Subject: I feel betrayed...
October 28, 2013
Hello Family!!!
Guess what I found
out this week? South Carolina produces more peaches than Georgia does! What the?
It was kind of a let down, not going to lie. And I had a peach last week and it
wasn't even that good. So I guess peach season isn't any longer or better here than
in Utah... Sad day.
I am also sorry
for the downer letter that I sent last week. I know I probably made you cry Mom
and I'm sorry. I just never expected missions to be this hard. I have gone back
to the setting apart blessing many times where Pres. Waddoups told me that "missions
are hard but you are strong." I have tried to take comfort from that but I
really don't feel strong a lot of the time. I have never been more discouraged,
depressed, or emotional in my life. It is ridiculous! I keep apologizing to my companion
as I try and figure out how to handle these crazy emotions. I think she thinks I
am a nutcase sometimes. I think one of the hardest things is people seriously treat
you like you have the plague. You go up and knock on doors and people are very suspicious
of you and don't open their doors all the way and hide their kids from our sight
and just avoid us. It gets depressing.
Sorry I didn't
talk about my companion either. Sister Dayla Haderlie if you want to facebook stalk
her. She has been out for 5 months and is from Vista, California. Let me preface
this by saying this week went better than last week, but it was pretty rough at
the start. She really missed her old companion and really lacks in the patience
department sometimes. Which has been hard. She would just go all super quiet when
she was mad or annoyed at me and then would just kind of snap at me. Finally I had
to talk with her and tell her that I couldn't deal with a companion who was angry
at me all the time in addition to trying to figure out how to be a missionary. We
had a pretty good talk and decided that what we both needed was a friend and a support
to each other. Things have gotten better since then. We have had some good talks
and actually laugh now which is so needed. So it is a work in progress but we shall
see. It is much better now than it was last week.
It has also gotten
better with the other sisters in the ward. We had a rough start with them but she
apologized to us and told us that she wants to work together with us. We are pretty
good friends with them now.
Cool experience
of the week: We got to meet with Elder Oaks on Saturday morning!! He spoke to our
mission and to the Atlanta mission which meant that I got to see Turtle and Hairy
:) They are doing great! He spoke to us a
lot about hastening the work. It was awesome and he shook all 500 of our hands!
We also got a picture with each mission so I'll forward it to you when I get a copy
:)
Brooke- I haven't
gotten your letter yet but I did get Jace's and his reply got sent today. Thank
you for the letters!! I love them so much and seriously it is such a boost when
you get mail.
Our apartment
is paid for by the church but furnished by the ward. It is very nice. Somehow there
was a miscommunication with the ward that we weren't coming til Nov and then they
found out the night before that we were coming the next day. So it was empty when
we got there but ward members were coming by throughout the day bringing us stuff.
They were incredibly nice and brought us a ton of stuff.
Stella is a less
active in the ward. The other sisters gave us a list of names that we could go see
and she was one of them. We have met with her a couple of times now and hopefully
we'll meet with her tomorrow night. She is kind of crazy. Such a sweet lady though.
She is really fun to visit with and we always read the BoM with her. She hasn't
read it on her own yet, she just loves her Bible but she likes reading it with us
and I know she feels the Spirit. So we'll keep going back even if she never will
come to church with us.
Billy Ray. So
we called the day before to confirm our appt. and his wife answers and says that
they are Christian and not interested and hangs up the phone. What a beast. So we'll
go back in a few weeks and try again I guess. Yes that same rule applies here. If
we go see a single man, we need to bring a sister or a couple from the ward.
I am still waking
up in the night which is super irritating. I'm with you. I think it is just adjusting
to this schedule. But I really hope it happens soon because this cannot keep happening.
But 8 hours of sleep is a beautiful thing, let me tell you. Why have I never had
it in my life before? :)
I got my bag but
I haven't gotten the stuff that I forgot yet. I really like my bag though! It is
really nice. Looking forward to getting the other one.
Thank you for
bringing up tithing. I forgot to write this in my last email. I need to pay tithing
on all my Lee's checks and the $50 from the Garners. After that I should be current.
Thank you! Also can you send me a copy of our family insurance card? Sister Atkin
said I should have one.
So our mornings
are devoted to exercise and studying. We have lunch at 11 and then head out for
the day. We have to do 2 hours of tracting each day. Surprisingly I actually am
not minding it so much. When people will actually talk to you it is really fun.
We actually had a really cool experience last night. We were going tracting in this
neighborhood and came to the door of this one house and asked if we could come in
and share a message about Jesus Christ with him. He said yes! I always get really
excited and surprised when that happens because it just doesn't happen hardly at
all. But we were able to teach him and his wife and little girl about the restoration
and leave them with a Book of Mormon! The Spirit was very strong there. It was really
cool. The only bummer is that he is getting ready for finals so he can't meet with
us for a month or so but he told us that he would read! So his name is Ravi and
his wife's name is Yoki (they are Indian) and prayers in their behalf would be great.
So with white
washing, you start with a completely blank slate so these first few weeks our efforts
are focused on finding people. Last week, we were able to find several potential
investigators. Our goal for this week is to make those potentials into progressing.
Some of our potentials are Pam, Theresa, Annette, Ravi, and Carlos. The less actives
we are working with are Jason and Stephanie Smith and Stella. We are trying to start
working with some more less actives and part member families this week. Things are
starting to get going here and I really am starting to like it. Again I apologize
for the downer parts of the emails. It will get better and I'll get better at coping
with everything. But I really thank you for your love and prayers and support. It
means so much to me. I love and miss y'all!!!
Xoxo
Sister Bedke,
the younger
PS There is a
man in our ward who served his mission with Uncle Eric! His name is Norman Johnson
and he said Uncle Eric was his District or Zone leader in Korea. Kinda cool :) Also
there is an elder in the mission, Elder Barret who is from Malta and played football
with Mitch and knows Valerie and their family! He came up to me and asked where
I was from and he's like I would have died if you said Oakley, ID and I was like
that is where my family is from! Haha you meet people everywhere!
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