The mission home is wonderfully New England, it is yellow, and I believe that it has blue shutters. We got there and ate dinner, President P whipped out the map and showed us some of the places that we'd be going. He talked about the people and he talked about the places, his enthusiasm was wonderful and I had this confirmation that I was supposed to be there. I knew that this was my place, like I've never known before. I really could listen to that man talk forever, every word almost makes me cry, in a good way (yes, me, cry!).
My five MTC sisters and I stayed in an apartment nearby, we had our last few nights together and loved every moment. I'm going to miss those girls, well... except Sister B. Not for that reason! Goodness! It's because we are living together now :)
We had a day of training on Wednesday, we went into the city and did some street contacting - very scary! But actually not that bad! We handed out a Book of Mormon and a few mormon.org cards, talked to a few people, and some companionships found people that they walked with for a few blocks, some people that really wanted to learn. It was a great start, but street contacting won't really happen in this mission. Our training was all about how our first priorities are to help the Bishop and Ward leadership, work with members to find people, and serve. Tracting is our last priority, and we wont be doing a lot of it. The Lord REALLY knows me. I didn't want to be knocking on doors, I don't want to annoy people and I don't want people to be annoyed by me. Working with members to find people that already have an interest and an exposure to the church is a wonderful way to work. President P has a wonderful vision and I will serve to my fullest doing whatever he sees for the future of New England.
Thursday was transfer meeting, and we were all so scared to find out where we were going. I secretly was hoping for Nantucket, a new area open to Sisters, with only five members, and island where the people say, "if Martha's Vineyard is for the millionaires, Nantucket is for the billionaires." It just seemed SO EXCITING to build a ward from scratch! Those Sisters are making history! When we got to the meeting, President Packard called us to stand individually, gave us the name of our trainer (who we then embraced) and where we would be going, it felt like a mission call all over again!
My companion is Sister F and we are serving in the University Ward and the Charles River Ward! The University Ward has young single adults age 19-25, they are going to school around here, Boston College, Harvard, MIT, Boston University... and MORE. There are SO MANY around here! Some of them are from around here but many of them are from all over the United States and the world. They are people who are going to "change the world!" they have ambitious and go-get-em attitudes. They are intellectual and passionate, driven and excited. Charles River Ward is on the other end of the singles spectrum, 30+ master students, law students, people getting doctorates and such, and those that are working here and living here too. Many of them work for MIT and Harvard, quite a few of them graduated from BYU and are continuing their education here. There are two wards with all the ages between these two wards, and we live with the Sisters in charge of those wards.
I feel like I know about these people, but the truth is this week has been anything but normal, and I haven't even met them! The snow storm Nemo has thrown everything out of wack! It started on Friday and we were "red dotted" all that day. We spent the entire time inside, baking, cleaning, putting together a puzzle, studying, planning. We watched the snow come down for hours! On Saturday we went outside and snow shoveled for a while, helping the community dig their cars out of the snow. I have never seen cars COMPLETELY covered in snow before! You couldn't even tell that there was a car there, just a mound of snow! We helped a slightly drunk (like a beer and most of a bloody mary) man dig his driveway. He was hilarious, saying how his man "JC" is watching out for him sending four beautiful women to dig a pathway for his car. He was very grateful and he even said, "F! I have to go to church tomorrow now!!" and then apologizing for swearing.
We weekly planned for at least 6 hours on Saturday. It was exhausting. We were going over the records of people that we do not know, trying to get a feel for the work and the people. Sister F is new to this area as well, and I'm actually killing her (this is her last area, she will be done in six weeks). If I do really well, they might not even train me for 12 weeks... with the amount of Sisters coming out, they may even have me train after six, but that is doubtful.
Sunday church was cancelled, so we walked in really deep snow for about 30 minutes to go to a members house and have the sacrament. We had a lovely meeting and they even had a gluten free cracker for me.
So far I really haven't done any teaching, we have been stuck inside for days! The snow was about three feet deep in some areas, and the roads are completely insane and tiny! There really is no place to even put all the snow! The roads are piled high with snow, and the public transportation wasn't working until today. We don't have a car in my area... and we sort of live out of the way. We have to take buses on buses and then underground trains for up to an hour to get to our appointments. I can't wait to meet the ward, but we do have FHE tonight so we will meet some of them tonight.
my new address is,
530 Washington St. apt #16
Brighton, MA 02135
I love all of you, I miss you all, and I would love to hear from you at any time!
Love,
Sister HRP
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