Wake Me Up When September Ends

Monday, October 1, 2018

Burke & Fairfax, Virginia

Ah! I love October! I love fall and sweaters (the weather hasn't gotten the memo about that quite yet) and pumpkins and Halloween! Oh, and General Conference. That, too. Really, though. This is the best, and I'm so excited to watch GC this week! 

We went to teach this little girl and her family the other night. At one point in our lesson, the girl pulls out a recorder from- I don't even know where, and says really seriously: "This is the song of heaven." And then proceeded to blow as hard as she could. All I could think was, "I really hope that's not what heaven sounds like."

L* came to church on Sunday! We had a church tour with him on Thursday, and he said he had talked to his boss and got Sunday mornings off of work because he needed to go to church. Yay! During our church tour, he asked when the soonest date he could be baptized was, so we whipped out our calendar, did some calculations, and put him on date for October 27th. He is so excited for it. He told every one at church the day he was being baptized and that this was the start of his new life. So cute. He almost put a 5-dollar bill on the sacrament tray for the bread, but I was able to stop him just in time. I thought it was hilarious. Also, when we sat down in our pew, I guess he got a little nervous because he sat on top of me for a second. The 1st Counselor in the Bishopric saw it and started cracking up. I just gave him a thumbs up. So, that was nice. 

With L* & H*

After church, we had a lesson with the Stake President (who is in our ward), L*, and H*, (L*'s roommate and my buddy who speaks Vietnamese). We taught L* about the Plan of Salvation, and because he doesn't understand much, we used my cutouts. I realized it would just be easier for everyone if I laid them out on the floor, so, I went down there to start explaining what the shapes all meant, and I guess that kind of confused him because he came down with me. You could tell he was very uncomfortable and almost fell over when he stood back up because his leg fell asleep, but it was good for him to be closer to the cutouts so he could see them better. I let him choose the lesser of two evils. We gave him a baptismal calendar we had made for him, and when we gave it to him and explained what it was, he teared up a little bit and said "I am very happy to have received this." Awe. No one has ever been that happy about a calendar before! I'm just so happy to be able to teach him. We're seeing him again on Wednesday, so hopefully there will be some new updates! 

Speaking of calendars, we went to dinner with our new meal coordinator, Brother P*, and he brought us a present. It was a calendar for each of us! I don't know what happened, but my calendar is missing the months of June and July. Hm. I guess when those months come, I can just guess what day I'm living. Also, Brother P* said he would name his pet fox "Sister Kleven." I would say this dinner was a successful one. 

One of the people we're teaching has had a lot of health problems, which has made it difficult for us to continue teaching her. But now her son is having problems as well, and she is always at the hospital. We were able to talk with her about getting a priesthood blessing, and she said that she and her son could get one. We're going with her today to the 2nd Counselor's home, and he will give her one there this afternoon. I hope everything goes well. I'm just glad she wants us there, and I'm glad that we are able to be her friend. 

Exchanges also happened this week! I went to Lincolnia, and Sister Young led out in Burke. Because Sister Training Leaders are no longer in a companionship, it was a three-day exchange. Exciting stuff. It was fun to go with Sister Hansen again, though. She's going home this month and it will be so weird to see her go! *sniffle* 

With Sister Hansen on Exchanges

Exchanges

I blew up about 10 billion balloons for service on Tuesday. I got a root-beer float, though. So, worth it. 

Just a small sampling of the balloons I blew up!

Supposed to look like a donut.

With the Burke Ward YW

Well, love you all!

Sister Kleven