High on the Mountain Top in the Colorado, Colorado Springs Mission. : Because I have been given much, I too must give.

#I'm getting old

So Tuesday started a lot earlier than normal Tuesdays.... 3am to be exact! In our apartment complex there are 3 other sets of missionaries besides us. 2 sets of Elders and 1 set of Sisters... so about 3 am..
Sister Aukuso, my companion, turns over and looks at the phone, she sees that there is a missed call from the other sisters and decides that it's probably important so we should message them and check what's up. Turns out their building's fire alarm was going off and the fire brigade was there and all, and they ended up sleeping in their car... so we gathered up some blankets and pillows and they slept for the rest of the time in the lounge. I say "slept" I mean just lay there... none of us really got back to sleep after that but we tried. Finally our alarm went off at 6:30... we may or may not have re-set it to go off at 7 so we could sleep a little more.

In the car

Then after we were ready and about to study, we find that the other sisters, who have now gone back to their apartment, have no water... so they returned to shower in what was left of our warm water.
So Tuesday was a really weird day. We were slightly dazed and barely awake when we weren't kept busy teaching. We went to Institute that night with one of our recent converts so that she could see where the building was because Institute isn't held in our church building. It was a good class. I got a lot out of it. Maybe nothing that was actually said in the class but thoughts that I had myself and was able to find answers to.

Wednesday morning we went to a place called "Marion House" which is a soup kitchen. We were placed at the part where the people would bring us their plates and scrape out any left overs in to the bin, and then we'd rinse all their dishes and send them through the window into the Kitchen. It was such an awesome experience. The people we met and spoke to were so kind and some were so happy! There was one man, he said his name was Phoenix, He had a necklace on that had a lot of shells. Sister Aukuso is Samoan and liked his necklace, so she told him. He thanked her and went on his way. About 15 minutes later Phoenix returned, shells in hand, and told her that he wanted her to have them. She tried declining, feeling bad, but he insisted that he wanted her to have them and to "remember Phoenix". What a sweet man! There he is, in a soup kitchen with nothing much to his name but some clothes and a necklace, and yet he was so willing to share what he had with her!.... I wish we could all be like that especially since most of us have far more than he did and yet are far less willing to share.
We were there for just over 3 hours but it almost didn't seem like enough time!! It was great to be able to see all those people and be the last ones to tell them to have a nice day or to talk with them before they left! A man named Tony Walker insisted that he would write us a song and if we ever saw him again we should remind him to sing it for us. So many happy, joyful people who were just happy with what they had, and were so grateful for our service.

I think I came away a lot more grateful than them that day.

Thursday was a slow day... in fact a lot of last week was... it's hard to make a lot of appointments when we have to walk everywhere through the snow, but we get it done! :) We taught another lesson to the kids that we had been teaching using football terms! It went well. They are understanding, and growing from it.

Friday we had District meeting. Sister Aukuso and I taught it and so we had to be there early to set up the activity. It was fun. I think it went well. Afterwards we went and had pizza for lunch. Mmmm food! After that we went to visit a family that we had been speaking with who were about to move away. We went to see if there was anything we could help them with, as well as to say goodbye to them. They aren't LDS but they have great faith and are members of a different church. They are good people and we enjoyed visiting with them.

Saturday after our studies we went to have lunch with the other sisters who live in our complex. We went to this noodle place where you pay like $8 for a bowl of noodles with either chicken or beef or whatever. I had beef. I swear... the biggest bowl my eyes ever rested upon. I probably ate only a 3rd of it... if that, before I was full. I made sure to eat all the grilled beef out of it though... I'm cheap like that!!

With Sis Aukuso (R) and her trainer (L)

After lunch my companion and I and some elders went to teach a member who is returning to church after a very long time. We had a good lesson with him. He's a good guy. He has 2 kids who are super cute but they're with their mom sometimes so we don't always see them.

On Sunday he got up and shared his testimony. It was so great. We didn't expect that. And then some members invited him to dinner at their home after church with his kids. I was so happy. It's so nice when other people reach out and don't leave it up to the missionaries. Because as much as we love the people we teach... we leave, and it's the members job to be their friends! Seriously! I've been saying this a lot here, and I said it in my talk a few weeks ago... people think their job, as a ward, is to help the missionaries with their work... Wrong! It's the missionaries' job to help the members with their missionary work!

Playing cribbage

Sunday we had a couple lessons and then went to a fireside for new members and returning members... it was... interesting hahaha! Nah it was good! So were the cookies!

We have been off our bikes for almost 2 weeks now with the snow... so we decided to just bike through the ice on Saturday... I thought I hated biking until I got back on my bike and realised that I had missed it!

Also... Biking on the ice is the most fun a missionary can have without breaking the rules!! So fun!! I almost fell on my butt a few times, but the fun of it all is trying NOT to fall hahaha!!