May 30, 2022: An excerpt from my week

 

Hi Family!

This week has been particularly crazy, and unfortunately it ended on a disappointing note. After working like mad women to get a baptismal service all set up for our friend Libby this Sunday, she decided to postpone the night before. But regardless, I know that we did everything we could. And Sister Romney seems to be having a good time.  Training is a whirlwind. I don't know who thought it was a good idea to put me in charge! 

Here's a excerpt from my journal this week of a particularly comical day:

Today was a day of it's own right. Today I locked us out of our apartment for the 2nd time this week. It was embarrassing to say the least.

I'm so grateful for Sister Romney's loving, laughing, forgiving disposition. Whenever something goes wrong, she laughs, and I feel a little better about it.

This morning started off not so great. We slept in, which never makes me feel good about my status as a trainer. Then as the morning went on, our district leader called us to tell me I was missing my interview with president at that very moment. Not a good look for me after we nearly missed the Sunday Night Devotional at which Sister Romney was supposed to introduce herself. Only to be followed by a late arrival to District Counsel 2 days later. Now I was missing my interview. Yeah. Not the best feeling in the world. But we did make it on to the All Mission Training at 11:00 and we able to contribute some good comments.

We spent the entire rest of the morning on the phone calling half the Centennial Ward list to find someone to play the piano, lead the music, and give a talk about the Holy Ghost at Libby's baptism on Sunday. We also managed to schedule the baptismal interview with Libby. (FINALLY! Usually we try to have these things worked out a week or more in advance. Hers was scheduled for tomorrow, only 4 days before her baptism.) We had made almost 20 calls by the time lunch rolled around, so my mood was lifting a little. Nothing makes me feel better about sleeping in than working like a mad woman. 

For lunch, we both took to our relaxation hobbies, as I call them. I repotted several plants and planted some bulbs. Sister Romney did Russian Duolingo. (Sister Romney has a fascination and love for the Russian people and their language. Apparently, she drew Russia out of a hat for an 8th grade geography project, fell in love, and never looked back!) 

When lunch finished, we got right to work with comp study. I was able to get some basic cleaning done will drilling her on the recitations: the missionary purpose, D&C 4, the First Vision, and this one obnoxious quote about work that they make all the new missionaries memorize. Sister Romney is picking it all up remarkably well! We have a "memorizing jar" that we fill with marbles for each proper recitation. When it gets to the top, we are going to go to Bahama Buck's. 

Then we walked to the park for our additional study. On our way, we met a nice old lady who spent 15 minutes talking about her stepdaughter's traumatizing experiences with Jehovah's witnesses when she found out we were missionaries. Sister Romney and I had a good laugh about that. The weather has been beyond lovely since the snow storm passed, so the rest of our study was spent in the delightful shade of a tree. 

As we walked back to the apartment, I thought maybe the day started off rough, but I'd say we rescued it. 

I was wrong of course, but we never know these things in the moment. 

When we got back we finished up some more calls and contacts. For dinner, I worked on my short stories and Sister Romney practiced violin (more relaxation hobbies). We had planned for the evening to stop by some members home, and "Heart Attack" a family whose vacation was canceled due to pending COVID test results. So all ready with hearts and tape in hand, we prayed and walked out the door. And my stomach dropped.

"Oh! Oh shoot! I don't have the keys!", I gasped. Sister Romney looked at me.

"Really? Oh dang it."

"The back door! I don't think I locked it after I put my flowers on the porch!"

"Oh no. I locked it after you."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"You could always go double check. Let me see, we could get another library card, right?"

"Library card? Why?"

"There's this trick for getting doors open but you need a stiff card."

"Oh well I have an old gift card, here." Sister Romney tried her best, but to her credit, she had never tried to break into a house before. I checked every single window only to find I dutifully locked them all. The back door really was bolted, and the police did not offer free lock picking services. 

We were going to have to call the landlord... AGAIN. It was among the most embarrassing things I have had to do on my mission, but thankfully our landlord is a very sweet older couple. They had just sat down for dinner, so they said they would call us when they were done. 

After some consideration, we decided we were still going to try to heart attack that family. So we grabbed the bikes on our back porch, and started riding. Mine had an increasingly flat tire, but we decided to press forward anyway! Google took us on the longest, most convoluted route and I found myself regretting my neglect of cardio. We got within one mile of their house, only to have the landlord call us to say she was ready, so we turned around and biked back. It was a beautiful sunset though, and Sister Romney had a great time. She thought the whole thing was hilarious. 

In the end, I buried the spare key outside our door and promised the landlord it would NOT happen again.  

Lots of love and springtime joy to you all!

Sincerely, 

Sister Emily Elise Shill

P.S. The Gospel is true!