Look at this CAT!!! Xander is huge!
It has been a real long time since I have sat here and really talked with everyone. So, lets spill it...
I'm in the Bronx first off with companion number 6 (Sister Asregadoo)! It's crazy when I think about it because it doesn't feel like it all adds up, but it must. The last few weeks have gone by in a whirlwind and I cant seem to grasp time anymore. After the transfer was Halloween, soon to be Thanksgiving. It is incredible to think that Thanksgiving is only two weeks away!
So let's start answering all the questions I know that you all have:
1. Yes I am liking the Bronx but I must admit it is sooo different. Who would have thought just a train ride over the river would bring such dramatic changes. I even walk slower which is unheard of!!! Maybe that is in preparation for those who will be walking with me after the mission because let's be honest, poor Sydney had a hard time keeping up and I'm sure everyone else will too - still sorry for that one :(
2. No, I wouldn't say that I am loving the family ward yet. It is weird that I am not in the YSA program anymore. I feel like it is a similar feeling when someone gets their language changed partway through their mission. It definitely is a completely different language going on here and I am still nervous every time we have an appointment - and that is not in the "nervous because of missionary work" nervous (which will never go away), but the "nervous because I feel like I don' t know how to act" nervous, haha!
3. Yes, I love my new companion Sister Asregadoo - after it took me a week to remember how to say her name correctly :) pronounced: as-re-gAh-doo. She is so sweet. I am happy to say that she is so willing to learn and grow, which makes my job easier. I am her second companion, in other words her follow-up trainer or "Dad". I have never had a companion this fresh in the mission yet and it is a fun and funny experience... I just hope she learns something from me, eke!
4. Yes, I am sad that I am not in Manhattan anymore. I just love that place! No more Puerto Rican bongos being played outside of my apartment until the early dawn hours. No more Central Park. No more contacting while walking (yeah, people actually stop while you're talking to them here! Its nuts!). And with the holidays here again, no more lively, amazing holiday city life... I just cant go on, hehe. But I must admit it is an expected change. As President Smith said on our transfer call, "Sister Coleman, you didn't think you would be in Manhattan your entire mission now did you?" Oh President. One can always be hopeful.
And lastly,
5. No, this doesn't change anything! As always there is a specific work for me to do here in the Bronx and I am excited to find out what it is. Maybe I wont while I am here and will find in the future that it was miraculous, but I know that as with all callings this one is inspired. I am happy to be called to the work out here. It is different but have I ever been afraid of that in the past?! Its a new adventure and I'm about it.
Anyways, don't go thinking you are going to get away without me sharing some of my amazing "ah-hah" moments over the last few weeks. Today I will just simply testify how the Lord miraculously answers prayers. Let me explain. I have been praying to come into contact with a girl from my distant Junior high days for years now. She was such an example to me in the time that my testimony was not very prominent. She helped me identify what it meant to stand for something and she was just the nicest girl I knew. Now mind you, the last time that I saw her was in 2004 at BYU at a Stake Conference in the HFAC, De Jong Theater to be exact, haha! It was brief but I was so thankful to have seen her after we parted ways some 5 years earlier after JH.
So, we all know how hard it is sometimes to keep up with our friends in the LDS community, especially with the changing of names after marriage and all that. Anyways, so Sister Asregadoo and I were visiting some investigators in the area. Upon meeting one of them, she asked me where I was from. Of course we all know no one really relates to city names so I told her where then followed that with "its near Irvine, CA". Where she responded that she had some LDS family who lived there. What!? Yeah, long story short the girl I was praying to find, her brother had married the investigators niece and I recognized the last name! It was her!!!! I eventually got her address where I am sure the letter is still in the mail. Nonetheless, the Lord answers prayers in the most amazing ways!
Now doesn't this world seem so much smaller now :)
That is my simple testimony this week! The Lord loves us, even if it is for the small opportunity to wish someone well who played such a pivotal role in our life whom we haven't seen for years. He answers them when they count and sometimes when we feel that they don't. I love this work, and I love being blessed with seeing miracles everyday. I hope that you all have the opportunity to recognize miracles in your life because I promise you they are there.
Anywho, sorry for the novel. I just love you all so much. Thank you for your love and support! Have a great week :)
R.I.P Fui, Love you! - One for the road
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