Week 69: I Got Struck Dumb (AKA Laryngitis)

Sooooo remember how I said I was losing my voice? Yeah so I completely lost my voice by Monday night and it didn't come back till Thursday. I didn't feel sick anymore but since I couldn't talk all we could really do was service and member meals. Oh and we had a lesson with Ryan and Savannah... and by that I mean Elder Christensen did all the talking and I just sat there and nodded my head haha. Sadly the laryngitis destroyed my falsetto so I can't sing that well right now either. Hopefully that fixes itself or I will be sad.

Speaking of Ryan and Savannah... they got baptized on Saturday!! It was such a spiritual night oh my goodness. Savannah asked me to baptize her and one of our members who became friends with them baptized Ryan. When Savannah came out of the water she said, "That was awesome!" hahaha. Another awesome thing was that Ryan's parents talked and were in the same room for the first time in over 10 years. They even gave each other a hug! Isn't it amazing how the gospel can bring families together?! Ryan and Savannah have been such amazing examples to me of humility and faith. I'm sad to leave them but hopefully I will be able to go to the temple with them in the future! We're now lifetime friends and I'm so grateful for that.

Also, Rigo unfortunately did not get baptized yesterday. He has been a bit flaky recently and needs to show more commitment before he can get baptized. He definitely still believes in what we've taught him though so I have confidence that he will still get baptized, I just won't be here to see it.

In other news... I'm getting transferred to Pleasanton! It's a small town of about 10,000 people so this should be fun! It'll just be me and my companion out there so I'm ready to learn a lot and help the people of Pleasanton and the surrounding areas come unto Christ. I'm really going to miss Del Rio though. I've really come to love this little border town and the people here. And as weird as this feels to say, it feels like home. It's crazy what 6 months in an area can do to ya.

Okay I have another quote from a talk given at this last General Conference. I listened to it this morning and it was amazing. The talked is "Are You Still Willing?" by Keven W. Pearson. He said: "Heavenly Father loves us perfectly, but that love comes with great expectations. He expects us to willingly place the Savior at the very center of our lives. The Savior is our perfect example of willingness to submit to the Father in all things. He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” He willingly atoned for our sins. He willingly eases our burdens, calms our fears, gives us strength, and brings peace and understanding to our hearts in times of distress and grief. Yet faith in Jesus Christ is a choice. “If [we] can no more than desire to believe” in His words, we have a starting point to begin or to reset our journey of faith. His words, if planted in our hearts like a seed and nourished with great care, will take root and our faith will grow into assurance and become a principle of action and power. The Book of Mormon is our most powerful resource for growing and restoring our faith. Willingness is the catalyst of faith."

This quote made me think of Ryan and Savannah's willingness to follow Jesus Christ. They were WILLING to let God prevail in their life and make significant chances in order to do so. God has given us the opportunity to choose right over wrong and the blessings that come when we are WILLING to do that are immeasurable. Willingness truly is the catalyst of faith.

- Elder Christensen

Pictures

☆ Ryan and Savannah's baptism!

☆ The Rogers (The Branch President and some of his family. This isn't nearly all of them haha.)

☆ One of our members photoshopped us on his bikes

☆ The coalition center was on some national news websites!

☆ One of our members is from Russia and she let me "play" her accordion (I didn't know my picture was being taken

so ignore my weird face haha)

☆ A nasty spider outside the church

☆ Tanya, Jesus, and Joseph

☆ Tosha and Seth Mihalik

☆ The Sharps