Ahhhhhh it's already been 11 months??? That means in just one month I'll have been a missionary for an entire year! I remember when I felt like my mission would NEVER end. But now I can't believe how fast it's flying by. Transfers are in two weeks and I'm guessing I'll be transferred to my last and final area :( I wish I could stay in Gilroy forever but I don't think that's possible. I also wish I could train again but there aren't any Spanish speaking sisters coming in this next transfer.
So this week was one of the harder weeks but also very successful. We received over 60 referrals from the members and about 50 of them were from ONE member. He's really excited about missionary work! Our efforts combined with the efforts of the members produced 8 new investigators this week! Just to put it in perspective we usually only get 1-2 new investigators each week so we were thrilled! As far as baptismal dates we don't have any scheduled right now. However, Savannah is a 15 yr old girl who's been meeting with us for awhile and she's getting really close.
Something that I learned this week is that we really need the elders. I hate to admit it because I like to try doing things myself but I think the Lord wanted me to learn how to rely on other people. So many things happened this week that we should have called the elders for but I insisted on doing it myself. But then our car got a flat tire and I barely know how to pop the hood let alone change a tire so......we finally called the elders. They were more than willing to help us and were really nice about it. The same week our bike got a flat tire and one of the chains fell off so they ended up having to help us both of those times too. So much for being independent!
I was feeling really bad for making the elders help out so much and I almost felt indebt. So I was thinking about how we could repay them but nothing was coming to mind. I felt SO useless and realized that I had nothing to offer. BUT the elders bike got a flat tire Saturday night which gave us the perfect opportunity to serve THEM. They asked if they could ride our bikes. (Remember, our bikes are pink) So we ended up letting them use our car on Sunday and we took our bikes. It felt good to finally be able to serve them.
Long story short....I'm really grateful for the opportunity to serve others when I can and I'm also really grateful to those who serve me when I need it.
Something really interesting this week happened and it taught me a great lesson. There's a companionship of sisters that my president had asked me to talk to about a problem that was being reported by the members. He told me that I had to be bold and direct and firm. So basically the opposite of everything that I am! I was really nervous to confront them about it but at the end of our exchange I mustered the strength to say what President had asked.
The companionship is a trio right now and only 2 of them are causing the problems. After I was finished speaking the 2 who are causing the problems both looked at me as innocently as they could and denied that there was a problem. But, the sister who hasn't caused ANY problems looked at me completely heart broken and took ALL of the blame and promised that she would change and be better. I was literally speechless. But it showed a lot of their characters. I learned what true humility really looks like. It's when we take the blame for failure and give credit to others for success. After all, all of the success we experience should be credited to the Lord and all of our failures come because of our own weaknesses.
Last thing, Dad do you know a Perney family in Dijon france? Their first names are Veronique, Gean and Irene. I know it's a long shot but it never hurts to ask! Their daughter/granddaughter is serving in the san jose mission and I went on an exchange with her. She's still learning English but she's picked it up really quick! A lot quicker than my Spanish!
Well I hope everyone is doing well and I can't wait to hear from you again. Have a good week I love you all!
Love, Hermana Billings
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