Sorry guy's... I don't have a lot of time to write my weekly email, so I apologize for how short it is.

Sometimes you have to do weird stuff as a missionary, just for some comic relief.  That is just how it is, you gotta be able to laugh yourself to tears some nights or your just not doing it right.  As Sister Winn ( a lady that serves in the office, who has one of the best German accents) once said, "You gotta have some fun!".

 

We were talking with the elders one night about what we all do for workouts. Elder Hawton was talking about how in football they would wrap one guy around another guys neck and they would do squats.

So naturally, when we got home that night i picked up sister Curtis like Jesus picks up the baby lamb, and did squats!  We were laughing for days.  (You probably had to be there)

Tuesday night and all Wednesday we went on exchanges with Sisters Orellania and Aisau.  I went with the Samoan sister, that was the first mistake.

So, I pack my stuff up and head over to their apartment, we plan for the next day, say our prayers, and hop in bed.  Then we got started on "Do you remember this Samoan song?" "Aw snap, remember this jam?!"...this carried on for a good 3 hours, including loud singing in Samoan even to the point of us dancing while in bed.  When i finally shut me eyes i hear "Sister Efnor..", to which i reply "shut up dude, we just closed our eyes"...to which she then replies "Good Morning..".....Oh goodness, you most definitely reap what you sow. lol Never again will I go on exchanges with another Polynesian! haha

Awhile back we met this Chinese guy, Henry.  He had some of the most thought provoking, soul searching questions i have ever heard, but after our one encounter with him he wouldn't return our calls or texts when we wanted to meet again. Last Friday we had the thought to text him and he answered!  He had just gone to see Meet the Mormons, thought it was great, and said he had some free time where we could meet.  We explained what the Book of Mormon was and invited him to come to church..he was very polite, and is honestly searching for truth.  He compared finding truth to an airport.  There are all these different airlines, so many different planes.   Everyone says that their plane is going to take you to the place you want to be, all look appealing, but which one is actually going to get me there? 

We explained that if you want to know, you have to put in work.  That made sense to him, and he accepted the invitation to read the Book of Mormon.

We visited our recent convert Mohsen who is doing FANTASTIC!  Without us knowing, he cooked up a whole meal of Iranian food!  Let me tell ya, had Iran been a mission, and if I had been sent there...i wouldn't have a problem being skinny. lol It was, however, was sweetest thing, and we had a great time laughing and chatting it up with him.  He is so much happier.

On Sunday we had so many people come to church!  We were running back and forth so we could be with all the non-members that were attending the different wards. Lucky for us we have amazing member missionaries that befriended them and helped them feel welcome. 

In closing i wanted to share a little something that I read in the Gospel Principles manual.

"When we follow the temptations of Satan, we limit our choices. The following example suggests how this works. Imagine seeing a sign on the seashore that reads: “Danger—whirlpool. No swimming allowed here.” We might think that is a restriction. But is it? We still have many choices. We are free to swim somewhere else. We are free to walk along the beach and pick up seashells. We are free to watch the sunset. We are free to go home. We are also free to ignore the sign and swim in the dangerous place. But once the whirlpool has us in its grasp and we are pulled under, we have very few choices. We can try to escape, or we can call for help, but we may drown."

I love this quote from the manual because for one, it gives me a visual, and I'm all about visuals.  It also gave me the insight of being an obedient missionary, and the doors/options that are and can continue to be open to me when i do what the Lord has commanded.  I know that when we follow the counsel of God and the prophet who leads his church, we then can have many more doors/options, available to us. 

I love you, yes you, the one who has actually taken the time to read this email! :)

I love you and so does your heavenly father. Ofa atu.

Sister Efnor