So it's only been four days...I'm not gonna lie, I feel
like I'm reaching for things to say. I mean, a LOT of things happened,
but I'm not really sure how to write about them. (I wrote one time in my
journal.) (This morning.)
But it's for real, I don't know how to write things
that happened this weekend! I guess I'll start out with the highlight:
we had a Mission Leadership Council meeting on Saturday with Elder
Robbins from the Presidency of the Seventy! It was absolutely amazing. I
LEARNED SO MUCH. He talked about Agency, Responsibility and Control.
How are those related? IT WAS SO INTERESTING. I really thought that I
had studied enough on that topic, but I learned SO MUCH. What more can I
say...I LEARNED SO MUCH.
He talked about how it is a natural reflex for us as
human beings to want agency but avoid responsibility. We complied a
huge list of things people do to avoid responsibility:
Blame
Excuse
Self-Justify
Flee
Hide
Lie
Not Forgive
Deny
Rebel
Self-Pity
etc
The
list was pretty long, and the over-arching theme was PRIDE. He called
this list the "loser-list." And it really is! Because the more we resort
to this list in order to avoid responsibility for our actions, the more
we lose control of our situation, thus the less agency we have. He said
that making people try to avoid responsibility is the "back-door
approach" that Satan uses to take away our agency.
Anger is a CHOICE. IT ALWAYS IS.
The
scary part about this seminar though...was...HE TALKED ABOUT MARRIAGE.
*shiver* Yeah, he was pretty super focused on marriage and raising kids.
And all us missionaries were taking notes like crazy and also cringing
at the thought. He was on the board recently of reviewing cases for
temple cancellations, and he said a lot about that. He said that people
rarely said "I got angry." They would say that them and their spouse
"fell out of love," as if it wasn't their choice at all. He said that in
most cases both parties reverted back to the "loser-list."
Guess what? YOU choose to be bothered. YOU choose to
love or to not. When you revert to the list, however, you lose control.
Control doesn't lose you...YOU lose CONTROL. YOU lose it.
It was super amazing. My mind was kind of swirling by the end
because of how much I took in and was trying to retain. But it's
something I TOTALLY can't wait to come home and talk about with all of
you in person. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN WHAT I JUST TYPED. It was
life-changing.
We have another General Authority coming for a
Mission Tour this Thursday, and I am so excited! This is with all the
missionaries, not just the MLC. President Toone asked if I would sing at
it, so I'm singing "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul." Hermana Homer is
going to play for me, and we've been practicing like crazy. It's going
to be awesome! And I am so excited to hear from another leader of the
church. Then the week after, we will have ANOTHER MLC with that same
General Authority. I got so lucky getting called as a Sister Training
Leader this transfer, they never have this many special MLCs with
leaders. Super cool!
We ate with Chileans twice in a row this week!
It took me a couple minutes each time to adjust to understanding their
accent, but it was so fun to rehash some Chilean memories with them. Oh
yeah, yesterday I had to give a talk in church (that was stressful,) but
afterwards my good-ol-Chilean-friend in the ward came up to me and said
that I sounded like a Chilean. BEST COMPLIMENT EVER. I was so psyched
to hear that. I love the people I serve, but when it comes to the
accent...well...Chile rules.
Oh, back to the "loser-list"...after church we went
with the Relief Society President to do some visits with her. (By the
way, my absolute respect for all women who fulfill calling has been
magnified 189483x since being a missionary and working so closely with
them.) Anyway, we pretty much sat through a scream-fest of a 30-year-old
daughter and her mother (who lives with her.) They both expected the
Relief Society President to come to their house and solve their
problems, but they just ended up screaming at each other. I have never
seen such hating looks between mother and child. It was so sad. Hermana
Socorro tried to solve things as best she could, but they just screamed,
screamed, blamed, blamed, and finally she just stood up and left, and
we followed her out.
I have the best family ever.
Some quotes:
Me: "Ugh, we can't use any of these pictures, look, my fat roll!"
Hermana Johnson: "WELL SUCK IT IN."
"I didn't choose Taco Bell, Taco Bell chose me." --Hermana Johnson
"Don't knock doors of bad people because they steal stuff KAY?!" --random little girl
Am I repeating quotes right now? I'm really sorry. I am running out of things to say.
The point is...the church is true! SUPER true. I love the gospel! I love being a missionary!
I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH. Hope your week was fantastic.
READ AND PRAY AND GO TO CHURCH AND ACCEPT CALLINGS AND ALL THAT GOOD STUFF.
Love, Hermana Thomas
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