Mound Builders 1/13/14

Woah. So I am now in an area called Mound Builders. I'm about 45 mins from Columbus, and it's a pretty rural area, but it's AWESOME. I haven't studied it yet for myself, but this area has Mound Builders national park, which apparently is where Moroni formed mounds as fortifications.  I'll get back to you with more details as I learn more. But pretty cool. 

Did you know that Nephi's family had a pet? Yeah, in 1 Nephi is says :"Wherefore, we did take our family and flea into the wilderness." hahah. Someone told us that joke a couple days ago. Alright, maybe it doesn't say exactly that, but it was funny.

Let me tell you what, being whitewashed and training, probably one of the hardest things I've ever done. Luckily, the Lord is extending His mercy and helping me through the Spirit, ward members, and other missionaries. Not to mention, helping me not explode from being overwhelmed. 

So my new companion and trainee is Sister Larsen. She's from Pleasant Grove, Utah. She's awesome. She's 21 and speaks German and a music major that plays violin. I can see some pretty awesome musical numbers in our future. haha. She's also probably the most polite person I've ever met. I don't think I've ever heard "please, thank you, I'm so sorry, You're wonderful," etc. so much in my life. Probably an indicator that I have a lot to learn. 

So we met an investigator last night. Sherry. She's awesome. She shared her testimony of the Book of Mormon. Her 2 daughters just got Baptized 2 months ago, and she knows the church is true.Only hold up? Coffee and Smoking. 

Another funny story: Our first night in the apartment, we were just falling asleep, when we heard a crashing sound downstairs (we have a 2 level apartment). We both shot up, terrified. We were sure someone was breaking into our apartment. I grabbed the phone, ready to dial 911, listened for any more movement, then grabbed an umbrella to arm myself and took the terrifying journey downstairs to face to invader. My knees were shaking. We grabbed kitchen knives as better weapons than the umbrella and started searching for... who knows what. Nothing seemed to be out of place and we didn't find a kidnapper, so we went back to bed. With our big knives next to our beds. I kept waking up scared. ha.  Then next morning, we went into our study room and found our big map had fallen off the wall... wow.... real scary. Pretty embarrassing. But really funny now. hahahaha. 

Well... on a more spiritual note. I really have truly been humbled this week. I have no choice but to rely on God, because I don't know what I'm doing. I've seen so many tender mercies as he extends His merciful love and help to me as a trainer in this new area. It's so hard, but I wouldn't change it. I hope we can all rely on Christ and His mercy a little more, and take full advantage of the enabling power of the Atonement. Love you all! Have a great week! 

Sister Carter