litter boxes, I'm sorry to report), and guess what, I met these two puppies (who I also named, of course. Simon and Dewey. Only later did I realize why those names went together so well. But that's alright. Who WOULDN'T want puppies named for a great LDS artist?), and they reminded me that while I may now like cats, I still like dogs WAY better. They were so stinking cute! And just wanted to be held and loved and cuddled. And I willingly obliged. They were tiny. You could pick them up with one hand. Simon was bigger, and reddish-brownish, and he liked to climb on things and make noise. He was presh. Dewey was dark and tiny (like, TINY) and just wanted to be loved. I wanted to adopt them too. Sister Lenhart said no. So. Animal shelter. Puppies and cats and jeans and endorphins. Good stuff.
Then the day took an ugly turn. Nothing worked out. We contacted. No one wanted to talk. They told us we were a sekta and they did NOT want to have ANYTHING to do with us - even a conversation. Ouch. The former we wanted to check on wasn't a home. Calls were lame. Pretty much no one answered, and if they DID answer, it was to say they couldn't meet. Cool. Then we went tracting. Again. No one wanted to talk. And there were creepy larries hanging out in the building we were tracting, standing in the stairwells and giving a running commentary as we knocked on doors and telling us the Church was "nie dobrz". That's nice. I'm sorry, sir, remind me again which of us is dead drunk, living on the streets, and mocking girls in a stairwell? Right. That's what I thought. You have a good night. (Sometimes when I'm upset I accidentally get a little sassy. Those larries are children of God. He loves them. I love them. It's just playful banter between siblings. It's fine.) Anyways. No one wanted to talk.. Surprise surprise. Then we went home. I wanted to make something yummy to celebrate Emily's wedding. I bought something that looked like cream puffs and tried making them. That didn't work. They were possibly the most disgusting cooking fail I've ever had. I had cereal instead. Corn flakes. And I didn't even have sugar to put on them.
That was it. That was my day. It was lame. I was quite unhappy.
But.
I learned a lesson.
I was reflecting on my walk to the library today about Thursday and how it was lame. And I was thinking about it, and how, even though it was possibly one of the least gratifying days of my mission, it was a good learning day. That's not to say I wouldn't have learned a lot having an Ensign Day. That would have been a good learning day too. I would have been like, "Wow! Faith WORKS! Miracles! Miracles are good." But instead it's more like this. "Wow! Sometimes, life is a bummer! But you just keep on smiling and you keep on working, and God is going to make it all work out. That's okay. You just keep going!"
I was also thinking about sacrifice. God blesses us for sacrifice, right? And if I had had an INCREDIBLE day, where would the sacrifice be? I'd still be missing an important day, and that would still be hard, but what am I REALLY giving up? If I'm blessed immediately and everything is perfect rainbows and butterflies, that's really cool, but there's really not much sacrifice there. So. I made a sacrifice, and I haven't seen the blessings that have come from it yet, but I know that if I keep going and hold out faithful and do my best, God will bless me for it. He's going to do it, because He's promised us that as we sacrifice, He will bless us. And He keeps His promises. Sometimes they ARE immediate, and that's awesome. But sometimes they aren't, and that's okay too.
So yeah. Growing experiences. They ROCK. Sometimes not so much in the moment. But the blessings and the learning make it all worth it in the end, right? RIGHT.
In other news.
I went on exchanges in Poznań! That was SO GREAT! I LOVE Sister Lidtka!
At English on Wednesday, we were talking about home and family. So we were talking about our dream homes. Sister Lenhart was describing hers as I drew it on the board. And she was saying ridiculous things, because I had to draw them on the board. For example, a roller coaster. And a green house with a mango tree. Anyways. She said she wanted a pet whale shark. So I drew an ADORABLE whale shark, and I was like, "He needs a name! What shall his name be?" Then I thought for a minute and was like, "Humphry!" And Sister Lenhart was like, "That's the EXACT name I was thinking of!" What? Humphry? Such a random name! And we hadn't even been together for the past three days because of exchanges! That, my friends, is called COMP UNITY. It was hilarious. ... Maybe you had to be there ...
Guess what? This is the BEST NEWS EVER! President Uchtdorf - as in Deiter F. - is coming to POLAND! In JUNE! I haven't been more excited for anything in maybe my whole entire life. GAH! I don't even know what to SAY about the excitment that is this news! I need to have a freak out or something. Again, I mean. Sister Lenhart and I DEFINITELY had a freak out when we first found out. He's just so COOL! And he's coming HERE! To POLAND! Alright, alright. I'm calming down now.
Anyways. Speaking of Sister Lenhart. She's SO AWESOME. I LOVE HER SO MUCH. She is hilarious. She's just so funny. I love it. And we enjoy all KINDS of awkwardness together. With a name like Anna, that's just how the cookie crumbles. We are just awkward. But I think I'm decidedly more awkward. That's unfortunate, but it's okay. She decided if my life were a movie, it would be Napoleon Dynamite. ... Sad, but true. She's right. Anyways. The moral of the story is that we have a grand old time together and I love her. And she quotes Arthur and What's Up Doc and the Living Scriptures and all sorts of good stuff. It's a real ball.
Well. That's probably sufficiently long and rambly for this week. I love you all SO much and thanks for the prayers and support and awesomeness! May your days be filled with the smell of apple pie (because it smells good) and the joy that comes from snuggling with puppies (because that is an activity that brings much joy).
Do widzenia! Kocham was! I życzie wam wszystkiego najlepszego!
Siostra Young
Jeremiah 17:14
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