Faaaaaaammmmmiiiiilllliiiaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!! Y
AMMMMIIIIGOOOOOOOSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are sitting in your family room and all of a sudden you hear somebody running and moments later you see me burst open the door and say at the top of my lungs: "GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT. I'M TRAINING." And I am beyond pumped. Funny funny story of how this happened. So. The way our mission does transfer calls: from 8-10:30 on
the Saturday before transfers, (which happens on Tuesday) the assistants will send out a text saying that neither you nor your companion will not be being transferred. Or if one of you are being transferred then they will give you a call and tell you what will be happening. And if your are training, then President Stoker will call.
Here is the story:
So, as most of you know, this past week was General Conference. Because we are the farthest east you can go, General Conference happens a lot later. The morning session is from 12-2 and the afternoon session is from 4-6, with the priesthood session starting at 8 and going til about 9:30ish. Plus, almost all themissionaries are far away from the church (at least 30 minutes) so tack on another time block and most missionaries (elders) wouldn't be
getting home til about 10:30.
So this caused great anxiety among the New Hampshire Manchester Mission. The big question the past week and a half was: "What is happening with transfer calls?"
I think our leaders finally got so sick of hearing us ask that every time we saw them, the assistants finally sent out a
voicemail informing us that the upcoming transfers calls would happen between the hours of 6-8 on Saturday.
Sister Jensen and I were fully expecting a call. #1 Sister Jensen had been here for 6 months and #2 We have been together for two transfers.
So the time came. The dreaded/really exciting hours of six to eight o'clock in the evening on the third day of the tenth month in the year of our Lord two thousand and fifteen on a beautiful Saturday evening, came. And we waited. And I paced. And we waited. And I paced. And then waited and paced some more.
We were finishing up planning and I just could not focus. I was just a mess. We were doing planning at the church because we needed wifi for our iPads in order to plan and at the same time the priesthood was having a potluck before the priesthood session. So occasionally, someone would pop their heads in and ask if we got the call yet. I would look at them with one eye twitching, looking like a crazed lunatic (more than I usually do) and respond with a (probably more loud than necessary) "NO!" I was spazing out, folks. I was a mess.
So those two hours passed. And then we waited. And waited and waited. Allllllll through the Priesthood session. We kept thinking, "Well, we haven't heard anything, no text, no call.... Maybe we aren't getting transferred?" The questions were flying and we were both thoroughly confused. So we continued to wait and wait.
Eventually I gave up hope that we would get a call. So at 9, we planned. And we decided that if we didn't get a call or a text by 10:15 (15 minutes before curfew) we would send a text to the Assistants. And so 10:15 came and we texted them. 5 minutes later we got a text back informing us that we had texted the wrong elders. Gosh darn it. In our frantic effort to find out what was going on, we goofed! So we then sent it to the right person. Nothing... Nothing..... Nothing.
In the mean time, I was in my pjs flopping around in bed. Occasionally staring off into space with my covers up to my eyes, other times curled in a ball with the sheets covering me, other times pacing around the room, mumbling to myself like Gollum. "We don't like waiting. We don't have patience, my precioussssss." was my song.
I'm pretty sure I was a horrifying sight to see. Sister Jensen was probably praying that we would get transferred. Eventually I calmed down. Well enough to realize I was being pathetic. So I finished getting ready for bed and just sat. Kind of. At least I wasn't outwardly showing my inward turmoil.
So 10:30 came and we both looked at each other and said, "Happy next 6 weeks...?", fist-bumped, turned off the light and started saying our prayers. I joke you not, 30 seconds later, we hear our phone signify to us that we have received a text. We bolted up, turned on the light and read, "Woah, woah, woah! You didn't get a call?! <The Elders>" Wait. A call?!??! "Nope. <SisSewell&Jensen>", was the reply. "Oh my goodness... Can you take a call right now? <The Elders>".
We got a call at 10:36 pm. Elder Chilton was the one that was speaking and apologized up and down and we told him that it was all good, but we were pretty sure he almost killed us. At the beginning, he said that President would normally be the one to call, but he probably accidentally skipped over us and we were forgotten. He told us that I would be training a new missionary and that Sister Jensen will be transferred and go senior companion. So there it is. The craziest transfer call I will probably ever receive.
So. A couple Pros to this:
* I have really been wanting to train.
* I get to go to Manchester for transfer meeting. (haven't been since
my first transfer)
* I get to go down to Manchester in a couple weeks for New Missionary Training.
Cons:
* I am no longer with Sister Jensen.
So. This next couple transfers will be a good one, I think. Pray for me. My nerves have gone out of whack.
Because I have already written a novel and we have some packing to do, I would really like to just focus on the one thing this week that made me so incredibly happy I wish everyone in the whole entire world could feel the joy that I felt. I think I told you all about Keri. She is an amazing person and is totally prepared to receive the gospel. After our first lesson, she came to all three hours of church, which I told you about, but get this. We taught her this past week and SHE CAME TO
ALL FOUR SESSIONS OF CONFERENCE. I don't even know many active members that do that. Not that they are bad, life is busy and I get that, but she isn't even a member, hasn't even committed to a baptismal date yet and she came! It was incredible. And she was taking notes the whole time. Afterward, she asked really good questions like, "What is the Atonement?" And "Who is Joseph Smith?" And "How can I be pure to return back to God?" We have set goals and made plans to have her be baptized this upcoming transfer. Keri is a special spirit and I love her.
I think the biggest thing for me this past week was that I was able to see the new apostles called. You could see the power that these men held, and that power is the priesthood power coupled with the Spirit inside of them. I cannot believe, scratch that, I can and do believe that we have apostles and prophets who speak with the Lord to lead us and guide us in these sometimes dark and perilous times. But it doesn't have to be as dark and as dreary as we make it. Light is flooding the earth and it comes through the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and it is beautiful. I am reminded of the beautiful song we sing at each temple dedication:
The Spirit of God like a fire is burning!
The latter day glory begins to come forth;
The visions and blessings of old are returning,
And angels are coming to visit the earth.
The Lord is extending the Saints' understanding,
Restoring their judges and all as at first.
The knowledge and power of God are expanding;
The veil o'er the earth is beginning to burst.
We'll call in our solemn assemblies in spirit,
To spread forth the kingdom of heaven abroad,
That we through our faith may begin to inherit
The visions and blessings and glories of God.
How blessed the day when the lamb and the lion
Shall lie down together without any ire,
And Ephraim be crowned with his blessing in Zion,
As Jesus descends with His chariot of fire!
We'll sing and we'll shout with the armies of heaven,
Hosanna, hosanna, to God and the Lamb!
Let glory to them in the highest be given,
Henceforth and forever, amen and amen!
Love,
Sister Sewell
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